2013 Goals

Well, another year has flown by, so time to look at what I achieved from last years goals and what I need to continue on with this year.

So, this year, I hope to achieve the following:

1. As last year, I want to put God and my family before my photography.  These are the most important things in my life, and I believe if I do this, God will bless me if He wants me to prosper with my business.  I tried hard to do this last year, and in the end, my sales paid for my listings, cost of supplies and some profit in the end.  The Lord is good!

2. To help with organizing my time with everything I want to get done both in my home and online, I want to make a schedule of tasks and hope to get more efficient with what needs to be done.  This will include the book work I do for hubby's company, my house chores, my promotion time, etc.

3. Reach 400 sales by December 31, 2013.  With etsy's new way of counting sales, it's harder to get to that number!  For example, a customer bought multiples of a greeting card.  Rather than it being counted as X number of sales, etsy counted it as 1.

4. Listing at least one new print each week.  I have a list of things I want to shoot so hopefully I can stroke off one item per week!  My list contains a generic list of items and if I can shoot one photo per section on my list, I should be good as there are more than 52 things on the list!

5. Give my shop a new appearance by revamping my listing photos and descriptions.  I need to give this more thought, but I'm hoping to do it this year!

Some of these goals are similar to last year.  I need to work harder at them as I did not achieve them last year.

The goals I did achieve last year I was happy with!  My stats were good on etsy but it's good to push harder and always improve what you can!

Thank you to my friends on the promotional frenzy team and promoting creative friends for helping me push my items!  I hope that together we can build each others stats and sales this year!

And here are a few photos from this past weekend! Enjoy and look for them in my etsy shop soon!

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Coasters

Which coasters do you think my shop should stock?

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Give your input in the comments.

Stepping Out

Looking Back

Remember the days of being picked last for the team in gym class or at recess?

Being made fun of because of what you wore?

For bringing stuffed animals for show and tell?

The list could go on and on.

Being shy and having a low self esteem made it hard to be friends with just anyone and also harder to step out and try new things.

Stepping Up
A year after high school, I was confronted by the local pageant ladies and asked if I wanted to run. This had always been a dream of mine but I was way to insecure. I couldn't write a speech well, I wasn't coordinated enough to do the dance routine, I had to come up with a talent, and mentor an elementary age girl between my nearly full time job.

I gave it some thought. Figured it really couldn't hurt. So between working a lot of hours, I did get my visitations at the old folks home in, mentored the gal, wrote the speech (with a lot of help from a friend), learned the dance routine, and went through with the event!

Everything seemed to be going good until Friday night. Saturday we were supposed to meet at the stage for crash course on how to walk and procedure for crowning event. Well, turns out, I had booked my hair appointment for that time...coordinators said it would be alright if I was late.

So, Saturday I head to hair appointment, and I get my confidence slammed down for the day by the hair dresser telling me I should not have come in with wet hair, we'd never get my hair done and we wouldn't have enough time. That's not what I wanted to hear! I ended up catching the last five minutes of instructions at the stage and headed for my parade ride.

The rest of the day went better with the judges interview, impromptu questions, group photo shoot, and crowning. The evening ended with a fun dance with family and friends.

Rewarding Results

I took the challenge, I maybe didn't win, but I learned a few things.

1. Be you!  In business, I shoot what I like, not what other photographers are shooting and selling. I edit the way I like to edit, not other photographers editing styles. I'm me!

2. It will work! You may think it won't work, but it will! Life is busy with four little ones, but between God, family, friends, and hubby's business, there's still time for my photography!

3. Don't be shy! Take a chance. If you're not going to pipe up, you're going to miss the opportunity. Your competitor won't suggest you when they can have the job! You may only get the chance once in your life time. If you don't take it, you'll always wonder what if.

Taking the Challenge

Being challenged by Rachel Brenke to go out and do something out of my comfort zone this year for my business, I attempted a few things.

I went ahead and changed my pricing on my product photography simply because you will never make money off of $2 per photo. Due to the increase in prices, I have also seen less products to shoot. When I debate the price increase, I ask myself, "Is my time worth the $2 a photo?" No it's not. I have a family and home that needs to be cared for too.

I also stepped out and listed a bunch of new sizes as well as canvases for photography in my etsy shop. I felt I was holding back in not giving customers the options of sizes they may want.

Not only did I add larger sizes, I increased the number of items in my shop. Seeing it is not free to list on etsy, I took this step in hopes of being found sooner in searches and when people were browsing. I'm hoping that the result will bring more customers as well as new customers.

The biggest thing I did which was a lot of work and a challenge was hosting an in home party at my house.
  

I invited friends, family and neighbours and showed my photography, jewelry from Trinkets 'N Whatnots, and food seasonings from Dell Cove Spice Co.  Those that attended had a chance to order from all three businesses. People who I wouldn't have expected to purchase my photography took this opportunity to do so. Hosting this party and being the representative for the businesses including mine made put into practice the speech writing, be prepared for the "impromptu questions", and get out of that shell I'm comfortable in. (I'm also hoping to host another party in the near future because of the great turn out).

Thank you Rachel Brenke for the opportunity to possibly win one to one mentoring.

Coming to my etsy shop soon!

I had so much fun, now what would you like to see listed in my shop?

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