It’s no secret I really do love planning! I like when things are all set in front of me and I know what to do next. I’m sharing exactly how I planned
Reflection
Reflection is the key to having a good idea of what to change in the next year and what you want to repeat. Reflecting on the previous year definitely helps you get better prepared for your business.
I’ve started to look each month at how I’m doing and what I need to work on. Progress comes so much faster this way. I track all my stats for social, google analytics, email subscribers, revenue, etc.
I keep track of all my stats in one google sheet. I also have some monthly reflection questions that I fill out in the same Google sheet so I can see the whole year. By reflecting monthly it made the whole beginning of the year reflection and planning work so much faster than in the past.
Set Overall Goals
Goal setting can be overwhelming in and of itself. This year I decided to use Powersheets. So far I really liked the goal setting portion of it! It gives space to work through possible first actions steps for each goal. I’m still working through fitting the tracking sheet into my life but I really appreciate the idea of it.
My goals focused on personal gains, family relationships, and business growth. Once I had those I was able to break them down into smaller goals for the first quarter.
Focused on the First 6 months
I decided to focus on the first 6 months for planning out the year because I always feel I end up reassessing my plan by about mid-year. This way if I want to pivot it doesn’t feel as overwhelming. It also took less time, which as a mom I always appreciate!
I’m planning on having a day to plan later in March to see if I still want the current schedule and then flesh out quarter three. The main focus for the first part of the year was refreshing my systems, taking care of my wedding clients, planning two photo promotions and getting ready for my photo course launch in June.
Created a Promotional Calendar
My promotional Calendar lists all the promotions I plan on completing the first 6 months. I will say I cheated a little with my 6 months of planning because I have tentative dates for the last half of year, but just for my promotions. I wanted to have a general idea of when I would be in launch mode throughout the year.
My promotional calendar sounds really official but for me what works best is blocking off the dates on my google calendar and keeping a simple list of promotions in Trello. I also have most of our family events or time off marked for the whole year so I know what to stay away from for the year.
Now when I go to create launches I’m not overwhelmed. This year right after my big launch for my photo course We’re headed on a nice beach vacation. This will be one of the best ways to feel more rejuvenated after a whole lot busy in my business.
Focused my Editorial Calendar
I keep my whole plan in Trello. I have it sectioned off by categories, then by my process for moving it from idea to post.
What I’m doing differently for 2019 is there’s more of focus for whatever my promotions will be for the next month. It gives the content I write more of a purpose. Since I know what all my promotions are for the first 6 months it makes it really easy keep it focused.
Batched Content Planning
The best part to all this planning I’ve been doing for the year is I get to batch my content. I’m planning and writing out my editorial calendar a month in advance. This means I get to write a whole months worth of content ahead of time. I write all my social media posts in a day, and all my blog posts in about a week. I’m able to schedule it and it gives me more time to focus on projects.