Tuesday, March 20, 2012

2012 First Quarter Goal Check In

As we are already halfway through the third month of 2012, I thought that it would be a good time to check in with my goals for 2012.


1.  Have 140 sales on Etsy in my randomcreative shop.
To date, I've had 15 sales in my shop for 2012.  This is putting me on track to have about the same number of sales as 2011.  However, I do expect a sales increase for Christmas in July and the 2012 holiday season, which might at least get me to 100 sales, which would still be an increase and an overall success.


2. Introduce and continue to develop my new herringbone line and its charm/pendant components.
Right now I have 8 wrap bracelets/necklaces, 7 charm sets, and a handful of other single strand herringbone bracelets in my shop.  I have a few more bracelets/necklaces that I'll unroll over the next month and a bunch of ideas for wrap pieces and charm sets.  The interest on Etsy hasn't been what I hoped, but it hasn't been terrible either.


3.  Double my current long term earnings on HubPages.
I honestly didn't have a good sense of how long it would take to double my December 2011 earnings.  Due to a couple unexpected traffic spikes in both February and March, I have already almost met that goal.  I am still kind of in shock about this but obviously really excited.  I'm excited to see what April will bring.


4.  Make at least one new greeting card design per week.
I am really glad that I decided to start experimenting with a handful of non-jewelry crafting endeavors for 2012.  It's keeping me from burning out on jewelry.  I honestly don't have a tally of how many greeting card designs I've made for 2012, but we're about 11 weeks into this year and I easily have that many new card designs.  I've listed a few of them on Etsy and will continue to list more throughout this year.


5.  Expand my craft show lines.
I pushed really hard to get enough craft show inventory for the end of 2011.  I made a little at the beginning of 2012 for my open house, but I've been spending more time with greeting cards than gluing magnets, tacks, hair pins, etc. because I simply don't have the energy for it right now.  At this point, I'm not doing another show until at least May so that's fine.  What I did introduce at the open house was well received and has encouraged me to continue with these new lines for future shows.


6.  Complete a minimum of 6 EBW challenges and 6 BBA challenges. I participated in the January and February BBA challenges and the February and March EBW challenges (there is no challenge in January).  I will participate in the March BBA challenge later this month, too.  So far so good there.


7.  Participate in 4-6 craft shows.
I did an open house/trunk show in Chicago in February, which I am counting as a show.  I've applied to 4 shows in the Milwaukee area and have 2 more in mind that I will apply for as soon as the applications are available.  I most likely will apply for a couple more along the way, but I'm off to a good start.


8.  Starting making this blog more profitable.
I ran an advertising special in January for $10 year long ad spots that was very successful.  Hopefully it is paying off for my advertisers, too.  That has helped me justify the cost of this blog through this point in the year, especially because I've gotten a couple other advertising opportunities as well.  I'm hoping to get more sponsors throughout the year and am looking into other advertising, too.


9.  Better list making organization.
I have separated my list making so that I have separate notebooks for 1) weekly "to do" lists and my monthly blog plans, 2) Etsy listing information, and 3) HubPages brainstorming and keyword research.  I also have a less frequently used notebook for listing information for non-jewelry Etsy items (i.e. greeting cards).  I have stuck with the system and been pleased with how it's working.

I would like to have more Etsy sales (welcome to the club, right?), but otherwise I'm happy with how my goals have been going so far.  I'll do another check in here sometime in June.

Check out goal updates from couple of my other favorite bloggers:

How are your 2012 goals going?

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I included this post in Erika's It's a Wrap Link Party - 3/25/2012.

Where I Linked Up Today:
Treasury Tuesday

14 comments:

  1. That's great that HubPages is continuing to be so profitable!
    And it's great to see all your new lines and items...great mix!

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  2. Wow! You seem to be doing awesome on your goals. Congratulations!!!

    www.AllThingsTangled.blogspot.com

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  3. It is good that you have been able to spread out and that you don't seem to be burned out.

    Do you process credit cards for your shows? This is one of the things that is holding me back from doing more.

    Erika
    It’s a Wrap Link Party at Artful Rising

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  4. Congrats on your progress! I really need to sit down and review my progress, too.

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  5. Dear Rose, It is good to set a goal that way you can reach for something. Looks like you are doing well. Blessings my dear, Catherine xo

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  6. Congrats! It sounds like you are doing great!

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  7. Congrats on all the progress Rose! Hopefully 2012 will keep going well for you!

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  8. You're off to a great start! I've had more sales than expected so far this year but as far as goals, I'll look at them in a month or so. :)

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  9. I'm really impressed with how well you are tracking your progress. I'll be honest--my goals are in my head, not written down. I hope that doesn't meant I'm not focused, but in any event you LOOK focused. :-)

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  10. great idea to keep diversified with lots of projects. I burned out on jewelry, and switched to bookmaking. Now I haven't really made anything new, since I'm so busy with art journaling. Sometimes I wonder if I really belong in the BBA team... {:-D

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  11. Wonderful that you are on track with your goals. Congrats! I think making a variety of things is a great way to keep the creative juices flowing.

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  12. Congrats for staying on track and working towards your goals. All the more power to you!

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  13. Congrats on your success thus far! I am sure there is much more to come :)

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  14. Hi Rose,
    you are so organized I have no doubt that you will reach most if not all of your goals this year!!
    I've been doing a lot of replacing of goals and moving in a different direction now!!

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