All across the blogosphere you read the goals for the coming year.
No matter how barren the closing year might have been, there is the light of promise in the new year.
There’s something about getting goals down on paper (or screen) that turns the promise from a whisper to a belief.
- A belief in yourself
- A belief in hope
- A belief in a new year
The Promise of 2012
Who am I to break tradition?
I’ve set my goals and will share those here.
The Business Side
When I started my business in 2008, it was more for personal reasons than business reasons. That may sound like a skewed focus, but when we have one without the other, what kind of life do we have?
In the beginning, my annual business goals were pretty simple – improve upon the year before. I am happy to report that I have done that every year. 2011 was my best year yet and I find warmth in the light of promise for 2012.
Enough philosophizing and down to the goals.
Income
I’ve set a target that is 19 percent higher than 2011’s income.
- Why not 20 percent?
- When have you known me to adhere to norms?
Reality is I would have been a lot closer to 2012’s target if not for some very large checks that arrived on the last day of 2011 that my bank decided to hold until the third of January.
The upside is it kick-starts 2012 – ah, silver linings.
Expenses
Not surprisingly, the first year of my business had the highest level of expenses. I like to think that I have gotten smarter (in a lot of ways) and hope to keep expenses relatively flat in comparison to 2011.
I may be in the market for a new smartphone and laptop, but we’ll see how that goes. Hopefully, it won’t be the debacle of my earlier attempt at purchasing a new smartphone.
Marketing
I am hoping to bump up my business writing site with products this year beyond the writing services.
- eBooks – the plan is for one per quarter mostly designed around tools for business writing
- Training videos – the idea is to take the written into visual simplicity
Other marketing efforts in my 2012 goals include:
- Upgrading my business website – new products – new look
- White paper or report for business writing
- Guest blogging once a month on blogs I read
And for me, you cannot have fun without learning new things so the topics will evolve through the year. The idea is to select one topic per month.
The sneaky benefit is I can use those topics for blog posts throughout the year – love side benefits.
The Personal Side
Don’t worry, this won’t get too personal – I’ll keep the TMI to a minimum.
If you follow this blog, I’m sure the first one won’t surprise you.
3-Day Walk for the Cure
Yep, I’m already signed up for my 9th 3-Day Walk for the Cure.
- It’s the San Diego event (surprise, surprise)
- It occurs November 16-18, 2012
- I’m back with my Fight Like A Girl team
It’s an event that I simply cannot walk away from. You can read about my recent Walks here.
I also want to finish my eBook about my Walks.
Staying Healthy
Training for the 3-Day Walks goes a long way in keeping me healthy.
Despite turning 60 in November (60 miles for 60 years, right?), I am in the best shape I’ve been in a while. And I believe that has a lot to do with my decision to start my own business in 2008.
Finding the right balance is not easy, but it sure is worth the ride.
Travel More
I have always loved traveling.
Even in my road warrior days in Corporate America, I loved the excitement of visiting new places and meeting new people.
I have a trip planned to Chicago in May for my cousin’s son’s wedding and the trip to San Diego in November for the 3-Day Walk. I’d like to sprinkle in some road trips to neighboring states like Oregon and Washington.
I like the idea of an impulse trip. Everything else is so planned, I like to shake it up every once in a while.
2012 – Here We Come
Well , this non-conformist has joined the rest of the world in posting her goals. I’m looking forward to 2012.
- How about you?
- What goals do you have?
- Join the crowd and post some here
May your light of promise move from a whisper to a belief.
Have a happy and healthy 2012!
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Live…Laugh…Love
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Great post, Cathy. I think your decision to start a business based on personal reasons is the best reason, actually. You made that decision to be nearer to your mom, and to remove that awful stress from your life. Amen. Look how much better, richer your life is for it!
If you go for a smartphone again, I can recommend one that has a bigger screen and helps with the fat-finger thing. 🙂
No Philadelphia on that travel list? 🙁
Welcome back home, Lori! Sounds like you had a fabulous time in the wild, wild west. 🙂
I have never once regretted my decision to start my own business. Initially, it was due to health concerns, but maybe I did always have it in the back of my mind to have something more flexible to be with family.
Big screen? Now that’s music to a baby boomer’s ears..er..eyes. 😀
Who knows, Philadelphia could happen. Haven’t been there in years. I’ll have to tell you the funny story about a Philadelphia cab driver my colleagues and I had for our trip to the airport.
Happy 2012, Lori!
Great goals, Cathy. I share your aim of doing more with video this year. I’m also happy to have one of your first guest posts this year. 🙂
Not one of my first guest post – the first. 🙂 And I am honored to be a part of your great blog.
Too bad we don’t live a little closer. We could do a video together to keep us on track. 😀
Thanks for stopping by, Sharon.
Now that would be something, wouldn’t it, Cathy?
We’d knock ’em dead, Sharon. 😉
Hi Cathy,
What can I say that you haven’t already said? Your goals mirror my goals. And I started my business in April of last year for personal reasons too. I simply hate working for other people!
At any rate, one of my main goals for 2012 is to continue writing, but to use the content that I write for other people by monetizing it and basically taking control of the content. It may sound selfish but it’s not. It’s smart.
I’ve learned over the last year that there are plenty of people who will pay to have content written and distributed (which is where the monetization comes in). The only thing that my customers are interested in is gaining back links and as long as I provide that I can basically do whatever I want with their content.
Hi Ramiro: There certainly is a big need for good writing. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.