HELLO 2020
HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE PHOTO PEOPLE!!
With 2019 coming to a close it’s the perfect time to reflect on our businesses great successes, failures, and set goals for the coming year.
I always love this sparkling night, because it makes me so excited and full of energy for the New Year!
I thought it would be fun to talk about goals for making 2020 the best year yet, and push ourselves to take our businesses onward and upward.
HOW TO MAKE EFFECTIVE GOALS:
what RESULTS do you want to see?
First start with what results you want to see, or your “long term” or “Big Picture” goals.
i.e. “I want to book x amount of weddings” or “I want to improve my technical skills” or “I want to grow my social media presence” or “I want to improve my home/work life balance”
Your “results” may be something that’s not exactly measurable, or even entirely in your control. You could work crazy hard, and not see expected results (like booking x amount of weddings) because there are factors in that result that rely on someone else’s decisions. BUT just because the “big picture” may be lofty, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set your sights on it and envision yourself achieving it.
what STEPS are YOU going to take?
These are the “short term” or measurable, attainable goals that are within your control.
I.e. If your Long term goal is to charge x amount for weddings, a short term goal could be investing in education to increase your value to your clients. If your long term goal is to have a more organized, balanced home and work life, your short term goal could be to Only edit 8 hours a day, or only respond to clients texts and emails during “office hours”, or only work at your desk instead of from your bed, or setting and communicating boundaries to your clients and your friends and family!
Any and all of those could be short term goals that you are in complete control of. They are measurable, and attainable, so at the end of the year, even if the major result didn’t happen perfectly, you still have the satisfaction and improvements in your life and business from your commitment to your short term goals.
3. Don’t forget about yourself
Make goals for your business, but also make goals for your personal life! Good health, good relationships, good extra curricular activities and hobbies all help you to be the best you can be which is going to reflect directly into your business!
4. Don’t forget about your team
A great way to stay on track with goals is to involve others in your efforts. Including your husband, colleagues, friends, etc. in your goal making makes you accountable to each other. If you’re looking for a lit NYE….;) Invite your team over to write down goals together and make a plan for keeping each other from slacking off!
PRO TIP: Another good way to keep yourself accountable is to physically write down your long and short term goals, and put them somewhere visible. If you use a planner, inside the cover could be a good place, or if you’re like me—putting it up on the fridge will help you remember every time you go for a snack!
5. Be Specific
in both your short term and long term goals (but especially your short term) be as specific as you possibly can. List time. amounts, and details to help keep yourself on tract. Ambiguous goals can happen down the road but daily/weekly/monthly steps you are taking to reach those ambiguous things need to be specific!
SOME POTENTIAL BIG PICTURE GOALS
…and potential steps to reach them:
Grow Your Social Media Reach and Presence
Post every day to instagram
choose a new social media avenue (i.e. pinterest, Face Book, or Youtube) and create an account
plan one collaboration per quarter(… or per month.. or whatever)
show your face more (or don’t show it at all, depending on your business and what is professional/appropriate)
Improve technical skills
Attend a workshop every year
Hire a mentor and schedule x amount of sessions
shoot creatively and try something every Monday (or every month, or whatever works)
Rent a new piece of equipment you’ve never tried once a month
spend x amount of time each day/week/month studying or researching new techniques, skills, etc.
Bring More Value to clients
Invest in yourself by booking a mentor session
invest in higher caliber equipment (or put $50 a week in a new equipment fund, or something like that)
plan and purchase client gifts
gain experience through workshop attendance, and online education resources
Create a strong brand image
get new headshots (contact me HERE if you want to book headshots with me!)
shoot new content for your website (if you’re a photographer) or invest in a contract or photoshoot with a photographer for consistent imagery (if you’re a brand that isn’t a photographer)
(Contact me HERE if you need new content for your site, social media, or other branding purposes!)
update your site (or spend one day a week, or one hour a day, uploading galleries, or updating information; put $25 a week into a website fund to hire a web designer to do it for you next year…)
invest in a portfolio, website, social media critique by a mentor and/or peer group
organize your social media
Improve work/life balance
set boundaries with clients by improving your contract (consider hiring a lawyer, or discussing with colleagues to help your agreement be comprehensive)
Set boundaries with friends and family (write down a list of who you would do free work for—ideally 10 people or less, and charge full price to everyone else. no exceptions.)
set work hours and practice “clocking out” each day and “clocking in” each morning.
Do not over book (say no to excess work)
Respond to client texts only during “work hours”
set up a home office space or only work at the office and don’t bring it home
get up at the same time each day
go to bed at the same time each night
book more weddings
spend x amount of time each day on marketing
submit once a month (quarter, etc.) to publications
make a schedule for your social media (i.e. plan your posts every Sunday for the week)
create a client referral program (i.e. send clients $25 target giftcards for a referral)
Make good impressions (talk to bridesmaids and groomsman, share images with them asap so they know who you are and have a positive experience, and think of you when they need a photographer).
Develop vendor relationships, create a preferred vendor list, etc.
plan one styled shoot each quarter for content
post complete (or more-complete) galleries on insta stories, pinterest, or your website so people can see a comprehensive look into what they’ll get from you (as opposed to the single images they see on instagram).
One of MY goals this year is to put out more educational content to help you reach your goals, stay tuned for more guides, workshops, blog posts and tips!
If one of YOUR goals includes investing in yourself, improving your technical skills, fine tuning your business skills, increasing your quality of work, defining your brand identity, or getting a portfolio critique—let’s get together!