While January’s focus was on time management and productivity, February’s focus is on getting out of the feast vs famine cycle with various forms of marketing.

1. Follow-up with Prospects

The first step this month is to tap my existing sources for finding new work. I’ve sent out countless proposals to potential clients in the last 8 months of being out on my own full time.

I’ve found that while most people get back to you in a timely manner as to “Yes! When can we get started?” to “Will you check back with me in a couple months, when I’m ready to begin the project?” to “Sorry, I’ve decided to go with another designer.” – I’ve found that persistence certainly does pay off… Not to be confused with being a nuisance, though – you don’t want to go overboard!

Long story short, I’ve got a large number of pending proposals out where the prospect has essentially gone MIA. I need to round these all up and follow-up (one last time?) to see where things stand.

I basically want to better organize my prospects into groups of how likely they are to actually become a client, so I know who I should continue “courting” so to speak, and which ones I should just cut my losses on and give up on, already. This process will give me a better idea of who I should focus my energies on.

2. Setup Portfolio Sites

Perhaps the best way for any designer to get noticed is through their portfolio. There are many web sites setup for designers to post and share their portfolios. I have accounts on several of them, but have yet to post a single portfolio piece!

It’s something I’ve been putting off and realize that near the start of the new year is a great time to get my work out there in as many places as possible.

Below are my profiles on the portfolio sites, so watch these spaces soon for an update! These will contain the same projects as my portfolio on this site, but the portfolio sites serve as an additional avenue towards getting my work viewed by more people.

• Behance
• Carbonmade
• DeviantART
• Flickr

3. Re-Evaluate Site / Blog

Any successful web site is constantly building upon itself. One necessary component for this is to re-evaluate your site on a regular basis by taking a hard look at what does and doesn’t work and improving on it.

I’ve been making small adjustments to this site since it’s soft launch back in March 2008 (though technically this design has been online on my old URL “selenedesign.com” since November 2007). It’s time to give the site another once-over to see how I can make it better.

In the last year I’ve received feedback from peers in the design/development community as well as from potential (and existing) clients while going through the prospecting phase. I can take all of this information and come up with a new plan as far as additional updates that I need to make to the site.

Of course the updates themselves will be a topic for future months as far as implementation, but the planning stage must come first.

What Are Your Goals?

What three things can you accomplish this February to propel your small business? Please share in the comments below!

Did you share your goals on any of the previous “Just Three Things” posts? If so, I hope you’ll go back to the comments and update everyone with how you did!

With it being the beginning of a new year, there is no surprise that my primary focus for the month is to get organized

Time management and productivity are at the top of my list – and for all the right reasons… after all, we’re already half-way through the first month of the year, and I am only now posting this month’s goals!

1. Fininalize My 2009 Game Plan

This item carries over from December’s goals – I got a good start, but still need to pinpoint a more specific timeline for all of the major tasks I want to accomplish in 2009.

Since it’s so early in the year, I’m sure this initial schedule will be subject to change, with more fine tuning as the months go by. But to have a general set of deadlines will help steer me in the right direction for the year.

2. Create a Daily / Weekly Schedule

In an attempt to better manage my time and get organized, I recently purchased a new FranklinCovey planner book, complete with shiny new 2009 daily calendar pages. This is something that will work MUCH better than notes on random sheets of paper, post-it notes, Google calendar, etc.

My plan at the moment is to use a combination of Google Calendar to mark down all major deadlines, and use the planner to (also record deadlines) and plan a daily line-up of what specific projects I need to work on in a given day, outlined by time-slots in as many as 15 minute increments if necessary.

I just got the planner last week, so I’m working on figuring out the best schedule for myself and how best to utilize it. My goal is to have a set schedule by the end of the month (for example, use the early morning hours for marketing tasks, mid-morning for client work, afternoons for phone calls, etc.)

3. Create a Blogging Schedule

One of my major goals for the year is to improve upon this blog, which means that I need a more regular posting schedule. Right now, I often go 2-3 weeks without a new post, and with my RSS subscriber base increasing, I need to be sure to provide quality content on a consistent basis.

I’d like to devise a plan of setting aside 1-2 days a week where I will just sit and write for a couple hours. I have a ton of half finished posts in the Drafts folder – some are complete and only needing a final read-through for proofing.

By the end of this month, I want have a posting schedule planned out at least two months in advance.

P.S. You can subscribe to all the great new posts coming up this year either through your RSS Reader or via Email. It’s quick and easy, just give it a try!

What Are Your Goals This January?

Now that we’re half-way through January, what are your goals to help grow your business this month? Have you already started on fulfilling these, or do you need to rush to complete them in the next two weeks? Please share in the comments below!

Did you share your goals on any of the previous “Just Three Things” posts? If so, I hope you’ll go back to the comments and update everyone with how you did!

As with any New Year, comes a new set of resolutions! Creating goals and milestones are essential to to the success of any business. However as New Year’s resolutions go, while you want to set your sights high, it’s often easy to fall into the trap of creating too many unrealistic goals for oneself.

As part of the “Just Three Things” series, I’ve decided to limit my own New Year’s resolutions to just 3 major areas. Yes, they each have their own set of baby steps to take in order to achieve each task, but my theme for this year is to keep it in “threes”

2008 was a fantastic year for me, and I hope that 2009 will be that much better! So without further ado, below are the “three things” that I hope to achieve this year…

1. Achieve a Healthy Work / Life Balance

My primary goal for 2008 was to achieve “full time freelance status with a healthy work / life balance.” I surprised myself by reaching the full time freelance portion of this goal within 6 months – half the time I had planned for it to take!

My goals were a bit lofty, though, because although I was able to quit my day job, I still have a long way to go to strike a balance between my business and personal lives.

In 2009, my primary focus will be to finally achieve the ever elusive healthy work / life balance.

Yes, things are much less hectic now that I’m not juggling a full time job with running my own web design business. However the balance between the two is far from ideal.

To say that I’m a workaholic is a bit of an understatement! If I’m not in the office working, I’m with my family thinking about it. Not exactly what you would call healthy…

A major part in achieving this goal will be to focus on organization, productivity and time management in ALL areas of my life.

2. Increase Income by 25% Percent

Another one of my 2008 goals was to match the annual income of my day job. Making half that amount to have in savings was a major requirement before I allowed myself to officially take the plunge.

I was again very pleasantly surprised as I tallied up my 2008 freelance income to find that I had made 25% more with freelancing alone than what my annual income would have been if I kept the day job for all of 2008. Not a bad start to a solo career!

In 2009, I’d like to increase that income by an additional 25%.

In order to achieve this goal, I will need to place a heavy emphasis on marketing. I’ll need to come up with a better marketing plan – one that is consistent in order to avoid the inevitable feast vs famine cycle that is all too common with running your own business. I’ll also need to focus more on SEO – Search Engine Optimization. After all – what good is a web site if no one knows it exists?

Another aspect of this goal – and something I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while – is to begin creating and distributing my own free and premium WordPress themes. While distributing free themes will act as a form of self promotion, premium themes will serve as additional (passive) income to aid in reaching this goal.

3. Increase Blog Subscribers to 3,000

My third major goal of 2008 was to start building this blog, and reach a subscriber base of 500. Due to networking on the social media sites (especially Twitter), as well as getting my feet wet in guest posting on other blogs (specifically Freelance Folder), I surprised myself by doubling my goal to over 1,000 subscribers!

In 2009, I’d like to triple this number to 3,000.

In order to achieve this goal, I will need to focus on writing more frequent, quality articles – at least on a consistent basis of once a week (it has been fairly sporadic to this point, with posts coming out anywhere from 2 to 5 times a month). I’ll be working more on guest posting on other blogs, as well.

First steps here will be to create a regular blogging schedule, and outlining future posts. I’ve got a few new ideas in store that you’ll be seeing in the coming months, so I hope you’ll stick around for those. And if you aren’t already subscribed, I hope you’ll subscribe to blog updates via RSS or via Email.

What Do You Want To Accomplish in 2009?

What are your business goals and resolutions for the New Year? Please share in the comments below. It’ll serve as a good reference point to come back and check on your progress throughout the year!

Here’s to 2009!

It goes without saying that I wish you ALL a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year! May 2009 be all that you hope for, and more!

This post is part of the “Just Three Things” series…

There is nothing like putting your goals “out there” for others to see. It brings your intentions to a whole new level. After all, you don’t really want to announce to the world that you’re going to do something, and then fall through on it!

Learn more about the concept, and join in! And without further ado, here are my three things for December 2008.

1. Write Three Guest Posts

This is carried over from the November 2008 post… Although if I had a tough time finishing one guest post last month, I’m not quite sure how I’m going to do three – I just need to block out the time to do it!

2. Analyze Existing Client Trends

Something I should be keeping track of as I sign each new client – is to keep a list of exactly what types of clients I do have (small/home businesses, non-profits, larger corporations, etc.) as well of HOW they found me (client referrals, search engines, blog posts, social media, etc.). Keeping good stats of my existing clients will help in devising a game plan as to how to attract new clients. It’s about time I got that down on paper!

3. Create a Business Game Plan for 2009

Perhaps the most important item this month is to completely lay out my business goals for next year. There are many ideas floating around in my head (and on several sheets of miscellaneous paper)… I need to gather everything together and come up with a solid month-by-month plan of exactly what I need to accomplish in 2009 and give myself deadlines for when they should be done.

What Are YOUR Three Things?

What three things do you want to accomplish in the final month of 2008? Please share in the comments below, or by posting on your own blog and linking back here!

Let’s see what we can accomplish this December!

This post is part of the “Just Three Things” series…

As freelancers and small business owners, we all have an endless to do list. Whether it’s written down, or is running around in the back of our minds and keeping us up at night – there are things we want and need to do to take our businesses to the next level.

Learn more about the concept, and join in! And without further ado, here are my three things for November 2008.

1. Write A Guest Post

I’ve recently started contributing posts for other blogs – my first ever guest post was published on Freelance Folder last week, with my second post on the way (it’s currently pending approval).

I’ve got a third guest post in mind for another blog – I just need to flesh out the concept some more and start writing!

2. Finish The “Essential WordPress Plugins” Post

I’ve had in mind to publish another “Essential” post for the longest time – it’s been sitting in my draft folder literally for MONTHS now. I’ve been promising this post to clients and prospects alike. But you guessed it – “something” always gets in the way, whether it be client work or new proposals, etc.

This month the procrastination ends!

I’ll finally finish and publish this post – a list of the WordPress plugins and tweaks that I consider to be essential to any WordPress setup – the ones that I recommend to my own clients when setting up their site for the first time.

3. Contact Management System for Existing Clients

This is something I should have kept organized right from the start, but now is as good a time as any. I need to setup an entire contact management system for ALL of my contacts, but you have to start somewhere with baby steps!

I recently had new business cards printed, so my goal this month is to gather contact information of all my existing clients, and send them each a letter with three of my cards.

“They” say it is easier to get new work from existing clients, as well as the fact that referrals and word of mouth are one of the best ways to bring in new business. I’ve personally found this to be very true. I’ve got 1,000 business cards sitting in my office, so time to start putting them to good use!

Next month this will extend to potential clients…

What Are YOUR Three Things?

What three things do you want to accomplish this month to help your business grow? Help create some accountability for yourself either by posting on your blog and linking back here, or by leaving a comment below.

Let’s see how much we can accomplish this November!

There is something to be said for setting goals and holding yourself accountable for reaching those goals.

I’m just about five months in after having reached my dream of taking the freelance plunge in June 2008. There was an incredible set of steps I had to take in order to reach this goal. But just because I’m here now, doesn’t mean the journey is over.

The ultimate goal now is to improve upon my business and make it as successful as possible. With this comes an an endless to do list that often gets pushed aside by client work, writing proposals, and all the other administrative aspects of running your own company.

Early Beginnings

A few of you might remember my early introduction to blogging, with the anonymous identity of WAH(web)Mommy. That blog served as an amazing starting point towards reaching my dreams – one of the primary focuses of that blog was to post a monthly list of goals… baby steps necessary to reach full time freelance status.

I soon realized, however, that an anonymous blog could only take me so far. Being anonymous, I could not link to my own portfolio. And a web designer without a portfolio has no credibility whatsoever.

Enter the re-launch of this blog in March 2008. The current blog has taken me much further than I could have hoped for! However in re-claiming my identity, I had to loose the backbone of the old blog – which was the regular posting of goals and accomplishments. For obvious reasons, I couldn’t have my employer finding out what I was up to before I was ready to take the plunge!

Well, I’m here today to take that back, and I hope you’ll join me!

Bringing Back An Old Tradition

This post marks the beginning of the “Just Three Things” series.

As freelancers and small business owners, I’m certain we all have an endless to do list. Whether it’s written down, or is running around in the back of our minds and keeping us up at night – there are things we want and need to do to take our businesses to the next level.

I’m a believer in baby steps, though – and have always held a fondness for the number three. So each month, I’ll be publishing a post outlining three things that I want to accomplish. The idea is to make a dent in my own to do list by accomplishing a number of items – without being completely overwhelmed, in the process.

Most likely these will relate to marketing of some sort – self promotion, updating my own web site, blogging, etc. Aspects necessary to propel my business further, but things that always get set on the back burner.

Hold Yourself Accountable for YOUR Three Things

I tweeted the concept a little while ago and received positive feedback on the idea – so I’m hoping that you will join me each month by sharing a list of three things that YOU need to accomplish to help push your business to the next level.

It doesn’t end there, though – it’s not just about posting your goals, but also about following up with your progress. We’ll be able to congratulate each other on our successes, as well as cheer each other on when we need an extra push.

Letting It All Hang Out

There is nothing like putting your goals “out there” for others to see. It brings your intentions to a whole new level. After all, you don’t really want to announce to the world that you’re going to do something, and then fall through on it!

So, if you have your own blog and it would be relevant to your readers, I hope you’ll publish your own goals and accomplishments for the month – then link back here so we know to check on your progress. If not, please feel free to leave a comment on the posts here so we can cheer you on!

Next up… Just Three Things – November 2008 Small Business Goals