Necessary Evil--planning

My Amaryllis bloomed! Force one to bloom too--
check out this blog post

It's amazing how something I found exciting weeks ago now fills me with dread. Goal setting. My soon to be written business plans will refine what I've come up with here, but I might as well make some progress by thinking about what feels like a colossal task. I need to be in the right frame of mind to tackle this, so I have a cup of coffee with a pot nearby, my desk mostly cleaned off, and two hours to dedicate to the cause. I like to set due dates, so I've broken things down into first through fourth quarter.

First let me jot down my 2012 accomplishments. This will make me feel awesome!

• Set up as a business
• Set up system for tracking expenses (Boo! It's a lot more fun not knowing!)
• Establish business checking account
• Establish an exercise and studio schedule
• Figure out a way to easily update portfolio online
• Maintain blog
• List stuff to sell on Etsy, and get a grasp as to how it functions
• Teach workshop at Griffin School
• Set up solo exhibit (I'll report more about this as the details emerge, but for now it's scheduled for Fall 2015 in Chicago!!!!)
• Exhibit at 10 different venues
• Create new marketing materials
• Reach financial goal (not there yet, but I still have 1/2 a month)
• Sell grackle collages at 5 different locations

2013 Goals:

• Complete business plans for both graphic design work and art. Include marketing objectives, pricing structures, classes I need to take, as well as clear intentions as to what I am wanting to achieve. Q1
• Conquer Etsy in bits (BTW, I basically just moved all my Etsy goals from 2012 since I barely made a dent). Create first treasury in January with at least one per month for rest of year. Set up Etsy workshop for WPA, attend. Read my Etsy book (How to Make Money Using Etsy). Have at least 25 items posted by end of quarter, maintain that amount through year with the goal of increasing 10 more items every quarter. Q1 25, Q2 35, Q3 45, Q4 55. (I heard 80 items was the magic number of listings. Crazy! Not sure I'll ever get there...)
• Pay to have website critiqued, fix issues myself or pay to have done. Q1
• Create new marketing materials depending on what comes out of business plan. Q2
• Show work at 10 different venues in 2013 by end of Q4
• Reduce expenses by 2K. It will be a challenge to use up current supplies (matrices, frames) before buying new stuff, but my studio needs to be exfoliated. Big time. Ongoing.
• Teach at Griffin School Q1
• Create lesson plans for other workshops Q1
• Teach 3 more workshops by end of Q4
• Create 6 new collages in 2013. Q1 1, Q2 2, Q3 1, Q4 2
• Edition 6 existing prints. Q1 2, Q2 1, Q3 1, Q4 2
• Maintain blog. Ongoing.
• Reach financial goal by end of Q4

There's a good chance these will change, drop off, get refined, etc. But for now this is a good start. And look! It only took me 30 minutes! (You can do this.)