Goal Setting Ideas

The first thing you will want to do before you start your day is to write down what you want to accomplish. You can do this the night before that way you can get an early start on your action plan.

At first you will find that you put too many things on your list and then you feel guilty because you were not able to get them all done in a timely manner. Do not worry, after some practice you will realize what your priorities are and then you will feel good about finishing them on time.

I usually start with my big projects first and if I have anytime left I will work on the smaller projects that need to be done. The mistake many who work from home make is that they try to do a whole bunch of small tasks and then get burned out.

If this happens you will not have enough energy to start to tackle the bigger projects that ultimately will pay more money. So I would suggest that you focus on what is going to provide you with immediate income, then go to what will get you more clients, and lastly work on long-term projects that will grow over time.

With this type of strategy you will be more productive and find enjoyment in your home career. If you are not organized and do not have a plan for your daily activities you will spend too much time on tasks that do not produce any revenue for you.

I was at fault of this myself a few years ago because I wanted to join all the popular social sites and then I found I was spending half the day commenting and reading other peoples posts and although I met some really great people they were not the right market for me.

In the end now I am only a member of very few sites and try to complete my business work first before I start to socialize with others about my hobbies.

To recap: You want to make a list of what daily activities you will try to finish by the end of the day. Next prioritize by size and time that it will take to make a decent dent towards completion.

Photo:pixabay

It was hard for me at first to be realistic about what I would be able to complete within my alloted time during the day. I wanted to do so much but there was only so many hours and I needed to maximize them effectively.

Although we have 24 hours in a day most of that is spent sleeping, driving, waiting in lines, shopping and dealing with family emergencies, hanging out with friends and reading books. (I like to read when I can)

So this leaves very little structured time for handling a home business for your arts and craft service. In my case I have 4 solid hours a day that I commit to my business plan.

At first I thought I would need a full 8 hours but I noticed that I wasted more time when I thought I had more time to get things done. Now I set myself on a schedule and it has worked to make me much more productive.

You can do the same thing but you really have to think about what you will be able to reasonably accomplish. It would be nice if we could get everything done but it just won't happen, because many times there will be interruptions and un-expected circumstances that needs our attention.

I was surprised at how much could require my attention once I started working from home full-time. It can get ridiculous if you do not set boundaries and limits on your time.

When deciding what you want to do in your business set your limits and do not try to compete with other people because everyone will have to work at their own pace.

It also helps if you have a designated room for your office because then you can close the door and lock it if you have to. Ha Ha!

Photo:pixabay

You will be amazed at how well your friends and family can help you stay focused on your daily tasks.

Once you set up a schedule it is best to follow through because if you don't those who are close to you are going to start asking you if you have finished what you told them about.

This happened to me just last week, I had been telling my neighbor that I was going to start teaching enrichment classes at the local college on scrapbooking and paper crafts. (actually I sent in my proposal and have not followed up yet).

Anyway I was out in the yard pulling weeds, when my neighbor stopped to chat with me about her new Zumba class and then she asked me how things were going with my art classes and I immediately felt put on the spot, because I had forgot I had told her about my plans.

I started to tell her how I was not sure because I had not followed up yet on the proposal I sent in and that I would check on it as soon as I finished some chores.

She told me that she had already told some of the women in her fitness class about the course I would be teaching. Talk about some serious motivation for me to complete what I had started.

I thanked her for her confidence in me and it inspired me to actually work harder at getting a course set-up at the community learning center.

This is the type of feedback you will get and that is why it is important to tell others around you what you plan on doing. It will make you accountable for your actions and more productive at the same time.

Photo: pixabay

Starting a craft business is hard if you do not know how to get clients or how to market yourself online. The easiest way to get the word out is to start your own blog.

You will be amazed at how many people will actually read your blog. Even if you are not the best at writing you will find an audience for your work. I actually was able to start a community blog at the school that I was working at.

The organization received funding from the city so I was able to setup a business blog for my department and I used it as an opportunity to advertise my services.

It helped me get a few clients who needed help with all the digital photos they had stored on their computer and camera. I did not know at the time that this was such a huge problem for people who had camera phones.

One lady had over 200 photos that she had taken over the course of a year, because she traveled alot for work allowing her to take pictures of all the different hotels and cities she stayed in.

I was able to help her create a travel collage for her many adventures and it came out so nice. This is what helped me get my feet wet and decide on how much to charge by the hour for each project.

You will have to set a high enough price for your services to compensate for your time and effort. Especially when your dealing with such a large amount of photos.

Write down on a piece of paper what you want to accomplish in 90 days and then make a journal of everything your able to complete during that time.

This will help you streamline and get rid of things that take up too much of your time and does not pay as well. For instance I used to help people organize their pictures into folders on the hard drive and this just got to be to labor intensive and I only got paid a flat rate.

Now I charge by the hour and will only accept orders for my premium package of digital scrapbooking depending on the event or occasion. You will know what will work best for you as you go along.

Photo: pixabay

A big misconception about goal setting is that it has to be a complete business plan from beginning to end but in actuality that could not be further from the truth.

All you need to get started is a concept, and the missing pieces will fill in as you go. Just be clear on what you want to accomplish and prioritize those tasks on a daily basis.

A good way to start is to decide how many clients you will need to make your goal income. Then you will want to make a list of things you can do each day to attract more people to your blog or your ads online.

Then you will want to sign up with freelance sites and bid on projects that are related to what your business is about. Elancer, or oDesk will have contract work you can do from your laptop or home phone.

As you get more people requesting your services you can let them know that you have a solution for their digital photos. This works really well and word of mouth usually travels after you complete a few projects with satisfied customers.

Stay focused on your end goal but it does not have to be laid out in stone, be flexible and utilize all your skills not just one. It may require that you use experience you gained on your job and then later you can expand it to include your hobbies.

The first thing you should do is write it down, then review it everyday and then put it into action.

Photo: pixabay