2014 is over and now is the time to reflect on what you accomplished, what you had hoped to do and didn’t, and how you can revive your goals for 2015. While most people are setting their weight loss resolutions, let’s decide on what we want to accomplish this year for business sake.
For me, I want to earn six figures. I realize it will take plenty of work and focus reach this goal, but I am fully prepared to clock the hours and do what’s needed for me to earn a six figure income.
I can do this. In fact, we both can!
Here’s how I intend to make 2015 my best year ever with my online business:
Blog with Integrity
The first thing I’ll address for 2015 is my blogging schedule. We both know that content is necessary for our audiences, but not just any content. You want to post quality content that readers feel is usable, and they gladly share it with others.
You don’t always need to write the content; you can curate content too, but don’t steal it. If you curate, be sure to give credit where it’s due. Giving credit can apply to photos or other images you may share on your blog that may belong to other people.
Also, if you’re paid to do a review, you must reveal this to your readers. Even if you were given a product for free, please disclose this information to your blog visitors. It’s important to be transparent because transparency builds trust.
Trust is a commodity that you can never get enough of, so be sure to blog with integrity and let your people know you built your business around openness, and people will never question your honor.
New Office Setup and Equipment
Yesterday and part of this morning, I spent time cleaning the home office. I rearranged the furniture, sifted through paper piles and made countless trips to the dumpster.
I am getting a new L-shaped desk. Specifically because I want a desk that hugs the wall because I obtained new video equipment for Christmas, and I intend to put it to good use during 2015.
In addition to the new desk, I need to setup a new scanner. Again, this is a Christmas present I asked for and received. I intend to draw and scan items to paint with Photoshop for my PLR store.
I also want to run out to the Office Depot and grab some paint and canvas materials. I’ll explain in a different blog post what I intend to do with these new items, but for now, I’ll just let you know it’s an idea in the making. 🙂
Producing a CORE Product
I’ve mentioned this before – call it a signature product, your main squeeze or core product. Whatever triggers your fancy, but it boils down to having one main product that you constantly promote!
I wanted to have such a product in 2014, but time never seemed abundant enough for me to get it underway. Then, when I thought I had time, my health waned or I did something silly like get into a truck accident. 🙂
No more, peep! I’m putting my foot down! 2015 is the year that I come out with at least one core product, if not more. So watch out – this girl aims to take bigger strides than ever before!
There’s so much more to tell you, but I fear if I don’t end this blog post – it will get too long. Until we talk again, Happy New Year and I hope to see you back here again tomorrow!
What did you do (or what are you still doing) to prepare for 2015? Leave a comment below and let me know!
Thanks for reading,
– Bonnie
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Out with the Old, in with the New!
2014 is over and now is the time to reflect on what you accomplished, what you had hoped to do and didn’t, and how you can revive your goals for 2015.
Great advice Bonnie! I am still trying to monetize my blog and your tips on creating a core product makes perfect sense. Thank you for sharing…
Hiya Irene,
I am glad you are giving thoughts to create a core product. Have you given any more thought to what type of product you would like to create, Irene?
– Bonnie
Great advice and good luck on your goals this year! I have joined Jon Acuff’s 10-Day Do Over Challenge and the My 500 Words Challenge as a way to stay focused and working towards my dream. Today was day 3 of both.
I never heard of Jon Acuff’s 10-day challenge. What does it entail? How often does he hold it during the year? Can anyone join?
Working towards your dream sounds nice. What is your dream, Carrie?
Sounds like you are well underway to achieving the goals you’ve set for yourself – all the very best to you and your business in 2015!
Hiya Laurel,
Thank you so much for wishing me well on my journey to earning a six figure income. I have just finished the arrangement of my new workspace and I am excited to get started with my core product.
I’ve made money over the last several years, but I never took it serious enough to become a full-fledged product creator. I aim to change that during 2015, and I am excited at the prospect of what’s to come.
I feel it’s necessary to dream BIG, and I set out this year to become all that I can be. I LOVE serving others and hope that I produce a product that helps many people see their dreams come true, too.
– Bonnie
My whole 2014 fell apart on me. We started off well with the birth of our youngest child in January (I can’t believe he is almost one!)… but in February my husband had the first of three heart attacks. It derailed me pretty badly.
I am a doTERRA rep (I truly love the products) and a nurse (RN, Certified Pediatric Nurse, International Board Certified Lactation Counselor). I love the idea of one BIG product. I was thinking that this year I would make a product revolving around natural healthcare for pregnant and breastfeeding moms and their babies.
Hi Elisabeth,
Oh my goodness. When I read your comment, I wanted to be closer so I could give you a big hug. How sad that your husband had three heart attacks. How is he doing now?
Have you put any thought into a core product? I love the idea of a product for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, but is this a product you surveyed to see if there was any interest? What were the results?
Until we talk again, give your little one a kiss and let your husband know he is in my prayers.
Thanks for visiting and please come back soon!
– Bonnie
I want to grow my blog and youtube channels even more. I need to source a better vlogging camera for the latter and come up with some new content for the former.
Hi Patricia,
What type of video camera do you currently own, and why would you don’t feel it’s not good enough to use to make more videos?
What is the topic of your blog? Have you ever conducted an interview or possibly invited other experts to submit a guest blog post?
– Bonnie
Thank you for the prompt. I admire your determination. I started a new blog for the coming year. Seeing as I don’t promote my core product (novels), but use them in the sidebar, I’m hoping quality content will endear new readers to the blog. As happened each time I revealed a new blog, I lost about 500 readers. I found earlier that this tally increases over the months.
Hi Francene,
Why do you start a new blog every year? I never heard anyone doing this before, so I find myself wondering if you learned this from someone else?
It’s not necessary to start a new blog whenever a new year starts, which is a very uncommon practice for a blogger.
Have you considered just to continue adding content to your existing blog? If you did, it would make it easier for you to keep readers and create loyal fans of your writing. You don’t need to lose 500 readers every time you start over.
Also, I would like to ask you why you don’t promote your novels other than placing them on your sidebar? You could increase sales for your books if you practiced additional marketing strategies.
Don’t take my questions the wrong way, Francene. I’m simply trying to find out why you start a new blog every year, which is hurting your ability to retain readers.
– Bonnie
Happy New Year Bonnie 🙂
You’re an inspiration as always!
I’m fiddling on my site (again), 2015 will have some more “Jan live” sessions. The VAT mess that seemed to come from nowhere sort of stumped me re: moving them to online courses, but I think for me Udemy is the way to go with that.
Wishing you all the best success with your goals!
Happy New Year, Jan!
I can’t wait to see your courses on Udemy, Jan. How many do you intend to add to the website?
Sounds like you are ready to go! As for me, I had major surgery at the end of December, so I pre-wrote a few weeks worth of posts because I knew I wouldnt be up to doing it daily for a little while. Now I’m getting my feet back under me and ready to face the new year.
Hi Mary,
I’m sorry to hear that you had to suffer from surgery. I hope your health is getting back to where it should be, and you are growing stronger day by day.
Did your prewritten posts last? What does 2015 look for you? Are you ready to get back to a regular schedule of blogging?
– Bonnie
Happy New Year to you and your loved ones, Bonnie.
My intention for 2015 was to set up a separate website for my online training programs and to make sure that I did it, I set it up in early December with a free Clutter Challenge pilot and then found I had to go back to the drawing board to work out the implications of the EU MOSSVAT and how to comply with it without increasing my paper work.
I’m treating this set back as an opportunity to gain clarity about this second website and yes, create an awesome Signature course that will help create the change that my clients want but without the intervention of a Coach or Mentor.
Happy New Year!
I hope the VAT topic didn’t prove to be too taxing for you. How are things going so far?
So, you’re hoping to provide help to your customers without being on site to help them? How is that working out for you?
Well, its out with the old and in with the new for me too Bonnie, but I’m being a bit different… I intend to Play more and Work less!
* gasp – shock – horror*
Yes, I’m changing my ways, and becoming what most would consider an underachiever.
In the process I will be more Mindful about everything I do, why I do it, and will take my good time doing it so that I am satisfied the job is done well, and that I enjoyed the process of doing it.
I will not be a multitasking, stressed out, frustrated, demon any more. Stick a fork in me, I’m done with it.
And not every ‘outcome’ in my life is going to be about ‘income’ any longer.
I know I will achieve what I REALISTICALLY set out as my goals, and I will do them with joy, or not at all.
If something is a chore I begin to dread, that I have to force myself to do, just because I’m supposed to do it to make money, it will not be on my list for long!
My life is going to be much more relaxed, with realistic goals done by working in a timely manner, with enthusiasm and making it as much fun as I can.
I ended up making a blog post about it, so you can check it out below if you want to hear a Superwoman multitasker go on a rant.
Happy New Year everyone… may all your dreams come true!
Playing more and working less sounds like a wonderful idea as long as you can pull it off, Helene.
Being more mindful doesn’t make you an underachiever. I would think it would make you more successful because you’re not skipping steps (or purposely leave out important content) when creating a product. I can’t begin to tell you how many products I’ve bought that weren’t ready to release. There was always something missing, IMHO.
I enjoy everything I do online. If not, what’s the point? I’m like you… when a project stops being fun, I usually don’t finish it either. Likewise, if I didn’t like my boss or the work I did offline, I didn’t want to go to work. I hope that never happens being an online entrepreneur. 🙂
Have you ever considered working with someone else to share the workload and fame? I ask because some people do better when they pair up with someone else. I wish you all the best in 2015 and hope you find your mojo.
Well, its a wonderful thing… this year has already shown me its going to be amazing, and abundant, and fun.
And I always agonize over product releases… I micro-manage, but I won’t release til I’m happy with it. I think that’s why I don’t have a single customer or client on or off-line that I wouldn’t be happy to meet in person even 30 years later… Its the only way I can do business.
And 2015 is about enjoying the process… or don’t do it. (I outsource it instead – lol!) I’m going to have so much fun this year its just crazy… on and off line!
And yes, despite being a solo businesswomen/entrepreneur most my life, I had one JV partnership when Theresea and I were creating and flicking squidoos that was a fantastic relationship (while squidoo allowed flicking) … just a pity that the skills base wasn’t able to transfer across to JV on other projects I worked on.
I would love working partners on some of my projects that I’ve had on the shelf for a loooong time, but the ones I did try won’t do any WORK in the project… so I became tired of paying for the privilege of carrying someone else – lol
Hoping and wishing that your 2015 is as sensational as mine is shaping up to be – go girl!!!
Hi Helene,
I am glad to hear that 2015 is shaping up to be an amazing year for you. It’s not often that you hear such good news so early after the New Year started. 🙂
Like you, I take too long to release new products because I want to be sure that they’re the best they can be before I hand them over to customers.
Some may call me a perfectionist, but I think it’s more than that. I care about my fans, so naturally I want to be sure that there are no questions after they get their hands on my product.
I started outsourcing at the tail end of 2014. Up to that point, I did everything myself, but no more. I can already see a difference by allowing someone else to take over the writing.
If I hadn’t hired a freelancer, I would still need to write 30+ articles for the last five packages I added to my PLR store. I am eternally grateful for having the foresight to hire someone else.
Re: JV Partnership
I’ve always wanted to form a JV partnership with someone, but I was never sure how to go about getting one started. I assume I could just email them for permission to call them on the phone.
In the past, when I first began working online, I had several big names call me on the phone. Naturally, they didn’t know my real name because I used a pen name to escape notice from a physically abusive ex-husband.
One of the men called during a time when I was an Article Directory Maven. We exchanged several ideas, and I told him what my article writers wanted to know the most.
Soon after our conversation, he wrote his book and interviewed me for one of the bonus reports. To this day, I regret that I used a pen name because I could surely use the authority status. LOL
As a result of his interview, I did coach several people to help them grow their authority through articles. It is something I could offer through a membership site if I really wanted to offer such a service.
I surely don’t blame you for getting tired of carrying the workload. A partnership that shares 50% of the profits should also perform 50% of the work, too.
Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, Helene.
– Bonnie
Thanks for a great post, ideas, and resources, Bonnie! I must come back and read more thoroughly when I have more time (and when it’s not midnight!)
I am still working on establishing a manageable plan for blogging in this new year, as well as managing my time better (obviously not there yet!) so I can do ALL the things I both need and want to accomplish.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi K. Lee Banks,
I am still working on establishing a manageable plan for blogging in this new year, as well as managing my time better (obviously not there yet!) so I can do ALL the things I both need and want to accomplish.
All we can do is take our business one day at a time, It’s not a race to the finish line, so be sure to step back now and then to breathe.
When I started blogging, I wanted to write every single day. When blogging is all I did, it was easy to keep a schedule. But when you add product creation, marketing and building a community on social media, it doesn’t take long for our schedule to suffer.
Don’t be too hard on yourself, K.Lee. Things will come together in time when you’re comfortable in your shoes.
– Bonnie
Happy New Year to you, Bonnie. Here’s telling that I know you can make that 6 figure. You hit the nail on the head where my ‘core’ product is concerned. I need to zero in on that one ‘service’ that I want to focus on.
Have you planned out your core product yet, Jessica? I wish you well on making it a reality! I know you have what it takes to make this a reality and I am so happy for you! I look forward to hearing about your progress! Please stop by and let me know how the core product is coming along!
Hi Bonnie!
I’ve missed you! So glad that you’re back and getting into the swing of things! So excited for you and can’t wait to learn what your signature product is! I am planning to write three (yes, 3) books and build my writer’s platform! I really want to be in God’s will so I’m praying that He will show me what goals He wants for me, and then pursue them.
Amy
I’ve missed hearing from you too, Amy! Happy New Year! How is the new year treating you so far?
What will you write about in your three books? Have you started any of them yet?
I have not decided what core product to produce yet, but my coach thinks I would make a great coach. 🙂 I’m still praying for guidance.
I reflected on the year, wrote down what I accomplished and what I didn’t. Then, I burned and released it.
My big excitement for 2015 is my book. Just received the proof of it in my hands. SO exciting, I’m shaking (check out my FB profile for a video of me opening it up for the first time today!)
HAPPY NEW YEAR BONNIE!
🙂
Happy New Year, Debra.
I never heard of writing things down on paper just to burn them. What’s the reason for doing that?
I noticed you’ve met Joel Comm. How much influence did he play on you writing and releasing a book?
I started planning my year about 3 months ago by hiring someone to schedule my bought PLR to a couple of my sites. I figured out that I had more than enough content for the whole year for most of my sites, but I just wasn’t getting it put on my sites.
So, rather than buy more, I used the money to pay someone else to get it on my sites. Now, all I have to do is log on during the week ahead and do a little customization, add affiliate info and it’s good to publish.
That’s a wonderful idea, Jenn and a very SOUND investment! Like you, I hired someone to do some work for me. Rather than take the time to write more, I hired someone else to mimic my voice so I could work on the graphics part of it. I’m currently working with a new graphics guy so I can hand that portion of my business off too.
I’m excited at the prospects for the new year and already making more profits than I originally imagined. Feels good!
Good luck with your blogging and affiliate marketing! If you put your mind to it, anything is possible!
I love to write so that’s been so helpful as I continue to grow my divorce guidance for woman biz.
So many times as an entrepreneur, I get too easily distracted on what is most essential. This year for 2015 I’m asking myself:
“What’s the ONE thing I Need to get done first today?’
What kind of services do you offer on divorce guidance, Nancy? Do you help women who are thinking about divorce or are they already going through one?
Bonnie, I wish you the best of success in 2015. May you reach, and exceed, all your goals. Fighting health challenges and surviving a car accident and not letting it conquer you is awesome; it will give you strength you can only imagine now For 2015, I went ahead and chose a word – something I’ve never done before – DIFFERENT.
Welcome back, Alana! I’ve missed you so much! 🙂
Thank you for the wonderful wishes for 2015. I intend to make this year my BEST year ever, despite the health and accident setbacks from 2014. I believe we all get stronger as time goes on.
I also believe that the good Lord doesn’t deal us any cards we can’t play out. What does 2015 hold for you?