(photo courtesy of Blogtrepreneur)
Blogging
- Consistently blog 3-5 times per week: I think one of the best part of my job is blogging, because I have loved writing since I was a child, this surprising development in the modern world really have re-ignited that love for me.
You may already notice that we have been posting Monday through Friday consistently for this past two weeks, and a pattern starts to emerge:- Monday: Staging Industry
- Tuesday: Useful Links & Tools
- Wednesday: Staging
- Thursday: Reader’s Question/Issues & Guest post
- Friday: Fun Stuff Friday
- Increase blog subscription to 100 members: One of the great things that I love about blogging is the sense of community. It will be fantastic to have more involvement & interaction on this platform, especially staging is such a new field, it will be great to hear about others’ opinions as well!
- Lining up 2 guest bloggers per month: I think it will get boring if it’s just me talking every week
Why not expand the horizons? Feel free to email me to let me know what topics you would like to find out more about! I have quite a few great clients who really know their stuff!
Ops
- Streamline the process of inventory & operations: This is one of the growing pains of any small business, especially one that carries LOTS and LOTS of bulky & irregular shaped furnishing & home accessories (now I understand the mentality of a square watermelon! So much easier to stack & store!)
We currently have 12-13 homes worth of furnishing & home accessories and all of them are “sorta” grouped together by kinds, but NOT inventoried. By streamlining our inventory, it will make our pricing & staging projects more efficient & speedy (2 of my favorite things)
Oh yes, I am supposed to quantify my goals. So every single piece of inventory (including newly acquired ones) will be categorized, photographed, and barcoded by June 1, 2008. - Reverse client sources: 61% of Staged4more’s jobs in 2007 are from online resources whereas 39% are from referrals & repeat customers. In 2008, I would like to tilt that to make the referrals & repeat customers at 60%, and new business at 40%.
- Increase productivity goal by 22%.
Marketing
- Coverage by 5 publication/media outlets: It’s always great to gain credibility & exposure through the media, especially current media. I definitely have seen businesses advertising their media mention dated back in the 1980s. Yeah, I don’t talk about my high school glory days anymore, neither should a professional. This year I was interviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle, San Mateo County Times & California Home + Design. It would be great to diversify our marketing portfolio so it stays fresh, like our staging & persistent efforts to keep things moving forward! Better press for us also means better press for our clients.
- Meet more people in the industry: I hadn’t been hitting the pavement last year and I would really like to change that this year. I have been very blessed that 61% of 2007’s projects were from online sources, but it feels even better to develop relationships. Not only potential clients, but people who work together in this industry, since in a transaction, many of us work together to get a house sold. That relationship building part is really one of the funnest & most fulfilling things derived from running my small business last year.
Budget
- Actually have a budget and adheres to it. A penny saved will be a penny well used to do something better for this business
What are some of your goals for 2008? Feel free to share it below at the comment area!