Here it is! My last post in my Goals for Growth series: Professional Growth! If you missed Part 1 on Relationships, or Part 2 on Personal Growth, feel free to click back and read those posts! Also, if you want to know why I picked “Growth” as my word for 2018, you can find out more here. This last post in the series is all about the growth goals I have for various aspects of my blogging and business in 2018. Let’s get started!
Professional Goals for Growth:
I think I need to preface all these goals by saying that the whole reason I even have “professional goals” this year is because I want to contribute financially to our family income. Because our current situation with having a house (still) on the market in another state and having a cost of living that is at or above our current income, I need to do what I can to supplement my husband’s paycheck. Even if I only make enough to buy my son’s school books and the kids’ clothes, or just enough to pay for groceries each month, every bit counts. I want to help get us closer to financial freedom. So, in addition to the reasons I have noted below, gaining financial freedom is a big “why” behind having these goals in the first place.
1. Blogging Goals:
In 2018 I would like to see my regular views and readership stats double, as well as double the number of subscribers to my email list. Since I have only been blogging here for about 6 months, my audience is still pretty small. Up to this point, I have not been able to put a lot of money or time into promoting my blog or networking. But my vision for this site has always been that it would become more than just a place for me to write and send my random thoughts out into the ethernet. My ideal would be that this site would become a community for like-minded women to exchange ideas, to encourage one another, and to have conversation about things that really matter. And if I don’t have readers, especially ones who come back regularly and leave comments, then I am just talking to myself…and that is not much of a conversation! One of my action steps for working toward increasing my blog followers is networking with fellow bloggers in a couple of Facebook groups to which I already belong.
2. Virtual Assistant Goals:
In 2018 I want to add 1-2 new clients for whom I provide virtual assistant services. I started working as podcast manager for MacKenzie Monroe of Cultivating the Lovely this past fall, and I loved it so much, I decided to launch my own virtual assistant business. I am hoping to add one more podcast or project manager position to my repertoire. I would also love to do some editing/proofreading for other writers. I know some people really need technical help with maintaining their WordPress websites, and I have some knowledge I can share in that area as well. One action step I am taking to move forward with this goal is to compile a list of people I can approach to offer my services, sort of doing the online version of “cold calling.”
3. Young Living Distributor Goals:
I am hesitant to put this out there because of all my professional goals this is the one I have been most hesitant to pursue. However, I am seriously considering building a Young Living team under me in the coming year. I have been regularly using YL essential oils in our home for years, and I do believe in the power of these natural substances to promote health. I do not, however, desire to be a salesperson. (I’ve been there, done that! It’s not my gifting!) I also don’t want to be another one of those people you have to unfollow on social media because they are always marketing and nothing else. What I do want is to help educate people on safe, effective options to OTC medications. I also want to help people find natural alternatives to toxic skincare and household products. So, if you start seeing some more posts around here about DIY natural body lotion or household cleaners using essential oils, you’ll know why!
Ok, I did not expect this, but it feels a little scary putting my business goals here for all the world to see in black and white. Some of these goals feel really big and unattainable to me, quite honestly. I guess publishing this also makes it all seem more real, and now I am accountable to you all to follow through and attack this stuff! So, help me not feel so alone here. What is one scary big goal you have for this year that you are a bit afraid to put out there? Let’s cheer each other on!