DAY 29

[VintageRescueSquad]

“Develop a custom version of daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and/or yearly tasks checklists for your business that lead you towards your Big Scary Goal; add to business plan.”

No idea why Amanda gave me this assignment as mine is a 9-year plan (when I retire)….

Go back to Day 16 and your BSG. Is it less scary now? You’ve had nearly 2 weeks to ruminate on it, so perhaps you’re already jamming on micro steps you need to get there. Now’s the time to break it down.

For help, I initially went to sba.gov for guidance:

http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/PARTICIPANT_GUIDE_TIME_MANAGEMENT.pdf

It offers a sample “time management plan” and then breaks it down by Goal, Steps, and Tasks. Obviously you already have a BSG, but break it down into mini-goals. What is your daily goal and the steps and tasks necessary to get there, as well as your BSG? Continue on with weekly, monthly, yearly, etc.

It also offers different methods, which I liked because you can use whatever method your brain is most comfortable with!

I also looked at http://smallbusiness.chron.com, specifically:

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/set-shortterm-longterm-goals-business-55479.html

It offers more of a work-backwards approach. Break down each aspect of your BSG, and figure out what you need to get to each. Try not to only focus on dollar figures—expand your goals to include other benchmarks. Some may be positive actions to move your business forward, and some may be weaning yourself off unproductive processes or practices. Others may be network-building steps.

Maybe a quarterly goal is 2 new wholesale accounts. Maybe a monthly goal is weaning yourself off products that aren’t generating enough revenue for the time involved. What can you do on a daily or monthly basis to achieve those mini goals?

Think creatively. Figure out where you’re wasting time. Make sure each step is a building block. Hopefully, by breaking your BSG down into micro goals, it will seem more manageable.

And be sure to build in time to do daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly assessments to gauge how you are doing. You may need to revise the tasks/checklists to make sure you’re on track.

[VintageRescueSquad]

I'll go first: One of my BSGs was to write a second ebook within a year to further establish myself as an expert (of sorts) in selling vintage. With a time-sucking day, it all has to be done in dribs and drabs during my alleged free time.

This particular book will require interviewing and spotlighting more-experienced sellers for their display tips in shops and at shows (though it will be largely visual). I've already contacted 3 for their opinion and all have agreed to participate. I've also begun some Pinterest boards to build interest and encourage participation.

(Side note: Out of THAT came an opportunity to collaborate with one of them on her book—she already has a book deal!!!)

So, part of that goal is to maintain and grow my network within my community. On the daily and weekly level, that means expanding my network and maintaining open lines of communication. That can translate down to social media, direct contact, or reaching out to new people. On a monthly level, that means jamming on the format and solidifying participation. On a quarterly level, it means actually doing the design and building interest on my social media. You get the drift.

Once I begin to break it down, it's much more manageable, rather than a looming far-off deadline. And I can pat myself on the back with each micro goal completed.

[Former_Member]

What i was thinking is that basically the 30 day checklist we used for this team exrcise is a fantastic basis for creating these daily-weekly monthly etc ones.
Don't you think?

[Former_Member]

Have a daily - a basic I gotta do this list.
Weekly - is more like filling orders and misc stuff that pops up.
Monthly - working on that based on filling holes pointed out by the cleanse :)

Will be a work in progress to get my shop up to speed.
Have Aug and Sep monthly plans ready to go. :)

[ShoppeDeziLu]

Oh, I'm SO far behind on this cleanse! Working away on the final part of the basement renovation. Had my shop "on vacation" but not really. 8 to 9 week processing times listed, and still the orders kept coming in. I'm putting it into real "vacation mode" on August 1st to ensure that I accomplish all my home projects, and get a head start on Christmas prep before September. I will be catching up on the cleanse items throughout the month of August.

My Big Scary Thing is asking for a shop critique, which I will be doing in September. Terrified, but also excited to learn more!

[swaddlemesnugly]

Desiree, the frustrating part of putting my shop in vacation mode was that I couldn't edit or create listings - but I hear that Etsy may soon arrange that we can do that in vacation mode. Hope it happens when you need it :-)

[VintageRescueSquad]

I think more than a few of us are a tad behind on the cleanse—especially those of us with full-time jobs outside of etsy. The back-to-back of Days 28 + 29 are daunting enough alone to tackle in one week.

My hope is that they have at least burrowed into your subconscious and that you're at least thinking about them.

[Ponponi]

Hi i now this post is very old now but maybe you could still help me... Im new in etsy i have uploaded a few products but i noticed that one in particular is not getting views... Maby you can check is there something wrong with the title? Im trying hard to do titles and tags bit is kind of hard also englos is not my mother tongue which makes it even more diffcult. Aboit the tags i try copying some of the tags from product that apear first in my searches is that a good way to do it?
Here is the product with very few views
https://www.etsy.com/es/listing/493675414/outerspace-nino-dormitorio-fotos

Thank everybody

[TOMgirlApparel]

Hey Ponponi!

It's good that you are matching tags and titles, but you need to be mindful of which phrases you are using. Ideally have a mix of highly competitive phrases used in both tags and titles, and mix in some niche phrases that are more specific.

I would recommend going through the phrases you use and evaluating them. Are they bringing in traffic? If not, why? Are they too competitive? Are you not using them in both tags and titles? Too niche?

Eliminate ones that are not helping you and add in better ones. To get good phrases, type a general term into search and see what Etsy suggests as related terms (they pop up in search bar as you type and also after you hit enter, there are more suggestions at the bottom of the search results page).