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Thursday, December 27, 2018

It's the End-of-Year Reflections Post!

The end of the calendar year signifies a particular thing to each person; it's a natural thing for people to reflect. It may mean the end of a nightmare year of bankruptcy for one person, or it may celebrate a major life change like having a baby or getting married.

It's a good habit to reflect as the year comes to a close, to learn what worked and what didn't, and to plan for the future. I like to do this personally, but in the past couple years I've been doing it for my business too. 

One of the big lessons I didn't start to learn until a few years into the business was that there is more than just working for the business. There is working at the business. Working to ensure that there will be more business, in fact—something I didn't have to think about in the first year because clients were somehow finding me. I was busy and didn't even have to try to stay that way. 

If I had to sum it up, I'd say this is the year I tried to make the best use of my time. I looked through my analytics to see what was working and what wasn't. I kept a spreadsheet of completed jobs and how much time I invested in them. I used a timer app to break down where, exactly, my computer time was spent. (I was shocked to know that sifting through and answering email was one of my biggest time sucks.) I decided to learn everything I could to make my work more efficient and to broaden my skills so I can provide a wider variety of services someday. I took some classes, and I read an awful lot of books. I'm proud to say that I'm a better editor today than I was four years ago, or even two years ago. 

The happy result of this has been that 2018 has been a year of growth, and I'm pretty excited to look over my job list and note how many new clients I've gained and where I've gotten them from. Some have become friends and others are simply clients I've enjoyed getting to know while working on their projects. It's been a lot of fun to work on a handful of nonfiction projects this year as well.

I've done beta reading for a few authors, numerous line edits and copyedits, worked on doctoral dissertation papers, and even proofed someone's website. All that variety kept me fresh.

So THANK YOU, J.T. Buckley, Marcia Caton, Ciofki, Raylene Demeester, Adam & Peggy Dresden, Darrell Haemer, Rhonda Denise Johnson, Heidi Love, Carol Mills, Kim Mower, Kristen Snarski, Jack Tyler, Kim Watt, and Stephanie Workman. You've helped to make this a great year!

4 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for all your assistance this year and I am looking forward to us working together a lot more this coming year.

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  2. Spreadsheets, reflections, analytics . . . sounds like a round of dessert for us lol But it's so true, it's a great reminder to reflect on your business just as much as on your personal life, especially as a contractor/business owner.

    I've loved seeing you grow so much in so many ways this year! To see the excitement on your face when taking your classes or hearing your thoughts on the books you've read has been awesome to me, as your friend. I can't wait to see the amazing things that are coming to you in 2019, I'll be here to cheer you along and to celebrate with you, because here's what I know: you're gonna rock it!!! :D

    Happy New Year!!! <3

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    Replies
    1. Aww, now you're going to make me cry!

      I love our brainstorming sessions (which basically amount to you telling me good ideas and me running with them) and it really is better than dessert! You have taught me so much about friendship and business and everything in between. You've been with me through thick and thin over the past handful of years, and I'm looking forward to where all this takes us.

      #A19B !!!

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