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Looking Back On The Past Year
It’s that time again. Time we say good-bye to the year past, and welcome in a brand new year. New years are so bright and full of possibility – very exciting for me. However, 2009 was a fantastic year for me and it’s sad to see it go. Is anyone else in shock that it will be 2010? Twenty-Ten!??!?! Wow! I remember being little and trying to do the math to see how old I would be in the year 2000 and thinking ‘WOW, I’ll be OLD”. hahahaha! Funny how “old” doesn’t mean quite the same thing anymore =)
Thank You, 2009
2009 was so wonderful…and also full of ups and downs. Many “bittersweet” moments… my son got married, my daughter graduated high school and started college… youngest started kindergarten…. I became a grandmother (yay! That’s a picture of me and little Miss Hanna on Christmas Day. She’s just awesome!). We took some wonderful vacations, were blessed to be able to spend time with great friends and family. I had surgery… my hubby had surgery… we lost a terminally ill loved one. In short, LIFE happened in 2009.
Business-wise, 2009 was great and I am very grateful. I am also very thankful that I have the ability to work as hard as I do and the support of those I love the most.
Goal-wise, well…wow! As I have been closing out the 2009 books and taking a look at how everything went, I am amazed that I not only hit every goal I had for myself…but actually surpassed them.
Funny tho, one of my goals was to be able to earn a certain amount in a month via AdSense. Now, I am not a big AdSense marketer, but I do use it here and there so I set a goal for myself for a particular amount earned in a month.
I hadn’t hit that goal all year long… until… TODAY. Literally, today, December 30th, I hit a monthly earnings goal with AdSense….lol! So, that last goal DOES get to be checked off after all =)
Goals for 2010
This is my favorite week of the year… the week between Christmas and New Years. This is when I tear into all my stats for the year, looks thru my various campaigns and all that good stuff, and really SEE what worked, what didn’t work…what I want to amp up…and what I want to discontinue.
I’m not big on New Years Resolutions. There seems to be something about January 1st that makes people put so much pressure on themselves to make all these drastic changes…crazy. To me, EVERY DAY is a great day to make a small change in your life. One small change a day can mean a totally re-worked life within a year, ya know? But anyway…
I’ve been trying to set my goals for my next business year. I knew as soon as I stood up a bit ago to go get something to drink and tripped over a boot on my office floor that my very first goal is to clean my office. Lord have mercy…. it’s driving me nuts! I’m accustomed to tripping over a cat or a Barbie…. but my OWN BOOT? Sheesh!
Otherwise, I know I want to set myself to be able to outsource more. The funny thing is, it sounds so easy.. hire someone to do your work. Simple, right? But its not so easy for me. I’ve been totally hands on for just about 3 years now working my tail off. It’s habit for me now. Changing habits is hard, but I’m getting there. I know it’s time for me to scale and leverage…and learn how to work ON my business – not IN it (if that makes any sense). I also have so many great things going on in diverse areas that there’s no way I could do it all myself – so I won’t. It’s time for me to improve my ability to be the conductor….and stop trying to play every instrument in the orchestra.
In short, I’ve worked really hard to get to this point, so I need to stop fighting myself and do it. Do you do that? Maybe it’s a “mom thing”. Ya know, we work so hard to raise our children – so hands on and so involved – that we have to fight ourselves to let go and realize we accomplished our goal. I dunno… maybe its just me. One thing I do know is that each time I “let go” and outsource something, I feel so GREAT knowing the work is getting done and I am free to work on something else… or not work at all.
Anyway, I’m rambling…thinking out loud (sorry if that’s scary…lol!!!)
As for financial goals – I’m gonna boost my over-all goal by a certain percentage tho I’m not set on exactly what percent yet. I want it to be realistic, yet challenging. Also, this year I am doing more campaign-specific goals which I didn’t do last year (2009). This past year, I set an over-all amount that I wanted to hit (both gross and net), but I didn’t break my goals down per project. This year I am.
I am going to try and avoid a set $ amount and instead have a goal of a certain % increase over 2009. Why? Well, honestly, the $ numbers aren’t a real inspiring goal for me anymore. If every year is as good dollar-wise as 2009 has been, I’m good. Heck, I’m beyond good – I’ve been extremely blessed.
But let me ask something that might sound vain (and I’m sorry if it does – not intended to)…. How much money does someone really need?
When I started all this in 2007, my main goal was to be able to make enough online so that I didn’t need to go outside the home and work. You know, as in get a “real job”…lol. Once I accomplished that, I set a goal of a certain amount I wanted to earn each day that added up to a number for the year that I believed would give me peace of mind.
The daily goal in 2008 was $273.97. I wrote that number in pink highlighter ink on a sticky post-it note and stuck it on my wall next to my computer – and it’s still there now. It’s my “peace of mind” reminder. It keeps me balanced and focused…and calm. That number, if earned every day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, means I bring in 6 figures – 100k. It amuses me now to think I really believed I could do that. My goodness, it would’ve taken me like 3 YEARS to earn that in my old job as a managing golf pro! What in the world made me think for even a second that I could generate that kind of income ONLINE?
But that was my number. To me, that amount meant I could lay my head down each night at peace knowing whatever financial challenges were thrown at me, I could handle it. As someone who was once a broke single mom:
money = peace of mind
NOT having money is stress…it causes problems…it hurts. I know that. All money does is take care of the problems that NOT having money creates (thank you, Chris). For me, the number one problems that NOT having money creates are stress….and fear. I wanted those problems gone and $273.97 a day seemed like a good number to erase those issues.
Oddly, I started out with goals that would stop pain and stress, but as 2008 came to a close and I realized I was really hitting my goals, something else happened that blew me away.
I became hopeful, brighter, optimistic…almost like I somehow empowered myself to do ANYTHING I set my mind to. What’s weird is it’s not really the money as much as it is being able to see real results from your actions and hard work. Once I made my first sale in February of 2007, I knew that if I could make $7 online, I could make 7 million – it was just a matter of time, repeating and learning, and butt-busting hard work….oh, and a nice dose of patience…lol.
So when it came time to set goals for 2009, I sat and played with numbers, read a lot about creating financial business goals (which I really didn’t know much about before), but each time I came to a number, it didn’t have the challenging feeling in my gut that I need. Suddenly I just blurted out a number, my hubby grinned, and I laughed because it WAS a really crazy number to shoot for.
And I’ll be damned… I hit it.
For 2010, I need new goals, but I know myself well enough to know that $$$ aren’t gonna challenge me. I’m a golfer – I’m out to beat myself. If any of you golf, you know that golf is one sport that your biggest competition is YOU. So my goals for 2010 will be to beat myself =)
Complacency and contentment are NOT good business traits – never get comfortable. Challenge yourself – and don’t be afraid to do it. If you work hard everyday to reach those goals, you can not fail – even if you don’t hit those goals. Working hard to make your life better is NEVER a failure. Never EVER.
Write your number down and post it where you can see it while you work. Don’t just pick a random number, pick something that MEANS something to you…something you can feel. I could feel $273.97 a day in 2008. I could also feel $78.90 a day in 2007 (that was my first goal to get to $2400 a month…a number I wanted so I didn’t feel I needed to get a “real job”).
Above all, remember that all of this is not about choosing a destination – it’s all about the process and creating checkpoints for yourself to follow along the way. Everything you DO to reach those checkpoints along the way is a success.
You can not fail when you keep moving forward.
If I could give just ONE THING to each of you that have managed to somehow tolerate reading this so far, it would be to give you the empowerment to KNOW that you can do ANYTHING that leads to the knuckle-headed raw determination to keep moving forward and go GET what you want.
No one is gonna give it to you and the only person in the WORLD that can stop you – is YOU.
I’ll stop rambling now (again) =)
2009 Highlight Posts from PotPieGirl.com
Whew… I got long-winded above, didn’t I? My apologies…and super glad you’re still here…lol!
I took a stroll thru my posts from the past year here at PotPieGirl.com and decided to pick one (or maybe two) from each month that I think are worth either re-reading, or reading if you never have.
Let’s see what I came up with:
January 2009 –
January had some really good posts so it was tough to pick. There’s posts on keyword research, getting Google to index your lenses, how to start with internet marketing….lots of stuff, but I like this one for my January pick:
How Much Does It Cost To Make Money Online?
February 2009
February is always a great month for me. My birthday is in February… my online marketing anniversary in also in February…and I’m a big fan of Valentines Day, too! Here is one of my favorite posts from February 2009:
A Day In The Life Of PotPieGirl
March 2009
March was a quiet month, but it also had one of the most important posts I’ve written. It’s about back links and the importance of how they work:
April 2009
April had a lot of good posts, but one of them sticks out for me – the first time I made a video tutorial. Lordy, lordy, I am not a tech-wizard, that’s for sure!
May 2009
May was a very quiet month. I had surgery and was out for awhile… we also had a loss in the family. However, in the midst of all that I managed to write a post that I really like. I went off about how exhausting it is to have everyone and their brother trying to sell your something online:
June 2009
June had some great content here at PotPieGirl.com, but there are two posts that have really helped people learn how to create an ebook and how to sell an ebook using PayPal. Yes, I even have a bunch of my “fancy” graphics and pictures to walk ya thru the steps to get it all set up.
How To Sell an eBook With PayPal
July 2009
July had a post that I think is a big help. Ya know how you can search for a keyword in Google and it seems the results keep changing – even when you search back-to-back? Ever wonder why?
Why The Google Results Keep Changing
August 2009
August had a post that has a video on it that my husband shared with me. Absolutely mind-boggling!
Is Internet Marketing Too Saturated?
September 2009
I think September had one of the most important posts I’ve ever written. It’s on a topic that has crossed all of our minds as we work and learn this business.
Should You Follow Your Passion Or Just Try To Make Money?
October 2009
October was pretty darn quiet. Was on vacation and stuff most of the month, BUT I did manage to crank out one really good post about all these FTC changes.
Who Is The FTC After?
November 2009
November was a great month, not only was my granddaughter born, but I actually had some good posts here, too! lol!
I did a case study on Google ranking of a Squidoo lens and reported the case study results here.
Also, I taught everyone how to get those cool snippet links in your Google listing. These snippet links in my Google listings have been very effective for me – not just for Squidoo lenses, either (tho they are really easy to get for a lens).
December 2009
Well that brings us to December 2009…and I’ve already typed enough in this ONE post to equal like SIX posts, but I still had some other good posts on the new Google real-time search results and talked a lot about converting your traffic into sales (good post for those struggling to make sales).
Happy New Year!
So, how are you closing out 2009 and getting ready for 2010? Any new goals? I’d love to hear them!
I hope everyone has a wonderful and SAFE New Years! We will be celebrating here at home with friends. January 1st is also me and PotPieDude’s wedding anniversary so we have something extra to celebrate when the countdown to the new year is over.
My best to your and yours! See ya in 2010!
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Hi Jennifer,
Happy 2010 to you too!
My plan for the next 12 months is to be able to make 35k per year to start or 95.89 a day. I think this is do-able using your methods and I hope that I can achieve it. I’ll let you know how I’m doing in a couple of months time!
Scott
Hi Scott =)
Thank you, and same to you!
$95.89 a day is VERY doable! just start building those income streams and put them to work for you!
Best of luck!
Jennifer
~PotPieGirl
Congratulations.
I follow you via google reader and your stuff is always an inspiration.
I wish you the best of luck for 2010 although I am not sure what can top becoming a grandma to such a gorgeous looking baby.
I look forward to learning more from your examples and hope to achieve my own monthly goal too.
Best wishes and a happy new year.
Thank you, TipTop!
Happy New Year to you, too!
Jennifer
~PotPieGirl
Hey Jen,
I started out with monetary goals in mind and have kind of switched to more concrete business goals ~ knowing the money will follow if I accomplish the goals I have set out. I have set goals based on different areas of my business and the growth I want to experience in them this year.
It is also helping me plan out my year, and stay focused on what is going to accomplish those goals. Which I definitely think is going to help me stay on track. and focused this year.
Thanks again for all you do. Have a happy new year!!
Jackie
Me too, Jackie – I am picking goals for different areas of growth and improvement as opposed to an all out $ number goal.
It’s actually easier to do it this way. If, for example, I have a goal of increasing a list size by x amount, I can just about ‘reverse engineer’ what I need to do to accomplish that…so, in effect, my goals are forming my plans.
You said – “knowing the money will follow if I accomplish the goals I have set out” has me nodding in complete agreement.
Thanks for all YOU do, Jackie!
Happy new Year to you and your beautiful family!
Jennifer
~PotPieGirl
hi jennifer,
it’s an hour to 2010.i have set my goal of making my first sale by march 31 by following your owm plan .wish me luck and have a great2010.regards,anand
Happy New Year’s, Jen! You have been such a blessing to “find” this year. I’ve taken what you teach in OWM and am actually APPLYING it (wow – taking action – imagine that!) and tweaking it to fit my personal style.
My financial goal for the year is to make more than enough to cover all my expenses just with Internet Marketing (and of course expand and grow from there). But more importantly my goals are to be CONSISTENT and to not give into frustration and to NOT GIVE UP. And another important goal – I want to have FUN with my IM tasks.
Thanks again for being such an honest and giving person to those who have really needed it.
–Stacy
Hi Jennifer,
Wishing you all the best for 2010. May you love more, help more, do more, see more, laugh more, and just be more 🙂 Happy new year to you and your amazing family. Best of luck 🙂
Bonjour,
Une excellente année pour vous et votre famille, Jennifer! Continuer votre bon travail, vous êtes formidable, vous êtes Une source d’inspiration pour Plusieurs d’entre nous.
Bon succès!
I absolutely LOVE reading your posts. You write like you probably talk. You are a lovely down to earth person and I appreciate everything you do. Not only that but I ‘get’ everything you say, especially about your kids and the favorite ‘driving’ time.
Thanks again and I am really looking forward to learning from you this year I can hardly wait to crack into your One Week Marketing course that I have been thinking about getting going with for over 2 weeks.
Finally, the kids are back to school, I am through the Christmas and New Years rush and school break and finally feel organized enough to re focus again. As soon as I finish this comment, I am ordering my course from you and taking ACTION as you continually remind us all to do.
Have a blessed year Jennifer and I am so glad I finally decided to come to my senses and sort through the hype and take notice of you.
Jayne Kopp
Wishing you all the best for 201
Great post Jen! I’m sure 2010 will be another wonderful year for you. You deserve it!
There were lot of things happened in 2009, happy and sad moment coloring my life in 2009. My goals in 2010 are increasing traffic for my blog, get more revenue from online business, and make some new blogs. I hope I can do all that plans. Thanks for this inspiring post, and happy new year 🙂
“But let me ask something that might sound vain (and I’m sorry if it does – not intended to)…. How much money does someone really need?”
I’ve been poking around on your site and on your squidoo lenses, and you just seem so down to earth compared to all the GURUS who are, as I seem to remember you putting it, dangling all the shiny things in front of me, one of which I bought and after trying it every which way til sunday ended up applying for a refund. But it wasn’t until I read the above sentence in this blogpost that I clicked your dang link and bought OWM.
There is so much information out there about how to make money online, and so much of it is just tripping off my bulldoody trigger right and left. I’m considering making you a graphic that says “Green Goods Guide Approved, and the only bulldoody here is used as fertilizer.” LOL!
Idea for you. I’m sure you have some pet charities and causes that would benefit from your “overabundance”, so maybe that can figure into your goals for this year somehow. Just make sure any charity has a good rating from the nonprofit ratings guides, since there’s some cowpies to avoid there as well. 🙂
Thanks!
Great post! I had already written down my number, but now I am putting it on my computer. Good advice! You write an inspiring blog 🙂
Hi potpiegirl, I’m a newbie and this is my first lens. Very exciting, but very scary. My goal for 2010 is to keep reading, keep writing, & to keep moving forward. Even if I’m shaking in my boots! Ha! Ha!
What a positive article. Setting goals is very important. If something doesn’t work, then try something new. don’t stagnate. we learn by doing. Life can be rewarding if we accept challenges.
Happy new Year. I hope 2010 gives you all you hope.
My plan for the year is to grow my sites and increase the monitory income.
Great Insight
Enjoyed reading your blog with so much positive content
I am so glad to have found your info. I lost my job last week and I have honestly been searching for a way to make money online for a very long time. I have spent….. well, way more money than I care to calculate buying programs that were supposed to get me there that only ended up costing me a lot of money and leaving me very confused and frustrated. I have spent a lot of money to get a “turnkey” web site up and running only to find out that the marketing of the web site was not included. I am a grandmother who loves spending time with her live in grandchildren. I want to do what it takes to stay at home this time and earn a living on the internet. I am tired of working long and hard for bosses who don’t appreciate, or even realize, what you do for them. With unemployment being a mere 50% of my pay check I am left with little or nothing to invest monetarily but time and determination is on my side and I feel that your posts and information will be a great help for me! It is Sunday, Jan 17th. I have about 6 months to make this work or at least be on the way to working. I will be learning from you and leaning on your posts for support and knowledge. By this time next year I hope to be able to report to this blog that I have made it! For now all I can say is “Thank You, Thank You, Thank You”! You have given me hope and a plan!
Dorene
Happy New Year Jennifer,
You have been the cat’s meow for me honey. It has been encouraging to see you grow so much and to be able to grow in understanding right along side you while navigating these sometimes tumultous IM waters.
Thank you for being so very generous these past two years with your information here on your blog and thru numerous SOS emails.
It’s good to see you’re finally retiring that Superwoman lasso and have a good support desk in place…I’m pretty sure I was in that first group of subscribers that probably drove you to that conclusion:)
I Certainly Appreciate You and Wish You Continued Success in 2010!
Sunshine
Hi Jennifer,
thanks for a great review of the year. It was useful to catch some of your posts I had missed earlier.
Looks like you had a pretty good 2009. I wish you all the best in 2010 and hope you are able to fullfill everyone of your goals.
Wow – what a year – continued success to all in 2010 and on
It’s great to start your year right by reading positive articles. All the best for 2010 Jennifer. I want to be more determined and goal oriented this year. Wishing everyone all the best as well. May we all have a productive and fruitful year ahead.
My goal is to be consistent and expand! I have no excuse! LOL!
nice content…
blog walking..
Thanks for such an inspiring post. I’ve just realised that I should be writing down my goals and I must come up with a daily $ amount to work towards.
Thanks again,
Russell.