Planning for 2011

from Accidental Vix

The festive holidays are almost upon us and in between unwrapping presents and eating lots of yummy food I will be thinking about 2011.  Taking time out to take stock and plan ahead is important however big or small your business is.  Perhaps 2011 will be the year you embark on using social media to promote your business or maybe you will finally start a blog.  These things are all important and big businesses are even recognising the importance of blogging and being mentioned in blogs.  More and more of us are writing and reading blogs every day and they really can be fantastic business tools to share ideas, promote giveaways or new products, share tutorials and gain business knowledge. 

from Two by One

2011 may be the year you decide to increase your web presence and might be considering a website of your own.  Yet you could use your blog as a website.  It is easy to add static pages and even a blog shop, as I shared with you here earlier this year. Then with the power of Twitter and Facebook you can promote your new blogshop or website, but I know how daunting these two can seem if you haven't used them before.  Back in July I shared some tips for using Twitter for business and in August Victoria of Little Wren Pottery wrote a guest post to help us all understand using Facebook for business.

from Katie Viggers

My head is full of ideas for 2011 and I need to spend a morning writing them down and working out what is possible and which ideas I want or need to follow through.  I know for sure that I want to understand Linked In and Stumble Upon better, I also want to create a better income, develop both of my blogs and continue supporting small creative businesses.  On a more personal note I need to be more organised, decorate our house and make new cushions and curtains, sort out the garden.  I will also have to prepare for my youngest child to start full time school in September but in the meantime I plan to enjoy many wonderful afternoons with her, as this time with our children is so precious before the demands of school take over.

from Tea & Ceremony

So what are your goals for next year? Do you plan on taking over the world or perhaps just want to have your work stocked in some shops or even open your own bricks and mortar shop?  A great piece of advice I was given last week by Fiona from Flourish was to think of where I want to be this time next year and for what I want my business to be remembered for.  I will leave you with that thought as you think of your next steps and remember sometimes those baby steps can be as important as giant leaps.