PROFESSIONAL GOALS FOR 2014

Keeping in theme with my word of the year (build), I decided to set some specific personal and professional goals with plans for execution. Last year was the year of acquiring. This is the year of building.

Probably our largest goal is to save money. Last year, we made some major upgrades from "life as a young couple" to "adults with a family." First and foremost, the empty space in our hearts (that we didn't even know was there) was filled with the birth of our amazing dream baby Henry. Our hodgepodge furniture collection was streamlined, our horrible kitchen was remodeled, and our clunker car was replaced with one that is perfect for our growing family. Our home no longer looks like a slightly upgraded dorm room from the seventies. We even managed to save money from January to December. But now it's time to crack down. We do have a specific number we'd like to reach by the end of the year, which helps us stay disciplined, and we have some business plans to help us get there.

We want to build up the business that Conrad has started and been working on over the last couple years. He started a recurring email service called Sendrecurring that is starting to take flight! He does all the code-related work, and I do all the marketing and some of the design. We'd love to expand what's already been launched and get some good passive income going. I'll be doing plugs for Sendrecurring here and there on the blog as it's a really relevant and helpful (and free!) tool for bloggers.

Clear brain space and build focus. My biggest concern has been Facebook. It's an amazing tool for connecting with people and sharing valuable content, but the majority of what's posted is just distraction! With a new baby, I don't have time to spend entire naptimes in a vortex of useless articles. So we decided to cut back. I will only log onto Facebook deliberately instead of leaving the tab open and clicking over every ten minutes. I will log out when I'm done so I can't just flip back to it. My goal is to only use it to share pictures with my family on my personal account, and use The Framed Lady's page for marketing purposes.

Build The Framed Lady's brand. I've taken on the large task of rebranding and monetizing The Framed Lady, but am expecting very little income to be made through the affiliate ads. My biggest goal for the blog is to have it be the space that would lead people to my shop (which I'm still working on, and which is where the profit hopefully lies). A sub-goal is to create fifty products for my shop. It feels almost insurmountable right now, but I know I can do it if I try! I'm working on designing some prints and products that will be for sale soon. Another goal is to organize and become consistent with everything, so I'm working on setting up a creative space in my home, and I'm coming up with a new posting schedule. I can't wait to share once it's all ready!

You can view my personal goals here.