My 2022 End-of-the-Year Reflections

Issue #89 Productivity December 27, 2022

This is the last of my weekly LinkedIn Newsletters for 2022. My newsletter topics each week include branding, marketing, productivity, and business building for creative solopreneurs.

As you read this newsletter, I would like you to relate the points I make here to your own situation and business.?

Who I Am and What I Do

My personal life is completely related to my professional life:?

I am a wife, a mother of six (seven, if you include my little fur baby), and a grandmother of two. I was born and raised and still live in a big historic home in a northern big city. I have three younger sisters, all of whom are also solopreneurs/entrepreneurs.?

I am an introvert married to an introvert, and I enjoy reading, doing yoga and working out seven days a week, listening to and playing music, home renovation and decoration, traveling, knitting, sewing, and needle arts.

I work to live, not the other way around.

My LinkedIn Profile states succinctly what I do:

Solopreneur. Business Coach and Community Builder. Author. Specialist in maximizing branding and marketing influence for independent writers and creative and solo professionals.

My tagline, Branding and Marketing for the Rest of Us, encapsulates what I do and who my targeted prospects and clients are.?

I have been a solopreneur since 2008 after first being an educator and a direct and corporate sales and marketing professional. I bring all of that experience and expertise to my various businesses.?

My prospects and clients are independent writers and creative and solo professionals who are looking for ways to effectively brand and market themselves and their businesses with programs designed for their unique situations.

I work with clients from all over the world through a mix of one-on-one and group online training and coaching programs.

During COVID in 2020, I transitioned from working from my outside community workspace office to working 99% from my home office, and Zoom is now my best friend.

My 2022 Review

I am reviewing my 2022 in the same four areas I write about in this newsletter. Everything I do in my various businesses is about the value?I bring to my work with my clients.

1. Branding Over this year, I tightened up my brand to concentrate on my Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy, the “GCC BMA.” All of my online training and one-on-one and group coaching programs and services are in one place. It is now easy to see everything I offer in the proper context. This reworked configuration is based on feedback from my previous clients.
2. Marketing My marketing efforts include regular email updates, focused ads, and social media marketing in various forms. Everything is planned in my editorial calendar by the month and calendar quarter. That way I can keep a balance on my postings while still allowing for flexibility when needed.
3. Productivity One of the benefits of being a solopreneur is that I can set my own schedule based on when and how I work best. For every week, the times that I work directly with clients individually and as a group are set, as are the times that I do yoga and other workouts. My children are grown and on their own and my husband has his own 8:30 - 4:30 work schedule. That means that I can do my writing and other business activities very early in the morning since I am naturally an early riser (I am up between 4 am and 5 am every day). I can take breaks and do other things during the day, my office closes at 4 pm daily, and I rarely work evenings or on the weekend.
4. Business Building I worked hard this year to reconfigure my products and services to better serve my clients and to streamline my own work schedule. I am very happy with how things worked out. I am now using Linktr.ee for my comprehensive “link in bio.” I have several IPAs (Income Producing Activities) and multiple sources of income. That is intentional.

My Goals for 2023

During this week when my business has slowed down for the holidays, I like to work on my personal and professional goals for the next year and especially for the first quarter.

I prefer to have my goals set no later than the first week of January so that I can start the implementation phase.

I set all of my goals to be “S.M.A.R.T.” goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

After I’ve completed my end-of-the-year review, I know what to work on for the upcoming year. I need to set three goals for each of my various business units and my personal goals.

• What is my “Why?” Why do I do what I do? I have to make sure I am very clear on that, because that determines my daily activities, both personally and professionally.
• What are my financial goals? In each part of my overall business, I am setting annual, quarterly, and monthly revenue goals. Then I have a roadmap of what to do to reach those goals.
• What are my work-related goals? As a solopreneur who works from home, it is very easy to be “at work” all of the time. I have to work hard to “step away from the computer” and close the door to my office at my designated time. I know what I have to do to set my daily and weekly schedule and actually stick to that schedule. Because I have a dedicated room for my 1st-floor office space, it is a little easier to “close the door” and ignore the “siren song” of my computers and iDevices.
• What are my personal goals? We started the renovation and redecorating projects for our 107-year-old, 4,000 sq. ft. home last year. That is a lot of space to manage for two adults and one 12-pound dog. There are still boxes of stuff that need to be reorganized and rooms that need their wall painting and floor sanding completed. Our overall goal is to have everything finished by the end of 2023, which also means that we will not be taking eight weeks of traveling vacations in 2023 as we did in 2022.?

Are you going to complete a 2022 end-of-the-year review and a 2023 planning session for yourself and your business? If so, when?

Let us know in the comments.

Free Download: How to Find and Work with Your Business Coach I am a business coach for independent writers and creative and solo professionals. In this short eBook, I explain how to find and work with the best business coach for your business and situation. You can download this informative eBook at this link.

The Global Creative Community Branding and Marketing Academy (GCC BMA)

• View the complete information about the GCC BMA on the website here.
• Sign up for the 6-course Author and Book Marketing Training Bundle here.
• Sign up for the 6-course Essential Creative Marketing Training Bundle here.
• Invest in your 6-week Pam’s Power Hours customized one-on-one coaching program here (there are only five slots available). Payment plans are available.
• Join us in the Global Creative Community Heartbeat Membership and Group Coaching monthly cohort here. We study a new topic as a group every month, and for January, we’ll be working on our S.M.A.R.T. goals. You can subscribe month-by-month or for the entire year at a 20% discount.