You may recall at the beginning of the year that I told you what my goals were for 2017. So, I thought that since 2017 is now a distant memory that I would let you know whether I achieved them or not.
Here's a recap of my personal goals:
Travel: I well and truly smashed this one out of the park, I went to Ireland (where I rang in the New Year), UAE to visit friends in Abu Dhabi, Iceland, Jamaica, San Francisco, England (more than once), Washington DC, Spain, Boston and Paris (where I rang in 2018). I'm truly lucky to have the chance of visiting so many wonderful and beautiful places. A+
Healthier: Well, I joined Weight Watchers in March and can tell you that I lost in total 19lbs. However, I have put some of it back on, so not a huge success, but I do know what I need to do to lose it again - which I will be doing in time for a wedding in Ireland in April. I have given up drinking alcohol (not sure if that's a long term thing, but I'm certainly enjoying the clarity I am having by eliminating it from my life). I have started exercising again and hope to tone up some flab! So I think all in all that was a goal that I achieved too! B+
Onto my business goals.
PR Outreach: One of my goals this year was to get myself into magazines, both online and offline and also work with bloggers and influencers. So, in April I approached some family bloggers to get my Handprint Jewelry on their websites, a lot wanted to do a review and some wanted to do giveaways. I can see the benefit of both, the giveaways helped increase my followers on social media and the reviews are timeless on their blogs. B+
Here are a few of the bloggers that I reached out to
Cherry Blossom The Blog Natural Parent Guide Born To Impress
I was approached by Brides Magazine (in the UK) to advertise with them, so I decided to take out three advertisements that spanned most of the year. Here are the photos of the covers and the insert. I probably wouldn't do this kind of advertising again, it's difficult to track how well it's doing, but judging by my Google Analytics, I'd say it didn't drive much traffic. Though having the recognition of being featured in Brides Magazine is a plus.
And I'm psyched to tell you that I've been featured in a book called Start Your Own Etsy Business: Handmade Goods, Crafts, Jewelry, and More (Startup Series). My business is a case study and has 6 pages devoted to me and my little shop!
Getting into more boutiques: I had been adding vendors to a spreadsheet throughout the year and I could procrastinate no longer! July/August is the best time of the year to get in touch with boutiques because they are sitting down and budgeting for their Holiday period, they're choosing designers to wholesale and consign with. I wrote my pitch letter and tailored it to each store.
I now have a few products in an online website called Consume With Love. I have started to collaborate with a company called Little Blokes and they are selling some of my jewelry on their Etsy shop.
My jewelry was also available during December at Montclair Pop Up in New Jersey (and I sold all but one of the pieces I gave them!)
And finally my jewelry is also in a little studio shop in Brooklyn called Better Than Jam.
So, I think I did well on this goal, but not as well as well as I would have liked. I'll give myself a C- Can do better!
Seems like writing my goals down has made me accountable, so I'll be doing the same for 2018, watch this space, I have plenty of goals for this coming year!
Do you write resolutions or goals for the year? How did you get on with yours? I'd love to hear from you, let me know in the comments section below!
