It’s a Saturday morning.
The kids are watching a rare bit of morning cartoons (I say rare because they’re usually doing schoolwork at this time of day and we are NEVER home on a Saturday morning but I am sick with a cold today).
The potatoes are frying in butter on the stove for breakfast, and I have steaming hot coffee in my hand.
I’ve been contemplating a “year end” post that shares some sage bit of wisdom, and was coming up a bit dry.
Then I saw that Kelly McCausey blogged asking about regrets in 2008 and I felt compelled to share some of my own honest recollections about lessons I’ve learned this year.
Sometimes, when you feel discouraged about goals you’ve reached, it helps to look back at what your goals were one year ago. I accomplished several of those goals, including getting out of unsecured debt, establishing an emergency fund, moving out into a place of my own, and hitting certain income goals.
Looking back on that makes me feel great about what I can accomplish in a year’s time.
When I started my online business several years ago, it was fun extra money. I never would have thought I would be supporting a home with 4 children on my income.
One of the things I did right this year was realize EARLY on when I had overextended myself.
I made a couple of business decisions that turned out not to be right for me, taking on projects or memberships that weren’t really focused enough for my business or that would simply prove to be “too much”.
But instead of getting caught up in “What will they think if I quit? I’m not a flake/quitter/whatever!”, I just cut it out, which was wise.
At the same time, I made some mistakes. You see,
I didn’t notice that my cheese was getting stinky.
Those of you who have read Who Moved My Cheese? will get the reference.
I read this book a couple of years ago and thought it was fantastic, but I forgot to apply the main lesson to myself when circumstances started to change in my business.
You see, as a result of my ongoing efforts in 2008 to focus and make everything better in my business, I sold several websites. That was a good move. It made it far easier to not get overwhelmed.
I also increased focus on blogging – both here and at my Natural Moms Talk Radio blog. I blogged every day (or, wrote a few posts at a time and scheduled them to post daily).
While doing these things I didn’t take action when one of my sites, which was a major earner for me, started to dip in traffic. I could kick myself now for letting it happen. I’m not sure if it was a Google algorithm change or just because I wasn’t marketing it as much anymore, but for whatever reason, the traffic and income started to go down. The site went from earning me around $30 a day to just a couple of bucks, and at the end of the month that is a huge difference!
By November I was seriously feeling the drop in income on this particular site. Even though traffic to my other sites was climbing, and my affiliate income and ebook sales also going up, this site represented a significant part of my overall income.
I’ve been working on this site like mad for the last month and I know my efforts will pay off soon enough, but:
I should have monitored the state of my cheese and taken action immediately when it started to appear moldy.
As soon as I noticed traffic and income going down for this site, I should have ramped up my marketing efforts. Then it wouldn’t have taken so much effort to keep that result going.
So that’s my wisdom and my regret for 2008.
But you can bet I won’t let it happen again!
What about you? Any regrets, lessons or wisdom to share?
photo credit: functoruser
My biggest regret is not holding true to the business principles that are closest to my heart. It seemed so trivial that I did not give much thought to it, but in the end it made me lose some of my motivation and drive. I declared about 2 months ago that I would return to my original business principle. Immediately, I felt a lift and my motivation was renewed.
Last year was difficult for me. My fathers illness and subsequent death in August took me away from my business (no regrets). Part of my problem was no clear vision of what I want(ed) my business to be. No clear goals or plans. This year will be different. I have been reading a number of books including The Secret. This has brought to my attention all of the the things I don’t want instead of what I do want. Here’s to what I KNOW will be a good year (no doubts)for my company. http://www.Gardenchick.com
Carrie, my biggest regret in 2008 was trying to do too much too soon. I set ambitious goals forgetting we had just moved halfway around the world and my family’s life was upside down. Nearly drove myself sick trying to do everything.
No regrets really. If I did anything I wouldn’t do again in hindishgt well I learned from it. No mistakes that cost any money. Maybe some time wasters but nothing too bad.
No regrets as to what I did in 2008. My only over all regret is that I didn’t follow my heart a long long time ago and make the decisions I did this year. I might blog about it one day
Carrie, my only regret is, I didn’t get started at all.
scared, I guess,although I have been successfull at everythng I’ve ever attempted. This year will be my
best year yet, I’ve made up my mind!
Don’t forget Monday early OK
Love, Your Friend
Carrie,
I regret that I didn’t do a better job of monitoring my sites as well to catch the slipping profits before they slipped so low. But, on the other hand, I’m proud of the projects I successfully began and the ones I let go.
In the upcoming year my goal is to better balance my time to better balance my life.
Carrie,
I regret trying to do things too big too soon. I have never really been patient
When I can visualize it in my mind, I’m ready to go. I will do a better job of focusing in 2009.
hmmmm, some days I regret that I ever heard of the Internet! Why couldn’t I just be blissfully normal like the rest of my friends?
Seriously Carrie, you accomplished a great deal. Everyone’s business took a dive while people focused on Christmas shopping – and it’s starting to pick back up. Don’t beat yourself up – it’s just part of the cycle.
You and I have been working really hard while others have been playing. I think we’ll have a pretty good edge next month
Have a very happy and safe New Year!
This year, my husband and I have made major steps towards getting out of debt too.
Last year at this time paying household bills was not a priority for me. First I bought groceries, then paid rent, then bought necessary household or personal items, then paid more than $450 towards student debt — then paid hydro, water, and gas.
It got so bad that once a month there was someone knocking on our door threatening to turn off one utility or another. Finally I decided “I do not want to live like this anymore!”
I talked to my husband about our goals and we changed our spending habits. We posted a list of DOLLARS SAVED on the wall and every time we chose not to go out to dinner, or not to get a movie (as was our routine) than we posted it on the wall. These extra dollars were put towards our utility bills.
Little by little, the tide shifted and now, a year later, I proudly pay my bills and rent first, then my student/credit cards and then the rest follows.
My goal for this year is to earn a great income with my online business and to be able to pay off a bigger chunk of our debt this year.
Thanks Carrie for all your helpful suggestions!