Lessons

Lesson Info

Setting Craft Business Goals

Difference between mile markers and two duis is mile markers is something that's slightly more complex than one action I could take a right now I'm just sit down and do this at my desk right your mile marker is a thing that will take several actions to all lead up to you accomplishing something. So look, for example, a lot of new sellers want to list their first item in their shop that's a milestone but that's not just one item that's that's you have to create the item you have to write the description, you have to take the picture and if this is your first item, each of those things will be a major milestone for you once you get more into it, you don't have to break it down in that same way, so so each of those things like make item that's a to do thing right description, you could sit down in an hour and write a description the mile marker that your meeting is have listed my first thing so that's why I make the distinction because I want to make sure that you don't put a lot of thing...

s on your to do list that you can't markoff because they're actually like five hundred two duis under that and that's what I find is that people will say open etc shop that's my to do list item for today but that's so many different pieces that you get bogged down and disappointed because open etc shop has been on my list for five weeks. Well, of course, because it's actually, you know, twenty to do things if you just put one of those twenty on your list, you would have knocked it out and you'd be on your way there. So the next step of matt making and you can flip to page sixty in your workbook is to come up with fifty amazing two duis. I put the word amazing in there, so you don't feel so stressed about it. So the question you're answering is, how are you going to get to those mile markers? So what I tell most my students to do is take your first mile marker wait, you know what? We skipped a step we need to put your mile markers and order you need to arrange them from what comes first tow what's closest to your destination, you know it's not enough to just know all the cities you're going to drive through, you have to know the order in which you're going to hit them in order to get there right? That's your do you like my body, like all over the map? You're just like driving back towards you acquire neither, yet so so pushing mile markers in order if they make sense to go in order so shell did a beautiful job of this because first she wrote the pitch then she found out the magazines then she found out who to send it to duh like that you have to do you have to find the place you're going to submit it before you find the person you're going to submit it to so and a lot of these instances before you make a sale you after you opened your etc shop so rearrange our mile markers and how you can rearrange them is you can either start a new list on the back of the page or you can just number them you know so they're out of order but you've numbered them one two, three, four maybe mark out your old numbers and right in new ones s so any questions about the order that you're spitting no I like I noticed I really want to change my photos in my description before I worry about actually like trying to sell the product I know that that needs to change because obviously the photos and the description I have aren't working for me because I get views on it but it's not selling it to them I'm not trying to convince them but I'm trying you know you have been speaking directed our language yeah preaching that's room session want in case you missed it is talking in their language so so yeah exactly you did you do that that would be like mile marker one and then you're later mile markers would be getting closer and closer to and selling them so your contest is going to be one of the mom launch contest is going to be somewhere people write to share it exam post the contest get in trees make a cell increased traffic I love it was perfect but not wait so increased traffic that you need to put a number on and it might be that you don't even have to increase traffic in order to make the sale lt's so that's not necessarily something but thursday's I get like zero views e I need some time to trial that's true but your main focus is on is on running the contest to get the sales and and then if the contest doesn't work maybe the contest happens in the next month and used to have a couple more months in this map yeah then you will try other things okay, you know what I mean and you will decide ok contest only sold ten I have twenty more to go. What could I do? You know, maybe I want to write a bunch of guest post maybe I want to send a bunch of pitches you know and you'll come up with and that's why this is all so flexible so for those of you who told me earlier and that you don't like getting specific thing is this will be flexible this will change our mile markers, each one will get a little different as you get closer to it. So how are you doing with yours? You feel like you have an order in your situation? Might be that they don't have to come for second third. Um, well, I know for sure the first one was to raise my prices and and even just doing this, I kind of like I kind of feel bad, like I feel like it's like I don't want to do it, but I do like I love doing it and I love working with people that I work with it's just a lot, yeah, for one person, so even just saying, well, I want to work less it's like you're feeling from goa? Yeah, what the way that weren't just keeps me but yes, but I know I will feel much better about it once it's done because I can turn that time into time. What matters with my family to absolutely and the reason why I gave you guys that whole inspirational speech pitch about you're allowed to build the kind of business you want to build is you do not have to keep growing forever if it's exhausting you and you're not enjoying it you do not need to feel bad about wanting dork only five days a week instead of six days a week like you that you're allowed to do that yeah, like nobody else is standing over you being like no, you have to work eight hundred hours away, there's also no one standing over you being like no, you have to spend this time with your kids, you know, you get to choose how you want to make it work out, and if you don't want to work that extra day, especially if what you're finding is that you're working that extra day because you're just making more work for yourself because you're being incredibly picky, thin knowing that can help you cut down, maybe help you become more productive in the time you spent what I find that that many people end up finding is that when they cut their hours, they actually get more done, you know, they because they force themselves toe on ly work very specifically on the things that they do best during their hours. I think having a timer will definitely help. Well, timer s o so once you arranged your mile markers in the right order, the next step is what air the actionable things you're going to do to get to the mile marker pick your first mile marker, the one that has to come before everything else and list every single action step. So you're going to come up with fifty two duis for all for for your entire map. But for now, just focus on coming up with five for that first mile marker. Just five things that would have to happen. They might find that not every mile marker has five things. Some of them just have one. Some of them have to, um but but thinking about them in terms of mile markers will get you closer to it. And while there are writing, we have questions or comments online about maps. I think that the chat room is starting to figure this out. People are sharing more examples. There's one here from vip k v I they say my goal is to teach a workshop in london and my milestones include I have found ten spaces that I would like to teach at I have developed the workshop. I have written the pitch, I've sent the pitch. I've gotten confirmation of at least one workshop and I have signed a contract. So are those all good mile markers? That's perfect. And that is so great because it's all in line with getting or where she wants to go, I love it, it's a really good example, yeah, that's a good example. Another clarification here from art spirit has been following along, so they say so. I was putting the to do list in the mile marker list. And it sounds like now that I need to change it up a bit. My destination is to open an etsy shop by milestone is to make fifty items. The two duis are the steps to create the fifty items. Does that sound like a good way to go? Ah, yes. So? So the thing is, though it she needs. If your goal is that open, the etc shop in three months. She needs other milestones in between. There should make fifty projects. She will photograph them. She will go in and actually logging nancy for the first time. That's a big mile marker. Right? Do you log in? You create your name, shafter, create a header. That'll be a mile marker so it might be there for her creating fifty. Adams takes hole three months, and her next goal is opening the tea shop. Either way is fine, and if she hears the other thing, it might be that she just wants just make twenty five and then opened the fc shop and then make the next twenty five. Either way. I mean, it sounds like she knows where she wants to go, and so that is a very good thing just being clear that everything takes a lot more actions that he think that's actually what we're doing here, I didn't not mean to overwhelm you by having you look at a list of fifty to do items because that's most people's reaction it's like, oh you're does, I'll never get all of these done, but the reason I make you list them all is because it helps you get super specific, and if you've been wondering why you don't get the things done that you want to get done, it's, because you didn't know exactly what to dio so that's why we keep drilling down keep drilling down so that you'll know exactly what to do each day and your to do that will be in line with where you want to go instead of just being random stuff that you're just throwing in. Oh, I guess I should do this all right guess I should do this so you can take a deep breath if you start to feel overwhelmed because you were going to discover not everything on this list actually needs to get done, and you have a three whole months to do it. If you stayed perfectly on schedule that's three months to do fifty things that's totally doable, you're not going to go to them today, there's not a referendum on what you haven't done these were the things that you can now see are going to lead up to your first milestone and the things they're going to leave your second milestone so after you have five things ago your first milestone if you haven't yet start writing the two duis for each of your next milestones some will have five some will have ten but make sure you don't miss anything we want to get so crazy specific that this is something you could basically sit down in your desk or your craft able knock it out mark it off crazy pacific just writing ten down wait aren't your mile markers yeah herson out too so tell me tell me let me help you tell me one mile marker the first one has changed my photos and description ok, so do you have new photos to replace the old? They're working on it right now so write down what do you need to d'oh to get the new photos? Anything? Um they need to get email to me after they're taken today. Okay, so that's nothing you need to dio but you need tio so thing one upload new photos okay? Okay. Are you going tio? We talked about this a little bit before for your new description await as you write that there's going to question with your description is are you to write a new one for every single things are just these headbands or one just ahead fans are they one item or they multiple item there? One okay, so so writing you're just so uploading the photos is one to dio writing the description is another two dio because if you get interrupted uh, you know your kid comes in and wants to eat in between you doing the things right? Those were two different two duis you could do on different days. Yeah, you know, they don't have to be under one thing. The other thing with writing a description, some people, when they need to rewrite it, they actually take two or three steps. They write a draft, they edit it, and then they added into at sea that's true and so give me another mile marker and I'll help you break it down. This is like the stuff I get out over thinking about the systems of how to make things were actually michelle and I are on the same page with this at lunch that we really like thinking and systems and what leads to this leads to this. So give me another my own work. I need to create deadlines or had a contest, okay, so you need to decide when you're going to hold it yeah, okay, I thought maybe during the month of august, but is that too soon? Well I don't know if it's just because I don't know what else you have to dio but I'm to do anything okay well then so that's really just did it to do item just decide decide on contest now for you to actually announce the contest that would be a mile marker that has multiple to choose one of them would be to decide one would be to write a description of it yeah another one would be maybe to create the image is going to go along with it or the hashtag okay and then of course you had the whole mile marker about inviting other people to take part and that has many two duis under it so how about you do one photo editing absolutely because that's like the optimizing doing all that writing howto you know what's the fastest most whatever took less time to keep good photo management ok so tell me what your mile markers so let's say from a website okay shop it's uploading photos okay but I know that's been optimized they have to tag them I've got to do all that and then yeah well women I have a question about that is like the different shapes for instagram and then pinterest is there like the I pick you know whatever right okay so this mile marker is you're adding new totally new items to your shop or you're just adding new photos of well it's I have to you got the photos so then I have to write the descriptions that kind of decide how am I gonna I'm going to sell them his originals they want to have an option of printing okay making additions that was one of your mile markers decide on what I'm doing with these because before you can even mess with photos and descriptions, you have to know how you're going to be selling it. So yeah, so mile marker is decide what to dio two duis are researcher learned more about the differences if you feel like you don't yet know and then to actually make the decision and then you'll be able to write the description for what I'm going to offer they say you have to you have to decide what you're gonna offer first as for you're talking about like photo management and tagging it uh and this is on your web site not like on etc it was both but ok so I think that I mean uploading photos can be super simple but there's the editing that you need to get the right size so that's it to dio at it photo okay first to dio figure out the size you needed to be edited tio that he was have you your web shop thing will inform you what size it needs to be instagram it just needs to be square I think it's maybe three hundred by three hundred twenty five I'm not quite sure, but if you edit it to be square, instagram will make it the right size. It's a really big photo, so you can also google uh, correct size for facebook, pinterest you people can just pin your photo as it isthe if you're writing a block post about it, you'd want to do an extra image for a block post actually had some words on it maybe, um so so those air each two duis, research the thing and edit the photo opening up in your software and just knock out each of the sizes upload the photo, and when you upload it, you add the tags or the title or the description. If you don't know how to do that in your software, that goes above it and write you out how to upload photos or how to change the tag on them. Now, if this is going tio, like distract you from just doing, it skipped the optimizing rightto, adding them because right now you're focused on sales and so it's more important that you have things that people can buy than it is that everything be optimized perfectly, you can't make any sales unless I mean something to buy, and you can't make any cells until you decide what it is you're gonna offer. So that's the very first steps and whatever research you need to dio I always warn people not to have it to do though that's has learned more because you could just do that forever, right? But if you say research the answer to what do prince cost research answer to how do I offer prince that's a kind of deeper question but touch yourself a time limit I'm going to read about this for a day decided that tomorrow but and like I said before about making a commitment and just coming to a conclusion whatever you pick will be fine because you can change it I mean I work with artists who on lee do originals and then they started offering prince and then they took away their prints because they didn't like it so you'll be able to change it but you can't make any sales until you pick something, so don't be worried you're picking the wrong thing anybody else with her two duis under their mile markers? This is the main meat of the map making, so do not be shy about talking about it. How about in the chat room two people are they starting to understand the distinction? You know, I think people are getting it now they're doing the same thing exercises in the workbook they're going through all these a lot of people are focusing on writing, they're getting all of their fifty to do items down, so I think it's going really well for one of the chat? Awesome. So the thing is, is that I really I really do want to write fifty things, even though you will learn not all fifty things have to be done, but what we're really going for here is like a brain dump, right? Everything that's, oh, maybe I should do that. We just want it out of your head, all those little individual actions that we just talked about with the photos out of your head and onto the piece of paper, so that when you sit down, you don't have to think the list is just there. So even though it might seem overwhelming, just keep in mind, you're not necessarily going to do everything, and you also have three months to do these fifty things, which is more than enough time. So I wantto share some examples about what might be on your to do list. I've loved hearing from you guys, but I've also seen a leather, a lot of other maps we made, and so we can talk about some of those that might spark some ideas of what you're missing. Um, so in the past, one of my maps has been to finish a book, write a book that I was working on that kind of hung out forever and that seems like well, you just write every day, right? But in fact I knew what chapters that I was going to work on so I needed tio so what I did was mile marker was like finish chapter five finish chapter six then once it's all finished one of the mile markers is I have I've read through the book and added today and another uh mile marker was I have send it to the editor or the publisher so underneath all those two duis even though that seems very like just sit down and write chapter five tara, if I just had to go and sit down and write chapter five like I would never get to it because that seems really big and scary, so I would either outline the book to instead I would say right your segment on experimentation, right? Your segment on, you know, using twitter to connect with your in stores, I don't know and and then so those were my two duis, right? This segment I tried to think of each segment in a small doable I could write this in one morning, cheung I always want my two duis to be something I could do it in the morning like in one chunk on one day because I know how I chunk of my work best I can't really work on anything for more than an hour in an hour and a half so I break my two duis down into that teeny tiny amount. So if it's something like we had the example of the person who's starting their etc shop the mile markers might be make your first fifty and so the to do lists I like to make one you know? And then each day another thing might be time how long it takes me to make one item and then schedule in when I'm going to be making these items and make a production calendar so that might not be something that you think you might think well, my two duis or just make one make one make one fact is you're gonna get bored of that so instead figure out your schedule I'm gonna make five every weekday for how many days would that be to get fifty okay ten days perfect now at the end of the ten days you know that time of heavy making is up so you're ready to move on to the next thing you're mile markers if your goal is something like that you want tio my mind just went like sorry you go is like something you want to launch a new project kind of like with your contest from a month of love contest or a brand new product you're mile markers are going to be that you complete the project that you created a plan for announcing it that you've actually completed that plan and then your two duis will be all of the little pieces of making whatever that thing is, you're making the two duis under the mile marker of creating the content plan or how you're going to launch it would be, you know, I'm going to write a book post on this I'm in a tweet this many times a week I'm going to and you'll get just super specific about what that contact plan is that might mean that you're researching some things that might mean that you'd have to hold on experiment to see what works and then your mile markers like announce it and tell people the individual two duis make a list of people I want to email about this. Okay, I got the list, so make sure you've got their contact right. The initial email that I'm going to write pay another to do is send it to this specific person, send it to this specific person, make your list crazy long, crazy, detailed so that you know exactly what to dio and you guys seem like you're getting done writing how's your to do list coming along good, yeah, how about you guys? I just can't do it here, I can't think so that makes sense are you doing ok, target? Is it so the fifty is it go through each each coming with two duis under each mile marker each moment much but I have no at this point yeah everything out of your head they could possibly have to do with this project and it does take a lot of thinking so you guys were definitely writing now because I want you so bad to have a map when you leave but know that you can even work on this later the world run implode do we have anybody questioning there to do that in the chat before we move on no I think people are just breaking them all out chris for the cages says who just throw it out the mile markers in two duis who was a lot it's a lot of people in here are taking that time to write they are focusing it's hard to do it while you're multitasking I know it's hard to write all this while you're watching us while you're typing in the chat room while you're on twitter we understand that too as much as you can right now but of course like you said some of this can be done after we wrap up this is going to be an ongoing learning environment for you guys so as you're feeling these out let us know what is it that you've been struggling with and what do you feel good about now that you have your to do list all filled out yes, and what I like about this is that you actually are. I love that christopher case stopped and rode it all out because what I find is that people who do it like right now, you know, when I hold it online and people who do it that very day or when I am doing it in person with a class and they do it that very day, they are the ones who email me and say, I'm so glad that I did this, I can actually see it seems overwhelming, but what's stopping aa lot of people is that they just didn't think it through. It seems overwhelming, but then once you take the time to think it through, it seems really obvious you're like, ok, I totally have a list. It is making sense for me from doing this in the past is that, like, when you have things like photos that you have to dio and you're going to do that repeatedly is to put in, like, right up process for doing the photos, writing up the process will help you learn how to do it, and then it won't be something that you have to like reading invent the wheel every time you do it, but that that's like something that you can just put into your list is like creating a process for doing that and I have other people who work with me so sometimes having it written down is really important um it's always important ever written down but uh it also helps you then start seeing that there's a lot of steps in that absolutely because you know the other thing I hear most often is like ah when I when I actually listed down all the steps to editing pictures or to writing a block post no wonder I think it's going to take me twenty minutes and it takes me two hours I've been consistently frustrated that I can't do this faster but I'm actually doing fifty steps so having knowing all of these little steps also helps you plan your time better yeah I think people lot of people get hung up making a list because they don't want to right the wrong thing down but I mean you can easily rewrite this list you can reorder it just write everything that pops into your head and then edit it yeah exactly and if you weren't the kind of person who's done projects in the past like in an ordered way this khun seem scary but getting it all out will actually make it less scary because you won't be wondering what to dio you won't be feeling like it's all in your head all the time and that's, actually, what has always kept me from taking action is if it's just in my head and not on paper. I don't. We don't actually know, and so I feel a constant sense of stress. But I mean, this thing, what am I not doing? Getting it out helps.