Business Plan: Checking in

Promo banner created using GIMP

Over the first couple weeks of January, I spent some time developing a business plan for my work as a writer. (I blogged about it HERE and HERE.) Since it's been a month since that last post, I thought I'd check in and see how things were progressing. I figure I started out making this plan public, and for the sake of accountability I should keep putting it out there.

My plan has three main themes:

• Increase Productivity
• Increase Visibility
• Improve Skills

There are goals related to each theme, and for this check in, I'm going to focus on the goals and tasks I'd hoped to accomplish in the last month. Here's what I found out...

Increase Productivity

My first goal for increasing productivity was to improve time management by developing a weekly schedule. I tracked all my writing-related activities for one week but then didn't take the next step to put that information into any kind of template. I did identify Facebook/social networking as a huge time-suck (which, DUH), but my day job and family demands have been so variable it hasn't made sense to come up with a schedule that will only likely frustrate me when I can't keep to it. I have tried to limit my focused social networking to a couple hours in the morning and to dedicate time to writing with the internet turned off.

I set a goal of 4500 words per week, and I've done pretty well with that. I'm about 17,000 words into The Lyric Assassin, but have hit a sticking point so have been playing with a different project while my ideas sort themselves out.

My third goal was to work up a portfolio of resources. I gave myself six months to complete that task, and haven't done anything so far. Maybe next month...

Increase Visibility

First goal: Blog regularly. Check. I've done at least three posts a week for this blog, along with my regular posts for the Spellbound Scribes & the Relentless Writers blogs. For my own blog, the most popular post was the one I did on self-publishing with 604 page views, and my average page view per post is 315, although I need a few more months of doing this so I can assess whether the overall page views are increasing.

My second goal for this time frame was to self-publish another short story. That hasn't happened yet, in part because I picked up a theme in the reviews for The Santa Drag. Most of the reviews were positive, but a couple people mentioned it was too short. On the one hand, SHORT STORY, but on the other hand, I don't want to turn off potential readers by having another release with the same problem. While I'm not sure if this is a valid concern, or just something I'm fretting about needlessly, for the time being I made the decision to defer this goal and focus on longer projects.

Increase Skills

My goal was to take part in 3 classes over the year. So far, I had a great time with the GIMP class. I learned a lot about manipulating images, and hope to keep playing with it. Now I just need to find another good class...

So that's where I am this month. If you're still reading along, THANK YOU. I appreciate your patience, and your willingness to hang in there with me. If you have any thoughts, I'm totally open to suggestion. Am I needlessly worrying about the short story thing? Do you know any good classes I could sign up for?

Thanks again, and I hope your Monday is a happy one!
Liv