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Draft Your Daily and Monthly Action Plan

Lesson 30 from: How to Make a Living Selling What You Make

Megan Auman

Draft Your Daily and Monthly Action Plan

Lesson 30 from: How to Make a Living Selling What You Make

Megan Auman

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Lesson Info

30. Draft Your Daily and Monthly Action Plan

Lessons

Class Trailer

Session 1

1

Class Introduction

19:47
2

Define Your Big Goals: What Gets You Out of Bed?

31:09
3

Finding YOUR Ideal Number

37:12
4

How Much Should You Pay Yourself an Hour?

32:03
5

Who is the Ideal Customer for Your Products?

30:33
6

What is Your Customer Willing to Pay?

38:34
7

Pricing Your Products for Profit

31:06
8

Where Does Your Brand Need Work?

51:31
9

What Are The Strengths and Weaknesses of Your Products?

40:07
10

What Makes You a Great Business Owner?

36:19
11

What Should Your Product Be Now?

43:38
12

Bonuses w/ Purchase

01:33
13

Bonus w/ Purchase: Your MAL # (ideal #) in Detail

05:50
14

Bonus with Purchase: Testing Customer Profiles using Facebook ads

16:27

Session 2

15

Live Check In

40:19
16

Shift Your Money Mindset

43:12
17

How To Finance Your Business

33:57
18

Are You Ready to Crowdfund?

52:51
19

Analyze Business Opportunities

35:12
20

Test the Market by Entering with a BANG

50:33
21

Plan Your First Big Sales Event

55:31
22

Market and Promote Your Event: How to Build Buzz

57:00
23

Make Your Event a Success

54:17
24

Analyze and Move Forward

33:18
25

Bonus with Purchase: Calculating ROI

20:10

Session 3

26

Evolve Your Product Line

59:42
27

Create a Production Strategy

52:12
28

Plan for Growth and Future Revenue Streams

35:47
29

Your Big Business Vision

41:23
30

Draft Your Daily and Monthly Action Plan

44:09
31

Keep the Momentum Going

19:48
32

Live Check-in - Finale

28:59
33

Bonus with Purchase: Adjusting your MAL # with employees and contractors

15:16
34

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Catherine Utschig

00:54
35

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Christine Herrin

01:35
36

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Holly Tanner Straus

01:17
37

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Joy Jenkins

01:03
38

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Leah Drapkin

01:08
39

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Lisa Jones

01:12
40

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Monica Jacquay

01:12
41

Free Bonus: Student Interviews - Richelle

01:13

Lesson Info

Draft Your Daily and Monthly Action Plan

Hello everyone so today we are on lesson twenty four draft your daily and monthly action plan so our goal today it's to draft your daily and monthly action plan to help move your business forward I want to help you guys deal with that problem of what do I do today where am I supposed to be spending my time I don't know let's just go on facebook up it's noon let's eat lunch right we're going to solve a home that problem today because we're going to create these alien monthly action plans that support you make a living number and support your revenue goals and support the big vision of your business which is what we did in the last lesson right we sat down we came up with that big vision and we actually visualize that hopefully you guys created those boards and shared them we could that big vision for what you want your business in your life to look like so let's take a look at where we are in this boot camp were on session three create your plan for success and we're almost done right w...

e're at lesson twenty four draft your daily and monthly action plan you believe how far we've come we've learned a lot right in the last twenty three lessons we've still got more to go right because this one's really, really ki tto actually helping you move forward and take action on what we're doing so how do you prioritize all the tasks that you have to get done in your day someone feel like they struggle like what they're supposed to be spending their time on always like yo joys like yeah you're right so how do you figure out what's most important and really how do you become more efficient you know we were talking at one point and lisa asked me like oh how did you like you said all the stuff you did how did you get that done? You have a team of a million no I have one production employees but I'm really efficient I prioritize the most important things in my day and he let the other stuff go right so I want to talk about how you prioritize those tasks number one as I want you to identify your prime work times when are you most productive what time of day works best for you you work for yourself there is no there are no rules right there no rules why fight with times that your are the most productive right for me I'm super productive first thing in the morning I'm a morning person especially well in the winter I'm a no person right I don't want to do any the winner but like spring summer and fall I'm up early my primetime like seven to eleven a m really really productive right? So I structure the most important parts of my day to get done then right maybe it's designing new work maybe it's working on a new marketing campaign when we're doing model photography I always bring her in in the morning right I'm fresh I'm ready to go we bring her in when I'm writing content for creative life class anything that requires those big boost of brain power if I have to weld prongs on for the contradiction that happens in that key time of day right I know when I'm most productive what do you guys most productive like I turned on no matter what time I wake up like right at that golden hour like from three to five when the sun's going is like that's when I want to start doing things and that's not supposed to be making dinner for has been heard teo right so where you you problem you need to chef right like that's your most productive our talk to your husband be like look we've got to shift this right keep those hours reserve them right or hire someone to make dinner wake in the morning when I don't care right yeah all right all right I got to put it in the crockpot and move on right well early morning awesome yes oh no those times and then no one of you least productive I always hit a slump between two and four in the afternoon and I remember I was working with the acupuncturist and I was like yeah, I was like I just get really tired at that point in the day he was like you work for yourself right? I'm like yeah like go take a nap like there are no rules right like if you get tired two o'clock maybe that's just your body telling you to relax right? So I kind of had a schedule for myself where that mid afternoon time you the more mindless stuff right? It turned on netflix and I pack up some orders I had some unpacking orders for me he left it to me right now, right? So I turned on netflix back up a couple orders and then I go for a run, right? You know, everyone tells you you must exercise first thing in the morning no, I don't want to take an hour out of my most productive time of day no firm later when I when I can just turn off my brain right and go so one of you least productive and then for me usually I picked back up again I could get a little bit more activity like seven to nine not always the most focused I'm not going to write a creative live class done, but usually I feel jazz enough to get back in the studio sometimes I just stopped working for the night to that's also ok, right? And then what times are off limits for work right do you have to pick the kids up from school? Do you have to have make dinner a certain point, or can you shift those right if it ever ups your most productive times of the day? So be aware of those as well, right? When you want to stop working when you know this you khun slot, you're big highest brainpower tasks and your most productive time now if you're most productive, time is later in the day that you do want to be aware that, like, okay, I've hit peak production of our now I have to tackle those big tasks, right? There are some advantages to being a morning person, but if you're not a morning person, you have to build it into your schedule. So the second thing when you're thinking about your day is you need to focus first and foremost on revenue generation that is number one every day or if you're planning your schedule the night before every day, you need to ask yourself, what can I do to make money today? What can you make money next week? What can I do to make money next month, when I was in the earlier days in my business and carriage, until he was in the earlier days of hers? Sometimes we just have those days where we call each other like I don't know what I'm supposed to do today, right? Like I got so much stuff going on in the other person to be like what can you do to make money today but it's always number one right? Can you email your your list? Can you call a store and ask them for a reorder right? Can you post something on instagram and say first personal comments gets this whatever it is right? What can you dio to make money today and if it seems like there's no money that's going to nationally come in today what can you do that sets you up to make money next week next month? Right now my business is very heavy on wholesale so I'm always asking myself, what can I do to make money today though a lot of times that doesn't bring the revenue in right away, right? So my what can I do to make money today might be called a store or email a store and see if they need to reorder truthfully that doesn't actually make me money for another six weeks, right two weeks so I get the order at the door my existing in council met thirty so it's you know, up to another four weeks till they pay me right? But technically the money is not coming in today but that's still the revenue generating activity right it's bringing guaranteed money into the pipeline that should always be your first focus what can I do to make money today? I highly recommend writing that down posting in your studio space as a good reminder for you right then you also need to include time spent working on your business and not just time spent working in your business. We talked about this in the last lesson with tracy matthews right? You have to focus on the big picture and not get sucked in to all the little crap that's so easy to suck you in, right? So what does that mean right working on your business it means setting the big picture planning out the next launch identifying what the next show is figuring out how all the pieces fall into place working in your business is like a answer emails I gotta pack orders you to do this other little things now if you're one person show yes those things still have to get done but you have to do the big picture stuff you have to do the stuff that move the business forward you also want to be proactive, not reactive this is really really key this is why I get so much done because I focused on being proactive and not reacting to what's happening in my day you don't have to check or respond to email first thing in the morning, I cannot tell you how many people who I've worked with or I read an interview with them, and the people ask them what their day is, and they say I get up, I check email for two hours, and I responded email for two hours. You are doing it wrong, it's going to look at you and tell you if you spend that much time and the first thing you do every day you spent two hours checking and answering email, you are doing it wrong. I don't care what you think, you're doing it wrong, right? There is no reason. First of all, if you have that many questions to answer, it means that all the other parts of your business aren't natural answering those questions right? Put something better on your website. Look for those questions that get asked all the time. Where can you be more clear in your business? Where can you be more clear with your customers? And if your business really does require you to answer a lot of emails, hire someone else to do it, because chances are they don't really need to hear from you, right? Not that important, you know we talked about in the interview with tracy matthews she's like I've got ten thousand emails, I have not many too I was talking to michel about michelle about it off camera right there's no reward for inbox zero I can't pay my mortgage with inbox hero kam paid my mortgage with money right that comes in when you focus on revenue generation so focus on that you know for me everything comes into my phone I usually I usually check my phone pretty regularly but it's like if I can't delete or reply on my phone like thirty seconds it's probably not that important I let it go right wholesale orders get go straight to the assistant we move on right don't spend all day checking email and don't spend all day checking social media I'm just waiting for likes and comments it's another big trap right? Oh I just posted this really cool thing I see when people liked it right ah lot of times I'm in the studio all post something because I've got my target kind of post times that I want to hit and then I'll go put my phone in the other room right then I can't look at it you don't need to check it all day long turn off the facebook notifications on your computer shut your computer if you're not on it right one window one browser clothes everything else out and then just earmark those little times right? We're on a break and lisa was like how are you getting in there and checking that private face but all the time, so not checking it all the time, right? I got up this morning, I sat down, I spent an hour, is powered through answer everybody's questions? No, I'm not gonna worry about it for the rest of the day. It'll wait, you'll keep nothing you're doing. Is that urgent that it can't wait for twelve or twenty four hours, right? And if you are spending large portions of your day on social media, make sure you're doing it strategically. There was a time where I was spending what felt to other people, like a decent amount of time on pinterest, right? But I had a plan, and also that plan wasn't just hanging out, right? So I was thinking about my most productive time for the day I was getting up every morning, and I was devoting an hour to pinterest content creation, right? So it wasn't just me going on checking things again. Proactive, right? I was generating content for that platform that's, proactive hanging out on that platform and just reading mostly reactive. Now we talked about listening with harry gentilly, so if you're going in with that strategy of listening, that's okay, but again, that means a targeted twitter list or specific group that you're following, right? It doesn't mean oh I'm just going to go in here and float around and suddenly it's two hours later and look, I bought this cute thing that was on sale and people was also doing right strategy get in there with a strategy and here's the other thing that I think is sometimes hard right? You could do that other stuff on your downtime but you have to figure out how to identify this is social media strategy time this is downtime I could do whatever I want right? Maybe it's different devices maybe strategy happens on your computer downtime happens on your phone or vice versa for me when I'm like in power pin mode that's like phone, phone, phone, phone, phone right then I want to relax I might actually open it up on my computer but that I'm doing the content creation of my computer right? So you have to set those boundaries for yourself and know what works for you and say ok now is the focus time right? So our first exercises that I want you to draft your ideal day and your daily list of priorities what are the most important things you have to do every day and what is that ideal day in terms of your workflow right to find a loose schedule for maximum productivity part of the reason that I do this and that I don't have a real job is because I don't want a tight schedule that defeats the whole purpose right but I have a loose schedule I have an idea right I want to get up within this range actually don't set an alarm right I get up pretty much every morning by seven I don't set an alarm just get up that's what's natural to me that's what feels right right get up I'm a breakfast person I mean a big breakfast and I do the things that I have to do it right so that that loose schedule you might have a few boundaries you know my ups goes at three thirty so I do of that battery right if I wanted to go out today goes out at three thirty and you also have a backup plan I can run it into another place and then I just have to be there by like five thirty or sex right but I love to shoot for that three thirty target because it just gives me a little bit a structure and a little bit of a goal but it's not so like oh you know whatever it's fine right little bit structure but not a lot and then I want a list of the major tasks that you want to come accomplish each day in order of priority and those are going to change right we're talking a minute about your bigger action plan because what I found is that the best way to think about running your business is cyclical you can't do everything all the time right? But if we know the kind of loose structure of our day we know when the best places are two slot in those key priorities so I want to do now is a hot seat so we can actually map out your big day we're gonna do it with someone who's not a morning person so holly jump on up here, have a seat and you know I think are an interesting one too because a lot of your business model is doing work for other people, right? So it's probably really easy for you to fall into that trap of reactive not proactive yeah I worked on the I prove this close to the end of the deadline if I turn on right so and that's ok if you know that's how you work right but we also want to make sure that you're not been spending the whole day being like I swear it's coming and it's coming right like we wantto kind of give you that focus time all right so if we're mapping out your day once you're most productive time I was I work with the son we live in a loft space so a lot of it depends with the light and get the western funds so it's like right about three o'clock four o'clock it's pretty and I can see so you're yes I actually I also work in a space with skylights and really it makes a big difference, right? Yeah, fund out we could work. Okay, so you're prime time usually starts about three p m and again it all depends on the sum, but about how long do you really want to work? If you didn't have to stop right to make dinner, how would you really want to keep working for that? You're in that prime. I get in the zone, I can go like, oh, night, mate, but I would stop maybe around nine, okay? Because I wanted entertainment time hit that right? So you're doing that so obviously that that makes it difficult to do your normal dinner, right? Yeah. So what? What can you do about that? Can you push that back? Can you make your husband in charge of dinner? I could probably make it in the prep it in the morning. Okay, so right, heaven, he can serve himself. He's, he's. All right, with that one time where you normally getting up, I have to get up to take him. So we're we're up it eight or whatever, but I do yoga by nine and perfect, right? So, you know, like you're going to get up around eight yoga and now in here you're going to sneak in this is my dead this is like this is a like so in your right so in your death happened social media like ours just piss away and I don't know why but okay, so what we want to do in this time is make sure that you're not like still on social media and like just wasting your time until you get to hear right because we wanted you to feel like when the sun's on you're ready to go and you're not like the sun's on but I'm still on facebook right and it's two hours later and suddenly I've got anything done right? So what I would say you know, you're also going to figure out how you can prep dinner, right get all that done in that sometime and then I would say you're going to give yourself a little bit of structure here like I can have an hour on social media, right? You can say I could have one hour set a timer if you're the kind of person who falls down the rabbit hole set a timer, go off in our time was up done close it right the other thing so when you say this is your prime time, this is really when you're making stuff right? Yeah, hair right part better okay, so the other thing that we have to put in for you is revenue generation right so really again this is your max on social media what can you do in this time that makes you money today yes making the product makes you money but what can we do to bring more of that into the pipeline? This is part of time that I should because I'm really flow at writing an email or contacting people go just for some reason it seems to take me so long to write the simplest okay so yes so this is definitely where we want to put that but at the same time it's also possible that it takes you along because you're not doing it when your brain is most focused right? So one of these days when your brain feels really turned on when that sun cup comes up what I want you to dio is draft an email templates and this could really work for a lot of people, right? First of all, most people way over respond to email actually one of the reasons that I do it on my phone instead of my computer because then you have to be brief right? So I'm thinking that you're trying to be too long right? But what I want you to do in one of these primetime days is draft some templates so what are the typical things that you're doing when you're trying to write these emails? Are you replying to requests? Are you sending out stuff to prospect more like introduce myself like I met somebody and they wanted to have I think my biggest hurdle right now is trying to get either web pictures that don't even have to be a web page did write a presentation of what I do to say a painting contractor and it's like, oh every do fireplace in getting those photos to them to use flicker a little bit that I think is your number one it's so funny because these new social media platforms come and we forget about ones that actually worked really well if you need a place to put a lot of images online yeah someone flicker it takes two seconds you khun group them by theme and then you could just send them the link right? You look at that perfect right saved you so much time because then they're all there and they're all ready to go so anything that you can do to say that time is going to help you so you're gonna put your images on flicker it doesn't matter if you got the ones they don't not right right? And for what you're doing with clients it's not really that essential right? The more important thing is that they see the portfolio so a flicker was built for so get in there just dropped these on and then right draft some emails so obviously certain things are gonna change but if you know that say you met someone in a networking about but every emails like hey it's holly I met you at x y z event here is what I can do for you go see this a flicker if you have any questions you'd like to work with me reply to this e mail here that's our super sneaky called action right reply to this email tells him what to dio and then you send that out right keep that in a file on your computer keeping on ever not keep it in a word doc whatever it is copy and make changes cut your email time significantly right because you feel like you have to write something very different to every person kind of yeah just right I just ramble right here something that what do you want to read? Somebody's rambling email do you have time for that now right? You don't have time for that they don't have time for that right not even just that it's just like it's spelled checking my only god really great so if you already drafted it it's already spell checked right write copy and paste plug in those couple of blanks send systems can make a big deal and helping your day right? So even though email and the prospecting parts when we're talking about email here we're not talking about checking yeah we're talking about prospecting right? Well I can't even tell I have like eighteen I took the class before I have eighteen thousand it's okay if you have a lot of tons ten maybe over a low estimate for me right? Like forty thousand emails so ridiculous right? But it doesn't matter I go in and I read the ones that matter right I read the ones from my stores or the ones that were request for information from either delete er ignore most the time I have signora that's why there's so many in their right but doesn't matter because if they're not revenue generating they don't matter so you're not worried about checking you're sending your prospecting that is your key revenue generation thing honey and if you take one day where you're in prime work zone and draft those email templates if it's really hard just pay someone right pay someone who is a good copywriter to sit down and do it for you draft those then you can get up you can kind of do your thing and in your slump time you could have this list today I need to email these five people and I couldn't do it when my brain is not really working because all I'm doing is copying and pasting for my draft and giving them the links to the right albums on flicker and that's it so now you've got your revenue generation happening here and then you've still reserved all of this time for your prime work time right this is so worth the cost of admission right here way just broke down your day in a much more efficient way I look like there's a simple answer right like why can't I just make the dots right exactly yeah perfect I think this is gonna seriously up your productivity for the day because I'm like when I said I don't want to make a serious but like I don't want to pick what I want for dinner because like what if I don't feel like that so I'm more hesitant yeah caught in a place as opposed to and you know what here's the other thing you forgot you that one morning because you weren't sure you wanted to dio it's eight nine call for takeout right twenty was invented right doesn't have to be that hard so awesome permanent thank you so you guys can do the same thing right figure out what your peak work times are and then think about those things right now that are sucking your time and what's the system right filled the system out you know I'm too replied every e mail you don't to draft everyone fresh right just template it out this is the one from people I man person this is the one for people I'm cold calling and then you just change the name right sending the same email I was cold calling a wholesale account would send the same emailed every single one change the name well, template. Fact, I think in sell your products to retailers actually show you know that tablet, right, it's really easy. Build those system then. Now, in addition to your day today, in order to make your big vision a reality, you also need to focus on the big picture and not just the daily tasks, right? And remember when were talking about this and we slide this in for my big question to holly was what's the revenue generating activity, right? And where does that go in your day? So our next exercise and I want you to plan your next six to twelve months we've got your day now we want to plan out actually in your workbook, there's a calendar in there so you can actually sit down and do that right? I want you to use that calendar to block out major times for your business when you're most focused on these areas now. Ah, lot of this stuff may have to happen more than just in those key areas. Right? Marketing and sales, that's revenue generating where it should be revenue generating a lot of times. It's not quite right. Your marketing is not generating revenue. You need to do different kinds of marketing, right? That's, really the key right there? If the marketing you're doing isn't bringing in money, posting on facebook all day isn't bringing in money or at the very least, of its not bringing in new email subscribers that will eventually buy from you. It's not a good use of your marketing time, right? So think of marketing and sales revenue generating, but then we want to think about all of these different areas over the year of our business, right? So one are you more focused on marketing and sales? When are you focused on designed time and creative play one you giving yourself time for visioning of strategic planning, one of you in deep production mode, let's, face it. Sometimes you gotta get in the studio and do the work right and when are you going to give yourself time for vacation, for travel, for relax station, right? How can you slot those in? So be realistic with the demands on your time, right? I know what you have to dio if your kids go on summer break and it's really hard for you, get worked on acknowledge that we'll be like, okay, well, it's summer, and I'm going to do a huge marketing campaign and make four hundred products and do this and that and that because you're just going to set yourself up for failure, right? And then you also have to be realistic about the things that you can't control. I do the new york of show ever every year, twice a year, right? So doesn't matter what I want to do in august, august in february are all about marketing and sales, right? They're all about doing that. It's the pre show marketing it's the lead up and it's the show and so that's usually where I start when I'm planning my year as I look at those kind of big boulders that I can't move, I can't change the date of a show you can't change if your kids are on summer break, maybe you can send him to summer camp for two weeks, right? There are a few things you can fight, but you can't change when they're on school holidays you can't move holidays, right? I can't move thanksgiving, I really I could use an extra week in there, no it's, not movable, right? And you know how much or how little you can get away with on opting out of some that stuff, right? Do you have a lot of family obligations do you want to be able to I don't wanna work all the way up till christmas eve. It's one of the reasons that I have a wholesale business and I don't do shows I have a lot of friends who do a lot of retail shows in december, right? And that sounds awful to me I want to like shit my last wholesale orders out maybe the first week of december I want to put my feet up and relax, right? Think about those things as well now what do you want that what you want your year to look like? What do you want your timeto look like? So I want to go ahead and you another hot seat where we actually chart somebody's year so we want to do that joy how about up here? Actually we're gonna go back because these are the things that you want to plot in here, right? So we're gonna go month by month year, march, april, may, june, july, august, september, october november you're bigger piece paper okay, so went for you are many times that have to just be blocked out right thing that you can't or really don't want teo, whether it's vacation travel, holiday what's the big kind of that first step um, you want to block out, so we definitely want to start looking into doing trade show on, so I think we're too late for the I don't know fertility for the february one you're not but so looking into a february and any ready for that right so in your case maybe we're saying okay, so this is trade show so this is big sales and marketing time yeah frank and then are you basically and get on the circuit then so then you're going to say I'm going to do august as well yeah, your sales and marketing in there are there any other times of year are you trying to do any other key revenue generation through sales and marketing besides those who trade shows are there any other maybe is there a launch that you want to do? Is there something else that you want to slot in not right now? Okay all right, so you're gonna keep those as your primary focus and I would say because you're really new that slide this time up so that you can really devoted to pre show market so you're going to really start you're pre show marketing here and here especially because you know when we're talking about those big boulders that you can't move in terms of timing. There are trade shows that happened in july and there are trade shows that happened in january and so the more marketing stuff you can get out the stores before those even if you're doing ones at the tail end of the season the better off you'll be all right you want to be in stores, minds before they start buying so they can plan you into their budget right yeah so what else do you have a key designed time or keep production time that you want to slot in uh we're pretty much a constant constant you're kind of production right? You've got a team but what about design? We're talking about a lot of new potential items for you guys, right? Yes so actually so for design for the wars my mom usually likes to work in the winter okay? Because it's a little more slow so probably december okay or november you're doing some design time here, you know perfect. So these are really big design which does kind of makes sense with both right? You're rom's doing the designing that's when she's feeling creatively productive but also write this sets you up in good shape for kind of coming into that season and if your focus your main revenue is on wholesale, then you're gonna end up doing even though you guys were doing kind of year round you're probably gonna do a bigger production but and here because ideal you're coming off of that august show with a lot more sales, right? So you really kind of carving this out for production actually make this mistake all the time I'm always like I travel in september and october, right? And then I thought of the gift show when I'm like well, I thinking I'm time for that my employees working in capacity, I'm working at capacity. We're busy here, right? So right, you may have to realize that you're going to kind of step that right, and then what's happening in here, is it just production are you can you add in anymore income or any more key revenue generating? And also don't forget about when you're thinking about the big vision and strategic plans to maybe spring is a good time for you guys for visioning? Yeah, that or my mom usually towards the end of winter, since in boston, we can have really long winter ahead times seok that's when she it's that let's go to paris let's, go find inspiration newbies from flea market hard. So right, so that travel on that inspiration report. And so are you looking at me like end of march, april for that? Because I know you guys have those super long winters. So you're doing that travel and that kind of inspiration, right? And that's super important to plan for what we want to block it out. You people always ask me like, oh, how'd you have time to go to europe for two weeks because I put it on my calendar? Six months ago and I kept telling him that I tell everyone my travel plans before any of them are confirmed I haven't bought my flights I've got my tickets I'm hungry I'm going to india really I'm like yeah because you taught off people then it makes it really easy to go they know you're gonna be gone it's fine you got right there. What else are we thinking about? I think especially since we're in the boston area we could do trunk shows okay? And what are you thinking you wanna plug goes in if you're doing scarves and stuff are we gonna maybe slot some of these in in here? All right? So we're kind of maybe do some truck shows and some sales that sort of thing kind of throw those in here, right? So I would try to keep it then that you might be a little bit lighter in here, right? You might need a little more down time because you're going to be really as many of us are right you're going to be really heavy and queue for and so it's actually really important to put a little bit of down time in here it's a better time to do photo shoots coming right have spring and summer right exactly so you may be right designing and you guys get in a peace where you're designing really far ahead right? So you're designing here so that you can photo shoot for this right? You're working almost a year head let me become the case with you guys, right? And then this stuff actually comes into the next year's design yeah, it could be that long of a lead time and I think with a team and the kind of industry that you're looking into that really make sense for you guys to think about like this is designing not for this but for this because here's the thing right this you can if you really design here you're not going to be ready for those designs for february it's insane it's really insane, especially with the holidays, so you're planning really? You're planning basically about eight to ten months out with you behind schedule, which I think is really smart that's where you want to be and I do want to come after this kind of making this point to is really important to figure out one year like times one year down times are because we always end up so much busier in queue for that one of the things that I see happen to people and it happened to me too, right? Is you work really hard over the summer? Maybe you're doing ah lot of craft shows maybe you're writing a creative live class whatever it is right and then there's no time to take a break until crap not string right? So he's like oh no, what do I do right uh so you know me like for me like I don't I don't schedule things in january, right? Everything I schedules from going somewhere warm that's like the only thing that's allowed to go on the calendar for january because otherwise suddenly you're back here and you get in this rabbit hole and you're exhausted or burned out so plan, right? So maybe here is like, downtime photo shoots and I know that's like something to that for some people like a photoshoot is work, I think for you guys that's really energizing right it's part of the process that you love so this one's not going to feel like a ton of work it's like let's go out in the sunshine since it's july and hopefully we finally have it in boston right on do those photo shoots and get all of that stuff down there and then it's weird to think about photo shoot because it's like I'm taking these photos for next year, right? Because that's ok, we had to take summer photos in the tent because you can't budge it you think the beach and they're freezing, but it's okay, right looks like it's summer, right, right, you really after plan right for that year in advance andi even though you're kind of thinking about heirloom things, this is a really good example when when you're designing this far out into the future, you want at least have a little bit of an idea of, like what's on the horizon, right? Kind of thinking about those trends, paying attention to the next season's fashion show just kind of knowing what's coming on the horizon so that when you're shooting these photos a year in advance, it seems like your current and not dated and the nice thing is you guys have a pretty classic style, right? So they're not gonna change a lot, but remember, we talked about those little details, so being aware of kind of those trends in those days, it was like looking at what's going to come right what's happening exactly yet building those in so perfect dale some photo shooting while you're in your travels to that right? Exactly right? Yeah, if you can put that in here while you're in paris that's always a night at a little action story again and right there's nothing better that says like we have a presion influence than if you can shoot it in paris, right? Exactly awesome, thank you all right then you want to go through as you're blocking out your year and just check in? Does your schedule a line with your revenue strategies right you can't be like I'm going to take every august off if your main revenue strategy is wholesale right it's just not gonna work sometimes you could budget a little minus wholesale october's a big month I went to india for two weeks I was fine. We planned for it was scheduled at my system was on the wall so it's not not doable but it's probably not doable all the time, right? We want to be realistic and making sure that our schedule aligns with our revenue strategies and then when you block out time for the major areas of your business these should slot into your ideal work times on your daily schedule. So this is how this translates, right? So if your goal here is marketing and your prime work time is that you know in the morning then you're going to get up in the first thing you're gonna dio is work on that marketing piece get those postcards, get that catalog design, build your store list whatever it is, all of those key activities should support that, right? So it's possible that when you're in production time your key work time, right? It's just production right when you're in design time your key work time is about design, right? So that's how you're gonna take that daily structure and then put it into your big picture for the year, right? So in the next lesson, which is our last lesson, you guys believe it. Last lesson. I know it's a little it's, a little sad, but we've we've come so far, right? So in the next lesson, we're going to design a strategy to keep the momentum going, even when the going gets tough, even when you want to quit, right? But first, let's, look at your homework for say so. I want you to draft your ideal day and your daily priority list. Think about it, what the revenue generating activities are right so drafted ideal day and just like we do with holly, right? What are the revenue generated activities? And where can they go on that day? How can we make those a priority? Yeah, question. So I'm drafting the list. How do you actually use your list? Do you have a physical paper that you print out and look at her? Do you look on your phone and curious where you found it? I keep mine and ever know, right? So I have an idea of what my big workday is and then also down. I'll make my to do list for the next day. I usually make mine the night before, right, and then I know here the big thing that go in that best block of time and then I'll take the ones that are less important and I slot those into it ok, that could go in the afternoon slump because I can do it while watching netflix this one can go in the evening because maybe I'm a little tired but you know, like I actually like to put a lot of computer work off until the evening because my husband comes home from work at all he wants to play on the computer anyway, right? So he plays on the computer I do my computer work it's fine, right? So you take that list and then you slide it into your day and then I just check in mind I never know when something is done I just delete it don't even cross it off I just delete it it's gone, I've moved on right some incense you just review that at night and then it made me look good morning, right? And I actually write it down at night so that I don't forget in the morning. So what happens is I'm like you're in bed right now so I used ever know because it's on my phone and my computer simon bed and I'm like, oh, tomorrow this has to happen goes on the list and then I can forget about it and then I wake up the next morning here's my list. How does this slot into my day what's the number one priority? What generates the revenue, and then you go from there. Awesome. Great question. All right. And then I want you guys to create the big picture schedule with time for marketing and sales design, creative play, visioning and strategic planning, production and execution, and vacation and travel, thought all of that in know what the big picture looks like for the year, right? And make sure you've got that downtime that vacation time, you're not totally stuck running all the time, and then your extra credit. And I want you to share a pic of your calendar or your ideal day on instagram, and make sure to use our hashtag make live cell. And I will see you guys for the next lesson, which is our last and final lesson. So stick around.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Class Workbook
Private Facebook Group Invite
MAL in Detail - Numbers Template
Editable Bootcamp Workbook in Pages Format
Editable Bootcamp Workbook in Doc Format
Cost Plus Pricing Elements Bonus Video
How to Talk About Your Products Bonus Video
Trade Show Traffic Flow Bonus Video
Visual Branding Basics Bonus Video
MAL in Detail - Excel Template

Ratings and Reviews

user a03f28
 

Love the shorter and longer format to this class. It keeps me interested and I don't have to schedule a whole day at once, during the free play. Well worth the money if you pay for the class too. Megan is amazing! She really knows business, marketing and has strategies which apply to all kinds of businesses. The work book is 150 pages long and breaks everything down into small bits and teaches you to really think about all aspects of your business. Where you were, are now and best of all where you want to be and how to get there. Highly recommend any of her classes. Thank you so much Megan and Creative Live for bringing us such wonderful content!

user-e2bf69
 

This course was totally awesome!!! I cannot express enough how fantastic Megan Auman is, what a great teacher she is, and am so thankful she offered it for FREE!!! Wow!!! It was exactly where I was at, stuck and frustrated. Exactly what I needed to begin to get my business off the ground. I am currently implementing all I have learned from her. Rebranding my self, rebuilding my website, new product shots, model shots, list building, etc., etc. I am still connected with the Facebook group, and that is awesome we have that connection to continue helping each other out and using each other as a sounding board. I plan on purchasing the course as soon as I can. I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this course to anyone who is struggling to get their business off the ground and going!!!

user-3f5a23
 

Thank you Megan for this opportunity. I really liked the first classes. You indicated interesting directions to think about. Even though life verifies the rest it is still worth to become smarter. Great Work! Best regards from Poland. Ewa

Student Work

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