Modish Biz Tips

The Future of the Meetup!

Hi meet-up lovelies!

Don't fret about that last post, as the meet-up will continue in oh so capable hands...one of the regular participants will be taking it over and hosting it on her blog- Liz, from Athena Dreams! So, if you'd like to continue meeting regularly and supporting each other with your goals, make sure you add Liz' blog to your reader to be notified when there's a new post up. She'll take over starting with the January meet-up. And at that time I'll archive this site and make a more user-friendly front-page so you can find past articles more easily, and still have all the info that's here available right at your finger tips. 

Thanks again for all your support over these past months. And good luck with your December goals everyone! 

<3 jena

Monthly Goal Meetup- December

 

Oh my goodness, the last goal meetup of the year? Wowza! And I'm sorry to say, but I feel this will be the last meet-up period here on BIZtips. With the opening of my shop and needing to have at least a slim resemblance of a regular life too, BIZtips will become a fully archived site come January. Here always for your perusal! But it won't be updated any longer. I have faith the meetup will continue for those of you who'd like it to. I'll find someone to carry on the torch for me and update you here once I know how it will work.

So for November, I actually did great (for perhaps the first time!) Here's what I got done...

November Goals

1. Measure all clothing
2. Finish editing all photos
3. List at least 24 items in shop for opening
4. Opening goal date: Nov 16th actually opened on time!
5. Send out notice to bloggers about the opening! didn't do this yet- need to research some vintage friendly blogs first

And for my last goal list of the year, I'm not going to go with a list, per se. My goals are a little larger than list formation, but I need to remind myself daily this December, and every month afterward, what really matters in my life. So...

December Goals

Remember that it's not the hours I spend working that I'll remember when I'm older, it's the relationships I have and the fun times that come from those that turn to memories. Make more memories.

Remember that your health is of utmost importance and you need to take care of yourself. There's no excuse in letting stress make you sick. Give yourself time to relax. Exercise. Sleep longer. Feed yourself well. 

Remember that you may not know now which direction to go, or where you'll be in 5 years, but take everyday as a learning experience, and you'll find your place. Grow within yourself and your business will naturally grow along with you. 

How about you? What has December got you thinking about? What sort of personal/lifestyle goals might you have that can actually help your business in the long run?

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To participate in the meetup:

• post a list of your business related goals for Dec, along with your checked off Nov goals if you'd like, on your own blog
• come back here and leave a link to your post in the comments (*If you don't have your own blog to post to, feel free to just leave your list of goals right here in the comments to play along!)
  
• Then, check out everyone else's lists as they leave comments here- click their links, hop to their blogs, say hello, meet and greet and support each other because that's what it's all about! And if you've participated before, maybe try to say hi to a couple new participants you're unfamiliar with this time around. 

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I'm so thankful for all of you who've met here, read the articles, and been able to take away something from this meetup, and site as a whole. I had big plans for this site originally, but realized that it's just not the direction I'd like to go with my career. So here's to not being afraid to try things, to experimenting and being brave in your ideas, and to not being satisfied until you truly find the place you're meant to be.

Have a happy, successful and hopefully restful holiday season! Don't stress too much! It'll come again next year ;)

<3 jena

Monthly Goal Meetup- November

 

Hey hey, it's that time again! How'd you do with your goals this month? I think the fall weather has helped me be a lot more productive lately, something about the cool air. An improptu trip at the end of the month set me back a bit, but for the first time in a long time I don't feel guilty and like I need to beat myself up over it. Progress! ;)

So, here were my October goals and what I accomplished...

1. Create shop header/logo
2. Create new blog for the shop
3. Take photos of first round of inventory
4. Get at least 24 items (2 pages on etsy) listed for the grand opening!
5. Opening goal date: Nov 4th

Well, 3 out of 5 ain't bad! But I definitely need more time to get the shop open, probably another couple weeks. So here are my goals for November to make sure that happens:

November Goals

1. Measure all clothing
2. Finish editing all photos
3. List at least 24 items in shop for opening
4. Opening goal date: Nov 16th
5. Send out notice to bloggers about the opening!

How about you? Holiday season is officially upon us! What are your goals to help see that it'll be a successful one?

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To participate in the meetup:

• post a list of your business related goals for Nov, along with your checked off Oct goals if you'd like, on your own blog
• come back here and leave a link to your post in the comments (*If you don't have your own blog to post to, feel free to just leave your list of goals right here in the comments to play along!)
  
• Then, check out everyone else's lists as they leave comments here- click their links, hop to their blogs, say hello, meet and greet and support each other because that's what it's all about! And if you've participated before, maybe try to say hi to a couple new participants you're unfamiliar with this time around. 

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I look forward to checking in with everyone! Let's meet back here on Monday, Nov 30th to set and share our December goals. See you then!

Monthly Goal Meetup- October

I'm much more than a day late and a dollar short, but I think it's time for the October Monthly Goal Meet-up, hmm?

I wasn't going to continue with the meetup because I had no idea, really no idea that it was actually helping people stay on track! I don't know why I thought that, but I'm really hopeful and inspired to hear that it has been helping many of you. So, thank you to everyone who emailed and commented about how you would miss the meetup- you changed my mind. I'm going to continue on with it and can see BIZtips remaining the meetup space for us each month, whether or not I make it a more active blog again in the new year.

So, for those of you who would like to continue to participate, if you haven't added BIZtips to your feed reader yet, that may be a great way to stay on top of when new posts come up, since they'll be infrequent. There's an option to sign up to receive posts via email, which may work well.

Other than that, let's get on with the goals, shall we? 

Oh August, how I lost you & the September Monthly Goal Meetup

{if leaves were my unanswered emails...}

The first day of September already. Wow. This summer has completely escaped me. Between buying a house, and losing the house, and searching everyday for a new soon to be house and my birthday and my boyfriend's birthday, bachelorette parties and rescued kittens, I inadvertently seem to have taken August "off" around here.

I've also been in a major slump lately. As in a slump on the couch and feel sorry for myself everyday sort of slump. I feel lost, not sure which direction I should be headed in. Looking online for houses and traipsing around this huge town to scope out random addresses everyday has certainly been a big distraction, and feels a bit like a metaphor for my "career path" at the moment- I'm searching and searching, but haven't found the place that's just right yet. I haven't yet found the place that makes me feel like I'm home.

And it's not my intention to make excuses for all the things I didn't accomplish this month. I realize I'm a putz who has dropped many-a ball lately and hasn't even had the energy to pick up a dozen others. But I also beat myself down emotionally all the time for that. And the more I spin myself around in the "I'm not good enough" ringer, the more I start to believe it, and the slumping ensues.

And why am I sharing all this personal stuff with you on a business how-to type blog? Because it's a business how-to type blog written by me, a real person, for you, real and lovely people too. And I feel like talking about it. To fellow creative people who most likely understand. You understand, right?

I know I'll get over this- slumps have come and gone before. The last one I had led me to create this BIZtips blog in the first place! And this blog is not going anywhere- don't misunderstand my forlorn tone. I just feel like my more creative urges aren't being fulfilled, and I need to get my self-expression mojo back flowin'. Somehow.

So, I'm not going to re-hash the severe lack of productivity that was August, instead I'm going to lay out some simple goals for September and keep moving forward.

September Goals

1. Do something for you, just for you. Write. Take more pictures. Embroider something. Read a book that's not business related. Find your creative voice again. 
2. Re-instill the original vigor and frequency into BIZtips that it had before your impromptu summer vacation.
3. Unslumpify yo'self, girl.

Not too specific, I know, but they're the kind of goals I need for me this month. What about you? What are your September goals? Anyone else out there hit by a summer slump?

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To participate in the meetup:

• post a list of your business related goals for Sept, along with your checked off August goals if you'd like, on your own blog
• come back here and leave a link to your post in the comments (*If you don't have your own blog to post to, feel free to just leave your list of goals right here in the comments to play along!)
  
• Then, check out everyone else's lists as they leave comments here- click their links, hop to their blogs, say hello, meet and greet and support each other because that's what it's all about! And if you've participated before, maybe try to say hi to a couple new participants you're unfamiliar with this time around. 

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Thanks for reading my rant, and I look forward to seeing all your goals this month and saying hello!

<3 jena

August Goal Check-in & some Freebies!

Hi all! Sorry it was so quiet around here last week. I've been really pre-occupied lately with house hunting, and needed a little break with at least one blog for a bit. I hope you understand.

I wanted to be sure and pop in today though to give you a mid-month goal meetup reminder for August!

It's August 18th, you officially have 2 weeks left in the month to get those goals accomplished. How's it coming so far? If you haven't checked anything off your list yet, do so today! Just one thing. Crossing something off would feel sooo good, wouldn't it? You can do it!

Also, I've had a couple (super awesome and talented) readers email me recently offering some productivity freebies that I thought you might be interested in! 

FREE WEEKLY PLANNER

The 1st is Esther Coombs, an amazing illustrator who gives new life to vintage china with her hand-drawn embellishments.

She created a hand-illustrated little planner that she uses daily to keep track of her to-dos and organize her time. She thought it could help some of you stay organized too, so she's offered it here as a free download! Here's a mini-version of it so you can see what it looks like. Download the full size below and print out to use it yourself!