Are you going to end 2018 with a bang or a whimper?
I don’t know about you guys but after a few crazy months spent trying to get all of my clients’ content up to date before the Christmas holidays, my calendar is looking much calmer. Calm enough to allow the teeniest, tiniest sliver of “holiday cheer” to start filtering through.
And as work-related busyness finally becomes more manageable, my personal life is becoming crazy. I bet you know what I’m talking about…
Your kids’ school seem to want either your presence or your pennies every other day for Nativities, Christmas Jumper Days, panto trips…
Your friends all want to “catch up before Christmas” (as do you, obviously, but there’s now a weird artificial rush on social engagements as if we’re all going to drop off the face of the earth as soon as the bells ring out for 2019).
You’re hit with the realization that you’re cooking Christmas dinner for 9 people, which requires a complete looting of Sainsbury’s as well as much time spent rearranging furniture to test out where everyone will sit.
You’re definitely tempted to down tools altogether, launch yourself into a vat of mulled wine and declare yourself done for the year. Hey, I’m right there with you and I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that — choosing when to work is one of the benefits of self-employment, right?
But here’s the thing. I’ve had a bloody amazing year and I’m determined that 2019 is going to be even bigger and better. And I want the same for you too.
So instead of putting the curtain down on 2018 a bit early, let’s use the next couple of weeks to supercharge your business for next year, with my top 3 tips for ending the year on a bang rather than a whimper.
Who’s with me?
Know your numbers.
This is such a great time of year to take stock of your financial situation, particularly if your accounts run to the end of the tax year in April. After all, you still have one full quarter left to hit those sales targets. So if your projections show that you’re going to be £3,000 short come April, you know that you only need to sell two more packages at a value of £1,500 to make your target. And with 3 months to spare you have plenty of time to go out and find new clients or reach out to previous ones.
Having a handle on your current numbers will also tell you whether you can splurge on a fancy new ergonomic office chair or CPD course in the January sales. I already have my eye on a few exciting purchases!
Of course, if you’re a shoebox accounting aficionado this could turn into a hell of a job, in which case I definitely recommend a glass of something mulled while you tackle it. And once you’ve got those pesky little receipts under control, make it a New Year’s resolution to go digital with your accounts next year. Neither numbers nor tech come naturally to me (no surprises there!) but I find the Wave app particularly easy to use when it comes to keeping track of my business income and expenditure — one quick look at my dashboard tells me exactly how much profit I’ve made this year so far.
Fill your New Year calendar.
New Year, new prices?
If you’re planning to put your prices up, and you have some gaps in your schedule for January and February, you’ve got a great excuse to get in touch with your past clients and all of the lovely people on your list. Let them know that you’re planning a price increase in 2019 but give them the opportunity to book in with you now (for work to be completed before the end of February),
Let people know that your prices are going up in January and now’s the time to book in at your current prices. They get a New Year bargain and you start the year with a full diary and deposits in before Christmas. Everyone’s happy!
(On that note, I actually am introducing a long-overdue price increase in January. I have two slots available for web content, one in January and one in February, so hit me up now if you want to book one of those at my current rates.)
Get a jump start on your content.
Ok, I get that for loads of you, planning and (groan!) actually writing your business content is a total drag and you’d definitely rather eat a mince pie and watch Home Alone for the 3,562nd time (ya, filthy animals), but I promise you’ll thank me come January if you already have some of your 2019 content planned out before we all start dancing to Slade and eating cheese and crackers for every meal.
If you struggle for ideas, I recommend having a look at Janet Murray’s Media Diary or you can check out Daily Greatness planners, which I haven’t used personally but they come highly recommended by a fellow content pro. ‘Cos we all know the answer to better content lies in shiny new stationery!
We’re nearly there folks, the season where we can legit wear nothing but jammies or party frocks, eat chocolate for breakfast, and watch Clarence get his wings yet again. Just think how relaxed you’ll be doing all that, safe in the knowledge that your business is ready to hit the ground running in 2019.
If the idea of planning all of that delicious content your business needs to grow brings you out in a cold sweat, why not make outsourcing your business writing one of your resolutions for 2019. I’ll take your blog and social media content off your hands, filling your inbox with shiny new messages you can send out to your audience every month.
Or if want to figure out the nuts and bolts yourself I’ll be introducing new content strategy consultation packages in the first half of 2019. Email me your contact details and I’ll pop you on the waiting list.
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