I think written goals are a very important part of life. If you don’t set goals, you more than likely won’t do in life what you aspire to. That is why I love the saying, “A goal with no plan is just a wish.” Goals are not just for January 1st! You can make a goal or 100 goals and write them down anytime throughout the year. With that goal, make sure you have a plan or you will look back and it will be another thing on your to do list that didn’t get done!
For me, 2014 has started out amazing and attending the Katelyn James Workshop was one of the best things I could have done for myself and my business! You can read all about my trip here. When I got home though, I felt a little overwhelmed with thoughts of where my business was and where I wanted my business to go. In order to move my business in the right direction I decided to write down some of goals for the year. I have so many wonderful things planned for this year and am more excited about my business than every before!
Here are my business goals for 2014!
#1 GET ORGANIZED
As a small business owner and mommy of two, sometimes I have a tough time getting things done and staying organized. Sometimes at the end of the day I just feel defeated! I am going to use some fabulous tips that I learned from Katelyn James, to turn things around and get organized, so that I can stay on top of everything and be a less stressed mommy!
#2 SHOOT MORE OF WHAT I LOVE
I was asked what I like to shoot the most and what I would like to shoot more of. This got me to thinking. I love working with seniors, because I can make their sessions as creative as I want, and I am able to make them feel like a model for the day! I am really excited about doing a styled senior session that I have coming up. I will be doing a casting call and looking for 3-4 models that will be graduating in 2015! Eeek! Be looking for details on that soon!
I also absolutely love shooting couples and being able to tell a couples love story through their images. I plan to do more and more engagement and weddings this year!
I also want to be more creative in my shooting and do some fun styled shoots. This goes for my families too! I just bought the most beautiful props for a little girl and little boy and can’t wait to use them on a shoot!
#3 MASTER USING MULTIPLE OFF CAMERA FLASHES
I love natural light and prefer shooting with it when I can, but there are times where flash is needed, especially at weddings! I learned so much about this at the KJ Workshop and I am so excited to finally understand OCF more! I will be taking a few OCF classes in the next couple months in order to master my ability to get creative during wedding receptions using multiple flashes.
#4 BLOG MORE
I know! I have been terrible at this and still have several sessions I have not blogged from last year! Total fail! I WILL CATCH UP, and you will see lots of great blogs from me including some specialty blogs on what to wear, how to prepare for your session, all about location scouting, and even some personal blogs on being a full time mom and photographer!
#5 ADD TO MY CAMERA BAG
Starting a photography business takes time and a lot of money! Basically everything that comes in for a while, goes right back out! I am on year 3 of my business and am still saving up to buy equipment I need. When I don’t have the equipment I need, I have to rent, and I hate throwing money away on rentals! I hope to finish up on all the gear I need this year so I don’t have to rent anymore! First on my list is to upgrade my camera body to the 5d Mark III and then my main body now will become my back up camera. Next on my list is to get 2 -3 speed lights so that I can get creative at my wedding receptions. And then there is the 100 2.8 Macro, which is what I use for the small details at weddings. Its all a matter of saving up! Wow, does building a business take time!
#6 INCREASE MY FOLLOWERS ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM & TWITTER
Facebook is the bread and butter of my business. The more likes I have and the more people I have sharing my stuff, the more business I will get! My goal for this year is to get at least 1500 followers, but hopefully I can get much more than that! If you haven’t done so yet, you can like my page here. And if you love my work then please feel free to share me with those you know by hitting the share button from my page! The more I can get my name out there the better.
I also have an Instagram account that I use now. You can follow me and see little snippets of my life here!
I also just opened a Twitter account. I have absolutely no idea what I am doing yet, but you can find me on Twitter here.
#7 GET A NEW WINDSHIELD FOR MY SUBURBAN
Ha ha. I just hate spending money on unnecessary things and you will learn this about me! I almost had a stroke when we had to put $500 worth of gravel on our driveway this past weekend! Yuck! In my mind my windshield works just fine! Lol. It has gotten pretty bad though, and I probably look like a crazy person when I pull up for a shoot, so I will be getting a new windshield!
#8 REARRANGE MY PACKAGES TO BENEFIT MY CLIENTS IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBELE
I will be rearranging the way that I do things. There will be more on my new packages later! If you are already a client of mine, be looking for a survey from me. I would really appreciate it if everyone would take a moment to fill it out! I will give me insight in to what you are wanting out of a session and I will be able to customize my packages more towards you. I really just want my clients to have a great experience! I don’t even care about selling prints or other items. I will offer them, but thats not what’s important. I want all my families, seniors, couples and brides to have beautiful images that they love and to have a fabulous experience with me while getting them!
#9 GIVE MORE
God gave me this beautiful gift of photography for a reason and I intend to use if for good as much as I can! Recently, I had the opportunity of giving myself and my talent away to a family that needed it in a big way and it felt really good to be able to give them that. I want to be able to give more!
#10 DO ALL OF THE ABOVE WHILE BEING THE GREATEST MOMMY IN THE WORLD!
Ok, well, maybe not the greatest, but hopefully pretty darn close!
So thats it folks, these are my top goals for my business in 2014! I would love to hear what some of your goals are so that we may keep each other accountable for them! Thanks for being a part of Christie Lynn Photography and thanks for helping me grow! Here’s to an AMAZING 2014!
