I’m not usually the type to make New Year’s resolutions but as I enter the second year of being an illustrator it seemed necessary to set some illustration goals for 2019. They always say that you need a good plan as a starting point of any business and it occurs to me that although I have a secret perversion for graphs and spreadsheets I haven’t actually set myself any goals. I’m a Fundraising Events Organiser by trade and so there’s a lot of skills I have brought with me to illustrating. I keep detailed records, I’m a good budgeter, I’ve got tonnes of marketing experience and I am very well organised. But now it’s beginning to feel that this is the only reason I have gotten as far as I have up to now without a business plan.
But, what even are my goals?
This turned out to be a surprisingly difficult question. I know what I ultimately want and that’s to be financially able to increase my range of products. I also want to successfully gain more commission work. The difficult part is working out the next steps to that that I can achieve and measure in the next year. That’s right babes we are talking about SMART goals.
I like big goals and I cannot lie
I can’t quite work out if it’s a good or a bad thing that I achieved one of my goals by the end of 2018. The goal was to get 100 likes on an organic reach post on instagram. After Stephen Hillenburg died I posted a Spongebob sketch tribute to him which did exactly that. Does this mean that my goals are too easy? I’d like to think that it means that I have a range of goal levels for the next year. Think about it like a video game where you can choose your difficulty level. When you are playing in expert it can be disheartening if you keep losing. Sometimes you need to conquer normal mode first. I think that I’ve taken this same approach with my goals setting. Some are easier than others, some I might not achieve. At least I will have tried though!
The goals
- Get 1200 followers on instagram
- Have products stocked in 2 stockists
- Increase to 100 sales on Etsy
- Have a stall at a niche market
- Get 20 reviews on etsy
- Increase etsy product number to 50
- Invest in a new type of product
- Secure a large paid commission
These might all seem piddley and small to some people but it fits me. I have to remember the resource I have available in terms of time and energy as well as capital. The goals focus on growing what I am doing currently aswell as investing in new areas. Another goal is to continue this weekly blog for the next year. I look forward to updating you all about how I’ve done in December 2019 🙂
Have an amazing new year and good luck with your goals and resolutions too!