Goals for 2010

Here are the top 5 things that I want to accomplish and where I see myself going with Amy Rae Photography in 2010.

1.  Complete and total rebranding

Since this past November I have been researching potential designers to help me rebrand Amy Rae Photography.  I have felt so convicted about the need for a professional brand.  I don’t remember where I read this but it really hit me when I was reminded that if I feel strongly about someone hiring a professional to photograph their wedding and not their amateur cousin, then I should respect the ability of brand designers and put my brand in the hands of a professional.  There is really no cutting corners with this one.  Now my struggle is finding the right designer that fits my needs and my budget.

2.  Establish financial organization

This will be the first year that I have someone do my taxes who knows business finance.  Last year it was just “the family tax guy”.  I feel like I am more prepared that I ever have been, however, I am still far away from knowing the ropes.  I want to establish a good organization system for filing all my invoices, receipts, etc on both my computer and on paper.  I want to set aside time throughout the year to input data so that I am not scrabbling at the end of the year.  I also want to find someone local that can work with me on my finances and taxes to get me the best return and really knows what they are doing and will make me feel more confident in my efforts.

3.  Create and maintain an office schedule

If this whole photography-as-a-full-time-job thing can and might workout and I don’t have to go back to nursing full-time then I need to develop office hours and a schedule that will help me stay on task with the things that I need to get done.  I need to start when the schedule says start and end when it says end.  Then giving myself time to make dinner and have an evening open with my husband and weekends when I don’t have weddings to be for me.  I want to have office hours that I stick by and I want to have a planning session each week or monthly where I can evaluate what needs to get done and what can wait.  I think if I put tasks into the day and scheduled them appropriately then I would be able to physically visualize what I have to do and not float around to one thing after another really never fully finishing the first thing I started.

4.  Have more consistent blogging

I want to blog three days a week.  I want to blog about my business, my clients, my photos, and my personal life.  I want to create a list of blogging ideas and share more than just the last wedding that I did.  I would like to create a monthly or weekly blogging calendar and then at the beginning of each week I can set aside a time to write the blog posts for that week.  I have loved the option to write the blog posts when I have time to punch out two or three but then not post them right away.  This gives me the ability to set time aside to blog and then each day all I have to do is hit publish and that is it.  I don’t have to sit over a blog post everyday just trying to catch up.

5.  Enhance the client experience

Along with my rebranding I want to be able to have my clients leave their experience with me excited, inspired, and willing to refer me to others with nothing but love and good things to say.  I want the experience to be more than just a couple meetings, timelines, and DVDs.  I think that as I work on my rebrand I will be directing into something that is really about what I want to give to the client and how I want them to feel.  Specifically I want to develop an experience book that outlines everything they can look forward to and be excited about when they choose to work with Amy Rae Photography.  I want to say thank you to my clients when they decide to work with me not by sending them a pretyped e-mail.  I don’t want them to forget that I am with them every step of the way by sending them physical reminders of my appreciation for them and how excited I am to be a part of their lives.  I want to give of myself to my clients by offering my help and assistance in planning their wedding from a professional standpoint.  I heard Lara Novak goes with her clients to their vendor meetings such as the florist, cake, or reception location.  That is a crazy amount of time to put into each client but I am sure they love her for it!  I want to give myself to my clients in a way I can but I have to think of how.

These goals are going to be hard to accomplish and will take a lot of work in the process to see them come to life.  It is hard for me to put these goals out there for everyone to see because then it makes me accountable for them.  I also feel like each one has the ability to grow into a bigger vision that I have for my business.  I am tempted to say I hope I can do these things, but if they don’t get done then I can still keep working on them for next year.  I am trying to avoid that attitude because that doesn’t give me a tangible deadline and doesn’t make me work hard enough to really get these things done now in 2010.  I will try my hardest and give everything I have to make these things happen in 2010.

So here’s to 2010 – a new year to do bigger and better things!  And to know that if I FALL it won’t hurt, I will have learned something, I will be a better person because of it, and God will be there to pick me back up, dust me off, and say keep going!

I didn’t always stay on my feet in Colorado 🙂

Photo Credit:  Matthew Campbell