At the end of every year, I cozy up by the fire with a soy chai tea latte to look at what worked for my business and what didn’t.
Before I set concrete goals and map out my marketing plan for the next year, it’s important to know what I should do more of and less of.
It might seem like one of those “well duh” concepts but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked with creative entrepreneurs who do the opposite. They spend more time on the stuff that isn’t working, trying to figure out how to make it work and stop doing the stuff that worked so well for them. And, they want to know why their businesses aren’t doing so hot.
If you’ve never done a yearly review of your business, now’s the time to start a new tradition.
Here are 20 questions to get you started:
1. What was your best-selling product? What do you think made it so successful?
2. What was your least successful product? Why do you think it didn’t sell well?
3. What marketing strategies worked best? (Examples: blog tour, video series, giveaway, guest post, interview)
4. What marketing strategies failed? Why do you think they failed?
5. In what month did you make the most money? What did you do differently in that month?
6. In what month did you make the least amount of money? What did you do differently in that month?
7. What blog post got the most comments? What do you think connected so well with your readers? Did you encourage comments in some way?
8. What blog post got the least comments? Why do you think your readers didn’t connect to it? Did you encourage readers to leave comments?
9. What blog post had the most shares on social media? Why do you think so many readers shared it?
10. What blog post had the least shares on social media? Why do you think your readers weren’t excited to share it?
11. What social media platform worked best for your business? Why?
12. What social media platform didn’t work well for your business? Why?
13. What was the subject line of your most opened email newsletter? Why do you think so many subscribers opened it?
14. What was the subject line of your least opened email newsletter? Why do you think your subscribers didn’t open it?
15. What did you enjoy working on the most?
16. What did you least enjoy working on?
17. Who did you enjoy working with the most? (Write up an ideal customer profile based on this person!)
18. Who did you least enjoy working with? What characteristics should you look out for in prospects so that you avoid working with that type of person in the future? (If you’re still working with this person, it might be time to refer him/her to someone else.)
19. Make a list of what you spent your biz money on. (Examples: website hosting, advertisements, boosted Facebook posts, new computer, Adobe suite, CreativeLive course) Beside each one, place a ‘checkmark’ if it truly moved your business forward and a ‘x’ if it didn’t.
20. How much money did you make total for the year (profit)? How do you feel about that number? How much do you want to make next year?
Once you answer these questions, you’ll be in a better place to set goals and create a marketing plan for 2015.
Have a question that we should add to the list? Leave it in the comments below.
I’d also love to know your answers to one or two of the questions. You pick and share below!
My most commented post, by far, was The Magic of Gift Wrapping (http://www.cheekyvisionaries.com/magic-gift-wrapping/), and I think a lot of it had to do with it being part of your blog tour, and the promotional help it got from your re-tweeting it! 🙂
My most commented one that had nothing to do your blog tours, was 10 Ways to Boost Creativity Permanently (http://www.cheekyvisionaries.com/10-ways-boost-creativity-permanently/), and I did in fact ask that everyone leave a comment to tell me their favorite ways to boost creativity!
And being on LinkedIn did NOTHING for my business, lol!!
This is great!
I’ll answer a handful – not the whole 20 though 😉 My most successful product has been consulting time with me – one on one with clients to help them find their signature story. It’s turned into a total flagship – and I’m cool with that, because I love to do it.
I get so energized by the process, and I love to help women see the really phenomenal parts of their stories through someone else’s eyes and realize that they *really* are phenomenal.
My best marketing move has been about getting a handle on my blogging calendar and making it an on purpose thing: all series that I know my people will find valuable. Through that process of blogging on purpose, I got to build and be a part of some amazing communities – which led me to your course on Creative Live – another game changer.
My most shared and remarked upon blog post was definitely Bailey’s story. It resonated in a really beautiful way with people, and folks took that leap from loving it to sharing it with everyone they know. I think it went over so well because it really is straight from my heart. Bailey’s story is beautiful and people relate to her struggles – AND her amazing successes 🙂
Great questions!!! I won’t go on and answer any more, because I’m already talking and talking and talking 😉 But I will answer them on my own.
Thanks April!!
xo
K
Hi April, These are great questions and I will use what I can for this coming year and save them to do at 2015 year end.
Since I’m going, mostly, in a new direction with Domesticraft . . . do you have any suggestions for a situation like mine. Basically started over and opening January 1.
Thanks so much!!
Nancy
xoxoxo
I’m not far along enough in my biz to answer some of these, but they are making me think of big goals for next year! I think I’ll save them and refer back a few times in 2015.
Great post. Never would’ve thought to do any of this. My best marketing move all year was finding YOU! LOL
Hi April! GREAT post! I hate to admit this, but until I read through your post, I hadn’t checked my Etsy stats in quite sometime, so thanks for the prompt / reminder!
One of the best marketing strategies that worked for me this past year, was collaborating with bloggers to get my products on their site. This led to greatly increased views and sales in my Etsy shop. Side note, the closer the audience of the blog was to my ideal audience, the greater impact I noticed for my business (seems like a “duh,” but it was a good reminder for me!).
The month I had the most sales was actually January (which shocked the heck out of me!). I always feel like January is in the post-holiday slump, but apparently I was incorrect.
The month I had the least sales was October. I took a “vacation” from making orders during October, so the stats weren’t a surprise, but it was a wonderful reminder of why I want to invest time in 2015 to developing digital products that will sell not only while I sleep, but also while I am on vacation! 🙂
Thanks again, can’t wait to see what questions others answer.
Love these! I went back and checked my email newsletter stats and I wasn’t surprised by what landed at the top (“Who owns this photo?”) or the bottom (“You’ve got your LLC, now what?”).
I think a lot of this is because of the subject matter. I’m learning more and more what my audience wants to hear, rather than what I think they want to hear (or should want to hear).
I like to ask myself the following series of questions each year:
What do I want to continue doing?
What do I need to make room to start doing?
To do both of the above, what do I need to stop doing?
Just printed out the questions and plan to cozy up by the fire for my year in review! Thank you for this April.
Thanks for making me do this. I’ve even learnt something about Google Analytics in the process…
Best selling product was monogram applique cushions for children, closely followed by name cushions and tissue box covers. The Monogram cushion was something I brought in this year as a cheaper alternative to the name cushion – so that worked! Yay!
My lowest selling product is bibs. I don’t really get this as lots of people seem to do well with these on Etsy. They sell well at craft shows and in physical locations. I can’t really get a handle on this.
Best marketing strategy – For a few months I used an app called Fancrank on Facebook. I still have mixed feelings about this. It rewards people for liking and commenting on posts with points. At the end of the month the person with the most points gets a prize. I gave a £15 voucher. This generated sales, but clearly at a discounted rate. It was A LOT of work keeping facebook full of lots of scheduled content, but I did gain some brand loyalty. But, I didn’t really gain any likes at all during this time.
My blog post with the highest views is one that was Stumbled on stumble-upon. It’s the only post I have ever written that has ever been stumbled. My post with the most comments was the one from April’s blog tour, closely followed by one that I wrote on the back of watching April’s blogging course, where I really, really focused on story, description and anecdote. I even had comments from big bloggers in the sector about how good it was. This is the post of which I am most proud. It’s reach was helped by being part of a linkup.
My most successful social networks (apart from Stumbleupon, which came out top, but because of that one post) are Facebook and Pinterest. It’s funny, because on a week-to-week basis I don’t feel like these are succeeding for me.
My most searched for blog post is one about how to applique – this post gets daily views because it comes out high in google search.
Thanks, April!
Great post April! I admit I’ve been remiss in keeping track of my business this year. I don’t sell many different products with my web design business, but my Worry Free Web Program has been very successful for me this year. It’s a monthly subscription based service for my clients where I back up their site files and make monthly updates for them. It’s really helped give me some steady income I can count on every month and gives my clients peace of mind. It’s encouraging them to make more revisions and additions to their sites which is really helping their businesses thrive as well. It’s a win-win…love those!
Love these questions, April. I’m definitely going to spend time this weekend answering them.
I remember from your first CreativeLive course that I need to “Do more of what works.” I’m going to recite that in my head each day I wake up. Ha.
My two most popular posts are about dealing with overwhelm and making a PDF fillable. The overwhelm one worked because it came from the heart. And, I actually wrote that one with the technique you talked about — printing it out and editing it. It was a post that connected with people. The second one was popular because I was in a few Facebook groups and people asked how to do this..so I delivered. I’m definitely going to incorporate more of these types of posts next year!
Can’t wait to reflect with a great beverage this weekend! Gracias!!
Love this post April! Answering these questions will really give me a good perspective on the last year (my first blogging!) and help guide my decisions for 2015.
My most commented post was AWBU = Girl Scout Camp for Bloggers. A recap of our local blogging conference and my experience really becoming part of the local blogging community for the first time face-to-face. I also did a giveaway on that post so half of the comments seem to be about the content and half to enter the giveaway.
My next highest commented (without a giveaway) was my blog about Project STIR. I didn’t even really ask specifically comments (my call to action was to get on my list), but people are passionate about family recipes and were so excited about the project they commented anyway. A couple of conversations even sprung up.
And I’ve also been getting a LOT more shares since incorporating Click to Tweets. So I’m definitely going to keep that up. I need to make a blog checklist that reminds me to do it, since it’s not in my bones yet. Sometimes I forget until after I post and have to go back in there and do it.
So excited for 2015! Thanks for the questions April! 😀
Hey April! What a great post! I definitely have a lot to think about before setting goals for 2015 & this list is just the ticket. The boys are going hunting allll weekend so I’m going to use that time to get “down in it”!
Here are my 2 for ya:
What did I enjoy doing most? I enjoyed creating new products. It’s the heart of my business & an area that needs sharp focus in the new year. I also really, really enjoyed sharing a blog post about my Nonnie which also ties into by “why”. It was heartfelt & felt so good to share.
What did you least enjoy working on? Hands down, it’s marketing. I need a lot of work in this area & feel I spend a lot of time spinning my wheels. It’s definitely an area I need to set goals for in 2015.
Such great questions. I’m still towards the beginning of creating my business so I got a lot of big fat zeros to a lot of those questions, but the ones that are relevant will help me focus on where things are or are not working, and the rest are great for helping set goals. My most popular blog post for the year was about freezer cooking & it had more views in one day than I get in a average week. I need to recreate that magic formula 🙂
Thanks April – I look forward to sitting down this weekend and evaluating my business. Cheers to you in 2015!
These are great questions April! The question #7 is easy.. the blog post that got the most comments (so far) was “Why I want to create and sell digital products”. I like how all the people involved in the Creative Live course came together and supported you and each other. You have a great group of people following you and I’ll admit that I do go to these people’s blog and try to get to know them.. without looking like a stalker 😉
Have a great Christmas April! And everyone reading this comment!
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At this time it appears like Movable Type is the
top blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is
that what you are using on your blog?
Ah! this list is SO GOOD! Printing it out and turning it into a project to move my business forward.
Thank you April!
xo,
rs
http://www.theredscorpio.com/blog/wishplangoal/