Fall is right around the corner and normally in the summer I’d be slowing down somewhat but for whatever reason July was a really busy month. I took a lot of time focusing on the future of the business and starting to set up new things to come. While I felt productive it doesn’t exactly show yet since a lot was done behind the scenes, which you can see in the categories I focused on below.
Here are the past month’s reviews if you want to catch-up: January | February | March | April | May/June. And if you are curious, here’s my 2020 goals.
Breakdown on how I am rating each goal with a fun icon and highlighting:
- Big focus and happy with progress
- Mixed results and time spent
- No progress made and no time spent here
Website
Focus on Etsy Shop
- Completely changed themes on my website which meant a lot of changes to the homepage. It’s a simpler design in terms of the content but it’s also more functional for what the main point of my website is. It quickly helps the user to get to the section they need whether it’s the shop, branding, or learning.
- At the same time I am working on a second website more focused on the calligraphy side of the business. This site is a much bigger project and is still in progress. But it does match the branding on this website and I can’t wait to finish up a few more parts before I launch it!
Increase Traffic
- I’m generating more Pinterest traffic to the blog.
- Also I have moved my monthly freebies from my email to the vault which helps bring more traffic on a monthly basis to my website.
Blog Consistently
- Slowed up with blogging in July while I focused on the website upgrade.
Track Value of Emails
- I have not set up tracking in terms of $ per email subscribed but I did so much work on email in July (finally!). First off I switched providers from MailChimp to Flodesk (affiliate link) and it has been such a good move. I will definitely share more about the whole switch in it’s own post.
Work On Audience & Segmentation
- Yes, have finally started to tackle this, especially with the switch to Flodesk (affiliate link). I have a way better idea of where subscribers are coming from and what content they want. I will continue to analyze this with my new provider so I can send better content over time.
Grow List
- 41 new people subscribed to email list which is the most I’ve had in one month. I redid the sign up sections on my website to be easier to use plus the freebies for signing up have been streamlined.
Social Media
- Same, same, not much here. Have shared some bullet journal spreads which is generating more engagement
- Traffic numbers on my pins still trending upwards
Etsy
New Items
- My shop did take a back seat as I have been shifting focus but I did start to plan what I am going to be adding the next few months to keep it current and chugging along
Consistent Sales, Traffic, & Conversion Rate
- Conversion rate was at 1.1% for July, could definitely use some work. But I did turn off ads for the month since I was not focusing as much on new items
Patreon
Increase Marketing and New Patrons
- Continued with emails about Patreon to list but still no increase in patrons
Consistent Posts
- For July I started a series for Patreon with a new modern calligraphy alphabet worksheet. I released the first set of capital letters in July and will continue with each month new sets
- For the #snailmail cards I created a few new fun general themed cards
Designs
Seasonal Launches, Design & Product Variety
- Working on rest of year ideas
- Created new calligraphy worksheets to be released soon
Big Dream Goal: Calligraphy
Practice & New Styles
- Completed Calligraphy Practice Plan 2.0 by LH Calligraphy, have noticed a serious increase in my skill level which would be fun to share later!
- Created and digitized my modern calligraphy style, plus created worksheets for Patreon and will add the whole set to the shop later on.
Business Work
- So much behind the scenes are finally being done here!
- I started a secondary website for the calligraphy business work.
- Also working on exemplars for brand new calligraphy suites
- And creating workflows using Dubsado (affiliate link) to set up this new endeavor for success.
Calligraphy Listings
- Working on drafts of these for my new website.
- Starting with a few base invitation suites and envelope calligraphy styles
- While also working on adding additional styles and items to the shop on the website
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