With the new year comes new year’s resolutions. Setting goals at the beginning of the year helps the go-getter and procrastinator alike stay focused all year long. Goals set this time of year are often abandoned because they’re not SMART goals. SMART is an acronym that lays out five rules for goal setting – follow them and you’ll be surprised how many things you can achieve.
- S – Specific. Choose one area to focus on at a time.
Common goal: “I will work on my SEO.”
SMART goal: “I will rewrite descriptions in my Etsy shop to improve my SEO.” - M – Measurable. Use Etsy’s shop stats, hook up to Google Analytics, get on CraftCult. Keep track of data to help you measure success in the short and long term.
Common goal: “I will have more sales.”
SMART goal: “I will increase the sales in my Etsy shop by 25% this year.” 
A – Attainable. If you are only able to create a few items a month, it’s unlikely you’ll reach 1000 sales this year. Set small goals that will help you feel accomplished; with each little feat, you’ll be one step closer to that big goal.- R – Relevant. Make sure that you’re setting the right goals. What has made other shops successful isn’t necessarily relevant to your shop. Without a large social media following, time spent pounding the pavement on these sites could be taking away from other important tasks.
- T – Timely. Set a date. Set a deadline. Stick to it.
Common goal: “I will add more items to my shop.”
SMART goal: “I will add 10 items each month to my shop” or “I will have 3 pages of items in my shop by this time next year.”
Go ahead and leave your goals in the comments. I’d love to hear what everyone’s goals are for 2013!
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