Annual Planning Featuring Lisa Jacobs

Are you ready to start the year off right? For this episode, we’re joined again by Lisa Jacobs, author of Your Best Year, to walk you through annual planning for your creative business. Lisa and Bonnie both share their favorite way to dream big when planning out the year ahead, along with the most important elements to consider and include. We often hear that to build your business you have to understand yourself—but you need an annual plan to weather the high and low seasons of your business.

“There is a line in the sand for me:

my business before I started annual planning

and my business afterwards.”

Download your free printable year at a glance pdf

↓ DOWNLOAD HERE ↓

Get caught up

Miss the previous conversations mentioned in this episode? Find them here:

• Episode 13: Stuck in the Daily Scramble with Lisa Jacobs
• Episode 14: Tame Your To-Do List with Lisa Jacobs
• Episode 17: Strategic Planning for Professional Creatives

Tips for annual planning shared in this episode:

• Without annual planning, we face more uncertainty and feel like we can’t trust our business or find time to honor our ideas.
• Schedule the time (at least a day) to actually make the plan.
• Annual planning is best when you go BIG. Bonnie loves a big acrylic wall calendar, and Lisa loves to spread out with big drawing pads on the floor as she plans.
• Honor the big life stuff first—holidays, traditions, family, travel, and life events.
• Be aware of seasonal highs and lows (personal and industry). When do you have a launch, show, slow or busy season? 
• Throughout the year, keep notes on burnout, your energy in the seasons, when you’re feeling more restful or more energized so you can work with it.
• Examine your revenue generators (moneymakers), typically 3-4 a year that drive your business. Do the revenue generators meet the goals you’ve made, or do you need to do something differently to align your plan and goals?
• Beware of planning fallacy: We always underestimate the time it takes for us to do things, so build a schedule with margin.
• Brainstorm: What do you think is available to you and possible for you in the next year? What new things do you want to bring to the table? Get these on the calendar in their appointed space and time.
• Don’t forget to build in rewards for hitting your goals!

 Resources & Links:

• Stephen Covey: Big Rocks
• Recommended supplies: Large drawing pads or wall calendar for annual planning, multiple colors for coding different event types.
• Your Best Year by Lisa Jacobs
• 2023 Wall Calendars:
• Acrylic:  Yearly dry erase acrylic calendar - Annual at a glance board
• Printed: 2023  Goal-Setter Calendar from Chez Núñez
• Printed: Monthly Deskpad from Staples
• Printed: Large Kraft Stick-Anywhere Calendars via Etsy, lettercdesign
• Printable: 2023 Printable Calendar via Etsy, MaylemMade
• Printable: Large Monthly Wall Planner via Etsy, OnceUponaTuesdayUK

Meet Lisa Jacobs | Website | Etsy | Your Best Year

As Integrator for Team Bonnie, Lisa Jacobs oversees business operations and helps lead the team. Renowned for providing crystal-clear solutions to clients while growing profitability, promoting business sustainability and enterprise-level growth, Lisa prides herself on delivering exceptional quality and innovation that drive our company initiatives forward!

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Review of the week:

Love this podcast!

I love listening to Bonnie talk about her journey in the creative world. Her friendly voice and honesty are a sure way to instill a hopeful attitude in her listeners!

—Itsmic

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