Am I going to talk about Goodness Marketing again? Yes, I am. Suck it up.
We are halfway through 2026, which is a great opportunity to look back in order to move forward. Karen from Goodness Marketing had a similar idea in her newsletter, which posed some great reflective questions to help business owners like me celebrate the little things before we barrel through to the next quarter.
I am approaching the end of my fourth year of Barnard Publishing Ltd., and this email newsletter came at the perfect time. Considering I accidentally incorporated myself, I’ve never really celebrated each year that passes. Maybe there was the occasional post, but it never felt like a serious reason to do something. I wanted to put my effort towards the authors and the books we publish together – that’s what deserves celebration.
But, at the same time, I want to build this business into something that can eventually sustain me (and maybe even others too), so reflection is a necessity in order to improve.
Wish:
- What has been going well?
- What can you learn from your success?
- Does it present any new opportunities?
Early on in the year, I quit my part-time job as a delivery driver. Although the circumstances weren’t great, I was considering what the next steps looked like for me once I hit a year with that company. Doing so has allowed me to invest more time and energy into publishing, and has given me back my evenings to enjoy. It lets me focus on establishing myself rather than splitting my time in order to live.
I’ve published two books so far this year, with relative sales success. It has opened up more publishing opportunities with Intersaga Literary Agency (eyes here for news in the future!), and I’ve begun to build a solid foundation to get my books into brick-and-mortar shops. There is still a long way to go, but it’s a start.
Oh yeah, and I spoke to a marketing genius.
Wobble:
- What did you find difficult?
- How did you overcome it?
- How could you avoid a similar situation in the future?
- What did it teach you?
The no-so-great circumstances for me leaving my last job were because I had to sell my car; it was old and not worth the money it took to fix it properly. I spent a lot of time deliberating over the best course of action, not wanting to regret the choice I made. Learning to let go was a huge step, given that this was my first car; it took me from passing my test through most of my university life, five house moves, four jobs, and the birth of my business. I loved that car, but it was time to let it go.
Changing up how I market is a constant fight between the attention I need to give it and the time I have for it. Making the decision to meet with Karen helped overcome this significantly, but there is still work to be done. It reminded me of the 20/80 rule (or maybe the 95/5 rule?) about how much time you spend on bettering the business versus how much time you spend on other things. I used to block schedule my time between projects, which was useful for a time, but it’s more difficult to balance with two freelance admin positions. I might give it another go.
Time and focus:
- How did you manage your time in the first half of the year?
- Did you prioritise the right things?
- Where did you get distracted from your goals?
What planning? I want to start measuring my business goals per quarter (Q1, Q2, etc.) around the business year-end. It would look like this-
Q1 – August to October
Q2 – November to January
Q3 – February to April
Q4 – May to July
I often get stuck in the weeds with project specifics, leaving me with little time to focus on actually developing the business – hopefully this new way of measuring will help me prioritise my time.
I’ll be honest, I don’t really know how to set up business goals. For the past 4 years, my only ‘proper’ goal is setting a number of projects to publish, and I couldn’t even do that! I’m being a little hard on myself, but it’s time to learn from these things. Maybe I’ll chronicle myself making these goals for year 5.
The data:
- What do your platform numbers actually tell you?
- What performed well and what didn’t?
- What can you learn from that?
So, when making these notes, I went on a tangent about KPI’s, because I don’t actually track anything (see above paragraph about not having good goals). I did some research into how to set a KPI, and it seems like they’re similar to SMART goals-
A measure + a target + a source + frequency + an owner = a KPI.
I want to set specific KPI’s for each platform, based on what Karen and I spoke about (LinkedIn, blog, sales, etc.). I don’t know exactly what they will be yet – would you be interested in finding out with me?
Gratitude:
- What are you grateful for?
I am grateful for the admin work that keeps me afloat.
I am grateful that I can help young people who are interested in what I do.
I am grateful for the people who want to help me in my business.
I am grateful for the authors I work with and their patience.
Wishes:
- If you could wave a magic wand, what would you want to happen in the next few months?
- Who can help you?
- What do you need to make it real?
I wish I could sell 30-40 books per month. I need to build more relationships with booksellers. I need to establish myself as a trusted business.
I wish I could publish more books per year. I need to hire people I trust. I need to build my profit margin to pay those people for their work.
I wish I could sustain myself financially with my business. I need to sell more books and improve my profit margin.
What are you looking forward to in the second half of the year? Share below and join me in woeful commiserations that we are crawling slowly towards the end.
