Luxe Business Planning
Luxe Business Planning featuring the new 2017 Erin Condren Luxe Life Planners. Read up on how you can use an 18 month calendar to plan your business in style.
Planners make me happy. They do. They are right up there next to sparkly unicorns and new shoes. Seriously.
On June 1st Erin Condren introduces her new line of life planners. I was sucked into the glam planning world in 2015. Previously I just went to target and picked up a plain Jane planner. The traditional planners were a bit too profesh for me. One day some goddess introduced me to Erin Condren...thank you who ever you may be.
I do know you offered me $10 off my first purchase and for that I say thank you. No worries, I have that same code for your first purchase...just click here and create an account. Check your email that you used then boom...$10 savings.
Erin Condren peeps were gracious enough to send me some goodies before the launch to show my lady friends. I opted for the luxe planner because I'm fancy. The cover is a vegan faux leather. It's not removable, but why would you want to take off such lusciousness. To touch it's very soft and thick. The color is a deep plum purple which in person is just gorgeous. The coil is rose gold [matches the foil lettering perfectly] and very easy to move the paper through.
The updated paper is thick and has a nice feel. Paper quality is important, when you have important things to do! I opted for the neutral theme (black and white) and its simplicity is everything! It adds an extra bit of sophistication.
I have a business planner, a personal planner, a social media planner, a project planner, fitness planner and a ^i know I'm forgetting one^ planner. So I was just going to wait until January.
This planner starts in July. Only $5 more for the 18 month option [July start] . I've never started a calendar in July before and initially told myself I would just wait until January. That was until the Luxe Life Planner came.
18 month planning nice to meet you...I'm Kimber!
Previously I thought of 18 month calendars as something for the super [borderline obsessive] productive and "that" mom no one ever wants to admit to being. I digress...
I typically plan for business in quarters.
Q1 Jan 1-March 31st
Q2 April 1- June 30th
Q3 July 1 - September 30th
Q4 Oct 1 - December 31st
One big goal per quarter.
That means I have three months to break that goal down and make it attainable. Really pimp my productivity.
BIG Goals require BIG plans!
18 month calendars give you the opportunity to tackle Q3, Q4, Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 all in one book.
Doesn't sound like much until you are staring at the possibilities of your growth and success straight ahead. Growing to 6 and 7 figures does not happen by simply winging it. There has to be strategy and planning involved. In 5 minutes I can break down a business...5 minutes yo! That's my zone of excellence, but that alone didn't make me successful...strategy and planning did.
And if you enjoy life and being social as much as you enjoy work...planning makes it all possible.
At this point in my life my friends are marrying, having babies on purpose, turning 30, renewing vows, turning 40, divorcing, having more babies and just throwing amazing parties all over the world. Not to mention the social and school calendar of my babes.
This means I need to be able to take a real good look at my various work projects and these social events far in advance to make it work.
I usually don't start planning for the next year until October/November. Now I have broken the planner up into quarters, separated by these beautiful book marks.
I know how many clients I can work with individually per month and quarter. Depending on the other things going on in the quarter these numbers are adjusted. Quarterly planning helps me to know when I can release products and run groups. Planning is for bosses.
The month at a glance is the big picture for the month. A clear picture of everything that is going down and what objectives need to be met by what date in addition to the day to day work and life activities. You cannot negate the life. Seriously, it will pass you by, if all you do is work.
In the beginning of the life planner there is a section that says: "your greatest success is believing in yourself" with coordinating boxes. 12 success goals and a spot to break them down right in the front of your planner.
Save the best for last, my favorite accessory, which was updated is the insertable sticky note dashboard. I write quick notes to myself and ideas. It's incredibly easy to forget a million dollar idea...not with these babies.
Check out the video below to flip through the new EC Luxe Planner.
xo,
Kimber
Erin Condren for Business
Erin Condren has the cutest planners and accessories for the every day girl boss. Pin and read this post on how to incorporate Erin Condren products for your business or blog in 2016. Create a biz strategy and an editorial calendar to map out your marketing efforts for the year.
To be successful in business you have to have a strategy. Strategy is your roadmap to success.
Particularly with online business, things change so often, and you have to plan for that.
Business planning usually can be dull, dry and just plain ole boring. Yet, when done correctly, you are truly working towards building an empire.
A few months ago I shared with you a post on The Best Planners for Women in 2016 and shared with you my love of planning on paper. There’s truly something magical when pen and paper meet.
It featured the Erin Condren Life Planner which is currently the bloodline of my business. [more about that in a bit]
The lovely peeps at Erin Condren reached out and sent over some luscious goodies for us to add to our business organization and development.
I immediately gravitated to their jot your thought journals to manage business planning. The paper quality is perfect and there is minimal to no bleed through, if that type of thing bothers your creative process. The journal trio comes in graph paper, lined paper and blank paper.
Here is a breakdown of how those three notebooks are being utilized:
House of Chanel:
The creative hub of the empire which houses product development and potential timelines. To include -
workshop planning
webinar ideas
current projects
collaboration ideas
service ideas and upgrades w/ development timeline
product ideas and upgrades w/ development
The Biz Bible:
The heart of the business, which includes -
Mission and vision [outlines company culture]
Trilogy [what 3 things are we focusing on/positioned as an expert on]
Quarterly goals
Big dates across other biz/life
Running TDL :
To do's that you come across throughout the day/week that isn't on your or your teams radar.
- Write it down in this Running TDL.
- Add to your calendar to add this to your business hub at the end of each week. [Even if you just take a picture and upload it but delegate to your team to add it to the business hub online.]
Last year I used the life planner as a LIFE planner, but this year I wanted to focus on just content creation. The set up is amazing and very practical for getting your content done! Click here to save $10 on your first Erin Condren order.
Planning means nothing if you don’t put the ideas into action.
On the note pages before each month, I outline ideas for blog posts, podcasts, periscopes and YouTube videos.
Then break each task down into the smallest subtask for completion on the weekly pages.
The Erin Condren Life Planner vertical layout is perfect for business planning. On the left there's lines for to-do's which are synced in our Asana, but it helps to see it in the planner to know exactly what to conquer and the time available to knock it out.
Strategy baby!
The individual boxes are used for: content creation tasks, social media tasks, and client work tasks. Underneath the last box is four lines which I use to write down the top three people I need to contact or respond to on that day.
The snap in dashboards [laminated paper that snaps in the planner] are perfect for jotting down TDL's and random ideas that come to you throughout the day. I keep one on the current monthly spread, one on the current week and one on the next monthly spread. Use wet erase markers to write and wipe off with rubbing alcohol and a paper towel.
The sticky note [post-its not created by post-its] dashboard is my bestie. I have an insane addiction to sticky notes. I write quotes I see on Instagram and Twitter and make notes to myself all day long. The dashboard makes it convenient for when I'm away from my desk.
I added additional folders into the life planner to add marketing inspirations, I may get in the mail or pretty postcards that spark creativity. And on a bad day, because let's face it the biz rollercoaster can be rough, I may throw in a nice card from a client.
Speaking of cards, I love writing out cards to my current and past clients...just because, for their birthdays or when they make big accomplishments . So when, I saw this box full of cards, I was excited to send some love around the world.
The cards are thick and colorful. The picture doesn't show the true beauty of these. The wording is in rose gold, silver and gold foil with coordinating stickers to enclose the envelopes.
I’m a doodler (is that even a word?) I doodle when I’m bored, busy and just because. So when I saw the Creative Color coloring book and sketch pad my heart jumped a few beats. Coloring is so therapeutic, so on those days when you can’t get your biz bestie on the phone or Skype...pull out an adult color book and calm your nerves. Or when your ADHD is flowing with energy doodle away. I just leave it on my desk and finish where I left off from the days before when I need a break. I love that paper is thick and can actually be framed around your office for positive vibes with the various inspirational sayings.
Thank you to the Erin Condren team for sending me these wonderful products to review and share.