The Bold + Beautiful Business Planning

 The new 2018 Erin Condren Life Planner is bold + beautiful. Your business planning should be bold + beautiful also. It’s no secret that I am an Erin Condren gal. Didn’t know? Well the cat is definitely out of the bag. My name is Kimber and I am a planner addict. *sigh*

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. 

Last year was the first year I used an 18 month calendar. You know a calendar that begins in July and lasts until the following December. Just didn’t see the need, but I have since seen the light. 

I received the new Erin Condren 18 month Life Planner with a ‘Painted Petals’ cover and rose gold coil. The colors are bold + vibrant + beautiful. [There's a video showcasing the colors at the end of this post]

The watercolors are so rich, that it feels as if it’s a true piece of artwork. No exaggeration. Aaaand I’m not even artsy. The paper used this year is thick. Thicker than a snickers. 

Girl, I’m all for quality paper. It feels like a smooth card stock, but it turns easily on the coils.

2017/2018 note is on left + 2016/2017 on right

The page before the month begins has been updated and I absolutely love this change. There are four circles. Use these circles to pinpoint your goals for the upcoming month. Whether it be money goals, weight goals, health goals, or home goals. Set your goals, so that you can slay your year.

Underneath these circles or our newly appointed “goal area,” you can map out how you will reach these goals in this coming month. Then there is a long rectangular shape, where you can write out affirmations or personal quotes for the upcoming month. Being a woman + an adult is hard sometimes, and you should always motivate + inspire yourself.

And as always the beginning of every month the Life Planner has quotes to help you get into action. The quote page takes on the deep watercolors and color theme for that month.

The layout that I have is vertical with the three boxes per day.

Vertical layout design

This layout is perfect for scheduling a combination of things. I have seen people dedicate the boxes to:

• home, work, and personal things
• morning, afternoon, night
• work, home, dinner/workout
• To do list, appointments, gratitude statement/word

The opportunities for the use is endless. We have so many things to track of. I currently use a vertical Life Planner for social media planning.

First box: What I plan on posting that day

Second box: Any social to do’s [commenting on other posts, contacting someone I found on social, checking out a new social tool, etc.]

Third box: Anything cool I saw and want to remember to check out another day.

Underneath the daily boxes are four short lines. I’ve seen these used for:

• meals that are eaten throughout the day
• workouts
• gratitude
• daily summaries/memory keeping

I write down my money goal on the top line, the money earned from the day before on the second line, and on the third line I’ll write down the actual earned for the day. Tracking your profits is super important.

The box in the right corner on the left page, I use to write my social stats for the week. You can use this box to notate:

• a theme for the week
• gratitude
• A quote you found or love
• The most important task/appointment that you have this week

Underneath the box are lines. Typically this is where weekly to do’s are placed before I delegate what day, they will get done. For instance: whom to email, call, DM [since I use this for social], appointments to schedule.

Other details:

Cute vellum overlay when you open the Lifeplanner

The inside covers are dry erase boards. Braindump and then wipe it away

.Notes section in the back of the planner has four lined pages, four dot grid pages, and four coloring pages.

The second lined page is extra thick as it has the tab ‘Notes.’ Due to the thickness on this page, you could use a marker with I’m sure minimal if not no shadowing from the marker. The other pages have hardly any shadowing using gel pens

There’s a planner page for the WHOLE year of 2019 with four lines underneath each month for pre-planning your greatness.

Stickers are included as every year, but these new stickers are gorgeous. Very pretty and shiny. They aren’t too glam that you feel like you won’t want to use them and will hoard them. [Yes, beautiful + smart + successful women hoard stickers. And I may or may not be one of them]

You will want to plan with these to help you stay focused on your goals, dreams, and action plan toward the best life...and even the daunting task of cleaning the bathrooms each week.

The keep it together folder is in the back holding the matching Perpetual Calendar. The Perpetual Calendar is like a bonus mini calendar you can use year after year. You can use it to:

Remember birthdays, anniversaries, and celebrations that always occur on the same date every year.

A mini launch calendar to map out what you have going on each month as a mini reference.

To manage your budget based on bills that you have each month that come on the same day.

The accessories this year are so cute with the ongoing Painted Petals theme. I originally thought they were colorful raindrops.

I guess I’m still mourning the death of Prince. *hums Purple Reign*

Two weeks ago my friend told me she got a running fanny pack and I laughed loudly out loud. Then Erin Condren comes out with this planny pack.

Attach it over your planner and it serves as a closure band to keep your secrets safe and papers in tact. Fill the pouch with your fave pens and planner accessories. There's a slot that you can slide in your phone also. Perfect for on the go meetings. 

The new long sticky notepad is perfect for adding on to to do lists. It is long enough that it covers the note side in the monthly view as well as the boxes in the vertical planners and hourly planners. The sticky is sticky for half of the paper, so you can still write underneath what you stick it on. 

First thought, if you have an appointment on a certain day and don't want to forget things you want to ask or mention, use this as a brilliant reminder. 

 The insertable sticky note dashboard have remained my fave. I write quick notes to myself and ideas. Usually it's incredibly easy to forget a million dollar idea...not with these babies. 

Luxe Business Planning

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

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. 

The Best Planners for Women for 2016

There's something magical about pen and paper. Despite all the electronic calendars and planning tools, I love to pull out my notebook and brain dump then enter everything into my planner. After its in my planner, I add it to google calendar/sunrise.

This is the time of year where you start preparing for the holidays and planning for next year. This is also the time when you go out and get/order the planner that is going to help you manage your goals and make profits.

Here are the ten best planners for women for 2016! Despite numbering, these are in no order of how awesome they are:

1. Erin Condren Life Planner [$50 - $65] I discovered the Erin Condren Life Planner last year this time. Let me warn you there is a cult like following with Erin Condren. They take glam planning (stickers and all things pretty) to a new level. You can either go with the 18 month option or the 12 month option. The 2016 versions have a choice of a horizontal or vertical weekly layout. The inspirational quotes throughout the planner are motivating. I love the options for customizing the covers, with the option of changing them out as often as you want.  Click here to save $10

The 10 top planners for entrepreneurs and online business owners. | Via Biz Bestie

This is actually the planner I used this year.

2. Inkwell Press Livewell Planner [$54]:  THE planner for women, well at least that’s what the tag line says. The Inkwell Livewell Press Planner has a focus on goal setting and execution. There is a section in the front for planning out your yearly goals and a place for you to reflect on the month you just completed, as well as plan for the next month. *jaw drop* yes girl yes. There are motivational quotes on the mission (planning) boards. It appears very functional in addition to beautiful. The Inkwell Press Livewell Planner has two options for the weekly layout, depending on your preference. So many amazing features. Click here to save $10

3. Ban.do Planner [$20]: These are the cutest planners. They remind me of a cross between Lisa Frank stickers and notebooks in the nineties and a cute Moleskin. Or a trip to your fun aunts house - super girly and amazing...borderline childish but a mature edge. The pages are colorful and full of beautiful fun artwork. Ban.do planners come with stickers [yaaah], funny prompts and inspirational quotes.  Ban.do planner features the typical yearly, monthly and weekly views.  [SOLD OUT ALMOST EVERYWHERE]

4. Visionary Journal [$55]: The Visionary Journal is a combination of a vision board, task manager and day planner. There is a system that it takes you through to set up your goals and strategize to achieve them throughout the year with monthly breakdowns. I really love the areas for brainstorming, mindmapping and prompts on why these goals are important for you. Of course the Visionary Journal has a section for you to create your vision board within the planner. The calendar is not pre-dated, so you are able to begin at anytime.

5. Get to Workbook [$55]:The Get to Workbook is a daily planner + goal setting workbook designed to help you make progress on your big goals by taking things one day at a time. Each month has a goal and reflection page. One thing I really love about the Get to Workbook planner is the project planning pages [breaking down big projects to reduce overwhelm] for each month.

6. Simplified Planner [$58]: The Simplified Planner was created to “help women focus on what matters most by building simplicity and joy intentionally into their lives.” The Simplified Planner includes motivational quotes throughouts, an hourly view of your day from 7 am - 7 pm. In addition to you to-do’s for the day.

7. Sugar Paper Planners via Target [$6.99 - $19.99]: The Sugar Paper Planners are very affordable and efficient. Beautiful covers and depending on the style of calendar depends on the planning space. The signature planner offers an area each week where you can:  set one goal for the week, your top three things that you need to accomplish, a to do list, a list of who to call and email, a list of what to buy and ‘don’t forget’ section to notate something you shouldn’t forget. These are just gorgeous. 

8. Passion Planner [$24.99-$29.99]: The Passion Planner is more than just appointments, but you knew I wouldn’t just add one of those bad boys here, right?!? The passion planner helps you to map out your goals and define a road to achieve them. Each week you write out your focus, and there’s a section to reflect something good that occurred that week. The daily planning pages have time slots per half hour from 6am to 10:30 pm. Under the time columns there is a section for personal and work to do lists on the left page. Whereas on the right page there is a blank area for you to get creative [draw, braindump, mind map, write notes, journal etc.]

9. Lilly Pulitzer Agenda [$28-$36]: The Lilly Pulitzer Agendas are loud and colorful. They remind me of trips to Florida. It comes with stickers and beautiful artwork throughout with various travel and floral themes. Oddly enough there is a section to plan adventures and vacations. What's a year without adventure?

10. Whitney English Day Designer [$49 - $59]: Clean beautiful design meets day design.  Day Designer’s tagline, “the original daily agenda for living a well-designed life. It will keep you on course and focused. It's all about living an intentional life. Every single day. “ Doesn’t that empower you to just go out and be amazing? The Day Designer includes daily planning pages with scheduling from 5am to 9pm, daily inspirational quotes, to-do’s, dinner planning, top 3 to-do prompts, notes and more. Very similar to the Simplified Planner. Whitney English has paired up with Blue Sky and has a cheaper option available which you can check out here.

In summary, 

1. Erin Condren

2. Inkwell Press Livewell Planner

3. Bando Planner

4. Visionary Journal

5. Get to Workbook

6. Simplified Planner

7. Sugar Paper Planners via Target

8. Passion Planner

9. Lilly Pulitzer

10. Whitney English Day Designer

What planner are you planning [pun intended] to use for 2016? 

Check out the best planners for 2017 here!

---