I. Can’t. Even. Believe. It.
Here it is. Already September 1st. Can y’all believe it? Where on Earth has this YEAR GONE!? While I’m SO excited for the fresh new start of Fall (my absolute FAVORITE season!) I’ve got LOTS on my to-do list already…and not to mention the upcoming 14 weddings I have to photograph from now until the end of the year! It’s going to be ONE WILD RIDE these upcoming months. (Man, is THIS real life?!)
The beginning of a new month means that it’s time for Monthly Goals! A new month means a fresh, new start to get things done, and hearing that sweet, sweet sound of the pen crossing through a list of things to-do! So, as always, here’s my monthly goals for this next month.
Business Goals
+Narrow down a new website designer and completely start over. This. This has got to be THE MOST daunting task of ALL 2016. (We all struggle, right?) At the beginning of the year, I thought I had made my decision and chose a great company to take over my website rebrand…but unfortunately, I was never super happy with what they were giving me as concepts, so I decided to look elsewhere. It was a tough decision after they had worked SO hard to find a vision for my brand, but in the end, business IS business…and I needed to go in a different direction. With that being said, I’m getting used to the idea that a new website and rebrand just isn’t going to happen for 2016. It could, but in reality, I wouldn’t be able to put everything into like I’d like to. So I’ve decided to give it a couple more months and completely rebrand & actually get. it. right. this time. I’m looking forward to completely rebranding and launching my brand new site and brand by January 11th, 2017. Just in time for my 27th birthday. Wow. Now, that’ll sure be a great gift to myself!
+New, fresh logo & brand design. Touching on what I said above…I’m basically just starting over. Emma Loo isn’t going to change…It’s still going to be “Emma Loo Photography”…and the brands direction that it’s going towards isn’t changing either (think mint and gold all over!) However, the logo and the look and feel of the website will change quite a bit and I’m planning on working on all that in these upcoming months. It’s going to be a lot of work…especially for me (I’m in no way a graphic designer at all!) but I’m excited to see how it’ll change and grow my business for the better!
+Shoot new head shots/lifestyle/office/around-the-house images. This is something that I need to get done just for the sake of getting it done. I feel like I never have anything really personal up on my blog or Instagram. The only real “good” pictures Phillip and I have of each other are of our wedding or anniversary, and everything else just doesn’t look that professional. I’m wanting to take a couple updated head shots for the website/Instagram, and some just everyday lifestyle images as well. Working in the office, around the house, with the cats (because they’re my babes!) and others! I hope I can get these done and love them enough to use them throughout the site & brand!
+Return all September Weddings within 7-10 days This ones a tough one…but it’s a definitely one I want to succeed at. Sure, it means I turn into a yoga pant wearing, a coffee drinking, messy bun wearing slob for a couple of days while I edit in the Emma Loo Office in the days right after the wedding, but its all good! If I can make my Couples happy, then I’m happy!
Personal Goals
+PAINT OUR HOUSE! It’s been for whats felt like A LONG time coming, but I am SO excited for this next little chapter of our house adventure! We plan to paint by the end of the month and I can’t. freaking. wait. We still have to do LOTS of work to the house to get it ready to paint… (& I have to still narrow down my paint choices!) but we’re on the way! It’ll get there when it gets there, right?! AH! Y’all. For real. I’m SO excited to FINALLY have a painted brick house!
+Plan & Prep The Yard for Landscaping! We decided to “self-teach” ourselves all of the landscaping tricks of the trade, so we’re going to landscape on our own (Hello Greenthumbs!) We’re planning on picking a few brains at a local nursery and then plant everything ourselves! Hopefully it’ll look good and we’ll be able to make the yard finally look complete! We won’t plan to actually plant until October.
+Cook at home ALL weeknight meals. We’ve been doing this a lot lately and I want to keep it going. Not only does it save us lots of money, but I’m actually starting to ENJOY cooking. (I know. Who am I?!)
–Plan for a Relaxing Day. This one is going to be tough y’all. But I need it before I absolutely explode. I feel like I’ve literally been working my butt to the bone. So I need to plan JUST a DAY this month where I literally DO. NOTHING. No emails. No editing. No phone calls. Or FaceTime Dates. Or meeting with Brides. Nothing. In fact, I want to shut the door of my office and not even LOOK at it. I want to sleep in. Binge watch TV and movies all day and do absolutely nothing. See y’all. This is for everyone who says “It must be SO awesome to work from home”…yeah, well when you work from home you technically don’t get “sick days”. Well I’m calling in for a “mental health day”. I will need to take off just to reboot and it’ll be good for my health, right?!
+Get to Practicing my Calligraphy. Speaking of mental health, I need to learn when to shut it down and clock out some days. Turning off the screen and getting out of the office should be priority number one at night, however I find myself just overwhelmingly adding to my to-do list at night! I need to take a break and turn it off! Getting better at calligraphy is something I’d LOVE to do and I can definitely get to practicing at night, after dinner, when I need to calm down and unwind. Who knows, maybe someday I can start a calligraphy business as well! 😉
That’s it for me! Now, what are some of YOUR goals for this September?
Goodness gracious, where has the year gone?! Happy September everyone! XO!
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