We learned many lessons in 2015. You’ve heard the phrase “work smarter – not harder”? That’s the plan for 2016. Happy new year!
Redirect our energy
Limit the number of shows – Time and money spent anticipating what customers might buy at shows was not cost effective in 2015. The local exposure is good and created a few custom orders but not enough to warrant the energy spent.
Improve our SEO and website
Continue strengthening online activity, on website and social media – 80 percent of our custom work comes from Google searches for metal work. So we realize that social media is for networking but not a proven lead tool.
Spend some time getting to know how to read Google Analytics data – It’s amazing how much information is there, and how utterly complex it all is!
We don’t need to come up with some type of complex social media campaign – The “winging it” approach has seemed to work pretty well at this point.
Make time for ourselves
Take more time for ourselves – We’ve realized after a grueling holiday season that all work and no play does not make us happy campers. Better to focus our activities on custom work and plan some vacations to refuel our creative juices. We also found that spending so much time working has led to a more sedentary lifestyle. We didn’t get our bikes out once, and the kayaks made it out a handful of times.
Experiment
Do more experimentation with our metal art for larger pieces – We have wanted to create our own custom gate for the last 2 years. This is the year to do it! We want to create a good base that we could easily modify for different spaces, and then create gate art that could be removed easily for relocation purposes.
Have fun!
Have more fun! – The majority of our customers have unique needs and are looking to create something from an idea they have. The creative process and working with our customers is what we enjoy the most!
That’s it for now in terms of “resolutions” for the new year. The most important thing is to be fluid in our business. We always want to be able to try new things. We love to figure out how to make things work. That’s what makes us unique! Happy New Year to all!