Thread: what is your business goal for fall 2010?

Kids are going to be back in school soon and fall classes will be starting up..what are your business goals for fall ? Are you an instructor, promoter, creator of videos? Share your goals :)

A'Kai Silks plans to offer a FULL IN STOCK catalog of silk items at A'Kai Silks belly dance silk veils skirts scarves by akaisilks . That means rectangles, half circles, and skirts in the most popular color styles. I do not like having an empty store unless I just ran a big sale (part of the problem is that items sell as soon as they are listed so the store always looks empty.) So I'm carefully devising a time management plan to have that much stock available (rain pending ..g.:)

The goal is to sell 200 veils per month, 40 skirts, 40 wraps, and 50 "other skirts" on etsy alone. And continue with wholesale to high volume resellers/boutiques.

I'm also aiming to have at least TEN NEW COLOR schemes with photos.

And, since I believe all things are possible, I'd like to travel to two new destinations and vend in person (ie show up with a truckload of silks :)

Who has espresso?

I want to get my etsy store going and get more items up there.... I need to work on taking better photos of my items too.

I hope to get more paid gigs and get a job teaching at a local studio... maybe all that will be enough to keep me afloat while unemployed.

I'll probably be relocating sometime in mid-Fall, unless things get crazy-busy here. (Hey, a girl's gotta stay where the money is.)

Either way, I'm gearing up my marketing to get more big, high-end gigs. Weddings, corporate events, etc. This is the trajectory I've been on for over a year, and I'm getting closer by the day to reaching that goal. (September is booking up with tons of huge, well-paying gigs). I'm planning to make a few changes to my website that'll hopefully position me even better in the high-end market. (Giving my ad copy a makeover, adding video, revamping my testimonials, etc.)

Good thread! I've been meaning to put all these goals on paper and commit to them

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

Either way, I'm gearing up my marketing to get more big, high-end gigs. Weddings, corporate events, etc. This is the trajectory I've been on for over a year, and I'm getting closer by the day to reaching that goal. (September is booking up with tons of huge, well-paying gigs). I'm planning to make a few changes to my website that'll hopefully position me even better in the high-end market. (Giving my ad copy a makeover, adding video, revamping my testimonials, etc.)

Good thread! I've been meaning to put all these goals on paper and commit to them

Pretty much ditto except for the month of good gigs :( While I am grateful for steady work (starving grad student here), I am so tired of the $45-$25 Sacramento restaurant rates (for 2 sets!) and because of a special someone in town, that isn't going to change any time soon. I am also tired of fighting over backyard birthday party gigs with "pro dancers" that charge $150 (or less!).

So I've got my web marketing for dummies book out, am remaking my website and trying to figure out how to best target my new market.

It is time for bigger and better things!

Originally Posted by crystalllized

I am also tired of fighting over backyard birthday party gigs with "pro dancers" that charge $150 (or less!).

Yeah, been there, done that. They can have those gigs, as far as I'm concerned ,r:;. Uncle Bobapalooza won't make or break my dance career.

Oh, and I bought that book, at your suggestion. Can't wait to sink my teeth into it and compare notes with you! Maybe since we have similar goals, we can conspire together

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

Yeah, been there, done that. They can have those gigs, as far as I'm concerned ,r:;. Uncle Bobapalooza won't make or break my dance career.

Oh, and I bought that book, at your suggestion. Can't wait to sink my teeth into it and compare notes with you! Maybe since we have similar goals, we can conspire together

Sounds good to me :)

I just finished reading "Marketing in the Age of Google", which had some good tips, but not as many as the Dummies book. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't buy it.

Now I am reading "Hypnotic Writing".... to help with my site copy. I am halfway through the book and it is still hyping the power of hypnotic writing, but hasn't revealed anything at all. It seems to be geared to people selling "alternative healing" techniques like tapping your Chakra energy to release money blocks...

Originally Posted by crystalllized

It seems to be geared to people selling "alternative healing" techniques like tapping your Chakra energy to release money blocks...

If it were only as easy as sticking crystals up your butt and reciting goddess mantras, there would be no such thing as an MBA ,r:;

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

If it were only as easy as sticking crystals up your butt and reciting goddess mantras, there would be no such thing as an MBA ,r:;

The above was totally unexpected. Now I need to clean coffee from my keyboard and screen. This post is very informative. I was anxious to read all the posts only to be T-boned by SatinWorship's last post. Gotta love Bhuz and all the members!!! Priceless.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

If it were only as easy as sticking crystals up your butt and reciting goddess mantras, there would be no such thing as an MBA ,r:;

ROFL maybe this is the missing key. Some evil energy force is blocking my ability to get better gigs. Now where can I get some crystals and would they be considered a business tax write off?

Originally Posted by showtime

The above was totally unexpected. Now I need to clean coffee from my keyboard and screen. This post is very informative. I was anxious to read all the posts only to be T-boned by SatinWorship's last post. Gotta love Bhuz and all the members!!! Priceless.

And the great thing is, if you can't afford to purchase a new keyboard and monitor right now, as those things can get pricey, just grab a piece of chakra-cleansing quartz and go to town! ..l;,

Glad to be a Bhuzkill. Anytime

Originally Posted by crystalllized

ROFL maybe this is the missing key. Some evil energy force is blocking my ability to get better gigs. Now where can I get some crystals and would they be considered a business tax write off?

Oh, it's definitely an evil force. An evil force of the raqs beavering, nippletassling variety .w.:

For that, I'd suggest a garlic necklace.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

If it were only as easy as sticking crystals up your butt and reciting goddess mantras, there would be no such thing as an MBA ,r:;

dammit my secret is out!

My big goal is to find a Title Sponsor (7-10K) for the Intensive for 2011. I'm hitting up the casinos & nightclubs for more money this year. I've already raised more than $1500 this year in sponsorships that I haven't had previously, but I'm ready to take this further. I do nearly 7k in advertising, so having a Title Sponsor that would help cover these expenses would be grand.

Jesennia you are a true entrepreneur!
My plan is to not do everything anymore. Time to hire more people. I don't have time to juggle everything. I need a website admin, 2 more seamstresses and if I make extra I can have a housekeeper once a month. I also need an awesome tax person. Preferably a belly dancer/tax accountant who is willing to do all my taxes and end of the year business drama in exchange for sparkly costumes. If I can nail down one of those things this year I will be a happy woman!

This year:
Become more familiar with the commercial rental market in L'ville, in case we decide to move the studio.

Get STudio B finished.

Get a house band organized and trained.

Explore Tunisian dance.

Have at least ten of every costume piece that the dance company uses on a regular basis hanging in the costume room ready to be snatched off the hangers.

Finish designing two Bollywood-appropriate costumes. Construct five each.

Complete the design for the One True Choli.

Continue to create one-costume-piece-a-day from The Stash.

ahh, now THIS is something I should seriously make some coffee and sit, think, and write about. Than post on my fridge. :)
Hmm... off hand.. since unfortunatley I AM one of those over-worked college students......
1. further my 'soon-to-be' fluency in arabic (insha'allah ;) )
2.Expand my 'gigging' into more respectable/better paying areas
3. get some solid private lesson students
4. go Big w/ the events me and my partner are creating for the area..
5. actually use my Journal on my website as a resoucres for dancers (..need to post the 1st arabic lesson for haflas soon...)
6. Better promotion in the venues I do work as well as on the web
7. save and plan my trip to Egypt in Feb2011!!!!!!
8. continue hard-core w/ the private lessons and workshops!

Goals for this fall

1. fill up the classes planned for October - am putting more conscious effort into marketing them this season, hope it pays off!
2. expand the private classes - mostly through referrals
3. update my website - renew the 'normal' one and build a separate one for the student/school activities so content can be more specific. also: make new business cards (already done: Khalida Bellydance, 'Bellydancer of the world' 2007 and Khalida Bellydance - Schule für orientalischen Tanz)
4. earlier planning/advertising for the 2011 RAKS summerschools - will start mid-august probably
5. find more places to travel to for dance in the future
6. plan visits to new-to-me festivals
7. train/prepare for jobs already planned :)

As for performances: Lately I've found a renewed love for 'simple' birthday party/wedding gigs. Party business was a bit slow for me this year, and I've had to decline a couple of gigs because of being out of town (for dance!), but the few I did do recently reminded me of how much fun dancing at a party can be. So I plan on doing a bit more of these.

Originally Posted by Khalida

As for performances: Lately I've found a renewed love for 'simple' birthday party/wedding gigs. Party business was a bit slow for me this year, and I've had to decline a couple of gigs because of being out of town (for dance!), but the few I did do recently reminded me of how much fun dancing at a party can be. So I plan on doing a bit more of these.

Yes. Parties are pretty much ALL I do, and while that approach doesn't work for everybody, I've found it so spiritually rewarding to narrow my focus to making people happy on special days of their lives. No restaurant owner drama or dancer turf wars to contend with - just happy people and clients who appreciate the value I add to their events. Never, ever underestimate the humble (yet lucrative) party gigs ..g.:

100% agreed. That's what drew me to performing this dance form in the first place.

Woo! Got a new flyer made and some new ads up... revamping the website w/ my bf.

My biggest challenge will be creating and building a gig market around here where there is none.

Originally Posted by Lesedi

My biggest challenge will be creating and building a gig market around here where there is none.

Yeah, looking out to the future, I might have to deal with this when I relocate. (Assuming I haven't found a dream job in CT and begged and pleaded my boyfriend to move back up here ,r:;). Cocoa Beach is a beautiful area....but it's absolutely dead. ..cr.:

I wonder if anybody has any words of wisdom for us...

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

I wonder if anybody has any words of wisdom for us...

Anthea does: starting a bellydance community - The Biz of Belly Dance - tribe.net

Projects (in my little area of the world) for this fall:

I will continue to build my class numbers. Just move to a new studio that is just beautiful and close to two college campuses!

I want to get more gigs! (I have crystals on stand by if this does not pan out!)

Traveling and networking for furture events/gigs/performances is also high on my list.

O'and promoting my Hubby's Doumbek Lessons and performance. He's traveling and networking much like myself.

Amy Renee
Tallahassee, FL

Originally Posted by eshtabellydance

My plan is to not do everything anymore. Time to hire more people. I don't have time to juggle everything. I need a website admin, 2 more seamstresses and if I make extra I can have a housekeeper once a month. I also need an awesome tax person. Preferably a belly dancer/tax accountant who is willing to do all my taxes and end of the year business drama in exchange for sparkly costumes. If I can nail down one of those things this year I will be a happy woman!

Can't help on the taxes, but if you ever need a copy writer for the Web, ads, press releases, etc., I will work for sparklies. ..l;,

Well no bites on gigs yet, but I'm going to be teaching classes at a studio this fall! :)

New marketing and promotion strategies!

I'm also looking to boost enrollment in my classes. Numbers have been lower the last few months.

I did a calculation and figured that each student is worth a significant amount of money to me. Not only do they pay for classes, but they attend shows and workshops. If I can just hook them into classes....

This is a good thread, time for me to focus!

1. build a stable base of intermediates for my level 2 class. Last year there were 6 students, I want 8-10.
2. perform once every two months in a belly dance event to connect more with other dancers
3. have a look at renting a studio to start my own classes ( I get an hourly wage from the university to teach for them, but they are mainly interested in beginner classes)
4. create a workshop portfolio of workshop I'd like to teach to students of BD. In 2011 I want to start teaching those once a month.

Crystallized, I'm sure those crystals are a tax write-off!

My goals this year are a little different than they have been in the past. This fall I intend to continue incubating this baby boy I'm carrying, and just playing with dance for the first time in my career. I'm supposed to be "taking it easy," so I'm not teaching (intensive stuff) or performing through the rest of my pregnancy. I'm going to use this time to go to festivals, go to friends showcases, watch as many videos as I can get my hands on, put together new sets, etc - all the stuff I never had time for when I was so busy pursuing my professional goals. Baby comes in Dec, and then:

I am coming back bigger and better than ever! New classes, more classes, specialized workshops, bring in instructors from all over the place. Maybe not a lot more gigs, but my regular gigs, better gigs, new music, and the best dancer I can be! It sounds like a lot, but just thinking about my big comeback gets me all excited. And I get to embarrass the heck out of my little boy as he gets older - added bonus!

And Crystallized, I have a plan to knock that "certain someone" who drags us all down out the water for good. A few of the drag-downers, actually...
..g.:

Originally Posted by Mychelledancer

And Crystallized, I have a plan to knock that "certain someone" who drags us all down out the water for good. A few of the drag-downers, actually...
..g.:

Eagerly waiting to hear the plan!!

Originally Posted by eshtabellydance

Jesennia you are a true entrepreneur!
My plan is to not do everything anymore. Time to hire more people. I don't have time to juggle everything. I need a website admin, 2 more seamstresses and if I make extra I can have a housekeeper once a month. I also need an awesome tax person. Preferably a belly dancer/tax accountant who is willing to do all my taxes and end of the year business drama in exchange for sparkly costumes. If I can nail down one of those things this year I will be a happy woman!

Raising hand! Will work for Eshta cossies!