What's Next in 2011?

As we start another new year I wanted to get my reader's feed back as to what you would like to see in my blog for the new year.

What would you like to see more of? What new ideas would you be interested in? Contests? Polls? How To's?

Your feed back is greatly appreciated!

Have a nice day!

Ali

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that everyone had a wonderful time celebrating last night and today. I know I can speak for many when I say a new year is welcomed!

I wish everyone well in their new adventures!

A. Nieman Crochet: Goals for 2009

A. Nieman Crochet

Goals for 2009

1. Get Organized: I would like to have all my yarn organized in a way that I know where any color/ type is located. I would like to have all my tools together and all my shipping supplies together. This will entail me going through all my supplies, from fabric and yarn to tools. They will have to be sorted by categories that are easy for me to remember. I will need to do this early in the year before I start on any new projects.
2. Set up a calendar for finishing projects that I have already started. Some of those projects would include: wash clothes and dish rags, purses, and granny square afghans. This calendar will also include the dates I would like to have my seasonal items done, ie Valentine’s Day, Fourth of July, and Halloween.
3. Write a Business Plan: Now this goal will include a lot of research on how to set up a small business. I do not expect to have a business set up by the end of the year. Because of my financial situation setting up this business will take some time and I am fully aware of that. After my research I hope to be able to set a date.
4. Research ideas for marketing my business. I will look into things such as advertising, craft shows, promotional products, and craft parties. Once I have established a plan for these markets, I will establish a schedule for trial of each.
5. Bookkeeping: I will keep up on all bookkeeping for the entire year of 2009. This will give me an idea of how much I spend and make. It will help me price my products more effectively.

This year A. Nieman Crochet will no longer be just a hobby. It will be a venture that I take seriously and into which I put my full effort and dedication. I am extremely excited about 2009 and hope to make this my best year yet!

It Has Been a Long Year

Over the past year and couple months a lot has happened in my life. Last August I graduated college, moved to Akron and started working at Dillard's. During my time at Dillard's I was searching for a better job with more money and /or possible in my field, interior design.

Along the way I had interviews with furniture stores like Ethan Allen, Arhaus and Value City but I did not have enough sales experience for them despite my training in design. I had an interview and was actually hired by an architect part time, but two days later he called me to let me know he had thought about it and decided he couldn't hire me because of money. He did not want to hire me and then have to let me go a month or two later because he could not afford me anymore.

My last opportunity was when I was offered a job as an administrative assistant at The Ohio College of Massotherapy. I had not had much experience in this position but I thought I could learn, as I consider myself a fast learner. Unfortunately my boss did not. After 30 days he decided to let me go. It came as a big shock to me. I thought I was starting to get a hang of things and that with 60 more day left in my probational period I could be very good at this job. But sadly i didn't get that chance.

So now I have some time on my hands. I have been wanting to work more on my crocheting but I cannot support myself on crocheting alone. I wish I could but this economy does not bode well for starting a business.

It is weird knowing that tomorrow is Monday and I will not be going to work nor will I be working the next day or the day after. I will have more time to get my Christmas presents wrapped and more time to spend with my family. I am thankful that I will have them this season but it is hard with the timing. If he had waited a couple weeks I could have at least started looking for a job when people are hiring. No one seems to be concentrating on hiring right now especially the week of Christmas. So now it is a waiting game until after the Holidays and everything gets back to business as usual.

Well I hope I have not completely ruined your holiday mood, but I needed to get some of this off my chest and blogging is a great way for me to do so.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Holidays and a Happy New Year!