My word for 2014 is whole.
I thought it was going to be a more personal word, but I realized as I've looked back at this year, that what I have been doing most with my work is trying to tell the whole story.
I'm sharing the behind the scenes with MAKE29 products and so many of my blog posts. I'm asking others to do the same each week on the podcast. I just spent a month sharing what my business path looked like.
I know (because I have done it) that it's really easy to look out at Blogland and see ducks floating on a lake: it appears super serene, well-lit and calm above. But when you take a peek underwater, there is a lot of intense paddling going on underneath. (Those donuts aren't going to photograph themselves.)
And so, in the spirit of sharing the whole story, I'm excited to announce (way too early) my plan for a new product:
In 2015, I'll be launching a day planner/goal setting workbook.
I absolutely believe that the only way to make progress on your BIG GOALS is to take small steps EVERY DAY. This product will help you combine the two into one rad, well-designed spiral bound book.
Some of you are thinking "What? Lame. I have an app for that." And (hopefully) others of you are thinking "What? Cool! Can't wait!" But I doubt that too many people are thinking, "Wow. Elise is launching a planner? How totally off-brand and out of left field."
This is my DUUUUUUH, project. As in, of course I would like to try and make my own planner, how did I ever think of wooden ampersands before this?
It's happening. And if all goes as planned (pun intended) it's going to be KILLER.
I am working with Jolby & Friends out of Portland, Oregon on the design. It will be produced in the USA. It will be full of useful space and it will be meant to get scribbled in. This is not a fancy "let's decorate it!" book. This is a GET TO WORK BOOKTM. (Don't worry though, it's going to look good too.)
The catch is that it's October 30 and I'm telling you about a day planner that will not be available on January 1. This is a risk because Blogland (including me!) tends to want stuff…yesterday.
But hey, it is what it is.
Instead of staying secret and dancing around it for six months, I've decided to share the process as I work on this new project because that's what I like to do.
So, the current plan is to sell the first edition of the planner early next summer. It will be designed for use from July 2015-June 2016 following an academic calendar. This will sort of be a "soft-opening" for me to see how things go and get an idea about quantities. I love that I can stress the "you don't have to start working towards your dreams on January 1" message (which is true) and I know that some people – like students, teachers, parents and new college grads – might like to work with the academic calendar anyway.
Then there will be a big launch of the 2016 traditional annual planner. (And hopefully more to come after that.)
I'm waiting what feels like forever to launch because first of all, MAKE29 deserves it's due. I have three more ideas I am excited to work on and share. But second, and more important: I don't want to rush it. This is the product that I can see really growing. It's a planner right now but in five years, it could also be a desk calendar. A wall calendar. A notebook. A wholesale line. An app. A goal-setting community website (with a much catchier title than that).
But that is not important today. What's important right now is that I make the best product I can.
There are some really cool features being worked into this planner. Different concepts that I haven't seen before (though I am sure they've been done by someone). But more important than the "extras" is the fact that this is going to be a planner built for practicality. I am testing every design we come up with (literally working with the pages at my desk on a daily basis) to make sure it's IDEAL for keeping track of to-dos and making progress on your goals.
So, that's the news. That's the finale. Exciting? Hopefully! Anti-climatic? Very possibly! Over-hyped?! Almost always! But what's that saying? Sometimes the journey is better than the destination? Let's hope!
Thank you so much for reading. Cheers to following your dreams.
love and thumbs-up emojis, elise
ps: did you miss the small business story? start with post one and work your way through all eleven.
enJOY it 
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