Since my ‘semi-retirement’ nearly 10 years ago, I write and share industry articles on my weekly blog. Although, I post my own insights gathered during all my years in the field — as a sales rep, gourmet food producer, and retail store manager — I also find other experts in the industry whose articles and views are very interesting and beneficial to my readers.
Alyson Stanfield is a coach and blogger I’ve read and followed for many years, 
and especially like her article on “A Realist’s Strategy for Increasing Your Income”.
Here are some of my favorite points from her article:
One of the best things you can do to improve your chances of success in any area is to create a plan. If you’d like to make more money, that means you need an income-boosting plan….
Where Did The Money Come From?
Gather your sales figures for the past 3 years.
What are your streams of income? These are the sources of your income and vary from artist to artist. Your income streams won’t be identical to your studio mate’s….
Analyze Your Numbers
Your next step is to spend time looking at the numbers in front of you. They might not make sense at first, but I guarantee that a story will emerge as they become familiar.
What are the trends you see across the weeks and months?…
Set Your Income Goal for the Year
The final step in your strategy to increase your income is to set your goal for the next 12 months. This is where those CEO projections I mentioned earlier come into play.
Did you learn from your numbers that you’re naturally increasing your income 10% every year? If so, shoot for 20% this year because it’s a stretch, but not out of the realm of possibility….
Alyson’s plan may seem rather simplistic and boring, but you may surprise yourself when you actually take a look at your numbers and analyze your figures.
Coming up with realistic goals at this point is the most critical part of the process. And just don’t develop a willy-nilly figure — Be realistic yet pushing your comfort zone!
Most important, when you create your goal …. WRITE THEM DOWN!
Research confirms there is power in writing down your goals as written goals are 73% more likely to happen.
Take this one step further by printing them off and posting them where you see them often.