Before I take a look back at this past year and what my business has done, I want to hear from you!

How many of you created a startup this year? How many of you feel like you created a start up this year but simultaneously feel as if you’ve been running your business for say the past two years? 5 years? Comment below.

I ask not only because I want to learn more about how I can better serve you and your business, but also to show you something. It doesn’t matter if you are six months or five years into your business – you always need to stop and reflect on what you’ve done. So this blog post is dedicated to reflecting on my start up Ed Troxell Creative and what I’ve done this past year.

[bctt tweet=”It doesn’t matter if you are six months or five years into your business – you always need to stop and reflect on what you’ve done.” username=”Ed_Troxell”]

By blocking out time to reflect on yourself, your business, and what you’ve accomplished this past year, you’re setting yourself up for success come the new year. You’re giving yourself a chance to evaluate how far your business has come and what has worked and what hasn’t. You’re also going to discover what content you should be focusing on delivering to your audience. Take a quick look back at some of your most popular blog post, most tweeted tweet’s, most liked and commented Facebook post, and everything else in between.

Take a look at those photos and videos that you posted and see what people are connecting with. Is that different from where you are headed? Is it far off from your vision? What quick blog post did you type up in the moment that you can expand on now and create into, not only a longer blog post, but maybe even a freebie for your email list or a mini course?

The point of blocking out this time to reflect is that you can pat yourself on the back for all of the hard work that you’ve done. When we’re in the middle of it all we don’t give ourselves enough credit for the hard work that we’ve done. We continuously keep moving forward and forgetting to look back.

I learned this lesson around this time last year when I was reflecting back on my first business – Mix It Up magazine. When I saw the old video clips from the concerts that I threw and the magazines that I created I couldn’t believe all of the content that I produced and the events that I went to. I truly did impress myself. That’s not something to be cocky about but rather something to be proud of.

When you’re passionate about something and you work hard at creating it, it’s OK to be proud of what you have accomplished. You should be, you worked hard.

[bctt tweet=”When you’re passionate about something and you work hard at creating it, it’s OK to be proud of what you have accomplished.” username=”Ed_Troxell”]

This is why I’m pausing to write this blog post and share how my startup Ed Troxell Creative has changed this past year. I know so many of you reading this right now are either just about to launch your startup or are a few months to maybe a year in and are wondering about all the changes you’re going through.

When starting out you don’t know everything. Heck, you don’t even know everything when you’ve been in business for five or 10 years or more. You just need to know which idea you’re passionate about that will solve a problem many people have. From there it’s all about doing your research and planning ahead as much as possible.

Whether you’ve been following me for some time or just began to do so, I am so thankful to have you in my corner. I hope that you will continue to follow me and share my message with others. Now let’s take a look back at Ed Troxell Creative…

Reflect with me a moment on the thing that inspired me to step out and how I did it.

A few months ago, I wrote a blog post on Investing in yourself: $1K1Day online training academy. I dedicated an entire post to educating my followers (you) on an experience that changed me forever and helped me push myself and my business forward. I shared my experience in considering leaving my 9 to 5 and the discovery I made. I discovered Nicole Walters on Periscope. I was intrigued by this brilliant income strategist who had recently quit her corporate job LIVE on Periscope! Wow. I still remember watching her that day as I was walking into work. I connected with Nicole instantly and have been following her ever since. She motivated me to follow in her footsteps (sooner than I had planned to) and launch my own business too!

$1K1Day is an online course that will teach you to think outside of the box and show you how to create multiple streams of income. It really shifts your mindset and shows you all the ways you can serve as well as make extra money. By no means is it guaranteed that you will make $1k in a day, but that doesn’t mean it wont happen or that you wont go beyond that. Of course we all love money and want more of it, but that’s after the fact. What you really learn is your true value, what you can and will bring to the table as well as be introduced to some of the most amazing and talented friends. Read all about this course on the full post here.

On January 5, 2016,  fresh off the new year enthusiasm, I’m sure, I shared with you all how I built ETC. From the company name to the logo to the domain/web host and more, I shared the nitty-gritty of what it took to build my business from the ground up. It’s a pretty great read if you ask me!

What’s changed:

• Business cards. Twice & about to be a third time
• The websites. Pretty much every page on it. I recommend taking screenshots of your website every couple of months especially after making big changes just so you can reflect on it and look back at it later.
• Tagline. What started out as my tagline on the back of my business cards has now translated into a brand!
• I’m about to form a new business entity
• Social media content planning (thanks CoSchedule). I’m finally planning out my content and using CoSchedule to help me do it. As I write this, I have my Instagram posts scheduled out to July 2017!
• Reading. I read more books on business, marketing, sales, and user experience than I ever have before! Check out my library
• Blog. My blog posts are starting to become fuller mean I’m providing more content within one blog post.
• Stupideasy.com I’m reminding myself to stay focused on building and launching stupideasy.com (sign up now to be notified when it goes live). Any new ideas that come to me I just put into a “dump folder” and keep it moving.
• Personal growth. I’ve grown as a person and I’ve become more confident in presenting my services to those who really need it. As an entrepreneur, it can be very intimidating to sell your product or service when you are coming from a place of wanting to help people. Meaning I would do all this stuff for free if I could! More to come on this in a follow-up post soon!

These are just a few things. Remember, starting your own business requires a lot of work. It is fun, scary, and completely different than anything else you’ve done before. That is why you have to be passionate, driven, and knowledgeable about what it is you want to do!