My kids have been super clingy. “I miss you, Mama.” ;__;

My oldest has also figured out how to open the other gate so they basically have free reign of the house now.

Been hard to get up early or work on anything requiring concentration with them running back and forth.

what I’m working on right now

Video courses

Killing it with Kana course

• Recording a few more characters for the bonus videos.
• Writing social media posts to promote this and the workbook.
• Putting announcement in the newsletter to let previous students know about the updates.
• Setting up email automation sequence for people purchasing this.

Simplifying Japanese Sentence Structure in 6 Steps

• Writing some social media posts.
• Putting a link to it on the homepage and/or using a popup to highlight it. Will not be using Optin monster; expect you to enter credit card before they let you test drive.

Rewards store

• Entering backlog of points.
• Building out backend for worksheet record entry and exposing entered records to the student.
• Entering backlog of worksheet records.
• Setting up the store – where is the problem right now. If only I could let the student choose from specific rewards point options.

The rest

• Putting together new material for the こどものにほんご　Japanese for Kids classes.
• Writing out how my entire offerings tree.
• Turning lessons from Teens’ Intermediate Beginner Japanese IV into full worksheets.
• Adding a chatbot to the website.
• Pursuing some collaboration/consultant opportunities.

what’s in progress but not being worked on

A new way to flashcard

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed PALS

Vocab Visualizer Vault

what I finished in the last month

Video courses

Killing it with Kana course

• Recorded audio for updated transcript.
• Updated the videos with the audio and edited slides.
• Edited videos for 80% of the individual characters in the bonus videos.
• Filed copyright registration.
• Created assessment/goals survey.

Simplifying Japanese Sentence Structure in 6 Steps

• Added another 6-step method for the $1 offer.
• Updated the email sequence with the $1 offer.

Rewards store

• Compiled/tallied points.
• Added gamification for completing lessons and courses.
• Made rules more clear.

The rest

• Gave feedback on student worksheets.
• Instituted weekly business assessments: define my agenda for next week, see where I am in my goals.

conclusions/final thoughts

So many things! I know what I need to work on but finding the time is so hard. Definitely need a VA.

It’s allergy season for me. Sinuses are swollen. Lots of sneezing.

And the bugs are eating me alive!! The bites become these massive welts. I hate mosquitos.

what I’m working on right now

Video courses

Killing it with Kana course
I didn’t make a lot of headway here because I got really focused on making the sales pages for all my interconnected courses/offerings.

• Recording audio for updated transcript.
• Updating the videos with the audio and edited slides.
• Recording 3 extra videos.
• Writing social media posts to promote this and the workbook.
• Putting in newsletter to let previous students know about the updates.

Simplifying Japanese Sentence Structure in 6 Steps

• Writing some social media posts.
• Putting a link to it on the homepage and/or using Optin Monster to highlight it.

Rewards store

• Compiling/tallying points.
• Setting up the store – where is the problem right now. If only I could let the student choose from specific rewards point options.

The rest

• Putting together new material for the こどものにほんご　Japanese for Kids classes.
• Writing out how my entire offerings tree.
• Recording more of the day-to-day stuff so it’s not taking up space in my head. Also, great to have the instructions in the same place.

what’s in progress but not being worked on

A new way to flashcard

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed PALS

Vocab Visualizer Vault

what I finished in the last month

Video courses

Killing it with Kana course

• Updated slides, audio and videos for 2 more lessons.
• Finished writing transcripts for rest of videos.
• Finished the sales page and made sure it looks good on all devices.
• Added transcripts to the 11 finished lessons. (Spent 4 hours programming and testing the addition of the tab and input field to Tutor LMS.)

Killing it with Kana workbook

• Tightened up the copy on the sales page.
• Fixed some layout issues.

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed
Updated the sales page.

The Principal Principles of Speaking Japanese

• Wrote short sales page.
• Connected it to the product and cart.

Set Off the Hanabi Under Your Japanese Studies course

• Figured out some of the things that’ll be included in the course. ==> Decided on first round materials.
• Wrote short sales page.
• Connected it to the product and cart.

Simplifying Japanese Sentence Structure in 6 Steps

• Wrote and laid out the PDF.
• Put together a short sales page to let people know what’s in the free download.
• Created an email sequence for anyone who requests the download.

In-person physical Japanese classes in Chicago

• Sent out a survey to current students.
• Trying to find a place to hold lessons that’s cost effective. Right now it would cost more to hold the lessons than what I would get in attendance.

The rest

• Put together the curriculum for Teens’ Intermediate Beginner Japanese IV.
• Gave feedback on student worksheets.
• Updated こどものにほんご　Japanese for Kids product so it’s easier than ever to purchase and keep on top of the number of classes used.
• Built an attendance tracking page. Made number of classes left visible in student accounts.

conclusions/final thoughts

I’m in this limbo right now of being scared to put myself out there and knowing that what I’m doing will be helpful to some people.

Social media/selling just isn’t my thing so it might to be time to hire some help here . . .

I honestly don’t know how I got this much done last month . . . another medical issue had me laid up for a week. I mean, I got some work done but I also had to sleep a lot.

what I’m working on right now

Video courses

Killing it with Kana course
So, you know how I said it was almost done? Well, it’s not. I . . . went a little crazy and updated all of the videos, recorded extra audio and made a list of other features to include.

I’m in the middle of

• Making a short sales page.
• Writing the script for the remaining updates.
• Recording missing audio and enhancing the rest of the audio.
• Updating the videos with the audio and edited slides.
• Recording 4 extra videos.

Set Off the Hanabi Under Your Japanese Studies course

• Getting more concrete about the offer and what it’ll do for the learner.
• Figuring out how it ties into The Principal Principles of Speaking Japanese.
• Writing short sales page.

Rewards store

• Compiling/tallying points.
• Setting up the store – where is the problem right now. If only I could let the student choose from specific rewards point options.

The Principal Principles of Speaking Japanese

• Getting more concrete about the offer and what it’ll do for the learner.
• Writing short sales page.

The rest

• Putting together new material for the こどものにほんご　Japanese for Kids classes.
• Writing out how my entire offerings tree.
• Recording more of the day-to-day stuff so it’s not taking up space in my head. Also, great to have the instructions in the same place.

what’s in progress but not being worked on

A new way to flashcard

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed PALS

Vocab Visualizer Vault

what I finished in the last month

Video courses

Killing it with Kana course

• Updated slides, audio and videos for 9 of 15.
• Transcribed the videos – fairly easy since I used the workbook as the base for my script; I’m not too good at on the fly I’ve found out so writing it out beforehand works better and that means people who need the transcript will have it.
• Enhanced audio files so they’re ready for people who like listening.
• Renamed and uploaded the finished videos.
• Updated and added more to the lesson text for each video.

Killing it with Kana workbook

• Split off the workbook from the video course and moved all the files into the course format (it’s just a course though, not a video course).
• Updated the Japanese audio practice files with recordings from my employee—I think she has a great voice.
• Added an answer key.
• Fixed typos.
• Included a section on language foundations.
• Put together the sales page.

In-person physical Japanese classes in Chicago

These have been (mostly) running smoothly. Starbucks is a little loud though since it’s open counter.

• I made the mistake of not getting a Starbucks rewards card as soon as I knew where the classes would be held. T_T
• I laminated and cut a bunch of flashcards and already 5 are missing. That was a lot of work. Also got a bit of tendonitis from that.

Vocab Visualizer Vault

• Catalogued images I’ve been amassing against the Vault vocab
• Offloaded more Vault work to my employee

The rest

• I’ve been getting more consistent with the newsletter. It’s mostly just announcing when the next session of classes are coming up but hopefully I can do more with it in the future.
• Gave feedback on student worksheets.

conclusions/final thoughts

I’m still a bottleneck for my employee right now. Balancing giving her tasks and working on the other things that need to be worked on plus being there for the kids (it’s Mommy, Mommy all day long) is really hard. Meeting is overdue to see if the big task I gave her is just not up her alley or something else because it’s supposed to occupy her when she doesn’t have anything specific from me.

I’m a big proponent of being passionate about what you’re working on. Like, if I don’t like doing something, I drag my feet or just don’t do it and don’t want to be there anymore. That’s cool if work is just work for you though. I can’t do it. It messes with me mentally.

I did it! (But imagine a high-pitched toddler voice. I hear it all the time in my house, haha.)

what I’m working on right now

Vocab Visualizer Vault

Organizing/cleaning up worksheets

Video courses

• Killing it with Kana course – putting together the second half of the last video and adding some character hint videos based on what’s been helping my students (teaching a class with this right now).

In-person physical Japanese classes in Chicago

Running a class right now and it’s great being able to see student’s faces!

I’ve got plenty of openings so I’ll push the marketing next month.

The rest

• Putting together new material for the こどものにほんご　Japanese for Kids classes.
• Continuing to offload things to my Japanese Language and Culture Consultant. She’s only able to work part-time, which is perfect for now because I’m the bottleneck at the moment.

what’s in progress but not being worked on

The Principal Principles of Speaking Japanese

A new way to flashcard

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed PALS

what I finished in the last month

Video courses

Killing it with Kana course

• Added a few audio files.
• It took 60 hours but I finished the rest of the workbook: I mean, it’s totally done.
  1. Got the vocab images I wanted
  2. Highlighted the area matching the vocab on the photos
  3. Set them into the pages (this was a pain; seriously wish I hadn’t started this with Microsoft Word)
  4. Made the quizzes
  5. Got the outlines of my drawings in Illustrator
  6. Overlaid the kana characters on top

In-person physical Japanese classes in Chicago

Settled on using Starbucks and a library for in-person lessons.

Which means online and in-person have to be on separate days. I tried twice to do both and online was a fail; either my phone is too weak or the reception was poor at that space to support multiple students on a Discord video call.

• Marketed across newsletter, social media and Google Business.
• Updated sign-up automations (seems like Mailchimp can’t pick up when someone signs up for a specific session though so I’m having to assign people by hand).
• Updated products in the shop to include offline or give students the ability to add a location.

Vocab Visualizer Vault

• Researched build setup.
• Gave it its own subdomain.
• Outlined the my ideas for making it more internet and user-friendly. This is probably going to be the big thing for 2024.

The rest

• Fixed issues with the order bump in the checkout area.
• Gave feedback on student worksheets.

conclusions/final thoughts

I spent a decent amount of time chasing people this month to sign up. Marketing efforts didn’t really pan out but I’ll keep trying.

One of my problems has always been being scared to reach out or remind people (I don’t want to be a bother) but I did that this month and got 2 students into my classes that probably would have remembered too late.

I don’t know if I’ve said this before but my hair is crazy long and like 2/3rds of it is in this giant knot. Been like this for at least half a year.

I’m kind of finding a corollary between unknotting my hair and figuring out what I want to do with my life and my business. It’s slow going but I’m picking up better and better methods. It’s been untangling little by little. (Pun intended!)

what I’m working on right now

Video courses

• Killing it with Kana course – one set of characters left; these are hand drawn so they’re taking some time to clean up and get logged. Also, finding pictures for the vocabulary.

In-person physical Japanese classes in Chicago

• Finding a venue. It’d be great to have a permanent place; then I can do online and face-to-face lessons on the same days. Also, I don’t need to lug things around with me.

Rewards program

The store rewards plugin I’ve been using doesn’t allow purchase with two different types of points. (Other than that, I love all the things I can do with it so far.) So, I’m trying to find a workaround.

The rest

• Putting together new material for the こどものにほんご　Japanese for Kids classes.
• Organizing/cleaning up worksheets for Vocab Visualizer Vault.
• Writing SOPs and offloading things to my Japanese Language and Culture Consultant. (I want to hire two but that’ll have to wait until I get things in order.)

what’s in progress but not being worked on

The Principal Principles of Speaking Japanese

A new way to flashcard

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed PALS

Video courses

what I finished in the last month

The rest

• Scheduled Translation Tuesdays and Friday Finds into mid-June. I batched these because trying to do them the day of rarely works out for me.
• Gave feedback on student worksheets.
• Hired a Japanese Language and Culture Consultant.
• Worked Anime Central as an interpreter. It’s been about 4 years and it was great seeing everyone again but my feet! I’ll write a separate post about this.

conclusions/final thoughts

May . . . I didn’t get a lot done.

Hiring someone doesn’t mean you can just give it to them usually. They have to know what you want done first because they just have at it.

Also, because my hair is in a knot, my head hurts. So, I’ve been spending more time trying to untangle it. Did you know that people are always losing several strands of hair? Well, that’s all caught up in the knot. I’ve just been pulling clumps out. My husband told me take pictures and I probably should have. It’s going to look so different once it’s finally untangled.

I’m still hopeful right now. Which is surprising considering that our family went (and is still going) through medical things back to back.

what I’m working on right now

Video courses

• Killing it with Kana course – one set of characters left; these are hand drawn so they’re taking some time to clean up and get logged.

In-person physical Japanese classes in Chicago

• Finding a venue. There is so much to consider here: location, scheduling, cost, layout.

The rest

• Putting together new material for the こどものにほんご　Japanese for Kids classes.
• Organizing/cleaning up worksheets for Vocab Visualizer Vault.
• Hiring a Japanese Language and Culture Consultant to help with my workload.

what’s in progress but not being worked on

The Principal Principles of Speaking Japanese

Rewards program

A new way to flashcard

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed PALS

what I finished in the last month

In-person physical Japanese classes in Chicago

Ran the Buy 3 Get 1 Free Drive (product + social media + newsletter).

Video courses

• Killing it with Kana course – recorded intro for the course.

The rest

• Getting more routine with sentence translations for Translation Tuesdays and resource reviews for Friday Finds.
• Gave feedback on student worksheets.
• Finished interviews. Deciding who I should I hire.

conclusions/final thoughts

April also a loss work-wise.

And I’ve been a little depressed with everything that’s happened (plus, the rainy weather doesn’t help; dark weather also triggers that for me.)

I’m catching up but there’s always something new I have to do on the horizon. I’m definitely going to hire someone.

Sorry I’ve been late with the last couple. My toddler had minor surgery, caught a cold and then passed it to the rest of us.

what I’m working on right now

Video courses

• Killing it with Kana course – almost done with videos. I keep a spreadsheet of what I have to do as far as audio, video, PDF and lesson text. It’s nice seeing things get checked off.

In-person physical Japanese classes in Chicago

• Writing up a reminder newsletter.
• Putting together a social media blast for the final weeks.

The rest

• Putting together new material for the こどものにほんご　Japanese for Kids classes.
• Organizing/cleaning up worksheets for Vocab Visualizer Vault.
• Hiring a Japanese Language and Culture Consultant to help with my workload. Need a proofreader.

what’s in progress but not being worked on

The Principal Principles of Speaking Japanese

Rewards program

A new way to flashcard

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed PALS

what I finished in the last month

In-person physical Japanese classes in Chicago

• Currently running Buy 3 Get 1 Free Drive!
• Created product packages of 3 so customer doesn’t have to do that much work.
• Added terms and conditions for use of credit.
• Announced through newsletter and social media.

Video courses

• Killing it with Kana course – finished the audio, slides and lesson text for all but 2 lessons.

The rest

• Started posting translations of sentences from NHK Web Easy for Translation Tuesdays.
• Started posting resources I recommend for Friday Finds.

conclusions/final thoughts

March was a loss work-wise.

I spent half of it sitting with the kids and doing work. Not the easiest thing in the world with them all over me.

It makes me realize I miss them even though I already spend several hours a day with them and sleep with them too.

Being a working mom is hard. Being the earner in the family is hard.

With the goals out for the year, I’ve added in more detailed headers.

what I’m working on right now

Video courses

• Killing it with Kana course – rewriting the material; about halfway done.
• Re-recording videos for the Vocab Visualizer Vault. The sound wasn’t on!
• Beginner Japanese III course – reviewing material; recording lessons.

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed

• Setting the language chapters.
• Writing the chapter on my favorite places to visit and things to do in Japan.
• Marketing the book through social media.

The rest

• Putting together new material for the こどものにほんご　Japanese for Kids classes.

what’s in progress but not being worked on

The Principal Principles of Speaking Japanese

Rewards program

A new way to flashcard

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed PALS

what I finished in the last month

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed

• Made a pre-order sales page for Japan Planned, Packed, Primed.
• Wrote and set the second chapter on Japanese culture. I kept remembering things I needed to add after I thought I was done so this ended up being long too.
• Wrote draft for meals language chapter.

In-person physical Japanese classes in Chicago

Researched how to offer credit for the Buy 3 Get 1 Free Drive so you can spend the money on whatever classes or tutoring you want when you want.

Video courses

• Killing it with Kana course – outlined the course and wrote drafts for the first two lessons.
• Beginner Japanese III course – recorded videos of the first 3 lessons.

The rest

Did the taxes.
Put together rough draft of a social media posts calendar.

conclusions/final thoughts

February wasn’t fun. I didn’t listen to my gut and that blew up for me.

At the same time, it’s become really clear that I always have one foot out the door. You grow up getting yelled at constantly and having your ideas poo-pooed all the time (or they don’t let you finish the work) and you end up just afraid that no one is happy with anything you do.

But if I can dig and put together classes that really teach you Japanese, then I can change the way I treat myself too. I’ll keep sharing my progress on this.

I don’t normally talk a whole lot (you might have noticed?) because my thoughts happen too fast for me to get it all out. But I’m really pumped about what I’m doing this year so I thought I’d give you something to be excited about too!

“Arm’s length” goals

Things I can definitely do this year if I stick to it.

Video courses

I started this end of last year because so many of my students were taking sessions off between courses.

Now you can review on your own even if you have to miss a class and can’t make it to Office Hours.

It’s also an affordable option if you want to have someone in your back pocket but can’t do the live classes.

Crystal ball says:
Might have entire Beginner Japanese track done by year end.

Rewards program

I’ve been kicking this idea around since I started teaching Japanese.

I mean, who doesn’t love getting stuff in the mail? You can earn Points in a lot of different ways but the way you’ll get the most Points is by turning in 100% correct and complete worksheets.

The Rewards store will have some really unique Japanese items and they go to whoever grabs them first. So, send over those worksheets now!

Crystal ball says:
Rewards store launches in June. Rewards Points are piling up in your accounts already for some things; the rest of your Points will be confirmed in May.

The Principal Principles of Speaking Japanese

I’ve been gathering my 15+ years of knowledge and sharing all the ways that you can study Japanese. I’ll give you food for thought and step-by-step actions so you can make a study plan that really works for you.

Crystal ball says:
Book ready by October?? Some parts have to be written while making the course.

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed

From helping plan your trip to making sure you have the words you’ll need while you’re there, this book is packed with info. It’s hit a 100 pages and I’m not done writing yet!

Crystal ball says:
On pre-sale now! The book comes out March.

“Need a ladder” goals

Things that are probably not happening unless everything falls into place.

In-person physical Japanese classes in Chicago

Wow, there is so much that goes into renting a space! I would need to make 3x what I’m making now to keep the location open. And then there’s all the paperwork . . .

I’ll make a deal with all of you (and I don’t offer many discounts):

Buy 3 of a lesson or course offering from this list and get the 4th one free.

Let’s make that reserve fund!

Crystal ball says:
One month after we hit $27,000 in net revenue I’ll open a physical location.

A new way to flashcard

A step up from your typical flashcard, it’s 3D and guides you through Japanese grammar on top of teaching you the meanings of words.

I’ve been working on paper prototypes so far but this has a lot of moving parts. And I can’t say much more if I want to patent it. =D

Crystal ball says:
Most likely not out this year. Hoping to lock down what will stay in the final product.

Japan Planned, Packed, Primed PALS

Audio, video, checklists and flashcards to make Japan trips worry-free.

Lots to put together here so the timeline will probably extend into 2024.

Crystal ball says:
On pre-sale now! The first round of content will drop in July.

conclusions/final thoughts

I don’t know why but I’m more hopeful than I’ve been in a while. I think the inspiration I’ve been reading has helped a little: I’ve started listening to myself again.

Whatever the case, I’m going to ride this wave. (And, then if I get into a funk, which happens when I make a mistake, I won’t end up behind.)

Anyway, I’m really seeing things come together and I know they’ll change the way you study and take in Japanese. To big dreams with less heartache!

How has your year been so far? Mine started with a broken hairdryer and then a water heater flooding the basement a few days later. =D

what I’m working on right now

• Writing a book on preparing for your trip to Japan and the phrases you need in Japan. Almost done with the 2nd chapter. Also looking through my pictures. Unofficial pre-sale open.
• Putting together new material for the こどものにほんご　Japanese for Kids classes.
• Revamping the Kana course. I’m creating my own tables so it’s tedious.
• Studying to interpret at a court case. This is the final appearance; I’m so nervous my stomach sends me to the bathroom.
• Automating the monthly newsletter so I don’t forget to send it.
• Adding videos for previous こどものにほんご　Japanese for Kids classes to the Vocab Visualizer Vault.

what’s in progress but not being worked on

This list hasn’t changed from last month.

what I finished in the last month

• Created a bonus chapter on Japanese participle verb conjugation form.
• Made a study deck for words that might be used in the court case.
• For the 15 or 16 chapters of the Japan trip book, set and wrote the first chapter (it is long!), wrote draft for another 2 chapters.
• Kicked off the Vocab Visualizer Vault. You can get access for the low price of $38/year if you subscribe now. Price won’t change unless you cancel.
• Signed up to affiliate programs for companies I really support.
• Updated offerings to align with the direction I want to go.
• Updated course descriptions to be more clear.
• Set session dates for the year.
• Addressed some website functionality and design issues I noticed in the past few years.

conclusions/final thoughts

January may be a bust next year too. I didn’t really pay too close attention last year so it might’ve always been the case.

I spent too much time chasing students to sign up for classes they wanted to sign up for. Might be time to hire a VA. O__O

And, the Big Cleaning happens right before the Lunar New Year for us so I lose time there too.

 
Hope your holidays have been great and wishing you a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!!