TKMaxx and unwanted clothes and accessories

Hello there. Do you have any unwanted clothes, accessories or books in your house? I know I do. TKMaxx have partnered with Cancer Research UK again to raise money for research into child cancer. They want any unwanted clothes, shoes, accessories, books and/or DVDs and CDs. All you need to do is to put them in a plastic bag, and take them along to your nearest branch of TKMaxx. In the store you should find a huge cardboard box with the poster for the campaign. Just put the bag in there. I have already donated a pair of  joggers and a petticoat, I already have in mind more clothes and some books to give to them as well. It is a well worthy cause to donate any unwanted clothes and that, and I prefer doing it this way than in those bags you get through the letter box, which are mostly scams.

For more info check out www.tkmaxx.com, and look for give up clothes for good. Has all the info there and real life stories to inspire you to do more. Give it a go.

A thank you for following this blog

Do you have trouble setting goals in your business, be it writing, drawing or marketing? If you do, I am now giving you a freebie that can help any business. A goal-setting template based on the one I get at the goal-setting brunch I attend every other month. I shall now try to attach it to here, if not then try to put it in the actual post. Here we go. I can't find any button to allow me to insert a document here so shall have to try to put the whole doc in here.

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Goal setting by Julie Day

for any business

Name:

My main goal for (month of) …....................................................... is:

To get there I need to do the following:

1.

2.

3.

Goal table

Put your goals in to bite sized steps that you need to reach them for the month.

	Bite-sized steps	Obstacles (what can hold you back)	To do by	Done (tick)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Have you managed to do any of your goals for the month? If you have, please let me know either on Facebook or via my Elite Marketing Blog.

Well, it worked better than when I tried to put it into my Internet Marketing Blog yesterday. Hope it displays OK.

How I am becoming a better birdwatcher

Ever since I have been at home full-time, I have taken more of an interest in what goes on in our garden, esp the garden birds. Now that I have started writing about them seriously, I have been reading bird magazines and have become a better birdwatcher. The past couple of weeks I have been tweeting what birds I have seen in my garden, when I have been there and through my binoculars, but then I read a piece by Bill Oddie saying that to become a better birdwatcher you need to record in writing what birds they are, what they are like etc. So, this last week I have been scribbling down what birds I've seen, what they eat, their colours, and their calls. This has made me a better birdwatcher. So much so, that I now want to buy better and more professional binoculars, and I bought a book of birds round the world. Writing down all the birds I've seen and what they do, will form an article that I want to write and email to a magazine later this week.

So, that is how I am becoming a better birdwatcher. Do you watch birds in your garden? Do you use binoculars? If you use bin's, what make you do recommend? At the moment I only have cheap ones but need better ones to see more clearly. Let me know.

Another goal for this year and an update on current ones

I have decided to have another goal for this year, but will give you an update on my current ones.

1. Still getting there with my 7+ children's book. Decided to change a scene and put in one that goes with the rest of the book.

2. Still getting there with my next Angel ebook, and should finish current draft by next goal-setting brunch end of this month.

3. Bird articles - have found a few children's magazines in the US that I can submit to. Have one already to post next week.  I have decided to expand my freelance writing and write about famous people with disabilities and submit to those magazines, too, and write about places in London as travel pieces. We shall see how it goes.

Now for my new goal. I was going to stay as an indie author, but after a friend of mine recently got her first book published by a publisher and going to the RNA workshop last weekend, I have now decided to be a hybrid author. I want to try and get published in adult romance with either a trad publisher (not one of the big 6) but a smaller one or a digital publisher like my friend. When I have finished Charlie, the 7+ book, I will then work on a story to send to Woman's Weekly, then I will start rewriting a novel I sent to the NWS a few years ago and make it more romantic, concentrating on the relationship between the girl and boy. I shall either send it to the NWS or straight to a publisher, depending on when I finish it as the NWS closes end of August. I still have lots of indie projects to work on. The rest of the Angel series, the last 2 Geraldine stories, 2 more mermaid stories, and the rest of the Secrets of Singleton village short stories, which should take me into next year.

So, there you have it. My goals and how they are doing, and my new one to work towards. How are you getting on?

If you want help with goal-setting and keeping them, I now have a template for goal-setting, much like the SCBWI Brunch one I get. Let me know if you want one in the comments below, and I can email it to you.