It’s a new year, and that means it is the perfect time to build new habits that will set your museum up for success in 2025! In this episode of Love My Museum, Amy shares habits for creating a supportive work environment, streamlining planning, building effective workflows, and practicing consistency to make these habits stick. 

Links from the Episode:

• Free Museum Metrics Template
• Free Museum Planning Calendar 

Sign up to get all of the free Love my Museum resources delivered to your inbox: www.lovemymuseum.com/free

About the host: 

Amy Kehs is a brand strategist and communications expert for museums. She has owned Kehs Communications since 2000 and has worked for the most renowned and well-loved museums in Washington, D.C. Her goal is to ensure that museums thrive into the next century and she hopes people will come to love museums as much as she does. Her proven process sets up proactive communication habits for museums, cultivating relationships with visitors who will want to return and bring a friend. Want to talk more? Click this link to book a call.

It's a new year and that's a great time to start new habits for your museum.

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In this episode, we're diving into how

creating intentional habits can set

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your museum up for success in 2025.

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Let's get started.

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Hello, and welcome to the

love my museum podcast.

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I'm your host, Amy Kehs,

and I love museums.

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I'm also a brand strategist and

communications expert for museums.

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And if you're here, you're likely

part of a museum historic home.

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Xu nature center.

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Or other cultural institution.

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And you care deeply

about helping it thrive.

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And I'm so glad you're here

to kick off the year with me.

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This episode marks the 25th episode.

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And the first episode of 2025.

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And today we're diving into a topic

that's perfect for this season

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of resolutions and fresh starts

creating new habits for your museum.

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These habits can help you

be more proactive at work.

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Cut down on chaos.

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And build a foundation for making

your museum a place that thrives.

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Before we dive in.

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Let me tell you a little bit

about the people first framework.

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This approach focuses on four key areas

that make any museum stronger people.

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Planning.

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Process and practice.

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And these four PS are the

building blocks of a museum's

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internal communication strategy.

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Where staff feels valued.

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Energized and invested.

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And when you build habits around these

pillars, the payoff is a stronger team.

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A clear mission and a thriving museum.

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Today, we'll go over each

of these a little bit.

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And I'm going to give you some

ideas for habits to start.

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That will strengthen each

internal communications pillar.

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So the first pillar of the people

first framework, of course, is people.

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I think a great.

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Resolution for your museum this

year is to prioritize the people.

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Prioritize, creating an

environment where your team feels

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supported and heard and valued.

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And when they feel supported, they

are more likely to stick around and

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bring their best to your museum.

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Here are three habits

that you can start today.

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For the people that work in your museum.

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Remember that you hired your

team because of their expertise.

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So be sure to use it.

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Include everyone on big

projects from the beginning.

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And get their valuable input.

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So, what does that mean?

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The first example that comes to mind.

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Is when you are starting

to plan for an exhibit.

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Or plan for a program.

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Make sure everyone has a seat

at the table from the beginning.

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You may not think that you need

public relations until three

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months before the exhibit opens.

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But trust me.

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Having your communications people

sitting at the table when you start.

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We'll give you.

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Valuable insights that

you never thought of.

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It will save you work down the road.

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It will save you from roadblocks

that you can't even imagine.

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And that's just one example.

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Everyone on your team brings a

perspective and an expertise.

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So start today by making it a habit.

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That everyone is included.

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From the get-go.

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The second habit is.

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Around meetings and creating

habits for meetings.

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Your people's time is valuable.

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Streamline.

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What kinds of meetings you have,

how often you meet and use that

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time wisely, create a habit of.

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Making a standard agenda so that

everyone knows what to expect.

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And be sure to make a habit of recognizing

staff achievements in those meetings.

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Creating these kinds

of habits for meetings.

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Means that people aren't meeting the out.

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It means that they.

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Have time to do their actual work.

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The third habit that you could start today

for the people that work in your museum.

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Is to create.

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Opportunities for collaboration

so that everyone feels like

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they're part of something bigger.

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Make it a habit to talk to your coworkers.

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This might seem like

something that's easy to do.

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But in a post pandemic partially

virtual work environment.

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Some things that we're missing

is that collaboration time.

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And so now you may need to create a habit.

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To include it.

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The second part of the people.

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First framework is planning.

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Planning is the roadmap

that keeps everyone aligned.

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Without it, different departments can end

up competing for resources are working.

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Toward conflicting goals.

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So start the year with an

all staff planning session.

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Revisit your mission, vision, and values,

and map out clear goals for the year.

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This is going to look a little

different depending on your,

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on the size of your museum.

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I just finished doing this with

all of my consulting clients.

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If you have a larger staff, be sure the

results of this planning reaches everyone.

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So that.

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Everyone knows the museum priorities and

everyone is working toward a common goal.

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And once you have your annual

planning done that 30,000 foot view.

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Then make habits around

how you'll get it done.

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And how you'll keep these

priorities front and center.

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Here are three.

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Weighs three habits that

I helped museums do that.

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The first is to schedule on your calendar,

time to plan quarterly and monthly.

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Make planning a habit.

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The second way is to be sure that this

planning includes actionable steps.

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Really clear.

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Concise.

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Things that have to get done.

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That you look at frequently.

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So not just during those quarterly

and monthly planning sessions.

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But.

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Also in your weekly team meetings.

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The third thing is to regularly

revisit and refine your

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plans to keep them relevant.

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Plans change and that's okay.

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Don't give up on the habit.

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Having a plan that in a roadmap

that everyone is following creates

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clarity and it keeps your museum

moving in the right direction.

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The third pillar is process.

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Consistency is key to reducing

stress and improving efficiency.

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And by creating standard

operating procedures or SOP.

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Which is a workflow for a

task that you do regularly.

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You can free up mental energy for

more creative and impactful work.

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Some habits to build

our brown processes are.

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Document the recurring tasks so

that anyone can step in and help.

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Creating a habit of documenting

these recurring tasks.

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So that if someone is out sick

or someone is on vacation, Things

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don't fall through the cracks.

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Not only helps your museum stay

moving in the right direction.

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But.

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It brings such peace of mind for

the employee that is responsible

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for that thing to begin with.

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The second habit that you

can build around processes.

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Is to establish a routine for

reviewing and updating your workflows.

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Put something on your calendar where

every six months you are going back

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and looking at those workflows.

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Updating them, if you need to update

them, make sure they're working.

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Okay.

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And the third habit.

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Is to use a project management

tool to track progress.

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There are a lot of project

management tools out there.

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To choose from.

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And it doesn't have to be complicated.

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Processes don't have to be rigid.

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They should make work

smoother and more predictable.

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The fourth pillar is practice and

here's where the magic happens.

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Developing habits takes practice,

whether it's fine tuning your workflows.

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Actually getting things done consistency

over time is what makes new habits stick.

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Here's some things that

can help with that.

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Remember that mistakes

are part of the process.

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Don't let them de-rail you

learn from them and keep going.

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And schedule regular time to reflect on

what's working and what needs tweaking.

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If something isn't working.

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Don't just stop using it.

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Come up with an idea on

how you can tweak the.

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Habit.

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And.

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Make it work for you.

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And lastly, remember

to celebrate your wins.

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In an earlier episode, I talked about

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Knitting.

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At first it's awkward

and full of mistakes.

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But our teacher told us that we should

schedule time to practice every day.

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And with practice, those

stitches become smoother.

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And before you know it, you can do

it without thinking about it and

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you've created something beautiful.

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So those are my 12 tips that will

help you develop habits to help.

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your museum.

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work smarter and not harder this year.

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Oh, and one last bonus, tip.

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A great habit to start in January.

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Is metrics.

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Keeping track of your museum's

numbers is so important.

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Metrics give you the low

down on how you are doing.

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Where you're headed and what

needs a little extra love.

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You can use the information you find

when analyzing the metrics to help you

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with your museums, strategies and goals.

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You probably have hunches about what

exhibitions and programs will do well.

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Based on things that

you've done in the past.

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Having the numbers to support those

theories can help you justify the new.

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Things that you're planning.

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I have a free museum.

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metrics template.

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that you can download and

customize for your museum.

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At www.lovemymuseum.com

forward slash metrics.

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Go check it out.

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You can also find the links

to my other free resources.

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in the show notes, including

my museum planning calendar.

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for 2025.

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Let's make 2025 the year that your museum

doesn't just survive, but truly thrives.

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Your museum is making a difference.

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You are making a difference.

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Keep up the great work.

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Keep loving your museum.

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I'll talk to you soon.

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Thank you so much for tuning in

to the Love My Museum podcast.

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If you loved this episode,

be sure to subscribe.

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It's the best way to

never miss an episode.

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This podcast is just one example of free

resources that I create for museums.

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If you would like to receive my

other free resources delivered right

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into your inbox, sign up at www.

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lovemymuseum.

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com forward slash free.

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You're the best.

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Until next time, take care of

yourself and keep loving your museum.