Business Tip Tuesday - School Supplies

I love Back-to-School. There is something about this time of year that gives me the sense of renewal.

It is also a great time of year to get organized.

This is the best time to buy

~colorful office supplies

~desks and lamps

~storage bins

~desk accessories

You can purchase things in bright fun colors, unique styles, and you can get most of these items on sale. Also, use your creative skills and make some new office accessories or refurbish some old ones, either way everything will fell new again.

Use this month to reorganize your office and studio workspace, add some color, move things around, and make you working environment someplace you want to spend your day.

Fall is a busy time of year and with the holidays just around the corner, August is a great month to get things in place for your busy season.

Don't forget to take a moment to answer this weeks poll question on the sidebar. Thanks!

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Blog Update

I am starting to work on changes I am going to make with my blog and its focus. I am doing some reading and gathering information, so I can create a better blog experience for everyone who visits.

I have added a newsletter, you can sign up in the box on the side bar. I will be sending it about every 6 - 8 weeks, sharing whats going on in my shops, special offers, fashion tips, and happenings on my blog. Please take a moment and sign up. You can also subscribe to my RSS Feed as well.

You will also notice some advertising on the side bar, I have added some space for Project Wonderful ads to help support other artists online, and Amazon.com advertising for cool new products, magazines, and book that I have read and recommend. Take look.

I hope to start making small changes in the next two weeks, so stop back often, soon it will be a whole new blog experience.

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Business Tip Tuesday - Goals Revisited

Half the year is almost over, how it's going with the goals you set for this year?

Are you the kind of person who checks them often to make sure you are on track, If so that is great and you know whats working and whats not. Well this is the time of year to make any changes if you need any to have a successful year.

If you are like me and wrote them down at the beginning of the year, but have not looked at them for a while, then this is a good time of the year to pull out that list and see if you are on track to achieving your goals. I have checked mine over and even tho I have not done a few items on my list, I have accomplished more than I thought. Knowing that makes me feel like all the work I am doing is worth the effort.

Now that I have my list out I know that I am going to have to revise a few things and since we are half way through the year, this is a great time to do that. I now have a better idea of what I can accomplish and what may have to wait.

Pull out your list if you have not done so for awhile and see if you can revise anything or if you are on track. What a great time, before the holiday rush, to get yourself motivated to meet your goals. Not to mention that positive feeling you get knowing that your on track.

How are you doing with your goal for this year?

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Business Tip Tuesday - Book Review

This week is not so much a tip but a recommendation.

I have been checking out a lot of books lately, as I work on trying to use my time more effectively and grow my business. I have a list of several books that I have found helpful and I will post the list on Friday, so stop back and take a look.

Today's book I found especially helpful and I think you should check it out. Its called

500 Internet Hints, Tips, and Techniques by Dan Oliver.

This book is full of inside secrets to Blogger, Flickr, Facebook, You Tube, Twitter, My Space, Google Calendar, and more. Each page gives you tips on how to set up an account on each site, short cuts, and links to sites that will make each site better. It has screen shots for each tip, easy to follow instructions, and it is a quick read. Read through the whole book or just the information you need.

Its a book you will go to often and worth owning.

Also, in this series is 500 Simple Website Hints, Tips and Techniques by Jamie Freeman and 500 Photoshop Hints, Tips, and Techniques by Mike Crawford.

All the books are available on the right side of my blog, just click on the title you want and it will take you right to Amazon.com.

Happy Reading!

Quick update on last weeks post

I spent several days working on my Etsy and 1000 Market shops and I have them just about where I want them. I need to add a few more items and change a few photo's but both sites are much better.

This next week on I am working on all those social sites I have profiles on and I am going to eliminate some and update the sites I am going to keep. After next week I hope to dedicate a day to working on each venue, making each more effective and controlling how much time I spend online.

Are you on a lot of social sites (We love Etsy, Indiepublic, etc)? Do you find them effective in helping your business? How much time do you spend on these sites? Any ideas to make the experience better? Please Share!

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Business Tip Tuesday - Action Steps

In my quest to make the most out of my marketing efforts and less time on my computer, I have been reading information on goal setting. That is a huge topic and I am not going to get into that today, but I do want to share a couple of tips that I am going to try to help keep me focused.

Write down what you want to accomplish
Do this weekly it will help to keep your goals small a focused. Break them up into action steps and if you need more then three then your goal is to big and you need to narrow its focus. Another benefit, you can cross thing off as you go, giving you an even greater sense of accomplishment.

Start with steps that will give you immediate results
This will help you stay motivated. Having a couple of things you can accomplish immediately will help your business in a positive way.

Reward yourself for your achievements
This will help you stay positive and to not lose focus. It could be something small or big (new supplies, a night out, an afternoon off) just make sure to write it down with the tasks you want to complete that visual will help you stay on task.

Staying focused and getting the most from my online marketing efforts with less time on the computer is my main goal, what is yours?


Update from last weeks post

I have used the blog posts How Much Time and Tracking Time to help me stay on track, and it seems to be working. I stuck to my computer schedule for a couple of days, but there are days it sucks me in and I lose track of time. I did work on my Facebook account, adding a couple of posts, I got 5 new fans, and I ran and ad for 2 days. I am getting people from Facebook checking out my sites and blog everyday, but I did realize that I am not hitting my target market so I need to keep working on that.

This next week I am going to work on my Etsy and 1000 Markets shops, updating them, changing some photo's, and finding better ways to market. I hope this helps to generate some sales. Next week I am going to work on my social networking sites (I have several) and figure out which ones are most productive and eliminate that ones that are a waste of time.

Again, I want to thank everyone who commented on the Tracking Time post. There are some good ideas in the comments section, so check it out.

Do you set goal for your business? How do you set them monthly, weekly, daily? Do you have some strategies to help you meet your goals? Please share!

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Business Tip Tuesday - Tracking Time

I was in the Etsy Forums last week and read a great post from Flyingbuttons about creating a marketing calendar. It's a quick read so check it out.

Tracking what you are doing to market your shop, is a great way to see trends that effect our business. It's a way to see what marketing efforts are effective and what are not, as well as the best time to do certain marketing projects. I bought an expensive calendar today and I am going to start tracking next week. I know it seems like work, but I know this information will make it easier to cut back on my computer time so I can get the most out of my marketing efforts.

Update from last weeks post

I want to thank everyone who commented last week on the How Much Time Post, it seems we are all struggling to make it work with the time that we have. Check out the comments for other ideas and suggestions. I would love to here about any changes made over the week that have helped with your business.

Over the past week I have cut back on some of my computer time to be more creative and it seems to be working. I also worked on my blog. I added a few items and took off a couple of out of date things, and I do plan to add a sign up box for a newsletter I am going to start, before the week is over. Do you have a newsletter? Here are some ideas to get you started. Plus, this is a new venture for me and I would love to here any feedback you would like to share on the success of your newsletters.

May 12 - 18

-I am still going to try to cut back on my computer time even more and start working on my Facebook account. Still trying to figure out how to attract new fans and add interesting content.

Here is my plan for the next couple of weeks:

May 19 - 25

-I am going to see if I can stick to my 3 hours on the computer a day and mix it up a little by doing 3 days of morning computer time and 3 days of afternoon computer time.

-Work on my Etsy and 1000 Markets shops, adding new items, working on my photo's, update my descriptions, etc...

May 26 - June 1

-Create a computer schedule (my daughter will be out of school and I hope to spend some time with her)

-Work on my Social Networking sites

By June I hope to be a more organized, have my computer usage under control, and doing thing that will help my business grow. A tip Ramblin Mama shared in the comments of last weeks post How Much Time was devoting a day of the week to a certain marketing task: Monday-my shops, Tuesday-blogs, and so on making sure everything is covered over the week without spending a lot of time on the computer. I think this is a great idea and hope to incorporate into my daily routine.

Since last week have you made any changes to your schedule? Do you have plans to change your schedule for summer? Have you cut out any venues that have not been successful? Please share!

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Business Tip Tuesday - How Much Time

I was in the Etsy Forums today and someone asked the question - Are we doing to much?

Trying to get your name out there, getting people buy from your shop, and networking is a lot of work and time consuming. I have my Etsy shop, 1000 Markets shop, this blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Cosa Verde that I participate in regularly. Of course there are social networks and business sites such as Indiepublic, Handmadeolgy, We love Etsy and more, and if you are like me blogs to read and comment on. I could go on but you get the point.

I spend hours on the computer, but I don't see a lot of sales, or people checking out my sites from these venues (according to Google Analytics) is it a waste of time? Or am I just building my business?

I know this post should be a business tip, but I thought I would share with you an experiment I am going to try to see if I can still get customers to my shop by spending more quality time on my online and offline business needs.

I am going to schedule my computer time so I spend fewer hours on the computer and each week concentrate on one venue to build a good base of core customers.


Week one - May 5 - 11

-I will be on the computer in the morning only - 3 hours max (checking my shops, sending and answering e-mail, twittering, reading blogs, etc...)

-Work on my Blog to grow my followers


Week two - May 12 - 18

-I will be on the computer in the afternoon only - 3 hours max (by the end of this week I hope to know which time of day produces the best results morning or afternoon)

-Work on Facebook to grow my fan base and create a nice page

Next week I will post what I am going to do in week 3 & 4.


When I am not on the computer I am going to create more pieces and start building my inventory. I also want to start working on a collection to sell to retail stores. I have a retail store in Alaska that is going to start carrying my pieces at the end of this month (they found me on Etsy) I would like to do more of that.

Doing this I hope to find balance and more creative ways to build my business. Maybe putting my efforts into fewer venues and giving them my best effort I hope to see a growth in my business.

I will let you know next week how its going!


Question of the day - Are we doing to much?
Do you think spending more quality time on a few venues is better then spreading yourself around to attract more customers? Or is more better?
I would love to here what is or is not working for you. Please share your experiences.

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More Time Management Info

Earlier this week I did a post about time management. You can read it here.

As I was reading my online newsletters and came across Carve out Time for Online Networking by Alyson B. Stanfield of ArtBizCoach.com, which has some good tips for making time for your online networking. This is a section of the newsletter, you can read the entire newsletter at Art Biz Coach.com.

Carve out Time for Online Networking
In order to avoid being overwhelmed by all of the social media opportunities available, you might be best served by carving out time for them, This isn't something you do in a block of time one day a week. Instead, you need to do a little bit every day. I suggest starting with 15 - 30 minutes a day for logging in to sites like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. That's enough to create and maintain a presence.

You could spend longer on these sites, but I advise you to monitor your time. It's easy to get caught up in other people's tweets, questions, and photos. Whenever you catch yourself doing this, stop and remember that you only have 15 - 30 minutes. Ask yourself: Do I really need to spend time on this right now? Is it the best use of my time? This awareness will pull you back to reality and what is most important for your art business.

Tara Reed of Art Licensing Info has a Twitter philosophy to reduce your stress about this fast-paced site. She calls it the "Zen of Twitter".

Don't worry about what you might have missed when you weren't looking,

just assume that the tweets you are meant to see are the ones on the screen

when you are inspired to look.

It's perfect, and it might easily be applied to Facebook and Linkedin. Look only at what's on the screen. There's no need to dig for older posts.

In carving out time in your schedule for online networking, select a time of day that is best for you and your working rhythms. For instance, if your best creative time is 9 am to noon, don't spend your time on the computer during those hours--unless you use the computer to make your art! One last piece of sage advice is to use a timer. Set your timer to the minutes you have allotted and spend no more time than that. It's amazing what you can accomplish under the pressure of an anticipated buzzer.

Copyright 2009 Alyson B. Stanfield. Alyson takes the mystery out of marketing your art and making more money as an artist. Visit http://www.artbizcoach.com to get articles just like this one delivered to your inbox.

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Business Tip Tuesday - Time Management

Now that I have started my online business, it is harder and harder to find time to create. I spend a lot of time updating my shops, writing blog posts, and other social networking ventures. I recently found these tips to help me get the time I need in my studio.


Determine your peak productivity time based on your energy cycle and habits. Schedule the things that need to get done during your peak energy cycle and then add everything else. I am a morning person, so I do as much as I can on my computer and in my studio before 3:00 pm and pack up orders, take photo's, and respond to e-mails after that. I know my Mom is a night person and does most of her work after 10 pm.

What time of the day do you have the most energy?

Know in advance what you want to accomplish. Break down what needs to get done into manageable steps so at the end of your work session you can see results. I usually write a list before I go to bed, so I know what I want to get done the next day. It helps keep me on track, so my day does not get away from me, which is easy when you work on the computer which has lots of distractions.

Does a to-do list help you?

Prepare your workspace for the next day. When you are done for the day it may be easy to just leave things all over, but you will accomplish more if you start your day with a prepared work area. This is the hardest for me, because I like to create in a little bit of chaos, but I do put away papers and pull out projects in my office area, so I am ready to go the next day.

How do you prepare your workspace?

These are some simple ideas to help organize your day. There are many resources online about time management try google.com and hundreds of book on the subject, check out amazon.com for more information.

I hope you find the time you need to be most productive during the day.

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Business Tip Tuesday - Business Cards

This past weekend my husband and I went out for the evening. This is not something we have a chance to do that often, so I wanted to dress up for a change.

Well I decided to change purses, which is something I rarely do, and of course I forgot business cards. While we were out 3 people asked me for cards and I did not have any, so my husband was telling me how he started putting extra cards in the pockets of his coats, his briefcase, and his travel luggage, because he was forgetting them when he traveled.

I thought what a great idea!

If you put a few business cards in your extra purses, and the pockets of your coats you will never be without your cards, and the more cards you pass out the better your business will be.

If nothing else, it will sure make it easier to remember to pass them out.

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Working Chaos or Working Clean?

Our working environment is important to our creative process. I am one of those people who like’s to work in chaos. Not always a good thing for my family, but I find inspiration in all those crazy piles, I know where everything is, and it keeps my mind moving while trying to figure out that new idea. I have my walls covered with photos of a variety of art, it inspires me, and when I am stuck I can sit back scan the walls and sometime I get my best idea for the day. Now I know for some people my work area would drive them crazy, and a neat well organized space is what they need, but that’s what makes us all unique and art exciting. What kind of working space do you work in?

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Awaken Your Creativity - Goal Project

Creating a strategic plan and goal setting, are important to achieving success. You should review your plan and goals often, to reinforce your desire for success. As creative people inspiring visuals elements make the task of reviewing that information easier.

There are several ways to make your goal list visual pleasing. Your could create a collage that you could hang on the wall as a daily visual reminder. Your collage could include words, phrases, and photo's that show what your are trying to achieve.

How about a planner, you can create your own easily. Check out Make your own Planner on the Creativity Prompt Blog, you can customize it to meet your strategic plan needs.

Another great idea is to create vision cards. You have two options for creating these, one work on a regular sheet of heavy paper that you can cut the cards down to the size you want, or at the craft store you can buy packs of artist trading cards and create directly on them. On the trading cards you can collage on one side and write your your goal on the other and when you are done wrap them in packing tape or laminate them so they are protected. You can pin them on a board or keep the stack of cards close to your work area and review them daily or when you need a little motivation.

A simple list works well too. Typed or handwritten, post it where you can review it often.

However you choose to prepare your goals is up to you, you just want them to inspire you to work toward them everyday. Have fun creating!

Do you have any other creative ideas for your goal list?

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Creative Goal Writing

Last week's blog post Creative Brainstorming, was to inspire you to review the ideas that you wrote up in What does success mean to you? and What do you want in your life? If you did the brainstorming you should have a list of what you want to achieve creatively, in your business, and life.

Now it is time to rank your list and create a list of good solid reachable goals.

You want to rank each item by how it makes you feel, if you get pit-of-the-stomach excited about an item on your list then give it five stars; if you are only mildly motivated give it a single star.

Next, look at how much money you could make from each listed item, so if it could bring you in a regular steady flow of cash give it five dollar signs; if it will bring you in little money give it one dollar sign.

Finally, rate how realistic the item on your list is, give it five check marks if it is really doable and one if it will unlikely come to fruition.

Now based on your scores, you should have a good solid direction for your 2010 plan. Choose the top 5 to 10 goals and then start creating action steps for achieving them. You don't have to list all your action steps, just overall achievable actions.

Having a written or typed list will give you incentive, you can read it every month, week or even everyday to inspire you to reach your goals.

Are you ready to reach your goals in 2010?

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Creative Planning

I recently read an article in Success magazine called Goal Setting doesn't Work. In this article the writer talked about how you really can't achieve the success you want until you are ready to change yourself.

There were a few things that struck me in the article.

First, when you are creating your list of goals or plan for the new year, you want to state your goals in the positive. For example: I am going to have ____ amount of sales this year.

Second, you have to think about what you need to change to achieve your goals. Ask yourself: Who do I have to become to achieve this? Answer in the positive - for example: I am a smart, confident, and effective leader. I will feed my ideas and inspirations that will support my passion.

Third, you have to be willing and ready to work hard at achieving your goals to create your own success. Why not try starting each day reviewing your goals to reinforce your commitment to achieving them.

These steps will work for all the areas in your life, losing weight, changing a relationship, as well as building your business.

It's time to stop creating a wish list and create a plan!

I'm ready, are you ready to create a plan for the new year?

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Motivation

I am having one of those days, you know the kind, where you are sick of trying to get sales, you don't want to do a blog post, your sick of reading Twitter and Facebook, and all the other things you have to do to get noticed on the world wide web.

I know, I could just walk away and forget about it for a day or two, but I also know if I do that I will not have anyone look at my shop, or read my blog, which means no sales, and no money. With the holidays only a few weeks away, I am really feeling the pressure to keep up.

I am going to do my part today, at least for a couple of hours, and then I am going to walk away. Hopefully tomorrow my mood will change and things will be back on track.

Let's start a discussion - What do you do when you are feeling like all you do is work? How do you get inspired to market your business daily and still be creative? Share your stories.

I know motivation is key, and I could use some today, maybe you could too - Let's motivate each other!

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Explore - Your 2010 Plans

Goals - the buzz word for the month of December.

Over the next month you will find hundreds of posts all across the Internet, on how to write them, how to use them, and how to keep them. But lets be honest, we all write goals at the beginning of the year and then after a few months most of us forget about them.

I am no exception. I had a whole page of goals for this year with action steps and all. Don't get me wrong I did achieve some of them, some of them got revised, but several of them went out the window all together.

I did make big changes in my plan this past summer, changing the focus on my blog, new product ideas, and developing a project that I will be working on in 2010. These changes changed my 2009 focus, hence changing my goals, which I did not put on paper, so by mid year I had nothing to hold me accountable.

I seem to do better if I do my planning on a monthly, weekly or even daily basis. (Here is a post about making lists with ideas to get you started.) These last few months I have pushed myself to keep my monthly goals, and write out lists for my daily activities. That has helped me to achieve my goals for the last quarter of this year, but I am going to work harder at having a plan I can stick to in 2010.

This month I am not going to talk about setting goals, but more about creating a plan for achieving them. Last month I did a post, to inspire you, to write out what success means to you. Take a few moments and check it out, it's a great place to start your planning process for your new year.

The next step in the process is to determine What you want in your life?
When you are writing your answer's consider all areas of your life, business, financial, lifestyle, spiritual, family, relationship, physical, and mental.

The answer's to these two questions will guide you in your planning process for creating your 2010 plan. Find a few minutes for yourself and start writing, by the end of this month you will have a plan you can stick too.

Did you achieve most of your goals in 2009?

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Business Tip Tuesday

Each Tuesday I will share with you 3 tips to grow your business in 2009. Try one or try them all. You may have heard some of them before and not tried them, then this is the year to give it a try. I will give them a try as well and share with you the results they have on my business.

1. Add a image of your work to your business card
Consider mini cards from Moo.com or Myminicards.com. They both offer cards with photos on the front and your business info on the back.

2. Leave your business cards or postcards in public places
I read about a person who left business cards in popular library books when she returned them.

3. Add your marketing message to your e-mail signature - make it easy for people to connect to you.
Here is what mine looks like:

Valerie William
Additions - Simply Wearable Hardware
shop at
http://additionsstyle.etsy.com/
http://additionsstyle.1000markets.com/
follow my blog at
http://additionsstyle.blogspot.com/
contact me at
additionsstyle@sbcglobal.net

Please feel free to share any ideas you have or how using these tips affect your business.

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Transformations 2010 - The Process

The Space

Valerie's workshop is in the basement of her home. Like many homes, the basement has many functions including bulk storage and laundry.

As a whole the workshop lacked flow and visual open space. Every surface was covered and every shelf stored something. The idea of opening the space and not having the shelves used for storage was a challenging adjustment for Valerie.

The Process

Changing an unorganized space does not have to be an admission of messiness. Instead, it can be a demonstration of your courage to move towards better function. As part of the process we had to throw away or give away several items to make room for streamlining her workshop.

Before - Entrance Area

To start, I choose the area closest to the entrance of the workshop for immediate visual impact. I was intentional about starting there so each day when we entered the workshop we would see our progress.

After - Organized Sewing Area (by entrance)

The area we started with had photo equipment, household bulk items and arts & craft supplies. We moved the bulk items to shelves not directly in her workshop and temporarily relocated the photo equipment. Lastly, we tackled the shelves storing the arts and craft supplies.

After - The former arts & craft storage area

The process of going through the arts & craft supplies required looking at everything and deciding what should be saved, given away or thrown away. This reduced the number of unused items being stored, but not used. Setting limits is helpful as a demonstration of your ability to downsize.

Tips

1. Take baby steps - only tackle one area at a time


2. Find a new place for the stuff that "should" not be in your space


3. Mark your calendar for your next step - write down a plan


Question: What challenges do you have for tackling your tough space?

Post by - Pam Moore from Open Space

Pam Moore - An aspiring organizer attempting to conquer one space at a time. As a professional coordinator, she sees the big picture, then breaks it down into details, to achieve end results. She uses these skill in organizing spaces by assessing clients needs and collaboratively finding solutions for functional spaces. You won't need an organizer, you can look forward to tips and tricks through out the year to organize your own space.

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Shop / Blog News

I created a few pieces this past week and added them to my Etsy shop. Be on the look out for more new stuff this week.

Now that my studio is clean and organized (thanks to Pam), I have found books I have not seen in a long time. I have been going through them and my creative juices are really flowing.

Ideas for new pieces I will be adding to my shop this year: Hardware and sterling silver, hardware mixed with materials like wood, gemstones, and lake stones, as well as large one of a kind pieces. I hope to bump my inventory up to 150 pieces with a variety of unique hardware designs.

Be the first to see new items as I create them, I will post new stuff here on my blog, Facebook, and in my newsletter (coming soon) first. They are all easy to follow just check the right side bar.

Don't forget 15% off selected items in my Etsy Shop!

BLOG News

I was thrilled to have my first guest blogger post by Pam,this past week. Check out her post Transformations 2010 - Getting Started. She will have a new post this Tuesday, with pictures from my transformed studio, don't miss it.

A couple of other noteworthy posts from last week were What is Art? and What do you like to Read? Don't forget to check out the comments too.

This week I will have more things to inspire you to be creative, so stop by everyday to share ideas.

Have a great week!

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Planning, Time, Business...

This time of year is all about planning, and I'm finding it hard to get started this year. Everyday I try to find new ways to attract new customers, and market my business online, and I realized there is a lot of info out there.

Have you noticed that running a business online is more than a full time job? You have to keep your shop updated, well stocked, attractive for your customers to keep them coming back, and to bring in new ones. There is lots and lots of writing, descriptions, blog posts, twitter posts, posts on other blogs, and e-mails, just to name a few. As you know the most important thing is marketing. Finding places on the web for ads, to create a buzz about your product, meet new potential customers, and let people get to know you so they want to purchase your items without ever have meet you in person.

I find that I can spend hours online even though my reason for having an online business was to create my jewelry. Well the hardest part for me is scheduling my time. So to help me get on track I am going to make a schedule for balance of my creative time with what I need to do for my business. Late this week I will give you an update on my new schedule.

I figure if I put it in writing and out there to all of you, maybe things will actually get done.

Are you ready for success this year?

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