Motivation Monday

Back Yourself

It sounds so simple.

But it requires great faith.

Against all the doubters, the detractors,

the risks of failure and the self doubt,

believe in yourself.

If you don't back yourself.

Don't expect others to.

If you have the confidence in yourself,

so will others.

It's Never Too Late... by Patrick Lindsay

21 Ideas to Build, Connect, and Grow Your Business Community

Happy 21st Birthday Brittany!

Where does the time go, I can't believe my daughter is a grown up already. I remember when she was a little girl and we did everything together. Today she is a beautiful, smart, and independent woman full of ideas and ready to take on the world.

My daughter thrives in her college community and uses their support to help her achieve the success she is striving for.

In honor of her birthday I have put together a list of 21 ideas to build, connect, and grow your online and offline community.

Having a strong community is a big part of the success of your business. Taking the time to build a community that will support and motivate you will make being an independent create business owner a little easier.

1. Start with one person. Reach out, send one outreach email, be a volunteer, take the first step and get started.

2. Share freely of yourself, time, and talents. Pitch in with ideas, contribute, remember what you have to add to the conversation is important.

3. Grow your connections, you don't have to go it alone. Work with a mentor, a group that will inspire you, people that you admire.

4. Get to know everyone in your online and offline community. Map out where you have access to resources, tools and services that will help you and your community and share with everyone.

5. Connect with your community via social media.

6. Listen you the members of your community. Letting people tell their story without judgement is an important part of a community environment.

7. Celebrate business and personal successes.

8. Seek out diverse people and perspectives. This will create a vibrant community culture.

9. Share a note with a community member with an encouraging  and motivating message to show your appreciation.

10. Collaborate with people in your community with similar interest and skills.

11. Engage with people who push you out of your comfort zone.

12. Ask for help when you need it. your community is there to help, use their skills.

13. Share information and expect nothing in return.

14. Introduce yourself to the leaders you admire, even if it's just to say HI. You never know what could happen.

15. Keep on learning. Take online classes on sites like Skill Share or Big Hit Webinars.

16. Teach a class, share a tutorial, create info graphics, you have a lot to share with your community.

17. Be a leader.

18. Connect people you think could benefit from knowing each other.

19. Cheer on members. Encouragement goes a long way in the success of your community.

20. Kindness is appreciated. Thank the people who help you along the way.

21. Do something daily for your community, build your connections.

If you don't have a community to motivate and help support your creative business, start building one today. If you have a community, try incorporating some of these ideas to making your community stronger and more successful.

Do you have an online and offline community that supports you and your business?

Knowing Your Target Market Will Make You More Money

Finding your target market is one of hardest parts of having a creative business. It is also one of the most important parts of having a successful creative business.

When I started the Additions collection I wanted to create designs for young women who wanted something different. I spent years creating sterling silver art pieces that were expensive and that few people could afford. So creating an affordable collection for young women seems like the perfect target market. I learned quickly that young women were not the people buying my jewelry.

In the past year or so I have finally pinpointed my target market, and now I know where to focus my marketing efforts, and I am working on finding places to share my marketing message.

It is easy to say that your items can be sold to everyone of every age and socio economic status, but trust me that is not the case. Knowing your target market will not only help you sell more product it will make your marketing efforts easier.

I discovered mine by watching and talking to the people who were buying my jewelry at shows. I was able to pinpoint the average age of my customer (it was no where near what I thought), what they do for a living,  income, why they liked my designs, and where they lived.

I gained so much info interacting with my customers, learning what styles they like and using that info to help me to create new collections. I have finally stopped wasting time and money on reaching markets that are not interested in what I have to offer.

Take the time to do a little research to discover your target market. You will be surprised how knowing this information will make you creative business boom.

Not sure where to get started, would you use a little help finding your target market? Check out this FREE e-book How to Find Your Target Market Today by Sadie Maruska from Yarn Obsession. It's a quick read and full of helpful ideas to discover your target market.

There are a variety of websites and blogs with helpful information as well. A quick Google search or check of Pinterest boards should yield lots of get places to visit.

Do you know your target market?

Motivation Monday

Believe in Yourself

If you don't, don't expect others to.

Live up to your expectations,

not down to your doubts.

When you know you're capable,

give yourself a chance to succeed by losing the fear of failure.

Your horizons are often self-determined.

Make sure they are as broad as your dreams.

Now Is the Time by Patrick Lindsay

Need New Ideas? Just Listen!

When I need some inspiration or I'm feeling stuck in my business, I enjoy engaging in conversation with fellow artists, friends, and family. Listening to their stories and ideas always get the ideas flowing, making it easier for me to get unstuck.

Inspiration may be as near as your next conversation.

Everyone has a story to tell.  Some stories are more interesting then others, but the human experience is a rich source of inspiration.

This weekend talk to a couple of artists about what inspires them.  You will gain a new perspective on the creativity of others and have the opportunity to absorb new information.

Be an active listener.  Which means absorbing the words, perspective, and story of the people you are talking with without interruption or judgement.

Need some ideas to get you started?

Connect with artists online
Take a class
Visit a gallery
Attend a open studio
Go to a craft fair
Check out a craft supply shop.

Have a couple questions in mind to get the conversation started.

What is your personal favorite work or art?
Where do you find your inspiration?
What is your favorite material or tool and why?

Your next idea may come from someone you have a conversation with this weekend.  All you have to do is ask a question.

I'm ready to listen.  What is your favorite thing about creating?

4 Easy Steps to Reinvent an Idea

This is the perfect time of year to evaluate your business, your creative path, and even yourself. Do you need to change things up for the new season, is there something you want to learn, or are you adding a new collection? Then it's time to consider making some changes and reinvent your ideas.

Reinventing yourself can be exciting and scary, and making changes can be uncomfortable. But a new path will help you grow as an artist and a person.

Here are some easy tips to follow to reinvent yourself and your ideas:

Go at your own pace - You are doing this for yourself, take your time, find the best possible solutions for yourself, and then make changes slowly.

Do your research - There are many options, ideas, and opportunities, learn everything you can so you can make good choices.

Listen to yourself - It is easy to let outside influences distract you, but you know what is best for you, you know the answers, let your gut guide you in your new direction.

Ease into your new direction - You don't have to make all your changes all at once, try a few things until you know exactly what you want to do.

These steps are easily translated into starting a new project or even new product development. Go out and discover something new about yourself, and enjoy all the new things you will learn.

When was the last time you reinvented some aspect of your business?

Monday Motivation

This list is full of great ideas to increase your 

productivity and get you motivated. 

First things I am going to work on is #20 and #40, when I put both into 

action I should be able to get more done during my work day. 

Which items do you need to work on?

An Unconventional Idea to Boost Your Creativity

There are so many ideas for giving your creativity a boost, and I have covered many ideas here on Everyday Inspired.

Here is one idea that is not talked about a lot, but will not only help you creatively but also physically.

Listen to your body

It's so easy to override the messages our body send us, like when we are hungry, when we need a break from the computer screen, or need to get some fresh air, but what if we listened to those messages and took the necessary breaks to be more relaxed.

Our body knows best. Listening to its cues will guide us to having a more relaxed mind, therefore being more creative.

Do you listen to your body for cues to take breaks?

What If...

Excuses, excuses, excuses, we all have them, and most of the time they are part of our daily activities.  

I am guilty of letting excuses stop me from growing, expanding, or experimenting. I commonly tell myself I will start that when this happens, or I will try that when I have more.... Whatever the excuse is they are holding me back from achieving my goals.

What if we lived our life with zero tolerance for excuses?

Try a whole day with no excuses. Go through your master plan and your to-do list and start working on your action steps not letting any excuse stop you from finishing your task. If it goes well one day, try another, and another, soon it will be a habit.

Think of the sense of accomplishment you will feel after your day of no excuses, not to mention being closer to your goal.

Are your excuses stopping you from reaching your goals?

Motivation Monday

Break Away from the Herd

It can take cold courage.

It's your chance to follow your heart,

lift your head up,

choose your own course.

It can bring disdain and abuse.

But it will also bring esteem and admiration.

But, above all, it brings self respect.

Stand on your own feet.

Be an individual.

It's Never Too Late... by Patrick Lindsay

When Was the Last Time You Checked Out the Person You Admire?

We all have that one person who's business or craft we want to emulate. That person who is succeeding in their chosen craft and making money doing what they love.

Who do you admire?

When was the last time you checked out their website, viewed their new work, or followed up on their social media sites?

When you admire someones work or achievements follow them. Read things they post, get inspired from their new work, and learn from their ideas.

Learning new things is required to stay on top of what you do. Learning from the person you admire and know is succeeding, will get you a little closer to what you want to achieve.

Start following the work of the person you admire most, and implement there ideas in your own business.

Have you implemented new ideas into your creative business lately?

Why You Should Have a Failure Resume

Failure is a word we hate to hear. When we don't  accomplish our goals, or our creations don't turn out as expected, we lose a little bit of confidence in our ability to do what we do best.

How would things be different if we thought of Failure as an Experiment full of Valuable information?

Failure does not have to be a negative word. You can learn so much from the things we see as failures.

I experiment all the time with new ways to embellish, add texture, and color to my hardware jewelry collection. I have hundreds of pieces that I considered failures, but I learned to use those failed ideas to come up with ways that will work.

I was recently reading about ways to re-think our mistakes and Tina Seeling an entrepreneur, professor, and neuroscientist, teaches a class at Stanford University on innovation. One of the things she asks all her students to do is to create a failure resume.

Create your own failure resume, just create a list all the things you screwed-up on in your business, academic life, and personal life. For each failure describe what you learned from the experience. Even if you think it was the worst experience ever, you still learned something.

Creating this list through the lens of failure forces you to come to terms with your mistake, and gives you a lot of data about what works and what doesn't.

Share one thing you learned from something that went wrong with your creative business.

Motivation Monday

Rely on Your Common Sense

It's our greatest asset in charting a course through life,

provided we listen to it.

It's the distillation of our experiences.

It's our front-line defense,

our sounding board.

If something doesn't make sense,

there's usually a very good reason.

Now is the Time by Patrick Lindsay