Finally, I Have a Plan

Finally, I feel like I am getting my business back on track.

But before I talk about business, I want to start with a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who follows my blog, comments, and shares their stories on Everyday Inspired!

I appreciate all of you and I have enjoyed getting to know you through blogging.

THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF THE EVERYDAY INSPIRED COMMUNITY!

Now back to business

I wrote a couple of post last month My Struggles and Please Share Your Thoughts, sharing with you the struggles I have been having with my business and blogging. For a while I thought I was going to stop blogging all together, but I realized I would really miss the process.

As much as I feel like I am writing for myself most of the time, I have learned a lot, shared my story, and discovered new things about myself while blogging, and because of that I can't give it up all together. 

As for my blog I have decided to move it to a different platform and a new format early next year. I wish I could work on it now, but as we move into the busy season I do not need another project.

So for the rest of this year I will post a couple times week with quotes and inspiring photos to help us stay motivated all season long. Doing these kinds of posts are just as important to me, and help me stay motivated as well. 

I will also share with you new pieces, photos from shows, and any other tid bits that are happening in my life in a few random posts throughout the holiday season. You can also follow me on Instagram for more regular updates about my shop and life.

As for my business, I will be making some changes in 2015. A new website, another Etsy shop, a big push into wholesale, and a lot less stressing and more enjoying my business.

Overall I feel a little better now that I have a plan moving forward into 2015. 

When you need a little motivation and inspiration, stop by Everyday Inspired for a little boost to help you get through your day. Even better, stop by every week for a burst of motivation all week long.

Are you ready to move forward into the busy season?

Please Share your Thoughts

Something has changed for me this summer. Not sure what it is, but I am struggling with my business and being motivated.

I have done a few things to get some momentum, but when I don't get the results I am looking for it is easy to let things slide. I want things to change and I want my momentum back, but I think I am going to have to do some reevaluating of my business plans.

I have really neglected the blog and visiting all my favorite blogs this summer. Taking a little time away has really made me think, do I want to keep blogging? 

I spend a considerable amount to time researching and writing blog post that I hope are helpful and inspiring. I always wanted my blog to be a destination where you can get motivated, inspired, and tips you can put into action, but I am starting to think people are not really interested in that type of information.

What are your thoughts? Do you find the information usually found on Everyday Inspired helpful in your business and life?

Thou I have been struggling with my own business I have been helping my daughter get her business started. She is back in school now finishing up her last year in college, and she would like to graduate with her business already moving in the right direction.

It has been fun collaborating with her, and it has helped generate a few new ideas for something new I will be launching soon. Even with some new things in the pipeline I still want my current business to thrive and I need to get out of my slump.

I would LOVE to hear any ideas and suggestions for getting inspired, and your thoughts about the blog. Share your stories, throw out some ideas, any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

I will put together another post with your ideas and suggestions, so if anyone else needs a boost it will be here ready to access anytime.

Thank you all for following, reading, and commenting on Everyday Inspired! I appreciate all of you, and it has been wonderful getting to know everyone.  As I reevaluate my plans for the next few months I will keep you posted, so I hope you stop by and check out the updates.

Thanks,

Join the Conversation

Join The Conversation is a series, of community conversations about inspiration, creativity and business. Every new post will have a question and responses from bloggers in our community. Then, you the reader, will have the opportunity to answer the question in the comments. I look forward to having you Join The Conversation!

With Embracing Harmony week ending tomorrow, I would love to hear your thoughts. Take a few minutes and Join the Conversation.

Question: When you are able to find a little time for yourself, what do you like to do?

Annette - It depends how much time I have as to what I like to do. If I have a couple of hours, I enjoy thrifting, hitting the antique mall, or wandering through a fabric store. Sometimes I'm looking for something specific and sometimes I'm just looking to see what catches my eye. When I don't have that much time, I like to fix a cup of tea, put my feet up, and browse through my latest magazine. It's relaxing and often inspiring.

So Many Memories Blog

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Meeling - I love this question! Life is so busy for everyone these days, I think it's really important to take a little time for yourself. I try to take a few minutes everyday and just "escape" to a quiet corner to either read a little, play a favorite word game or maybe even close my eyes for 5 minutes. I always end up feeling refreshed after. I also love to cook, so thankfully for me preparing dinner is usually a fun and relaxing end to my day. Once in a while when I need an extra treat, you'll find me getting a pedicure - in California we live in flip flops nearly year round, so that's my excuse for keeping my toes in tip top shape! :-)

Life is delicious...come follow me and eat it up! 

The Hairy Peach Blog

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Gloria - One of the things I do is listen to sparks that I have tucked away. They are ideas, feelings, nudges ... that want me to notice them and give them consideration. All the hours I am awake, I listen to, focus on, and serve others and their needs. In my quiet hours I can be busy, but I listen to, appreciate, and reflect on those sparks.

 If I can get away for a few hours and want to feel refreshed, I take a drive and stop to take photos along the way, walk in a public garden or museum, find someplace totally new to me and have a meal, or see a play. More often for a break at home, music, tea, chocolate, and a big yellow furball are at
hand.

New End Studio Blog ~ Shop ~ Pinterest ~ Twitter

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Rachel - When I find a little time for myself, I like to work on what I've started to call my "muse projects." they're long ridiculous projects that won't make me any money, are a bit out of my comfort zone, but I feel compelled to try out. So I might choose out a really tough song on the piano and spend a couple of months to half a year diving into it in my spare time (although no one will hear it except the people who live with me ((who will have to forgive me))) and I might not even finish it, (in fact I usaully don't).

 But the beauty of the project isn't really the end-goal, but the half-way there, where I learn how to play piano a little better, or how to compose a story a little better (I've written some terrible books for muse projects, for instance), or how to use photoshop better and more efficiently (I've also made some pretty awful comics), or how to tailor clothes (and there's a half-tailored ugly jacket in my closet I've experimented on), or learned some facts I didn't realize before (like from the huge books on Russia I got from the library but didn't quite finish ((Ps don't ask me anything about Russia I've forgotten already))).

Also, if I felt like I had to finish it, then it would become work, and the last thing I'd do for myself is more work. Without a deadline, it becomes an uplifting part of my day.

Shop ~ This is Not a Craft Blog

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Now it's your turn to answer the question. Share your thoughts in the comments section.

How Do You Like to Chill Out?

As a workaholic I don't have a lot of down time. Well maybe I should rephrase that, I don't normally take much time off.

When I do take time off I love to read, relax, and have a glass of wine.

As Spring is slowly trying to makes it's way to the Midwest, I find that I want to have a little more time off relaxing and enjoy the warmth of Spring.

Hanging outside and reading is one of my favorite ways to chill out. This time of year I find myself taking more time off just to sit outside to clear my mind and regroup.

When you need to chill out, what do you like to do?

Join The Conversation...

Join The Conversation is a series, of community conversations about inspiration, creativity and business. Every new post will have a question and responses from bloggers in our community. Then, you the reader, will have the opportunity to answer the question in the comments. I look forward to having you Join The Conversation!

Question:
What single experience has transformed your business?

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Cynthia from Antiquity Traveler - For me, probably the most influential has been joining the blogosphere. Talking to other artisans has encouraged me to consider other options or angles to making jewelry or how I go about selling it. But even more so... joining all the various bead 'hops' has pushed me to try new things. We have a saying at our office (my day job) where we start meetings saying 'let's get uncomfortable.' Which means if we're comfortable then we're doing things the same old way and not trying anything new. But to explore new areas and learn new things you have to push yourself beyond your comfort zone. So I might moan a bit about trying something new because I'm a perfectionist, and I hate when my piece looks wonky. But I wouldn't be trying all these new techniques, and pushing my creativity without having met all of you out there blogging. And for that, I am so grateful.

Shop ♦ Blog

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Duni from Duni's Studio - Although I've had a number of pivotal experiences concerning my business, the one that made the most impact was a remark a client made about my professionalism. It boosted my confidence in such a way, that I took the plunge and started selling my own clothing designs internationally. It still amazes me that people from Singapore to Sidney wear my designs!

Shop ♦ Blog

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LeAnn - Pounderings -My involvement in Etsy teams has been the single experience that has helped me transform my business from a floundering "Lost In the Crowd" shop with less than 10 sales, to a growing and evolving shop with steady sales.

I'd especially like to thank the leaders of the Lost In the Crowd, Etsy Success, Baby Boomers and Blogging Business Artisans teams.

Each team has its own personality, but each provides a sense of community, challenges, information sharing, promotional opportunities, and, most importantly, support and encouragement.

Shop ♦ Blog ♦ Facebook

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Sharon from Knot Cha Cha - No one single experience stands out for me. That I even have an online business is the result of so many different jobs I had throughout my career which gave me a variety of skills. I am still searching for that one thing that will transform my business to a higher level.

Shop ♦ Blog

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Now it's your turn to answer the question. Share your answer in the comments.

Remember Everything

Here is a little tip to help you remember information, learn a new technique, and in the process make your brain a little stronger.

The 3 x 10 technique.

Dr. Douglas Fields a neurologist at the National Institute of Heath who researches memory and learning, discovered that your brain makes a stronger connection to remembering what you are reading, practicing, or mastering something new, to do it 3 times rest for 10 minutes and then do it again.

Do this process as many times as needed until you have mastered what you need to remember.

I use this technique all the time when I need to practice a speech or class notes, and when I try a new technique. I have found if I try something 3 times, take a break and come back to it 3 more times, I figure out the steps I need to take and remember them for next time.

Next time you need to remember something give this technique a try, and in the process make your brain a little stronger!

Would this technique be helpful with anything you need to remember?

Your Competition

When was the last time you looked at your competition?

I'm not talking about the entire online community that creates what you create, but those few selected artists or business owners that are working in the same medium, style, or have the same product.

Keeping up with what they are doing, their prices, packaging, new products, shows they are attending, will give you insight into what's going on in your industry and with your customer base.

As a jewelry designer when I am looking at what people are selling on Etsy I don't look at the jewelry category.  One because it's just too large, and two because I don't consider everyone who makes jewelry as competition.

I only look at a couple of categories, artists who are making jewelry with hardware and industrial items. By doing this I can see what people are buying and the designs that are selling.

By keeping an eye on what's happening in my niche market, it's easier for me to make plans for my own business. I know the market is big enough for all of us, but by checking out my competition I know what I need to do to make my items stand out.

Now it's time to check out your competition:

• Make a list of other artists or business leaders, who are working in the same niche, that you admire.
• Review their website, and check out their feedback.
•Create a list:
  What do you admire about them or their work?
  What tool are they using to promote their business? (newsletter, social media, etc...)
  What are their policies? Customer service?
  What makes them unique?

Now look over your list, do you notice any patterns? What are they doing you are not doing? Can in incorporate of those ideas into your business?

Checking out the competition on a regular basis should be part of your monthly or quarterly plan. The more you know the better your business will be, and that will guide you to become the business that everyone wants to admire.

How often do you look at your competition?

Are Your Ready to be Completely Organized?

Being organized is what we strive for in our business and in life. 

Being completely organized is relate to efficiency, productivity, and achieving simplicity.

We face challenges trying to achieve total organization. We set up systems to help us get things done, but we don't always stick to them, or the system we create is not really helpful.

Every time my sister comes to town she helps me organize my work space. She is really good at setting up stations for me to do my tasks so I can be more efficient, and I try my hardest to keep it up and stay organized.

Did you know that real organization starts in the minds. Take a moment to contemplate this question:

What excuses are you using that make you fall short of meeting your organizational goals?

Once you have answered that question, you can work on eliminating those excuses from you everyday life and create the systems you need to put in place to meet your organizational goals.

Being organized is a tool that takes you to having a more empowered life.

Join The Conversation

Join The Conversation is a new series, of community conversations about inspiration, creativity and business. Every new post will have a question and responses from bloggers in our community. Then, you the reader, will have the opportunity to answer the question in the comments. I look forward to having you Join The Conversation!

Question:
What do you enjoy most about the creative process?
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Val from Miss Val Creations - For me, I enjoy the relaxing feeling that goes along with being creative the most. It is great for maintaining sanity. The days can be filled with stress and craziness and making jewelry feels like my "me time"!

Shop ♦ Blog

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Edi from Memories for Life - I love coming up with new ideas and making them a reality! When I new idea comes together just as I had imagined it, it just makes my day!

These little Owl Earrings are one of those ideas. I engraved the owl before, but never cut it out completely. I just LOVE how these turned out!

Shop ♦ Blog

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Janell from Dancing Mooney - I love to do a variety of things, and am always looking for new ideas. Which means my favorite part of the creative process is often somewhere in the area product development. I get excited when I connect with a new trend, or an idea I've found, that I can't get out of my mind. For me, creating is a journey of exploration, so trying new things, and putting new ideas to the test is always where I am most excited to spend my time.

 I am a visual person, so I love design-seeds.com for color inspiration, and searching Pinterest and Google/images for project ideas, once I have something in mind that I'm wanting to explore.

Shop ♦ Blog

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Now it's your turn to answer the question. Share your answer in the comments.

Nightly Ritual

I have a nightly ritual I created for myself to help me wake up less stressed and ready to start my day.

Every night I get in the bed with my notebook and I make a list of all the things I want to get done the next day, and any ideas that came to me throughout out the day.  

This process helps me sleep peacefully, because my mind is clear and I know I have a good plan for the next day. 

I recently added a couple extra steps to my process, a few drops lavender to my pillow to help my mind relax and some quite music to sooth my spirit.

These rituals have really made me a morning person, and when I wake up I am ready to get my day started.

Do you have an evening or morning ritual that inspires you?

Time for Yourself

We need to think about ourselves and our needs every now and then. We spend a lot of time taking care of others, but not making enough time for ourselves during the week.

I'm not talking about creative time or the time you spend on your business, but quiet time for just you and your thoughts.

Is it time to make a date with yourself?

We tell ourselves that we are going to take a day off or go out for an afternoon, but when the time comes we find excuses not to go. I am really guilty of this, I spend most of my time working and not taking time off. Maybe it's time to start scheduling some time just for pampering ourselves.

Adding a date to our calendar gives us something to look forward too. Making it a regular event in our schedule gives us something to look forward to and eventually creating a self-care a habit.

Some simple ides for enjoying time with yourself:
Go to a museum or gallery
Read 
Watch one of your favorite movies
Talke a nap
Go on a nature hike
Enjoy a bath
See a performance at a local theater
Take a walk on the park

Time to yourself should be integrated into your life, not squeezed in when you have spare time. Take out your calendar and pick a day or an hour where you can enjoy some me time on a regular basis.

What do you like to do when you take time for yourself?

The Big Picture

The only way we can change, grow, and improve in areas we acknowledge we need to improve is to be a big picture thinker.

As humans we tend to be in the habit of seeing our own world first, but if we were to look at the world from the eyes of our customers and others in our mediums we would realize their are so many opportunities out there for us to explore.

Big picture thinkers are 

always learning, great listeners, 

and always looking for ways to 

expand their experiences.

Question:
What might change in your life if you were to start thinking from a big-picture perspective? How would it change your business? personal life? Financial growth? 

Use a big piece of paper and write, draw, or collage your thoughts about this questions. Use what you discover to create a plan of action for growing your business and changing your life.

It's in all of us to be big picture thinkers, are you ready to take on the world?

Seeking Inspiration Everyday

Last weekend my husband and I went on one of our favorite dates, dinner and the book store.

While at the bookstore I read an article in Entrepreneur magazine about marketing guru Seth Godin, and how his blog gets about 50,000 hits a month with little to no effort on his part.

I was in awe that he could get that many hits without having to do anything, and my husband said
  "people need inspiration everyday".

He went on to explain that people visit his site because they know he will have information that will inspire them to act. Seeking information and learning is what moves us forward, and that's why we strive for it daily.

I thought about that and realized that I do seek inspiration everyday. I am always on the hunt for information about my business, art, and how I can inspire others.

Do you seek inspiration daily?

I'm Curious

◄▬ I'm taking a poll

Source: flickr.com via Monica on Pinterest

Do you keep a journal?

If so what kind:

Personal - With your private thoughts and emotions.
Business - A book with your goals, business ideas, and tracking.
Art - A sketchbook with your ideas, projects, and inspiration.

◄▬ Choose all that apply

Thanks for sharing!

Ask Yourself...

Inner spark is a series of questions that will inspire your to dig deep within yourself to discover how you can grow as a person and a in your business. Take a few minutes to yourself to contemplate your answers, you may be surprised at what you discover.

As I have been planning my year, I have been thinking about the direction I want to take my business. In this process a important question came to mind: What brings me joy?

Have you thought about what brings you joy? We all love creating, but is running your business bringing you joy? Are you going in a direction that will will bring you long term joy?

Question:
What brings you joy?

What Word is Going to Inspire You in 2013?

I have been working on my plan for the new year and I realized that there was a theme that described the direction I want to take my business this year.

That word is:
GROWTH

I have decide that GROWTH is going to be my personal theme word for 2013. I have added it to my 2013 vision plan and I will incorporate it into my daily to-do-list, so as I set goals they will encourage me to grow my business.

 Have you thought about your theme word for this year? 

Your Favorite Books

One of my favorite things to get for Christmas are books. I work on my wish list all year and then hand it over to my husband and let him surprise me.

Lets start a wish list together. Share 3 books that inspire you. Include books about art, crafts, and business. 

I will create a master list we can refer to all year long. You might even discover a few books you want to add to this years holiday wishlist.  

Here are 3 titles on the top of my list:

What are 3 of your favorite art, craft, or business books? Share the titles and authors in the comments.

Art and Craft Show Neighbors

This past weekend I had a two day show that was not as good as I hoped it would be, but I meet lots of wonderful vendors and had a good time hanging out with my sister!

When shows are slow vendors have a tendency to get negative.

I had a couple of  neighbors, who I thought were doing really well, complain both days. They had nothing nice to say about the promoters or the show in general.

Another neighbor around us was very loud and kind of rude. He practically pulled people out of the isle to come look at his stuff, and then proceeded to tell people that he had the best, most unique stuff at the show and that nothing else at the show could compare to his amazing work. He even rolled his eyes and made snotty comments if people walked away and did not purchase.

It made for great people watching, but I was pretty annoyed with both of these neighbors by the end of the show. When I talked to them I tried to stay positive and just let them complain. Luckily they packed up and left early.

Personally I may complain to my sister but I would never complain to another vendor or a promoter. Most of the time it is not their fault and complaining is just a waste of time. I try to find the positive from events like that, and just start planning my next event. My sister and I had a good time laughing, talking, and making plans for next year and that made it a great weekend for me.

What are your thoughts about negative show neighbors, or even loud  rude neighbors?

One Thing

Last year I challenged myself to do 100 sales in 100 days from September through the Holidays. It was also the time that Etsy changed their search function to relevancy. In October of last year I had terrible sales, only 8 sales for the entire month.

I shared my dismay in one of my posts and a few days later I received a Etsy conversation from someone in our blog community.

She was very kind. She shared tips for changing my titles, gave me ideas for tags, and explained how the new relevancy function worked on Etsy.

This information changed everything for me and my business. I spent a couple months working on my titles and tags and things in my Etsy shop started to move. I had a great 2011 holiday season, and this year has been my best year on Etsy.

That one message changed my business, and changed it for the better. 

What's one experience that's changed the way you do business today?

Pinterest Doesn't Make Things

I love Pinterest!

I will be honest I have not figured out how it is a social network site, because I use it mostly for pinning sites and posts I want to keep track of, refer to in the future, and to share on Everyday Inspired.

Source: lesscakemorefrosting.com via Mallory Nikolaus on Pinterest

Last week I read a must read post on Less Cake More Frosting about Pinterest:  Miss Manners Meets the Internet

I hope you take the time to read this blog post. There are so many important points in it about sharing the information you find on Pinterest, and how we treat other peoples work on the internet.

After you read the post, come back and share your thoughts.