There are a bazillion people out there on the web, on the shelves in bookstores, and even in person who can tell you the "right way" to do just about anything. And, for them, they may indeed be right. But what about for you, for me? Are they still right?That would be impossible since many of the viewpoints are contrary to each other. They can't all be right, or can they?
You might get lucky and find someone who "speaks" to you and you follow their advice step by step to success and happiness. If so, I think you are one of the lucky ones. More often than not, the ensuing result from seeking answers, may just lead to being overwhelmed with information and getting stuck. You do little or nothing for fear of doing it "wrong." Or, you may get to the point where you have heard enough. Enough is enough. It is time to filter through all the advice, then do whatever you think is right for you at the time with the best information you have been able to gather.
Will you always make the right decision? Probably not. But, hopefully it is better than doing nothing and watching your dreams fade away. You might even surprise yourself and make a great decision. However, you will never know if don't do something.
Here are just a few of the questions I have asked myself that have led me to research, and research overload.
-What type of independent business could I do that would be viable?
-Should I do many little businesses or try to lump what I want to do under one umbrella? What would be the unifying mission/theme?
-How would I advertise? web, blog, newspaper, Facebook.....?
-Blogger, Wordpress, GoDaddy.....?
-One blog or mulitple, webpage?
-What categories?
-Do I have enough useful content to blog?
-What design should I use?
-Should I take graphic design classes? html classes?
-How important is design choice?
-Should I do affiliates? How many? What type?
-Should I begin slowly and add on, or wait until I have it all figured out?
-What do I want my pages of whatever I do, to look like?....feel like?
-Should I just up and quite my regular job, go part time somewhere, tough it out as I create this business....?
-How much money should I put aside?
-Am I nuts doing this now? Should I wait another year or two?
Frankly, I am exhausted just writing that list! Of course, I found a variety of answers. Some echoed other sources, some were totally opposite from the others. Most were equally well thought out, made good points, and had their own merit. My task then, has been to figure out which answers make sense for me and my circumstances. I believe I have figured out most of it. I have one large hurdle left.
I wish I had a crystal ball because this last hurdle is a doozy. My major remaining hurdle is deciding whether to quit my full time job now or trying to stick with it for another year. My reasons for needing to leave full time employment are many and go far beyond my wanting to create a new business. In fact, this business was my answer to the need for leaving my full time job and still needing an income. There are many options in between full time and nothing and I am considering them all. In the meantime, I have limited foward momentum because I don't want to set something up and then not have the time to follow through.
The truth in all of this is that I have discovered that most of the answers I have found from an overwhelming number of people and resources are right...for somebody. In the end, it all boils down to one thing....what is right for me. Stay tuned.
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business. Show all posts
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Dulicmer Days and Coyote Time
Welcome to my new year and my new challenge. Technically it is a 28 day challenge, yet I believe this will be a yearlong process. My goal is simple enough, to find a rhythym to my life that fits who I am at this point in my life. Easy right?! Hardly!
My Dilema
My days are flexible at best. My 9-5 type job covers weekdays, weekends, and weeknights. There are family things I want to be available for, not to mention people I want to spend time with. Then there are things I want to do just because I want to do them, like continue learning to play the dulcimer and do more photography classes. For the business, there is blogging, card making, storefront creating, and so on. And there is more, but you get the idea. So, what to do?
Lists & Schedules
I have written lists of what I would like to be able to get to and various schedule formats of how I might do all these things. I started with what I knew like work schedules and chiropractic appointments and such. Then I sort of worked the rest in. Writing these lists was as an exercise in possibilities. I am not a schedule follower per se, I am a visual person so seeing it all out there in writing helps me see how things could be worked out a little differently.
Beautiful Music, Getting There
I have been working out this rhythm since the beginning of the year and it is beginning to gel. Eventually all the pieces of my life will play like a beautifully orchestrated piece of music. Right? Well, at least until the next change and then there will be some tweaking of rhythm again.
The First Chorus
Here is what I have found in the first weeks of 2011.
I hope to incorporate these findings and changes into my life, not just for 28 days.
*No Input Time: a 15-30 minute transition relaxation time after getting home from work and doing the care and feeding of dogs and family. There is to be no computer, texting, magazines, etc. No input.
*Coyote Time: I have named my stationary business Coyote Laughing Stationary so this is what I call time to work on my stationary/blogging/writing business. This is limited to 1 to 1 1/2 hours a night.
*What is The One Thing?: Each night when I am done working on business, I use a dry erase pen to write on a lovely glass picture frame, the one thing I need to do the next day that will get me closest to my goal.
*Family Time: Spend at least one hour a night with family, beyond dinnertime, or at least in an area where I am available.
*Fun Endings:Go to bed earlier so that I can read something just for the fun and enjoyment of reading it and not something for business, or even personal growth.
*Dulcimer Time: Practice dulcimer at least once a week. Dulcimer Time has come to represent any creative release time so it may be something other than, or in addition to playing the dulcimer.
*TV Night: I am in the bad habit of watching waaayyy to much TV, so I am cutting back to one TV night during the week. It is truly amazing how much more time becomes available for other things when the TV gets turned off.
That's it so far. Wish me luck. I'll check back in a week and let you know how it's going and if I have come up with a second chorus yet for Duclimer Days and Coyote Time.
My Dilema
My days are flexible at best. My 9-5 type job covers weekdays, weekends, and weeknights. There are family things I want to be available for, not to mention people I want to spend time with. Then there are things I want to do just because I want to do them, like continue learning to play the dulcimer and do more photography classes. For the business, there is blogging, card making, storefront creating, and so on. And there is more, but you get the idea. So, what to do?
Lists & Schedules
I have written lists of what I would like to be able to get to and various schedule formats of how I might do all these things. I started with what I knew like work schedules and chiropractic appointments and such. Then I sort of worked the rest in. Writing these lists was as an exercise in possibilities. I am not a schedule follower per se, I am a visual person so seeing it all out there in writing helps me see how things could be worked out a little differently.
Beautiful Music, Getting There
I have been working out this rhythm since the beginning of the year and it is beginning to gel. Eventually all the pieces of my life will play like a beautifully orchestrated piece of music. Right? Well, at least until the next change and then there will be some tweaking of rhythm again.
The First Chorus
Here is what I have found in the first weeks of 2011.
I hope to incorporate these findings and changes into my life, not just for 28 days.
*No Input Time: a 15-30 minute transition relaxation time after getting home from work and doing the care and feeding of dogs and family. There is to be no computer, texting, magazines, etc. No input.
*Coyote Time: I have named my stationary business Coyote Laughing Stationary so this is what I call time to work on my stationary/blogging/writing business. This is limited to 1 to 1 1/2 hours a night.
*What is The One Thing?: Each night when I am done working on business, I use a dry erase pen to write on a lovely glass picture frame, the one thing I need to do the next day that will get me closest to my goal.
*Family Time: Spend at least one hour a night with family, beyond dinnertime, or at least in an area where I am available.
*Fun Endings:Go to bed earlier so that I can read something just for the fun and enjoyment of reading it and not something for business, or even personal growth.
*Dulcimer Time: Practice dulcimer at least once a week. Dulcimer Time has come to represent any creative release time so it may be something other than, or in addition to playing the dulcimer.
*TV Night: I am in the bad habit of watching waaayyy to much TV, so I am cutting back to one TV night during the week. It is truly amazing how much more time becomes available for other things when the TV gets turned off.
That's it so far. Wish me luck. I'll check back in a week and let you know how it's going and if I have come up with a second chorus yet for Duclimer Days and Coyote Time.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Day 5
Learning my Software
For instance, I used to set up my 3x3 notepads like I did on Publisher, using the layout to set up multiple squares on one page...being careful that each square was exactly the same size......
Now, with Serif I set the custom size to 3x3, create my first pad page, then if I want to have mulitple page designs per pad, I just keep adding pages and design each pad page independent of the others. When I want to print a test page, I can tell my printer to print one page, and it will print one 8.5x11" piece of paper with up to six different 3x3 pad pages on it.
If I like the way things turned out, I can continue printing them out that way, or if I want, I can tell it to print out...say, page four (or whatever) and it will print out an 8.5x11" piece of paper with six 3x3 images of page four.
This might not be news for some people who have used more than Publisher for desktop publishing, but I have not and it is wonderful news for me. And I love it!
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I am also learning that while I love my rotary cutter, sooner or later I will need to get a bigger, better one. For small tasks, what I have is fine. For larger orders, well, it takes a bit of time.
The Business of Business
The other thing that seems to be working itself out is how to record each part of the order I am working on. There are benefits to tracking the details of each notepad, etc. In addtion to tracking my output in terms of money and time which I will need to know when I set up an e-store; tracking the settings of each notepad is helping me in two other ways. One, it will be easier to recreate a design. Two, it is helping me learn the differences between settings and how things look. I have set up a file with one copy of each thing I have created along with the notes about each design and order.
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So, to recap Day 5, I had a good day today. I followed my discovery from Day 4 and set a priority, and stuck to it. I did not allow myself to get distracted and I was not overwhelmed by trying to do too much at once. Tomorrow I begin holiday shopping. Between that and my regular 9-5, I may only get one hour a night for my challenge. However, I believe that if I make that hour count and stick to my plan, it can be a productive hour.
So until tomorrow, good night for now.
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