Creating Success from the Inside Out: Acknowledge Your Successes

Just the other day when I was browsing my Kindle, I decided to wipe the virtual dust from Jack Canfield's Success Principles and started reading it again.  It's the kind of book you can read over and over or just pick up and read a chapter whenever you have time or inclination.  Each chapter stands alone as a success principle in and of itself.

The chapter I read that really resonated with me has to do with acknowledging your past and present successes, both large and small.  If you're anything like me, you let your inner critic get the best of you sometimes (more often than I would like to admit here!). When the voice inside your head that criticizes you for not getting all those items you made added to Etsy that day or for locking your keys in your car, or for eating that cookie that you didn't need (and then eating 3 more), it can be damaging to your psyche.  After all, we attract to us what we most think about.

Canfield offers several suggestions for kicking the habit of negative thinking about yourself and your actions.  One strategy he recommends that intrigued me is what he calls the "Mirror Exercise".  To do this, you stand in front of a mirror every night for 3 minutes, look yourself in the eye, and appreciate your achievements that day.  By achievements, he's not talking about things like making 10 sales on Etsy or running a marathon, although those would count too!  Rather, he means all of the little things that you do each and every day that make a positive difference in your life and the lives of those you love, work with, and interact with in general.  You could appreciate the fact that you ate a healthy breakfast, that you got your butt to the gym, or even that you told your kids how much you love them.  Whatever you can think of, say it.  Then when you are done, tell yourself, "I love you".

It sounds very corny, I know...  But I am so dying to try this.  Canfield reported that after 40 days of doing this exercise faithfully, he had eradicated all that negative self talk he had previously experienced.  I am going to try this and I hope you try it too!

In My Studio: Keeping up with the Calendar

Calendar by Wishbone Letterpress

When I first moved to the US three years ago I kept missing out on opportunities to make and sell holiday and seasonal inspired work. I just didn't get my act together fast enough to keep up with the ever changing seasonal merchandise. I decided I needed a special calendar to help me organize my year of making. It would show all the important holidays, themes and seasons and include when to start making, when to list on Etsy and when to deliver to stores.

                        Hanukkah Cards by Karmabee      Valentines Day Ornaments by Get Tangled

 

When selling on Etsy it's important to make, photograph and list items for various holidays well enough in advance to allow potential customers to view, buy and have items delivered well before the holiday in question. Crafts makers all work at different rates so I thought I would post my schedule and then you are able to change it depending on which holidays you make for and the speed of your work:

Holiday/ Season	Date of Holiday/ Season	List on Etsy/ deliver to stores	When to make and photograph
Spring theme	March- May	In January	Nov, Dec
Valentines Day	14th Feb	Early Jan	December
St Patrick's Day	17th March	In Feb	January
Easter	20th April (2014)	Late March	Jan, Feb
Mothers Day	11th May (2014)	Mid April	March
Summer theme	May-Aug	April	March
Fathers Day	15th June (2014)	Mid May	April
Independence Day	4th July	Early June	May
Autumn theme	Sept- Nov	August	June, July
Halloween	31st October	September	July, August
Thanksgiving	27th Nov (2014)	October	Aug, Sept
Winter theme	Nov- Feb	October	Sept
Hanukkah	16-24th Dec (2014)	November	October
Christmas Day	25th Dec	October	Aug, Sept

 To try and simplify it I made these tables below:

What I should be making/ when:

Jan	Feb	March	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
St Pat	Easter	Mother	Father	Ind Day	Autumn	Autumn	Halloween	Thanksgiving	Hanukkah	Spring	Spring
Easter		Summer				Halloween	Thanksgiving	Winter			Val Day
							Christmas	Christmas

What I should be listing on Etsy and delivering to stores/ when:

Jan	Feb	March	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
Spring	St Pat	Easter	Mother	Father	Ind Day		Autumn	Halloween	Thanksgiving	Hannukah
Val Day			Summer						Christmas
									Winter

 

 Owl Christmas Tree Skirt by So Handmade

Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. Henry David Thoreau

Good luck and Good Making!

Sarah Omura, So Handmade

www.etsy.com/shop/SOhandmade1

 

Creating Success From the Inside Out: Give 'Em What They Don't Even Know They Want

We may be in this Etsy business for a variety of reasons, but I have a hunch that the majority of us have Etsy shops so that we can earn an income doing what we love to do creatively.  If that is the case, then read on for an exercise in finding that sweet spot where you are doing what you love most and giving your customers what they want (but don’t even know it yet!). 

Original card by Wishbone Letterpress

The first step in this exercise is to dig out your top 5 strengths (see exercise in blog article from June 2013, Selling Your Uniqueness).  Read through the list so you have them at the forefront of your mind.  Now think about what your natural aptitudes are.  Consider these questions:

• What am I naturally good at?
• What things come so easily to me that I don’t even realize it?  (Consider that the things that come easily to you don’t always come easily to everyone else, too).
• What things do I love to do so much that hours can go by and I don’t even notice?
• What things do I do in my life that others appreciate and that I enjoy doing (doesn’t feel like work)?

Using these questions, brainstorm a list of between 5 and 10 ideas for ways you can provide value to others while doing what you enjoy and are good at.  It doesn’t have to be directly related to your Etsy shop or business.  It could be related to your hobbies, day job, other interests, etc.

Got your list?  Great!  Now onto more fantastical thinking outside the box… You need to know your ideal customer in order to do this next exercise.  If you haven’t flushed that out, see the blog article from April 2013, CreatingSuccess from the Inside Out: The #1 Thing You Must Do to Prep Your Business for Total Success. 

What can you offer your ideal customers that would make them totally stoked?  This is the time to do some seriously crazy outside the box thinking.  Don’t worry about being realistic or how you will execute.  This exercise is to get the juices flowing.  Write down at least 10 ideas.  

Cupcake Pendant by A Studio by the Sea

Now go back to your first list of things you enjoy doing that could provide value to others and circle the things that you think your customers would pay for.  Then circle the wild ideas from the second list that you would love to provide to your customers.  These items are what business and marketing genius Marie Forleo (www.marieforleo.com) calls the “Sweet Spot”.  Based on this list, you may already have some perspective on new products or offerings that you can develop and sell in your Etsy shop.  If some of them seem too pie-in-the-sky, then spend some time letting them sink in and consider how you can make them do-able in a way that will thrill your customers.

Did you come up with some new ideas?  I would love to hear from you in the comments below!

Ceating Success From the Inside Out: Selling Your Uniqueness

No two pop-tarts are alike and the same goes for people.  Yes, it’s true.  I was going to use the analogy of snowflakes, but that’s so overdone.

Seriously, though, as small business owners selling on Etsy and at craft fairs, we can often feel overwhelmed and lost in a sea of other artists and makers.  When we feel this way, it can help to take a step back and get introspective about who we are and what unique points of view, skills, and strengths we have to offer the world.  Then we can use that powerful information to present ourselves and our products in a way that no one else can.  Unlock your special pop-tartness right now, with these steps.

Know your greatest qualities.

We all have pre-conceived notions of what makes us special, but the people who know us, love us, and work with us can tell us what they consider to be our best qualities from a totally different perspective.  So ask them and don’t be shy about it.  Set up a free account with Survey Monkey and create a one-question online survey asking at least 20 people you know what they think your 3 best qualities are.  You can make it anonymous if you like so that people can respond freely. 

Once you have the data, rank the responses until you can see what your top 5 best qualities are according to those who know you best.  Consider these top qualities and reflect on whether these traits are reflected in your brand and the way your present yourself to your customers.  Write down at least one specific example of how you can better incorporate or represent your top 3 qualities into your brand.

For instance, one of your top qualities may be that you are detail-oriented.  That quality will surely be reflected in your work, so promote that unique selling point.  Make it obvious for your customers.  Mention it in your Etsy listing descriptions how every detail is carefully considered by you before being executed.

Tell your unique story.

Each one of us is a product of our experiences on this Earth.  We all have stories that make up who we are. What are the big stories that have shaped your life?  Write down at least 5 one-sentence story points that define you that you feel your ideal customer would relate to; things like family stories, overcoming adversity, why you do what you do, how you discovered your art, accidents, near misses, exhilarating moments, losses, life experiences, momentous occasions, fortuitous events, etc.  Then turn each of these story points into a full-fledged story (write it down!). 

Once you have these stories, you can use them in different ways as your present yourself and your business to the world – through your About page on Etsy or your website, blog articles, or biographies for shops or galleries where you sell your work.

Think about your goal – you want to establish connections with customers who appreciate what you have to offer and who return to see what else you are producing.  For instance, when potential customers read your About page, they don’t want to just learn about you.  They want to learn what it is about you that can help them get what they want.  So make sure that you tell a story in your About page that shows customers what they can expect from you that they can’t find anywhere else.

Remember, there’s only one of you in the history of this world and what you have to offer is of value to others.  What is your unique story that will connect you to your customers? 

Resources.

Want to learn more about yourself, your strengths, and your best qualities?  Here are some resources:

Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath

http://www.howtofascinate.com

http://www.tonyrobbins.com/ue/disc-profile.php

Take Action Now!  Follow the steps above then leave a comment below.

5 Things to Do Now to Get Back on the Goal Train

Remember those goals for the year you wrote down back in January when the year was your oyster?  Now that we are almost halfway through 2013, it’s a great time to re-evaluate the goals we set, dust them off if they have fallen to the back of busy schedules, and perhaps re-adjust where necessary.  A high five to all of you who have been actively working on your goals since the beginning of the year.  For those of us who may have let them get away from us, let’s look at 5 ways to get back on the Goal Train.

1.       Review your goals

Read through the goals you wrote down at the beginning of the year.  If you didn’t write them down back then, take some time now and record them.  Put a giant green check mark next to any goals that you have met thus far, along with words of praise for yourself for following through with your game plan.  Come up with some kind of reward for yourself to acknowledge your accomplishments.  If you haven’t met any of your goals yet, don’t let negative energy overtake your thought process.  Be kind to yourself and commit to following through with the following steps.

2.       Re-assess your goals and priorities

For goals that you haven’t met yet, review their order of priority and rewrite your goals so that the most important ones are at the top of the list.  If you have goals that you want to meet but the deadlines you assigned have past, contemplate why you missed those deadlines.  Did something unexpected come up that prevented you from meeting it?  Did you forget that you had that goal?  Was the goal too ambitious or unrealistic?  Is there some kind of fear or apprehension that is preventing you from tackling a particular goal?  You may want to record your thoughts in a journal so you can better understand where you are struggling and therefore be better equipped to address these challenges in the coming months.  Set new deadlines for your goals before moving to the next step.

3.       Make clear and feasible action plans for each of your goals

Breaking down each goal into actionable steps makes achieving big things less daunting, so on a separate sheet of paper for each goal, write down step by step what you need to do to achieve it.  Make sure that each step is a clear-cut task that you can schedule.  Now schedule it!  If you have a calendar that you use, record the steps on the calendar with due dates and reminders.  I use Google Calendar.  Our very own Marilyn from Pulp Sushi introduced me to a great organizational app called Wunderlist.  You can create a separate list for each goal and it will feel so good to cross each step off the list as you complete each task.

4.       Commit to reviewing your goals regularly

It’s really easy to let time go by and not work toward your goals if you forget what they are.   When you review your goals regularly, they will remain at the forefront of your mind and it will be more likely that your daily actions are those that lead you to accomplish those goals.  Added bonus is that if it’s in your conscious mind, then it will be in your sub-conscious mind too.  You may even come up with powerful ways to meet your goals while you are sleeping!  If you often wake up in the morning with ideas, you may want to keep a pen and paper near your bed so that you can write these genius ideas down as soon as you wake up.

5.       Be your own cheerleading squad

Even if you haven’t been able to put a green check mark next to any of your goals, be compassionate with yourself.  Negativity and beating yourself up is not going to help you achieve your goals.  Congratulate yourself on your re-commitment to meeting your goals and think positively about the coming months.  Remember that you are the custodian of your life and you have the power and the will to achieve what you set out to do. 

6.       Visualize your success

Spend at least 5 minutes visualizing what your life will be like when you have accomplished your list of goals.  What will it feel like?  How will your life be different?  Don’t just imagine it, but put yourself there and feel the emotions.  Believe that you have already attained your goals.  If you can do this exercise every day, it will reinforce all of the previous steps you have taken to get on the Goal Train and cruise to your destination.

What I realized when I did my re-assessment of my goals, is that I have way too many of them and they were too ambitious.  I didn’t leave any room for real life to happen.  I’m paring down my list and putting more focus on the ones that are the most important to me.

In revisiting your goals, was there anything you changed? What insights did you gain in your evaluation of your progress so far?  What goals have you accomplished this year?  I’d love to hear about your successes and wins!

Take Action Now!  Revisit your goals then leave a comment below.