Archive for September, 2011
I got to work a couple Fridays ago, and one by one, coworkers started showing up in plaid shirts and thick-rimmed glasses. By about the fifth person I saw, I knew it was no longer just a coincidence and was “a thing”. DLo and TVu hatched the idea a few weeks before, knowing that knew flannel season was just around the corner, and I would soon be wearing my standard fall-to-spring attire.
Just over a week ago, I got back from a big, creative, business conference, and for the last two days I was “attending” a virtual business conference, listening to informative sessions via the phone…
My brain is reaching business info overload. Yet, despite reaching my saturation point, all of the advice, and tips, and info has me thinking about how I run my own business. I thought a few people may be interested in just what it is I do all day. And what I do is build communities. Mainly at Swap-bot, but now also at Ace Department.
I’ve written about my work on Swap-bot before here, but what does my day-to-day work look like?
It isn’t very glamorous and it is a lot of unending work, but I enjoy it. I love working for myself and I believe I do more and better work on my own than I ever could for someone else. I am also very dedicated to facilitating supportive, creative communities. Even when the email gets overwhelming, that purpose drives me.
My uplifting thought for today: art + community = a better world.
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All of the photos seen here were created and shared using Instagram. I am getting into the iPhone app and its community more and more. It is fun way to share cool photos, and you can easily send them to other networks, like Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr.
My name on instagram is rljart. Follow me! Or, you can check out my photo feed here, on Inkstagram.
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I am trying to wrap my brain around my experience last week at The Creative Connection/BlogHer Handmade conference while also trying to catch up on work here at home. It was a great event, but also overwhelming. So many new people to meet, so many sessions, so much info… so many tweets to send!
The event was held in a lovely hotel right on the Mississippi river in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. I shared a hotel room for the conference with Crissy, the owner of IndieBizChicks.com. She had the awesome job of hosting and speaking on a panel during the BlogHer Handmade portion of the event. The panel was titled “Using Content and Community to Grow Your Reach” and she did a great job. I was in the front row and snapped the photo below. (You can read Crissy’s recaps of the conference here and here.)
There were approximately 2-3 sessions per day, plus keynote speeches at the lunches and dinners. Since I have been to a few similar conferences before, I had already heard a lot of the info about using social media and blogging to promote your business, but it was still interesting to hear the stories of how other women created and run their businesses. There were a few “a-ha” moments during the more inspirational talks. These are a few of my favorite quotes:
“Work/life balance is like juggling several balls – some are glass and some are rubber. Don’t drop the glass ones.” – Stacy Julian of Big Picture Classes
“A happy ending is possible from any beginning.” – Holly Becker, decor8
“The difference in you is your super power.” – Karen Walrond, Chookooloonks.com
Everyone needs a little shot of inspiration every once in a while… It helps me to be reminded that running my own business is not so weird and that success is a possibility.
I had to include a photo of the food! We had some great meals and very tasty desserts. Starbucks was a sponsor, so there was always coffee to be had and we each got to take home our own big bag of beans. We were also given little bundles of swag at each meal. My favorite was the “Aspire” necklace from The Vintage Pearl that we received at dinner the first night. Very sweet. And, amazingly, I also won a Cricut Expression machine in a random drawing at lunch the second day! It is a machine that cuts intricate shapes out of paper and fabric — I am very excited to try it out! (It is being shipped to my apartment.)
The Creative Connection was sponsored by Sterling Publishers and Where Women Create magazine so there were lots of books, magazines, and authors at the conference. I couldn’t resist purchasing the new Celebrate: Where Women Cook book and had it signed by the author, Jo Packham.
There were many crafty internet “celebrities” — hey, they are celebrities to me! — at the conference, and despite not wanting to be an annoying fangirl, I posed for a few photos with some of the very sweet, creative women…
Crafty Chica spoke on a couple of the panels. She is an awesome, positive person who basically has a craft empire. She blogs, write novels, and even has her own line of craft supplies. I was pumped to get some of her glitter in our swag bags!
I’ve already gushed about Holly Becker from decor8, but I really admire her. She gave the keynote speech on the first night and was just wonderful. She talked about her life and growing her blog and business. She just seems like a very authentic, kind, professional person and I plan to keep following her story.
On the very last day of the conference, I finally got to take a true crafting class. (I was trying to be a good business lady and took all of the educational, business classes prior to the last day. Trying to learn how to do this whole LLC thing correctly…) My craft class was Inspiration Boards with Leslie Shewring of A Creative Mint. Leslie was awesome, so stylish and nice, and we had fun playing with pretty paper, washi tape, ribbon, and Leslie’s own beautifully styled photos. We created color-based inspiration boards that can be used as a starting point for larger design project. I loved it and wished that I had taken all crafting classes at the conference… next time!
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If you’d like to read more about The Creative Connection/BlogHer Handmade, check out these blog posts from other attendees here, here, here, here, and here.
For Swap-bot users: I am hosting a giveaway on the Swap-bot blog for a giant pile of some of the conference swag. Go comment to enter!
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It is now the morning of Day 3 at The Creative Connection. I am getting ready to head to a photography class…
Yesterday, was a fun, but overwhelming day. I went to a marketing class in the morning and then a law class in the afternoon. The law class was tough. SO much information. Much of it I already know and have implemented, but running a legit, legal business is so complicated — laws, insurance, taxes, accounting, licenses — at least it feels that way to me. I’ll get it all 100% in order some day…
I guess I should wait until the end of today to give a final report, but this has been a really fun conference. Different than the traditional BlogHer conference, but still plenty informative and inspiring. There are lots of very smart women out there in the world. Anyway… Stay tuned! I’ll have more to say tomorrow, I am sure.
Obviously, I’ve gotten more into Instagram during the conference. All of these square, funky photos you see are taken with that iPhone app. The spools of thread above are from the Tinsel Trading booth at the TCCW Marketplace.
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A self portrait at the BlogHer Handmade keynote dinner tonight. We each received a sweet, silver necklace from The Vintage Pearl, plus more crafty swag than I can probably fit in my suitcase. It was a great day. Lots of social media talk and inspiration. I plan to do a full recap sometime in the future when I’m not so tired, but if you want all the details now, follow my Twitter account: @rljart.
My favorite part of the day was the final keynote by Holly Becker. (Remember, I went to her book signing in NY two weeks ago. The book is awesome, btw.) She is just so sweet and lovely and professional and genuine… and really inspirational. She deserves continued success. I hope to introduce myself to her tomorrow… I hope I’m not being too stalker-ish…
Ok, now I need to get to sleep. I have craft classes starting at 8 am tomorrow! zzzzZZZZZZ
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I am already handing out lots of these business card packs here at the BlogHer Handmade conference in Minnesota. We already had breakfast, did some “speed dating,” and now we are in our first session. So far, I am having a really good time — meeting lots of people and handing out Swap-bot postcards. Sweet.
I am also wearing my new shoes…
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I’m traveling today to Minnesota for a blogging/business/craft conference. The event is actually two conferences combined into a three-day experience.
Thursday is BlogHer Handmade, a conference more focused on the online community and business of craft. I am taking a few business classes (community building, traffic building, and monetization) that day and hoping to learn more about expanding and improving Swap-bot. and Ace Department.
I am excited that Holly Becker is the keynote speaker on Thursday — you already know that I love her blog!
The final two days of the event are The Creative Connection. It is an annual craft convention that includes a marketplace, keynote speakers, and classes. I’m taking a marketing class, a law class, a photography class, and an “inspiration board” class. SHould be fun!
Even though I am sure I will learn new things, my main goal of the conference is to network and meet new people. Since I work from home, it is nice to have an opportunity to get out and interact with other humans. Ill be sure to report back on the entire event!
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Earlier this year, I started an experiment. My friend Jessica and I were feeling a bit isolated running our small businesses from home and we thought it would be very helpful to have a place to gather with other entrepreneurs to socialize, network, get support, and ask questions. From this idea, Ace Department was born.
Today, I am excited to announce that we have published our first Ace eBook: 50 Steps from Wherever You Are to Owning Your Own Business. It is a step-by-step instruction manual that takes you from crystalizing your initial idea all the way through managing the day-to-day operations of a successful enterprise. We give you the steps, plus explain why they each matter and how to get there. All of the detailed, practical, clear instructions are based on our combined experience of launching multiple small business endeavors — both successful and less so — and they walk you through the process of laying the foundation for your dream business.
Learn more about the book and get your copy here.
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This is my favorite of the photos I took on our run to Coney Island this morning. We had beautiful weather and we completed 16 miles, but I had a difficult time with it. Sore and slow legs. I am trying to keep the faith, but I am not sure how I did or how I will run 26.2. Oof.
It has been a somber week here in New York with the 9/11 anniversary and now the terror threats. Thoughts of September 11th make me very emotional, but they also make me proud to live in NYC. It is inspiring to know that this complex, vibrant city continues to thrive even after unthinkable tragedy.
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