Wednesday, January 20, 2010

the business of bliss.

i'm not sure if it's the unusual down pouring of rain
or the third week of january blues,
but this morning i woke up with lots of thoughts.

first, let me start by saying that i was up at 5:00 this morning.
i'm the type who can't just sit and watch TV,
i must be doing ten other things at the same time,
it was too quiet to clean or work,
so this morning, i picked up a book
i received for Christmas and read it cover to cover,
while flipping between four different local morning news stations,
MTV, CNN and downing three cups of coffee.

first thought, what should i do today that will help me get closer to my goals?
who do i need to get in touch with?
am i doing what needs to be done to make my business most successful?
recently i read a comment,
that simply stated
"if you're not making money at your craft than it's a hobby not a business".
this bothered me a bit, but, while i believe it's somewhat true,
i also believe that a hobby can easily be transformed into a business
simply by wanting it to be just that.
while i can honestly say that i am making money,
when i wasn't,
i knew that 'my hobby' was eventually
going to be more than a hobby
because i wanted it so badly.
the first decision i made was to call myself an artist.
this was huge. for years, friends always said,
"oh you're so creative, you should sell your work" and i would blush and say "no, it's just for fun". the day i decided to call myself an artist,
to work harder for myself than for others,
to make a plan, to write down a list of goals to make it a reality,
everything changed.

second thought, i have accomplished something on my list
{pretty good for the third week of january},
i have an appointment to show my work to someone
whose shop i love, like really love.
how am i going to present my work?
what do i need to do to make this appointment successful?
... what am i going to wear?

third thought, how is my social media life
connected to how i am growing as an artist?
how can i make my blog better, my photographs, my shop?
how much time should i spend blogging, tweeting
and how much time should i spend creating?

which leads me back to this morning's book, the book i read is called tara frey Blogging for Bliss, crafting your own online journal. a guide for crafters, artists and creatives of all kinds.
i highly recommend it.
being that one of my goals for 2009 was to start blogging
and one of my goals this year is to blog better,
this book is full of amazing and inspiring information.



these things i know: whether it's a hobby,
a hobby heading towards becoming a business,
or your very own business.
accept yourself as an artist, value your time,
jot down all the steps you need to take to expand your hobby or business, to take it to the next level, reach out to others in your community,
see what they're doing, ask questions
so you can live the life you've imagined.
when i speak with other creative types who are trying to grow their businesses,
i encourage them to be on twitter, to blog,
to use facebook, not so much to increase sales,
but to connect and be inspired by the creativity around them.
there are so many great examples
of people doing what they love.
the business of bliss.

so, as i re-focus and get back to my list of goals,

i'm wondering, have you read a book,
an article in a magazine, or made a decision
that's changing the way you feel about your craft?

what are you doing to stay focused on your goal(s)?

{please click on photos for details}.