School of Creative Business - Creative Entrepreneurship

Success is Habit Forming

Success is habit-forming, so you have to keep it up

We are creatures of habit! Once you begin experiencing success, there's a good chance that the experince will snowball and lead to more and more success. Making money from one of your products may not be easy at first, but once you sell that one item or recieve that first client - the Game is On! You now know how it feels and how to duplicate that experience again. We have to train ourselves to accept success and repeat it everyday! 

 There are plenty of successful creative business owners in the world who put a great deal of conscious effort in maintaining their levels of success. Even when it's difficult to make that first dollar at the beginning. Successful creative business owners know that it becomes easier with time. Form good successful business habits, you will reap the benefits of it for a long, long time.

 

How to Cash in on Your Passion

 Click on video to view "How to Cash in on Your Passion". 

 

Cash in on Your Passion Resources

Social Media Tools

Youtube

Flickr

Twitter

Blogger

Wordpress

Typepad

 

To Sell Ebooks

Ejunkie

Clickbank

 

Affiliate Programs

Amazon Assoicates

Clickbank

Commission Junction

 

Sell Retail Products

Cafepress

Etsy

Zazzle

Imagekind

Big Cartel

 

Recommended Books to Read

Crush It!

4 Hour Work Week

The One Minute Millionaire

 

Leave comment below on what's your passion and what you plan to do about it.

Talk with you later,

Taking Average and Making it Fabulous!

_______________________________________________________________

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Self Management Skills for Creative People

    It has come to that time of the year, when we have lots of things on our to do list. And we know that organizing for creative people can get a little overwhelming. But we gotta' remember that our creative business is still as important as shopping for gifts.  Effective goal setting for your creative business begins and ends with time management.

Hey Guys, the concept of time management has been in existence for more than 100 year believe it or not. Unfortunately the term "Time management" creates a false sense of hope in what a person is able to do. Time can't be managed, time is uncontrollable and we can only manage ourselves and our use of time.

Actually the change in time, gave me an exta hour. So instead of sleeping, I get up and work on a few things. 

Time management is actually self management. To prefect the skill of time management we need the ability to plan, delegate, organize, direct and control every aspect of our lives.   Sounds like a lot, right? But really we have to first understand what happens to our time during the day.

You must be able to balance your time in the best way possible in order to achieve your goals. Most creative entrepreneurs fail to achieve goals because we “lack the time”. That is why I decided to write more on time management after reading the  FOCUS ebook . In this article I will  share the 15 common time stealers and then give you 4 self-management strategies to move ahead.

 15 Common Time Stealers

Note the ones which are causing to be the major obstacles to your own time management.

1. Interruptions  for example the telephone or TV (these are also distractions)
2. Interruptions, for example, guests
3. Meetings
4. Tasks you should have had someone else do for you
5. Procrastination and indecision
6. Acting with out total information
7. Dealing with other people’s issues or problems
8. Some sort of personal crisis, for example, family member is sick or injured.
9. Unclear communication
10. Inadequate knowledge
11. Unclear objectives and priorities
12. Lack of planning
13. Stress, anxiety and fatigue
14. Inability to say "No" to anybody with a request
15. Personal disorganization

 There are quite a few isn’t there? Fortunately there are strategies you can use to manage your time in a better way and be more in control and reduce business related stress. 

Self Management Strategies

There are many ways we can manage our time. I have listed some strategies you can use to manage your time in a better and more efficient manner. 

   1. Always define your goals as clearly as possible.

Do you find you are not doing what you want to do just because your goals have not been set properly yet?

One of the factors which make successful and happy people stand out is their ability to work out what they want to achieve and have written goals which they can review often. 

Your long term goals should impact on your daily activities and be included on your "to do" list. Without a goal or objective people tend to just drift off personally and professionally.

2. Analyze your use of time.

Are you spending enough time on the projects which although may not be urgent now but are things that you need to do to develop yourself or your business?

If you are constantly asking yourself “What can I do to make things easier for me right now?" it will help you to focus on 'important tasks' and stop reacting to tasks which seem urgent (or pleasant to do) but carry no importance towards your goals.

Try getting and using a personal calendar, setting reminders on your computer, cell phone or palm pilot.

3. Have a plan.

How can you achieve your goals without a plan? I don’t even think that's possible. It it's crazy if you don't have a some type of plan.

Most people know what they want but have no plan to achieve it except by sheer hard work. What’s the point in doing hard work when you don’t know how to apply it?

Your yearly plan should be reviewed daily and reset as your achievements are met. Successful people make lists constantly.It enables them to stay on top of priorities and enable them to remain flexible to changing priorities.

Hey I thought I was OCD- but I now know that I only have successful people traits. Good to Know!

 4. Action plan analysis.

Problems will always happen when you set a plan. The value of a good plan is to identify them early and seek out solutions immediately.Good time management enables you to measure the progress towards your goals because "What you can measure, you can control". RIGHT ON!

Self management is not a hard subject to understand, but unless you are committed to building better time management techniques into your daily routine you'll only achieve partial (or no) results and end up right back where you started. 

This starting at zero drives me CRAZY!

You have to commit to managing your time better and remember to include time for yourself. The lesson that you need to learn is that the more time we spend planning our time and activities the more time we will have for those fun activities.

By setting goals and eliminating time wasters and doing this everyday you may find you will have extra time in the week to spend on those people and activities most important to you. 

"Because I need all that extra time to look for my future husband." lol 

Well, Creative Entrepreneurs, I hope as you are planning your shopping trips, you also plan your next business moves. If you have any great suggestions you would like to add, then leave them in the comment box below.

 

Taking Average and Making it Fabulous!

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Who am I Really? Part 1

 

Are you fight ready? I welcome comments and feedback on becoming An Opponent of your creative life.  

Peace & More Love,

 

Taking Average and Making it Fabulous!

P.S.  Pass along this video along to other creative people by clicking below on Tweet This or Facebook Like buttons.

Learn How to Maximize Your Time

There is no denying there is truth in the saying, “Time is gold.”

 If you guys are anything like me, there seems not to be enough time in the day to get things done. Even if I was given thirty hours in a day, I still wouldn’t be able to get accomplish everything on my to-do list. Something will always come up and I will end up wanting more time. Time is a precious commodity. Once it’s gone, it cannot be recovered.

The fact is: when you are busy, time flies swiftly. But when you are not, time seems to be at a stand still. Most of our time is taken up with time wasters – a few months ago I referenced this in a video post. Check it out to learn more about how to eliminate these distractions.

 But for this post I want to talk about how to maximize the time we have to get more done. As an added bonus I’ve provided a pdf handout of a weekly schedule I used to manage my time at the end of this post- download it and put it to use in your daily life.

 On to the good stuff, consider the following 6 strategies as starting points:

•  Check your schedule at the start of the day. Review it in its entirety. Pay close attention to portions of your day that may be hectic, and others that may not be too frenzied. Distribute your activities evenly throughout the day.

 

•  Keep a note pad handy so you can keep track of your schedule. It helps to remind you of your tasks and commitments. Note pads and weekly planners help you avoid overlapping of activities. When you do have overlapping activities- choose one that is priority and move the other activity to another day.

 

• Be creative when planning your time. For example, if you need to do the laundry but at the same time, you also have to rush and buy some office supplies. Perhaps, what you can do is to set your washing machine to do the laundry while you step out to the supplies. Run errands and back home, just in time when the laundry is done. You can even do the cooking at the same time by using a slow cooker. You could pick up the kids from school after running errands. All it takes is scheduling and a little creativity.

 

• When you have to do a certain task for the first time, it is natural for mistakes to happen. However, a first time task doesn’t have to be a blunder. If there is no clear direction on how things should be done, take time to plan it out before you take action. This saves time, energy, and money.

 

• Visualize the possible outcome of your objective. Seek out alternatives. Choose the better of two or more alternatives. If there is only one option, do it just the same. Some tasks may appear difficult when you think about it, but not necessarily when put into action. The same thing is true the other way around.

 Time is something you could never have enough of. Use your time wisely. Learn to Maximize your time to the fullest.

 Don’t forget your bonus gift – Make the job of creating a schedule 50 times faster with  a weekly schedule.  This weekly schedule will allow you to  block out  work hours and  write in key areas of importance to be done in your life, saving you tons of time and energy.  I have include a sample of copy of my schedule and a blank one for you.  Download yours free below.    

Download Weekly Schedule for Creative People

Getting The Most Out Of Your Day

 
We all know that we have no control over tomorrow or yesterday.  Business owners, like you and myself, need to make the most of the day that has been given to us. Today I’m going show how you can the most out of the day and improve your creative business lifestyle at the same time.

To be successful at this you’ll need to set up time management plans. You will include your daily activities, work, and entertainment; relax time, family time and so on. You’ll learn to live for now, instead of tomorrow or yesterday.

 As you plan out your day:

 Consider how you deal with the world around you. Say to yourself, "The world is their own, today is mine". If you work outside the home, then practice dealing with your employees respectively.  Try to get along with everyone you work with - it makes everyone’s life better.

 Each day you want to choose a couple of new strategies that helps you to improve your creative business lifestyle. For instance, if you are into a daily routine of drinking only one glass of water daily, move to two glasses. Build your health and you’ll improve the way you deal with issues in your business. If you do not exercise, plan today to walk thirty minutes or 30 minutes on the Wii. The more effort you put into building a positive you, the more you will get from your creative life. A saying my mom says to me often is “Faith without works is dead”. My mom's saying has prove to be true far too many times to ignore.

When I was attending school and working full-time,I would come home tried, like someone had beat me with a stick.  Overworking myself was leading me nowhere but to poor health. I needed to take time out for myself. I learned that during work hours and school time, I could deal with the complex problems first, as well as deal with the boring items first to eliminate stressing throughout the day. Once I got past the tough, I could move toward the simple.

You too can find relief, even if you are studying hard or working long hours. Don’t put off what you can do today. Do it now, get it over with and watch yourself grow into more of a successful business person.  

 Do you procrastinate? I do, sometimes I procrastinate more than I should. Well, I had to learn to stop it.  Procrastination is a waste of time and is a way to build stress. Instead of putting it things off, get it done now. You will be amazed at the free time you will accomplish if you stop procrastinating.

Here is are a few things I had to do:

During the weekdays I use to spend lots of time on the phone. I stopped answering the phone after a certain time. My cut off time was 6:30. Any calls after 6:30 could wait to the next day. It took my family sometime getting use to, but it all turn out really well. I get so much more done now.

 Another thing, I started saying NO! Saying no is a positive attitude that takes you to success. If you say yes to each person that consumes your time, you will waste valuable time that guides you nowhere. And boy, was this the best thing I could have done. If I have to change my schedule in anyway, then the answer was NO! If it took me away from ME Time, then the answer was NO! Quickly my family started asking for things in advance. I would then put them on my schedule to make sure I gave them all of my attention.

Well, that's what I've learned about Making the Most of My Day. Try to put a few of my suggestions into your daily creative lifestyle and see if you notice more time for yourself and business.

See you ,

 

Taking Average and Making it Fabulous!

P.S.  Did you like this article, then you are going to love my free Creative Business Ideas Newsletter. Sign up here.

March's Creative Business Resource Love Links

Happy March.

Creative Business Resource Love Links for the month of March are all about ways to promote your business. These creative resources are really good jump starters. Click on a few and see for yourself what these links have to offer. Happy Clicking.

How to Make a Tutorial - If you have ever thought about sharing a few of your artist techniques, then this link will help you create informative tutorials for your blog readers.

How to Make a Button for Your Website - ok this one is good. If you want to promote yourself outside of your blog, then you' re going to need a button to display on a social networking site and other blogs.

Creating a Email Me Button for Your Blog - Would you like to get more emails from your readers, then create a button that will welcome emails.

How to Make a Product Catalog - Are your seeking more exposure for your art products? Then you need to produce a catalog that displays a few of your items. Glitzer Ideasdoes a good job explaining how to create a product catalog.

Five Super Tips for Selling Online is a PDF file prepared by Anda and Vanessa of Etsy.com.

Public Relations for the Independent Designer. We all need to a PR person on our side. But if you are on a tight budget like myself, then you have been doing your own public relations. Check out this PDF file prepared by Grace Bonney of Design *Sponge at designsponge.blogspot.com.

How to Approach Blogs to Write About You - OMG this is the most wonderful creative resource I could have found. You are going to love it.  Modish Biz Tips has done a great job pulling all this information together.

Subscribe 

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Mixed Media Collage Giveaway Results

Hello everyone,

Get the results of who won the my first Mixed Media Collage Giveaway

The Winner is ... click here

Cheap Marketing Ideas

As a small business owner, I have to think of cheap marketing ideas that I can use to promote my art. I don't have much money for a marketing budget, so thinking of 'cheap" marketing ideas are essential to my growth and my future goal of making a good living with my art.

With that said, I wanted to share a few ideas I've ran across during my cheap marketing idea search.

Cheap Marketing Ideas

Wear Your Products - Place your artwork on t-shirts, totes, or even on your laptop. The ideal here is to showcase your artwork to others to see, who typically wouldn't go to a gallery or find you online.

Business Cards - This may seem like common sense, but have you thought about adding an image of your artwork to the business cards. Neither did I at first, but it is a good idea to display your artist style on a business card. Check out Moo Cards for inspiration. Get 10 Moo business cards for Free!

Pictures- Take pictures of your work, especially the process. Collectors love to see the artist's process work. So take those pictures and share them in your blog, on facebook or flickr.

Create a Widget - Design your own widget. You could place this widget on your blog, website or on your social networks. The possibilities are unlimited.

That is all I have for now. But a few post ago- I wrote about creating an artist package which included artist brochures. This also a really good self-marketing idea- its not cheap, but it's effective at getting yourself noticed.

Selling Mixed Media Collage Prints at the NoDaRioty Art Market

 
For the first time, I am participating in an art market/fair. Not sure how many prints I should have or what other elements I should bring, but I am going to wing it. Participating in an art market/fair was a goal of mine for next year, not this year. But I think activity doing it this year, will help me prepare for the 2010.

So, if you are in the Charlotte, NC area on Dec. 16 & 17, stop by Booth #108.