Getting out of my creative rut

Thought I would share this graphic today.  It is fun and encouraging and really motivating me today.  Validating some of what I have been thinking and inspiring me to let my creative juices flow a little more.

I am working on some new things this month while continuing with a few old things.  Trying to decide what I am keeping and what I am tossing going forward.  I  have definitely felt less creative lately.  This month along with continuing to take action on the areas I have been working on I am going to focus on re-discovering my creativity.  I really miss it.

 

Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.">

Update

Well, it has been another 2 months and I thought it was high time for an update to my search for entrepreneurial income.  There is very little to report.  And yet much to report.  I haven't really done much yet I have done a lot.  Lots of nothing and something going on over here.

I  have sold some Stella & Dot, yet not followed up to the extent I should have with the names I got at the vendor show.  I have come to the conclusion that while I love the customer interaction I don't really love packing all my stuff up and schlepping it to someones home and convince her friends to spend a bunch of money on my product.  I am unsure how long I am going to continue pursuing this particular business.  When I started it I never intended it to be a permanent business, just hopefully a little extra cash this year, and it has been that.  So I have no complaints.

This past week my hubby and I went to see a property that could potentially hold a business that would require a lot more of me than the kind of business I had initially pictured.  I won't bore you with the details quite yet but I will say that it feels like something I could really get my brain around and excited about, yet is the biggest risk of all the business ideas I have had over the past couple years.  This is an idea we have talked about for a couple years.  I like it because John and I could do it together, although I would be the primary person running it, and because it is in the construction field which is an area we know and love already and we have a network within this field which will be helpful going forward.

So I continue in my quest to make $5,000/month as a self employed person.  And yes, as I have learned this past year, it is harder than I thought it would be but I have not lost my enthusiasm or belief that it can be done and I can successfully make money and take control of my life without punching an 8-5 clock.

Will try to report with the new business venture update in less than 2 months.

And book reviews to come, I happened to know that I will be getting "Platform" by Michael Hyatt and "Entreleadership" by Dave Ramsey for Christmas.  Can't wait to dig into both.  I have been listening to their podcasts lately, excellent.  Highly recommend them if you have a business of any kind.

Working Weekend

There is no royal, flower-strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it. For if I have accomplished anything in life, it is because I have been willing to work hard. – C.J. Walker

This past weekend I have been at the mall doing a vendor show for my Stella & Dot business.  I signed up for this show on a whim less than a week ahead of the show and spent 4 days panicking and trying to find a few other people to split the time and cost with.  I shared most of Sunday with a couple stylists but spent 11 hours on both Friday and Saturday standing in essentially one spot.

I have been vacillating about whether to continue to pursue my Stella & Dot business but decided with the holiday's approaching I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to capture some Christmas shopping business.  And when I saw a sign for this show I went for it.

I ended up getting quite a few great leads and am confident I will more than recoup the money I spent on the show.  But even if I hadn't gotten a single name it would have been worth it for the experience and for the training I received from the other vendors who were more than happy to share their tips and tricks for both doing vendors shows but also for running a small business.  And I think, more than ever, I realize that selling Stella & Dot jewelry is not a job but a business.  Two very different things.

So the tag line for this site is "How hard can it be to make $5,000/month?"  Over the past few months I have come to realize it is a little harder than I thought.  But not impossible.  The tasks themselves aren't hard but deciding to make the commitment and put out the effort necessary can be, at times, very hard work.  Standing 11 hours a day, most of those hours spent just watching people walk by you madly avoiding eye contact, was really hard work.  Exhausting.  It will take days for my feet to recover from the experience.  I have a totally new respect for people who work retail.

One of my big take aways from another vendor was something he had heard at a recent training event.  He said in the beginning you are paid way less than you are worth.  While I make good money at my shows I am having to continue to reinvest in new product plus take time away from shows to prepare, learn, set up, market, etc.  In the beginning you do a lot of work that doesn't pay and spend on products and promotions which can eat up your profits.  Then at some point your hard work pays off and you start making about what you are worth.  If you keep working you will eventually pop up to the level we all want to be at, where we are making far more than we are worth.  This is not just true of a direct sales business like Stella & Dot.  While I can see exactly what I need to do to reach each of those levels the reality is each of those levels exists in any business.  The question is which level are you at and which level do you want to be at?

What I realized is that I am on the first level but trying to pretend I am on the second level.  On the first level I need to realize it is not about making money, it is about building a business which will eventually pay me what I am worth.  I have been focused on making the money and as a result am holding myself back from building the business.

So I continue to march forward very much in the hard work season of life and business building but slowly I am learning to embrace and appreciate this season.

Can't wait to see what happens next!

I haven't lost enthusiasm yet!

People often say that motivation doesn't last.  Well, neither does bathing--that's why we recommend it daily. --Zig Zigler

It has been almost a month since I published anything new here.  And while I still haven't quite figured out how to make $5,000/month or any other extra money I have been busy talking to people, listening to online gurus and getting my schedule organized so I know when I will be working on this.

Let's review my journey so far:

Last year I was working full time as a receptionist making low pay.  I realized that in order be able to support my family while my husband is in school I would need to start a little side business to supplement my job income.  I started with a home based business selling Stella & Dot jewelry.  While I like it and make good money when I work, I find it hard to market within my friend groups.  When I started it I knew I wouldn't make the full $5,000/month but thought it would be a good way to get started and get my feet wet.  I also did a writing project.  This was also good money but I haven't spent any time really pursuing more work.

What I finally realize was that the structure of the job I had made it difficult to pursue other business ventures while still claiming to prioritize my family.  So I made a job change this summer to working from home.  It has been a very good job change family wise and does pay a little more per hour but is less hours so ultimately is a slight pay cut.  Because I made the change over the summer I basically ended up getting sucked into summer activities with the family when I wasn't working and so not much forward progress happened this summer.

Finally, everyone is back in school and I am re-focused on how to make money from home.  So let's talk about what I am currently working on:

I did manage to create and launch a new blog/website called "From Homemaker to Working Mom: Encouragement as you make the transition back to work."  And I have published an article online at Ezine Articles on the topic hoping to get some traffic my way.  I need to find other places I can write short articles which will drive traffic to my site.  As I research the various ways to make money online and with blog type sites I am seeing that I really need an e-book so have started working on a book on this topic.  I am excited about the progress so far and have a goal to finish by Thanksgiving.  It is a bit ambitious but I think I can make it happen.

I have found a friend with similar goals to mine and we are teaming up both to encourage one another and to possibly partner on some endeavors.  We are just getting started on working together but are both excited about the possibilities.  I have been saying for years that I need a colaborater.  I need someone to work with, bounce ideas off and occasionally tell me what to do.  I work better with another person.  She feels the same way.  So far we have discussed our strengths, goals, values, resources and are working to hold each other accountable.  I am excited about where we will take this relationship.

Together we have several ideas so for the next month I am going to focus on considering various online business options.  I have several friends making fair to good to great money online selling various stuff and so will be talking to them as well as listening to the many how to videos available for free on the internet.  The one I am working through currently is Eric's Tips.  He has 100 short video lessons walking you through the process of creating an information product to sell.  An e-book would be an example of an information product.  I started listening to them last fall but got distracted by my life.  However, as I begin again having an idea of what my information product will be I am getting much more out of them.

So my specific goals this month are:

Write 1 chapter per week on my book.
complete all 100 Eric's Tips lessons and begin putting together a plan of the next business to pursue.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.  So throw of fthe bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore. Dream. Discover. --Mark Twain

Getting ready to launch

In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later. – Harold Geneen

In a couple days I am going to officially start promoting my new web site/blog.  I am excited, nervous, ready.  Not exactly sure what will happen next.  I still have SO much to learn.   As the quote above discusses, I think the next few months will be about being paid in experience.  I will have to find my cash elsewhere for a few more months.  But I believe I am starting a path that will get me there.

Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were. – David Rockefeller

The big question is, am I ready and willing to do the work.  Am I frightened by training, discipline and hard work or am I excited by the challenge and all there is to learn and do going forward?

The past month or so might suggest that I am more frightened than excited.  I have been working but I know I could be doing more and be more prepared for what I am about to do.  However, in my defense, it is summer and I have had 2 children at home with needs of their own.  Next week when everyone is back at school and I am home alone working all day the answer to this question will have to be faced.  Will I take action or continue coming up with excuses?

I had a couple people tell me that with this kind of business you just get it out there, get started.  Don't wait for it to be perfect, make it happen.  Start working, start promoting, start selling.  Tweak and improve as you go along and build a following.  I must admit, that is probably going to be my favorite part of this business.  I love to jump in with both feet and see what happens.  I love that I don't have to be perfect right from the start because I am not perfect.  My site, my writing, my business will never be perfect.  Just keep working, keep moving forward, keep learning.  Ready or not, here I come!

So not much to update from this past month.  I did throw one Stella & Dot open house in my home which went quite well.  I haven't had a chance to check my final totals but I think I made about $150 for a couple hours of work.  So worth it.  Other than that I have spent the month writing, working my job and being with my family.  It has been a wonderful month but I am very, very ready for school to start and the next attempt at making money to begin.

Project Completion

I am trying, trying, trying to create a business.  To start making money online.  To do...something!  Today I came across a great short article here in which the author talks about the Art of Completion.  YES, I need to complete a few tasks so I can get on with the work of making money.  Brilliant.  Then she totally inspires me with this idea regarding why I am not getting anything done:

This may not be an issue of procrastination. It could be that your completion muscles are not fully developed.

Hello.  My completion muscles are not fully developed.  I admit, I am more about the excitement of the idea than pushing through the details to complete the project.  I love to start, I struggle to complete.  My completion muscles are not fully developed.  Some days and in some areas I am not sure they have even started developing.  But overall I have completed enough things in my life that I must have something starting there.  I just need to keep working.

OK So muscle building.  You start out small, you are sore all the time and then slowly, over time, one day at a time, your muscles grow, you get stronger, fitter and look better.  And as the habit develops it becomes easier to continue to grow those muscles.  Or easier and less painful to maintain them once thy are there.

So the bottom line is that as I have sat at my desk the last couple afternoons feeling like I am in pain, feeling frustrated by what I am not accomplishing and don't know, it is all good.  I am doing something great.

I love feeling sore after a work out.  Love. It.  I know it is probably sick but I really feel like I am doing something, making a difference.  I have worked hard and it willl pay off.  I might move a little slower the rest of the day, or for the next few days, but I just see that as part of the fun.  (I know, I am sick.)

So starting today I am going to view feeling "sore" after an afternoon on my computer trying to build a web site, create content, learn internet marketing, and so much more, I will walk away feeling GREAT.  Still sore, still moving a little slow but doing something, learning and making it happen.  I am working toward completing a project and showing it off.

Pretty soon I will be a master project completer.  Finishing books, designing products ready to sell and so much more.  Goals accomplished.  Dreams fulfilled.

How are your completion muscles feeling today?

I think I am getting somewhere

To think is easy. To act is difficult. To act as one thinks is the most difficult. – Johann Wolfgang Von Goeth

 Here I am cruising along in my life.  I am slowly, ever so painfully slowly, starting to think I am going to learn and get a grip on this new job.  The good news is that I am busy each day and the 5ish hours I am trying to put in each morning just FLY by.  I always think that is a sign you are enjoying what you are doing.

As with my last job transition this one was a little overwhelming at first and I realized that I  needed to let my body adjust to the new information and work I was doing.  Luckily the first transition was the hardest, it only took a couple weeks to make the physical adjustment this time. 

Now on to the next part of my new work schedule plan, starting a business!  So I FINALLY feel like I am making some progress.  Because John is working so much this summer we decided that I could put all my checks for this summer into an account for me to use to start my business.  It is amazing how much easier and more confident you feel when you have a few hundred dollars to spend to hire people or purchase resources to help you accomplish your goal rather than sitting at the computer staring at it trying to accomplish something you are woefully under qualified to accomplish.  So I am working hard on creating a web site to launch in September.  It might be more like the last day of September but I decided I wanted an ambitious goal.  I hired a coach to help me get started and launch me in a direction.  Well spent money.  She actually runs a web site for a living right now and she said in the industry the philosphy is "go ugly early".  I had another friend who gave me similar advice with her "minimal viable product" advice.  Basically, Make it happen!  Just do it!  Get started and fix it as you go.  And, although you may not know this about me, that is totally how I roll.  Wonderful confirmation that I am heading in the right career direction. And the great thing about hiring people to help you with the stuff you don't know how to do is that you get to focus on the stuff you are excited about.  I have started writing content and am getting excited about marketing options.  Once I have everything in place this fall the real work begins.  But the possibility of making money also begins.

So where am I this month?

I opened a checking account for the business.  Technically just a personal account.  I still need to register as a business and file with the state.  Still considering what I will call the thing.

I have a Stella & Dot trunk show tomorrow night.  I am excited about it and am still enjoying it but have decided to simplify my goals.  I still really like how much money I can make at a trunk show.  Tomorrow I will work for about 2-3 hours and make between $50-$150 depending on the show.  Even at the low end good hourly pay.  My goal is to have at least one more trunk show in the next month and do a fall open house at the end of August in my own home.  I am thinking my main goal will be to have a fall and spring open house every year.  Just like we like to update our wardrobe every year we like to update our jewelry with the latest looks too.

I  haven't quite finished all the books on my shelf but pretty darn close.  I think by the weekend I will be ready for a new crop of books to inspire and inform me.

I am going to keep writing.  I want to have several weeks of content ready to go when I get started in September.  Might have to set aside a day just for writing.  It will be hard but somebody has to do it... I have lots of other ideas and seeing this one start to come together is making me think that I really might be able to create some of the other ideas as well.  But one thing at a time.  Launch a web site in September, get it running and THEN start thinking about product ideas and Christmas sales..
.

It is still hard work but once you are on the right path it is pretty fun.

I like thinking big. If you’re going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big. – Donald Trump

Justifying My Existence

A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts. – Richard Branson

I have to say that as the 3rd week of working part time from home while also trying to earn some self employment income as begun, I haven't felt this good in a year!

Yet...I feel a little twitchy all day long.  I am constantly asking myself if I have justified my existence for the day.  Am I doing enough?  Have I worked enough?  DId I make enough money today?  Can I really allow myself to be enjoying this new work arrangement so much?  Will I really be making enough extra by fall to continue living in this much joy?

I am loving what I am doing work wise.  And it is fun to be working for a couple who are entrepreneurs, to watch them work and be inspired to go off and make it happen for myself as well.

But..

Fear.
Doubt.
Insecurity.
Uncertainty.
Fear.

Last night I was feeling particularly frustrated at my lack of progress and questioning if I was doing the right thing since it wasn't coming together as quickly as I had hoped.  But I had to remind myself that it takes time to get something started and build momentum.  It takes time to find your groove.  It takes time to find your right market.  And it takes a tough skin because you will make lots of mistakes and hear lots of "no" before the "yes'" add up to something you can live on.  I had to remind myself that this isn't going to be easy but it is going to be worth it.

So I pushed away those fears, doubts, insecurity and uncertainty and replaced them with...

Hope.
Belief.
Perseverance.
Confidence.
Certainty.

I started out this blog saying, "how hard can it be...?"  I am learning that it can be hard.  It is not for the faint of heart.  But if it means continuing to enjoy my job and career as much as I am enjoying it at the moment then it is definately worth the effort.

Plus, yesterday I got my first check for a writing job.  Yes, of course, I made a copy to frame.  It is the first of many checks both big and small that will come my way as I build a career and business doing something I love.

Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were. – David Rockefeller

Fresh Start

Yesterday was the last day of employment at the job I spent exactly 1 year working at full time.  After 17 years without a full time job, one year was plenty.   Part of me can't believe it was an entire year.  Part of me can't believe it was only a year.  The bottom line is that while there were positive aspects of me working full time, overall it did not work for our family.

So here I am.  Unemployed.

But only for today.

Monday I start a new job working 20-30 hours per week from home.  It was a dream situation that sort of fell in my lap at the perfect moment I needed it.  I had planned to continue working as an employee somewhere but assumed I would be out of the house.  I didn't imagine I would have an opportunity to work from home.  Balance home and work, move between them without having to get in my car and drive through traffic home.  I didn't imagine a scenario where I could get up at 6am and put in a couple hours in my pj's before getting Isabelle ready for school.  Setting my own schedule. Awesome.

I realize that right now I am sort of focused on the dream portion of working from home.  I try to remind myself daily that I will still be working.  I am being careful to continue guarding my schedule.  I haven't signed up for any new volunteer positions at church.  I haven't been planning a return to my favorite classes at the YMCA with my old friends.  I am still expecting the family to help out around the house and while I am not looking for as much child care as I would have expected to, I am still planning to have Isabelle out of the house a few days a week.

But still, I really think it will be great!

So first problem of starting my own business, not enough time, solved.  I am no longer out of the house and away from my personal life nearly 10 hours a day.  I have begun to re-integrate my work and home life into a balance I am more comfortable with.  And I have freed up hours each week to focus on my own business rather than someone else's.

Second problem...now what?  Well my son graduates from high school in less than 2 weeks and for now that is all my focus.  But during my extra work hours this month I am going to do a hand full of things.

• I am going to start making some Stella & Dot emails and phone calls.  I sort of had to toss that on the back burner for all of May but I need to re-energize this month.

• I am going to read.  I have a bunch of books on professional blogging, learning word press and working from home.  I also have a whole bunch of emails about running a web based business that I have been storing for future reading.  This is the month to research, learn and make plans.

• I am hoping to be writing for pay.  I have a line on a possible freelance writing job writing some training manuals.  It isn't glamorous but as far as I am concerned it is the New York Times.  I am just excited to be able to get paid to write.

• I am going to have coffee with people.  I have a handful of people I would love to talk with and hear their stories on starting a small business.  Can you tell I am an information accumulator?  And I have friends who I have missed over the past year.  Friends who have stuck with me even when I haven't been available for them.  I have taken more than I have given this past year and I look forward to giving back to them a little.

• I am going to file paperwork to have an official business to work from.  I have actually been toying with calling it "Melanie, Inc" but I don't think that will end up being the final name.  I do want it to be something simple and generic but personal that I can use for a variety of income ventures.

Well that is probably more than I can actually accomplish in a month while simultaneously learning a new job but when you think about 10 hours a day it really shouldn't be a problem at all.

Last month, despite only having 1 small trunk show I managed to make $54 for barely 2 hours of work.  It isn't much but with only 4 real truck shows I have already made enough to replace my initial investment.  From here forward it is all profit with Stella & Dot.

Looking forward to an exciting summer.

Farming

I used to be a homemaker.  Sort of.

I loved being a homemaker.  Loved being able to care for my family, help my kids discover their potential and reach for the top, help my husband with the details of his life so he could focus on his work and the tasks before him.  Be available for my friends when they were hurting, able to drop everything just to listen.

But I wasn't really a homemaker.  My husband was always self employed and I have always done his bookkeeping, we have owned rental property that fell to me to manage and I have sat on the board at our church as well as starting and leading various ministries.  I was very much working during those years I wasn't making any money.

One of the ideas that continually motivated me during those years is what I refer to as "the new family farm".  I am intrigued by the idea of the family farm.  Kids and parents working together to care for animals and produce a harvest.  Work together, play together, live and love together.  Creating a strong healthy family.  That is what I felt like we were doing during those years I was at home.  Our kids were part of our lives, our son helped us clean our commercial building each week emptying trash and vacuuming, we discussed business plans over dinner, I collected rent with a baby carrier under my arm and delivered drawings between grocery shopping and piano lessons.

With the industrial revolution came a separation in family life.  Now we all have our own thing, parents and kids, and then we come back together in the evenings to compare notes and take care of the family details.  Having done it this past year I can say that while I continue to feel involved in my families life it isn't the same as shared experiences and frankly, it is exhausting.  There are good and bad in everything but given the choice I would rather work with my family.

So my number one motivation as I go forward is to bring my family back together.  This is what drives me.

What drives you?

If the family were a boat, it would be a canoe that makes no progress unless everyone paddles.

LETTY COTTIN POGREBIN, Family and Politics

The Next Big Step

A man should never neglect his family for business. – Walt Disney

Well, I did it.  I quit my job.  Now to find another one...

Actually this is something my husband and I have been discussing for a few months.  He is in school full time but still makes more than double what I make working part time.  And as we have talked over the winter we have found that while there have been several good things about my transition back to full time work, there has been a lot that really hasn't worked.  After talking about what we needed and what our goals were we realized that what I really need is a part time job.  The long term goal is still to be fully self employed but for now I still need to work a little.

What we have decided is that I need more schedule flexibility.  I  need to be able to get our daughter off the bus in the afternoons.  John is leaving work sometimes 2 hours earlier than he would need to so I can stay at my job and make less than half his hourly rate.  And although he is also taking a full load of classes he ends up making dinner every night and doing a fair number of household chores.  While I have re-taken some of the housework in recent months as the transition back to work has become more comfortable, the bottom line is that with lunch and commute I am out of the house nearly 10 hours a day and the last thing I want to do when I get home is clean the bathroom.  In my tiny amount of free time between work and spending time with my family I am trying and failing to start a business.  With all that it was clear we needed to try something else.

Last fall I had been listening to a series on internet marketing that I stopped as my life has gotten too full but, one of  the interesting things he suggested had to do with when to quit your job.  He basically said that while it might make sense to wait until you can replace your income plus to quit your job, he actually suggests you quit when you have replaced maybe 2/3 of your income or less.  He argues you will make more when you can fully commit to the business.  I sure hope he is right.

I had hoped to be able to stay at my current job on a part time basis but they didn't want to do that.  It is a little scary to realize I am going to have to job search but exciting as well.  And we timed this for when John was finished with classes and his summer construction schedule has already started filling up.  So if I do nothing but the business all summer long we will be fine.  No need to panic until about mid August.  And who knows, maybe by mid August I will be humming along enough to not need a part time job.

I did briefly email with a friend who is a very successful entrepreneur.  One of the things he said was that this is not a "get rich quick" scheme.  It could take a year or more before I can take money out of a business.  While I am aware that building a business takes time it was a good reminder of why I am pursuing the things I am in the order I am.  I need to make money now and I want to build a business for later.  So I am starting by pursuing things like writing or Stella & Dot that put money in my pocket today while researching and considering ideas that will set me up to make money in the future as well.  Active and passive income.  In the classic "Rich Dad" series he talks about the difference between a business owner and a self employed person.  One makes money even when you aren't working and one is dependent upon you to make money.  I guess for now I am self employed but long term I want to be a business owner.

We all have to start somewhere.  And June 1st I launch into this business world with a new level of commitment.  In the mean time I am going to just try to make May a little better than April.

• I do have 3 Stella and Dot shows on my calendar that I am hoping will all be successful and earn me that prize they are offering again this month as well as putting a few hundred dollars in my pocket.  
• I am going to try to do a little reading.  Education needs to be a key going forward.  I picked up a book called "Selling 101" by Zig Ziglar.  It is a small condensed book, quick read.  Just what I can handle these days.  And since Zig is a well established authority on the subject I thought he would be a good place to start.  My friend also recommended several other books that I will hit the library for and let you know if I find any gems.
• My writing project has gone off to the business partners for review and I expect lots of slashes and re-writes in my future.

In the mean time I am encouraged that although April wasn't the successful month I had hoped for I did actually make $125 in commission on my sales during about 3-1/2 hours of work.  More than I am making in 3-1/2 hours at my current job and a lot more fun and family friendly.

If it really was a no-brainer to make it on your own in business there’d be millions of no-brained, harebrained, and otherwise dubiously brained individuals quitting their day jobs and hanging out their own shingles. Nobody would be left to round out the workforce and execute the business plan. – Bill Rancic

Never Give Up

There is no royal, flower-strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it. For if I have accomplished anything in life, it is because I have been willing to work hard. – C.J. Walker

I have to admit.  This month wasn't exactly what I had hoped it would be.  With only a couple days left not only am I not going to reach my goal of 6 shows but it is looking unlikely I will reach my goal of 3 shows to win the tote bag Stella & Dot is giving away this month.  And I would be lying if I didn't admit I am more than a little disappointed with myself.

As May 1st looms before me I had really hoped for more.  My expectations for May are even higher and I was really hoping to begin gaining momentum in April.

I have 3 strong shows already booked for early in May and a possible 4th on the horizon.  I am still working on my writing assignment and really enjoying the process of writing it and learning about business writing.  Getting a check will be a wonderful bonus at the end of the process.

I would also like to "launch" this blog in May.  Right now I am basically writing it to myself.  I have a couple friends and family members who occasionally come across it or check in but for the most part I have kept it a secret.  I was hoping to start promoting it when I was actually doing something worth reading about.  You know, gaining clients, making sales, bringing in money.  But, I suppose that is not really the point of this blog.  I did not start it as a "how to make $5000" blog but as a "how hard can it be?" blog.  As in, I do not have the answers but I believe I can do it!  I have big goals and I am committed to achieving them no matter how many months in a row I fail to reach them or how hard I discover it actually is to make $5000/month.  So if you are reading this blog know that I am writing it to chronicle the highs and lows, the success and failures, the chances and challenges of starting a small business while raising a family.

I also have a million personal things going on in May.  Some of the top things include, my son finally choosing which college he will attend in the fall, my husband finishing up his first year of college and launching into what is shaping up to be a very busy summer in his construction business, and planning for my son's graduation party.  Plus, my sister and her 4 children are coming home at the end of the month for a visit.  All of these things and more are distracting my mind and my time away from growing a business.  

I am trying to learn to balance my time working to grow a business with family time.  A big part of the reason I want to work from home in my own business is so that I can better prioritize my family so letting go of those commitments is not an option.  Full time work away from home, family and a small business are not easy balls to juggle but I believe running a business while raising a family is a natural combination.  So I keep pushing forward.

Remember the movie Cast Away with Tom Hanks?  He tried to sail off but couldn't get past the big waves and out into the open water, he felt trapped.Then one day he found a "sail", mounted it on his raft and brought it up at just the right moment to push him past the waves and out to sea.  This is how I feel right now.  I can see the open water and I just need to lift my sail at the right moment, push forward and head out to the open waters.

I believe that my success will come. It will come because I will keep trying.  Has my failure thus far been my fault?  Probably.  I could have done more this month, made more calls, spent more time focused on the business than the distractions surrounding me.  But, I will not give up.  I will not let my failures define me.

On October 29, 1941, U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill visited Harrow School to to hear the traditional songs he had sung there as a youth, as well as to speak to the students. When he was invited to give a speech, Churchill stood before the students and said,


"Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, give up. Never give up. Never give up. Never give up." 

April Goals

OK it is already the 8th of April and in some ways I am a little behind on making a big goal for the month.  But I reason it is never too late to make a goal for the month.  I love goals.  I like to know what I am working toward.  So let's review:

The long term goal is to make $5000/month.

the short term goal is to make $2000/month by next fall.

Last month my total ended up being around $300 in Stella & Dot profit.  Which, considering I worked about 7 hours to earn it and my current outside job would take me about 25 hours, I think is pretty darn successful. 

So building on that success, this month my goal is to have 6 Stella and Dot Shows which based on last month's average means I will make about $900.  I have a minimum goal of 3 shows at which level I will win a prize from the company.  Turns out I am motivated by prizes.  Especially prizes that are so easy to earn.  I currently have 1 show booked and 4 people who have said they want to have shows I just need to get on the calendar.

I also have begun work on my writing assignment.  I have decided to give a very good deal to the company I am working with as I have no actual experience and am looking forward simply to having something to put on my resume.  Also, they are a smaller company that can't pay a ton but I am hoping will be a good referral/reference for future business.  So I am thinking $2-300 if I can finish it by the end of the month. 

That would bring this months total to a possible $1200! 

On the one hand this feels very doable.  I can totally make this happen.  Plenty of time.  I just need to make a plan and do it.  One of the goal ideas this month is to get 100 "nos".  I would need about 5 per day to get that this month.  Thinking about using that to achieve my goal.  How hard is that?

On the other hand I feel compelled to begin making excuses for why I can't possibly do this to prepare you for my likely failure of this goal.  I am afraid of what I might have to do to reach that goal.  And it just seems so amazing that I could achieve that goal so it must be impossible.  So therefore I really should just be happy if I manage the 3 shows and $500. 

But that is a long way from $5000 and if I am going to make that happen I have to believe in myself and my process.  And I have to just go for it.  So at the end of this month I will be reporting a $1200 personal income for my business.  Can't wait!

"Nothing is impossible. The word itself says 'I'm possible!'" -- Audrey Hepburn

"Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway." --John Wayne

Time Crunch

I just realized something.  This is not going to be easy.  My life is getting busy and my motivation to develop these income sources is being re-directed.

I need to carve time out of my life where I can work on personal things, like creating a life size representation of my son for the post graduation senior party, without feeling like I should be working on a writing assignment or booking a Stella & Dot trunk show.  And I need to feel free to make business calls and learn about monetizing web sites without feeling like I have abandoned my family.  By knowing I have set aside time for both I can be free to immerse myself in each task without thinking about the other.

So this week I didn't do much.  I have been learning new things at my outside employment which used up a lot of my energy.  I had hoped to be able to report on my writing assignment but so far there isn't too much to report.

The writing assignment is basically going to involve me writing some marketing materials for a new company.  Part of me wants to flee at the idea but every time I sit down to do a little research on what they are asking for I find myself thinking, "well, I can do that."  This is definitely going to be an education.  I expect my hourly rate when I am done with this assignment to be just pennies but I am excited to learn enough to take on future assignment where I might be able to make nickles or quarters an hour and just keep learning and writing as I add to the monthly total.

So this week I am working on my new schedule.

 Mondays are for meetings.  I am meeting with a couple women on various Mondays, sales meetings for Stella & Dot and then the 4th Monday will be free for whomever comes along that I might want to grab a cup of coffee with.

Tuesday nights are open either for a Stella & Dot trunk show or to work at home.  I am going to engage in family time until at least 7pm on nights I am home before I allow myself to get distracted with writing or research or whatever.

Wednesday nights are for my daughter, she desperately needs a night she knows she can count on me to treat her like the center of the universe.  Luckily she is pretty easy.  Swim in the pool at the Y and then home for a smoothie.  Although tomorrow night we are going to spend her birthday gift card at Barnes & Noble.  My kind of girl.

Thursday nights have been date night at our house for years.  When careers and kids are all gone, your spouse remains.  At least that is the plan, so we always find a few hours on Thursday nights to drink coffee and unload our thoughts for the week.  Sometimes it is the only opportunity we have to say more than a few passing words the whole week.

Friday night is typically what we call "free pizza Friday".  It is supposed to be free because my parents buy it but apparently we are turning into the grown ups and so we buy some weeks too.  Especially when they are in Florida all winter!  As Jake gets older we encourage him to invite friends over to join us.  We want to maintain this night as a family night and find more intentionality in our activities that night.

Which leaves the weekend to do, well, EVERYTHING!  Which is sort of OK because it is hard for me to be particularly productive after work.  I just want to be home with my family.  But that means I need a work schedule for my Saturdays and Sundays.  When am I going to work and how long am I going to work?

I will be working on and tweaking this schedule for a while but I think I can find a routine that works for all of us.  And just when I find it I will be ready to cut back my outside work hours and will have to rethink the schedule all over again.  It is never ending.  But as long as I keep my priorities in mind I am sure to be able to figure it out.

So no addition to the monthly total this week.  I suspect no additional totals the rest of this month but, next month is shaping up to be busy with trunk shows, and I should be into working on the writing assignment by then as well.  Each month builds on the one before.  Can't wait to see what happens next.

Party Weekend

This week I launched my Stella & Dot business.  Not wanting to belabor a point I signed up and after watching a couple online training videos I started making phone calls.  I booked 3 shows to hold in just over a week; a launch show at my home Friday night and 2 on Saturday.  My starter kit and the sample jewelry I ordered arrived Wednesday 3 days before my first show. I finally had a catalog to give people.  It was all packaged so beautifully and the web site is so great that even before I got the books it was easy to tell people what I was doing.  Since I had never been to a Stella & Dot trunk show before and had no idea what I was doing my sponsor flew in from Georgia for those first 3 shows to train me.  And she brought all her fabulous jewelry so I got to see more than the few pieces I ordered with my starter kit.

I do have very enthusiastic and supportive friends but I still had to ask several of them before I found a couple to host.  You will hear "no" 10 times for every "yes".  I have heard that quoted many times and no mater how excited your friends are it is still true.

Also, life happens, so my Saturday morning hostess ended up having a medical problem that week and finally called Friday morning to let me know she was not going to be able to host my show.  We will reschedule but that just left me with 2 training shows.  I am a fast learner so I knew it would be fine.

For my show I invited over 80 people, more than 50 RSVP'd "no".  I will share that even though I fully expected that kind of response to a Friday night invite sent barely a week ahead it was still a little scary to get that many no emails responses to my evite.  I did get 6 "yes" and 7 "maybe" responses.  In the end 10 wonderful friends were able to make it and we had a great time.  I mainly just acted like the hostess chatting with friends, telling them they looked great and trying to pass out a few drinks.  In the rush of the evening I didn't end up putting out any food, just a couple bowls of m&m's.

I didn't sell the company average of $1000 but was just short of $600 which I felt pretty good about.  Since I was the hostess I will be able to order a little over $100 in free jewelry to add to my samples and I earned $146 in commission.  If I sell a total of $2300 for the month my commission goes up and I will get $175 for that night.  2 of my friends are excited to get some free jewelry by hosting a trunk show for me.

My second show was hosted by my cousin.  She was a wonderful and enthusiastic hostess but also had more "no" responses than yes and ended up with a more cozy 3 guests.  We still had a great time and they had fun trying stuff on, it was easier to give individual attention to the guests and help them choose something they love.  Jessy has a couple outside orders coming as well so I don't know yet what the total of the show will be but even with only 3 guests I sold nearly $500 giving me another approx $125 with a $150 potential when I make the higher commission sales goal.  And one of her friends is also going to host a show for me.

So at a minimum I made about $271 this weekend.  Each show was 2 hours long with a little time before and after for set up so call it 6 hours of work or $45/hour.  If I did this every week I would easily reach my Stella & Dot goal of $1000/month.  If I sponsor a couple stylists to join me in this adventure I could replace my currently income while only working about 10 hours a week.

While it sounds easy when I say 10 hours a week to make $1000/month.  I will have to actually put in that time.  My biggest fear as I transition to self employment is that I will free up time to do the work but then get distracted by all the distractions of life.  My sponsor used the term "time block" several times this weekend to talk about how she manages a busy career as a director working more than 10 hour a week (but making much more than $1000/month) while also raising 4 kids and running a home.  Something I am going to need to figure out pretty quickly.

So far what I have figured out is that one of the keys to success is going to be simply asking.  Everyone!  To that end I found myself telling someone recently that I do freelance writing and the next thing I knew I was having coffee with a new business owner looking for some sales materials.  I will tell you all about how that turns out next week!

Step One: Home Party Business

Many years ago when my son was little I was a Mary Kay consultant.  The first year I did OK and made a little money, the following 2 years I believe I sold enough to cover the cost of my own products.  By the 4th year even maintaining a small inventory and placing an order every 6 months got to be too much work for my busy life and I finally gave up.  While I may not have had much success in Mary Kay, the closet I got to a pink Cadillac was riding in one, I have always been SO glad I did it.  The training was fantastic.  I learned a lot about business, sales, organization.  I met interesting people and had a ton of fun.

So as I am thinking about how to make $5000 a month a home based business seemed like a good place to start.  There are many advantages:  I don't have to come up with an entire business plan, the start up cost is low, the marketing is done for you, the product is developed for you.  It is a ready made business just waiting for you to step in and start making money. 

Having done Mary Kay in the past and now knowing my personality a little better I knew I didn't want to go back to that.  I didn't want to carry inventory and I know that I am better with people one on one than doing a big group presentation.  I also knew I wanted to sell something fun.  And I wanted to join a company that was a little newer. Something that not everyone was familiar with. 

While internet marketing has been very popular the last few years, direct sales companies seem to be making a comeback.  People miss the personal touch.  Which means there are a lot of new home party businesses popping up these days.  Avon, Mary Kay and Tupperware are not alone out there anymore.  A brief search found dozens if not hundreds of options out there selling anything and everything.  Whatever you love, there is a home party business out there for you.

I spoke with a couple people about their businesses and decided on Stella & Dot, a jewelry business, because it met my criteria of low start up cost, one on one sales model and, frankly, it just sounded like the most fun. It only requires $199 start up fee but I did invest a couple hundred more in my sample jewelry beyond what you get with the start up package.  The party or "trunk show" is more of a girls night out with women trying on my samples while sipping a glass of wine with friends.  There is no formal presentation.  This company also has an online aspect so I have my own web site which I am free to promote through my facebook page, blog or any other social media sites I am part of.

I actually became familiar with Stella & Dot through my sister who has been buying the jewelry for a couple years through a friend of hers.  They were featured on a news segment CNN did about Stella & Dot.  (My sister is the one showing off her charm necklace.)

One thing I am noticing is that the recruiting pitch of making lots of money while staying home with your family is gone.  I didn't get a big assurance that it was "easy".  They don't seem to be trying to convince everyone to sell their product recruit a bunch of people and find BIG success.  The thing about a home party business is that the potential is there for me to make far more than $5000/month but very few women actually achieve that level of success.  60% of the women who sell Stella & Dot have another job.  Most are just trying to bring in an extra few hundred dollars a month to do something fun like save for a vacation or be able to treat yourself to those new shoes.  And that is exactly how they are presenting it.  My sponsor told me if I wanted to make $2000/month she was happy to help me but I would  have to work hard, build a team and do several trunk shows a week.  I appreciated her honesty.

Since I know I want to pursue other business opportunities besides Stella & Dot, my goal is not to make the full $5000/month.  But I think it is going to be the fastest way to start making money.  I would like to make $2000 in the first month and at least $1000/month going forward.

I begin next weekend with a Business Launch Trunk Show at my home and 2 other trunk shows hosted by friends.  In the mean time I am watching lots of training videos online, talking with my sponsor, looking forward to getting my samples in the mail and telling everyone I know about my launch party. 

Come back next week to find out how it goes.

How hard can it be to make $5000 a month?

For the 2 readers of this blog:  I have come to realize I like writing about my transition from home to work on my personal blog more than trying to extract those specific thoughts for a separate blog.  I was thinking about deleting this blog but still like the url for what I am instead going to blog about, my journey to replacing our income with self employment income.

I keep asking myself the same question as I think about trying to start a business, "How hard can it be to make $5000/month?"  I mean right now it seems hard.  John and I are both working and we fall short of that most months.  But conceptually it just feels like a doable number. 

I thought maybe other people were asking themselves the same question and so decided I would blog about my process.  I just watched a yahoo video that claims by the end of the decade 40% of us will be self employed.  Hurray for us, hurray for taking back contrl of our lives while still supporting and caring for our families, hurray for believing in ourselves and our skills enough to go on our own.

I realize that while in my head making $5000/month in self-emloyment income doesn't sound to daunting the reality is that it will take a lot of time, work and dedication to create a business that consistantly cash flows and meets my goal.

I have decided the key is multiple streams of income.  Not one big business on which my monthly sucess or failure teters but several smaller enterprises that together help me reach my goal.

The two main things I need to keep in mind as I look at business opportunities is number one, my family is my priority so I need flexibility to work around their schedules and, number two, I have to pull any start up capital I need out of our monthly family budget.

So right now here are the areas I am thinking about:

• Home based direct sales business.  Stella & Dot, Mary Kay, Tupperware, Pampered Chef, Thirty-One, etc.
• Freelance work. Both finding my own and checking out sites like "Elance"
• Blogging.  I love writing both my personal blog and am looking forward to monitizing this one as well.  So if you are reading this thanks for helping me reach my goal.
• Web site.  A basic information site with ads
• Web store.  Selling stuff online either through sites like "Etsy" or "Ebay" or becoming a distributor for products that I buy and re-sell.
• Product development, I have some product ideas I would love to try to create and market.
• Writing a book.  I am just telling you everything in my head.

My hope is that as I go forward and work on each of these I will discover even more ways to make money while keeping my priorities in order.

Each month I will share the process I am going through and the things I am learning along the way and at the end of the month let you know how it is going on my way to the goal.

One last thing, a good goal is specific and measurable so more specifically my goal is to replace my current full time income of $2000/month in 6 months and replace our entire household income of $5000/month in one year using the above business ideas.

Follow me as I walk this journey.  And if you have a goal too let me know what it is in the comments below.