A semi-productive day... I'm having trouble painting lately. I can do it but I don't want to. I'll start but then the lines come out wrong and I get discouraged, don't feel like doing it anymore. I have some things needing to be sent soon too. Not cool. I need to get these batiks finished already! What is wrong with me? Oh, I know what it is! Total burnout!! Who wants to paint like a factory? But come on, it's not slave labor. It's painting. It's supposed to be fun.
Alright.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Motivation
Working on it. It's slow. It's summer and I don't feel like painting, although it's a lot easier in this beautiful weather. Lists help but only if I follow through. I have a meeting today at 1, hopefully it'll give me a little inspiration. We'll see.
We're going to talk about press releases and stuff like that. It's such an obscure biz I've got going on it's hard to say exactly what direction it's supposed to be going in.
I tend to work well under pressure, deadlines, due dates, etc. But it's summer! Who wants to be pressured in the summer? It's vacation time - time for fun!
Maybe I don't lack motivation after all.
If I could motivate to post this blog we'd be good.
One more thing, I listed a new pair of undies because it made the numbers match up:
365 positive reviews
35 items for sale
575 sales
Spectacular!!
We're going to talk about press releases and stuff like that. It's such an obscure biz I've got going on it's hard to say exactly what direction it's supposed to be going in.
I tend to work well under pressure, deadlines, due dates, etc. But it's summer! Who wants to be pressured in the summer? It's vacation time - time for fun!
Maybe I don't lack motivation after all.
If I could motivate to post this blog we'd be good.
One more thing, I listed a new pair of undies because it made the numbers match up:
365 positive reviews
35 items for sale
575 sales
Spectacular!!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Mathematically Incorrect?
Wow I can not believe it's been that long since I posted last! It's not that time flies, it's that I'm easily distracted. Very easily! So what's new? Any new theories about business? Indeed, I do have a few. First and foremost I've calculated that most craft fairs and festivals are huge money and energy investments with variable outcomes that aren't exactly predictable. Have I talked about this before with you?
Oops, just interrupted by a delivery person. Okay, back to what I was saying...
Not to mention the stress levels we have to deal with as vendors - physically and emotionally. There are benefits, however, that I think most people overlook when vending at a festival and exceed the gross income at the end of the event.
The original bonus to selling at the type of venues I set up at was the fact that they're a captured audience, fascinated with their environment, in vacation mode and looking for something that can't be found anywhere else. Also, I think an important part of it is the connection the customer develops with their selected merchant/artist/person whatever you call us. It's very basic old school consumerism stuff, just on a more personal level, and shoppers find it waaay more interesting than typical purchasing of mass media corporate products they see in their every day lives. It's exciting and different and associated with fun! (at least in my booth it is - lol!!!)
So that's the plus side.
But there is a down side, kind of like a plateau... I think (in my own experience) it only goes so far - exhibiting at craft fairs and music festivals year after year - the same ones... Not that I'm going to stop entirely. Don't get me wrong! It's the approach to select shows that needs to be dealt with differently, for me, that is. I think those plus sides could be huge gold mines if done right.
Okay, my 3yr old is climbing the furniture. I have to come back later to finish this. Probably I should be writing at night when he's sleeping.
Oops, just interrupted by a delivery person. Okay, back to what I was saying...
Not to mention the stress levels we have to deal with as vendors - physically and emotionally. There are benefits, however, that I think most people overlook when vending at a festival and exceed the gross income at the end of the event.
The original bonus to selling at the type of venues I set up at was the fact that they're a captured audience, fascinated with their environment, in vacation mode and looking for something that can't be found anywhere else. Also, I think an important part of it is the connection the customer develops with their selected merchant/artist/person whatever you call us. It's very basic old school consumerism stuff, just on a more personal level, and shoppers find it waaay more interesting than typical purchasing of mass media corporate products they see in their every day lives. It's exciting and different and associated with fun! (at least in my booth it is - lol!!!)
So that's the plus side.
But there is a down side, kind of like a plateau... I think (in my own experience) it only goes so far - exhibiting at craft fairs and music festivals year after year - the same ones... Not that I'm going to stop entirely. Don't get me wrong! It's the approach to select shows that needs to be dealt with differently, for me, that is. I think those plus sides could be huge gold mines if done right.
Okay, my 3yr old is climbing the furniture. I have to come back later to finish this. Probably I should be writing at night when he's sleeping.
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