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I took the plunge

Early this week, an email appeared in my Inbox from a retail store located in Boston requesting my notepads for wholesale. As can be expected, my initial reaction was “OMG, so cool!”. I’ve had many requests. But then, reality sets in when I realize I’m not set-up to wholesale and still need to iron out many details. Yes, I know, I know, it’s been on my to-do list forever. But, let’s not go there. I’m saving that for another post.

Anyway, I fired off an email letting them know when I plan on officially opening up for wholesale (I have a plan I swear) but they asked if there was anyway they could get some for the Holiday season. This request made me pause. Did I really want to lose a potential opportunity because I didn’t feel ready? Because perhaps everything won’t be as perfect as I would hope? I didn’t. I couldn’t. I owed it to myself to just say YES and let the chips fall where they may. So, I did. I said yes.

I’ll share more on the actual shop soon. It’s truly beautiful and worthy of it’s own dedicated post. But I will say it’s stocked with the most beautiful, eco and sustainable products. And, that my little paper goods are going to be amongst the work of some of my favorite stationery designers. I’m honored, excited, nervous and everything in between.

So, yes, modernemotive is heading to Boston. I did it. I took the plunge.

Splash!!

Photo Credit: txhippichic

November 4, 2010  //  Filed under: Paper Goods, This Self-Employed Life  //  Tagged: business, business goals, comfort zones, eco, ecofriendly, modernemotive, professional growth, self-employment, stationery, wholesale  //  16 Comments

Who’s pace are you running at?

run

I came across a fantastic article this morning called Why Better is Better Than Best by Simon Sinek of Re:Focus. With so many small business blogs out there proclaiming they have the golden key to success, it’s easy to become jaded when business related articles come my way. But this one really hit home for me and got me thinking.

First let me share the introductory paragraphs to bring it into context:

The fastest runners in the world run between 12-14mph (19-23kph). The average bear runs between 30-40mph (48-64kph).  That means if a bear decides to give chase, even Usain Bolt, the world record sprinter, could not outrun it.

But there is an adage: to get away from a bear you don’t have to be the fastest runner in the world, you just have to be faster than the guy behind you.

The same is true in business.

Except taken from Why Better is Better Than Best by Simon Sinek of Re:Focus.

Pretty simple concept huh?

It’s extremely easy for us to get too caught up in what our competitors are doing. It’s just as easy for us to lay down because our insecurities tell us they are better and that we can never be as good. Essentially we drop our pace to watch them. It’s almost like slowing down to look at a car wreck on the highway. But guess what? Cars in other lanes have somewhere to be and so they just keep going. They keep their eyes firmly on their destination and quickly zoom past you.

I’ll be honest, I don’t consciously keep tabs on my competition. Of course, I see work of stationers all time. More often than not, I admire the beauty of their work rather than looking at it through envious eyes. Undoubtedly on occasion I see something and think “man, I wish I’d thought of that” or “I wish I were able to create work in that style” but I let that feeling out fast and move on. If I hold onto it, I find one of two things happen: (1) I come to a standstill; or (2) I find myself trying to change what is natural to me and something I can run with. If you allow either of these to happen, you’ll soon realize you’re running in the wrong direction which is backwards rather than forwards.

At the end of the day, I am extremely confident in my work and instincts as a designer. In some ways, I think that’s the key to design or at least it is for me. It’s important to work with your gut and instincts vs trying to be something you’re not. Quit jumping on a bandwagon because everyone else is doing it and it sells. When you do, you’re just running at their pace (plus letting THEM determine YOUR pace) and because they’ve been running longer than you, they’ll probably still outrun you anyway. So, next time you find yourself spending way too much time worrying about your competition, remember that you’re slowing yourself down and there’s someone behind you itching to pass you by.

As for the best vs better, this is a whole other post and so for now I’ll just say this. You see it all the time, people proclaiming they want to take over the world, be #1 in the category (or think they already are) or perhaps think they have everything figured out and only success will come their way… the list goes on. While there’s nothing wrong in having those goals in your sight (though the take over the world one always makes me roll my eyes), when you do achieve that, assuming you do, then what? Don’t assume you’ll never have to run again, because you will, and while you stand upon legs that don’t fail you, you should be.

Who’s pace are you running at? Yours or theirs?

P.S. I think the photo above sums up the article I referenced perfectly. The wanting to be the best vs better. Even when you reach the end of something (perhaps your ultimate goal) you still have to do something. So, unless you are ready to just stand still or turnaround, you had better get ready for your next destination.

Photo Credit: Julia Lillqvist

August 17, 2010  //  Filed under: This Self-Employed Life  //  Tagged: business, business goals, professional growth, self-employment  //  21 Comments

Got questions about wholesaling?

Okay first off, 3 blog posts in one day? Yah, seems I’m chatty but I promise this will be the last one. And now for the reason why I’m here again.

I’m super excited to be hosting a Q’n’A with a wholesaling pro (her products are in 100s of stores all over the world) on my blog very soon. I have actually spoken with her on the phone before and can tell you she has a wealth of knowledge in this area. So, I’m super excited she accepted my invitation. I’m keeping quiet on who it is for now but all will be revealed soon.

As my next big venture is wholesaling, I have a lot of questions myself, but I wanted to invite you to ask your own. Obviously, she won’t be able to answer every single one, but if there’s a way for me to merge questions I will. And if all don’t get answered, I will most certainly find another guest that can.

Query

So, if you’re considering wholesaling your product line soon, get your questions in. Kindly put them in the comments below rather than tweet them to me so that I can easily aggregate them. Cheers me dears!

Photo Credit: amortize

July 9, 2010  //  Filed under: This Self-Employed Life  //  Tagged: business, business goals, wholesale, wholesaling  //  10 Comments

Almost ready

I’m finally kicking procrastination to the curb and wrapping up all the small details on my new products before sending them out to my printer. All that remains to be done is proofing. With any luck, if the proofs/prototypes come back as I hope, I should have the products in my hands by the middle of next week. Gulp. Products again… finally.

I’m feeling both a mixture of excitement and anxiety as can be expected. I’ve still got a lot of work to do but the fact that I’m so close to re-opening is keeping me going. I’m back in business again. About bloody time!

Photo Credit: sarbert

June 16, 2010  //  Filed under: This Self-Employed Life  //  Tagged: business  //  7 Comments

Procrastinaton equals Fear

Aaah procrastination… we all fall victim to it every once in a while. If you’re like me, perhaps more often than you care to admit to. For me, procrastination falls into two categories… laziness and fear. Let’s take about the fear one.

Since finalizing the deal with a printer to outsource my product production – and please don’t slam me for this – my work on this project has come to a screeching halt. Admittedly, once all the negotiating was over, I was exhausted and needed to step away for a few days to decompress and not think. My printer was also on vacation so things were on hold, but of course, there was/is still work to do. Anyways, enough of the rationalization.

Over the last week or so, this overwhelming fear has set in. From the outside it looks like procrastination, but I know it’s fear. It’s fear of entering a whole new printing world I don’t know much about. It’s fear that there’s a design error within my files and I won’t see it until I have 100s of products printed. It’s fear I’ll simply forget something important. It’s fear of a myriad of things.

Of course, I have no choice but to break through this fear and I am. Like most things we fear, once we face it head on, we often realize we’ve amplified the fear to silly proportions and we go on to wonder what we were so worried about. Reminding yourself of that when you’re “in the moment” isn’t always easy though. So my suggestion to you (and myself!) is to feel that fear and be aware of it. Make those you turn to for support aware so that they can help you face them rather than berate you for procrastination.

By internalizing your fears, you just continue to feed them and then they become greedy buggers. Starve the fear my friends, starve it!

Does fear throw you into procrastination mode? How do you deal with it?

Image Credit: She Believed She Could So She Did Print by Valentina Design

June 3, 2010  //  Filed under: This Self-Employed Life  //  Tagged: business, procrastination, professional growth, self-employment  //  4 Comments

Wait a minute… it’s June?

Holy crud, it’s June 2010! Where did the year go? We’re half way through 2010 already… seriously, are you kidding me? Being at the half-way point in the year, it’s certainly a bit of a wake up call for me to get my arse in gear. We all know my “break” was slightly longer than I expected, so it’s time to get things moving.

June is going to be a busy month for me. My products are going to print later this week (we are full steam ahead on Plan A and I was able to go off-set – wahoo!) and I’m filled with excitement, nerves and everything in between. This month, I need to focus. I need a plan. We all know launching new products comes with a whole set of mini to-do’s (i.e. photography, product descriptions, crunching pricing and shipping numbers blah blah blah). So, I’m going to keep my list small and add stuff if time and resources become available. I already know I’ve forgotten some stuff as is. Yep, June 2010 is going to to be jam packed. But bring it on!

  1. Launch new products
    • Proof/doing final edits
    • Shoot products
    • Write descriptions
    • Figure out pricing
    • Figure out shipping
    • Create a press release
    • Create freebie to coincide with launch
  2. Get Big Cartel shop up and running
  3. Launch my main website (already designed/coded – just needs copy/images)
    • In meantime, launch new splash page
  4. Get the ball rolling on new collection release
    • Get quotes from printer
    • Design at least 5 pieces
  5. Put the “yah or nay” on a new project idea I have
    • If yah, get the wheels in motion
    • If nay, enjoy the spare time ;)

How’s that for June’s goals? Am I nuts? Is it doable? We shall see. We shall see.

What about you? What are your goals for this month? Feel free to post them on your blog and share a link here in the comments. I’d love to see what you’ve got up your sleeves. Perhaps we can make this a monthly thing? What do you think?

Photo Credit: Jon Ovington

June 1, 2010  //  Filed under: This Self-Employed Life  //  Tagged: business, business goals, self-employment  //  5 Comments

This Self-Employed Life: I’m not a flower whisperer but…

Call me a nutbar but the innocent flowers below reminded me about something I think we all tend to forget here and there. No, I’m not a flower whisperer but let me explain.

Yellow Flowers

See, I had a bad day on Monday. It happens. We all go there. I actually think it’s good to go there once in a while. Keeps you humble and aware of your weaknesses. It reminds you of the things you need to work on as well as things you just need to accept are part of your personal make-up. Anyway…

James knew was I was at my wits end that day and picked up these flowers at a subway stop to cheer me up (he did a doubly nice thing as the proceeds went to charity). Well, as we didn’t get home until late at night, I neglected them until the next day. Oops! By mid-morning the poor things looked like there was no hope for them. They were as limp as could be and had no strength to hold themselves up. Wanting to give them a chance, I put them in water anyway.

Later in the day, I went on a mission. I’d caught wind of another potential printer I could work with. So, rather than call/email, I just walked right in to their office with print outs of my products and laid in all on the line. I was nice but firm. I was confident but not arrogant. I was not willing to walk away until my hope was restored. It’s restored. I won’t say anything else just in case I jinx myself but I will say I may not need a Plan B. Wish me luck!

When I returned home, I was prepping for dinner and happened to look over at the flowers. They had bounced back strong and confident. Sure, they had a moment of weakness but with a little nurturing they found their inner strength.

So, those flowers reminded me of the importance of nurturing myself. To listen to what I need. We all have days were the hurdles seem too high to jump over. Eventually we bounce back. We always do.

May 19, 2010  //  Filed under: This Self-Employed Life  //  Tagged: life, professional growth, self-employment  //  6 Comments

This Self-Employed Life: At a standstill

So, about those new products. While technically I could go ahead with them, I’m having a hard time navigating the pros and cons of going ahead now vs waiting. If I go ahead and print them digitally, I CAN’T wholesale them, BUT I can test them. If I go ahead with off-set printing so I CAN wholesale, I run the risk of having a large inventory that I CAN’T move at a reasonable rate. Of course, they aren’t the only pros and cons, but they are the ones weighing most heavily on my mind.

My biggest goal here is to set myself up for wholesaling. Realistically, I can’t justify running modernemotive another year without it. This isn’t just for financial reasons but also a need for me to justify why the heck I’m here. I feel as though I’m losing that vision with each week that passes.

While some may argue I’ve already seen some success, I can’t sustain myself or my business at the rate I’m going. I say some because in the grand scale of things guys, let’s face it, it’s minimal. In part, this is my fault. I’ve been in and out of my business since January 2009 for personal reasons and I need to either commit to it 110% now or quite frankly, get out.

While I am looking at a Plan B, I invested so much time and energy into these new products I can’t see it. Did someone turn the lights out? I was already nervous about introducing these new products and this spanner in the works is allowing the self-doubt to take on a stronger hold. I’ve barely done a thing in the last few weeks. My tip of the day – this isn’t how you move a business forward.

Ugh, it’s days like today that I regret being so honest about the “behind the scenes” of modernemotive. I feel as though I’ve built such a “buzz” around my relaunch and I’m not sure how to move forward. I stepped away in January promising “big things” and 4 months later I’m at a complete standstill. I’m none the wiser than I was back then. Ugh, there I go being honest again.

When you’re at a standstill, how do you get yourself moving again and keep yourself looking forward?

Photo Credit: B Tal

May 17, 2010  //  Filed under: This Self-Employed Life  //  Tagged: business, business goals, life, professional growth, self-employment  //  5 Comments

This Self-Employed Life: Are you becoming a technology recluse?

The concept that technology and social media is making us anti-social isn’t a new one. Just Google it and see. There is no denying that social media is opening up the doors for communication and providing us with opportunities that may otherwise have been impossible. It certainly has for me. However, I’d hazard a guess that many of us aren’t taking those relationships and/or opportunities offline in order to seize their full potential.

While I have benefited immensely from social media, it some ways, it’s also hindering my business when it comes to my communication skills. Though many are surprised to hear this, I can be a pretty shy person in real life. Until I get to know someone, I’m often the quietest person in a room. This isn’t because I’m guarded or intentionally anti-social, plain and simple, I’m just shy. Nothing wrong with that. However, if technology is allowing you to avoid dealing with that shyness/self-confidence/whatever, I do believe you’ll begin to see the effects trickle over into your business where a lack of confidence isn’t invited to the table.

Think about it. It’s far easier to exude confidence in an email or online situation. We have all the time in the world to script a typed communication that’s laced with conviction and self-confidence. Yet, ask yourself this… could you do that via the phone or face-to-face? If your answer is no, you may want to assess how your reliance on online communications is effecting your business today and potentially in the future.

Often when my cell rings, I’ll let it go to voice-mail and later respond via email. Rather than set up an face-to-face meeting with someone, I’ll drive all communications through online venues. When talking in person with someone about my business, a quick exchange of URLs/email addresses will occur. While all of these scenarios are certainly convenient, I do believe this convenience can manifest into a problem overtime. If we are constantly by-passing face-to-face interactions in favor of online interactions, is it safe to say that for many our communication skills in person will begin to deteriorate?

Case in point (and this is one of many I could share), James and I were in a very high-end store here in Toronto a little while ago. Amongst other things, this store offers stationery – primarily for weddings – but also other paper goods. While I chose to walk around the store as inconspicuous as possible, James being a very outgoing person, walked up to a chap sat at a desk and plain out asked for the buyer. Turns out, he was the buyer and I was suddenly forced to communicate face-to-face about my business.

Did I have the same confidence/conviction as I would have via email? No. I didn’t have the time to “script” the perfect pitch and so I fumbled my way through the conversation. Sure, I walked away with his business card, but did I do my business justice? No. While that awkward interaction may be forgotten when I approach him for a possible wholesale opportunity, if I overlook the fact that I’m relying too much on online interactions and my communication skills in person are deteriorating as a result, I will continually fumble my way through face-to-face interactions and eventually it will be remembered.

Therein potentially lies the problem. The strategies and confidence we play out and display online need to extend offline too. The time we invest in building our “online presence” and relationships needs to be invested in our offline communications/personalities also. Both are equally important and combined can significantly drive the growth of your business. While you can certainly play in the online world with great success, if you can’t play face-to-face with the same confidence, the only person you’ll exclude is yourself and ultimately your business.

So, my question to you is this… while you may be navigating the world of social media with confidence and conviction are you doing so face-to-face as well? Or are you relying too much on online communications and becoming a technology recluse?

Photo Credit: aftab

May 12, 2010  //  Filed under: This Self-Employed Life  //  Tagged: business, comfort zones, professional growth, social media, technology  //  6 Comments

This Self-Employed Life: Always have a Plan B

So, quotes are trickling in for my new products. As I feared, the cost per unit for most of them is going to price me out of the market. Even with the FSC Certification (as my printer/materials are FSC certified I can now use the logo), while that allows me to price at a slight premium, it’s still too high for retail in my eyes if I want to wholesale them too. Can I get a bit round of shit applause please? Cheers.

While I’m not giving up yet (I still have calls set up with other printers), this has been a good lesson in planning. I knew from the get go that one product category might not be feasible until I moved my products to off-set printing – I’d be using professional digital presses for now. Yet, I still went ahead and sunk all my design time into them. While I did ask for quotes early in the design stages, I should of been more aggressive and got them sooner. Well, I may of just crashed and burned myself thanks to tunnel vision.

We are 21 days away from my relaunch deadline and only 2 out of 8 new products are currently feasible. Do I have a Plan B no? Am I panicking ever so slightly? Yes. Always have a Plan B folks, always!

Photo Credit: flexgraph

May 11, 2010  //  Filed under: This Self-Employed Life  //  Tagged: business, self-employment  //  3 Comments

This Self-Employed Life: Self-Doubt

Aaaah, you gotta love that wee emotion called self-doubt huh? There you are blazing along, confident in the path you’re taking and then – BAM! – self doubt rears it’s ugly head and pays you a visit. It’s like the friend or relative that overstays their welcome yet their presence forces you into silence and you just roll with it.

Thankfully my moments of self-doubt are few and far between as of late, but oh it’s there, it’s there. In business, heck in life, self-doubt can be debilitating. So severe it can stop you in your tracks and force you down paths that are not true to your heart. It can be hard to overcome. Hard to ignore as it can be so loud that the “what ifs” consume you and it becomes an exhausting one-way conversation with yourself.

Of course, I expect my self-doubt to be rampant over the coming weeks. With my launch approaching I can’t help but think…. will everyone be disappointed in my new products? Will they be expecting more? Is re-launching with 8 products enough? Should I wait and make it 16? What if nothing sells? What if… what it… what if?

See what I mean about that one-way conversation? With so many questions running through your head it’s often hard to hear the answers. The answers spoken from your gut. Your inner confidence telling you it’ll all be okay. Eventually you begin to hear them, but damn, someone needs to tell self-doubt to leave already. It’s noisy in here!

How do you deal with self-doubt?

Photo Credit: Daniel Y. Go

May 5, 2010  //  Filed under: This Self-Employed Life  //  Tagged: business, life, professional growth  //  7 Comments

This Self-Employed Life: Customer Service Manifesto

Hello?

So outsourcing my printing is proving to be harder than I thought. While it’s still early May, I’m getting slightly nervous about hitting my June 1st deadline to have them all ready for retail. If I have to shift my deadline, so be it. While not ideal, I’m not willing to just  “get ‘um printed” for the sake of hitting that deadline.

The printing world is hard to navigate. It’s a whole new world of terms, specs, paper options and sometimes limitations. It’s making my head spin. Throw the ecofriendly requirements in there (FSC Certified, 100% post-consumer content which I’m pretty rigid on) and say hello to even more headaches.

Anyway, I’m somewhat digressing here as the above really isn’t the point of my post. I just had to vent it out loud briefly. Over and out on that one. :)

So, my point… I’m really surprised at how unresponsive I’m finding some printers. I’ve had printers not respond period and some drop off the face of the earth during the quoting process. Obviously, this means that particular printer is not for me, but it’s still quite surprising. Do they not care about new business? I realize I’m probably small fry to some of these guys but you’d think they’d at least respond.

It is so important for me to find a printer I can grow with. I’m looking for a partnership. Someone that gives a shit about my products and sees the potential for BOTH of us. You’d think it would be easy to find, it isn’t. Perhaps my expectations are too high.

As a result, this has really made me look at my own customer service. I’m sure it hasn’t been 100% perfect. So, I’m thinking of putting together a little private manifesto surrounding my intentions for great customer service. Even small things (such as acknowledging an email even if only to say you’ll be in touch within x amount of time) really do make a difference. I don’t want interactions with my company (regardless of who you are) to feel automated. I want/hope to provide a service that feels personal. In a nutshell, I want anyone that interacts with my company to know I give a shit. Yah, I probably could of written that last sentence with a bit more class, but sometimes you just have to throw an expletive in there. ;)

Often, especially when things are hectic, we can easily let those small things slip to the wayside and the impact on your business (and how it’s perceived) can be greater than you realize.

Anybody there?

May 4, 2010  //  Filed under: This Self-Employed Life  //  Tagged: business, life, professional growth, self-employment  //  2 Comments