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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

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: 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: 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

Beep!

Even with the best intentions, to-do lists haven’t been cutting it for me lately. The main reason is because, well, I haven’t been making them. Yah, I know, putting pen to paper is super super hard Adele. What can I say, I can be my own worst enemy at times.

Rather than succumb to my procrastinating ways, I enlisted help. A project manager if you will. And that PM my friends is my oven timer. Yup, you heard correctly, I’m managing my time via my oven. Have your giggle for a second and then keep reading.

I’m sure I’m not the only one that lets life and household chores slip to the wayside. Well, now my oven is reminding me to just get them done rather than scramble at the end of the day. I’ve said before that a messy/disorganized environment crosses over into my thinking, yet quite often, I still surround myself in the messiness and disorganization. See, told you I could be my own worst enemy. Anyway, let me tell you – this method works!

Sure, I’ve only been doing it for the morning, but in 4 short hours my increase in productivity and focus is very noticeable*. Knowing that I have 15-60 minutes (this is the min/max minutes I have for each block of time), my focus is more driven and distractions are less attractive. Oh, and trust me, when the beep goes off, you know. Oh yes… you know. You can’t just close your notebook on your to-do list or exit a computer reminder. You’re getting up to turn that damp beeper off!

And if you think you’ll walk away and sit right back down to work – you won’t – because a little tingle of guilt will eat at you and before you know it, that small task is done. Let the pats on the back commence.

Now please excuse me, I have 15 more minutes before Sergeant Oven reminds me to make the bed.

What about you? Have you enlisted any creative methods to manage your time/procrastination?

*A prime example is this blog post. I can sometimes spend far too long putting together a post and then even more time searching for the right photograph. However, knowing I was on a time constraint (I work best under pressure) I whipped out this post in under 20 minutes.

Photo Credit: csiknor

April 21, 2010  //  Filed under: Etcetera  //  Tagged: life, self-employment, time management  //  5 Comments

Are you doing what you love?

If you’ve been feeling passionless or confused about your business/art/craft as of late, I really recommend you watch this video with Sharon Montrose of Sharon Montrose Photographs.

I can really identify with how Sharon felt when she was no longer digging her career. I’ve been there. For those that don’t know, I used to be an Art Director in the agency world. After 10 years, I was completely burnt out and the last thing I wanted to do everyday was design. The resentment/bitterness that had built up was too strong to ignore, yet I felt completely lost as it was the only sellable skill I had.

It wasn’t until I started designing for myself again that I began to feel I had a place in design once more. I wasn’t sure if people would respond to it, but I had to try and I’m thankful that they did. I’m still not entirely sure where I’ll go with this and hey, one day I may wake up and realize I want to do something else, but I do know that I’m in a place right now where everyday is driven by a passion you’ll only ever feel if you’re doing what you truly love.

I hope that you’re able to do what you love too. Are you?

April 3, 2010  //  Filed under: Etcetera  //  Tagged: life, professional growth, self-employment  //  3 Comments

What I did do

So I was going to write a post about how little I did in March and how I’m no closer to opening up my shop again… but screw that, why let self-induced negativity into my life? We’re riding the positivity train over here people so let’s look at what I did do this month instead:

  1. Secured two new clients – one for a whole rebrand of their corporate identity and the other an interactive project (both should lead to more work)
  2. Created the modernemotive icon.
  3. Started the groundwork for the new direction of modernemotive and began the process of rethinking my tagline (thanks for all your input everyone!) to reflect it.
  4. Began designing my business collateral.
  5. Shared my first free downloadable PDF. Did you get yours?
  6. Updated my blog header (will redo it again once I finalize the tagline).
  7. Made a pact to get myself healthy again.
  8. Started the designs for some new products (have 3 on the go).
  9. Got the ball rolling on a potential new blog series I’ll be co-hosting with a great online friend.
  10. Finally pushed my procrastination aside and replaced my lost iPhone. I’m on my third. Please don’t ask about the other two. I’m mobile again and that’s all that matters.

Sure there’s a lot more I could of done and possibly stuff I’ve overlooked on my list, but I was working on something way more important, myself. Without that, the rest means nothing.

How was March for you?

Photo Credit: chara*coco*

April 1, 2010  //  Filed under: Etcetera  //  Tagged: life, self-employment  //  5 Comments

This Self-Employed Life: An Interview with Erin Vale

Friends, please welcome my online buddy – Erin Vale – to my blog. After reading her interview, it’s clear this girl has the knowledge, focus and determination to go far – I’m in awe! Oh and if you’re just getting into freelancing or perhaps considering it, be sure to check out her FREELANCE 101 series.

Welcome. Give us some background about yourself and your business.
Thanks for inviting me! My name is Erin Vale. I am the owner/designer of Vale Design, a freelance design company specializing in package design and branding. I have six years of Chicago corporate design experience and I have been self-employed working both onsite and offsite for the past four years. In 2008, I started erinvaledesign.com, a website to showcase my work and passions to the design community. In 2009, I started an online product based company, finch&hawk, which combines my love for patterns and three dimension in budget-friendly, favor packaging printables and paper goods.

The decision to take the self-employment route is not always an easy one. What gave you the confidence to take that leap?
Honestly, frustration gave me the confidence to freelance. I quit a job that was making me unhappy and that was not the right fit for me. I intended to take a four month hiatus, but after three weeks, a couple of clients from past jobs found out that I was working for myself and starting emailing me with freelance opportunities. I accepted every one and never looked back. In my opinion, my work has never looked better and I have never been happier. In the beginning, I was scared at every turn, but I just knew in my gut that I could do this.

Pawling

Self employment can mean long hours, irregular income and other unpredictable stresses. How you do you handle it?
I am blessed to be able to do what I love for a living, but I would be lying if I said that freelancing was all roses and sunshine. It can be stressful. When I start to feel overwhelmed, I just stop working. I give myself time off. I give myself permission to go out for a walk or grab a coffee. Sometimes, inspiration comes back after an hour and sometimes I just surrender and start fresh the next day. I do my best work when I am inspired, not when I am forcing myself to sit down and just design something.

What’s a typical day like for you? How did you keep yourself organized to avoid procrastination and other distractions?
I wake up and get ready between 7 and 8 am. I get the house organized from the night before and deal with our high maintenance allergy dog, medicine, walk, etc. I check my favorite blogs while I have my morning coffee and I am working by 9 am. I work on a variety of projects for clients {packaging concepts, dielines, logos, front end web design, business cards}, work on research and posts for erinvaledesign.com and prep any shipments and new designs for finch&hawk. Somewhere in all of that, I eat lunch for about an hour while watching any black and white movie that is on TCM. Then, I am back to work until about 6 pm when my husband comes home. We eat dinner together and hang out for about 2 hours. I get back on the computer to finish up until about 9 or 10 pm. I typically try to read from 10 to 11 to “shut the design floodgates.” I am not a procrastinator by nature. I do not have a problem with distractions because I schedule them in. I will write in my iCal, laundry, dry cleaner, Office Depot etc. Then they are just items to cross off my daily to do list.

Do your work from home? Or offsite?
I work both on-site {for clients in Chicago} and offsite in my home office. When we moved back to Indiana 3 years ago, we specifically bought a house that had an empty front room. We had a wall built with french doors and large built-in bookcases to close in the the room. It was originally going to be my husband’s office, but the dog and I took it over!

Erin Vale

It can get lonely working for yourself. Do you find yourself missing the companionship of a bustling office? How do you make sure you get social interaction throughout the day/week?
I think I have the best of both worlds. Some days I work on-site in my client’s office and other days I am able to work by myself at home. I do miss turning around and asking the designer behind me, “what do you think of this design, violator, logo, etc?” With the upswing in social networking, I have met a handful of designers, whose work I admire, and I will ask them vague hypothetical questions about my design dilemmas. Seems to fill that void quite well and I have made some wonderful new friends.

Finding a work/life balance can be difficult with any job, perhaps more so with self-employment. Do you think you’ve found that balance?
Finding the work/life balance is what I struggle with the most. I love my clients and I love designing. Having a home office blurs that line of when to stop working. Bored. Go to the office and work. Husband napping. Go to the office and work. Can’t sleep. Go to the office and work. Within the past year, I have started to research Indy more and have started to plan outings for myself, husband and friends. This gets me out of the house, into the fresh air and learning new things. I have noticed that this has also helped my design work. The fresh air clears out the cobwebs and the research adds more information to my visual arsenal.

What valuable lessons did you learn within your first year. Let’s start with the worst.
I learned to remove “me” from my work. If a client is not happy with a concept, that is not them saying “I think you are a bad designer.” It just means that maybe they did not like the logo in red!

And now the best.
The most valuable lesson I learned from my first year, was to trust my voice and knowledge. I think all designers have design self-esteem issues at some point. Is my work good enough? Who is going to like this? How is that designer better than me? I have learned that my clients hire me for my past experience and my passion to provide them with the best deliverable I can. There is work out there for everyone. Worrying is a waste of time and energy.

Lastly, what advice would you give to others that are thinking about quitting their 9-5 job to pursue self-employment?
My advice for anyone contemplating freelancing:

  1. Be ready to work and work hard!
  2. Be financially prepared. Have money set aside for the start-up expenses.
  3. Experience. Put in your time and learn. Then you will be better prepared to lead.
  4. Find a good small business accountant. I feel that this step is crucial.
  5. Trust your voice. It can be intimidating to step out from behind the big bosses. This is where experience and past mistakes will help you.
  6. Check your web-self. Clients and design firms like to google nowadays. Be professional in every web interaction you have. Twitter, Facebook, etc. They are watching you. Amazes me that some designers still do not understand this.

PAWLING

ERIN VALE ELSEWHERE
Website | Shop | Twitter | Facebook

March 23, 2010  //  Filed under: This Self-Employed Life  //  Tagged: business, interview, self-employment  //  10 Comments