Archive for August, 2011
Guest post by Jessica Newell from Pic*Wish Wednesdays.
This is actually my first guest post ever, so I thought I’d start it off right by sharing the story of going from claiming a domain name to today, nearly a month before I ‘reLaunch’ my site Pic*Wish Wednesdays. Here goes!
Setting out on my creative journey: Where do I start?
In early 2011 (a week into January to be exact), I found myself jobless *again* after quitting a job at a stationary production house after being blamed for the loss of $20,000 due to not doing my job as ‘shipping/design/marketing’ girl. Don’t be alarmed – there was a good reason for this – you see contrary to what my title said, over the course of the 7 weeks I worked there, I actually played a number of roles in this startup: liaison between the office staff and production team, declutterer, personal assistant, manager, inventory control, psychologist, etc etc etc. I just didn’t do much design or marketing… hmmm.
In the midst of trying to prove my value as an employee, I ended up in a situation where I was out sick for two days and was welcomed back with a heaping load of shame and guilt, a perfectly clean desk, and a ‘then you should have stayed until midnight to get all of those orders out (cough ~ the day before you called out sick (in the dangerous ‘hood that is Newburgh, NY))’.
I wasn’t going to take it this time. I walked out the door immediately and decided to enjoy the holidays with my family. But this is just the back-story. So I started the first week of January off by adding a domain name and investing $50 into a self-employment gig with a crafty direct sales co.
Breakthrough: What do I do when I hit a wall?
Immediately I began all sorts of investigations into the blogosphere. I had attempted this before with little return other than seeing an amazing number of people doing amazing things, that I thought I was not ready for. Quickly into my new set of investigations, I found Papernstitch and grabbed a copy of the Track This! Workbook. Determined as I was to not let someone else throw me off course, I wrote down, in obsessive detail, all of my goals for the next year.
After going back through my goals at the end of each month though, I found that the direct sales gig wasn’t working and I wanted to do more with my website. Actually, I wanted to make the pic*wish pixie into a full fledged character. With a background in dance performance, I just threw it all out there, mess and all, just to get it out, hoping that someone would see my genius and give a little affirmation.
It didn’t quite happen. At least not the way I expected it to. So I decided that I was going to take a break from posting and do a whole lot more research before putting something else out there that I was truly proud of.
Uncharted Territory: How in the heck did I lose my mojo?
You see the problem wasn’t that I was trying to stick to a plan. The problem was that I was trying to revolve my life around the plans of sources around me. Instead of owning my dreams and carving my own pathway in this new frontier, I was trying to do what others said you “must do” in all of their copy-written headlines.
So I had to get back on track and surround myself with what branding editor Abby Kerr calls ‘my right people’. For me learning tips and tricks just doesn’t work. Digging into your dreams, scheming them out, taking a step (only one at a time) and tweaking things along the way is by far the best way not only to create great art but also to create a great business model, online network, community, society and a better world at large.
Takeaway: Who will I become?
If you’ve repeated the same pattern over and over again like I did (notice any resemblences from my 7-week job sprint and the circumstances of my breakthrough?) its time to change things up. And that’s why we’re all here, right? To change the world and make things work a little better around the web?
I’ve come to the conclusion that before I can change the world at large, I need to start working on changing my nasty little habits that get in the way of me knowing what plans to keep track of and what plans need to be burned away. And it will be great to see my progress by the end of the year and start on a fresh Track This! workbook – 2012 style baby!
Now it’s your turn… Have you lost your way in your work life? What have been your biggest struggles lately?
Leave your response in the comments below.
Jessica Newell is the creator of the pic*wish pixe and her accompanying website “Pic*Wish Wednesdays”. She is getting the site ready for a reLaunch to the stars this coming this September with a refocus on inspriring mommy-preneurs to share their creative juices with their children through both dance and photography. ‘Miss Jessica’ as she is aptly called by the pic*wish pixie has an extensive background in dance and is a newbie photographer ready to share the wisdom she’s gained through self-discipline and the joy she finds in searching for beauty.
I see a lot of jewelry online day to day. And I mean A LOT!!!
But, truly, one of my favorite jewelry shops online is Marie Bee’s, Blue Balloon. If you split your style between earth/ vintage and simple/ modern you will adore this shop.
Usually, Marie has a lot of inventory, so to make things easy for you, I’ve rounded up my top five necklace picks to help get you started…
1. (above) Vintage Brass and Blue Necklace
Exclusively for Papernstitch visitors: Enter coupon code ‘pns15′ at checkout to receive 15% off your entire order.
Visit Blue Balloon now to take advantage of your special discount code.
I am a BIG photography fan.
I’ve been collecting prints from photographers from around the world for the last few years and its definitely addictive. BUT there is one major downside- at least for a gal like me: FRAMING!
Yeah, its kind of inconvenient to get photos (and any paper pieces for that matter) framed, especially for me because I am cray-cray and like to get all of my frames from the same place, which just so happens to be a two and half hour car ride. So, not exactly easy.
BUT that is one (of many) reason why I absolutely love these photo blocks from Washington-based photographer, Bonnie Jones.
Each limited edition photo block is ready to hang! No framing required. I LOVE THAT!
So, I did some snooping around Bonnie’s etsy shop and wanted to share a few of my favorites…
20% Discount! Receive 20% off at Bonnie Jones on Etsy with “papernstitch3″ coupon code now through September 4th. Enjoy!
Visit Bonnie Jones on Etsy now to browse her collection of photographic prints and take advantage of that 20% discount.
Feel intimidated by the slightest mention of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
You’re not alone! BUT search engine optimization doesn’t have to be complicated (or intimidating). In fact, it can kind of be as complicated or as easy as you want it to be. And I don’t know about you, but I like simple.
So, if you need help improving your search results, read the world’s shortest guide to SEO. Anyone can do this. I promise! Clever. Clever.
August 1st not only marks a new month it is also the start of the new exhibition. As you can imagine, I am super excited. The first day of a new exhibition is always my favorite.
Head on over when you get a chance and share the love with the twitter and facebook buttons at the bottom of this post if you like what you see.
