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This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore and is a follow-up to her earlier post, The First Rule of Pricing.
This week, I want to talk about rule #2 when it comes to pricing for your creative business: it has to be sustainable.
I know that sustainability is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days, but the bottom line is this: if you are working towards a creative business that you can make a living from, you have to be sure that you set things up so that you can earn a living wage. You have to be able to pay yourself. Or else it’s not going to work.
It’s scary. It’s a big thing to consider, especially when you’re starting out.
The truth is that when you get started, you likely aren’t going to be earning a living wage from your creative business. Most of us have side projects or second jobs that sustain us while we get started, BUT you have to have a vision of sustainability in mind before you jump in.
Too often, as creatives, we focus on the passion, on the heart. On the craft of it all. And that all still can count for a LOT but bringing a sense of business in, even from the beginning, can often make the difference between making a living and having a hobby.
The point is for what you love to be what you do, right? Getting real about the business side of things sooner rather than later will help solidify that as a reality.
What is the best business decision you made early on? On the flip side, what is the one business decision you WISH you’d made early on? How were you able to find your sweet spot?
*image via WilloToons: Stitching it all Together
Tiffany Moore, co-founder of Teahouse Studio is an artist, life coach, change agent and magic maker. She helps creatives live their happiest, most sparkly lives (starting NOW) and thinks that everyone in the world is beautiful, including you.
This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore.
Let’s talk about money…yay!
Pricing is no fun. Trying to put a dollar amount on your creative product is never easy. But in terms of business, pricing is critical. (If you’re trying to sell things as a creative hobby, it might be a different story, but please, out of respect for those of us who are trying to do this as a business, know that how you price your “hobby” affects the people whose work is their livelihood.)
When I was working retail, I got a piece of advice from my manager that has been one of the biggest business lessons I’ve ever learned: “Don’t make assumptions about what other people can afford based on where you are in your own life.” It seems so simple, yet, I remind myself of this all the time. I cannot put my own judgements on what other people can afford.
To take that to the next level: I cannot set my prices based on what I, my family, or my friends can afford.
As an artist, a designer, or crafter, it is not your job to determine what people can afford to pay. It is not your job to make sure that your best friend can afford one of your prints. It is not your job to make sure that you don’t make someone feel bad because they don’t have the money to purchase something you’re selling.
It is your job to make high-quality work. It is your job to get paid well for your time and your materials. It is your job to earn a living from your craft.
If you consistently hear, “I’d love that, but I can’t afford it right now,” that doesn’t mean that your prices are too high. It means that you’re marketing to the wrong people. But that’s material for another post?
Your turn: how have you learned to get out of your own way in terms of pricing? What boundaries have you had to push past to ask for what you’re really worth in your business?
*image via Fresh Words Market: My Worth Will Not Be Dictated by a Number
Tiffany Moore, co-founder of Teahouse Studio is an artist, life coach, change agent and magic maker. She helps creatives live their happiest, most sparkly lives (starting NOW) and thinks that everyone in the world is beautiful, including you.
This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore.
In my last post, I offered 3 quick ways to set yourself up for success in 2012. Warning: in this post, I’m going to completely contradict myself.
Here’s my question to you as we step into the new year: how can figure out a way to do less, to take things off your to-do list to actually create some space for new things and blessings in 2012?
We are all so task-oriented. I often work with clients on building their businesses and they all start off wanting the same thing: a checklist. A list of all of the magical elements of business-building, a tried and true, “do this and you will succeed” index of tasks.
I can’t offer them that. Sure, there are certain things that are really helpful in business building. There are definitely people who have proven their own success that can be our role models as we grow our own businesses. However so much of growth has to do with the “being” and not the “doing” and that is the easiest thing to forget.
There’s a feng-shui principle of the empty drawer. It’s said that you need an empty drawer or empty shelf or empty something in your home to make space for new things to come in. I think that we all need that in our lives too, but that’s counter-intuitive to our tendencies to fill up our time/lives/heads with everything else.
So here’s my challenge to you as you kick off your 2012: what can you do to create some space in your life? What can you let go of to create some emptiness for the sake of flow and new things?
PS. This isn’t easy stuff. If the idea of downtime makes you feel panicked, know that you aren’t alone, but starting small is the first step to finding success with this. Trust me, I won’t let you down!
*image via Georgianna Lane Photography: Paris Dawn
Tiffany Moore, co-founder of Teahouse Studio is an artist, life coach, change agent and magic maker. She helps creatives live their happiest, most sparkly lives (starting NOW) and thinks that everyone in the world is beautiful, including you.
This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore.
Even though you’re likely stuck in the midst of holiday craziness, the time is here to start thinking about 2012 and how to set yourself up for success in the coming year. Today I’m offering three steps that will focus your efforts and to help ensure that 2012 is the best, most successful year to date in your creative business:
1. Set your intention for 2012
Spend some time figuring out what you want 2012 to look like for you. Not just your creative business, but your entire life. Who do you want to be? How do you want to spend your time? What goals (both personal and professional) would you like to accomplish? See What’s your Vison to help clarify if you need some tips.
2. Calendar out your big goals
Take a calendar and write out your goals for the year. Do you have a stationery business, but can’t seem to stay ahead of the holidays? Take a look at the year as a whole and determine now when you’ll need to get started on those mother’s day cards to get them to your wholesale accounts on time.
This is a great tool for helping you establish deadlines and processes as well as to help you figure out what jobs you’re able to say yes to as the year commences. The key is to stay deliberate and in control of your business, instead of having to approach it from a reactive standpoint.
3. Reflect & Repair
Now is the time to sit down and look at what worked and what didn’t work in 2012. Once you recognize what didn’t work, take some time to come up with a game plan for the new year.
For example, if you have no clear way of tracking the financial components of your various income streams (full disclosure: I’m totally guilty of this myself), now is the time to devise a system for 2012 so that you don’t find yourself scrambling in February to backtrack and set something up on the fly.
The key is to start with systems in place on January 1 so that the year will run as smoothly as possible. It can be done, I assure you!
Resource Roundup:
Jessica Swift’s printable 2012 Goal & Intentions Kit
Jennifer Lee’s Right Brain Business Plan
Craft Inc. Business Planner
Outright for small business accounting (Note: I have heard amazing things about this system and will be checking it out shortly. I’ll definitely report back to let you know what I think!)
Ali Edwards’ One Little Word 2012
What are YOU doing to set yourself up for success next year? Do you have any helpful resources to share?
I’d love to hear about them in the comments!
*image via stefanie renee photography: pink royal typewriter
Tiffany Moore, co-founder of Teahouse Studio is an artist, life coach, change agent and magic maker. She helps creatives live their happiest, most sparkly lives (starting NOW) and thinks that everyone in the world is beautiful, including you.
This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore.
The holidays are here (whether we’re ready or not!) and, for many of you, now is that time that it all happens at once: holiday gatherings, family, extra shopping. Additionally, if you have a creative business, this is likely you’re busiest season.
Here are my tips for staying sane this holiday season AND for getting the really important things done:
- Say no to social media: I learned this trick from the lovely Erin Loechner — Social media sites like twitter and facebook should be used to connect and promote. That’s it. Having a hard time saying no? Try putting limits on your social media time: start with 15 minutes twice a day, and see how much else you are actually able to get done. Bonus: you might just surprise yourself with how little you miss.
- Do as much as possible as early as possible: Are you already dreading addressing your holiday cards? Make life as easy as possible for yourself by printing address labels NOW. Who cares that your cards aren’t ready? Once you get them picked out and back home, getting them into the mail will be easy peasy!
- Follow the flow of easy: Think you have to cook Thanksgiving dinner for 14 people and entertain the kids and host your family all by yourself? Let people help you! I repeat: LET PEOPLE HELP YOU! There are so many people in this world who are ready to love and support you…all you have to do is ask.
- Learn to distinguish the good from the great: Now is not the time to say yes to every opportunity that comes your way. An invite to a holiday party that sounds fun but that you aren’t feeling 100% about? You’ve got other plans. The chance to cook for the school’s annual bake sale when you’ve got etsy orders piling up? Sorry, but not this year. You can help in February. If you’re willing to commit to only saying yes to those things that really make you giddy, you’ll find that you’ll not only have more time to get your things done, but that you’ll also really love the things you say yes to.
Remember, during the holidays, time is just as valuable a resource as money and it’s up to you to spend it wisely. (Hint: you have a choice. You always have a choice)
*image via shannonblue photography: Christmas Candy Cane
Tiffany Moore, co-founder of Teahouse Studio is an artist, life coach, change agent and magic maker. She helps creatives live their happiest, most sparkly lives (starting NOW) and thinks that everyone in the world is beautiful, including you.
This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore.
Q: How do you eat an elephant?
A: One bite at a time.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about vision and how important it is to have a clear plan for what you really truly want your business to be.
This week’s post is all about action.
While vision is the road that we take to get our business where it needs to be, action is the car that allows us to move down that road and actually get somewhere!
Without action, vision means nothing.
So where does that leave you?
You have your vision. Awesome. You know why this is important. Great. Now what?
So often, it’s easy to get stuck there: now what?
“Eek! But my vision is so big and cool and awesome, it’s scary! I just can’t understand how I’d ever get from here to there,” says the artist who then buries her head in the sand which is one very effective way of getting nowhere fast.
How do you do it? How do you hold the vision while not letting the possibility of what can be paralyze you into not doing a thing?
You step outside of the vision and take the very next obvious step.
The next obvious step: If you are dreaming of opening up your own etsy shop so that someday you can spend all of your working hours making homemade jam in your beautiful kitchen but haven’t ever sold jam before, the next obvious step is not to research press releases and commercial kitchen locations.
The next obvious step is to make some jam that people will trade you money for.
The vision is what helps you determine what kind of decision to make and what choices will drive you. Where you are now (here. right now. get really real about this!) is what helps you determine what the next obvious step will be.
Trust this: those next-obvious-steps will get you to your vision if you have patience and keep taking them. Making the vision big and scary and impossible will not.
Which do you choose?
*image via UUPP: Do Small Things with Great Love
PS. What are your biggest struggles with your creative business? Time management, making time for yourself, trying to fit it all in? I’d love to hear about it for future posts!
Tiffany Moore, co-founder of Teahouse Studio is an artist, life coach, change agent and magic maker. She helps creatives live their happiest, most sparkly lives (starting NOW) and thinks that everyone in the world is beautiful, including you.
This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore. This is Tiffany’s first post as a contributor here on pns. She’ll be writing bi-weekly business tips for you and your crafty business. Take it away Tiffany…
Most of us, myself included, get started in a creative venture, because we are just that: creative.
Do these sentiments sound familiar?
I want to make stationery because I love paper.
I want to sell my paintings online because I love to paint and want that to be what sustains me.
I want to exhibit my photographs because it’s what I do, so I might as well get paid for it.
As artists, being creative is what we do. It’s what we’re good at. It’s our thing.
However, with the focus on being creative, we often lack the most important piece of having a creative business: the vision.
What do you truly want from your business? What do you want to get out of it? What’s important to you about being able to make a living at your craft?
The vision is the key around which everything else will revolve.
With a vision in hand, your marketing will suddenly be consistent because you’ll know what you’re trying to say as an artist.
Your product development strategy will make complete sense because your vision will reveal what you need to make and how quickly it should all come together.
You will be able to answer those tough questions, because you will already have a guide in place for how things can work and how you truly want them to work.
Do you have a vision already? If not, here are a few questions to ponder as you work yours out:
- How do you want to be and feel and act in terms of your business? How does it play into your life as a whole?
- What kind of art do you want to make?
- Do you want to work mainly with clients or do you want to make your own custom pieces?
- Would you like to sell individual products or license designs that can be used by others in different pieces?
- How much creative control are you willing to give up in exchange for money?
- Are you in it for self-expression or maximum impact? Or both?
- Do you just want to make art all day or do you have a message to spread out into the world?
- Are you trying to make a sustainable part-time income or do you want to be able to quit your day job and actually do this?
Once you have the why in your sights, the hows will fall into place. It may even feel easy.
*image via The Wheatfield: Love What you Do
Tiffany Moore is an artist, life coach, change agent and magic maker. She helps creatives live their happiest, most sparkly lives (starting NOW) and thinks that everyone in the world is beautiful, including you.
