Posts Tagged ‘business tips’
Do you know Jenny Batt from Hank & Hunt?
I bet you do, especially if you’re a DIY lover, (if you aren’t familiar with her work already, head over here to see some of her recent projects). She is everywhere these days, creating DIYs for Oh Happy Day, One Charming Party, Hello Bee, Ruffled…and…well, I’ll just stop the list here, but I could list more.
So anyway, aside from being a freelance DIY superstar, she is also a good friend of mine. And we recently put together a four part series on the Alt Summit blog all about freelancing, since it’s a topic we both know a good bit about.
If you’ve ever wanted to know how to land paid freelance positions on your favorite sites, how guest posting can grow your blog leaps and bounds, or simply how to juggle it all once you get started, make sure you read these posts. And leave a comment either here or on the actual posts themselves if you have any specific questions you want answered.
Here are the post topics Jenny and I wrote about for Alt:
1. Guest Posting + Being a Contributor 101: Want to start at the beginning? You’ll find the basics of working as a freelancer in this post.
2. The Five Steps for Contributor Success: Step 1 is to always create amazing content. Always. Get steps 2-5 right here.
3. How to Land a Great Freelance Position: The longest post of the series! And probably the juiciest. Jenny and I share tips for both paid and non-paid freelance gigs in this one.
4. How to Create Great Content For Other Sites While Growing Your Own Blog: Ah, balance is always a hard one, right? This last article in the series talks about 4 specific things you can do to grow your blog, while writing for others at the same time.
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That amazing cat photo above is from Leah Reena Goren. Her cat’s name is Baby Moses!
P.S. Are you going to Alt in January?
This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore.
Today’s post isn’t meant to be helpful to you in moving your business forward. I’m not going to list tips and tricks to get more followers on facebook or more subscribers to your newsletter.
I’m not going to list the top 5 ways that you can be more productive or manage your time better.
I’m not going to recommend that you do anything but reflect.
Stop and reflect.
We all spend so much time moving, pushing, growing, learning and trying to make everything better – the absolute best that it can be. We do it in our businesses, and we do it in our lives.
We do it so often that the forward momentum becomes a habit (which as a coach, I LOVE!), a habit that while serving us in some ways, hinders us in others. A habit that often forces us to overlook the things we’ve accomplished and built for the sake of getting more and better.
Today my challenge to you is this: take a little time to be.
To be with your business, with your life, with your relationships, with yourself. Take stock of where you are, knowing that it’s no accident, that you have built your life in this way.
Maybe there are some things that you’d change, but rather than focus on those, spend some time thinking about what’s right, what’s working, and what’s worth relishing.
Look at the creative business you’ve built and give yourself some much-deserved credit for getting it to a point of awesome. By stopping to reflect, you’ll be able to see where you’ve been, what you’ve learned, and how far you’ve come.
And then tomorrow, you can get back to the business of making more awesome. But trust that, for today, you’re just as awesome as you need to be.
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*image via Katie Daisy: Here and Now
Tiffany Moore, CPCC is a life & business coach for highly-creative people who aren’t living the highly-creative lives they want. Just yet. With provocative questions & hard-edged encouragement, Tiffany helps skittish someday-ers become fiercely focused creators — and proves that dreams do come true. But only when you demand it. <
Life is filled with distractions.
And for that exact reason, time management is something that everyone struggles with at one point or another – whether you have a traditional 9-5 or you work from home.
But the thing about working from home that makes things more difficult than going into an office every morning is that many of those distractions become more apparent.
You live where you work, so there is a lot less separation. The dishes need to be done, the laundry is piling up, and your dog is practically begging you to take her to the dog park.
AND you don’t have a boss breathing down your neck, so accountability practically flies out the window. Uh-oh!
So you are going to need a game plan for combating those constant disturbances, so you can stay productive (and motivated) while working from home.
I am going to give you that game plan in this five minute video.
If you are currently struggling to stay on top of it all, take a few minutes to watch this video, and then let me know in the comments below which of these 5 tips was the most helpful for you.
Have your own time management tricks? Great! You can leave your response in the comments below too.
There’s an inspirational recording from the fifties called “The Strangest Secret.” It’s old, yet remains relevant. I’ll cut the fat from it for you and reveal The Strangest Secret to success right now (though it’s a good listen, check it out if you can)!
The Strangest Secret to Accomplishing Your Dreams:
“We become what we think about.”
This means you must keep your dream on your thoughts at all times to succeed.
Action Step for Achieving Your Dream: Keep a card with your dream written on it in your pocket at all times. Check your “dream card” often if that’s what it takes to keep your dream on your mind. That’s it.
I know this sounds like intangible optimistic nonsense from a new-age guidance counselor, but this works! Let me tell you how it worked for me. I wrote a post on my blog about my Dream Shop, in it I painted a vivid picture of the Brick and Mortar shop I’d love to open. When I wrote that post my dream shop was a pipe dream, as impossible as high-fiving my hero, the autobot leader Optimus Prime. Now it’s a reality.
I talked to people about my dream, people read the post and resonated with it. Then I received both monetary and volunteer support to transform my shop from an ethereal fantasy to a brick and mortar reality! And it wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t broadcast my dreams.
Write about your dreams, tell your friends and family, and evangelize about your passions. We are what we think about; think about your dreams and failure will be impossible.
Vanessa wrote this post. She is a full time copywriter and webmarketer with a passion for art, creativity, and thrift. She writes about thrifting, creating, and saving money every weekday on her blog, Thrift Core.
Last week, I interviewed full-time artist, illustrator, and surface pattern designer Jessica Swift about her uber-successful rain boots project that you have seen on KickStarter recently. And today, I am sharing the podcast version of our interview. Excited!
I had watched her project take off from the very start and was really impressed with the way she was able to make it happen (and so quickly too)… At the time of our interview, Jessica had already raised more than $19,000 to fund her project (her goal was $18,000) and she still had almost two weeks left to go to raise more. Now the project is at more than $20,000 with a week left to raise additional funds before the rain boots are actually made.
If you are thinking about trying to get a project funded via KickStarter, you really need to listen to this interview with Jessica. She shared a lot.
Here’s what we discussed in the 25 minute podcast:
-How Jess started the rain boots project and what the process was like raising funds on KickStarter (I also explained what KickStarter if you are unfamiliar with the site).
-How Jess was able to navigate through the world of manufacturing to make her project a reality.
-The work that went into raising more than $18,000 in funds in a matter of weeks. And how you can do it too.
-And more.
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Reference links mentioned in the podcast:
-Mark Pound at Blosma (helped Jessica put the puzzle pieces together for get her product manufactured). Find Mark at www.blosma.com.
-Jessica’s email address: jess(at)jessicaswift(dot)com
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You can visit Jessica Swift on www.jessicaswift.com. Visit her Etsy shop: Jessica Swift Etsy shop. Or you can also follow Jessica on twitter @jessicagswift.
AND To pledge funds (pledges start at just $1) to Jessica’s KickStarter Rain Boots Project, visit this link: Rain Boots with Secret Messages.
If you like this interview, please help Jessica and I spread the word by using the buttons below (twitter, facebook, stumbleupon).
Listen to the podcast now…
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