Every week as adventure. This week’s list was prompted by Ali Edward’s suggestion. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.

Loving peonies

Writing everything I’ve learned by connecting with readers through email series

Sipping iced coffee with coconut creamer

Matching shoes and skirt

Editing all the ums and ahs, into clarity and zing, turning 20 minute videos into 5 minute videos

Anticipating my little brother’s visit and our week of adventure

Planning a massive house-cleaning in preparation for a week off

Making my first handmade binding

Longing, oddly, to paint. For the first time ever, it just feels like I should be painting.

Hoping to join Flora’s class

Bubbling with ideas for my next class with Diane

Join me? 

Yesterday I went on about how effective email lists are for your business, and today I want to talk about the easiest (and least time-consuming way) to use your list: creating an autoresponder.

An autoreponder is a series of emails that are sent, automagically, to subscribers on a schedule you set. The biggest draw of creating a series like this is that you only have to write it ONCE. And everyone will see it, in the order that you want, forever. Unlike a blog, social media or weekly newsletters, everyone is receiving the information in the same order. And you don’t have to think about it again!

Although these are pretty simple to create (see the tutorials below), I don’t find many of the makers or teachers I work with use them…I’m not quite sure why. We got to talking about this in the Starship, and it sounds like the main block is just figuring out how it would work for you and your business, whether you’re a yarn-maker, a designer, or a writer.

Well, I’ve got some ideas for you! In today’s video (the first lesson in the new mini-class), I explain the benefits and the three different ways you can use ‘em in your business:

Reading this via email? You might have to click through to see the video.

Tutorials on how to add emails to an autoresponder using:

• MailChimp
• Constant Contact

Want to use autoresponders to connect with your customers? Join me on a 5 day exploration!

This video is the first in a series of 4 lessons on using email series in your business. In coming lessons we’ll cover, in detail, each of the ways you can use them, along with examples, and try-this-yourself worksheets. Get the exploration here.

Got questions about using or creating series? Ask me!

PS. Unrelated! See that picture in the frame behind me in the video? That’s a picture of the Starship, commissioned from Amy. You can get art for your business from her!

PPS.Today’s my mother-in-law’s birthday and she sometimes reads the blog. Hi Rhonda! Happy Birthday! I’m sorry your gift will be late, but I promise you’ll get it Friday! xoxo!

Last week I taught a live workshop for a bunch of artists on Social Media for Beginners, and I think I wasn’t quite what they expected. I didn’t start by talking about Twitter, or Facebook or about how to post a status update. I started by talking about a path of connection to your customers.

Because social media, blogs, and even websites are completely pointless unless they are part of a path that brings a potential customer closer and closer to you and your products.

If the only Real Work in your day is to connect or to create, then everything you do to connect…should actually be effective at connecting.  My favorite piece of a path doesn’t actually include social media at all – it’s your email list.

You know, the place where people who want to learn more about your work sign up to get updates or news or stories from you? I’m not talking about cold-calling via emailing, or even subscriptions to your blog. I’m talking about giving interested people a way to connect with you directly, and then sending those people regular messages.
Why is this so effective?

It’s direct. When you send an email to your list, it is going directly to the people who have asked for it. Unlike a blog, where they have to visit you, or social media, where only a few people are online to see it at a time, an email is delivered to them. So you don’t have to hope or wonder if they saw it.

It’s desired. If you clearly explain what they’re signing up for…and then you send them exactly that, your messages are wanted. You never have to worry if the people really want to hear about your new project, of course they do! They signed up to hear about it!

It’s conversational. While it’s easy to lurk on blogs or skim tweets, an email inbox is a place of conversation. We’re used to opening, reading and then responding to the messages we get there. So when you send an email, you can ask questions and expect answers (especially if you ask about them and not you.) And these conversations can guide everything you do – they help you know your real Right Person, they can inform what you make next or suggest where to sell.

It’s foundational. You can start a conversation in today’s email and continue it for three or four weeks (or a whole year!) Using autoresponders, you can create a whole series, so that every new person that signs up, gets the same messages in the same order, ensuring that everyone sees your best work or your introduction or gets to know you before you take the conversation deeper.

I know lots of makers avoid starting (or using) an email list because they think of it as another To Do to add to their week. But what if it wasn’t? What if you could create the content once, have it delivered automagically to every new member, and then not worry about it until you had something new to say? This is why I love autoresponders (an email series sent automatically when someone joins a list or buys a product). Creating content can be as easy as collecting up your best blog posts or chunking up your about page and BAM! You’ve got a tool that introduces new people to your work and starts new conversations, without any extra work from you. It’s a clear and easy step on the customer path that can be automated without losing any of the connection or honesty.

I’ve been getting questions about them from Starship members, so I created a little class about using this tool in your customer path. I’ll be sharing the first video lesson with you here, tomorrow, for free. You can subscribe here to be sure not to miss it.

Do you have an email list as part of your customer path? How do you use it?

There’s a job available, in a town I love, that looks to be tailor-made to my experiences in the crafty-business world. I very seriously thought about applying, (even though it’d be a pay cut from what I make now, doing what I love!) so much that I wrote a friend asking for her perspective. Just writing out all the reasons I was even thinking about going back into office life led me to a big revelation. I don’t want this job, I don’t need any office job.
But what I do miss about job-getting and -having is the validation that comes from being hired. When you work for yourself, there’s no on in “authority” to tell you if you’re doing the right, wrong, or weird thing. There’s no one to choose you, to pick you out of a crowd and tell you are qualified and that all your experience is worth $X.

This leaves the authority in our hands, which can be unsatisfyingly complex. There has yet to be one big moment in my business when I realize that I am right, that I am worthy, that all of my experience has led to this one definition of my role in the world. There have been lots of small moments (signing clients, the book contract, every quarter when the Starship fills up)…but nothing as obvious and life-changing as the just-right job offer can be.

I know I’m not alone in this because earlier today I emailed with a crafter who didn’t get picked as a finalist in a design contest she entered. Contests are another way we ask the outside world, and someone with authority to pick us, to tell the world that our work is worthy. Other authorities we hope to get chosen by: retailers, trade shows, judges, galleries, publishers.

Are you waiting to get picked? Are you hoping for the validation of someone in authority?

Why? What will that bring you, in reality? More work, more writing, more making?

Guess what?

You can do that without anyone else’s permission. You can create, write, make right now, today.

The surprising thing about leading a Starship full of creative entrepreneurs is that every week I get giant reality check. No matter what I think will work for a business, or how well I assume someone is doing during our weekly check-ins I get firsthand stories of what is working, what is not, and what everyone is struggling with. Sometimes, it seems everyone has had an amazing week full of big orders, interviews, and fat accounts. Other weeks, everyone has expensive doctor appointments, sad sales and zero retweets.

In a given week, it can be crushing (or thrilling). I want everyone to be doing well! All the time! But that’s just not realistic. In every business, a little rain must fall. This is the power of regularly checking in with the same businesses – I can see the longer thread of their story. It’s not just this crappy week, but the whole trajectory of how their business has transformed in the last year or more.

With that in mind, I’ve learned there are some things you can do in a bad week to both keep your wits about you, and soften up the hard:

• Take a break from reading how well everyone else is doing. Really, just stop reading it.

• Look for signs from reality. Is this actually, measurably awful or does it feel awful? (It’s totally permitted to feel awful, just don’t let it catastrophize into an unreal business emergency.) Is this problem important or urgent? Being a day late for rent is super annoying, but if you’re just waiting for a client to pay her invoice, and then you’ll have plenty, this is not a huge sign that you suck. Take a deep breath. You’re fine.

• For a real problem, find a quick solution. I’m not a fan of quick-fixes as a long-term plan, but sometimes you need to just get your feet under you. This might be anything from a part-time gig, to a new income stream, to something you’ve never considered.

• If you find yourself in this situation regularly, take a day off to look clearly at your entire business model. How do you get paid? What products do you have available? How easy are they to buy? What is the customer path for each product? Is it obvious? Long?* Map it all out, in detail and find the weak spots. Then make a Next Steps list and get to work.

What do you do during a hard time in your business?

*An example: the customer path for the Starship is long – it takes at least a few months of reading my work, having conversations with me on Twitter, and getting my email lessons to feel comfortable enough to sign up for a whole year working together. Knowing this, I switched to only opening it once every 3 months and I devote myself to helping people come closer throughout those 3 months. This greatly changed my money flow, meaning I have to make other changes in my other income streams. If I didn’t elucidate this for myself, I could tear everything apart trying to “fix” it.

Hello book lovers! It’s time for the book club, but let’s change it up!

Last month I picked two books, but we didn’t have nearly as much participation as the month before, and I think I know why. Two books is just way too limiting, isn’t it?  I read a few at once, and I’m a fan of quitting whenever I want. So instead of just  picking 2 books for us to read and discuss together, let’s just make this a space to talk about everything we’re reading.

I’ll share (some of) the books I read last month and the books I intend to read this month. You can share your list of books in the comments, or we can talk about any of the books that you want to read along with me.

April’s Reads

Icarus Deception. 

Amazon | IndieBound | GoodReads

This book was a big YES to everything I feel about my own creative business, and the way I encourage creatives in their own. It directly inspired this post about the Only Work You Have to Do, whose discussion led to this one on connection…which led to these two posts about creating a path of connection for your customer.

Market Yourself.

Amazon | Goodreads

Yes, I spent a good chunk of last week re-reading my own book, to prepare for teaching a workshop on Artist’s Portfolios + Social Media. The timing was perfect since Saturday was my Book-iversary! The book launched one year ago! (You can get a signed one here.)

Sunday Morning Quilts

Amazon | IndieBound | GoodReads

I read a lot of quilt books last month, but this was by far the best – both in the I-would-make-that quality of the patterns and in the friendly, chatty beginning.

May’s To Read List 

I had intended to read Contagious last month…but I had to return it to the library (someone else had a hold on it) before I got to it. But it’s all mine now, and I’m one chapter in. What makes this book different from all the other ones about business and social media is that it is well-researched by the author.

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up is all about creative nonfiction. What it is, how to write it, and exercises to get you started. Since creative nonfiction is the best definition I can find for what I write, and I’m working on a new project, I’m super excited to read this.

After hearing Father Boyle on On Being with Krista Tippet, I wanted to read his book.  I strongly recommend the recording of their conversation. It’s funny, heart-breaking, and is the very best I can hope for my faith.

Lean In. Eh, I’m requested this book from the library because I’m curious about what it says to women in the workforce. I’ve seen a lot of entrepreneurial types saying “You don’t need to “lean in” because you should start your own business!“…but while I’d love for everyone to do exactly what they love, I know that’s not a choice everyone has, in every situation. Until I read this, I’m not recommending it, because it has the potential to be completely annoying.

Last week my 14 year old brother called me up to say, “I just finished Divergent. It is BETTER than the Hunger Games. You have  to read it.”  We’re going on a family vacation at the end of June, and since 14 year old boys are notoriously hard to have conversations with (without stabbing out my own eyes), I hope to be caught up with where he is in the series so we can talk about it. (Yes, I take recommendations from everyone. And I know we have similar taste (in movies and books, if not in video games.))

I’m an affiliate for Amazon + IndieBound, which means I get soy latte money if you buy through the links I’ve used here. GoodReads is a free tool for tracking what you read.  I  read all these books via my library, which I strongly recommend!

What are you reading? 

Ok, time for another un-awesome truth.

You know how I’m teaching 4 workshops in the next few days? Yeah, I’m nervous.

Although I teach all the time, I don’t often hold in-person workshops. On top of that, the Western North Carolina Art Councils are not my typical audience. Usually, when you come to one of my classes (in person or online) you already know me. You come because you’ve been reading this blog, or my book, or you get my emails. You have an idea of what you’re getting – a fast-talking, pink-haired, enthusiastic book nerd with a few too many pop culture references.

That’s because, like I’m always encouraging you to do, I fill my business with my Right People, and I focus all my energy on serving them. That means I am pretty much always surrounded by people who both get me and like me. But at these workshops, students aren’t coming because they know me, they’re coming because they’re HIA members and they want to learn the subject matter.

This tiny shift is monumental.
It means that, for the first time in a long time, I’m not already totally comfortable. I’m hesitant being my weird self. And the truth is, I debated with myself: is it better to focus solely on the self-selected Right People…or go outside my already-defined comfort zone and serve not-yet-my-Right People.

But even though I still have no idea how it will go, or if I’ll fail miserably, I am confident that this is the right thing to do. I know I need to wade out into unknown waters and try something new. Even if I bomb, I need to show myself that I can take the flawed, enthusiastic self and be fully ME in front of perfect strangers. I need to trust that what holds true with us, here, in the safe spaces I’ve built (on the blog, email, Twitter, and the Starship), will hold true in the Outside World. That openness, bravery, and exploration work for me all the time, and that business help that centers on defining your ideal business speaks to everyone.

Oh, I still stand by my assertion that you should focus your marketing energy on your Right People, 100% of the time. You don’t need to try to make yourself uncomfortable and scared. Life provides enough moments to be brave. But if an opportunity comes up for you to meet a whole new audience? One that you just don’t know about yet? Take it. Try it.

What Brave New Thing have you done lately? Let’s celebrate our bravery in the comments!

PS. Also, thanks to a tip from Alex, I’m using science to calm myself. I’m not nervous, I’m vibrating with anticipation! I’m not sweaty, I’m enthusiastic!