Weekly-ish notes on navigating big change

The Adventures

Every day is an adventure. I share the view, the gratitude and the news on Fridays – you’re invited to join in. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.

It's been FOREVER since I've done an Adventures post! I've been sharing most of this on Periscope + Instagram lately, but I miss sharing them with you, so it's back!

The view

LOVE the colors in this shot by my producer Justin. Today I am back to work after the whirlwind wonderfulness of @creativelive filming (followed by family-visiting) & I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your sweet notes, comments and posts oMaking (public) gratitude a regular practice with #churchofgratitude. So grateful for: The CSA box ???? peach & berry season ???? snuggling pups ???? Sunday drives & long talks about the future???? reading a novel in PJs ???? being HOME :s
Impromptu coffee with @iamknitbrit & @knitgrrl, on their way to Purl's in Asheville! If you're in the area, go to the trunk show Saturday at 6pm! #avl #ashevilleDon't forget to look up. #sanfrancisco #taralovesadventure
A seriously beautiful day!

#WhatIlearned in August is that I love a challenge to break me out of what I think is possible. I'm all about #consistency & #everyday, and just STICKING WITH IT is the goal most days....but sometimes you need to commit to something bigger and crazier to

I am so grateful for…

  • Fall + cooler weather!
  • The great time I'm having on Periscope
  • My CSA box is so inspiring our cooking!
  • Super exciting teaching opportunities for the next 6 months!

The Finds:

I’m reading:

I’m eating: 

In case you missed it: 

  • I'm sharing a (free!) mini-course on reaching your goals here. Sign up to get it!
  • I'm teaching in Seattle next month at the School House Craft Conference! Join us here!
  • I'm Periscoping a few times a week and I'd LOVE to hang out with you there! To join, just download the Periscope app to your phone, search for TaraSwiger and then follow me. You'll be notified when I'm live (and you can watch my broadcasts for up to 24 hours!)

What adventures have you had?

Make 2015 awesome: It’s not too late

make2015awesome

Do you remember what goals you set at the beginning of the year? How close are you to reaching them?

In today's episode, we're going to talk about how to end the year strong, and get back on track if you've fallen off. It's not too late to make 2015 an awesome year.
Today's episode was requested by Periscope. If you like the podcast, join me on Periscope! Just download the Periscope app, look up TaraSwiger, and start following me. The app will notify you when I'm live broadcasting, and you can join us live, or watch the replay for up to 24 hours.

Everything I mention in the podcast comes as a part of a Starship membership. Click here to learn more and be notified when it opens!  

How to listen

  • You can subscribe to it on iTunes (If you do, leave a review!)
  • You can listen to it using the player above or download it.
  • Subscribe or listen via Stitcher (or subscribe in whatever you use for podcasts – just search “Explore Your Enthusiasm” and it should pop up!)

Find all the podcast episodes here.

 

An Important Distinction: Tasks vs. Projects

taskvsproject

Ever since I started preparing for my class on getting more done, I’ve been obsessed with what holds people back from doing what they want to do, or feeling good about their workday.

One of the biggest frustrations people have is that they just can't seem to get through their To Do list, no matter how hard they seem to focus.

After hearing this again and again, and looking close at what they actually PUT on their To Do list, I think I've discovered the problem:

There is a difference between tasks and projects.

A BIG DIFFERENCE.

It’s the difference between you feeling awesome and you feeling awful.

I go into detail about that distinction in my class, but I want to make sure you *get* it.  No matter what system or process you use, you need to distinguish between a Project and a Task.  

 

The difference between Tasks and Projects:

A task is a single thing that you can do in one session. A task might be labeling your products or making a single item.
A project is bigger and includes multiple tasks. It might be designing and printing new labels, or making enough items for a craft show.
(Answering a few emails: a task. Getting to Inbox Zero from Inbox Million: a project)

 

This is where a lot of people get overwhelmed. They try to work on big projects, without breaking them down into tasks. And for some people, this works. They don't have to think through breaking it down, their brain does it automatically. But for many makers and creatives, you can only see the big project and try to tackle it all at once. This is a recipe for overwhelm and feeling bad about your workday.

The solution: Just recognize the distinction!

Look at your list right now – is it full of projects?

Take a minute and break each project into its tasks!

P.S. If you want to be sure that you're breaking down the most important projects (the ones that will move you towards your bigger goal) into tasks, and that you actually DO all the tasks, check out the Map Making Guide. It walks you through this process, and includes an e-course, so you're prompted to work towards it, a bit at a time, over the course of a week.

Lisa Jacobs on copywriting and income reports

LisaJacobs

Lisa Jacobs has built a jewelry business on Etsy (The Energy Shop), is a marketing consultant for creative entrepreneurs, and she recently taught with me during the Improve Your Holiday Sales bootcamp at CreativeLIVE.

We discuss:

  • The two types of marketing writing
  • Why Lisa was about to quit everything
  • What she's enthusiastic about

 Links we mention

How to listen

Find all the podcast episodes here.

What I’m Reading: September 2015

Reading September

follow my enthusiasm by reading…a lot. And once a month, I share (some of) the books I read last month and the books I intend to read this month. You can join the informal book club by sharing your own list in the comments and find all the posts here.

What I read

  • Landline, by Rainbow Rowell – As you might have noticed, I've been loving Rainbow Rowell. This one is definitely not a YA book – it's a great look at what it feels like to be married for years.
  • The Art of Learning, by Josh Waitzkin – This book has been recommended by so many (male) podcasters I listen to, and while I liked it, it was far less about how to learn, than how this particular person learned chess and martial arts. He shares a bit of his story (which is interesting!) and then  tries to break it down into something you can apply to learning anything … but with more chess and martial arts metaphors. In other words, I enjoyed it, but I would like a much more direct book about learning, or one that used metaphors I actually understood.
  • The Martian, by Andy Weir – With all the intense work and CreativeLIVE prep, August was a month full of novels! This one was fun + quick, and although heavy on the science and math, it had a propulsive force that kept me reading. Can't wait for the movie!
  • The Faithful Place, by Tana French – Still loving this series from this author. Basically what I said last month.
  • Broken Harbor, by Tana French – Ditto above.
  • Your Perfect Presentation, by Bill Hoogterp – Read this in preparation of CreativeLIVE and while I was already implementing a lot of his tips (focus on value for the audience, tell stories, ask the audience to respond), it challenged me to make my class even better.
  • Ms. Marvel – Oh man, this comic is GREAT. If you haven't been reading it, go out and grab the first volume, especially if you love empowering stories for young girls (It's totally appropriate for any girl 10+)
  • Manage Your Day to Day –  This was this quarter’s Starship Book Club pick, but I waited to read it until after I finished writing my class!

 

What I’m reading

 

What I read last September

What are you reading?

 

 

 

The usual disclaimery disclaimer applies! 

Abby Glassenberg on Email Marketing for Crafters

AbbyG

Abby Glassenberg has built a thriving sewing pattern company, she is the podcaster behind the popular interview show, While She Naps, and the writer of my favorite blog. I was happy to get to talk to her about her own experience with creating a (massive!) email list with content I look forward to and how she helps makers do the same.

 Links we mention

 

How to listen

Find all the podcast episodes here.

Adventures in Business with Fiber Artist Riin Gill

Today I'm happy to share the adventures of Starship Captain Riin, who is the owner of Happy Fuzzy Yarn. Riin knits, spins, dyes, runs Happy Fuzzy Yarn, and drinks a lot of strong black tea. She lives with her boyfriend, two rabbits, and a really astounding amount of wool in Ann Arbor, MI. Connect with Riin on Twitter, Facebook,or Ravelry.

 

People have this fantasy of what it's like to be a full-time maker. But what's a normal day for you really like?

Ha! There is no such thing as a normal day! Ok, there are some similarities … I get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, the minions start arriving … and after that, I could be redesigning labels, or writing a blog post, or fixing a spreadsheet whose formulas went wonky, or coming up with a new colorway, or dealing with petty bureaucrats, or designing a shawl … There is always a lot of strong black tea involved!

There are so many ways to make a living as a maker – how are you doing it? What have you combined and how has that changed through the years?

In the beginning I did everything — the soaking, dyeing, washing, rinsing, labeling, packing, shipping, getting things online, maintaining the inventory, all of the social media, all of the response to store inquiries, all of the advertising, all of the designing, all of the writing, all of the editing, all of the everything. As Happy Fuzzy Yarn has grown, all of that has grown to much more than one person can do.

I've been moving into more of a Creative Director role. The brilliant and amazing Carol Ullmann has been interacting with stores, writing, doing social media, and designing, and she's working on a business plan. The extremely talented Heather Sauntry has taken over most of the dyeing, and is also doing some designing. Other minions are doing things I never had time to do when I was trying to do it all, like make lots and lots of little sample skeins.

Aside from money I've spent on things like my mortgage and groceries, I've put nearly every penny back into the business, so I'm not sure I actually am making a living yet. I've got a roof over my head and I'm not starving though, so I guess that counts for something!

starrysocks-heelandsoledetail

What new thing are you exploring now?

I just started advertising in Yarn Market News (the trade magazine for the yarn industry), so that should increase my brand recognition among LYS (local yarn store) owners, especially ones who don't make it to TNNA (The National Needlearts Association – a trade show for the needlearts industry).

Also I've been working out formulas to do gradient sets. I am really excited about that!

What's your definition of success in your business?

To be honest, I have two.
On the one hand, I just want to make enough money so I can enjoy what I'm doing and make beautiful things and not have to worry about whether I have enough money to pay wages AND taxes AND my mortgage AND order supplies, but just know that yes, there is enough, and I am happy, and my employees are happy, and our customers are happy.

On the other hand … ok, let's face it. I want fame and fortune (or as much fame and fortune as one can get in the yarn world anyway). I have had people tell me my yarn is nicer than Wollmeise or nicer than Madtosh or nicer than anything else at TNNA, and obviously those are subjective statements, but if a lot of people think my yarn is nicer than yarns which are thought of as the holy grail, I think my yarn should be just as famous and fast selling as those yarns! So I want that, plus everything on the first hand!

tnna2015-corriesock

What's the next destination you're working towards?

We desperately need to move into a larger space. We've been starting to scope out commercial real estate, seeing what's available, what it would cost, and figuring out how that would affect, well, everything! Happy Fuzzy Yarn has grown to the point that it simply doesn't fit in my house any more. We need a light industrial space so we can dye more at a time, have more drying space, more storage, a larger shipping area, and so on. We're thinking a small retail area at the front would be a natural addition.

 

Want to learn more about other Starship Captains like Riin? Sign up here for an Early Boarding Pass and be the first to know when the Starship reopens for boarding!

Get More Done: a sneak peak at the CreativeLive class

getmoredone

If you are listening to this episode as it’s released, on August 19th 2015 – first of all, thank you! You’re awesome. Secondly, if it’s between 9am and 4pm PST, go to CreativeLIVE.com right now and click “watch live!” and you’ll be able to watch me teach! Live!

If you’re not listening RIGHT at that moment, I wanted to give you a sneak peek at what I’m teaching, so that you can start to have a more productive day RIGHT NOW. If you like what you hear, you can purchase the class here and get anytime access to over 5 hours of videos, the full 20+ page workbook, and a discount to Lift Off!

Imagine that it’s the end of your workday. You close your computer, walk away from your sewing machine, put away your supplies. You take a moment to look back at what you just got done. Instead of feeling frustration, or that it’s never enough, you feel calm. You feel GOOD. You’re proud of what you got done, and you know that it matters – that it is moving you, bit by bit, towards your goal.

That is what I want for you, and that is the aim of this class. So that soon, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, you’ll get done working, and you’ll feel GOOD.

In this episode I share the Three Keys to Getting More Done. 

 

How to listen

Find all the podcast episodes here.

You’re invited to Get More Done! Live + Free on CreativeLIVE

Tara_Swiger_How_To_Get_More_Done_Instagram_612x612

I'll be honest with you, ALL I can think about this week is “Getting More Done”, both the class I'm about to teach with CreativeLIVE AND the act of getting more done. If you follow me on Periscope, then you know I've been asking you: What keeps you from getting more done?

I've taken all the responses (and all the questions my readers have sent me for the past 5 years!) and put together a solution, that will work for YOU, whether you've got 30 minutes a week or 30 hours a week to work on your creative business.

Along with the questions I’ll answer in the class (like “How do I balance admin time and studio time?,“ “How can I build my business with SUPER limited time?”, “How do I decide what's important and impactful for my business?“), I've also been asked some questions I'd like to answer NOW.

How does this work?

Go here and click “RSVP”. You’ll get both the bonus Holiday Sales Calculator worksheet right away (along with bonuses from Tara Gentile, Abby Glassenberg, Lisa Jacobs, and Megan Auman), so you’ll be ready to start class Wednesday morning. At 9am PST (Noon EST) on Wednesday, August 19th, class will begin! You’ll get a reminder email to log on and when you do you’ll see me teaching, in real time! There’s a chat room for you to ask your questions (the hosts will be lobbing your questions at me on the regular) and a hashtag (#CraftWeek2015) so you can connect with your fellow students.

What’s the schedule of the class?

Note: Times are in PST!

9:00-10:30AM What do you NEED to get done?

10:45-12:00PM What's in your way?

12:45-2:15PM Find the Time (no matter how little you have

2:30-4:00PM Make Your Plan

 

Who is this class for?

This class is aimed at makers who sell their work and want to get more (of what matters) DONE each day.

This class is for you if…

  • You struggle to find time to work on your creative business.
  • You’re frustrated with trying to balance all the aspects of your business: making, marketing and admin.
  • You have a list of things you really want to do, but find yourself NOT doing them.
  • You don’t know where to find the time to work on exciting new projects (like a new product, book, marketing plan)
  • You’re a curious explorer. You’d love for this to be a fascinating adventure, not a boring slog. You’re ready to learn + move forward, not judge or guilt-ify the past.

 

What's up with the Holiday Sales Bootcamp?

My class, Get More Done, is part of a weeklong series of classes aimed at making your crafty shop ROCK the holiday summer.

On Monday, Tara Gentile will cover pricing and value.

On Tuesday, Abby Glassenberg will teach you how to write and send an effective email newsletter.

On Wednesday, I'll help you get more productive.

On Thursday, Lisa Jacobs will improve your copywriting (ie, your product descriptions!)

On Friday, Megan Auman will walk you through putting together your marketing plan!

By the end of it, you'll be ready to have a fantastic holiday season in your shop!

 

What if I can’t watch live?

Watching live is free, but you can purchase anytime access. You can get my class here for $79 (the price will go up after class, so jump on it!) or you can buy the entire 5 day bootcamp. Each Day’s page tells you what we’ll cover on that day, so you can pick the one that’s right for you.

Whether you can watch live or not, you may want to purchase the class to get some amazing bonuses:

  • Anytime access to the videos (so you can revisit it again and again!)
  • Full workbook to guide you through making your OWN system of getting things done
  • Resource Guide with links to my favorite apps + tools
  • $50 off Lift Off

 

I’m bummed I missed the Wrangle Your Time class, where can I get it?

Well, you’re in luck! While you can't take Wrangle Your Time  as a stand-alone class (it is in the library of both the Starship and Lift Off) – it is ALL covered in this class! In fact, this class digs even deeper and gives more tips and software recommendation.

 

I don’t have a business yet, I just have ideas.

Ready for some tough love?

If you are still just “playing around” with “some ideas”, but you really REALLY want a business (and not a hobby) – step away from the internet. Stop taking classes, stop reading books, and stop looking at what other people are doing. Go into your creation cave and create your best work. Make 5-10 of them (whether this is products, designs, artwork, whatever). Ask yourself if you enjoy this enough to make 50 more. Then, take some pictures and make it available for sale (either online or in a craft show).

THEN, you are ready to start thinking about becoming effective with your time.

In other words, this class is going to be most useful to you if you know what you make and it’s available for people to buy, somewhere. If you’re not sure how to move from Idea to Business, check out Kari Chapin’s class on getting started.

 

What's Periscope?

Periscope is a live-video streaming app. Even if YOU have no desire in sharing live videos, you can join (just download the app!) and follow me, so you get notified of any of my live videos. There's a chat room, so you're not just watching, you're also talking to me! Periscopes only stay online for 24 hours, so if you miss watching live, you miss it!

I've been using Periscope to answer quick questions about your small business, help viewers prioritize their week (or celebrate what they've accomplished) and share behind-the-scenes of my own projects (I've been announcing new projects and inviting participation on Periscope before I do anywhere else). While I’m traveling, I’m shooting live videos of any cool place I visit (coffee + yarn shops + dinners with other makers!)

I interact HEAVILY with the chat room, so Periscope is the best way to get some personal interaction. (You can always book a 1:1 session here and get my personal attention for a full hour. They're VERY limited and book up quick, so if you've been thinking about getting personal help, grab it here, then hang out on Periscope in the meantime!)

 

Don’t forget to register to watch the class free: https://taraswiger.com/time

Got a question?

Ask on Twitter (I'm @taraswiger) or Facebook and I’ll answer (in between traveling). Hope to see you in the class!

 

 

Megan Auman on visual marketing, neuroscience of desire, and MBAs

MeganAuman

Megan Auman is a designer, metalsmith and educator, who makes gorgeous jewelry. She's teaching  Build Your Holiday Marketing Plan at CreativeLIVE during the Improve your Holiday Sales bootcamp, where I'm teaching Get More Done. You can watch it live, for free, if you sign up here.

Today Megan's joining me on Explore Your Enthusiasm to talk about:

  • Turning points in her business
  • How she discovered she didn't need an MBA
  • The importance of visual marketing and getting what you're worth

Links we mention

How to listen

Find all the podcast episodes here.

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