Weekly-ish notes on navigating big change

How to Experiment (and scare yourself)

how to experiment

Confession: during this session of the Effective Blog class, I've been following along with the students and doing the homework myself. You see, I'm kinda ambivalent to blogging, but I love experimenting. But how I feel about blogging is old stuff. It's not new or based on the current reality. I need to experiment, to see if everything is true or not. The other day in class, Diane mentioned that she likes to do 30-day experiments to see if something works or not. That, combined with this post from Elise, combined with the excellent stuff I learned during our live discussion, inspired me to get started now.

So I'm doing a public 30 day experiment, right here. And I'd like you to join me.

I didn't plan on saying anything about it, but I'd like to have some company. And experimenting is better when we do it  together. I'd love for you to join in with me, to hold your own experiment!

Before we get in to it, let's talk about what makes a good experiment (you can find full How to Experiment instructions on page 100 of the book.)

How to Experiment

1. Set a thesis. What do you want this experiment to do for you? What do you think will happen?

2. Set the parameters. How long is this experiment? What will it entail? (You are so much more likely to stick with something if it has a clear end date. You'll also get better results if you plan a time to stop and reassess.)

3. Put the support system in place to hold it. What will you need in time, space and energy to do the experiment? How can you set up your day, week and life to make that possible?(Hint: if you're not writing every day now, something will have to change for you to be able to do that next week. Time, space, tools, etc.)

4. Review the results. What worked? What didn't? At the end of the experiment, make notes about the results, how you felt, and what you learned. Use it to set up your next experiment!

You can use this to experiment with anything (going vegan, trying a new marketing channel, increasing sales, etc). The really important thing here is to experiment with things that you expect a clear result from in the time allotted.

For our experiment, we're going to start today, and stop on 9/3. That's not very long, so pick something do-able for that long, and set your goal small. Very small. Even smaller than that. Got one? Ok!

Here's mine:

1. Thesis: blogging every weekday until 9/3 will increase my connection with the community or readers and explorers. How will I know that happened? People will join me in creating their own experiment, and even more people (let's say, twice as many) will join me for the next group experiment in September. (This will probably also result in more emails, Twitter conversation, etc, but I'm not measuring those.) This all serves my Big Goal for more connection (via vulnerability) in my life + work.*

2. Parameters: The experiment ends 9/3. It includes sharing something publicly here, in this space, every weekday. Something useful, entertaining or inspiring. At least once a week I'll hit “publish” on a post I'm a little afraid of.**

3. Support systems in place: Time to write every morning, creating a list of possible topics to carry me through the whole month, scheduling the ones I feel inspired to write. (In other words, my classic non-planning planning.) I'll talk more about the tools I use later.

*This goal isn't that business-y, because I'm plenty busy with current clients. But what I've learned through building the Starship is that there's an amazing private, deep community there, and I'd like to supplement that with a broader, more public community outside the Starship, so that everyone can experience at least a bit of the magic of exploring with others. In order to do create that, I have to stop doing all my stuff in the privacy of one-on-one and Starship work, and start bringing it here. That's the reason for this experiment!

**This week, that post would be this, right here!

That's my experiment. Would you like to join me with your own?

You can experiment on absolutely anything! (Blogging regularly, blogging about different topics, using Twitter, FB, Instagram or whatever in a new way…the possibilities are endless!)

To join in, just leave a comment with your experiment (including thesis, parameters, etc), and we can check with each other using #experimentFTW on Twitter or Instagram. Prefer to keep it private? Email me! On 9/3 we'll be back here with a new experiment!

The Adventures

This week was full of real-life adventures (I traveled solo) and internal adventures (family) and crafty adventures (quilting).

The view

Starting a four-day solo adventure. #selftimer The new shoes are a perfect match for my kindergartener-appropriate outfit
My week is full of meeting babies. Today: Flash the lamb.
3 days with mom = 2 quilts. Of course.
No one looks cool singing aloud on the car
Finished top, ready for quilting.

Farmer's Market score :: vegan smore's :: driving :: new shoes :: lamb! :: quilting :: singing along to FUN! :: finished quilt top

The finds

This week I was almost entirely offline. My short time online (1 hour every morning) was spent entirely inside my new class. Even so, I managed to stumble across a few internet wonders:

If you're at Stitches Midwest, stop by booth 631 and say hello to my publisher! And get some lovely yarn from Starshipper Riin in booth 327.

 

What adventures did you have this week?

The Adventures

Welcome to a new little weekly thing, wherein I practice noticing the week's good and gathering it one place. Each Friday I share pictures (from Instagram), my favorite links (I usually tweet them), and whatever else I think you’ll like. This is totally inspired by Colleen and Elise.

This week was all about getting ready for next week's class. Not just because it's a lot of work, but because this is very rare for me. If you look around this site, you'll notice that there's not a lot going on publicly. I don't have one-on-one consulting open to the public, I no longer do small classes, and I don't have many products for sale. There's the book and Map-Making Guide (each around $25) and then…the Starship. Which is a one year, $500 investment. If you wanted to get my take on something, or just learn from one class, there's not a lot of opportunity for that. Monday's class is only the second one I've offered all year. But I do teach classes monthly, I answer people's questions daily, and I brainstorm and problem-solve  live for over 30 craftybusinesses every week…inside the Starship or with my long-time clients.

So this, this 8 day, $50 class, which comes with lessons and one-on-one conversations and question-answering – it's all the awesomeness of the Starship, but in a tiny, easy to digest bite. That's great for you, but it's challenging for me. Its a bit vulnerable to put out a class that might or might not fill up. To dive into something short-term so fully and boldly. To risk and to pursue, without getting a big commitment in return. It's an opening up (and it's kinda uncomfortable).

But!

This opening is a fractal. Both a sign and cause for openings all over the place this week.  I took part in my first on-air broadcast. In it, I spoke honestly about the wretchedly overwhelming year that came after I quit my dayjob.  I encountered (gently, and quietly) a personal pain I've been avoiding for a long time. I cleared up and automated my finances, so that I'm making measurable movement towards my goals. I created (and found a sponsor for) a live event in Seattle.* I got my first royalty check.

Here's what all that opening looked like:

 

Goodness from the Farmer's Market :: Sliced peaches for this cobbler:: Knitting with my Starship Captain inspiration :: a homemade vegan coconut mocha frappuccinno to power the live video chat :: celebrating with Your Sister's Sister in the sofa cinema

 

The places + finds

  • The video chat! I learned SO much from the smarties who shared their stories. You can watch the whole thing at the bottom of this page.
  • Wanna get your own royalty check? My publisher is teaching a class called Get Published. Check it!
  • I wrote about Speaking your Customer's Language over at Rena Tom
  • Yesterday was National Ice Cream Sandwich Day! My favorite favorite vegan treat is this sandwich. YUM.
  • In my work with Vianza, I discovered and fell in love with the packaging vegan body goods from LOVE + TOAST. Then, yesterday, I stumbled on them at my grocery store and scored some shampoo. Today my hair smells (and feels) fabulous.

 

*Details of the Seattle event coming soon, but for now mark your PacNW calendars for September 1 at Noon.

 

A friendly reminder: If you want to craft a blog that works for your specific business, today's the last day to register for Crafting an Effective Blog. Don't dawdle!

Got a question about creating an effective blog? Ask it. Live.

Ever get an idea and just DO it?
Right away in a flush of inspiration and excitement?

Well, that's what happened in a quick flurry of emails between Diane and me, yesterday afternoon.

We decided to do something we've never done before, and we don't ever do: Answer your questions live, for free, on air.

Hangout about crafting an effective blog

 

Tomorrow, at 10a PST/ 1p EST we're going to hold a live Hangout On Air. Watch it here.

We'll both be sharing what we've learned from our own experience of blogging, and we'll be answering your questions about making your blog effective for your business.

To get in on the action:

  1. Watch the video, right here. We'll livestream the conversation on the class page. So come back here at 1pm EST on Wednesday to watch.
  2. Ask your question off-air (in your pjs, even!) below in the comments or on Twitter. Just put #effectiveblog in your tweet between now and tomorrow 2pm EST and we'll answer it!
  3. Tell your friends you're chatting! Click below to share on Facebook or click here to tweet.

Our Special Guests include:

 

 Want a step by step system for making your blog effective?

Join the class. In it, we answer all of your questions with depth and consideration…and you get the fabulous feedback of a classroom full of other craftybiz smarties. Sign up here.

 

The Adventures

Welcome to a new little weekly thing, wherein I practice being me, here. Each Friday I’ll share pictures (from Instagram), my favorite links (I usually tweet them), and whatever else I think you’ll like. This is totally inspired by Colleen and Elise.

 

The view

This is a two-notebook day. #brewingaqesomesauce
Catching up #projectlife
Striping away. #knitting
#nofilter #blueskies
Dal Makhti (with cashew cream), samosa-stuffed potatoes, jasmine rice #vegan #yum

Working on the new class, catching up on Project Life*, knitting, working at the library, Dal Makhti with cashew cream, samosa-potatoes, and jasmine rice

The finds

 

Notes to self

  • WHY + HOW: this is how I answer every idea or question, ever. Read more here.
  • I've been getting ready for the Effective Blogging class, and have been thoroughly enjoying finding all the past things I've said about the subject:

     

     

    That's it for me! Where have your adventures taken you this week?

     

     *I'm totally in love with Project Life and how it's pushed me to actually PRINT the photos I take. I've got a little system for doing it each week, but it's totally unrelated to running a craftybiz, so I'm curious: is this something you'd like to hear about? 

How to decide if you *should* do something

howtodecide

You're allowed to build the business that you want, the kind of day that you want, and that you can interact with your products, people, and time in a way that works for you. You don't have to do what you've heard you should do in order to be succesfull in biz.

I talk and write and think about this (shoulds + permission) a lot, because you're thinking and talking and asking about it too. Nearly every conversation I have with a craftybiz explorer starts with them saying “Well, I know I really should… {blog, tweet, send a newsletter, blah}“

I always answer with two questions: Why? How?

No, really: Why?

 Why do you think you need to do it? What is your goal with it? Which one of your specific goals will it help you reach?

Everything you want to do, everything you think you should do – ask it: WHY?
This one question can keep you focused, can keep you with the effective, important work. It can wipe away the shoulds, and direct you towards what you really want.

 

One of the giant-est shoulds in the crafty world is that you should be blogging. And after being part of the blog-reading and blog-writing world for nearly 10 years (we're counting that Diaryland I had in college, because I made my first “internet friends” with it), I'm still not entirely convinced*.

*I get into why you should/should not blog  in a free mini-course you can get here.

But for a lot of us, we slice the should with a Why and our answer is simple and clear: because we love to connect.

We love to have a place to share our words, or our photographs. We have a business we love and we want to share more than 140 characters about it. We create products we love and we just want to talk all about it. We've met our customers and they are lovely and we want to have a way to communicate with them.

But blogging [personal, cooking, gardening, crafting]  is totally different than blogging for your business. Yep, you want to share your you-ness, you want to speak in your voice. But your purpose is different, your readers (and your relationship with them) is different, and your end result is different (do you want comments? or do you want sales?).

It's time for that second question: How?

Once you know WHY you want to do something (blog), HOW does it help you reach your goals? HOW do you do it in a way that's effective, creative and still fun? How do you connect to your Right People, and not just other crafters?

In the upcoming class, we explore these questions. We've put together everything we know about blogging (Diane's a genius at building an audience) and marketing your sweet crafty business (I kinda wrote the book on that) and we came up with a systematic approach, a series of worksheets and questions that helps you answer HOW for yourself. It  makes sure you spend your time creating a blog that's effective. You can join the class here.

And whether you join the class or not, turn these questions to the shoulds that are rattling around your mental To Do:

 WHY do you think you should do it?
And if you decide you really do want to: HOW? How will you make it effective and you-filled?

The adventures

Welcome to a new little weekly thing I'm starting, in an effort to bring more of my real self, my every day life to this space. Each Friday I'll share pictures (from Instagram), my favorite links (I usually tweet them), and whatever else I think you'll like. This is totally inspired by Colleen and Elise*.

 

The view

I started an email to @kpwerker, paused for a fortune cookie...

This doe came shambling through the yard while I drove into my driveway.

My gift to baby Drake: onesies embroidered with lyrics his mom & I sang along to (the Indigo Girls cd I bought her as a bribe, the Dasboard concert we went to)

Making...a book of all the things I love this summer

I saw the AC repairman's face & for the 1st time, I realized: I have a LOT of fiber art.

My fortune, an unexpected deer, onesies with lyrics from concerts the mom + I went to, a photo-book of things I love, just a bit of the fiber in my living room.

 

The words + places

The finds

  • This article in Fast Co. about why Millennials don't buy stuff is very encouraging for making things with meaning.
  • My favorite new music video (and I don't have cable, so I pretty much don't know anything about any other music videos)
  • I just love this conversation between Sarah + Ronna about faith and how it fits into our online conversations
  • A great video on framing embroidery, from Sublime Stitching. I plan on doing this, this weekend!

*Elise's blog is the first new one I've found (and become addicted to) in a long, long time. She's a fabulous example of a creative entrepreneur who share's her Elise-ness and thus, attracts her Right People.

 

 

That's it for me, but what about you?

What adventures have you had this week?

 


This is not about getting more done.

this is not about getting more done Donuts have nothing to do with anything

Do you ever end the day with frustration that you didn't get more done? Even if you marked stuff of your list, it just wasn't enough. You sat at the computer, or dye pots, or jewelry table for 8 hours and yet…you just didn't get everything done.

Yeah. I hate that feeling.

I mean, I really hate it. It ruins everything. It makes me grumpy in the evenings. It sucks momentum away from projects. It totally kills my enthusiasm.

To avoid it, I tried to do more. I tried to beat back that I-didn't-do-enough feeling with doing more. I played its game. I accepted that the feeling meant something, that it was objective, and that I wasn't doing enough.

I put more on my list, tried to figure out how to get more done in the time I spent.
But that didn't fix anything.

It was exhausting and not very much fun.
And it looks a lot like a day job, which I left, to work for myself.

Something has to change. And just as soon as I acknowledged that it wasn't me that needed to do more, it's that judgement, the “I didn't do enough” at the end of the day that had to change.
I don't need to get more done, I need to stop staring at the screen when I'm not getting anything done.
{Click to tweet this!}

This isn't about taking breaks so I'm more productive, it's about changing the standards.
I'm not seeking productivity, I'm seeking fun. I'm seeking fulfillment. I'm seeking that feeling where I'm satisfied with what I did, that I believe I'm enough, that I'm not holding myself to some ridiculous standard.

 

It's not about the productivity

Productivity is about getting more done. About making more products, more money, more connections, more traffic, more followers. And it's enticing, because you know you do need to grow those numbers, get stuff done, make connections. Getting stuff done become the highest priority. So you fill in your time with getting stuff done. It doesn't matter if it's the right stuff, or the effective stuff, you just try to get more and more done each day. But getting more done for more's sake won't get you anywhere. And it'll leave you tired, and bored, and unenthused.

Let's circle back to what started it: making products, connections, ideas, making. If I want more of that, the way there isn't through more productivity. The way to doing what I want to do is to follow what I want to do.

Let's take productivity off the list of things that are important and replace with other stuff. Stuff that really propels our business. Stuff that really fuels us.

It is about

Having fun
Having space and time for creativity
Writing
Watering my enthusiasm
Following the momentum

What does that look like?

For me, following momentum, enthusiasm, etc means that I walk away from the computer once I've reached that slow, can't-think-time of the day (around noon; I start at 8am). I go get lunch, or go to a yoga class. I put away the computer and read. Or write. What I do doesn't matter, what's important is that I'm allowed to, nay, expected to, because my goal isn't to get as much done as possible in one day, but to follow the momentum and water my enthusiasm.

And even writing that, I can feel all the worries rise up: Will I ever get anything done? Will I have a huge to-do list I just have to power through?

Those are smart concerns, and I've struggled with them since I first decided to do away with productivity a month ago. After rigorous scientific testing, I'm happy to report that nothing exploded. Everything got done. In fact, I added a big new pile of work by doing a read-along inside the Starship (2 extra emails/week, full of projects, links, resources, and brand new thoughts).

What is different is me. I've had better ideas. I've acted on inspiration. I've been smarter and quicker for my clients.
And I've got much more important stuff done (yeah, a lot of the unimportant stuff has fallen away).

But that's not the goal.
I have to remind myself of this everyday: It's not about productivity. It's not about getting more done. It's about being present with what I'm working on. Noticing when I'm done. It's about exploring the possibilities, the various ways my days (and thus, my life) can unfold.

 

If your days weren't about productivity, what would they be about?

 

 

 

 

Read-along, and a free project

This week in the Starship, at the insistence of the explorers, we started a read-along of my book.
Instead of just reading and sharing the worksheets with each other, I was inspired to make it crafty (We've all got crafty businesses, right? Why shouldn't we bring craftiness into our business planning?).

I had so much fun with it, that I wanted to share it with everyone.

Below is the email I sent to the members of the Starship:

***

Hello Captain!

In this week's reading (Chapter 1), we start thinking about marketing as a path. Everything you do in marketing (which is any communication with your potential buyer) is laying bricks in the path of a person who was a stranger, then comes to find you and buy from you (and comes back again and again). In the last message, I asked you to share what your path looks like right now.

But in today's project, let's use our imagination: what will your ideal path look like? What will the experience be like for your best customer be like?
And to stretch your imagination and make it even more fun, we're not going to just answer the question with words, we're going to create that path, and create that experience.
You can choose between three options:
  1.  Write a story
  2.  Draw a picture
  3. Craft (using any of the crafts you do) a charm for your best customer to take on her journey.
You can do this however you like, but if you need a few more ideas, here's some prompts:
1. Write a story: Create a story with your best customer as the heroine. Start the story before she finds your product: what's she thinking? What's she struggling with? And then! Bam! She finds you (how?) and falls in love and has the best experience in the world! Describe that whole experience and make sure that it's a real story – with conflict, plot twists and adventure (or romance, if it's a love story). For bonus points: tell it from her perspective (1st person).

2. Draw a picture: Using the paths that comes in the map-making guide you can draw the actual path, and fill it in with all of the different steps your customer takes. But don't use words! Create symbols, signs and metaphors for every part of the path (a flock of birds, for twitter, maybe?) and draw it in there.
OR, forget the path metaphor and draw the experience of your best customer. What's she feel like? What does she do to find you? Do this in your own style! It can be expressionistic, abstract, or a comic book or cartoon strip.
Note: You could paint this! Or photograph! (maybe a series that shows her journey, or something to symbolize the path)

3. Craft something: You'll have to do a little of one of the above before you get started: imagine your Right Person's experience and her life. Imagine her troubles and her enthusiasm. Now – make her something for her journey. (Perhaps it's a necklace that gives her superpowers, or fingerless gloves to protect her against the cold wilderness, or a scrapbook for her journeys.)

When you've done one of the above (take all weekend, if you like, but no more than that – don't let it distract you from the real work of your business!), sit down and write about the experience:
When you were in the flow of the project, what surprised you?
What did you learn about your person, or the path you're building for her?

Share your project, and your reflections on the experience in the Communication Station.

***
Ok, so if you're not in the Starship, you won't be able to share it int he Communication Station, but you can join the Starship here or share your answers in the comments, below this post.
I hope you have as much fun with this as I did (I made a painting for my Right Person/Fellow Explorer).
I can't wait to see what you make!

What this is all about: 4 principles for Adventure + Exploration

This month, since the launch of Market Yourself (my first book!), has been amazing. I've met, both in person and online, a whole new community of crafty business owners. Since there are so many new people around, I wanted to say hello properly:
If you're new here, I want to welcome you and tell you a bit more about what's going on and what you can expect
If you're not new here, I want to THANK you! Last week marked my birthday, my site's 2 year anniversary, and the Starship's one year anniversary. Without you reading and replying, none of this would have happened.
Whether you're new here or have been reading for over 2 years, I just wanted to share what it is that we* do here. 
*When I say “we”, I mean you and me. Here at Adventure HQ, it's just me and the pup, so “we” always means you+ me, the community of makers. 
  1. I write, talk and teach about discovering the wonders in your business. I'm not interested in finding the “right” way – only the way that's right for you, your goals and your people. Your biz, no matter how new or old, is an entire world, filled with a culture, a people (your buyers), and adventures. Although there are some business basics that we all use, you get to use it in your own way, to buildyour own kind of business, exactly as you want it. Exploring your business means doing experiments to see what will work (and what won't). There aren't easy answers, only exciting adventures.
  2. One-size-fits-all doesn't fit anyone.  The business you want is different from the business I want. And that means that we each have to find our own way.
  3. Finding your own way can be lonely, so we do it together. I share my stories here, and I try to turn them into helpful lessons to email you. You can share your stories on Facebook or (more privately) in the Starship.
  4. Comparison sucks. Compassion (especially for yourself) rules. Looking at what someone else has and trying to recreate it only leads to unhappiness, and it blocks you from seeing the amazingness that you really want, and the biz you can build. This is a hard thing to remember, so we talk about what that feels like, a lot.
If you're nodding along to all this, then yay! You're in the right place!
You can get mini-courses on exploring your business and invitations to tools and spaces to aid you in your explorations right here.
The best, most helpful tool/space I've created (and where I spend all my time!) is the Starship, and it closes tomorrow.*
If it is for you, be sure to sign up before it closes tomorrow.
If the Starship's not for you, check out the other tools and spaces for adventurerers (some of them free!)
*The Starship only opens once a month, so I can take the time to welcome everyone in one by one, and get them oriented before the next class begins. 
Oh, and one last thing: I answer any and all questions, so feel free to ask. 
Until next time, I'd love to hear what kind of business you're creating. What do you want to experience? What do you want to explore?

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