This has been a rough week. I'm down physically because of a miserable cold. I've been too tired to do a lot of physical activity. Fortunately I have sold some and most of it is already made. Yay!
I've been spending the quiet time thinking a lot and defining what it is I want out of life and my business. It's much more thinking work than I ever thought it would be, and I realize now, why so many people aren't successful. Most people, like myself, just jump into it, without any thought to what they are doing. Some are lucky that success falls into their lap. It does happen. Most are not, because they are not taking on their product with a holistic approach. They are just making pretty (or sometimes not) pretty things, and expecting them to miraculously sell.
By holistic I mean that you are proud of every aspect of your designing, crafting, marketing and identifying your buyer. Think like a business, because that's what you are. I've been toying with this. Artists tend to not be organized, if you're not, get your accountant sister-in-law to help. You need to define your product, what makes it unique and prioritize. I've done a lot of that, but I'm going to do some stream of consciousness brainstorming to get more ideas. You just visualize your product with pen and paper in hand and write whatever comes into your mind, related or not, just write for at least 10 minutes.
I need to do this before I finish me website, because I know I'll discover more about me and my work and myself. I really need to identify my buyer, so I can gear my marketing toward them first. Then I'll work on talking the rest of the population into loving what I sell. I need to market myself as well. I need to make myself someone that a buyer can trust to hand craft them what their heart desires. Trust me, I have some lovely property in Florida.
That's a lot of great insight you are sharing, thank you!
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