Making sure you price your jewelry the right way is probably one of the most discussed topics by jewelry artisans wanting to know “how much should I sell my jewelry for?”

And it’s tough.

You have to work out what parts went into your piece, how much they cost and how long you spent creating it.

So for most people they figure out something like:

(Cost of parts * 2) + (a dollar amount for my time)

In this article I’m going to explain to you why that’s dead wrong and you need to be thinking about quite a bit more when you price your jewelry.

Firstly just to clarify who I am and why you should listen to me, my name is Gary Capps and I am the owner of the specialist inventory and pricing software Bead Manager Pro.  I’ve personally been lucky enough to work with thousands of small business owners just like you to manage their jewelry businesses and get them tracking things the right way.

Christine has done some work with us before and wanted me to share some of the knowledge that we have gained through working with our customers throughout the last 5 years we have been running and bring that to you here in her great blog.

Now in this article we are going to be primarily looking at pricing but I want you to think long and hard as you read this how it applies to your market.

If you don’t know what your market is then that’s one of the very first steps you need to take because if you don’t know who you are selling to then you have no way of knowing how you can price anything because handmade jewelry is a “love purchase”.

Lets face it, it’s not a practical “must have” item, it’s something that people love and that’s why they buy it and that gives us some great flexibility on pricing because the first thing I want you to know is that “Your jewelry is worth what you can get someone to pay for it”.

Working Out Your Material Costs.

So lets take a look at the pricing model I listed above and break down why that’s wrong.

Firstly, multiplying your part costs by 2.  Now is that right or wrong?

In this instance it could depend.  There is no way you should just be taking the cost of your parts adding them up and then adding labor on top, you’re simply giving your stock away.

I would suggest that you have at least two or three different markups on your inventory depending on your market.

If you are selling to retailers then obviously your markup on your actual stock will have to be lower because they have to make a profit on your jewelry when they sell it, so keep it to around 2 times the cost of the material.

If your selling it directly to your customers then make your markups higher, even up to 5 times if you are buying in bulk and getting a great discount.  Take advantage of that and put that markup into the finished piece.

And, I can’t stress enough at this point; you obviously need to know EXACTLY what you used to create you piece.  If you don’t know what went in there you can’t possibly work out what the cost of all the pieces were so keep track of your materials.

How To Value Your Time

This is the bit that most people get so dead wrong.  They workout roughly how long it took to create a piece, assign themselves an hourly rate and add that to the finished piece.

So, if it took an hour to make a piece and you assigned yourself an hourly rate of $20 per hour (for example) then they will markup the cost of the parts and just add $20.

This is so wrong.

If you are in anyway serious about making even some money for your jewelry you have to know what your time is worth.

Have you even considered your overheads?

Over’ya’whats…??

The overheads for your business;  electric, phone, advertising, Etsy fees, tools, training etc etc.

What about the time you spend on admin doing paperwork and ordering new materials?

“But I love ordering new materials, looking at all the new techniques and shopping down my local bead store”, I hear you say.

And that’s great, I applaud that, you should love what you do.

But I also believe you should get paid for doing what you love.

And to know that you need to know the figures.

So, write down:

·         How much income would you like to make per year? (#1)

• How many weeks will you work a year? (#2)
• How many hours will you work a week? (#3)
• How many hours do you spend on admin a week? (#4)

Then you can calculate what your hourly rate SHOULD BE by doing this calculation.

Income (#1) / weeks (#2) * [Work hours (#3) – Admin hours (#4)]

Try it and you will be surprised at what you come up with as your new hourly rate and we haven’t even got started on the overheads yet.

So What About The Overheads For Your Business?

Even if your small you still have overheads.  You still bought tools right?  You still use electric to run your soldering iron right?  You still need to use the phone or the Internet to call suppliers right?

All these things are a direct cost attributable to your business.

So again write down what your costs are every week and tally them up.  If you direct overheads per week are $20 and you are working 20 hours per week on your business you need to add an extra dollar an hour to the figure you already worked out that your time is really valued at.

If you don’t do this you’re really running your business blind with no idea of the true costs involved for creating your beautiful jewelry pieces.

It’s obviously no-where near as easy to work out the weekly cost of your tools because they’re not a weekly purchase so that’s why in Bead Manager Pro we have automated this whole process so you can enter in some simple figures to work out your entire hourly rate including overheads and tools.

So What Is Your Jewelry Piece Worth?

Well, I already gave you the definitive answer at the start of this article.

“Your jewelry is worth what someone will pay for it”

But what you must know if you are to run a successful business is “what did your jewelry COST in the first place to make?”

If you know that then you have all the knowledge and bargaining power you need when your talking to a customer because you know that if you sell it below a certain price then you are losing money, and that’s no way to run a business, even one you love.

And remember, people love to buy jewelry; they don’t need to buy jewelry, so sell them with compliments not facts and figures.

Sell yourself and your story, your great work and what makes you and your jewelry unique.

I hope that’s given you all some great food for thought anyway and I would love to hear your feedback below.

If you fear competition and think the handmade market is just too saturated, read on.

When planning to sell your handmade goods online, there are a lot of things to think about, and competition is always one of the considerations.  If you've  been taking the idea of "nicheing it down" to heart, then you might be making the big mistake that many of us insecure creative types make.

The mistake is this:  Thinking you need to find an "untapped" market where you have no competition.

Contrary to popular belief, seeing that others are selling items you want to sell should warm your heart.

Why?  Competition is a good thing because you can....

1) Confirm that people are buying in that niche market

2) Learn about the market much more quickly

3) Grow your business much more quickly

Likewise, no competition is very very bad.  The pioneer days of the internet are over so its unlikely you'll be the first person to think of selling to an untapped market.

We'll discuss some ways to leverage the competition  in detail so you don't make the mistake of choosing to make items that will have no takers, and instead choose a niche and devise some strategies where your business can thrive in the competitive environment.

Confirming That There Are Buyers

Competition usually means people are spending money.

Did you watch my Master Class Video on market research?  If you did, you might remember that one of the criteria of a good niche is that people are spending money online.

How can you tell if people are spending money?

Advertising dollars being spent is a pretty good sign.  If you see others spending money on advertising, and see the same ads over a period of months, then you can surmise that the advertisers are making money.  Magazine ads for example typically need to be purchased 3 months at a time so if you see a company advertising for more than 6 months, then you can be sure the ad is creating revenue for the company.  If lots of advertisers are selling similar products, you can bet that there are enough customers to warrant it.

Ditto for online advertising.  Online advertising dollars being spent is a good indicator.  An even better indicator is proof positive that people are buying.  One way to figure that out is by using the eBay advanced search technique, or scrutinize the data on CraftCount.

If no money is being spent, then whether you've spent years building an infrastructure or whether you are just starting out, you need to bail. Get out and don't look back. Life is too short to fight windmills like Don Quixote.

(I know Don Quixote fighting windmills is a romantic story - “Dreeeeeam - the impossible dreeeeeam...!” But in real life the impossible dream sucks. I prefer the attainable dream. Not as poetic, but a lot less work.)

Gathering Market Intelligence

Gotta love the internet and how far it's come. Internet marketing is starting to mature and technology has caught up so there is a buffet of free tools out there that give absolutely unbelievable intelligence about the market.

Types of intelligence you can gather:

• How well others search engine optimize (so you know how hard you have to work to beat them)
• Which products are hot and which are flopping
• How much money is being spent on advertising (to get a gauge of market size)
• What others do well (and not so well) so you can find holes in the market you can fill

Gathering the intel isn't too hard.  A quick look at a web pages source code can sometimes tell you the keywords they are trying to rank for in the search engines.  Checking the Alexa rank tells you approximately how popular a website is.  A look at an Etsy shop will show you what others have bought (although not for how much).  A check on Google Adwords will show you approximately how much advertising is being done for a specific keyword term and how much search volume there is.  And oftentimes forums and blogs can be great resources to find out what customers are happy (and not so happy) with.

Using the Competition to Grow Your Business More Quickly

One of the biggest reasons people fail in online businesses is thinking about the world as a “dog eat dog” kind of place.

The more generous giving person will always capture the trust and hearts of others – and reap the benefits.

Competitors are best viewed as potential partners down the road. You can get to know them and leverage their influence to increase yours. Combining influence goes a long way towards increasing traffic if you can find good influential partners.

Here are just a few ways to partner with your competitors. (There are actually many, many more if you start thinking creatively.)

• Trade articles (or blog posts) with them. Web content for you and a link back for them and vice versa.
• Create referral relationships – for example if you repair jewelry, you could partner with someone that gets requests but isn't interested in repairing jewelry.
• Barter services to save time and money. For example, if another businessperson hates writing, but you love it, you might write for her and she could give you some service that she is good at in return.
• Create contests together.
• Mastermind together to talk about what's working and what's not working. This way you don't need to do all the trial and error yourself.
• Get advertising on their site to leverage their traffic.
• Advertise on their mailing lists. You can often get dirt cheap ad space on a newsletter mail-out.

Conclusion

Clearly competition trounces no competition and you can see now why instead of running away from competing businesses, you should instead thank your lucky stars they are there.  We've looked at how to check for buyers, various ways you can gather intelligence about your market and your competitors, and also a number of ways you can grow your business a lot faster by partnering with others.  Now that you have all this new knowledge, go out there and find some competition and make your handmade business a great one.

Best,

P.S. For 3 more reasons why you should love competition (and a ton of ways you can leverage them to increase business) consider joining Handmade Results Weekly.  This article is a small excerpt from one of the 52 weekly lessons.

About the Author

Christine Gierer is the owner and creator of this jewelry business blog. With a focus on internet marketing and business fundamentals, not wasting time on stuff that doesn't work, and good 'ol commonsense, she loves helping jewelry makers make strides building their successful online businesses.

Never ever try to be everything to everybody.

Have you ever seen "generic" handmade jewelry?

Of course you have.  It's everywhere.  Glass bead earrings.  Handmade beaded necklaces.

Dime a dozen styles without distinction.

And of course low priced because typically sellers who aim to please everybody try to lowball the competition because that's all they really have to distinguish themselves from the thousands of others trying to sell similar generic jewelry.

Or maybe the seller has "product lines" that are vague and unrelated.  Mommy jewelry, religious jewelry, dog jewelry, men's jewelry, and glass bead jewelry are the categories.

Selling low cost generic jewelry or mishmash of styles jewelry lines always seems to smack of desperation.

I know you don't mean to let the desperation show.  You're just trying your darnedest to sell your creations and you're hoping something - anything - will work.

I have news for you.  You can't appeal to "everybody" and be successful.

Vague is never a good branding strategy.

If your products are targeted to “American Women”  you have an impossible job on your hands.  There are so many subgroups, and they all have different needs and desires.

Targeting Obsessive Markets and Markets With a Mission

The easiest way to distinguish yourself is to tightly target either an obsessive niche market or a niche market with a mission.

Obsessive niche markets are ones where people are just crazy enthusiastic about something for the sheer pleasure of it.  Think hobbies and interests.  What distinguishes people from others and makes them unique?  It's often quirky things like collecting "elephant" related items.  Or being an avid golfer or an avid comic book collector.  Maybe it's quilting or cats or a certain breed of dog that they spend oodles of money on.

These are markets that love buying items related to their obsession -- and often their friends and family have no clue what to gift them other than something related to their obsession.

Here's an example of an obsession related jewelry niche -- women who knit.

There is absolutely no logical reason in this day and age to knit.  Yarn costs a fortune and you're certainly not saving any money by knitting, yet hand knitting is a big niche industry.  Women who love knitting buy expensive magazines, specialty yarns and knitting needles, and knitting becomes part of their identity.

If you sell to "American Women who love knitting" you can make knitting related jewelry like sweater brooches, knitting specific charm bracelets, and goofy altered art jewelry with knitting related images.

See the image to the left? It's a "shawl pin" and I found it on a site called "The Shawl Pin Store".   Now there's a targeted business.  (Of course do your market research well before you choose any niche!)

So what's a niche market with a mission?

A "niche market with a mission" is the classic "problem" based market.  Someone has a problem, and needs a solution.  Maybe they need special jewelry because they are getting married.   The wedding market is the classic "niche market with a mission" for jewelry.

If you sell to "American Women who are getting married in the next 6 months" you can be focused and seek out brides to be on wedding blogs, wedding forums, wedding magazines, and wedding industry trade shows.  You can write helpful articles with wedding tips and what wedding jewelry goes best with different wedding dress styles.

See how narrowing your focus makes all your decisions about producing and marketing jewelry so much easier?

Paradoxically, narrowing your focus will also make you a lot more money too.

Conclusion

If you are one of those sellers who thinks "everyone" is your market I challenge you to rethink that strategy.  As Dr. Phil says, "How's that working for ya?"

Best,

P.S. Are you nicheing it down?  Share your experience and your site links below in the comments

About the Author

Christine Gierer is the owner and creator of HandmadeResults.com. She's "niched it down" to handmade jewelry sellers that want to sell more online.  For step by step lessons to turn your jewelry business into a money-making machine you are excited to work at instead of a time, money, and energy draining endeavor, try out our Handmade Results Weekly Course for only a $1

Nowadays anyone can find out all sorts of information about people and markets for free so there is no excuse for not doing your due diligence.

In a sec I'll show you one of the many techniques you can use to do market research for possible jewelry markets.

First, let's back up and talk about why you need to market research.

As I've said before -- and I'll say over and over again -- narrowing your market is one of the keys to choosing a target market.

Trying to sell to "everyone" never works.

(By the way... notice I said "choosing" a target market.  Most people make what they like then try to figure out who they are selling to.  That's backwards.  Do your research first and make sure you cater what you make to what the market is already actively searching to buy.  That's if you ever want to be successful that is).

Watch the video below to discover how to use eBay search as a market research tool.

Note: This technique is not the only tool you should be using to look at whether a market is viable or not.  You should stack up lots of different clues before you make the decision to throw yourself into any niche market.

Steps to the eBay Completed Listings Market Research Technique

Go to eBay and login.  If you don't have an account, you'll need to create one.
In the eBay search box, enter in the keyword phrase you are researching.
Click "advanced search"
Check off the "completed listings" box
Click "Search"
You'll now be able to scroll through the listings and see what has sold and what hasn't.

This technique is just one of many you can use to see if a market is viable.  You should also do other research and make sure you have all your bases covered before you put in time and energy into any niche market.

Best,

P.S. Handmade Results Weekly will show you exactly what makes up a good niche and shares dozens of techniques so you can evaluate with certainty.  There are certain criteria that need to be fulfilled to make a market worth entering, and I'm not going to lie to you... jewelry is tricky.  Market choice and product choice is crucial to your success and I would love to see you succeed   Try out Handmade Results Weekly for only $1.

About the Author

Christine Gierer is the owner and creator of HandmadeResults.com. With a focus on internet marketing and business fundamentals, not wasting time on stuff that doesn't work, and good 'ol commonsense, she loves helping jewelry makers make strides building their successful online businesses.

If you hate marketing but love helping people then you'll love forum marketing.

What's Forum Marketing?

Forum marketing is simply marketing on forums, in groups, and marketing on other interactive social networking community sites.

I call it "forum marketing" because forums are the easiest to explain, but you can use a similar strategy in other social networking groups too.

What's a forum?  A forum is an online discussion board where you can post comments, ask questions, and share opinions.  Messages are at least temporarily archived so you can go back days, weeks, months, even years later and keep adding to the discussion.   Typically forums are about a specific topic or set of topics of interest to the group.

The key to marketing without selling on a forum is to...

1. Choose forums that are targeted to your niche.  Don't waste too much precious time on Etsy forums for example if you sell wedding jewelry.

Why?

People that sell on Etsy go on Etsy forums.

People that are getting married go on wedding forums.  Spend the majority of your time with your market, not with your peers.

Likewise, if you sell supplies to handmade business owners, the Etsy forums are a very smart place to spend your time.

2. Choose forums and groups that are busy and have good readership. I can't emphasize enough that your time is precious.  It takes just as much time to post on a slow forum as on a busy one.  Go where you get the most exposure for your time spent.

3. Don't Sell. The best way to market in forums and groups is to not really "market" at all.  The stink of a money-hungry salesperson  can be smelt a mile away and is looked upon none too kindly.  Instead, become part of the community and be helpful, inquisitive, and supportive.  Luckily for you that's much more fun and much easier.  Paradoxically, it's also much more effective since people hate being sold to, but they love to buy.

What Do I Talk About If I'm Not "Selling"?

If you're new to the whole concept of  forum marketing you might be wondering, "What do I talk about on group sites after I join in and introduce myself?"

Here's what I recommend:

1. Read First

At first just read what everyone else is talking about and sort of get a feel for the community.  Each community is different and has a different dynamic.

After getting a thorough feel for the community, find a few posts that you have an opinion about and post an opinion or ask a question.

2. Post a Little at First

Return every couple days, make a post or two, and keep reading what others are talking about.   Why?  Because that is what's natural.  That's how a real person who is part of a community behaves.  They hang out and read first.  Then they add in their two cents to posts that interest them.  As time goes on, they become more and more a part of the community.

3. After a Few Weeks Answer Questions

After you have been there a few weeks and have made a dozen posts or so, you might want to start answering questions that would make you sound like somewhat of an authority and sound really helpful.  Not like a know-it-all, but like someone trying to help out others.

What you shouldn't do is promote yourself blatantly, start making tons of posts all at once, or ask leading questions that aren't helpful.

4. Add In a Link to Your Site in Your Signature Line

After that, continue doing more of the same.  After  a few weeks and a dozen or two posts it will be fine to start adding a link to your site in the signature line.  I wouldn't do it before that because not having a signature link at first is also what's usually natural.  When you do add a signature link, it will be added to all your previous posts too.

5. Keep on Being a Part of the Community

Hopefully by that time you will start to feel like part of the community yourself, and you'll no longer worry what to post about.

Always remember that on the forums, the best way to promote your online storefront and yourself is to not promote.  Be yourself, be helpful, be likeable, and post truly helpful posts, and you'll be rewarded with clickthrus and sales over time.

When to Expect Results

You might be wondering how long this strategy will take before you start to see some results.

There are a lot of factors at play here, so it's hard to say.

A month is probably a good estimate.

How effective your forum marketing turns out to be depends on many things, including...

• How well you integrate into the community (because people buy from those they like and trust)

• How targeted your forum and group choices are

• How targeted your products are to the market

Targeting Your Products to Your Market is Key

No matter what, your results will ultimately depend on how targeted your products are to the market.  If your products are targeted to "American Women"  you have an impossible job on your hands.  There are so many subgroups, and they all have different needs and desires.

Narrow your focus, sell very specific targeted items that people are already asking for, and you get results a lot faster.

Let's take Narnia inspired jewelry for example.  If you become active on a Narnia forum, and you sell Narnia inspired jewelry, you might get tons of sales earlier because there are people actively looking for those specific products and can't find them.  I know this because I saw people asking where to get custom Narnia jewelry on a Narnia forum while doing some research.

Conclusion

It's definitely possible to have a successful business without active selling.  Marketing without selling becomes easy with the right strategy and forum marketing is definitely a good way to build up some steam over time.  Give it a try and let me know your results

Best,

P.S. This question came from a 30 Minute Jewelry Webshop P.R.O.M.O. customer who wanted clarification on one of the techniques taught in the guide.  For more on this strategy and 4 others, as well as how to get all this promotin' done in less than 30 minutes a day, check out the 30 Minute Jewelry Webshop P.R.O.M.O. guide for yourself http://www.handmaderesults.com/promo

About the Author

Christine Gierer is the owner and creator of HandmadeResults.com. With a focus on internet marketing and business fundamentals, not wasting time on stuff that doesn't work, and good 'ol commonsense, she loves helping jewelry makers make strides building their successful online businesses.

Do you have a question or comment about Marketing Without Selling?  Comment below...

Here's a different method for goal setting and it's the one I tend to use most.

A Lot of Visions... Too Many Shiny Objects

The way I look at it, this method is for those who -- like myself -- tend to have a LOT of visions and find themselves veering off course because there are just too many shiny objects about.

Our biggest problem?

It's certainly not lack of ideas, and it's not lack of confidence or self-doubt.

The problem is simply keeping your eye on the prize and moving towards the goal you started out with!

We visionary creative types absolutely need a grand vision so we can see what we are aiming for.

As long as we keep the end goal in mind, we tend to find the resources as we need them...  We see the opportunities as they present themselves.

Are you a creative type whose biggest struggle is moving towards your goals?

If you said yes, try my Grand Vision method:

The Grand Vision Model Steps

Step 1: Write down everything you want to achieve - no holds barred.

Step 2: Prioritize these acheivements:  Put a number beside each showing how many years it will take you.  Want a new house in 3 years?  Put a "3".

Step 3: Narrow down your choices. Which ones do you REALLY want the most?  Aim for 3 this year, 3 more within 3 years, and 3 more within the 5-10 year range.

Step 4: Write down a "WHY" statement for each of these goals.  Make sure the reason is big - huge!

Step 5: This is important.  As humans, we move away from pain faster than we move towards pleasure.  Make NOT achieving these goals painful.  Write down why it will hurt you to not to achieve these goals.

Step 6: Plan out the steps you need to take in the easily foreseeable future, understanding that opportunities will present themselves when you need them to.  This works because there are opportunities EVERYWHERE.  When we are open to them, we start to see them.

Step 7: Take action today.  Never leave the site of setting a goal without taking a step immediately towards making that goal happen.  Is there a phone call you need to make?  Do it.  Is there an obstacle you need to eradicate?  Do it.  You get the idea, right?

Grand Vision Method Example

Here's an example from my own set of goals for this year.

Goal: To make $10,000 per month gross, and $5000 per month net after expenses.

Why? Short term, so that we can finish our basement and my oldest can finally have her own bedroom which is a necessity now that she is 8 years old.  Long term, so that within 3 years, I can be making $120,000 per year after expenses which is my 3 year goal.  This buys my whole family freedom !!  Chris (my husband) can quit the job he hates if he still wants to, he can stay home and take care of the household (his dream), and I can keep on doing what I love -- which will be soo much sweeter when my husband is happier, and we can move out of the city if we still want to.

Why it will hurt not to: If I don't achieve this goal, it will take longer to achieve my long term goals and Chris and I aren't getting any younger.   We need the extra bedroom now, and finding a bigger house wouldn't hurt either.  Self-esteemwise, it will hurt too.  Hurt bad.  Don't even want to think about it!  Thank goodness I won't have to because I'll MAKE it happen. 

My Action Steps:

Map out some concrete steps to achieve the following:

• Fix my payment processing system by the end of Monday
• Configure affiliate program software so I can launch the products I've been planning and have partners promote.  Deadline: by Wednesday 3 PM
• Have assistant set up autoresponder system for affiliates by Wednesday 3 pm
• Have assistant find affiliate partner prospects and start emailing inquiries Thursday until Wednesday next week
• Create audio for jewelry business guide product 1 by Thursday 3PM
• Create Salespage for product by Friday 11 AM
• Map out product releases for the next two months and set milestones and deadlines

My Take Action TODAY step:  Create a more detailed mindmap of tasks for this week and milestones for the next 2 months by 11 am.

Return from the Grand Vision Goal Achievement Method to Take Charge of Your Jewelry Business Step 2 - Planning

Christine Gierer is the owner and creator of HandmadeResults.com.   With a focus on internet marketing and business fundamentals, not wasting time on stuff that doesn't work, and good 'ol commonsense, she loves helping jewelry makers make strides building their successful online businesses.

The Backwards Planning Method

Backwards Planning is the method used by the U.S. military.  This model is great for people who can work backwards from a big picture, and also works best when you are a good strategizer.

(Not everyone is a good strategizer in the way you need to be for the backwards planning model.  I confess I'm not.  If you give this model a try and it doesn't work for you, don't fret.  There's more than one way to skin a cat, and in future posts we'll look at some more ways of planning.)

Let's use an example to make the Backwards Planning Model a little more concrete.

Backwards Planning Steps

Step 1: Describe your desired end state.  Be as specific and as descriptive as possible

Step 2: Work backwards, researching as needed to find solutions to each step you're not sure of.

Step 3: Work back and forth asking questions, making notes, and fleshing out your plan

Step 4: Flesh out mini goals as you go with deadlines for achievement

Step 5:  Execute

Backwards Planning Jewelry Business Example

Things you'll notice:

• The farther out in time you go, the harder it will be to know details.  That is OK.  You'll refine your plan as you execute.
• You'll need to go back and forth to flesh out the details even for the vaguer steps.  That's OK too.  All part of the process.
• This is no walk in the park.  That's why if you do this, you have such a greater chance of succeeding than those who never put a lick of planning into their business.  Great businesse achievements come only out of hard work, commitment and dedication.
• It's easier to see the actual plan in your mind if you read my example backwards, from the bottom up

The Plan

• End State: Make $1,000 per month after expenses from handmade jewelry sales on Etsy by the end of the year

• End State-1: Ship out lots of products on a timely basis

• End State-2: Buzz created from massive marketing campaigns brings in loads of orders

• End State-3: Massive marketing campaigns implemented

• Mini-goal: Put together marketing plans with completion dates and milestones.
• End State-4: Decide how to market for fastest and most sustainable results.  (Questions - What are the best and quickest ways to create a lot of interest for my items?  Follow up system?  How do I get repeat customers?  Can I build this into my marketing?)

• Mini-Goal: Do research into best ways to list items on Etsy quickly and efficiently, and set up my shipping systems
• End State-5: Create payment and shipping flow.  (Questions - How can I be most efficient?  Can I build marketing into my shipping process?)

• Mini Goal: Have a dozen prototype products created by end of month 4.  Hire photographer to take photos.  Photos in hand by end of month 5
• End State-6: Make prototypes and create descriptions and take professional looking photos

• Mini Goal: Write it all down and set goals with deadlines to ramp up to the end goal.  Done by end of month 3
• End State-7: Do research into the $ and cents:   (Questions - What are my profit margins on these products?  What do I have to sell, and how many do I need to sell to reach my goal of $1000 per month after expenses?)

• Mini Goal: Find out what products sell online, research competition and numbers, and map out feasibility and costs of production.  Completed by end of month 2
• End State-8: Actually do the research so I don't waste my time.

• Mini Goal: Find a blog, teacher, mentor, or course that tells me how to research what handmade items sell online and how much competition is too much competiton.  Figure it out.  Done by end of month 1

• End State-9: Questions: How do I research what will sell?  Must do some research into research!

• End State-10:Got nothing.  Here's where I start.

Whew!  This was a lot of work.  This example is less detailed than a year-long plan should be, but then I did it in 30 minutes.  Your plan should be a lot more detailed.  It will be a lot of work, but it will be so worth it to have, don't you think?

Once you've created a plan, then you just have to follow it, stick to it, and keep your milestones and goals in mind.

Christine Gierer is the owner and creator of HandmadeResults.com.   With a focus on internet marketing and business fundamentals, not wasting time on stuff that doesn't work, and good 'ol commonsense, she loves helping jewelry makers make strides building their successful online businesses.

Return from the Backwards Planning Method to Take Charge of Your Jewelry Business Step 2 - Planning

"We all need some butt-kicking from time to time.  Why?  Because the sun shines on those who help themselves -- and a kick in that direction is sometimes what's needed."

Yesterday we challenged the Handmade Results Business Bites subscribers to win-win-win with me so we can all take charge of our businesses and grow together

In case you missed that email or you're a visitor to the blog, I'm copying it below so you can get the gist.

At the bottom of this post you can read some selected visions that others have sent me by email.

Share your comments and your responses too by submitting a comment to this post.

About the Author

Assorted Visions From the Mailbag to Get You inspired

(These are excerpts, not full visions.  Vision tidbits if you will)

My goal for my business is to run a successful, jewelry and design business that sells internationally, primarily through select trade shows, galleries and higher end boutiques, and generate enough income that my husband, family and I can live the sort of life that involves meaningful involvement in the projects we're interested in, travel, which is what fuels my design work, and freedom from jobs that prevent us from fulfilling our goals. ~ Kim

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Short Term Goals- Want to pay the bills from jewelry monies.
Mid Term Goals- Want to support myself completely without dipping into late husband's life insurance.
Long Term Goals- Want to support myself as well as he did. ~Barbara

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3 years from now my business has its training wheels off. I'm earning between 2-3,000 euro per month. I have a proper "shop" or show place where I work, display my jewelry, run classes (maybe?) and meet customers.

I make regular shipments to the 10 stores that carry my jewelry. I have been mentioned in at least one periodical on jewelry art.

I continue to make jewelry with Murano beads but I have also expanded into soldered metal work. The business is growing still and I'm considering hiring someone to assist me with the stuff I don't like doing. 3 years from now I still live  in Italy with my husband and we both have time to spending making our house more beautiful and traveling.  ~L

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For now; up to $500/month; after that, the sky's the limit! Enough to have a comfortable life including a week or two in Italy every year. And enough to afford a houseweek every other week. I hate doing housework!!!!! After I've taken some serious metalsmithing classes on things I want to learn, rather than trying to teach myself everything, I want to have a real studio, steady wholesale/retail orders, maybe do a juried show. And earn enough to work out of my studio rather than a 9-5 job all of the time. Not just earning pocket money or money that I plow back into the business for supplies/metals/etc. ~Karen

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10 years from now I have a handful of employees helping with my jewelry line that is in stores across the country (50+). I have a following for my line and it is shown in magazines, and my brand name is recognized when people talk about it. I am able to be with my children whenever needed for fieldtrips and when they are sick because I have people to cover the business when I am away. I am able to travel the world looking for pieces to incorporate into my designs. I have also expanded into metal work and have a line of charms in sterling gold and diamonds. I am able to support new artists who are into my field of work by donating my time and money to help them get started. ~Jenny

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In one year, I want to be making $2500 per month from a combination of jewelry sales, book sales and classes.

In three years, I want to be making $4000 a month with those things and have my third book written and sold.

I'm not sure about five years. I'm leaving this open whether or not I want to sell the jewelry company and concentrate on writing books, teaching classes and traveling around to do so or just have someone else run it and open a wellness center and run it. Not sure which direction I'll go. We'll see! ~Kari

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I'm making enough in sales for my partner and I to leave our day jobs.  I spend my days mostly designing and creating jewelry and dolls and he spends his days writing.  we take walks to the park whenever we want.  We have lunch together.  We're making $5,000.00 in sales a month.  At this point I'm making a lot of jewelry and dolls and selling them mostly retail, but have several wholesale accounts as well.  We go on road trips each week and have a much more calm and much more laid back life. And best of all we have left our day jobs and quit making our bosses rich while we struggle! ~Kimberly Burkhart  B.B. Bellezzahttp://www.BBBellezza.com

Add Your Visions and Comments Below

This business promotion advice is so good I don't want to lose it!  I never remember to go back to my bookmarks so I'm paraphrasing the parts I don't want to lose and I wanted you to get the goodness too.

A lot of the information is stuff I've been touting for a long time but it's nice to see it all summed up in a neat little package like this.

Hmmm let's see.  Who do I have to attribute... It looks like a whole slew of people who spoke at an event called Lavish.  See the blog post at 5thjoy.com for who all spoke this marketing goodness.

Here it is - Some of it is Paraphrased Christine Style For Handmade Crafty Business Relevance

HOW TO ACTIVELY PROMOTE YOUR ONLINE HANDMADE PRODUCTS BUSINESS

1. Email Like a Human Being. Send only personal emails.  Use the recipient’s name and indicate that you actually read their blog or visit their shop or know what value they offer the world.  Emailing 10 well-chosen contacts personally is far more effective than spamming 100.  It’s all about exclusivity.  If the email isn’t personal, the recipient knows you’re offering everyone else the same content.

2. Be Relevant. Relevance is the most important and effective element of the personal email - and the personal relationship building newsletter email too.  If you don’t have a good reason to reach out about which the recipient will care (an announcement, an expertise that could benefit them), wait until you do.  You’d only waste your time and theirs.

3. Keep Attachments Simple. Don’t email PDFs or PPT files, which can be hard to open.  If you are sending an inquiry about a business partnership (to a shop for example who might be interested in carrying your product line), include 3-4 images of your work in case they don’t have time to link out.

4. Ask Before Adding to Mailing Lists. Never add contacts to a recurring mass email without asking permission.

5. Giveaway Grace-fully. Don't give stuff away all the time.  It cheapens your products and lowers perceived value.  You also attract a lot of freebie seekers - not the traffic you want!  That said,  one or two well-chosen, valuable giveaways a year can help your blog, IF you position your site to make the most of them.

6. Embrace Google Apps. When you grow to the point that you can’t respond to every email, use Google Canned Responses.  Placeholders remind you where to personalize, while the shell saves you from recreating the wheel.

7. Be persistent. If one idea is rejected, keep submitting new ones.  When Emily has rejected a few ideas but loves your latest ine, she’s even happier to give you a shot.

TWITTER + FACEBOOK

8. Rule of Third’s. This is one I'm taking to heart.  I really need to start doing more of this, and this is great advice.  Follow this rule: on Twitter, make sure your tweets are 1/3 personal, 1/3 business, and 1/3 resource sharing.

9. There’s No Royal We in Tweet. Remember that Twitter and Facebook are SOCIAL venues.  Don’t robo-tweet or treat your Twitter feed like a press release.  Be informal and personal.  People will respond to knowing there’s a human being behind your brand.  It’s okay to be a one-woman show.

10. Share the Wealth. Resource sharing builds goodwill and is a great place to pass on finds and tips that don’t merit a whole blog post.  Tweet useful links (make sure they don’t drive to your own site) and watch your followers grow.

11. Never Complain. Complaining comes off as ungrateful. Always.  So just don’t.

12. 3 Tweets a Day. Minimum.

13. Avoid The Tit-for-Tat Trap. Respond to everyone who engages in a real conversation with you.  We’re not beholden to thank everyone for every single Follow Friday mention or RT.  But responding to every last person who takes the time to say something specific and thoughtful is a requirement.

14. Know Your Venue. Play to each social network’s strength.  Facebook is great for photos and reader contests. It can also be a great place to share your personal life.

PSST! WHISPER EFFECTIVELY: PASSIVE PROMOTION

15. Socialize Outside Your Niche. Make contacts outside your niche.  There’s no inherit competition, so it’s easier to discuss challenges freely. Don't spend a lot of your precious time outside your niche though.  Do go where your customers are most of the time.

16. Barter. Try bartering for services.  How about jewelry repair for photography work?  Or babysitting for copywriting?

17. Say Yes to “Great Opportunities.” Yes, that means working for free.  When you’re starting out, say yes to everything, even if you shell out some dough.  The less glamorous projects needn’t go in your portfolio.  Investing in the more glamorous projects usually costs less than advertising, and is more effective.  When she started, Amy would spend $200 buying flowers just to get her name out there.

18. Share Your Secrets: Barb Blair talked about teaching as way to give back and open doors.  When Grace contacted her about writing a DIY column, she was nervous about sharing her secrets.  Two months later, magazines and publishers were beating down her door.  Now she’s working on a book deal.

BE EXCELLENT.  AND DIFFERENT.

19. Do Your Thing Really Well. The best promotion is doing something really well that no one else around you is doing.  Emily Newman talked about how Amy Osaba’s fluid, organic approach to floral design sets her work apart from the traditional arrangements, especially in the South.

20. Invent, don’t Copy. Amy stressed being unique is not about following trends.  Don’t copy what’s already going on; take inspiration from what you see and give it your own twist.

21. Give Yourself a Good Shake. Grace chimed in that the cutting edge isn’t one thing.  Define your own cutting edge.  Being in the same place all the time digs creative ruts.  Put yourself in situations that shake you to your core.  Take a horse-race themed trip to Italy.   Come home from Mexico with a color palette no one else is using.  (My own tip would be make time for art of all kinds.  An afternoon at a museum disturbs your worldview when travel isn’t an option.)

22. Do Fail. Don’t Wallow. Ashley talked about making a really ugly piece of art (“If my mom thinks it’s pretty than it must be horrible!”).  Because she was on a project deadline, she had to completely rethink it and make something else on the spot.  The whole exercise pushed her to new, fertile ground.  So go ahead and suck, but don’t wallow.  Just get on with trying something new.

Best,

Christine Gierer is the owner and creator of HandmadeResults.com and she's always on the lookout for ways to not be *icky*.   With a focus on internet marketing and business fundamentals, not wasting time on stuff that doesn't work, and good 'ol commonsense, she loves helping jewelry makers make strides building their successful online businesses.

Here's an email that brought on a moist tear to my eye not only because it has a bit of a gut wrencher in it, but also because it was clearly written by someone who is a doer and not a complainer.

I LOVE positive people that focus on "how can I" instead of "I can't because".

Jewelry Designer Jeanne Graham writes,

Hey Christine...I have a question/problem I would like your opinion on:

I have an autoimmune disease (in the lupus family), which effects my hands.

It causes the skin to thicken, crack, and it's just down right painful to create my designs.

Therefore I am designing, but having others actually string up my necklaces, and I have taught my friend how to make the earrings I have designed.

My question is: How do I make sure these people get credit for their part in these original, one-of-a-kind pieces that I create? (mentally, that is).

It's so frustrating to have a notebook full of designs and ideas that I am not physically able to put together!!!

But long story short...I want my friends (and even my 3 yr old granddaughter) to get the credit they deserve!! (and yes, I said my 3 yr old granddaughter,; her name is Kaydence and she's watched her mamaw bead since birth, and about a month ago she did her first necklace, I only helped her crimp...other than that, she designed and strung it all by herself!!  Yeah, I'm a little proud!!)

Any words of wisdom you could send my way would be greatly appreciated!!

Bead on....Jeanne

Here's an Idea... The Apprentice Jewelry Artist

Hi Jeanne,

Wouldn't it be nice to include little cards with your story, or if you have a website, add the story to your About page? You could add pictures and a little bio about each person. Maybe you could give them a title like "apprentice jewelry artist".

And in the About page you could explain how much you appreciate their help and support and how you could never do this without them.

Jeanne Replies

Hey Christine...Your response almost brought me to tears.

I can just imagine pictures of Kaydence as she's working up my designs...and giving them a title of Apprentice Jewelry Artist is absolutely the most amazing idea I have ever heard!

I would be honored if you would use my question in your blog!  I'm so very grateful I found your website and blog.  You have inspired me in ways I'll never be able to explain.

But as I said in my previous e-mail, being able to design my jewelry is the best medicine/therapy I had and not being able to physically put them together has really depressed me.  Your answer to this e-mail was just what I needed!!

Thanks again,
Jeanne

More Ideas and Comments?

I'd love to know what you think.  Do you have any other ideas for Jeanne?  (And isn't it wonderful that Jeanne has such great friends and family!)

Go ahead and share your comments and ideas.

Best,

P.S. Be sure to share your ideas and comments below.   Where did that border go?  I don't know.  Just click in the area where a comment should go.

About the Author

Christine Gierer is the owner and creator of HandmadeResults.com.   Even though she likes to focus on internet marketing and business fundamentals, not wasting time on stuff that doesn't work, and good 'ol commonsense, she is still a big softie

photo of child credit: (top image) Tarter Time Photography, (middle image) Double Image Photography

I hope you've done those exercises from Goal Setting for Lollygaggers Part 1, How to Make Goal Setting Hugely Exciting instead of Horribly Painful, and   Goal Setting for Lollygaggers Part 2: There is Magic in the Power of How Can I?

If so, then this is where you are at the moment:

• You have a list of "dream goals"
• You know exactly how to make yourself feel excited and filled with anticipation anytime you want.
• You've refined your goals and now have 9 goals for the year
• You have compelling reasons for absolutely achieving each of those 9 goals (The power of WHY).
• You have committed yourself to making those goals a reality.
• You've used the power of "How Can I" to start thinking of ways you can start making those goals a reality
• You've taken action (even a tiny action counts) on every single one of those goals.

Now don't you feel awesome?   Are you excited about what the year holds for you?

If so - I am just chuffed.   I am so happy and excited for you.

If not, if you still feel dread and fear and hear all those horrible things we say to ourselves, I want you to stop for a moment, and take a deep breath.

The only reason you feel this way, is because you asociate more pain - or potential pain - to achieving the goal than to not achieving it.

You might be thinking, that's crazy!   Of course I really want to achieve my dream goals.

Really?   Think about this:   What do you think your life might be like if you achieved those goals?

Here are some common success fears:

• You fear others will not like you anymore/ be jealous/ reject you if you are successful.
• You'll need to keep up with all the work and responsibility of being successful
• You might fail, and you don't want to feel that pain.
• You worry that you'll achieve your dreams and still be unhappy.
• I want you to go back and do the exercise feeling the pain of not achieving those goals.   The pain of what you'll miss out on.

If you find these fears are swirling around in your head, here's an exercise:

Exercise:   Feel the Pain, Banish the Fear, and Feel the Pleasure

This exercise will really clarify in your mind what's really important, and banish the fear of failure, and fear of success.

1. Consider your 9 goals.   Think of the first goal and write it down on a piece of paper.
2. Next, close your eyes, and think of all the things you've lost or missed out on already by not achieving that goal so far.   Really feel that pain.   Hunch your shoulders.   Bow your head.   Make your body hunch like someone who is really depressed.   Feel the pain.
3. Now imagine how your life will be 1 year from now if you don't achieve this goal.   What will you lose?   What will you miss out on?   What will your family lose?   What will your family miss out on?
4. Now think of how your life will be 5 years from now if you don't achieve this goal.   What will you lose?   What will you miss out on?   What will your family lose?   What will your family miss out on?
5. Now really dig deep and think 20 years down the line.   What have you lost or missed out on by continuing to procrastinate on this goal.
6. Now think of yourself at the end of your life, in your rocking chair, looking back on your life.How would it have been different if you'd followed through, and done what was necessary to achieve this goal?

   How much do you regret putting it off?

   Really feel that pain.

7. Next, repeat steps 1-6 with each of the other goals.   Gosh it's depressing isn't it?   Do you really want to live your life like this?   Really let yourself feel that pain.   Don't read on until you've done steps 1-6 for each of those goals.I'm Warning You!   Don't Read On Until You Are Thoroughly Disgusted With Yourself and How You've Put Your Dreams off For Later Your Whole Entire Life.
   
   We only get to pass this way just the once you know.
8. Ready to move on?   Great!   Now for the fun part.   No you don't beat yourself up and nag yourself all your life.   This is about enjoying the process remember?Get up.

   Shake yourself out.

   Get up and jump up and down, take a deep breath.

   Remember how you felt when you were feeling really excited and anticipated something you were gleefully looking forward to.   Make yourself feel like that now.   (See the Exercise: How to Make Yourself Feel Excited about Goal Setting Anytime You Want towards the bottom of Goal Setting for Lollygaggers Part 1)

9. Next, imagine the pleasure you'll feel by really making a go of it.   Imagine how rewarding it will be to make an effort towards producing phenomenal results in your life.   Imagine how even if you fail at any specific task, you can use the power of "How Can I" to regroup, learn from what happened, and keep moving forward.   Imagine your life 1 year, 5 years, 20 years from now.   Feel how proud you are of yourself.   Feel how great it feels to accomplish those important dream goals.
10. Finally, write a few paragraphs about why you refuse to let those future fears - that haven't even happened yet!- control your life.Write about how you know you can find solutions to any problem that arises and figure out a solution by using the power of How Can I.

    Really feel the confidence and courage by breathing like a courageous driven person.   By sitting like a courageous person.   By moving your body the way a confident person moves.   Enjoy the feeling, and enjoy this process of writing in your journal.

The Final Step to Achieving Your 1 Year Goals

Here's the really easy part.   it only takes two minutes a day, and it will work miracles.

Here's the Key:   Every day, at the same time, or even several times a day, reread those goals.

First thing in the morning or before drifting off to sleep are usually the best times.   I like mornings because it helps me get motivated throughout the day, but you do what's easiest for you.

And that's it.   That's all you need to do.   Why does this work?   Because keeping your goals in the front of your mind, will help spur you on to further action.   Just by thinking about goals, and having written goals means that you are ahead of 97% percent of everyone else in the world.

[sidebar]There was an interesting study done on graduates at Harvard?   Yale?   (one of those anyway), where graduates were asked if they had written, specific goals.   Only 35 of students had written goals.   The researchers followed up 20 years later, and not only had those graduates with handwritten goals achieved many many more goals than those who hadn't written them down, but that 3% had also achieved more financial wealth in earnings and assets than all of the other 97% combined.

That is the power of written goals.

What kind of life do you want to have?

Best,

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this 3 part series as much as I enjoyed writing it.   Be sure to leave comments below.   I'd love to hear your thoughts!

About the Author

Christine Gierer is the owner and creator of HandmadeResults.com.   With a focus on internet marketing and business fundamentals, not wasting time on stuff that doesn't work, and good 'ol commonsense, she loves helping jewelry makers make strides building their successful online businesses, and get more happiness and joy out of life.   We only get one you know.   Make yours count on your own terms.   It's worth it, and you deserve it.

Have a comment about How Can I? Goal Setting for Lollygaggers Part 3? Share your thoughts and questions below:

I hope you've done those exercises from Goal Setting for Lollygaggers Part 1, How to Make Goal Setting Hugely Exciting instead of Horribly Painful. If so, then you have a list of "dream goals" and you also know exactly how to make yourself feel excited and filled with anticipation anytime you want.

Let's move on to right where we left off yesterday.

Get out that piece of paper where you quickly wrote down your dreams.   I hope you didn't hold back and you didn't let your pen ever leave the page.   If you think you might have been holding back, go back and do the dream exercise again.

Find Out Your "When's"

First thing we need to do now that we know what we really dream of having, we want to discover what sort of timeline we're on.   Go ahead and do the next exercise to find out.

Exercise:   Figuring Out Your Goal Timeline

Step 1: First, go through your list quickly, without thinking too hard.   For each item on your list, put a 1, 3, 5, 10, or 20 to indicate how long you want it to be before you experience that dream.   Do you want to see that new car in 1 year?   Do you want to live in Colorado in 10 years?

Quickly do that now, before reading the rest of this post.

Next: Let's Get Clear on One Thing

Now before we get into the next step, I have something very important to discuss with you.

It's about you.

It's not me, it's you

You. You have a habit of Getting in Your Own Way.

Don't pretend you don't.   I know you do.   I know because I do it too, and everyone alive on this planet does too.

Ever feel any of these?

• "I'm not smart enough"
• "I'm too old"
• There's too much competition
• I'll never be able to do that
• "I'm too young"
• I don't have "xxx"
• I can't because"xxx"

You want to change those little thoughts.   Whether based in reality or entirely garbage that's all in your head, you want to stop thinking that way.

Do you hear me?   Even if you think it based in reality.

You create your perception.   Reality doesn't.

Now, I'm not saying to live in a delusional fairy land, I'm saying those thoughts aren't useful.   You can "spin" them so they are useful though and still be realistic.

What kind of question gives you "I can't..." as an answer?

I'll tell you what kind.   A bad question.   A question like "Why am I always so bad at everything?"   or "Why me?"   "Why is life so unfair?"   .   (Be sure to hear the question in your mind with full whininess.)

You need to ask intelligent questions.   Ones that aren't whiny.   You need to start asking yourself questions that give you more useful, resourceful, empowering answers.

No matter whether you've been moving forward in your business and in your life like a champ, you ve been moving forward slowly and sporadically, or whether you haven t done a single useful move towards making your dreams come true, you make the choice every single moment.

And if you have all these œbuts , and œonly ifs , I want you right now to sit up straight, take a deep breath in, and let a slow breath out, and repeat our mantra “ in your head, or out loud “ with as much enthusiasm as you can muster, œI don t ever say, I can t because ¦    I always say, œHow can I? .

Believe it or not, as simplistic as this is, asking yourself, œHow Can I?  is the key to get your mind turning those little wheels and solving problems.   Amazingly you ll start to see opportunities that were there all along that you never saw.   You ll imagine possibilities that you would never otherwise have considered.

Still skeptical?   Is there a little voice in your head saying that you can t?

Maybe an example will help.

As you do, and as everyone does, I have always had some challenges, that have limited my life in some way.

I know some regular readers have physical disabilities that prevent them from working a œnormal  job.

Some people have circumstances in their life that limit their choices, like caring for a sick or disabled family member, or lack of money, or maybe you have a spouse or parents that are really negative and leave you feeling useless.

Or maybe, your challenges come from within yourself.   Maybe you hear those little questions in your head all the time.   Maybe you feel you aren t smart enough.   Or you feel you are too young or too old or not pretty enough, fit enough, or thin enough.

Whether big, small, outside, or inside, everyone has a sob story.

So how do some people overcome their challenges?   And why do some people wallow or feel overwhelmed and hopeless?

Those are very good questions.

Here s a little story from my life in the very very recent past.   In fact, I m still working out the œHow Can I ? part of it, but I ve at least started.

The Things Holding Me Back

Two of the things holding me back are my lack of time, and my distractibility.

Time as you know, is not infinite, and I have very little.   For the past year, I ve let myself fall into the trap of œthere is only so much time .   œif only  I had more time.   œIf only  my kids were both in school full time.

And distractibility?   I seem to spend so much time running down rabbit holes, starting then abandoning projects, and simply wasting time.   Of course you don t have that problem, so you may not know what I m talking about J. But if you can imagine such a thing, then perhaps you can see what I m saying.

There you are.   Two challenges.   Keep up with me, because this story has incredible implications for you, if you choose to see them.

Actually you don t have to choose too hard because I ll also bluntly spell them out for you too if you keep reading.

My Goals for 2011

Let me tell you a couple of my goals for 2011.   I really have 10 doozy s, but these are two of them:

1.           Double my personal income per month in one year or less, working 6 hours per day, 5 days a week.

2.            Become focused and laser targeted in my business and love structure and discipline.

How I m Applying the Question of œHow Can I? 

Now here s the real key to making progress on any goal.

[Sidebar] Firstly, you have to have some goals, and they have to have an end date of course.   A goal without a deadline is just a wish, right? [End sidebar]

I m just going to walk through my thinking here so you have an idea of how to do this yourself.

Think of this rambling stream of consciousness as an example of how to think so you achieve what you dream:

As I said, first I set some goals.   Some outcomes.   Whether or not I actually achieve them exactly as I think I will or not, I m sure to create an outcome I can learn from and use to move forward.

Goal 1: Double Personal Income in 30 hours a week

My thinking: How Can I?

Problem 1: Time crunch

I know I can t in the time I have allotted (about 2 hours a day) so first I need to gain more time.

Plan: Put Edgar (youngest) in daycare/ find a babysitter for afternoons.

What happened: As soon as I decided on this goal, I called the school daycare which was full.   So I then again asked, œHow can I?  and came up with Plan B.

Plan B: Ask Isabel (a lady I know who is wonderful, babysits a number of Eddie s classmates in the afternoon).   Took action, talked to her first thing, she had space.   I took Edgar yesterday for his first day.   He loves her, and BONUS! She has the kids do letters and writing, plays phonics, games, and takes them outside, has a number of activities, etc. I mkilling two birds with one stone because I was considering hiring a tutor or something because Eddie at age 5 STILL doesn t know the names of all the letters (even some in his own name, sigh).

What I would have done if she didn t have space: Give up.   Ha Ha!   Just joking.   My next step would have been to ask my friend watch him afternoons for the next week or two until I lined something else up.

Problem 2: Still don t have enough time to make that amount of income happen

Now, I still don t have enough time to make the goals happen, so I m going to outsource.   I ve done this in the past, but I gave up when it became too difficult for me to manage.   So what will I do?

Problem 3 from problem 2: Learned from last time, that I need some people management and hiring skills

Plan: I m working on getting some information, and learning all I can about outsourcing effectively.

Actions taken thus far: I ve signed up for a course, and also downloaded an audio book to listen to while I work on one of my other goals (which is to become 118 lbs.   I am about 30 lbs overweight.   I have already started learning about changing eating habits, have stopped drinking coffee for 2 days now and have been exercising daily for over two weeks so far).

I m also looking into getting some coaching from someone who has years of experience outsourcing so I can shortcut my learning.

Problem 4: Can t double my income and outsource for free

So how can I outsource, and make that amount of personal income after expenses?   Clearly, I need to increase my revenue.

Plan: So, I set a goal to earn double the revenue needed so I have a bigger budget.   My gross revenue goal is now 6x my current revenue.   I can do that.

Problem 5: How can I make 6x my current revenue?

I don t know yet.   I have some ideas I m considering, but first I need to wrap up my current projects, which takes me to my second goal ¦.

Goal 2: Focus and Have Fun Doing it.

Problem 1: I have too much on my plate to really focus on anything.

Plan: Wrap up my current project(s) and consider which to keep, which to sell, and to research selling businesses vs outsourcing, etc.   Also look into what tasks I want taken off my plate, and the best way to do that.

Actions taken so far: Working on Handmade Results Weekly Lessons, exploring outsourcing options, am in talks with at three possible team members, and am clarifying what my role is in my business and what I should be focusing on.   I'm pretty sure I need to step back and take all the minutia off my plate and be the planner, the spokesperson, and the strategist, and other people need to take on all the details that bog me down.

Clearly, I could go on and on with my thinking, my mindset, how I m working out my plans, and how I m taking action on the solutions, but I think you get the gist.   And by the way, those goals?   They were set about two weeks ago.   I was away from my computer until last week.   I was visiting my parents in Ottawa with the kids so I took a break from œwork .   That gives you an idea of the speed at which I m acting on these goals now that I ve decided on what the goals are.

And you can too if you actually focus on your goals.   Look at that!   I m using one of my goals to move the other goals forward:)

To   sum up, the basic steps of  the How Can I? mindset are to:

1.           Set an outcome

2.           Think how can I?

3.           Make a plan to move forward for as much as you currently know

4.           Trust that the solutions will show up as you take action towards your goal

5.           Keep revising, reviewing, and move forward.

Back to the Dream List

I bet you thought I'd forgotten all about it didn't you?

We are now on to our next exercise.   You will get clear on your goals and start in on making those dreams come true:

Exercise: Refine Your Goals and Start Building Momentum

Step 1: Move into a state of expectation and resourcefulness.

• Shake out your body
• Expect that you can make these dreams come true and make a shift in your mind.
• Sit like someone who believes she can achieve anything she puts her mind to.
• Breathe like that person.
• Make your facial expression confident and expectant.

Step 2: Think

Look at your list and start thinking "How Can I?" for each one of those goals.   Just start those wheels turning.

Here are some helpful tips for thinking of the "how's":

1. Focus on outcomes and what would need to happen in order for this to become a reality?
2. What skills do I need to make this a reality?   Do I need better people skills?   Do I need better organizational skills? Or some other skills?
3. Who can help me?   Is there someone I can talk to or research who has achieved this?   Are there books or courses?   Interviews of success stories?   You can shortcut success by years and even decades just by finding out what has worked for others and doing the same.

Step 2: Circle the most important and exciting goals.

• Tip: Make sure you have some health goals there too because you'll never have the strength and energy you need to achieve anything if you aren't healthy.

Step 3: Choose 9 goals you'd like to achieve within one year.

You want three personal goals, three financial goals (make them a stretch!), and three career or business goals.   If you don't have three of each, create some goals that move you towards your important long term goals.

Ideas and Tips if you are having trouble

• Think of what obstacles you face.
• Can you achieve your dreams if you stay in your current job?
• Can you achieve your goals if you continue to smoke or drink and have the lethargy that goes along with those things?
• What about debt?   Could you make a goal to kill your debt in 3 years?   What would you need to do this year?
• Do you need to do some research or acquire some skills?   These are all great starting points in considering your long term goals.

Step 4:   Get a notebook or journal.

This will become your "success journal".   Any old notebook will do.

Step 5: Get Clear

Write down each of your 9 goals for this year, along with - and this is really important - a paragraph or two about how your life will change when you achieve this goal.     How will your life change?   What pleasure will it bring you?   What pain will you avoid?

Step 6:   Act

I learned a great tip recently and here it is:

What is one step you can do right now towards achieving those goals?

• Is there a phone call you need to make?
• Is there someone you need to talk to?
• Is there a book you need to order or get from the library?

Whatever it is, for each of those goals, think of one thing you can do, if not right now, then at least within the next 12 to 24 hours.

Then come back tomorrow for the last part of this article

Best,

P.S. Tomorrow's article will be short.   I promise.   I think...

Read Goal Setting for Lollygaggers-   Part 3: The Goal Achieving Secret: Feel the Pain to Get the Pleasure

About the Author

Christine Gierer is the owner and creator of HandmadeResults.com.   With a focus on internet marketing and business fundamentals, not wasting time on stuff that doesn't work, and good 'ol commonsense, she loves helping jewelry makers make strides building their successful online businesses, and get more happiness and joy out of life.   We only get one you know.   At least I think that's all we get...

Have a comment about How Can I? Goal Setting for Lollygaggers Part 2? Share your thoughts and questions below:

Lollygagger: One who dawdles, moves a small distance in a long time; not quick in motion; tardy; ...

Why is it that so many of us aspire to greater things, then failto take action on the very things we need to do to achieve our dreams?

Goal Setting Can be Hugely Exciting instead of Painful

I started writing a new lesson for my Handmade Results Weekly course, and I totally swerved violently off course.

I usually write a little "forward" at the beginning of each lesson.   Nothing big, just a   few paragraphs to encourage and motivate or to give some extra information.     The content of the forward is often a pep talk or some experience that might help the reader motivate herself to take action or to encourage her to pick herself up if she feels frustrated.

I need these things myself, so more often than not, the pep talk is for me too!

I confess, I kind of got carried away.   Kind of like how a sheet gets carried away off a clothesline in a hurricane.

Before I knew it, 2 hours had passed, and I was no further along with my lesson content, but I had pages of forward.   As I'm rereading it, it was really good, meaty information that everyone deserves to have.

Everyone deserves to live their dreams, but not everyone knows how to get there.

And even if they know how to get there, they still can't seem to push themselves to do the things they know they need to do to get there.

If either of these (or both!) sound like you, keep reading.

The Horror of Goal Setting

We all know that to stay on track with our goals, we actually need to set some.   More often than not, we put it off (if we even let ourselves think about it at all!)

I've had goal setting on my to-do list for at least 6 months.   Six months?   I mean, how hard is it?   Why did I keep putting it off?

Even crazier, is that, I know that every time I set specific goals, I figure out a way to achieve them.

So it should be even easier for me to sit down and set some goals, right?

For you - if you have that experience too, here's a question:

Why is goal setting such a horror for most of us?   Why do we procrastinate so much?

I have a theory.

I think it's because when we think of goal setting, we focus on how painful it will be to do it.

We focus on the immediate potential pain rather than the glorious feelings of excitement and anticipation that happens when we sort ourselves out and come up with a plan.

We imagine it will consume our day, take eight painful blood letting hours, and that we will end up drained little dried out husks and that we'll feel overwhelmed and hopeless and disappointed in ourselves later when we procrastinate.

We think up excuses of things that need doing first.

We feel scared about trying and potentially failing.

It's easier to put it off for "later".

Maybe you don't do all those things but I sure do.   Not consciously, but they are still there.

So I finally made the decision.   (You do it too, right now).

Finally, for once and for all, I decided I was being silly, and I just had to figure out how to make it really fun.

The Key to Making Goal Setting Fun and easy is to....

I think the key to making goal setting fun is to first become excited.

Not excited? Try this:

Exercise: How to Make Yourself Feel Excited about Goal Setting Anytime You Want

1. Remember a moment you were really excited and filled with anticipation.   Maybe you were planning a vacation, or planning an event you were really excited about.
2. Close your eyes and imagine that moment, and relive it.   Run it like a movie making it really big and bright in your mind's eye
3. Breathe the way way your were breathing.
4. Stand or sit the way your were standing or sitting.
5. Flood your mind with feeling the way you felt when you experienced that excitement and anticipation.

This is the way you want to feel when you are planning your business, or anything else in your life.

Now remember that feeling, and even more importantly, remember you can come back to that feeling anytime you want just by doing the what you just did.

You are Now Ready to Dream

Now that you're feeling good, you can do some dreaming.

• What do you really want?
• What would you like your life to be?

Every day we make new choices.

Remember, the choices we ve made in the past are exactly that.   In the past.

Too many people live their life "by accident".   Majoring in minor things when they should be stepping back and seeing the big picture.

Let s make a deal right now, that from this day forward, just between you and me, that we are moving forward NO MATTER WHAT.

Ok that's enough for today.   I'll leave you with one more exercise and then we'll continue tomorrow.

Exercise: Dream Your Perfect Life

1. Take a piece of paper, and write these words across the top: Financial, Health, Spiritual, Family, Personal
2. For the next ten minutes (use a timer), write down anything you want to have, do, or be financially, healthwise, spiritually, for your family, and for yourself if money and time were no object.   Dare to be outrageous.   Dream big.   Use the headings you've written across the top as reminders. Here are some questions to get you going:

• What kind of person do you want to be?
• How much money do you want to make?
• What material things do you want?
• What do you want to contribute?
• What kind of things do you want for those in your family?
• What kind of relationship do want with God/nature/ the universe?
• Where do you want to visit?
• What level of health and vitality do you want?
• What relationships do you want with the people in your life?

That's it.   That's all for today.   Come back tomorrow and we'll look at your list and see what to do with it

See you tomorrow.

Best,

P.S. Be sure to do those exercises.   There is power in writing things down.   For whatever reason, writing things down - the actual motion of handwriting makes some kind of hardwired connection between your mind and your body and starts making things happen.   I know, sounds weird, but please do the exercise and come back tomorrow.   You have nothing to lose and potentially your dreams come true to gain.

Read Goal Setting for Lollygaggers-   Part 2: There is Magic in the Power of œHow Can I ?

About the Author

Christine Gierer is the owner and creator of HandmadeResults.com and How-to-Make-Jewelry.com.   She is a recovering procrastinator who vows to live her life on her own terms while doing her best to make other people feel as empowered and positive about themselves and their handmade businesses as she can.

Have a comment about How to Make Goal Setting Hugely Exciting?   Share your thoughts and questions below:

A few weeks ago I revamped my email newsletter for How-to-Make-Jewelry.com and saved myself oodles of time.   Now I can write my newsletter fast.

Before this discovery: 5-6 hours per newsletter, and often I messed up my links and had to fix, test, and re-test the mail out before I could send it.   It was exhausting!

Not only did it take me hours to put together and test, I was procrastinating on it all the time because it sucked up such a large chunk of time.

After discovering how to write newsletters fast: Less than an hour to write a personal, warm newsletter and include links to updated content.   AND the links always work so I don't have to worry about my linking incompetence anymore.

Why You Should be Sending a Newsletter in the First Place

As you know, it is imperative you follow up and keep in touch with your loyal subscribers and customers because they are your chief supporters, and also generate 80%-90% of your revenue if you are like most businesses.

It's so much easier to sell to people who already like you and have spent money with you before than trying to find new customers all the time isn't it?

As requested by some of my newsletter readers, I made a couple videos showing how I automated a lot of the writing for my newsletter.

How To Create Fast Newsletters

Watch these videos to see an overview of the process.

Here's how I automated my newsletter (semi-automated actually), so it takes me less than an hour to put it together and send it, and I now send out a newsletter every week.

Video 1: Automating Your Email Newsletter

Video 2: How to Find Your RSS Feed

(Etsy, Flick'r, Artfire, Twitter, and Facebook accounts produce RSS feeds too so you can take advantage of the fast newsletter creation process without a blog or traditional website)

If you have any comments or questions please ask!

Best,

P.S. If you haven't yet started an email mailing list, do so now!   Most successful online business people (myself included) say their list is the one thing they wished they'd started sooner, and is the single biggest reason they are profitable.

About the Author

Christine Gierer is the owner and creator of HandmadeResults.com.   With a focus on internet marketing and business fundamentals, not wasting time on stuff that doesn't work, and good 'ol commonsense, she loves helping jewelry makers make strides building their successful online businesses.   As a jewelry maker and web business owner herself, she knows traffic is the lifeblood of an online business.   Her sporadically maintained newsletter currently boasts over 7000 subscribers and her income jumps every time she mails.

Have a comment about Write a Newsletter Fast?   Share your thoughts and questions below:

By 2014, it s expected that more people will use the net by device than by computer.

Why is this important to you, the online jewelry business owner?

This is important because you should be thinking now about your mobile strategy for your handmade business.

Mobile devices are are   how more and more of your customers will be finding you online, viewing your wares, and reading your blog content or website content.   Ultimately, they may be buying directly from their phones too.

It s clear that mobile marketing will become more and more important “ and that s just to maintain the momentum you ve already gained, as well as to attract new customers.

Whether you like it or not, the mobile age is here.   Even for us touchy feely, hold-it-in-your-hand handmade businesses.

Even I have a smartphone, where a year ago I never even had a cell phone ever!   And you know why?

Definitely not because I need one or even want one, but because my target market is using them.   The tide is turning, and I figure if I market online, I have to be able to understand what my target market is using too so my smartphone is an investment in my market research.

If you can t beat, em, you might as well join ˜em.. or be left in the dust.

What does this mean for you?

You need to create a mobile content marketing strategy and get with the big picture.

Think about this: There are many people who only get on the net on their mobile device.   They do not have a personal computer.   If those people are within your target market, you need to start targeting them where they live.

If you prefer to target personal computer users who also use mobile devices to access the net, well, the same can be said, start your mobile marketing strategy now.

Mobile Marketing Quick Tips:

• Check out your website, email newsletters, and webshop on different devices to see how they look.   This is as easy as testing them at your local cell phone store.
• Use mobiReady to check how your webshop scores on their "mobile readiness" test
• If you have a WordPress blog, use a mobile content plugin to automatically convert your content to mobile friendly content
• Try purchasing one of your own products from a smartphone.   Is the process smooth, or frustrating?

Conclusion:

The world is changing fast, isn t it?

Only a few year ago, nobody knew Facebook and Twitter, and now they are ubiquitous.   The same will prove true for mobile content.

You already contact your customers via your webshop, your blog or website, email, and social media, so the time is now make sure all those handmade business marketing tools are mobile friendly.

Best,

Have a comment about Handmade Mobile Business?   Share your thoughts and questions below:

photo credit: seantoyer