Life Gets in the Way

For most of the nation school has been back in session for quite a while now. When I think back (waaaay back, but let’s not go there) to those first exciting, and often scary, days of a new school year the inevitable question “What did you do on your summer vacation?” comes to mind.

We all know how much kids of all ages look forward to the end of a school year, as just that… the end of a school year. It is time for fun and freedom, less responsibility, and less rigid schedules. Most importantly, more time to “do what they want”. Thus, typical responses to that proverbial question include all forms of summer activities and entertainment, social gatherings and interaction with family and friends, sleeping in and sleepovers, and the occasional heartbreak of a summer “puppy love”. For most school aged children (teens included but shhhh NEVER let them hear you calling them children) summer vacation affords many opportunities to be footloose and fancy free.


Can you hear the fog horn?



Many adults, on the other hand, look forward to “summer vacation” as an opportunity to “get some work done”. It is a time to complete projects that cannot otherwise be completed during a typical work week due to lack of time (“not enough hours in the day”) and other demands on their resources and energy; gardening, house repair, vehicle maintenance, honey do lists (always something). They, too, look forward to “less demands” on their time and the freedom to come and go, and start and complete projects without interruption. Distractions happen, the weather does not cooperate, unforeseen interruptions occur. Incomplete projects are frequently chalked up to “life getting in the way”.

Like many people, I try very hard to make the most of those hard earned precious weekends and paid days off by planning my projects well ahead of time. This spring I spent many hours preparing a plan to maximize the use of my “time off” for the year and actually made a calendar of goals centered on activities to nurture my business. I started a monthly e-newsletter for sharing upcoming events and new product launches. I scheduled regular time for “blogging” and cross promoting team members’ shops. I planned out time for creating, marketing and selling new products. I scheduled seasonal activities in order to be prepared for the holidays (ahead of time, for once). I worked out lesson plans for craft workshops and private sewing lessons that I intended to offer – during my time off, of course. I felt very powerful with the confidence that comes from feeling well organized, prepared and in control and I had no doubt that this was the year that I was going to successfully complete all the tasks necessary to increase the success of my business. Of course, this could only be accomplished at the expense of any real quality personal time with hubby, family or friends – no time for that!

Well, you know what they say – “The best laid plans of mice and men…” Life got in the way.

Facing a lay-off at my job in early summer I was fortunate to find a new position within my current company. Very thankful for that! This meant longer hours learning a new job (I love learning new things) and unexpected activities that started impacting my carefully planned calendar. Result: no marketing materials developed, no advertising for workshops. Life got in the way. Oh, well, there is always next month…

In July, I had an unexpected but very welcome visit from a cousin whom I may have met once when I was grade school aged. We had a wonderful visit comparing family stories and sharing genealogical information from the different branches of the family. We poured over photos and other family documents and shared memories of shared grandparents and other relatives. It was as if we had known each other our whole lives and we easily fell into conversation like we had been in touch the whole time. We have even made plans to travel to see our mutual aunt, if possible, early next summer. Result: no new products produced, no photos taken for new listings in the shop. Life got in the way. Oh well, I will make twice as many next month…



Midnight Elegance Web Pendant by LMayJewelry



In August, on a whim, I attended my first local “Concert in the Park” on a Sunday afternoon. I was fortunate enough to meet a fellow Etsy Maine Team member, Laura of LMayJewelry. She is a very talented local jewelry artist, not to mention a genuinely nice person, who offers a table of her wonderful creations for sale at the concerts. We compared notes on our shops and talked about the Etsy experience. I met her very lovely daughters who volunteer at these events. The music was great and the weather was nice. It was a great family oriented evening and I attended each Sunday for several weeks following. So much for my carefully scheduled blog and e-newsletter updates. Life got in the way. Maybe I can squeeze some in on my lunch hours at work…

Summer + family + lobster = Wicked good vacation!

Later in August, I had a wonderful visit from two cousins (sisters), one cousin of which I had not seen for over 25 years, and their very nice spouses. They were all very generous in allowing me to share part of their vacation and I spent a couple of days joining them on their tour in the southern part of the state, showing them places I knew and exploring places I had not been to myself. We spoke a lot of family, our mothers having been sisters, and got reacquainted with each other. Again, it was like we had always been a part of each other’s lives. And thankfully we very definitely are now.  Results: holiday items are not ready for listing and will be late again this year. I better get them done next month! Life got in the way.





Beach combing for beach glass on Bailey Island

In September, we hosted a dear friend of my husband’s from Denver. He stayed with us for a week and I took a couple of days off to join them, again going to places in my home state, some of which I had seen and some that I had not been to before. It is refreshing to see places that you have been, and are accustomed to, through the eyes of someone seeing them for the very first time. It makes everything fresh and new again. We took a ride to Bailey Island and while walking the very small “beach” area there my husband’s friend looked down and starting picking up small pieces of beach glass. I had been there dozens of times before and had never seen or thought to look for beach glass! It was very exciting! We spent over an hour hunting for and collecting very small pieces of this treasure. Results: still no new listings for the shop. Life got in the way. Oh well, still a couple more months until Christmas…

 

October - I had the pleasure and privilege of volunteering at the Dempsey Challenge.  While I have been a volunteer in the sewing group for the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing in Lewiston, ME for several years now, this was my first time volunteering for this function.  If you are not familiar with this event, or this organization, I encourage you to check it out. Information for next year's event is already available.  It is a most amazing and worthy cause if ever there was.  It was a very humbling experience and I will definitely be doing it again next year. 




Patrick Dempsey and the Gritty's cycling team at the Dempsey Challenge 2011

 zip! There is goes!  Again, life got in the way.



Wow! So, here I am. It’s mid-NOVEMBER. My well intentioned planning and scheduling has all gone up in a puff of smoke! I did manage a little cross promoting, some communications with Etsy comrades, and some linking of shops on Facebook. (Funny, my sales are double what they were last year, hmmmm). The activities I had intended to complete, to nurture the success of my business, which would have been at the expense of any quality personal time with hubby, family or friends (ironic, don’t you think) - never brought to fruition. All because… LIFE GOT IN THE WAY!



And I wouldn’t have had it any other way!







Finding My Community

Living in a rural community, be it in Maine or any other state, makes starting a home-based business a challenge. The first obstacle is getting the word out to a wide audience. Finding cost effective ways to advertise and market your shop are critical. Word of mouth is always helpful but can only spread as far as the networks you have created. Complicate this with the fact that many of us with this type of business are also out in the working world, if we are lucky, full time and the challenge is greater. Opportunities for promotion and growth do not just present themselves to us… Or, do they?

While scanning one of my favorite crafting community magazines, and to be perfectly honest with you I do not exactly remember which one, I came across an ad for a website called “Etsy”. Now mind you, more often than not, unless I am in the market for a particular supply or material for my many projects, I usually skip the ads and concentrate on the articles. But, something peaked my curiosity. I went to the site and as I looked it all over and began to understand what Etsy was I grew more and more excited. The prospect of actually establishing a store front where I could point my friends, coworkers, acquaintances, relatives and anyone else I came in contact with (well, not everyone) to “see what I could do” made me a little giddy. It didn’t hurt that it was so inexpensive to get started. At the very least, I would gain some experience in working with a website. “Free” training is ALWAYS “a good thing” (sorry Martha). So, I set about following all the directions to create my shop and post all the items I had ever made, not giving much thought to what the end result would look like. I posted one of this and two of that and even offered to remake some items in different colors, sizes… you, get the picture. Then beaming with pride over my accomplishment, I called everyone I knew and practically demanded that they “look at what I did”. I was sure that within a matter of days everything I had posted would be SOLD and I would be so busy making more I would have to quit my day job!

Well… 8 months later and no sales (which of course I could not understand) I stopped looking at my shop every day and stopped demanding that my friends, coworkers, acquaintances, relatives and anyone else I came in contact with (well, maybe not everyone) “look what I had done”.

Then, one day in the lunch room of my “day job”, I was reading a local newspaper, to be perfectly honest I can’t remember which one (actually I can as there is only one) and I saw an ad that contained a word that caught my eye. Now mind you, more often than not, unless I am looking for a sale at the local supermarket, or more realistically, the local fabric store, I usually skip the ads and concentrate on the articles. (Hmm, I think I heard that somewhere before…) But, this one caught my eye. It was an ad for an upcoming craft show featuring “Artists from the Etsy Maine Team”! I thought “Wow, other people really do use Etsy. I am not alone. And, from the looks of their wonderful flyer, they are very talented people”. So, I added the craft fair to my calendar. I wanted to know what this “Etsy Maine Team” thing was all about.

I was a bit nervous as I headed to the craft fair. I felt a bit like I was going to meet some secret society and that my measly business cards and the fact that I had a shop (and I now use that term very loosely) on Etsy would not be impressive enough for this group of artistes to give me the time of day. But, I could not have been more wrong.

First, let me say that while I had been so busy setting up my shop, which at the time was a bit of a daunting task for me, I had not even perused all the myriad of offerings that the then hundreds, now thousands, of shops and sellers had to offer. I had no idea what I was in for and boy was I in for a treat! At the craft fair, each of the “vendors” offered very unique and wonderful wares. Everything was very colorful and the presentation from one table to the next was true “eye candy”. Exquisite (I don’t use that word very often unless I mean to make a point, and I MEAN to make a point here) jewelry, accessories, kitchen linens, vintage items, jewelry, children’s tutus, baby booties, soft toys for infants and other magnificent items… and did I mention jewelry?

I met some very interesting people that day. Each of them had their own story and each had their own talent and skill, and well deserved pride in their individual products. But, equally as impressive was the fact that each of them was a member of one team. And as a team they all supported each other and their art. Every single person there was welcoming and friendly and open. They not only were receptive to telling me about their own shops but more often than not encouraged me to talk to the other vendors and promoted their team members’ items as well, and with pride. There was no competitive tone or attitude among them. They did not see me as an intruder for asking so many questions. They encouraged me to join their group and listed many of the pros to membership: networking, group support, resource sharing, idea bouncing sessions, team meetings, critique of shops and encouragement to keep going even when it did not look like success (sales) was on the immediate horizon.

Wow! I left there excited once again. I immediately went home and requested my place on the team. I was eagerly accepted and immediately supplied with the tools I needed to expand my vision and re evaluate my goal for my own shop: forum discussions, resource links, list of team members. I gained a new appreciation for the available resources on the Etsy site but more importantly I gained a community. A community - available through a few strokes on the keyboard, any time, day or night, weekday or weekend - of like minded artists with the common goal to promote HANDMADE and each other.

It has been several months since I met that great group of people. Since then, I have learned much about Etsy and its opportunities. I have learned much about how to really create a shop and not just a mishmash of all things made by me. I have learned much about websites and taking better product photos (thanks Joy!) and have even made a few sales. I have learned how to brand myself (not that kind of brand) and create my shop’s identity. I have learned that this process takes time and dedication and TONS of patience. And, I have learned that I have so much more to learn. Most of all, I have learned much about being a member of a community. A community of like-minded individuals who take a little time out of their day to share their successes and failures, their achievements and their frustrations, and ALWAYS their support…

I look forward doing my part as a team member by introducing you to many of the members of the Etsy Maine Team. I know you will be as impressed as I am…

OH, and did I mention the JEWELRY???

Photos by featured  Etsy Maine Team members:  beckyrose, junquerevival, littleputland, quenchmetalworks, jamieribisi, cleverkitty, etsymaineteam