Effectively Organized: Translating Your Personality and Values into an Online Presence - Part III

I have also made the following promise to myself. I think this point is a hard one for women to keep, but, in business, "Don't be afraid to say no" when:

• You don't have time
• You examine your priorities and find the opportunity doesn't match
• You need to manage expectations and cannot provide as quick a turn-around as is being expected
• Or, if you examine an opportunity in light of your personal values and you find they conflict with your value or belief system.

Think about what will be acceptable vs. what won't be acceptable to you. Use principles (which are flexible based on the situation) vs. rules (which are made to be broken anyway). For example: If you receive a custom order for an object you don't feel comfortable creating, it's helpful to understand that

• It's not necessary to convert everyone to your way of thinking
• It's not necessary to be defensive--often a simple explanation will suffice
• It is good social and business sense to show respect and kindness for the other person's point of view

There may be a potential future article on the art of saying no, but women (especially mothers) are often extremely accommodating. However, successful business is sometimes an art of saying no to the wrong opportunity or saying no to the right opportunity that presents itself at the wrong time. It is also about creating boundaries around what you will or will not convey in your online presence.

The main point I would like to convey, is to give at least some consideration to the forms and ways you participate online and how they reflect you and your values. Let your online presence be a genuine reflection of the pieces of you which you choose to convey in the online format. So, who are you in real life? How does that translate into your online presence?

Effectively Organized: Translating Your Personality and Values into an Online Presence - Part II

Something that helps me to make decisions regarding my online interaction is by trying to correlate my online presence as to what it would be like if I had a little boutique store in an adorable town like McKinney, Texas.

• My blog is the conversation I have with customers
• Flickr is the eye-candy and window-dressing
• Artfire is the functional shop
• My website is the historical store of conversations and information

There are constantly new activities and things to do on the web (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace). When evaluating a new "thing to do", I use two basic questions to guide me:

• What is the IRL equivalent of this online activity?
• How would I behave IRL (in real life)?

Personality-wise, I'm introverted, so I evaluate a scenario or situation from all angles before making a decision. In a nutshell, I don't jump on every online bandwagon that is happening. For example: I'm still trying to figure out whether Twitter has value for me. My initial thoughts were, "what's the point?" However, I said that about phone texts a few years ago. Why would you ever text when you can just call them? Now I rarely call and almost exclusively text. Regarding Twitter, I don't have a lot of time for extras or time to figure out whether it works for me. I'll let the kinks get worked out of the format and let the dust settle before I decided whether or not to participate. Right now, Twitter doesn't fit into my online presence. However, it may have a place in the future.

The other part of doing business that can have a potentially discouraging or downer effect on your business and online presence: negative feedback or complaints. My goal is to be a good business citizen and do whatever is within my power to create a positive satisfied customer through honesty, integrity, quality, and genuine concern for my customer's happiness. However, at a certain point, you do have to realize you can't be everything to everyone. It helps to plan to be accommodating yet firm. Small businesses who exemplify this are the small businesses I mentioned in the opening. I've watched their blogs, their public interactions and they consistently convey a kind, respectful, yet firm, attitude toward the public.

Another consideration: I have made a conscious decision to NOT participate in areas that can breed negativity. Etsy forums are touted as a good way to bring in new customers. Unfortunately, I find the minimal moderation a breeding ground for negative situations and train wrecks. Just as I don't put myself in a situation where a barfight might break out, I don't participate in unmoderated or poorly moderated forums.

Effectively Organized: Translating Your Personality and Values into an Online Presence - Part I

As I have begun exploring my online presence, I realized it was important for me to take a step back and consider how to translate my in real life (IRL) personality and actions into an online presence. First, creating a genuine reflection of yourself is an important activity in creating a connection to potential customers through an impersonal format. Also, there are various aspects of conducting a business that require forethought, planning, and wisdom and really are a reflection of you: your personality and your values. Giving this some thought as you establish your online presence will help you create a genuine connection with customers you may never meet in person. It will also prepare you for various scenarios that you will undoubtedly encounter in the course of doing business.

I have observed some valuable characteristics of successful artists and small businesses (Noisy Plume, Kelly Rae Roberts, Urban Maille) such as an unflagging positive attitude, kindness, and respect. On the other hand, I have read blogs or other forum conversations and observed some behaviors I decided I want to avoid. This is not a definitive article of "should and should not"...it's more of food for thought for how you can translate your IRL presence into your online presence and some examples of how I arrived at some of my decisions.

One of the major aspects of the web I have given considerable thought to was the impersonal and anonymous nature of the web. For this reason, there are reasonable precautions that one should consider when establishing an online presence. There is a seedy side of the internet that you can and should take precautions to protect against: copyright infringement, design copiers, hackers, scammers, stalkers, and trolls. For example, don't put yourself in harms way of an unmoderated forum, document your ideas and words to protect your copyright and original designs, change your passwords frequently, use robust passwords, spend the money on anti-virus programs, invest in a secure website, use a post office box for your business address, and ignore the internet trolls.

Beyond the seedy side, there are additional considerations that should be considered regarding the impersonal nature and potential anonymity of the internet. One of the main things to keep in mind is that the internet removes a significant layer of communication--the non-verbal aspects of body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. In the years since I've been online, I have made mistakes in communication assuming that my humor (which can sometimes be sarcastic) or genuine concern would be conveyed in an email. It's not. The context that comes from a personal conversation (body language, facial expression) or voice conversation (tone of voice) is completely removed. All communication is completely dependent on message and message only. Because of past mistakes, I now read and edit over and over until I feel my message is clearly dependent on the words alone.

Also, the internet has a long "memory." Even though the internet is dynamic and fast-moving, whatever you post online is a form of documentation. If you don't want something to come back and bite you, it's worth taking the time to make sure the message you convey reflects the image you want to present.

This is the first is a series of articles that I publish as part of my newsletter. If you want to read the rest sooner, sign up for my newsletter. The next two installments will be published the next two Mondays.

Effectively Focused: Laying the Foundation for Your Creative Corral - Part IV

Part I
Part II
Part III

The final article in the series, Laying the Foundation for Your Creative Corral. You're juggling life priorities and you know why you want to start a creative business. Now what?

Obstacles

What obstacles are in your way toward following your life priorities? I like the creative approach of writing a mind-map to anticipate obstacles that prevent me from achieving my life's priorities. When I did this exercise, it made me realize that my creative business was at the bottom of the priority heap. I know! Shocking! Yet, this revelation helped me create some boundaries:

1. Time Budget. I created a maximum weekly limit, a monthly schedule, and budgeted my blog-surfing, computer work, research, design work, production, etc.
2. Money Budget. I have some other financial goals I want to achieve before I am ready to invest in growing the business. This helped me to make some decisions of living within my creative budget and utilizing the stash I had already accumulated rather that continuing to try new things. It also contributed to the decision to slow down and become really skilled in one medium.
3. Attitude Budget. I have a tendency to throw myself at something I really like. I came to the understanding that, at this point in time, the creative business was currently an extra, a bonus, a Life Seasoning. Amazingly, doing my activities in priority order, has actually allowed me to find ways to become more efficient and effective with my regular priorities. I also approach my business in a more organized fashion, too. By letting the jewelry business flow around all of my other activities, I get to indulge quite often (a newsletter! a blog! jewelry! glass! a shop!) without guilt.

Do a check-up on your priorities every few months and make sure your activities are properly aligned with your priorities. By creating the foundation for your Creative Corral you can begin to grow your business effectively and with purpose.

Next month's newsletter: understanding your value system and how it applies to your online presence. The internet has some feelings of a modern wild, wild west. How can you translate your IRL (In Real Life) values into a principled business and online presence? Want to read the whole article on the first of June? Sign up for the newsletter over to the left.

Effectively Focused: Laying the Foundation for Your Creative Corral - Part III

So, you're lining up your life priorities, now what?
Motivation
Why are you starting a creative business? Do merely need to vent creativity? Do you want your hobby to pay for itself? Do you want to make some extra money or build a full business? Do you want to create an art empire? Your motive contributes to the focus and helping your business move forward to the goal instead of meandering and not really going anyhere. Don't make the mistake of defining your financial goal yet. Merely have an understanding of your motives. When you re-visit your priorities periodically, you may be at different points on the motivation continuum. Can you give more time to the business? Do you need to downgrade the priority to care for more urgent matters? That's okay! Your priority list helps you juggle and organize the activities that are most important at this point in time.
Next week: the final post in the series, Laying the Foundation for Your Creative Corral

Effectively Focused: Laying the Foundation for Your Creative Corral - Part II

Following up from last week's post on Laying the Foundation for Your Creative Corral, there are three questions, that only you can answer. The first one:

Priorities

What are your life priorities? Within those priorities, what are the sub-priorities? What are "must-attend" appointments for the week/month? Understanding your priorities and their relationship to each other helps you know what needs to be sacrificed and in what order. It's amazing how much you get done when working from a priority list. For me, it also a motivator to care for my priorities in the most effective and efficient way...so I can go play and do something creative (it's my creative carrot). I can then create without guilt. This habit also protects me from burnout.

Next week, Question #2...

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Effectively Focused: Laying the Foundation for Your Creative Corral - Part I

After dabbling with a creative business for the last 6-7 years, I have become very serious about glass, silver, and jewelry. As I was writing the original article on developing a mission statement, I saw interwoven in the content a foundation that was implied but never stated. This article backs up a few steps and addresses laying the foundation of your creative business by cementing the cornerstones of your principles:

1. identifying and organizing your life priorities as they relate to each other
2. your value system and how it will translate into your business practices and online presence

This article is devoted to the first step.
Every few months, I receive reminders to make sure I am approaching my life's priorities in the proper order. I need the reminders because it's so easy to let things get out of whack and pretty soon you're doing things in the wrong order and you have created unnecessary angst. When you do things in the wrong order, life becomes inefficient which swirls into a toxic tornado of stress and guilt, which then saps creative energy and joy.

Lifting a creative business is going to involve more time. If you already have a packed life, you probably wonder how you can possibly add any more without stealing from another area. I found reviewing my priorities a vital exercise in figuring out where my creative endeavors fit.

My Story

When I finally gave myself permission to indulge my creativity, it was unleashed in a blinding storm. My mind churned out a myriad of creative sprites that galloped off into too many artistic directions...stringing, wirework, photography, crocheting, lampwork beads, knitting, sewing, chain maille, metalsmithing, silver clay, website ideas, colored pencils, collage. Dizzy yet? Yeah, so was I. To complicate that, opportunities were popping up and I wasn't prepared to deal with them. I was in need of corralling my wild herd of creative sprites.

So, maybe your creativity is a continuous stream and you don't have to worry about reining the creativity in. However, you still need a foundation of principles from which to lift off and guide the business. You will be layering in new activities as they relate to a creative business. Knowing your priorities makes your decision-making efficient and effective. You focus on the activities that help reach your goals and sort the ineffective activities to the bottom. Having a focus...or a creative corral...will help you figure out whether you should say yes! or [gasp] no to an opportunity. If you do say yes, understanding your priorities helps you set expectations, direct opportunities to a version that is more in line with your goals, and to say no without guilt (isn't saying no hard for women?), then organize the resulting tasks.

It's also good to note that, unlike a herd of mustangs, creative sprites aren't bounded by gravity. They can (and should) still float up out of the corral, plucking ideas that meander across...but with guidelines that make sense in the context of the creative corral you've defined.
Part II will follow next Monday.
P.S. - If you don't want to wait that long to read the rest of the article, sign up for the newsletter over to the left.