How to Always Defeat Your Creative Block

There’s nothing worse than wanting to create, but not having the inspiration to create. Sometimes it feels like being stuck in the middle of a highway with no hope of getting rescued. But no worries! We have you covered. Here are three ways to defeat your creative block.

Plan Ahead

Take some time to consider what you want to create. If it is something you already know how to do, go ahead and get your materials together. There’s nothing worse than wanting to create and being plagued with too many decisions. When you are ready to create, start with the projects for which you have materials you have on hand.

2.Tidy Up Your Workspace

When I am feel stuck in my craft life, I take a few minutes to tidy up my workspace. It not only inspires me when my space is clean, it also allows me to see the tools and materials I have. Typically, once I can actually see what I have, inspiration is soon to follow.

3.Always Show Up!

One of the worse things we can do during creative blocks is to quit. This means that even when the ideas are not flowing, I still suggest that you show up. Maybe you won’t love the first or second thing you create, but one thing is sure: As you show up, inspiration will find her way into your craft room, into your mind and eventually, she will show up in your creation.

If crafting is a part of your business, then you definitely cannot afford to wait for inspiration to show up. You can show up expecting to get fresh ideas, fresh inspiration- show up and start working. Think of it this way, if our creative block is a wall, then we must be climbing in order to get over the wall. Staying inactive keeps us stuck and will not enable us to scale the wall.

How do you defeat your creative blocks?

How to Meet Your Top Small Business Goals

You’ve been growing your business for a while, but maybe you’re stuck you feel that you’ve hit a wall and need some direction.Or maybe you are your business is soaring and ready to move to your next level. But you are not sure where to start.
Here are 3 ways to help you make progress towards your business (and maybe other)goals :

Invest in your education. Many times we are hesitant to pay for a course or conference that can help us get to where we want to be. Let’s face it, Google is great, but at some point we may not even know what to Google. Take advantage of online courses, business conferences, books, podcasts, etc. Check out our Resilient Conference playback here.
Find some business accountability partners. Everyone needs business buddies- people who will ask you the tough questions and hold you accountable for the things you need to do. Our Facebook group Makers Making Moves connects you to a private group of entrepreneurs just like yourself who also have similar goals and needs.
Write down your goals and make sure they are SMART goals. Be sure to outline action steps and timelines for each goals.

Specific (simple, sensible, significant).
Measurable (meaningful, motivating).
Achievable (agreed, attainable).
Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based).
Time bound (time-based, time limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive).

Let us know what some of your goals are and which of methods have helped you stay on track with your business goals.

At the start of the year, most people are focused on goal setting . The same is true for small businesses. We get a change to envision our businesses progressing and dream big dreams.Here are 5 of the most common small business goals :Increase profitability of businessBe more productiveImprove business processesScale business for maximum growthImprove time management

Which goals would you add to this list? Which goals would you omit?

by J. Harris

How To Establish Boundaries as a Handmade Business Owner

Boundaries, Boundaries, Boundaries. The lack of them could cause a lot of inner anger. The presence of them will likely help you stay sane and a lot more content.

Here are 4 ways you can establish in your handmade business:

Determine start and end times for your tasks – Figure out how much time you can allot to your task and set a timer. Do your best to work with minimal distractions and when the timer is up, move on to other things. This will help ensure that you are not sucked into the time stealing vacuum, which leads to us not having time for other important things.
Take a break or vacation. You deserve it. – Sometimes you may need a break from social media, from work, from making and you have to give yourself permission to take that break. It’s okay; everything will be there when you come back.
Ask for Help – Too many times, we try to be super human and do everything by ourselves. Asking for help doesn’t mean that you are not strong or capable. It just means that you recognize your limits and that you will not exhaust yourself. Asking for help or sometimes hiring help will allow you pour time into other things that you value.
Say No- Saying no will help to ensure that you do not overextend yourself. One question to ask yourself as you determine if you should say yes: Will saying yes prevent me from focusing on something that’s more important? If the answer is yes, then you should say no. You may feel guilty at first, but eventually, you will be much happier because you will spend your time doing the things that matter to you.

What other boundaries have you set that help you succeed?

Three Mistakes I’ve Made As an Entrepreneur

“When you know better, you do better. That said, it really is a shame to know better but don’t do better.”

― Germany Kent

We’ve all made some mistakes as because we are humans. The key though is to learn from our mistakes and chart a better path when we get the opportunity again.

Here are 3 common mistakes I’ve made as an entrepreneur:

1.Assuming that I had to fight for every customer’s business. I realized early on that not I would not be able to please everyone as a customer. Don’t get me wrong, I say go above and beyond for customers, but some customers will be unsatisfied regardless of if you go the extra mile or not. I learned that sometimes a sale may not be worth the peace of mind and mental drain. When we encounter those people, it is okay to preserve our peace and let them go.

2. Not investing in my business. I think when we start out, we want to save as much money as possible. But in order to grow, we may need to invest in a masterclass, new tools, or some other opportunities that may cost us. As long as we know that the investment will benefit our business, we should be open to sowing seeds into it.

3.Taking various aspects of business personal. When it comes to customers or to rejections, we tend to internalize and see it as a rejection of us as individuals. I’m learning to remind myself that while my work is an extension of my passion, and essentially a part of me, customers see a product. They typically make decisions about the product and not necessarily the person selling the products. A no is a no to my product because maybe it’s not exactly what they need at this time, its not what they choose to spend on at this time, or a variety of other reasons. My talents are still valid and worthy even if a customer chooses not to purchase from me.

What mistakes have you made in your journey?

By Jandi H.

Craft Savvy Market #3 – Lessons Learned Part 1

We held our third Craft Savvy Market on April 13,2019 and this market superceded our expectations in so many ways. Everything from our spectacular vendors, to our customers, volunteers made the event one of our best. Below, we share our lessons learned.

Lessons Learned – Craft Savvy Market #3

I think we’ve done a nice job of learning from past mistakes and adjusting accordingly. I remember we decided to do a big, beautiful Insta-worthy photo wall at our second event. We did our Pinterest research, brainstormed how to execute our concept and bought our supplies. Then we made a plan to arrive at the building to install the photo wall, step up all the tables and have the vendors arrive 30 minutes later. Let’s just say that schedule didn’t work so well.

The photo wall was tough to set-up and when vendors (and volunteers) began to arrive with lots of questions and needs, stress and scrambling ensued. Note to self: don’t schedule set-up within 30 minutes of vendor arrival!! For the third market, we gave ourselves an ample 90 minutes to set-up and then opened the doors for our vendors. We had calmly set up tables, built the photo wall, briefed our volunteers and could now take care of our vendors. You can’t anticipate everything that will go wrong when you are running a business, but you can certainly learn from mistakes and come back stronger and better prepared.

Another lesson learned with this market is the importance of not hanging your hat on one approach. We typically invest in Facebook ads (along with other things) to get the word out about the event. After focusing mostly on promoting the event page, we tried adding individual post promotion to the mix and received an even better payback on our ad dollars. It was a great reminder to remain nimble and not just rest on what’s working “okay”. Sometimes you need to experiment and make adjustments to get the best possible result.

I can’t believe we just wrapped our third market! I am so proud that we’ve accomplished and grateful for all the lessons learned and support and blessings we’ve received on the journey. Here’s to getting better and not giving up!

By: Charlene Dunbar

More Room- Lesson From CSM #3

When I walked away from the April market, two words haunted me – “more room”. We used half of the space at Decatur Recreation Center for our first and second markets. The April market was the first time we collapsed the wall and used the entire room. The reality is that even when we were using half the space at the previous markets, we were already in the full room. It was up to us to see it. If we had given up after the first and second markets, we would not have made it to the full room. This market reminded me to craft my vision as a maker and to continuously pursue it with my whole heart.

My vision is my belief that a deposit was placed in me before I was born to pursue my greatest and wildest dream as a maker. My vision is about my potential and seeing my fullest self without restrictions, hindrances, fear or doubts. My vision is not about my present conditions but it is about my final destination. For some that might mean being a full-time maker, others it might be owning a brick and mortar store and for others it might mean developing a global brand.

But regardless of what your vision looks like, that means that if I have a bad market day and no one buys my goods, then no one bought my goods. Do I need to rethink my market approach? Yes. Hopefully the work I do and choices I make line up with my vision and final destination. That means I may have to be flexible and willing to make adjustments as needed. Does it mean I may need to rethink my marketing strategies? Maybe. Does it mean I may need to rethink the goods I bring to the market? Possibly. Does it mean that I need to walk away from my vision? NO.

My vision is not about the conditions around me but about my fullest potential. Sometimes people don’t understand our vision and we spend time too much time trying to convince them of our vision. But my job is not to educate people on my vision but to educate myself on how I will reach my fullest potential. My vision is bigger than my present conditions, people’s understanding and even what my eyes can see. If I plan to go from a half space to a full room, then I better start seeing, believing in and pursuing my vision with everything I got.More room.

By Ciatta-Mae Stubblefield

Top lessons learned from our first market – Part 2

As crafters, we are all about risks. We take risks when we use new materials, try new projects, mix different mediums, etc. On a warm summer afternoon in June, we crammed into a booth at Panera Bread and took a risk. We agreed to work together to carry out our first Craft Savvy Market.

Here we are almost four months after our first market day and now that we have exhaled we are sharing our top lessons. Read part one of our lessons learned here. Apply to be a part of Craft Savvy Market here.

3. The Power of Working As a Team

I learned a great deal from the first Craft Savvy Market, but one of the things that stuck out was the power of working as a team. I built my first business with tons of support from friends and loved ones, but it often gets lonely and you feel like you’re carrying most of the load. Working with my three co-founders opened me up to multiple ways of skinning the proverbial cat. We thought through potential problems (and opportunities!) as a team and that usually resulted in us coming up with a better path forward.

On the emotional front, it’s easy to get discouraged or fearful when you are doing something new or different. I loved how if I was struggling, one of my Craft Savvy Market teammates could cheer me on and offer help. We prayed together, found scriptures together and I think that shared strength and accountability helped us to finish strong.

Charlene

4. Taking the First Step Anyway

As a creative, I often struggle with the logical side of my brain. I want to be free to create, but I also need to have some control of the process and the outcome. One of my biggest take away from our first Craft Savvy Market is that I do not have to have all the answers in order to take a step. I typically want to make safe decisions that are bound to work out. And while caution is healthy, too much of it prevents us from growing and trying new things.

As we planned for the market, I quickly realized that I didn’t have all the answers and neither did the other ladies. But a great part of this process was about being available to learn and figure things out along the way. I walked away on March 10 knowing that no matter what, I need to take the step. Whether it’s a baby step or a slow drag with me holding on to someone’s leg, I need to be courageous and take steps.

Jandi

Maybe you participated in a craft market for the first time or you took a creative risk for the first time. What new understanding did you possess after the experience? We would love to hear from you.