
These are sand dollars I collected on the beach in Mexico. I would walk next to crashing waves every morning and pick up shells and sand dollars as I went.
In Ensenada, sand dollars wash up on shore in the hundreds after a storm. The abundance was so great that some mornings it was all I could do to carry them. Of course, I had to pick up each and every flawless one, just for fun.
This is how many ideas are swimming in my head today.
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You may have noticed that I changed the descriptor under my Fresh Berries blog title from "Rambling writer..." to "The blog behind the business..." That's because it's time to stop rambling and start focusing.
Today is a red-letter day.
I was thrown a challenge this week. It was a simple observation: "I don't think you really want to be successful."
Ouch.
Well, Durga, look around. If our surroundings reflect our states of mind, then I would have to agree. There are signs of contentment everywhere in my life, but not many signs of success. This is not good.
I knew that trying to convince with words would never work, so I resolved to demonstrate that yes, I did indeed want to be successful. This is what I did:
First, I started rereading (for the umpteenth time, but this time practicing it) Wallace D. Wattles' little book, The Science of Getting Rich. It is an amazing and powerful text.
Next, I shifted my thinking to envision the business side of what I do, not the art or craft. This was not as big a step as I thought it would be, but what a difference it made in my world view.
Here's the thing I realized, and this may be true for others of you crafters out there who also want to sell but have never connected to the marketing frame of mind: I will always make things. It's like breathing for me. I don't have to worry about that. It doesn't kill the art to place it in a business framework. Artists have made money with their art for centuries. The challenge is to embrace the unfamiliar business limitations as an artistic challenge and use them to create something new.
Simultaneously with this shift in thinking, I got my first paid commission for a bead item: a necklace intended as a birthday gift. Meeting the requirements of my customer is teaching me things I cannot learn in any other way. It's Business 101---but hey, you're never too old.
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After all that, I signed up for Ryan Deiss's Digital Marketer Lab, which includes his Idea Incubator program. If you want to watch a video of what he's about, click here.
Many online marketing advisors and teachers have never sold anything except marketing advice. Ryan says this and I know it's true because I've bought things from them. Almost all of it is hot air. But I believe that Ryan's knowledge is based in experience and I value that.
I don't think I'm the kind of small business that Idea Incubator invests in, but what great information he offers! Clear, concise, and insightful baby steps to discovering the nature of my business and how to market it in a changing Internet environment.
So I've narrowed my plate of sand dollars down to two:
FRESH BERRIES Bead Art and Durga Walker, Author
Narrowing down was a feat in itself. But I'm learning.
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By the way, did you know that sand dollars grow on the ocean floor, standing on end until turbulent seas dislodge them and deposit them on the shore?
If you want to see more beautiful images, scroll through these.
Have a wonderful day, and remember to take your ideas in your hands.