The project included a Blogger to WordPress migration, a new designs, a new Twitter home page and we will also be updating their Facebook page in the coming weeks.  We’re seeing a lot of clients coming to us recently with Blogger to WordPress migrations, which speaks to the growing capabilities of this open source Content Management System as well as it’s easy usability.

All the best to the WestchesterFoodies and their new site – we hope it brings you lots of success!

On to the Friday goodies this week.

portrait of a blogger

I stumbled across a remarkable series of portraits of bloggers by Brooklyn, NY, photographer Gabriela Herman last week.  The bloggers featured are all well known but the photos are striking.  As somebody who writes two blogs of my own (and is writing this one right now, at 10:30pm, in my dark office with a sleeping dog at my feet) they struck a chord.

I usually write my posts late at night when the house is quiet and I know most of the world is asleep.  I’m a night owl.  My most productive hours have always been between 7pm and 1am.  Everything is peaceful, solitary and quiet.   Email and the phone have stopped.   And somehow when the only light is the light from my computer, I feel like I’m in a cocoon and my brain magically focuses.  These photos all capture that essence.

Blogging is hard work.  Sometimes, even though it’s connecting you with people from all walks of life, it can feel lonely.  And yet all over the world there are millions of people, sitting in front of laptops and desktops, lit up only by the screen’s glow, tapping away about their little piece of the world – hoping that it will resonate with somebody out there.  I think Gabriela’s work is remarkable.

anthony burrill

I frequent the  blog of a lovely little shop known as room6 in Deep Cove, BC on a regular basis.  They make my designer heart happy.  I have never actually been in the shop because I suspect I’d wind up bankrupt shortly thereafter.  But nearly every day I heart something that they post.  Last week, they announced that they had this wonderful Anthony Burrill print for sale and… I want it.

After looking at Burrill’s website, I want all of his prints.  His simplicity, use of colour and typography and hint of a wicked sense of humor make me love his work.

pantone cookies?? yes please!

If you’re a designer of any kind, you know what the Pantone colour system is and you are very familiar with the swatch books and chips that you will see in any art department or design studio.  Pantone has put out some really neat products mimicking their colour chips.  I’ve seen tins, umbrellas, notebooks and even laptop bags.

Designer Kim Neil had some of the tins and decided to send her clients Pantone Chip cookies for Christmas.  The idea is brilliant!  Check out her blog for the full story and the recipe.  And to find out which colours went the fastest!

Although at first it might sound like it, the two don’t not run at odds with other important skills like self-discipline or goal planning.  Rather, they’re complimentary to them.

It’s important to have a business plan and a set of goals so you know what you’re working towards – we all know that.  It’s also important to have the self-discipline to carry them out and stick to tasks that will help you accomplish your goals instead of wasting time on tasks that won’t get you where you want to be.

small business advantage

Flexibility and adaptability are two advantages small businesses have.  We’re in the unique position of being able to quickly respond to changing markets, capitalize on emerging trends and be nimble with our advertising and marketing.  Like a train or a cruise ship, big companies usually have too much infrastructure and processes in place to turn on a dime.

So take that advantage and make it work for you by keeping a watchful eye on all the different aspects of your business and look for opportunities you can jump on (if they align with your goals), and weed out the efforts that aren’t working or providing a good return on investment.

fine tuning

I’m starting to understand just how important it is to be constantly  fine tuning my business.  It’s something I make time for every week.

Measure everything.  Review your measurements regularly and frequently – this is what will make it easy for you to bend and adapt.  You can respond quickly.  Know what’s giving you hard results and what’s not and don’t be afraid to stop something that’s not making the cut.  You can always try it again later if it makes sense.

Having said that, sometimes the results might not be there but your gut is telling you to hold off on pulling the plug.  It’s ok to listen to your gut… but not for an indeterminate amount of time.  Put deadlines in place and in the meantime, keep measuring your results.  If you start to see improvement, you can move the deadline back.

Don’t be afraid to try new things! The best part of small business flexibility and adaptability is, if it’s not working, you can quickly drop it!

I missed my one year anniversary of working entirely for myself!

I always thought that would be a milestone I’d be looking towards impatiently and I completely missed it!  I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not!

The past year has flown by and I’ve experienced some serious ups and downs, both professionally and personally.  But the fact that I’m so absorbed in this venture I’ve embarked on that I missed this milestone tells me a few things:

• I’m happy.  It’s been a tough and challenging gig but… I’m happy!  Finding where you’re meant to be is extremely fulfilling.  Hard work doesn’t matter because you love it.
• I made the right decision.  Yes, there’s some things I would change or do differently if I started out from scratch again but that’s part of learning.
• Worrying about not having enough to do isn’t really an issue.  Even when business is slow, I have so many other projects I want to get started that I’m never without something to do

challenges

As I eluded to earlier, there have been some challenges. And I thought I’d talk a bit about them because they’ve been great learning experiences.

1. life strikes

The biggest challenge I faced was easily a sudden family illness that was life changing.  It was not only emotionally draining but it heavily impacted my ability to work, (which, when you are single, can have a dramatic effect on your income).  It also put me in the position where I was financially responsible for somebody else for several months and am still responsible for them in a (minor) caretaking role.  While I would gladly turn back time so I could erase all of this, in a way, I’m very thankful that it happened to me in my first year of running my own business.  I learned some very powerful lessons that I feel I must pass on:

• Loved ones should always outrank work.  Always.  You don’t know what will happen tomorrow.  Love what you do.  Work your butt off at it.  But not at the expense of your loved ones.
• Be properly insured (long term disability, critical care, medical etc) and make sure both your affairs and the affairs of any family members you might be required to care for are in order (ie, wills, power of attorney, important papers).  What would happen, financially, if you found yourself suddenly in the hospital tomorrow with no idea when you could work again?  Worse still, what if you weren’t in a position to be able to communicate any of your important information to people who could help?
• Have backups in place – not just of your files but also of people who can take over any current projects you are working on
• Emergency fund, emergency fund, emergency fund.  As small business owners we frequently hear how important it is to have an EF for when times are slow but it’s just as important for when you aren’t able to work due to reasons out of your control

I learned a few of these lessons the hard way and some of them were things I had already put in place and was so, so, SO glad I had.  When you own a start up small business, every dollar is precious and it can be tempting to take your chances and put some expenses off until your client base and your cash flow are strong and healthy.  Just remember, it’s a risk.  Weigh the pros and cons very carefully when deciding where to spend your money.

2. finding work

This is always a challenge for a freelancer.  When work is plentiful, it’s easy to forget about or find the time for your marketing and networking.

Big mistake.

It’s important to keep yourself visible.  There are going to be slow periods.  By keeping up with your marketing/networking while you’re busy, it will help minimize slow periods before they happen as opposed to panicking when they’re upon you.

• Put aside 30 minutes a day for social networking (twitter, facebook, blogging)
• Attend industry specific conferences and events
• Spend a day every quarter going over your marketing planner and adjusting it as needed
• Take an hour a week and review all your current marketing initiatives and see what’s working and what isn’t
• Make time every week for face to face, skype or teleconference chats with your peers (I find this very valuable, not just as a networking tool but as a learning tool)

And as important as it is to network with your peers, it’s also important to attend events that put you in front of your customer!  That often seems to get overlooked!

3. finding other revenue streams

The saying goes “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” and it’s true.  Don’t rely on one or two big clients.  Look for other ways to make money.  I’m looking at different passive income streams right now.  Don’t let the word “passive” fool you – they’re hard work to set up and get moving.  But once they start ticking away, they can provide you with a nice income stream for moments when your core business is slow.

Explore some niche markets that relate to your field and see if you can offer some valuable services.  Niche markets are not as price sensitive and if you do quality work, you will be found and  have an opportunity to make more money.

4. time management

Find me an entrepreneur who doesn’t struggle with this one!  I’m still working on it and probably will be forever.  But as this past year progressed I started to have a much better understanding of how I work and what I need to do to be productive.  It differs for everyone but I think the key is paying attention to when you find yourself doing your best work and taking note of your surroundings and distractions during those times.  Work out a system that works for you.

5. so many, many more

I could probably write a dozen posts on all the challenges I’ve faced this year but these are the key ones.  Looking back it’s been a pretty amazing year and I’ve learned so much.  It’s been a hugely rewarding experience to finally be doing what I love and getting to work with some amazing colleagues and some pretty cool and creative clients!

Happy Birthday to us! I’m going to go have a cupcake.  With lime frosting!

grow: always upward – the blog

I stumbled on Always Upward over the Christmas holidays because I follow the 3/50 project on Facebook.  The 3/50 project is a grassroots organization in the US that aims to promote and support small independent businesses, a cause that’s near and dear to my heart (as I’m sure it is to yours, if you run a small business).

Always Upward is the blog of Cinda Baxter, the founder of the 3/50 project, and while much of it is directly related to 3/50 promotions, there are a number of posts that are gems for small business owners.  The one that caught my eye was the Year End Reboot geared towards small retailers but also very relevant to any kind of small business.

Check the blog out and poke around.  It’s geared to a U.S. audience but much of it is worthwhile.  Take a few moments to check out 3/50 as well and see what you can do to support other small businesses in your community.

inspiration: decor8

Decor8 is another blog I found while reading Blogging For Bliss and it made my heart sing a little bit.  Written mainly by Holly Becker, an American design consultant and writer who now lives in Germany, and her two current contributors, photographer/stylist Leslie Shewring and home project writer Anna-Malin Lindgren, it showcases design inspiration from around the world.

The images and finds are beautiful and inspiring and it’s always a burst of freshness to stop by this wonderful blog.  It makes me feel like fresh citrus fruit: clean, beautiful and fresh!

a giggle (and a lesson): work for free?

One of the struggles of running a small business is, you need to ensure you earn what you are worth, if you want to keep the doors open.  At the same time, every expenditure is one you have to weigh carefully and try to get the best deal possible on.  It’s a balancing act we’re all familiar with.

And how often do you get asked to work for free or give something away?  Well then this clever illustration by designer Jessica Hische will probably make you giggle.  So next time somebody asks you to work for free… follow the flow chart! Click on the image to go to the full size version.

Not sure what a 365 project is?  Well as the name suggests, it’s a project where you produce something new each day of the year.  It can be a photograph a day, a design, a poem, journal entry, a doodle.. whatever appeals to you.

They’re not easy projects to do – it takes a lot of discipline.  But if you persevere, you usually learn a lot, hone your skills, develop your creativity, meet some neat people, and have a lot of fun.

The three 365s I’m showing here all happen to be photographers.     One’s a well know Vancouver wedding and fine art photographer, one is a Pennsylvania children’s photographer and one is an amateur working on her second 365 after learning so much from her first one.

john heil

John Heil is a Vancouver wedding and fine art photographer with a style all his own.  I’m crazy about his work and if I ever get married, he’s the one I’m calling.  It’s fresh and modern and full of bold colour.

John is doing a 365 project on tumblr with his iPhone and some of it’s cool camera apps and I think it will be a fun one to follow along with.  You can also check out more from John on his photography blog.

erica fisher

Erica Fisher is a children’s photographer in Pennsylvania who specializes in on location shoots.

This isn’t Erica’s first 365 but this year, she’s doing a selfie project.  In other words, 365 days of self portraits.  If you think this is an easy thing to do, you’re wrong.  Not many photographers are terribly comfortable being on the other side of the lens.  Doing a selfie project also helps hone the portraiture skills.

You can follow along with Erica on her flickr stream.

planejayne72

She does have a real name but I forgot to ask her if I could use it!  playnejayne is embarking on her second 365.  She’s not a professional but sometimes they’re the most fun to follow because you can see them grow so much right in front of you!  You can follow along with her project on flickr as well!

We’ll be checking back in on our 3 photographers a little further down the stretch.  In the meantime, if you have a 365 project of your own or know of one you think we should feature, let us know!

Every blog out there has a post on goals, resolutions, planning for the New Year and we don’t want to be totally left out!  I think everyone knows that the new year makes a great time to take stock of what you accomplished during the past year and to look forward to the year ahead.  What can you do better?  What can you build on? And, what can you try that’s brand new to you?

So what are your goals for the coming year?  Either for yourself or your business.  Planning any interesting personal creative projects?  Are you going to be tracking their progress on-line?  If so, let us know!  We’d love to follow along from the beginning!

I have a list of goals, both professional and personal,  a mile long.  I always do every year.  I never expect to fulfill them all, but I find if I write them down, they stick with me and sooner or later, a lot of them come to fruition!

Fine Lime Designs has lots in store this year!  We’ll be expanding on our popular Artists On-Line series and our Creative Entrepreneur profiles this year and we have a few other things up our sleeve that we’re not ready to announce just yet.  (But they’ll be cool – I promise!)

So let us know what your goals are this year!  And stay tuned.

Happy New Year!

Blogging is one of the most established forms of social media.  (I started my first blog way back in 2004 on the Live Journal platform!)  It’s also one, that when done well, can have huge benefits to your business and lends itself very well to creative people.

However, it also requires a great deal of patience and commitment to establish yourself and start seeing rewards.

Here are a few of the benefits that blogging can bring you as a creative entrepreneur or artist:

• exposure for your work – exposure that you control.
• another way to build relationships with existing and potential clients
• higher search engine ranking which can result in increased traffic to your website and portfolio
• potential income from monetizing your blog

All of those are good things.  But here are some of the things you’ll need to do to make the benefits happen:

• most importantly, have good content
• have good content
• have good content
• write consistently and regularly – at least once a week
• interact with your readers to help build a community – this means responding to your commenters and making them feel heard and welcome
• consider a twitter account that you can send blog updates to
• oh yeah… did I mention good content?

Blogging requires a time commitment.  The key is building a solid group of followers and that requires good content and consistency.

finding consistency

One of hardest, but also most important, parts of blogging is maintaining quality content while still being consistent.  You don’t want to blog for the sake of blogging, but at the same time, if you’re unable to update regularly, you’ll find it very difficult to gain a solid readership.  People can be patient to a point but if you’re sporadic and inconsistent, they’ll stop coming back or delete their RSS subscription.  If your eventual goal is to monetize your blog, inconsistency is not going to work.

Do you need to update every day?  Not at all.  Even as little as once a week is acceptable.  Less than once a week?  That starts to get into a hazy area.  If you only want to update once every two weeks, you might be able to make it work if your content is outstanding and if you make it clear in your About page or in the sidebar of your blog that you only update every other week – but then make sure you stick to that schedule.  Again, it’s about consistency.

you don’t need to be a writer to blog

Don’t like writing?  You may want to reconsider the idea of having a blog – most of them do require some writing, if only brief.  However, it’s not always necessary!  There are a lot of great artists out there who have blogs that showcase their work – often personal projects, using only pictures and maybe a brief description.  There are a lot of great One a Day project blogs where the artist is doing a photo a day, or a design a day.  If you’ve been considering a project like that, incorporating a blog into your site is a great way to share it and keep yourself on track.  Don’t want to go the One A Day route?  Consider doing something similar but on a less frequent basis.  Once a week, maybe.

Finding relevant content is always a challenge.  I visit many creative blogs in any given week, for research, inspiration and, frankly, just because I like pretty stuff.   Find a niche.  One that relates to your work.  You can’t be all things to all people so don’t even try.  Just like your art or creative endeavors may not appeal to everyone, your blog can’t either.  You know who your clients are, think about what they’d like to see and focus on that.  Create a weekly or monthly post of some of your favourite bits of inspiration that you’ve come across.  Let people know what you’re working on.  Having a showing? Participating in a artisan show?  Talk it up!  Promote any other creative communities you’re involved in. Poke around and see what others are doing.

things to consider before jumping in

Blogging isn’t for everyone and before you make a decision either way, remember that it is absolutely a part of your marketing strategy and will reflect on your business. Therefore think seriously about these factors:

• how much time can I realistically put towards a blog?
• can I do this on a consistent basis?
• do I feel I can contribute meaningful content on a regular basis?
• do I want to do this?

Like any form of social media, there is nothing wrong with not having a presence if you’re not prepared to give it the time it needs to work for you.  A blog tied to your business is a marketing effort that’s as important as your logo, your portfolio, and your customer service.  If your marketing energies are better focused somewhere else, do that.  There’s nothing worse than a half-hearted attempt left out on the internet for the world to see.

But, if you have the desire and the energy to craft a blog, it’s a great way to increase your visibility, attract new clients and even give you another creative outlet.

Feel free to drop a line in the comments if you have more questions on blogging as an extension of your creative brand or contacts us directly if you want to discuss it more in depth!

In the meantime, here are two great resources to help you out:

Blogging for Bliss: Crafting Your Own Online Journal: A Guide for Crafters, Artists & Creatives of all Kinds by Tara Fry.  A great guide with all kinds of examples of other creatives using blogging.  My only piece of advice I would add is that you strongly  consider making your blog an extension of your existing website as opposed to starting a blog on a separate platform – it will help your traffic and search engine rankings for your portfolio.

tentbloggers.com John Saddignton knows what he’s talking about when it comes to professional blogging and has the experience to back it up.  Even if you don’t want to be a professional blogger, his site is literally packed with advice and tips to improve your blog.  I’ve learned a ton from him.

a collection a day

First up is Lisa Congdon, an artist and illustrator from San Fransisco who embarked on a 365 project to document all the collections she has (and she has lots!).  She calls it A Collection A Day, 2010.  One collection photo or drawing or painting a day for the entire year.  It’s wonderful.  Whimsical, nostalgic and beautifully executed.  Plus, she has some pretty cool stuff.  Not only do I find her organization and composition of her images inspiring but as the items themselves are enough to give you a kick start if you’re looking for something visual to light a spark.

My only regret?  I didn’t discover this till she was on Day 340!  But at least that meant I had the joy of browsing through her archives!

pantone’s colour of the year: 2011

2010 was the year of 15-5519 Turquoise.  2011 is the year of 18-2120 – better known as Honeysuckle.

PANTONE swatches are known by designers all over the world and every year they announce the latest colour of the year.  For 2011 they describe Honeysuckle as a colour that “emboldens us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor.”  Check out the announcement for a full description as well as products sporting this pretty and cheerful colour.  You can even get a PANTONE Honeysuckle Platinum Visa!

apartment therapy

While I was looking at Lisa Congdon’s photos, I followed a link to view where she keeps all her collections at home.  It landed me on the wonderful eye candy sight, apartmenttherapy.com.  If you’re a designer of any kind or appreciate design on any level, this site will be a feast for your eyes.  From interior design, to design accessories, design questions and featured homes, there are tons of goodies and information here.  It pretty much shot the rest of my morning!  I want one of the dog food tins for Sam’s food!

That’s it for this week!  Have a great weekend!

A few hours later I was doing some work on a blog post for my little side venture Eyes Bigger Than My Stomach (yes, a shameless plug – that’s the benefit of being the boss. hehe), and I stumbled on some of my food photography being used on tumblr.  Ok, that’s not the world’s most unusual occurrence.  I know from time to time it happens and it irritates me greatly that the “borrowers” almost never ask.  All my work that makes it to the web is well marked as being copyrighted.  And hey, guess what, if you ask me nicely and you’re not attempting to make money from it, I almost always say yes!

This time, however, after seeing the initial photo being used, I did a quick google to see what else I could find on tumblr.  I was a little surprised.  Eleven different photos (some used multiple times)… and these are the photos where the people were kind enough to use the images without my permission but at least credit me and give a link back to my flickr page.  Trust me, there are loads of people out there who are not so thoughtful.

In the grand scheme of copyright infringement, these are small infractions.  The ones I found had all credited me and even linked back to my work.  And most of them just like the photo and want to share it with their friends – which I don’t mind.  It would just be nice to be asked first!

But these are the easy ones to find.  What about the people who take your work and try to pass if off as theirs?  What about those who go through the trouble of removing your copyright watermark?  Or alter a few words of your blog post and post it as theirs?  Or take your web design and change the text and say they did it?

I honestly don’t have the time to vigilantly police the whole world wide web looking for people stealing my stuff.  I can approach tumblr with a request that the offending parties be required to remove my content but it’s a fair amount of work that has to be done for each image and each use.  If it’s a really serious infraction, I can involve a lawyer.  But that is very expensive and I have to decide if the potential effect on my livelihood is worth the cost of legal action.

Like the people at poppytalk, I don’t know what the answers are.  As somebody who makes their living from their creations, do you have to accept the fact that copyright theft on the internet is part of choosing to do business on-line?  Do you trust enough in your skills and abilities, not to mention your own personal vision, to keep at it when you know that somebody can easily swoop in and call your work their own?

It’s a question I’ve been struggling with for years.  How much of your work do you allow to even be on-line?  I’m curious to know what you think?  Have you found ways to minimize the number of people who use your work without permission?  Do you go after every offender?  Or do you pick and choose your battles?  Feel free to share your thoughts.