When good stress goes bad...

We hear so much about the bad stress in our life, but can good things stress us out too? Well it can!

OK. Lets start with some stress terms:

Acute Stress: Demands and pressures of the resent past and of the near future.

Episodic Acute Stress: Type "A" people, living their lives with an excessive competition drive, harrying sense of urgency, and impatience. Also can cover "worry warts" who pessimistically see awful outcomes for every situation.

Chronic Stress: Grinding stress that comes from things like poverty, war, hunger, and traumatic experiences.

Episodic and Chronic stress tend to be distress, negative stress. Lifestyle and personality are so ingrained that we see nothing wrong with the way we conduct our lives. People get used to it, almost forget it's there, build up a tolerance, loose hope in finding a way to change things, and can even feel comfortable in a level of stress that would send others over the edge.

But acute stress can be both negative (distress) and positive (eustress).

Eustress can help us focus, help us improve performace and can even feel exciting.

Distress causes anxiety or concern, decreases performance, and feels unpleasant.

But the line between the two can change in in instant. Excited about the new custom order quickly can turn into sleepless nights worrying about making a tight deadline.

Does this tell me anything? Does it help make my stress disappear? A little, at least when it comes to acute stress.

Perception. Hold on to that eustress feeling. Try to remember why you got excited about something in the first place. Remind yourself that this is an acute stress, it shall pass. Just knowing the switch from eustress to distress may be on the way can make that switch to distress seem less painful and hard to deal with. Count your blessings, if you are not living in chronic stress, find gratefulness in every day.

Stress is not something to be proud of, to ear on our chest like a badge. He who dies with the most stress doesn't win, they just die. Go have some fun :)

Expansion

I have always been one to let the business lead me where it goes. I don't really push it much more than a little each year. I feel like that way it will grow in a way that I can handle and that I can still have control over and enjoy the process of growth.

The last few years have been taking me in some new directions. I've been trying new shows, this year was the PA Farm Show and I have a list of others that I want to try and apply to a few per year. I've applied to two more larger new shows this year and I am still waiting to see if I get accepted or not.

I have also tried growing my wholesale. Last year I registered with Etsy Wholesale and started selling the things I felt were ready: lip balms, lotion bars, bath fizzys. I've gotten a few orders and a few reorders already so that is a good thing. This year I am working on new photos and plan on expanding and offering soaps and accessories (like dishes and washcloths) too.

One of the things that I want to work on this year are my Wool Washes. We've redesigned the labels, making them easier to read and understand, we've changed the bottle sizes to make the product more affordable and won't last as long so customers will reorder more often. I am expanding the number and types of scents offered as well. This is one thing that once I get it going I plan on taking on the road, handing out samples, and order forms at different stores in the area. I am trying my first fiber festival this year and want to try and get into a few more and see how that goes too.

I always have a list of new products that I want to try and offer. Sometimes these things fall into place relatively quickly, other times they take years and years for me to come up with exactly how I want to do do them. Air fresheners took years for me to find a person who could make the paper blanks in a way that I liked. Lip balms were made in a few different containers before I found the tube I use now, and the containers for the Bath Soaks were found just as I was making a decision to keep them as a product or not. Just changing packaging upped those sales enough to keep making them.

There are many days that I get anxious and I want to push push push and get things going bigger and better. Then I remember that I am in a great spot and I need to have faith and let it lead me where it wants to go. Just when I get crazy worried about finances or the future something pops up and I am reminded that I am right were I am supposed to be and that it will always work out in the end. If it hasn't worked out, its not the end.

Being Prepared

We just received a giant snowfall here in PA. We received almost 32" in one shot. All that said I will take the North East over living in some other locations in the US. Yes, we can get some wicked snow, and yes people can be killed and property destroyed, but we tend not to get other huge natural disasters.

It's really the tornado that scares me the most. You really can't predict them more than a few minutes out and even then you barely know how wicked they are until they are done and gone. Earthquakes tend to be in "zones" and if you live in an earthquake zone you know it and you prepare for the worst. Same seems to go for hurricanes and flooding. Yes they happen outside of specific areas but if you live in a zone you tend to know it and can prepare.

But being prepared when you have a small business is sometimes a difficult task, but technology is making it easier and easier.

Files: accounting, labels, etc... these I keep on both an external hard drive and on a cloud storage (like dropbox). If I need to leave quick I can grab the hard drive off my desk and go, but if I can't leave with it (like a fire) then I have backups I can access from any computer.

I also keep a list of all my major suppliers, what I get from them and how much it last cost when I bought it. Personally I have quite a few suppliers that I get just one thing from, and maybe only once every few years. Having a list makes sure if something goes wrong I could pick up where I left off much quicker than starting from scratch.

But what if something goes wrong with a supplier? I try and keep most things local, but that still doesn't mean they won't have a fire or something else happen to them. For this I keep a list that I update each year. Supply + 3 places to get it that are geographically different. For example the oils I use for my soaps I can get here in PA, but also from IL and NC. I also make sure I work this into the spreadsheet I use for calculating my costs and prices. I wouldn't make much profit if all of a sudden I needed to ship all my supplies in from another state, but I wouldn't be loosing money either. It would be a way to keep going without interruption until my current supplier gets back on their feet.

The world is filled with terrible disasters, some man made and some not. Don't live in fear, but try and be ready so your business can go on and you can survive through whatever comes at you. 

Farm Show Recap

It was my first year exhibiting at the PA Farm Show and i was very nervous beforehand. I actually get so freaked at new events that I think I may even exhibit some traits of impostor syndrome.

Impostor syndrome is a term coined in 1978. Women often work hard in order to prevent people from discovering that they are "impostors." This hard work often leads to more praise and success, which perpetuates the impostor feelings and fears of being "found out." The "impostor" women may feel they need to work two or three times as hard, so over-prepare, tinker and obsess over details. This can lead to burn-out and sleep deprivation.

Yeah, that isn't me at all *smirk*

But seriously. I overdid it a bit. I needed to be sure I had everything perfect. Probably why I had nightmares before set up and had only taken 6 days off since the beginning of November. (If you must know I still haven't taken time...maybe Friday??)

But after all that prep how did it go... a big solid OK. I learned a TON. I learned about the show's demographics and what products were most popular. I learned where it was best to park, that I need a different hotel next year, and what hours are busiest during the day. I learned my space location wasn't the best, but I also figured out where I want to be next year and how to go about asking for the space. I learned that electric is a necessity but carpeting in my space is not.

The show is long (more hours than Kutztown but less than Musikfest) and the place can get packed with people depending on the day. Customers and other exhibitors are super friendly. I expected it to be cold and it wasn't. Load in and out were a pain (out was so much worse than in).

Sales volume was very good, average sale size was below average, but most customers were new so just wanted to try what I have to offer, not jump into a 10 bar purchase. All in all I think I have a  very solid foundation on which to build a great event.

Now to get caught up (whose great idea was it to post a sale right after I got back? Oh yeah.. mine, oops) and take a few days off to rest and plan whats next.

This is going to be an exciting year full of new things (I hope!)!

So nervous at new shows

I get so nervous when it comes to doing a new show, and the bigger the new show the more nervous I become. This year is my first year at PA Farm show and I haven't slept right in a week, have had countless nightmares, and generally feel like I want to vomit most of the day.

The nighmares are like the ones whee you have shown up for a text but haven't studied. I can't find my booth, I have been put across from the humongous booth of another soaper, I don't have my credit card machine, I lost my voice, I didn't pack clothes, you name it and I an have a nightmare about it.

This show is weird for me too because I am staying there. I usually come home each night and can get inventory, and anything I have forgotten, but this show is just a little bit farther away than usual, and the long hours and unknown weather mean I stay the week in a hotel. The good thing is that it isn't too far. C is coming out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and then will be back again Wednesday or Thursday with any inventory I need for the last weekend. He can always go back and forth if he needs to for me. But I only want that to happen if I have been having a really good show, I don't want him to have to drive back home for something I have forgotten or messed up on.

So I have lots of lists. Lists of inventory, of paperwork, of food to pack, clothes, displays; everything I have been able to think I may need is written down somewhere. Because on top of having to remember all my inventory and displays, having to guess how much inventory I need for the first half of the event, I need to pack food and clothes. I have to pack food because I am severely gluten intolerant and pretty much can't eat anything at the event. I can't take the chance of getting sick during a 12 hour day that I may be alone much of, the pottys aren't that close to my booth.

But I also have to pack things to do if the show is slow. I can't just stand there idle for 96 hours either. So I am bringing things to label and things to knit. I need 190 face scrubbers for 2016, I should be able to finish one an hour even if things are busy, so I brought enough yarn for 96 of them. If things are slow, C may need to bring out more yarn the second weekend. But if it is that slow, I will just be crying myself to sleep at night and won't be in the mood to knit the second weekend.

It always worries me when I get accepted to something big where there isn't another soapmaker. Why isn't there. Has someone tried it and it sucked? Is it just a huge long show in the middle of winter and I am the only one crazy enough to do it? Long shows like this and Musikfest do take a "special kind of stupid" to do. You need to be ready for them and you need to be mentally prepared, as well as have inventory, and have a great safety net of family and friends to get you through.

Ok enough! I need to stop stewing and just go pack. I go and set up tomorrow and today is the day to load it all in the cars and be sure that I have everything. OMG I can't believe I am really doing this.

Just breathe...10 more days and it will be over and home and put away. 10 more days and I'll get a good night's sleep.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Happy 2016!

It's been a while since I have been on here and blogged but I am making a commitment to blog more this year.

I want to make a commitment to do a bunch of thing this year. I want to read more, I want to exercise more, I want to blog more, take more pictures, learn more, and above all work smarter, not harder.

This smarter not harder thing means  hope to blog more often but of shorter duration. So on that note...

See me here again on Thursday and Happy New Year!!

-Hedge

Stop Doing What Doesn't Make You Happy

So many of you know that I am a knitter in my spare time. There is this terrific idiom amongst knitters: a UFO. An UnFinished Object. We have who discussions about how many UFO's we have sitting around and if we should finish or rip out a particular UFO or not. We have groups you can join that will help motivate you to finish your UFO, some even will finish a UFO for you, or rip it out for you if you just don't have the heart to do it yourself.

Sometimes UFO's can make me happy. Having multiple projects on the needles gives me options. Maybe I don't want to knit a complicated lace pattern in the car, instead I pick up a washcloth instead. But sometimes UFO's can make you sad and overwhelmed and can become a block to your creativity. When do you keep pushing on and when do you just give up?

This really is for all things. When do you give up on reading that book that you just aren't into? When do you give up on that half finished project sitting in your workshop? When do you drop the yoga class you are miserable going to on Mondays at 6 am?

Just stop them now. tear them out, pass them on, decided they are "done enough" anything to keep them from being a drain on your creativity and happiness. Think of the book you are not finishing because you don't particularly like it. Are you sitting and playing video games instead of reading this book you can't seem to get into? Will giving up one half finished book open up the flood gates of other possibilities so you can enjoy reading again?

We all have that list. Those things to do that never get done. They sit there, sometimes from year to year. Really, if it's been on your list to do for 12 months is it that important? Is it so important you need to see it written down day after day?

So when I look at a UFO that has been sitting there I ask myself: is it blocking me from doing some other project. If the answer is yes, then I either finish it or tear it out. If no, then I can pick up another project and look at the UFO as just another option. Heck, it's taken me a year to knit a sweater, little by little, when I felt like I had the mental capacity to tackle it. But it did get done, it did see progress.

But is amazing how much lighter I feel when I just stop doing something I hate. I don't always get that option, but when I do, I seize the opportunity.

Atmosphere of Growth

OK, so what am I spouting about now?

Basically the theory is that what makes us happy now will not make us happy later if we stagnate. We need to live in an atmosphere that allows us to grow and strive to keep being happy.

Seems like a pretty easy concept, I can think of lots of examples:

Think of all the divorced couples that had one or more partners who felt stifled, that they couldn't grow as a person or in their job, or whatever. The lack of an atmosphere of growth is what killed that relationship.

The person who has their dream job one year and just a few years later hates it. Why? Because there is no place for them to go father with their career. They are stuck and they hate it. No growth sends them to another job or career.

An artisan who gets burnt out. Same shows every year, same display, same product line, same, same, same. The customers get as bored as the artisan does in this case. It doesn't have to be all new every year, but growing keeps it interesting for you and your customers.

So I've been on a growth kick this year. Taking lots of classes, listening to podcasts, getting back to reading actual books, and expanding the business in some new ways. Am I happier? I don't know if my overall happiness quotient has raised, but I am happier in the moment. I am happier to be in the car when I have something interesting to listen to. I am happier in my free time when I am working on a new craft. And because of these types of things, the things that take from my happiness seem to be less frequent and less intense.

Now when I get unhappy I look for ways to get out of my rut, to do or try something new, to learn, to grow and that typically gets me out of my funk. Bored with cooking, try a new recipe book. Tired of making soap, look for some new fragrances to experiment with. Sick of the same old routine, time for a new restaurant and maybe a date night to change things up. Build your atmosphere of growth :)

The Days after a 'Fest

I get asked all the time what do I do between festivals. The easy answer is clean, make soap, do paperwork, and sleep. Not necessarily in that order.

Today was the first day after the 9 day Kutztown Folk Festival. I think of it as a 12 day festival because it takes me a day to pack, a day to set up, nine days of fest, and a day to clean up afterward.

Before C had to leave for work, his car was emptied of the inventory he had to bring home yesterday. All the bins were emptied of their contents, and inventory put away. All the displays and lamps were cleaned and dried, and returned to storage in the shed. Then I went to my van and did the same thing. I was done with this about 11 am. I started before 7.

Before even starting the unpacking I had tallied the deposit, paid the bills, changed the outgoing phone message, answered all the emails that had collected during the week, and ordered some desperately needed supplies.

After, the vans were emptied I actually brought the deposit to the bank, had lunch, went to the grocery store, and started on my refrigerator full of food from the garden and CSA that had collected during the week. I managed to get through three cucumbers (making two salads) and two cabbages (another two salads) before taking a break to write this and figure out what dinner will be. It's 6 pm.

Now I am off to make dinner, take a much desired shower, and shell a few gallons of peas. I think I will fall asleep with a sink full of dishes and still a long list of things to do.

I always think it's cute when someone thinks that Mondays are my day to lounge by a pool and take a nap.

I am just grateful that I have it easier than some people I know, they load into their next show Wednesday. My wonderful customer base means I can pick and choose shows, not travel far from home, and have online sales to get me through the lean times. I am truly blessed.

The Garden Harvest

I am an avid vegetable gardener. Flowers and other plants, not so much. My front yard is not well maintained or pretty. C always has to do the weeding and ask me what to do with the plants. I know how to landscape garden, I just don't like it. I think plants should be useful in some way other than just pretty. He has banned me from growing any food in the front yard.

So I have my vegetable garden in back. It is about 10'x15', and I have a plot at the community garden that I share with a friend and that is another 15'x30'. Oh, and I belong to the Quiet Creek Farm CSA. There are TONS of vegetables around this place come spring and summer. I have an understanding with C, garden all I want, just no wasting food. OK, I will admit, I will get rid of some extras salad greens now and again, I will forget that the bok choy is in the bottom of the fridge, but typically, nothing is thrown out. It is either canned, dried, eaten, or given away.

I just bought a new dehydrator. C thought this would be instead of the one I had before, it is more like in addition to the one I had before. This new one is more powerful and has a timer and a heat setting so it is great for more delicate items. The older one is fantastic for things you can just set and leave going till you remember them and take them out (sometimes the next day for me).

All the veggie extras (like turnip greens and kale stems) get boiled with my leftover chicken bones and I can my own chicken and sometimes vegetable broth. I get my chickens through the CSA and can that meat as well for later use. It makes great enchiladas and chicken salad.

This year I also got a pressure canner. I am excited to be able to do green beans that don't have to be pickled and other vegetables as well as the broths and meats I mentioned already. I really think that with some solid planning, I will be able to have most of my food for the year stocked by the end of summer. I am learning what we eat most of and what we like best it will take a few years to figure it all out but I will get it all under control. By no means does this mean we don't go out to eat, or that I don't go to the grocery store, but what it means for me is that I know what we are eating most of the time. I know what is in it, I know that it's healthy, and I know where it came from. I've started getting meat from a few local farms, splitting a pig and a cow with family and friends, stocking my freezer too. C picks on me some, but when I use something from the store (like tomato sauce) he can instantly tell and misses the home cooked taste. I take great pride that he would rather eat home than eat out when given the choice.

Sometimes it gets a little stressful. I need to get things put up and out away before a big event. Sometimes I loose a little sleep. I have been known to make pickles at 5 am before a day at Musikfest. Overall I enjoy the challenge and the  process of it all. The bounty of the season brings me joy.

Just 1 minute

So I listen to a lot of podcasts. A LOT. Most are dramas (Welcome to Nightvale,  Pleasure Town, Our Fair City) but I also throw in a good dose of history (Stuff You Missed in History Class, Sawbones, The Memory Palace, Lore) as well as women's issues (Stuff Mom Never Told You), Crime (Serial, Undisclosed), Design (99% Invisible) and some odds and ends (The Mystery Show, Invisibila, Jack's Farm Radio). See I said A LOT of podcasts.

I listen when I work, go for walks, drive in the car alone, or sit and knit at night. When I run out I either find more or break out the audiobooks.

But I have a new one. Happier. Now I started following The Happiness Project when it first started as a blog. Then it morphed into a book that I admit I never read, and I fell away from following blogs to following podcasts. Now it's new incarnation is the Happier podcast and I am catching up from the beginning.

But why did this get me here. What was so interesting. The 1 minute rule. If you see something that needs to be done and will take you less than a minute to do, then just stop and do it. Don't put it off until it takes longer, or until it drives you crazy because it's not done. What can this be? For me it has been washing the glasses in (or near because sometimes for some reason they don't make it in) the sink. Takes just a minute and there is now almost always an empty sink. Toilet? Just a quick brush anytime it looks like it needs it. Shelf needs to be dusted. Just do it. Doesn't have to be the whole room or the whole unit, just the one I noticed as I walked downstairs.

It's great for the business too. Quick emails (not detailed ones, those get done once or twice a day in office work sessions), print an order and place in in the to do pile, add something big to my to do list, you name it.

Why does this help me? Because I get overwhelmed. I get anxious. I get almost claustrophobic when I feel like there are a million things to do. So I am heading things off at the pass. Doing them before they make my to do list. Doing them before they are just driving me to the brink of sanity, doing them before a little project grows into a huge one. And most importantly doing them before I get so stressed that I am just a ball of nerves and I try and tackle everything at once in a whirl wind.

So if you hear me say that I "just need 1 minute" I do, I have something important to accomplish in that time :)

How Many Different Ways Can I Reach You?

It is tough having a business that moves every week and it is hard to make sure that everyone who wants to know where I am can do so. I make sure my schedule is posted three months at at time so in March I begin to list March, April & May, in April I post April, May & June and on and on. That way shows get three months of time to be seen and planned for. I don't post my whole schedule because I actually think that a whole season is overwhelming to look at.

So where do I post this information?

Here on the blog. Over to the left hand side of the page you can see my schedule.

On the web site: There is a whole page dedicated to the event schedule.

On my Facebook Page: There is a section for my schedule, plus I post information about shows as I see it in feeds, and often as I am at the shows too.

Twitter: It gets fed all my Faceboook Posts, so everything is seen here too.

On the guild site: The Handcrafted Soap & Cosmetic Makers Guild has a place where you can find me and look up my schedule.

On my newsletter: Same as everywhere else I post three months at a time, based on the month the newsletter is for.

On my phone: As each week starts my outgoing phone message lists where I will be for that week.

Postcards: If you are on my snail-mail mailing list I send a post card with my show schedule every three months.

Oh, and I answer emails, so if at any time you ask me where I am going to be, I am happy to tell you.

So my question is: Where do you find out where to find me? What is the best way to give you this information? Am I doing enough?

I could have just eaten the oranges...

Many of you know that I live gluten free. One of the only things I really miss is Angel Food Cake. I am not a baker, I thought it was hard to make, and I never even tried making a gluten free version.

Tuesday I was in Echo Hill Country Store picking up the frozen organic banana slices I like to use in my morning smoothie, and I saw a mix for gluten free angel food cake. I put that right in my buggy and headed to the checkout.

When I got home I looked on the box for ingredients...12 egg whites!! 12!! Now I happen to have a few dozen eggs in my house because I have been getting them with my weekly Butter Valley Harvest CSA share. (I learned we don't eat many eggs around here, so even though I share with a friend, I had amassed 2 1/2 dozen eggs over the last 7 weeks). I was happy to fins a use for so many eggs. But what to do with all those egg yolks??

I did some research and found this great web site from The Kitchn (they even list the recipes by how many yolks you will need!) I decided on the Bitter Orange Creme Brulee. But now I needed oranges for their zest. Off to the grocery I go..

If you have been thinking the way I do...now what will I do with those two zestless oranges? I have Rhubarb, how about orange-rhubarb jam. Ok...off to Google that (while in the grocery store and trying to steer my cart straight). I pick up jars and liquid pectin and I am good to go.

I get home and explain to hubby this whole line of thinking. His response: "You could have just eaten the oranges". Yes, but that would have taken the fun out of figuring out how to use all of everything!

I do this all the time, it can drive my city slicker hubby to the edge of crazy. But I really do try and live a "waste not, want not" lifestyle in every way I can. Sometimes I just go a touch too far. I could have just stopped and eaten the oranges :)

Easy Easy Easy- is it killing the Arts & Crafts Industry?

It seems lately every where I look something is easy. Easy dinner recipes, easy knitting patterns, easy life hacks, easy garden projects, and on and on and on.

Are they so easy? They are if you start the project with a particular skill set already. Dinner is easy if you know how to shop vegetables quickly. Have bad knife skills and that 10 minute prep listed quickly becomes 30 minutes of potato peeling and cutting hell. Easy knitting patterns are only easy of you can already knit and purl proficiently. You get the idea.

But lately book after book, after website, after magazine is full of "easy" things to do yourself. I consistently overhear conversations at shows about how "easy" something is to do and how dare the artisan charge so much for their work. It used to be doing a demo at your booth made people understand what goes into your trade. Now, if you are good (which you should be to demonstrate) it looks so "easy". Like they can go home, plug in a lathe and fill their house with bowls in a few hours.

Don't get me wrong. I love the DIY movement. If it is actually going to get done. Pinning a pattern doesn't make it materialize in your wardrobe. Now when I hear "I can do that" I answer with "yes but will you find time to?" Artisans charge for our knowledge, our practice, our skill, our proficiency.  We make it look easy because we do it over and over and over. The people writing the books have too. It is easy- for them and people like them. Is it easy for you? By the time you buy all the ingredients / supplies will you wish you just bought it from an artisan for just a few dollars more?

There is a great quote I was told once and I keep by my desk. (wish I remember where it came from):

"Amateurs practice till they get it right, professionals practice till they can't get it wrong"

Happy Earth Day! How are we green?

We say in my family that "green" is a way of life, it's not hype and labels and marketing. Actually most of the "greenest" people and companies I know do it so intrinsically they forget to even mention it. So I decided today is a great way to explain some of the ways we try and stay "green" around here.

Shipping:

• We use USPS because they provide friendly boxes. Their packaging already meets several ecological standards. 
• Since they are already at the workshop 6 days a week. I just leave your order out for them to pick up as they go by, no extra fuel is wasted.
• We buy shipping labels that are made with recycled paper too.
• The packaging is all reused. Every bag of air, bubble wrap, and packing peanut used has been saved by us or a customer to be reused in your package. We never buy packing materials!

In the Workshop

• We work while it is cool out. This means in the summer we are in by 6 am and out by Noon. No fans, no Air Conditioning needed!
• We use fluorescent lighting, using 1/4 the energy than if we lighted the shop with incandescence lights.
• We order supplies in bulk. Often I order what I need for a year or more. That way it ships only once. I also buy from the closest supplier possible to keep that carbon footprint down

Overall Business:

• We recycle! Can you believe the whole business throws away less than one 30 gallon bag of garbage a week? Everything else is reused or recycled!
• All the scraps and ugly soaps are made into sachets, not thrown away! 
• We pay bills digitally whenever possible.
• Deliveries are made in batches or with other errands. I have been known to stop at the grocery store between deliveries just because it saves me a trip later.
• I only travel 60 miles for shows. This means I use less fuel, can pack my own food for the day, and sleep in my own bed at night. 

Philosophy:

• My overall philosophy is not to "green wash" you. I am human. I am doing the best that I can right now. Maybe I can't afford to do something better, maybe I don't know how to do something better, maybe I just can't do it consistently. I'm on a journey to be a better business each year, in increments. Honesty is always the best policy when it comes to what I do and how I do it and I am always happy to answer questions and take suggestions. 

 

Get Rejected Every Day

So I have been catching up on the Podcasts I listen too and have finally gotten to Invisibilia. It's another great one put out by the folks at NPR and it focuses on things that are invisible in our lives. This one was about fear.

The part that specifically spoke to me was about the gentleman who decided to get over his fear of rejection by getting rejected once a day. He even came up with a name for it: Rejection Therapy and a web site and some cards to help you do this yourself. Now he was getting over rejection by random people, and from friends by asking them for sometimes strange things.

But do you know what he learned? That you are not rejected as often as you think you will be. He also learned to just let it flow off of him when he is rejected, by answering with a simple "thank you" and being happy about the rejection. Why happy? Because being rejected in the first place was his goal. He made rejection a game, and the way to win was for someone to say "no" to you. If they didn't then you DIDN'T ASK FOR ENOUGH.

So I am in the car and I am thinking about my own fear of rejection when it comes to my business. I am afraid of stores telling me they are not interested when I approach them about selling wholesale. I am afraid of new shows rejecting me when I apply because I am not what they are looking for. I am afraid to voice my desires to show organizers regarding my booth placement at an event because I am worried they will get angry with me and this will hurt my chances of getting accepted again in the future. I am afraid of making telephone calls, even returning people's calls, because of my fear that they have changed their mind and will reject me when I come calling.

So here is my plan. 30 days of rejections. I am going to take the month of April and think of 30 scenarios that I am scared of dealing with. In May I am going to conquer one a day. My goal isn't to be rejected, but to at least ask. If I am rejected, fine, it will help me get used to it. If I am not, bonus, something good came out of the request.

So what are you afraid of?

P.S. Time + Thoughts = Fear. Take time or thoughts out of the equation and you won't be afraid. Whole new meaning to Just Do It.

Web Site Upgrades

These past few months have been filled with research into how to upgrade my web site and get the most bang for my buck. There are so many thing to consider.

Online orders have been skyrocketing and my current site is a bit clunky. It only accepts PayPal or credit cards through PayPal, dealing with bulk purchase discounts is tough, the coupon codes (for me) are impossible to track, and it is terrible on any mobile devices or tablets.

I have come to believe that spending a little more for a streamlined system will pay off in the end with a better online order experience and hopefully even more online orders.

My first option was to keep what I have, and add on a payment gateway. This would mean I needed to add some security layers, and find a gateway and processor that I like. Possible: yes. Time Consuming: yes Expensive: Yes. I thought I had an option to use Authorize.net and not need a Secure Socket Layer, but I was wrong and tool two days and spent $50 on a non-refundable set up fee just to learn the whole thing won't work.

So then I explored all in one platforms. I started with Indiemade. Awesome platform. Easy to use. Looks great. Took a day and a half and started inputting inventory, got their payment gateway all set up with my bank, and then went to set up shipping options. Boom. Nope... no flat rate shipping options available. Can't offer free shipping either. Luckily they have a 30 day free trial so all this cost me was my time. At least I learned how important shipping is to me.

I sat with a friend and talked about other options. One she thought of didn't work out. She actually told me about them,. checked them out for me, and emailed to say not to bother all before I got home and had the time to check. Time saved is money earned.

Then I looked into PayPal pro. I could keep my site they way it is and this would add on a credit card gateway. But that wouldn't solve my clunky site, mobile issues, or coupon codes. 

Next was Shopify. This is what I am currently looking at. They have a 14 day free trial. I have put in some inventory items, checked out their shipping, and looked at their themes. It is a little more complex than the system I am using now (Wordpress running Market Theme), but with complexity comes more options. I think this is going to be the way I ultimately go. But I am not positive yet. I will let you know.

No matter what, look for a nicer site with better usability, more payment options, and an overall better experience in the near future!!

Lehigh Valley Garden, Pool, Patio and Flower Show

Come see the beautiful displays that our landscapers develop for this show!  You will be amazed at the amount of detail that goes into each exhibit!  Don't miss the baby ducks!!!  The landscapers, artisans, and vendors are ALWAYS willing to sit down and talk with show attendees and answer any questions you have.

Don't miss the speakers from: individuals, garden clubs, and various companies that will present topics of interest throughout the weekend - informative presentations for adults and children!

March 13-15
Friday 10am-8pm
Saturday 10am-7pm
Sunday 10am-5pm

Adults $9, children under 12 are free!
 

The Knitter's Edge Schedule Change

Well the weather isn't cooperating for Thursday night, instead I get a Saturday Afternoon, Whoo Hoo!

I hope this means more of you can come join me this Saturday March 7 from 1-3pm.
  
Official Release Party: The Knitter’s Edge, 1601 West Broad Street, Bethlehem, PA  This is a free event and you don’t have to be a knitter to attend. Come listen to me give a brief talk about my products, answer questions, and give away some samples. This will be your first opportunity to see and sniff the new 2015 line up!

Taking a Step Back to Move Forward

My time away this month has has a much bigger impact than I expected and in ways I never even thought of. Yes I took care of some personal things, yes I now have these things off my plate for the rest of the year, but the time did so much more.

Typically when I take time off, I really don't. Either I am with my other half, and he needs to work some too, and that gives me an excuse to work a bit each day, or I am by myself and I schedule out a few hours each day to work on special projects I bring with me on purpose. This time was different. I didn't have the ability to work every day and it made me take a step back from it all.

Like all retail businesses, the November-December months are usually the most crazy time of the year for me. I came off of these two months worn out and stressed. Knowing I would take time in February, I hit it hard, right after Christmas. I took no days off and worked my equivalent of double shifts for most of the month. This wore me down, dad down, and pretty much sucked the fun out of everything. One day Carlos sat me down and told me to chill out, that I am a freak when it comes to work, that I just put my head down and push through it, and that almost no one he knows can sustain that level the way I do, and he knows some pretty stubborn people.

Honestly, I ignored him. I had a goal. Double shifts every day, no days off till I had to leave and it would ALL be done. Everything. Every lip balm, every soap, everything probably until after summer shows wiped me out again. And then it happened. I ran out of space in my drying racks for soaps. It all came to a screeching halt. I could make no more soap, there was no place to put it for at least a week until the fist batches were cured enough to store in boxes. I did finish the lip balms and the lotion bars, and most of my supply ordering, and the web sites looked great thanks to Jen, but this was the start of my looking at things differently.

Once I was away I had to rely on Dad and Jen to keep the day-to-day going. Dad started working on soaps he can make by himself now, like Avocado Almond, and Oatmeal, Milk & Honey. Jen kept the orders going out, returning phone calls, book keeping, and other administrative things in line. This is the first time I stepped back and trusted to have things done when I got back. I didn't email every day, I didn't micromanage, I just let it all go. And it was all just fine. In fact, Jen did such a great job on shipping orders, it's her primary duty now.

I learned that 99.99% of my customers are awesome. They understand this is a super small, one woman operation who now just happens to get some awesome help from her dad (who one day will retire and not be replaced) and now has a super smart, flexible, loyal admin assistant. The .01% that didn't get it, who tried to bully their way into meeting to pick up an order, who called no less than 6 times demanding I get back to them ASAP because they needed a gift right now (the phone message clearly stated I wouldn't be returning calls), well, if they never order again, they won't be missed. I used to think every customer was right all the time, that every customer was gold. I am sorry, but there is no such thing as a soap emergency. Jen does not have to give up dinner with her family to meet you for your soap order because you forgot you need some while on vacation, I do not need to take time out of my personal business to call you back ASAP when both my web site and phone message says I am gone for a few weeks. Their lack of planning does not need to constitute an emergency on my end. I want to be nice to everyone, I usually go out of my way to do all I can. But sometimes there is just a great big "Hell No" and this month taught me exactly where that line is for me.

It also let me take a look at the forest, not just the trees. I get bogged down every day, dealing with this and that. But where is the path I want to be on. What do I want to accomplish and do. How do I want to get there? I got to take a long look at these things. I am putting some measures in place so I can look at my product line, see what sells best, and see what I should and shouldn't be making and bringing to shows. I am looking at what shows I do and how many I should keep. Half my shows added up only bring me 20% of my sales. What do I do about that? I am a fanatical hobbyist knitter and  my wool wash is starting to take off, how can I expand that product, make it special, and advertise it to a niche market?

So I stressed about time off, about being behind. And I am, I have a lot to do. Much to catch up on, and much to accomplish. But I also have taken two steps forward, on a path I can more clearly see now. Pretty soon I will be running down that path. 2015 is going to be a great year!