Thursday, April 14, 2011

Childish Temper-Tantrum Coming On...

I REALLY want to make something, no, anything -- right now!  (Insert childish foot stomping here). 

There have been soooo many things that have to be done to get this small business on track that I haven't made anything in nearly three months.  YIKES!  Not long ago I even promised myself that I would start soldering after I had finished my website.  Well, the website is nearly complete, but other things have gotten in the way of that too. 

I read a blog posting earlier this week on freelancefolder.com/ titled:  It May Be Your Fault If Your Client Doesn’t Appreciate All That You Do.  It got me thinking about what I actually do and have been able to accomplished in the past few months. 

Here's my "what I do" list (not in any particular order):
  1. research and purchase all materials and supplies
  2. design/create/produce beaded art and jewelry
  3. calculate material, labor and overhead costs to price each piece
  4. maintain material and product inventory
  5. packaging and shipping
  6. website set-up, management, (webmaster)
  7. some graphic design for printing and web
  8. all business printing:  business cards, brochures, forms, jewelry tags, earring cards, coupons, labels, note cards, signs, etc.
  9. all photography, editing, resizing, posting
  10. copy writing, product descriptions, brochures and marketing materials, blog, etc.
  11. manage web store on Etsy
  12. write this blog ;)
  13. manage online photo albums and slide shows on Photobucket
  14. manage Facebook fan page
  15. record keeping and bookkeeping
  16. general customer service

Here's my "what I've done recently" list (again, not in any particular order):
  1. photographed, detailed, and posted over 200 items to my Etsy store since early Jan of this year
  2. created a Facebook fan page near the end of March - and have 33 fans as of today
  3. created this blog April 1, 2011 with one fan as of today
  4. created online photo albums and slide shows on Photobucket (work in progress), started last week
  5. set up and opened my website in the past few weeks
  6. joined my local bead society and volunteered to be their treasurer (I know, what was I thinking, right?)
In retrospect, I can see that I've actually accomplished quite a bit.  Although I can appreciate where I am at the moment, there are still too many things on the "to do" list.  I need to figure out a way of taming the list (insert the sound of a leather whip here) so I don't feel quite so bogged down. 

Major Temper-Tantrum averted (whew!). 

What's on your accomplishments list?

That's it for today....

Wishing all your wishes come true,
Shannon