Everything with the business seems to take so much longer than I think it will. Which means one of my weaknesses is project scheduling / planning. How do you get better at this? The steps I’ve taken are to break my day into segments, so that some time is allotted towards (pretty much) everything. Some marketing, some web updating, some production, some sales, some advertising, and always some designing - at least in the back of my head.
Better balance. A better rythem really. I’m tired of being the mom who’s always late, who forgot this-or-that, or who is just completely out of the loop. This means I need to do more deep breathing and more re-grouping.
Another thing that HAS helped me is to re-fresh my to-do list every night. That buys me a bit of sanity and easy breathing in the mornings. It’s just that it’s the fires that get you. All the stuff that pops up each day that blind-sides you, that you just didn’t see coming.
I need to open my mouth and talk to moms more, because it seems that when I do, I get comfort in a “me too” type of story from them, a story that lets me know I’m maybe not the only one that feels like my head is not attached to my body all the time. I to re-focus a bit and make sure the kids needs are taken care of first first first. Like the thank you notes I STILL need to get out for my daughter’s bday a month ago. I think that I’ll feel better if I’m a little more in control of what’s going on around the house.
I’m writing this here because it’s pretty much the reality of running a business and raising your kids. It’s everything all day long, it’s squeezing in little business tasks while they nap, while they snack, etc. And for how long the days are, I really love what I’m doing.
October 30th, 2006
It feels like a weight has been lifted finally having wordpress at my fingertips. Now I just have to get rid of the adsense at the top which does not belong to me. That’s what you get for trying out a free hosting plan. Upgrading hosting plans is just one of the zillion things on my to-do list, but I’ll bump it a little since it’s essentially sending money to somebody else. Hate the way it makes the page look as though it starts half-way down too.
Categories, categories, categories, how I love categories. I have categories again with wordpress, so I finally start to organize my life. Segment my life is more like it. I think it will lead to more sanity somehow. At the very least it will help me to accomplish my goal of documenting my experience. I don’t think that’s too lofty of a goal.
This week I’ve reached what feels like lofty dreams - GOOD press about a product I’ve seen from birth to production. That’s huge to me. It’s maybe not the biggest press, but shoot, it’s kudos for the job I’ve done. And most, most, most importantly, is that it’s PRESS!!!! I am shamelessly using their quotes in all my marketing materials (I think I’ll even put it my email signatures) - because it gives us validation.
It gives me confidence. Also gives me the ability to show boutiques that we’re driving hard to increase our buzz and that we’re serious about moving up. Again, gives me confidence.
We’re in the thick of marketing and sales (I believe that pr falls in this category too). Once you’ve crafted a really great product and reach the selling point, it hits you like a very strong bolt of lightening how much it all comes down to the marketing, - the sales depend on the buzz. We’ve got a request to review our product by another hip mom’s website with a lot of traffic - so that’s both flattering and MORE QUOTES.
It’s nice to know that I’ve spent enough time developing our baby blankets that I’m absolutely confident the quality is top notch. I believe in all the contractors we work with (oh yes, it takes a number of contractors to complete a product, from a pattern maker to a sample maker to a grader, cutter & sewing contractor, oh my!), and I’ve seen them turn out excellent work time after time. Confidence in the quality of your product from fabric to last stitch, is a beautiful thing.
The other beautiful thing is that I let myself take it easy this weekend. Last week we were on such a push to get so much done, and I got it all done and out the door by Friday morning - leaving me about two days to let up on the pressure a little. That’s a weekend for most people, a miracle for me.
October 29th, 2006