Let's Work Together

The power of people coming together to support one-another is amazing. I saw it when the entire design came together in supporting me with Designers Care, and again when I attended Jess Lively's Business and Life With Intention workshops.

Since I first set my networking goal last year, I have really put myself out there and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I've met people I probably would have never had the guts to meet had I not challenged myself to step outside of my comfort zone. I also discovered that I love sending sincere emails to people I admire. Not because I want anything from them, but because I just want them to know they they've helped me or inspired me in some way. When I get those types of emails it always makes my entire day/week, and I absolutely love being able to put that type of energy back into the world.

So, as I continue down the road of growth this year, and with some big business changes coming, I'm thinking that maybe you and I should ban together and collaborate on something amazing. Let's support one another - maybe you're an event planner and you're in need of the most special party invitations ever, email me, I'd love to collaborate and maybe you can help me plan something special for my branding relaunch! Maybe you're a photographer and you have clients that love high end specialty printing, let's make it happen! If you're planning a styled photoshoot,  if you're a web programmer looking for an updated logo, if you're a marketing specialist in need of a killer business card - please reach out to me and maybe we can help each other out!

I look forward to working with all of you and hearing your great collaboration ideas!

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Goal Setting - Networking

As a self-taught designer, I've always felt like an outsider in the world of graphic design and stationery. There are so many incredibly talented people out there that I seriously admire - I read their blogs, follow them on twitter, and cyber-stalk the crap out of their business adventures. One thing I don't do is actually tell them how much I admire them. I feel like they are untouchable; too busy to read emails (that aren't from other design celebrities), too involved in their own amazingness to read my blog, too elite to be want to have coffee with a stranger.

But it's dawned on me that these people aren't really as untouchable as I've made them up to be in my head. I think it's more my own intimidation, fear of rejection, and genetic link to hermits. I mean, who doesn't love a little note that says "hey, I think you're awesome"? I personally LOVE those notes (hint hint), they make my day week - so, why am I so afraid to send them?

A few weeks ago I made myself a new goal; to proactively network more and send heartfelt notes to the people I admire. If one of those people happen to live locally, I'll see if they'd be interested in meeting up over dinner or coffee or tea or whatever. If it's somebody I could see myself collaborating with creatively/professionally, I'll say that too, and maybe they'll be interested. I won't beat myself up if somebody doesn't write back, and I'll allow myself to be totally giddy (think me circa 1990's with N'Sync) if one of my icons really does write back.

So far I've sent out a few little notes, and I'm really excited by the responses I've been getting back. I'll be meeting up with some people in the future, and maybe doing more collaborative work. I am so, so, so proud of myself for taking the first step and I can't wait to continue moving forward with this goal.

I also want to make sure that I am as available as possible to anybody else out there. I don't ever want people to be too intimidated to shoot me a quick email, I might not get back to you within 24 hours, but I will get back to you, I promise. You can find me at believenotes@yahoo.com, and I seriously do welcome any kind of notes!

A few months ago I posted some of my tips for setting goals, both personally and professionally. One of my goals was to obtain a Tax ID, which I am happy to announce I did finish on time. Which is also why I was able to share my fun recap of the National Stationery Show and the Matchbook Notebook Hunt. 

Month in Review

So today is Sunday, July 3rd...it's a rainy, muggy, steamy day here in Queens, and when I look out over the water, Manhattan seems lost in the fog. Yuck. Weather it's raining or not, I seem to have found a pattern in that I almost always blog on Sundays, which is good, because I know my weekday blogging has been slower. It's for good reason though. Remember this post? Well, I am still tired, but I have gotten a lot accomplished. During my honeymoon I really did some thinking about where I want my life to go, and I decided that someday I would love to do full time stationery design. That sort of a thing doesn't happen overnight. So over the past month I have spend every moment working on my business. I get home after the 9-5 and I begin working on my Etsy shop, networking through my Facebook page, and taking photos of new designs to prep them for sale. I've also been able to submit a few birth announcement designs to Minted, which reminds me, you need to go vote for them!!! Here are the two designs I submitted, click and vote please:

"Falling in Love" Birth Announcement

"Sweet Hearts" Birth Announcement

I am very proud of myself that I was able to pull out two designs. It's the small milestones that make me proud these days :)

My Facebook page is doing very well, we're up to 129 "likes" which I'm feeling good about. I had a giveaway when I reached 100 "likes" but it seems the person that won has gone out of business and did not claim their prize. I'm thinking I might do a "pop up" giveaway in the near future to make up for it.

I've launched my new line of business cards on Etsy, and so far they have been a hit. I sold one around five minutes after it was posted and I have a few more custom orders that I am working on as well. Designing business cards is fun for me, but I am definitely struggling with the costs involved. Since they are so tiny I have a hard time cutting them properly at home. While I would love to print them on my trusted home printer, I've realized it would be better to have them done professionally. The problem with that, of course, is that it is slightly more expensive and takes much more time.  So far it seems the "Soft Lattice" design is the winner, I've already sold several of them. She sure is pretty though, isn't she?

"Soft Lattice" Business Card on Etsy

I seem to have finally found the secret to taking pictures of my cards, which happened accidentally, but who cares! I love the way they've been coming out. My research has taught me that no matter how much research you do, and no matter how many "how to" tutorials you watch, the "correct" way to do something is always a little trial, a little error, and totally unique. What works for everybody else may not work for me, and what works for me may not work for everybody else. Hmm, sounds like something my mom has been telling me for, well, ever. *sigh*

You may also remember this fiasco with my carbon monoxide situation, and I'm very, very happy to report that my dad did indeed fix the problem. We haven't had any carbon monoxide issues since the whole thing happened, but I still panic when I hear things beeping. My coworkers cell phone was dying a few days ago and it began to beep, my first instinct was to panic, but then I realized it was a cell phone. I wonder how long it'll take before I can hear a beep without thinking I need to evacuate?

Anyway, life is moving along pretty well. I wanted to give you a little catch-up post before some other posts about specific topics. Oh, and I haven't forgotten about all of my vendor reviews for the wedding. I am waiting until I get my professional pictures are back so that I can use them in the posts. Hopefully next week :)

I hope you are all enjoying you Sunday, whether it's rainy or sunny!!