If I had my preference synchronicity would mean buyers showing up at my door out of the blue with a checkbook already out. Instead this week it meant messages from all directions to take pictures and establish patterns of behavior – at least that’s what it meant to me.

• An online video recommended The War of Art (affiliate link)- the third time I’ve seen that book stressed in the last month. On a whim I check the used-book store and they have one copy. The key message of this little book – planning and studying isn’t doing and you have to keep ‘doing’ no matter what.
• A chance check of a local gallery website to see if they still reviewed portfolios for exhibitions (they don’t) alerted me to a new exhibit by my favorite photographer entitled ‘New Work’ opening the very next day. I was curious to see how his work had changed from what I was familiar with. I went but found that only about four photographs out of thirty had been done in the last two years. The bulk of them dating from the mid 1980′s and early ’90s. You have to keep doing.
• Another website I maintain saw a sudden spike in visitors – 11,000% from the previous day. That’s like stepping on the scale and losing ten pounds from the day before. Why the sudden surge? A brief post on odd art from about a month ago that got picked up in a search engine’s suggested topics. Nobody really noticed it when I posted it, but a month later they did. You have to keep doing.

While not glamorous my big accomplishment for the week was getting my taxes done. Otherwise, baby steps in all areas; I ordered the jewelry supplies I need to continue, edited the working files for the Yellowstone essay (book project) and fit in some yard work and the like.

Technorati Tags: synchronicity, thinking isn't doing

There’s no big status report  this week – my big accomplishment has been losing my voice as a not-quite-bad-enough-to-stay-home cold has occupied my  time. What I’ve notice though is the amount of pressure I’m putting on myself to still accomplish great things on a very routine basis. It’s always interesting to note where you put punishing pressure on yourself to be superhuman.  And yet not doing those things is not an option to my essential self- it’s going along with this working 8 hours for someone else because my essential self is also fond of its house and warm bed.

Then last night as I was coming home on the train I was listening to a podcast – figuring that would be about all my cold-ravaged brain could really handle.  Synchronicity or not, the phrase ‘most real work happens in just two hours a day’ caught my attention.  The idea being that two separate hours a day, completely focused on the task at hand is what accomplishes great things. I have two hours a day, mostly uninterrupted with wireless access on the train.  The only thing I can’t do is make jewelry during that time  so I’m re-evaluating to how to do less while doing more in that time frame.  If I put in those ten hours a week then time at home can go to eating right and exercising and maybe an adventure here and there.

I am worried about getting to that point of self-sustainment, but it won’t happen if I keep getting sick and this just may force me to be a little more efficient in my writing.  I’ll let you be the judge:-)

Technorati Tags: achieving goals, synchronicity, time management

Don’t ask me why, but as a freshman in college I took calculus as an elective.  It wasn’t required and had nothing to do with my major (history) so it must have been pure stubbornness on my part. Even though I had optimal conditions for learning the subject; a class of only six students and a professor that had been a NOAA mathematician I never really understood why I got the answers that I got. I was immensely grateful that for the most part they were correct. That’s what this last week has reminded me of as I try to wrap my head around inbound internet marketing. I can see that it works but I’d never get there on my own. That’s pretty much all I’ve been doing this week – even letting a few things slide in favor of it so that I don’t compound the problem.  I’m determined to figure it out sufficiently to raise my business presence on the web to an acceptable level!

Winter has set in with a vengeance which is helping to keep me glued to the computer.  Part of my web time has been getting more sea glass jewelry posted on etsy and revamping how I describe and keyword them – that seems to be improving things so the next thing will be to give the photography side of things the same type of makeover. I hate rework but sometimes it’s necessary and in this constantly changing world I don’t see how you can avoid it and still be effective.

On a fun note, I met the people that found my Thanksgiving message in a bottle who were delightful – is it synchronicity or is there a correlation between the type of people that pick up bottle messages and the ones that send them?

Technorati Tags: synchronicity

It’s funny how when things start happening you just want even more to happen.  That’s where I am this week; trying to reign myself in. At the last minute I found out about the chance to submit artwork for the giant hospital expansion nearby – since I can hear them pounding and shouting all day, it seems like having it include my work would only be fair.  I’m hoping that it was synchronicity that made me look at that website on that day as it was highly ironic that I had to send everything off to Texas for inclusion in a building I can see from home.  And now that my jewelry is in the gallery I’m seeing new cracks in the business side of things and wondering if this will be a short-lived experience.  It’s hard to sell anything if you aren’t open for business.  But… some patience is required; not everyone likes to run with scissors which I constantly have to remind myself!

I have plenty to keep me busy – I will be doing my first craft show at the end of November and currently have nothing ready to sell which will need to be rectified quickly.  I also have my new volunteer case which was enough to give me some nightmares after I read the file but impatient (again) to keep going which I can’t do until the judge signs the official paperwork.

It’s now been just about a year since I returned from my solo road trip – in some ways it feels like yesterday and in others like it’s time to do something similar again.  Instead I’m going to try to create a book from it so that’s also high on the agenda.  And although I don’t want to, it’s getting to the time where I need to go find a part-time job while my other enterprises incubate.  Things always seem to move like a roller coaster!

Technorati Tags: dealing with impatience, Health and Happiness, solopreneur, synchronicity, the way to happiness

I’m resolving from here on out to start doubling my estimates of how long it’s going to get something done – it ends up taking that long anyway and I beat myself up for not getting to the rest of the things on the list!  That aside, it’s been a productive week, at least for the jewelry side of the business.  I finished a few show-stopper pieces and got them photographed, got a few smaller and lower-priced items loaded up to Etsy and finally got a website up – http://jewelry.julietchase.com so that I can direct people to the buying end of things.  My view for website analytics now stretches to two pages.  I will not even make the attempt to blog on this page – my goal is just to keep the pictures fresh with the latest and greatest and make sure any show and selling information is accurate.  It took me a full day just to decide on the WordPress template I liked the best, sometimes too much choice is a bad thing.  I’ve also configured some online advertising and ordered business cards and even got a free car decal included – I’ve never been one for bumper stickers but if I can pull in just one person to take a look at the website, then it’s worth it.

And then yesterday I got a request from a major magazine to use an old photo for an internal advertisement.  I chose not to push for money but instead hope that the wide distribution with a photo credit is like free advertising for me. It was completely unexpected although it did result from my putting some things out there for free Internet use which I talked about back in April.  I think it was probably a very good idea.  Crossing my fingers that this is just the beginning of something great.

On the non-business front, I’m picking a new volunteer case today, it’s always interesting to learn people’s stories and find out what I can contribute to the kids.  I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter there. I’m also keeping the exercise in my routine although I’ve not put in quite as much time the last few days – I’m determined not to let that dwindle into nothing, however. I have a good feeling about the next few months…

Technorati Tags: achieving goals, Health and Happiness, solopreneur, synchronicity, the way to happiness, time management