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7 Tips for Overcoming Feelings of Inadequacy

1. Remind yourself that you are not who other people think or say you are.

2. Remind yourself that everybody makes mistakes at times, has areas of weakness, and things they want to change.

3. Remind yourself of ways in which you’ve grown and changed with time. You’re not who you once were - so celebrate how far you’ve come.

4. Also, the ending isn’t written and the future isn’t fixed. You’re free to change your image, and an old identity.

5. Identify the lies you have believed about yourself – and work on changing them so they’re more accurate and true. Also, don’t reinforce those lies by acting like you think they’re true.

6. Remember that your feelings are not the same as facts. Don’t live based on your feelings … as that will keep you trapped.

7. Hang out with those who see, and who appreciate, your worth. And take their words to heart, and let them help to build you up.

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Okay I understand artists charging more than mass producers for items. But your prices are a little high. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I’ve said this a hundred times. Other artists have said this. People who aren’t even artists but care about others being able to support themselves from their work have said this. This is my job where I make my full time living. My prices are the way they are for a reason. And even if it weren’t my full time job I am performing a specialized skill producing luxury goods that takes time, money, and years to perfect. I deserve to be compensated for that work even if the money doesn’t go to basic survival necessities.

My products may be out of your price range, which is okay. That just means you aren’t my target market. But that doesn’t mean they are overpriced. And that doesn’t make it okay to walk around telling others what they should charge. There are a hundred resources on why artists price the way they do out there, please read the following and take some time to educate yourself:

- This is a “simple” forumla for pricing.  It does not include any specifics and simply includes “expenses” as a lump category.

- A more in depth guide to pricing.

- Here is a post from Magweno which does a good job of summing up all the “hidden” costs in crafting. It also includes a discussion on whether the perceived value of art should be taken into consideration. It doesn’t even take into account sales, self employment, or income taxes. 15% of my income alone goes to self employment tax. 15-30% (depending on how much I made that year) will go to income tax.

- If you want to spend some money to learn, there is an entire book on ethical pricing.

- Another blog post from Mill Girl who writes further on what goes into pricing, arts and crafts as a luxury item, what you support when you purchase handmade, and who/what you harm when you devalue handmade.

- A tumblr post which highlights the pitfalls of people who undervalue art and their negative impact on the entire art community. This includes both artists undervaluing themselves and clients undervaluing artists.

- Here’s an article on pricing as a freelancer and industry standards. For the record I consider myself under the category “Someone with a few years of experience and a good portfolio: $50 - $85+/hr.” I can promise I am charging nowhere near $50 an hour, and close to $25 since I supplement my income with “passive income” from pattern sales.

And that is just a few of the resources out there available. I sincerely hope you will read them and stop spreading negative attitudes on pricing.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING AN AVAILABLE PRODUCT

Work Smart Show daily blog. What are the reasons people buy your product? Undoubtedly this question has many answers and I want to focus on the lesser known today, that of reciprocity. Of course many people buy a product because they need it, want it, have worked to be able to buy it or often times because they want to thank the vender.

​I want to look at the case study of Patt Flynn, host of the Smart Passive Income and Ask Pat podcasts, who wrote his first book, Will it Fly, in late 2016. Now Pat is someone who provides immense amounts of value to his listeners through both of his podcasts and really builds into his listeners, taking an episode each to answer their questions even though they could be considered competition.

So it was that when he released his book and surveyed the reasons that people were prompted to buy it he found a strange trend. He found that many people were buying to support his work and his brand. He had provided so much free advice and material for them that they wanted to financially pay him back and so many bought the book even if it wasn’t relevant to them.

This idea fascinated me and I have seen it in several other situations recently such as my wife buying a products to support her favorite YouTuber simply because she wanted to financially support them. Now undoubtedly people buy your products because they need or want them, but are people also buying to support or thank you or your business.

This provides us with two very key takeaways to implement in our business. If you are in a business or entity that sells services or media maybe consider a physical product that people can buy to support you. Secondly if you have products available for sale are you providing enough valuable content that makes followers or customers feel they want to support you with their purchasing power?

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Find Your Hacks & Workarounds

No matter what type of business we are running or what goals we chase - we all face apparently insurmountable difficulties - as for example 

building a user base for your app although there is no interaction yet,

having to postpone some to dos although they are all crucial and diligent, 

finding investors without having finished that prototype yet 

or hiring the great but still affordable talents that help you to get done all that work

… 

The Dutch bicycle manufacturer VanMoof had such a problem as well:

They sell almost 90 percent of its bikes online. 

But as they shipped the custom made bikes to customers, it found that they were often arriving severely damaged.

The damage reports were a major problem for the company because the street bikes that it manufactures are at the high-end of the market… But even with the best brand and great marketing you CANNOT WIN, if the products is delivered to the customer in bad shape or even in pieces…

But then the company came up with a genius solution - dropping shipping damage by over 70 percent!

What was the trick?

Printing a graphic of a flatscreen television on the side of the packaging box - making shippers think that they were transporting flatscreen televisions.

(Source: http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/25/13048668/vanmoof-shipping-damages-dutch-bicycle-design)

A highly effective but yet cheap way of fixing the problem and giving the business the push it needed…

Innovate like VanMoof!

Always look out for solutions like this - practical, easy to apply, affordable but effective. Dare to try new paths, unconventional solutions, be creative. Find your hacks and workarounds.

your m

A little light-hearted hump day tom foolery.

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Perfect marriage of form and function.

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Where there is a will, there is a way :). Vertical garden in Madrid, Spain

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Everything You Need To Know About Making Money Online

Everything You Need To Know About Making Money Online

Millions of people across the globe find themselves struggling financially or simply wanting to be their own boss. Unfortunately, many people don’t know how to improve their circumstances. The best option is earning money online. In this article we will share some basic information to help you get started.

Be sure to keep an eye…

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the thing that bothers me about the McDonald’s sauce business, as someone who’s worked fast food before, is that corporate completely shat the bed and put the health and safety of their minimum wage workers on the line for the sake of some publicity for their company that is already a household name

let’s be real here, while the behavior of the fans of Rick and Morty is disgusting, the idea that these restaurant chains knew that the supply wouldn’t meet the demand that over a year of hype had caused and then made their employees, who typically aren’t making enough to live day to day, deal with it, without telling anyone, “hey, there’s only about twenty promotional sauces here, you’re going to deal with having to turn a lot of people away”

that wasn’t the advertising campaign, that wasn’t “hey we’re only going to have a very, very, very small limited amount of sauce available,” it wasn’t “hey, you have a chance of winning this sauce by purchasing our product and we’ll fucking mail it to you or something,” it was “hey, fuck it, we’ll make them give it away to about twenty people and then deal with thousands more”

how is that a good business practice? how is that nothing but cruel for your employees? how is that good pr, even? 

where’s the justification for this

How are you working your brand?

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Introducing the new generation of beauty. Racial diversity? ✔️ Body diversity?✔️ Religious diversity?✔️ and she’s just getting started….. Rihanna worked for more than two years on #FENTYBEAUTY to make sure women of every color, race, sizes and culture could enjoy her line.

“Everyone has their shade, someone just needs to make it” -Rihanna