Sylviebead Journal

Yesterday's topic today

Happy Friday everyone!!!! I'm sooooooooo glad it's finally here! I'm really looking forward to my weekend. I've got a lot of fun stuff planned AND I have some work I really need to get done uninterrupted. Yay for Friday!!!!!

Yesterday I had a topic in mind to talk about and then got sidetracked by my awesomeness (ha!) and the fact that I had 430 fans on my facebook page. That still blows my mind, but I won't be talking about it again (today). :)

WARNING: This is one big long rambling idea-filled blah blah blah of a blog posting. If you're not in the mood for run-on sentences and me thinking "out loud" you might want to skim to the important stuff.... that I'm going to be listening to Sade in the studio today. (oops. I gave away the big finish) Seriously though. It's long-winded, but I don't feel like editing.

Back to what I was saying....

I was at Barnes and Noble the other day and there was an end-cap display about art and entrepreneurial/business of art books. Most of them were the "you make something so now you can make money" types of books which I glanced at and then moved on, but one really caught my attention. It was on a topic that I've been really thinking about lately... marketing in new directions, growing your "brand" (and I am a "brand" even though it's hard to think like that sometimes) and more big-picture/idea sort of things rather than a specific game-plan for "crafting business beginners" with forms and charts that the other books were.

I have barely started into the book and it's already got me thinking about some things differently. One of the things that I'm truly thinking about is a podcast. Crazy, huh???!!!

BUT I'd been thinking about a new blog (again, crazy!) that focuses on the REAL business of beadmaking/creating and why couldn't it be a pod-cast???

(ok, the fact that I have a high voice that sounds like Minnie Mouse sometimes MIGHT be a reason, but I also think it might be something fun and different!)

If I do something about the business end, it will probably focus on marketing.... but that idea leans itself more towards a blog because I'd like to use examples.... sort of like a "call in radio show" but with me taking a look at their site and giving them some ideas while using certain things as examples to teach others. This is something I've been told I'm good at.. looking at something and seeing what works/doesn't work and why as far as marketability goes. I think it's one of those things that's easy for me... easier than it is for a lot of artists. I have a gut instinct about the marketing end of things that isn't really something you can teach, BUT I can share my insights and they might help someone. (My friend Marcy has been telling me for a while that this should be a business for me... sort of a coach-approach to the business of beadmaking. I'm not sure how to make it a career, but maybe this is a start)

At the same time, for the last year on-and-off, I've been working with others on creativity and finding your voice in glass (or other mediums) and this is something that would be nice to explore in a blog/podcast format as well.

This blog is about me me me... just me talking about whatever is on my mind, usually having to do with my artwork. What I'm talking about would be very different.

These other concepts go further than me.... it's about me sharing my philosophies on the bigger picture of craft/art-making and marketing. I like that! I like the synergy that seems to happen when you share what you know with other people in an open way. We're artists, not pharmaceutical companies after all! We don't have any secret formulas (like Mr. Krab's Crabby Patties on Sponge-Bob) that we have to hide from one another or worry about corporate espionage. We SHOULD be sharing. So, that's what I'm thinking about doing through a podcast or new blog.

How do these help me business-wise with my OWN business? I'm not sure yet.... that part is still percolating. I just thought I'd put the ideas out there into outer-blog-space and see what happens. Sometimes I get great feedback from people on things I say here (even if they don't post comments)

So.... what do YOU think? Would you listen to a pod-cast about creativity? What about the business end of things? I'm sort of thinking that a hybrid might be more "me". And again... I'm just percolating. Who knows what will come of this. I'll keep you posted though!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!!

tiny blah blah blah...

coffee - oh yeah.... and it was yummy!

music - a tiny bit on the radio, but I'm about to download the new Sade with an I-tunes gift card I got!! YAY for free music AND free coffee!!!!!