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Like a Boss

February 17, 2015
Birmingham, Business, Dreams & Goals
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by javacia

Last week the Birmingham Business Journal announced its Top 40 Under 40 class for 2015 and I am proud to say that I am among the young professionals chosen for this honor. What makes me even prouder and even happier is that I recently learned a group of women who have in some way been inspired by the work I do through See Jane Write teamed up to nominate me for this recognition.

This time last year I didn’t even consider myself a real entrepreneur and now here I am being featured in the Birmingham Business Journal! This wouldn’t have happened without the support of that group of women (or the support of my sweet husband who helps me with every See Jane Write event). But I also believe this wouldn’t have happened had I not decided to change my attitude last summer.

Back in July Megan LaRussa Chenoweth’s keynote address at the See Jane Write Bloganista Mini-Conference inspired me to start taking myself seriously as a businesswoman. As a result, I revamped the See Jane Write website and weekly newsletter, started working with a business coach, and started signing up for every webinar on business building that I could find.

As I state in my article for the Birmingham Business Journal, “My career as an entrepreneur started to take flight when I overcame my self-doubt. Once I started to take myself seriously as a businesswoman, other people started to as well.”

For that article, each honoree was asked to answer a slew of questions and obviously not all of them could be used. If you live in Birmingham I hope you’ll pick up a copy of the latest issue of Birmingham Business Journal at a local bookstore like Little Professor Book Center. But I thought it would be fun to share with my blog readers a few of my responses that weren’t used in the article.

Enjoy!

What keeps you up at night?

Ideas keep me up at night! I always have so many ideas for lessons I can teach, programs I can offer, events I can host, and things I can write to inspire my students, my clients, See Jane Write members and other women in my sphere of influence.

What’s the first website you visit each morning?

SheReadsTruth.com

What book has influenced you most in your career?

The book that has influenced me most as an entrepreneur is Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In. It pushed me to overcome my impostor syndrome and to start believing that I am good enough and smart enough to do what I want to do.

What inspires you?

Women inspire me more than anything on this planet. My mission in life is to empower women and girls to find their voice and share their stories. That drives nearly everything that I do.

What important lesson have you learned that has helped your career?

I’ve learned to embrace and be unapologetic about my femininity and to never see it as a liability.

What’s the best advice you’ve received?

Feel the fear and do it anyway.

Your turn! I’d love to read your answers to these questions, too! Leave them in the comments.

*Cross-posted at WriteousBabe.com.

Entrepreneurship is a D.I.Y. Project

February 3, 2015
Birmingham, Business
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by javacia

Sponsored Post for Do-It-Yourself Crafts

2015 is the year I’m really focusing on growing as a businesswoman and so I’m getting as much advice as I can from other female entrepreneurs. Recently, I had a chat with Julia McNair, owner of the Birmingham-based arts and crafts shop Do-It-Yourself Crafts. While talking with McNair I realized that entrepreneurship is very much like a do-it-yourself project because to be successful one must be both creative and patient.

What inspired you to start Do-It-Yourself Crafts?

I started the store in 1999. I had been working in corporate retail management and had loved my job…until I didn’t. I was considering going to law school, but that didn’t really call to me, either. I found myself doing more and more craft projects, but in my small Southside apartment, I didn’t have the space to store supplies. I decided I wanted a place like a paint-your-own pottery shop, where I could go to create things – not just paint your own pottery. When we opened, we had a varied selection. We sold supplies, as well as having a studio to work in. We did scrapbooking, rubber stamping, glass wine painting, and a whole lot more.

After a few years, we added paint your own pottery, and then mosaics, and then glass fusing. Other items went away. When Hobby Lobby opened, I knew I wasn’t going to out-do a big-box store, so we closed the craft sales section of the store and expanded the studio into the front. What has stayed over the years are the items that customers have told us they want to have – if it didn’t sell, it went away.

Starting a business is obviously risky. What is the scariest thing you’ve faced as an entrepreneur and how did you handle it?

Honestly, the first thing is the scariest: signing the loan, signing the lease. You have to make the money to cover those obligations. After you get started, the momentum will carry you.

What’s the one piece of advice you would offer aspiring entrepreneurs that you wish someone would have shared with you before you started your business?

Starting a business is wonderful and terrible and everyone should think about doing it, but you should know that once you start a business, it’s not a hobby anymore, it’s your business. I joke that I may own a pottery shop, but I’m in the marketing business. It’s nonstop and relentless and never-ending. I read something once that said that if you own a business, you spend about 15% of your time doing the thing you opened your business to do. I think that estimate might be high.

You can think you know exactly what you are going to be doing, and you might. But you might not. Your customers will let you know what they want – and you can change with what they are telling you, or you can stick to your guns and see if you make it. The customer isn’t always right, but they are your only source of income and so you should make every effort to let them be a source of income.

What do you do to make your business stand out from other shops like yours?

Customer service. When I had competition, that was the most important thing to us – that we focus on our customers and make sure that we went above and beyond.

I no longer have any local competitors for pottery shops – the studio that had been my competitor closed and I have opened a second shop where she was located – but that doesn’t mean I don’t have competition for customers. We are competing against the roller skating rink and the bowling alley and the movie theater. We are also competing against all the canvas painting places and other “ladies’ night out” options people have. We are competing with not spending money at all. There is competition everywhere.

Speaking of ladies night out, give us some tips on how to throw a great party at your shop.

If you are having a kid’s birthday party at one of my stores, the best thing is that you can let us handle it and just enjoy yourself. I am a mom and have done parties for my son at other places, and I know that we are easier. (In fact, I am the WORST critic to go to a party – I really pay attention to the details when I’m seeing what other places do and don’t do.) My goal is for the kids to have a great time, but for the moms to say it’s the easiest party they have ever done.

For a girls’ night out – it’s up to you! We can be where you get together with girlfriends and just enjoy a night together, or it could be a class where everyone does something specific. Often we do the Introductory Glass Fusing class for this – I tell a bunch of bad jokes, and then everyone makes a project. We try not to tell you exactly what you have to do – but instead give you some lee-way in how the night shapes up.

To learn more about Do-It-Yourself Crafts and book a party of your own visit DoItYoursefCrafts.com.

The Results Are In!

January 30, 2015
Birmingham, Blogging, Business, Dreams & Goals, Events, Writing
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by javacia

Earlier this month I created a two-question survey and offered a pretty sweet incentive to complete it: Those who completed the survey would have a chance at winning free admission to See Jane Write events held February – December 2015 (excluding events for members only).

And the winner is….

Emily G.

Congratulations, Emily!

And thanks to all of you who completed the survey.

The results revealed three things — 1) you all love live events 2) you all are ready to blog like a boss and 3) you’re having trouble finding time to make your writing dreams come true.

Live educational vents will continue to be the bread and butter of See Jane Write. Future events will offer information on how to monetize blogging properly use business tools like MailChimp, PayPal, etc. In fact, I’ve decided that the theme for this year’s Bloganista Mini-Conference will be Blog Like a Boss!

As for time management — I’ve got you covered there, too. My e-course How to Write and Have a Life is all about how to make time for your dreams. Over the course of a dozen lessons you will learn how to set goals that will help you better manage your time, how to get rid of bad habits that are wasting your time, how to adopt healthy habits that will make you more peaceful and productive, how to rekindle your romance for your blog, how to write more, read more, and stress less, how exercise can make you a better writer, and how to give yourself a break. Enroll today!

Find Your True North to Find Your Life Path

January 27, 2015
Dreams & Goals
0 comments
by javacia

Sponsored Guest Post by Sheree Martin of Shinecast

Is your inner compass pointing to your true north? Do you even know?

Do you feel overwhelmed by life, by your desire to be healthy, balanced and fulfilled in whatever roles you’ve chosen–or landed in by default?

When I was in my mid-20s I found myself floundering….trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I was on the path to a successful career as a business lawyer, but it didn’t seem to be the purpose I was designed for. I was a good and dedicated lawyer, but felt empty.

Not long after my 30th birthday, I became a shareholder in a prominent Alabama law firm. I had followed most of the rules and I was successful on the outside, but I felt like I was shriveling, dissolving, evaporating.

During those years, I embarked on the journey to self-discovery that led me to where I am today — a very happy person, still pursuing my true north. Still growing, still discovering.

My journey wasn’t always easy or direct and, for that reason, I feel compelled to help others, as a teacher, writer, mentor, guide and I hope to do that through the Shinecast.

The Shinecast is a multimedia project designed to help you discover your true north and walk on the path that is right for you. The path that allows you to discover and BE your whole, REAL, true self.

Real is Whole, Real is Being Yourself

The industrial, corporate world often uses the honeybee colony as a metaphor for how efficient organizations exist. In this metaphor, each worker bee has a role and each bee is said to fulfill that role in service of the queen for the good of the colony (i.e., the good of the company, in their version). On the flipside, we hear unfulfilled workers described as corporate drones.

What the industrial beehive metaphor doesn’t reveal is that each honeybee plays a different role at various stages of the approximately 42-day lifespan. The bee doesn’t do one single thing its entire life. The life of a honeybee is multifaceted.

Some of you may know that I’m a beekeeper. As I’ve worked with these bees over the past few years I’ve come view the healthy, successful honeybee colony as a metaphor for a successful, holistic life.

The colony is a symbol of our life. You might think of the queen bee as a symbol of our true north, our highest purpose. Each honeybee represents some aspect of our life — a goal, an interest, a responsibility, a need. All of these must be integrated and work together in service of our successful life.

Just as a single honeybee can’t live independently, our lives can’t be focused on one thing to the exclusion of everything else. I’m not talking about achieving balance, but rather achieving wholeness and integration.

The honeybee is not a dreamer, though. The honeybee is always active, always moving forward.

Your Path, Your Compass

I am happy not because I’m at some destination point, but I’m happy because I’m still growing, still walking on the path to being all I was created to be.

The Shinecast project is designed to provide the foundation and illumination to help YOU walk the path to your true north.

I’d love to have you join the Shinecast movement.

The best way is to start with the free weekly newsletter where I’ll be sharing my own insights, as well as great resources I’ve found to help you on the path. I’ll also be rolling out a series of audio and video stories that I’m creating and I’ll be sharing links to those stories in the newsletter.

If I can help you in any way, just hit me here: @RealSheree on Twitter or @Shinecast on Instagram. Or email me: digshinecast@gmail.com.

It’s time for you to go forth and SHINE.

If you would like to be a See Jane Write sponsor for February, contact Javacia Harris Bowser at javacia@seejanewritebham.com for more information on partnership packages.

How to Fail at Self-Publishing (and How to Succeed)

January 22, 2015
Events, Publishing, Writing
0 comments
by javacia

One day I’m going to write a book and when I do I hope I can somehow channel the wit and wisdom of Carrie Rollwagen. Carrie is the author of The Localist, a book about why small shops matter and her quest to only shop from local stores for one year. But you probably already knew that because since Carrie’s book was released in November she has been everywhere! Not only has she had book signings at places like Naked Art Gallery and Little Professor Book Store, but she’s been on radio stations like 100.1 FM and television shows like Talk of Alabama to discuss her book. She did a live chat on AL.com. and even hosted a gift tag and calligraphy bar party around the holidays! But I shouldn’t be surprised that she’s so good at promoting her book. She was just as great at promoting her Kickstarter campaign through which she raised much of the funds needed to self-publish The Localist.

And to think this all started with a blog! Yes, that’s right; Carrie first chronicled her shop small experiment through blogging. Now she’s transformed her blog idea into a book idea and is showing us all how to self-publish and self-promote the right way.

On Tuesday, Jan. 20 at The Nest, Carrie led a talk on self-publishing for about two dozen women as part of the See Jane Write event From Blog to Book with Carrie Rollwagen. During her talk I kept thinking about how, unfortunately, so many self-published authors do the complete opposite of what Carrie was saying, which might explain why so many self-published authors fail at selling their books and building a fan base.

So here’s what NOT to do:

1. Simply copy and paste your blog into a Word file and call it a manuscript. While Carrie’s book was inspired by her blog, she didn’t simply compile her posts and ship them to her printer. “Your blog can act as a focus group,” she said. It will help you determine the topics your fans care about most.

Carrie says she read through her blog and made a list of all the themes of her posts and arranged them into categories and those categories became chapters.

Even though her book is non-fiction, she still wrote her chapters in the form of a narrative. “Story is powerful,” she said.

Carrie Talk — Leading a workshop for a group like See Jane Write is a great way to promote your book!

2. Don’t bother rewriting your work or hiring an editor. Carrie wrote the first draft of her book in only a month. But she spent about a year rewriting it. “Writing is rewriting,” she said. “You need a good editor.” As for choosing the right editor, be sure you pick someone who actually has the time to edit your book and someone with an editing style that works for you. For example, if you want someone who’s not going to simply line edit your work but will ask questions about concepts and composition, find someone who will do just that.

3. Be really, really boring. When marketing your book you must be creative. This means just say no to boring book signings. “Create events that are interesting and newsworthy,” Carrie said. “If you’re doing events there needs to be something more than you just sitting at a table of books.” That’s why Carrie hosted events like a gift tag and calligraphy bar party and a local business holiday fair. Carrie also used her Kickstarter campaign to generate excitement for her book.

4. Be pushy with booksellers. As a self-published author it will be tough to get your book in stores, but it’s not impossible — unless you’re a jerk. Be mindful of the financial risk it takes for an independent bookstore to carry your work and be as easy to work with as possible. One tip Carrie offered was giving a bookseller a free copy of your book to put on shelves. If the book sells most likely the owner of the store will want to sell more and thus work out a distribution deal. Side note: if you don’t want to end up with thousands of copies of your book sitting in your basement, work with a printer who offers a print-on-demand option.

Carrie on TOA — Carrie on Talk of Alabama

5. Be elusive and mysterious with the press and ignore social media. If you want your book featured in local media make it easy for reporters to cover your events! Send out well-written, informative press releases. On your blog include your author bio, a list of important facts about you and your book, and hi-res images that the media can use.

Also, Carrie said, “Feed the social media beast.” Create a hashtag for your book and use it! Instagram is a good way to get people excited about your brand (yes, as an author you are a brand) and Twitter is great for reaching industry influencers.

Have you self-published a book? What did you learn from your experience?