Treasury Thursday: TIme for Vacation?

Saturday Search: Strong

Valentine's Day Requires Your Own Cupid!

I found the cutest download on mypapercrane.com February 4th blogpost for this adorable cupid. I just had to cut him out and assemble him. He seemed to need wings and I was fresh outta feathers, so I personalized him by adding pale green wings out of netting! Squee!

Promise me you'll make you're own sweet cupid! xo

Treasury Thursday: Eco-Friendly Valentine's Day!

Dreaming, Motivation, Celebration with Megan Monique

How do small business people get from here to their dream?

I think any good, solid creation starts with baby steps. I mean in a logical sense you can't get from here to there without first taking one step. It is a completion of those steps that equal the big picture. My advice it to write out your 'big picture' get a good idea of what it looks like, and then break it down into much smaller, bite size, baby steps. That way, when you wake up in the morning, you are excited about making that small stride and actually being able to accomplish it rather than being overwhelmed and stuck in the big picture. Get it? Got it? Good.

Also- if you are person who is terrible at getting organized and breaking things down. Look around you. If you don't know a fellow blogger or good friend who is great at this stuff then post something on Twitter. There are millions of us detail oriented people out there who are willing to help someone out. & if you can't find someone to do it for free, there are always people like me who do business strategy for a living!

What do you think is the one most important thing one should do to stay motivated while growing their business?

For me the greatest key to staying motivated is getting really clear about my intention behind my creation. When I am able to see what that it is, it is easy for me to stay motivated. I am sure some of you are thinking, 'my intention is to make money' and of course that is true, but really- why did you start your business?

Most likely it was because it is something you are truly passionate about. It is easy to lose sight of that passion when you have to deal with things like paying bills and finding clients, etc. However, when you are able to stay completely present to that intention, that passion - the money will find you. Your energy will attract abundance.

What is the best way to set goals and hold yourself accountable to them? What is the most gratifying way to celebrate your success?

The best way for me to set goals is with numbers. Whether it is making a weekly to do list of 10 fun, easy, but necessary things or creating a goal for my eCourse registration I love playing with numbers. The most gratifying way to celebrate my success is to allow myself to get REALLY happy about my accomplishments. Dancing crazy in my office, jumping up and down, smiling from ear to ear and screaming if I feel like it. Just really allowing my spirit to come alive in the face of my accomplishments.

Anything else inspiring you want to share?

The sooner you stop telling yourself all the reasons you can't do something,and all the things that 'have' to be done before you can start your business the sooner your dreams have the ability to manifest. You are ALWAYS the only thing standing in your way of greatness, even if it is just your thoughts. You CAN
do this.

Be sure to check out her 4 week course, Desperately Seeking Passion!



Megan Monique is a daughter, a girlfriend, a best friend, lover, creator, writer, magnificent manifestor and life illuminator. Her life's purpose is showing people how to access love in every area of their life & helping others get clear on what that looks like.

Saturday Search: Slippers

Beautiful wool slippers from zerkahloostrah.

Treasury Thursday: Shades of Saffron

Negotiation for Small Business With Erin Engstrom

Negotiation, an anxiety riddled word for some of us. Negotiation seems daunting because we recognize it with stressful events such as the purchase of car or home, legal proceedings or business negotiations. Negotiation is a skill that can take years to develop, there are many theories and strategies to learn and apply. There are also styles of negotiation and of course the personality of the negotiator to contend with. With all that negotiation is and can be, many of us feel that we are not equipped or skilled enough to handle a negotiation when it occurs.

Believe it or not, you have been negotiating your whole life! Think back to when you were a child and you wanted a certain toy to play with that maybe wasn’t available or you didn’t have yet. What did you do to get it? Cry, take it, or beg for it? As a teenager you wanted your parents to let you take the car out on a Friday night. What did you do to get them to agree? Did you offer your chore services? Offer to do something out of the ordinary that benefited them? If you are a parent, you negotiate daily with your children. If they want something that isn’t good for them you provide them with alternatives. Even though we are all born with an ability to negotiate, we are not all effective negotiators.

Negotiation is a practice that takes skill. The most skilled negotiators are self-made. It takes self-awareness and intuition and the strength to accept that we have to lose some in order to win some.

As a small business owner we find ourselves involved in several negotiations daily or sometimes over a long period of time. We also may ask ourselves some of the following questions;

What are the best negotiating tips for small businesses?
The best negotiations are the ones that have been thought about and planned. The key is that you have to determine your alternatives to a negotiated agreement. In order to determine your alternatives you must take a self-assessment of your wants and needs and you must determine your reservation point, or rather, when you must walk away, even if there is no agreement. You must make an assessment of the other party and an assessment of the situation. Failure to assess the other party and the situation will result in an unfavorable result. Consider that you are scientist working on a breakthrough drug that will help malnutritioned children to absorb and maintain food nutrients for longer periods of time. You have found a farmer who sells a rare flower that holds the working ingredient for the drug. You approach the farmer, who already has a buy for the flower. You attempt to convince the farmer of the importance of the flower. He puts you in touch with the other buyer who needs to purchase the flower for their new anti-aging skin cream. You both bicker over the importance of the flower and your individual needs. While you both argue over the flower, the farmer sells to another party for much more money than either you or the skin cream manufacturer was willing to pay. What if after all was said and done, you learn that the skin-cream only needed the petals and you needed the stem? Assessing yourself, the other party and the situation may have resulted in a favorable result for both parties. Both could have purchased the flower, directly from the farmer with a combined offer or you could have bought the stems from your competitor. However, this would only have been possible had determined each other’s needs.


What are some basic mediation strategies that could be useful when dealing with upset customers?
Remain calm. Listen. Reframe their complaints into the positive and suggest solutions. Issuing an apology or merely saying that you understand and hear them can go a long way. I would also recommend taking a step back and consider that there may be something else fueling the distress. When negotiating, it is important to separate the person from the problem.

At what stage should a small biz owner get a professional mediator involved in a dispute?
I would recommend getting a professional mediator involved if the other party has becoming threatening or they are unwilling to negotiate directly with you, as in they obtained an attorney or filed a lawsuit. I would also suggest a mediator if there are outside people influencing you or the other party. You can obtain mediation or negotiation help from a mediator or contact SMU’s Center for Dispute Resolution in Plano, TX for a more formal proceeding.

What are three things you should never say in a negotiation?
Never accuse or place blame. Be willing to listen and reframe the other parties concerns so that they know you understand them.

What's the best frame of mind to be in when approaching a business negotiation?
Do not enter into a negotiation if you have hard feelings or are upset at the other party. I also recommend never entering into a negotiation unprepared or unknowledgeable about the party.

For more information on negotiation, I recommend “Getting to Yes” by Roger Fisher and William Ury.

Erin Engstrom holds a M.A. in Dispute Resolution from Southern Methodist University and is a certified Mediator and Insurance Arbitrator. She has over 10 years of experience in negotiating civil disputes.

Get to Know Greenie: Valentine's Day Edition

We are two fellow Etsy community members that have a passion for creating environmentally friendly jewelry and wanted to get to know each other a tad better.

If you chose to be a VD candy, what kind would you be?

JACKY: Organic chocolate covered caramels! Chocolatey goodness on the outside with a sweet surprise of caramel on the inside.

ALICIA: I would be a fair trade organic 70% cocoa bar with toasted almonds and I would be delish!

What's your favorite Valentine's Day memory from childhood?

JACKY: Third grade was my favorite year because of my awesome teacher Mrs. Spivey. For our Valentine’s Day party she took us outside to read a story under a big tree then we decorated cookies in class. The best part was going from bag to bag delivering your valentines. I’m pretty sure mine were Wonder Woman that year.

ALICIA: When I was in grade school, I loved making and decorating the construction paper "envelopes" that we taped on the side of our desks to be used as our "mailbox" for valentines. They were so fun to dig through at the end of the day to see and read all the valentines.

What's your favorite quote about love?

JACKY: "You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." -Dr. Seuss

ALICIA: "Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love." - Leo Tolstoy



Jacky of HiFi Jewelry has been creating wearable art from recycled materials with a fun, funky, rock-n-roll edge since 2007.

Alicia of La Alicia is a Recycled Materials Artist continuosly giving a nod to Mother Earth.

Eco Monday: Trinity River Audubon Center

I have loved birds since I was a child. My grandparents bought each grandchild their own birdhouse that hung in the back yard. Mine was red with a pitched roof and it hung in the big pine tree by the patio. I was excited each year to see what bird family had moved in and waited anxiously to see the new baby birds learn to fly.

Now you know where my fascination with birds started. Let me tell you about my latest Dallas discovery. It was a happy coincidence that learned about this place, the Trinity River Audubon Center. It's tucked away about ten minutes South of downtown Dallas and seems like it may be Dallas' best kept secret -- but not for long!

The location? Longitude and latitude coordinates: 32.712636, -96.70879 and here's a link to the map. If you have wings, it's easy to find because from the air the building is shaped like a bird. Very cool!

The first time I visited I felt like someone had let me in on a great secret escape. I had discovered an oasis in the city where nature reigns supreme. From the moment I turned into the driveway it was obvious that I was about to have a unique experience. I enjoyed the crunching sound my shoes made on the gravel walkway leading up to the LEED certified building. It is not only earth friendly but intriguing and beautiful. The inside of the building is filled with so many wonderful sights. The feather insulated ceiling is incredible -- be sure to look up! And the hands on education center is great for kids and kids at heart to learn about nature. But the bird delights are along the trails.

The staff are friendly and knowledgeable and will provide you with a map of the trails and explain which one is best for what you'd like to see. The trails are sprinkled with benches in unexpected places that just invite you to have a sit down and a think while listening to nature. It's very peaceful and a great place to extract yourself from the electronic world for a break. I suggest leaving your electronics behind for the full effect and listening to the birds. There are picnic tables in some areas, so consider bringing your lunch and staying for a while.

They have bee hives on the property and produce their own local honey which is available in the gift shop. You really can't get more local than that! And it's delicious. While you're there don't miss out on local artists creations as well.

Be sure to check out Third Thursdays when admission is free to the public, you won't regret it.

Saturday Search: Ninja

Treasury Thursday: Snow on the Lake

Wordless Wednesday: Time

Saturday Search: Llama

This llama pattern makes me smile. It's from DeliciousCrochet on Etsy.

Treasury Thursday: Recycled Paper

Wordless Wednesday: Feathers

Saturday Search: mitten

Cashmere Couple Mitten from ElleGanT

Treasury Thursday: Music is All Around Us

Wisdom Wednesday: Q&A with Scoutie Girl

I was so excited to have the opportunity to ask Tara of Scoutie Girl some of my current pressing questions. I hope you find her answers as helpful as I do.

What's your advice on how to get the best mileage out of media coverage?

If you get media coverage - TV, radio, newspaper, blogs, etc - that sends traffic to your website, you need to have a way to "capture" that traffic. You need to get visitors' permission to contact them again in the future.

 How you do this is up to you. For me, email marketing is queen. You might choose to have them subscribe to your blog, connect with you on Twitter, or like your Facebook page.

What you don't want to do is give visitors that many options! Have a clear call to action.

"Welcome New York Times readers! This is Scoutie Girl and my goal is to empower you to live a more creative life & change the world with your money. If you like what you see, please sign up for my free program on creating more action in your life."

You can do that with a special message on your website, a hidden page created just for them, or a new blog post. Just put it where people are going to see it and give them a good reason to do what you're asking.

Now that flood of traffic turns into a boat load of new fans, followers, or subscribers. Instead of hoping they come back & buy something, you can gently work them towards a purchase on their own time (but your schedule!).


What are your best strategies for getting over that "hump of fear" to get those scary biz things done?

I like worst case scenarios. When I'm having difficulty getting over a fear, I think of the worst case scenario.

What's the worst that could happen if I email that A-list blogger? What's the worst that could happen if I fire this client? What's the worst that could happen if I delegate this task to my assistant? What's the worst that could happen if I invest $1000 into this program?

Last year, I desperately wanted my husband to be able to quit his job. Increasing my income to that level was pretty easy. Making the decision to go through with him quitting was not! But, the reality was pretty simple: what's the worst that could happen if he quit?

My business could fail and we would both have to go get jobs. Maybe worse yet, we might have to move in with my mom. Maybe we have to get a loan.

Those things were all pretty damn manageable. On the other hand, if he quit his job, I might be able to make twice the money I was making. I might be able to help twice the clients. Easy decision.

On average, I think people are pretty resourceful. If you pose the worst case scenario to yourself, you'll quickly think of ways you'd get out of it or over it. All that fear starts to fade away.

Aside from Twitter and FB, what do you think the best newest social networking sites will be for 2011?

Great question! It seems the hot trend in social media is location-based networking. Slightly ironic, don't you think?

Instead of connecting with places & people from all over the world, people are connecting with their own intimate surroundings via technology. This is great for micrbusiness!

But it also just reinforces the fact that your business is not just about the internet. It's not just about how many Facebook fans you have. You have to deepen your roots and plant yourself firmly in a real home.

Look for more sites like Groupon & Living Social... look for more ways to use Twitter & Facebook in your home area... look for more ways to connect with new people right where you are and look for how that affects your wallet.

That's the big trend in social media for 2011!

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Tara Gentile empowers you to live more creatively and challenges you to change the world with your money on Scoutie Girl. To move from procrastination to accomplishment, take her free 8-part mini course on creating more action in your life.

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Eco Monday: Make Gift Bags

YES Magazine has a great tutorial video on how to make gift bags from last year's calendar. Check out the video here.

This is a great way to repurpose something you're done with. This could also give your gift recipients cool ideas of how to repurpose their own calendar from last year!

Saturday Search: teapot

A word to the wise

Saw this on Facebook and wanted to share!

There's a site called Spokeo.com that's an online USA phone book w/personal information: everything from pics you've posted on FB or web, your approx credit score, home value, income, age, etc. You can remove yourself by searching for yourself on their site to find the URL of your page, then go to the bottom of the page and click on Privacy button to remove yourself. Copy & re-post so your FB friends are aware.

Thank you Thursday

The holidays are full of great food. Nom, nom, nom. They're also full of fun, friends, family and usually gifts.

A fellow crafty recently confessed that she detests the thank you notes that need to be done after the holidays.

Well, here's a little help from npr.org to get the perfect well written notes out in a timely matter. Heartfelt. Handwritten. This may just be what you need to get your thank you notes jumpstarted!

Wordless Wednesday: Cute 2011 Calendar

Eco Monday: Green Your Mailbox

It's a new week, why not start it with a decision you'll be happy with all year?

Around the holidays, we all get tons of catalogs from vendors wanting us to buy something. They influx of catalogs seems to peak around the second week of November and we're left wondering what to do with them all. You can change this by visiting the catalogchoice.org site to select which catalogs you'd like the receive and which ones you can do without.

On the same site, you may also adjust your choices about receiving phone books. Many cities have decided to stop printing them while other cities have not jumped on that bandwagon just yet.

Not only will your mailbox feel a little more roomy, there will also be less stuff going to the landfills!

Happy Green New Year.

Eco Monday: Resolutions?

So, did you make any eco-resolutions? Giving up platic bags altogether this year? Planning less car trips? Precycling? Walking to more destinations?  Eating organically? Setting up a recycling center in your home?

What's on your green agenda this year?

Saturday Search: Danke

 

These lovely thank you cards can be found in 2ndComing's shop. These are very timely. Don't you have some thank yous to send out now that the holidays are over?

Happy New Year's Eve!

 

This poster from handz is a great reminder for 2011. I hope yours is your best year ever! Cheers!

Wordless Wednesday: Droplet

Eco Monday: Six of Ways to Recycle Jars and Lids

Team Eco Etsy has done a fab blog post about some fun eco-friendly ways to repurpose. Be sure to check it out here.

What do you do with glass jars to repurpose them?

Pirate Party, anyone?

Are you looking for a fun theme for an upcoming birthday party? Or a we have cabin fever party? Well, the cottage industrialist maybe just the site to help you get it done. 


They have everything from invites to pirate hats that you can download and print. There are cupcake wrappers, thank yous and buried treasure envelopes too!


They have it all figured out and it's all cute, downloadable, printable and free!

Eco Monday: How do you add WOW to your gift gift wrapping?

Anne of Modest Ambition has some fab suggestions on how to add WOW to your gifts while still being green. Check out her whole article here.

What do you do to wrap your gifts while still being green? Happy Wrapping!

Eco Monday: Reusable Cutlery

 

Reusable Cutlery -- brilliant! This roll up set can be easily stashed in your bag for those take away moments.  It will fit in your lunch bag. Save plastic cutlery by bringing your own along! :)

Some of my most recent creations...

Article in the Dallas Morning News Today!

The Dallas Morning News ran an article about me and my recycled products today! Check it out here. Thank you to Freelance Writer, Rita Cook and Photographer,Michael Ainsworth!



Cheers!

Enter to win...

 

Cosa Verde's 10 Days of Nice makes it possible for you to win this necklace for someone you love! December 19th is the last day to enter! Check out all the details here.

Aargh, nothing better than pirate snowmen! :)

These gift tags are so freakin' cute! You can download and print your very own free for personal use set by clicking here.  Happy Tagging!

Wordless Wednesday: Dough Ornament

Eco Monday: Wedding Rings

This site has a fantastic selection of eco friendly, recycled gold bands and engagement rings.

They even have a great program where friends and family can donate their unused gold to be recycled into your wedding bands and engagement ring. I think that's a great way to let your loved ones contribute to a very sentimental piece of jewelry!

Come Visit the White Rock Local Market

I'll be at the White Rock Local Market today from 8a-3p! Come by and check it out. There will be lots of vendors -- everything from food to arts and crafts. It's a great opportunity to get your holiday shopping finished up and support the local economy. Rumor has it thtat the Green Spot next door has fab breakfast tacos!

702 N. Buckner Blvd., Dallas, TX 75218

Etsy Dallas Blog: Holiday Garland Tutorial & Giveaway

The Jingle Bash 2010 was decorated with some beautiful felt garland. The team blog has a fab little tutorial on how to make it yourself. If you're not a crafty-natured person, there's also a giveaway to win the sample garland. Check it all out here!

Wordless Wednesday: Winter

EcoMonday: 10 Days of Nice

http://cosaverde.com/blog/

Would  you like the opportunity to win cool green prizes for friends or family? Well, you're in luck! The cosa verde site will allow you to do just that! Check it out and nominate someone you love!

Saturday Search: Eyelashes

I love this sweet giraffe with lots of eyelashes by daniellebarlowart.

Happy Saturday!