We’re just going to ignore that I’ve been MIA for the past six (?), seven (?), okay more like almost eight months and just concentrate on the right here and right now. There’s no need to go through a bulleted list of things that have happened in the meantime. I’ll just fill in along the way. 

Over the past few months, I’ve really noticed that my creativity, motivation, and drive waxes and wanes similar to the moon. There’s times when I’m bursting at the seams with great ideas just waiting to be put into action. That’s when I crank out a new design or put some time aside to make edits to my website verbiage or even try to update some Etsy listings. And then there’s the other side of the coin when I ~want to be creative, excited, and motivated, but I just can’t get into my groove. 

I logically know there are things I want to create like new designs for the Meeting Notebook available for sale on my website and Etsy. In fact, I’ve already done the hard part of creating a second and third option in Canva. But have I put it together in Illustrator and exported it as a proof yet? No. Have I listed it as a new option that’s available yet? No. Have I been thinking of doing it for about a week straight? Yes.

If I were to fast forward to about two and a half weeks from today, I’d be updating, publishing, posting, and doing all the things that I need without having to actually write a list to get them done. Nowadays, I’ve found myself utilizing lists (and actually working to strike things off instead of just letting the tasks linger for an undetermined amount of wasted time) just to get things accomplished. It’s hard keeping a burning fire to create new things when results trickle in slowly. 

I move very quickly if someone emails or texts me directly asking for a specific product or service. In fact, the only reason why I even have a Meeting Notebook available is because someone specifically asked for one to be created. I enjoyed figuring out the daily pages and making it cute. I’m always excited when I pick one of them up from Office Depot too because, since there’s only 50 pages, I can afford to provide a higher quality of paper than the paper that is typically included with the semi annual planners. 

But when it comes down to creating that spark on my own, it’s a little difficult creating things that don’t sell. Figuring out an audience and what they want is the next biggest thing I need to tackle. Getting in touch with actual customers that enjoy my work and want more of it is a magical place that I really want to find soon. 

Completing mailings where I have to package books up with love is one of the most underrated and enjoyable parts of my business. It gives me a reason to take a break from staring at screens, shapes, colors, and typing and do something meaningful with my hands. I enjoy measuring the package, inputting the shipping address, printing the label, and packing the bubble mailer. It’s an orderly process that can be duplicated from start to finish. There’s not much left to interpretation, which is beneficial since it’s a really repetitive task. 

I use “Thank you for supporting my small business” cards and I put them in every package. I bought some generic ones from Amazon a while (basically at least a year) ago but I think once I run out, I want to design some really cute ones and order them from GotPrint instead. The quality of the paper will be much better and of course I’ll be able to personalize the card with my verbiage, my logo, and colors that suit my brand and liking. 

Signed, 

Jessica Marie