Seth Godin Lecture at Tufts University

I was a nerdy little Marketing fangirl when I heard that Seth Godin was delivering a lecture - free to Tufts students and alumni - this month. I registered immediately. He's authored some of my favorite marketing books, like The Purple Cow and All Marketers are Liars. I also subscribe to his blog, and read it every day when it lands in my inbox. Naturally, I wasn't disappointed when he delivered his talk yesterday evening on campus.

What I love about Seth is that all of what he says makes perfect sense to me - I've had more than one "duh" moment when reading his stuff - and especially when I heard him talk. The problem is getting it into motion, into practice. Maybe my lower-level-not-quite-Tuftsy-brain just boils all of his content down to - "just be awesome, and everything will be good."

So when this bald little guy with great bold glasses came up to the podium (he referred to himself later as a tortoise, and I was like - why, yes. Yes you are.) I wasn't sure what to expect. I ended up taking notes during his lecture - mostly one-liners about points he made with stories he told. I liked hearing about when he was at Tufts and started a million businesses, and most of them failed. (Though my bitter student-loan brain got irritated when he said how fortunate he was that his dad paid for his rent and tuition costs...that he "just" had to pay for food. As dampering it is to think about money, I'm sure being in debt or worrying about more bills makes it a lot more difficult to put it all out there and fail) From his failed businesses, he learned to say "This might not work." He got lots of practice in building things that were greater than himself, businesses that have stood the test of time. He also took as many classes as he could to learn a little about a lot, and was awarded his degree based on the classes he passed.

Another thing I found really interesting - and that embarassingly, rang true to me - was that what got us into Tufts will not get us out. You can get perfect grades, get into a perfect school, do everything you are supposed to do, but being perfect will get you no where in life. Instead, you'll be looking for perfect in your job, looking to see how you can be perfect - when it's just mediocrity. I was so sure that if I did everything right, got good grades, went to the school I was supposed to go to - that everything would work out for me. And it hasn't. The reason being is that we are in the middle of a revolution right now - the Connection Revolution - and revolutions destroy the perfect. Seth used the example of the record industry - which was perfect, until it wasn't. Now there is a very limited amount of record labels, yet more people are recording music and more people are listening to music than ever before - because they are more connected.

There are no college exams on trust, on making rules, or on solving problems. Maybe we can address all these problems in creative ways - and maybe they won't work. I definitely think the institution of college education is heading towards a revolution - especially when students graduate and don't have that job they felt was promised to them because of their degree. I liked his story about Icarus, which we all know as "don't fly too close to the sun, or the wax on your wings will melt and you will perish". What's interesting about that is there is more to that story that no one ever tells - after the sun, Icarus is told "do not fly too low, or your wings will be caught in the mist, you will lose your lift and surely perish." So - don't fly too high, but also, don't fly too low. Don't be lazy and compliant.

Another fact he brought up was that the "disease" of writer's block started in 1942. Before that, anyone who wanted to write a book, did. Now, there's this overwhelming awareness of resistance, of our internal editors, afraid of approaching other people and saying "I made this". It's funny - I worked all day yesterday - that same day I saw Seth - on a new website design for my company, and I delayed sending it for hours. When I finally did, I prefaced it with "this can be changed"! and "this is just a first pass!". What kind of BS is that? I made something I was proud of - why couldn't I just send it to my boss? It's the fear of not being good enough, of a past rejection of my work at the forefront of my mind. But I've also gotten past praise - so why isn't that something that I'm thinking about?

The last point he made which also applies to me was the difference between a professional and an amateur. An amateur sees resistance to himself or an idea, and is paralyzed by it. A professional is aware of resistance , and overcomes it. Building your personal brand is all about building your reputation and confidence in what you have to say, as it's valuable. And definitely shouldn't be thrown away. So, just be awesome.

Handling Bad Business Review

I haven't posted in a good three months. Mostly, it's been time...but since I do love writing, I have to be honest: there was a reason my passion had slipped away.

As a (very) small business owner, it hits right to the heart when you come across a bad review of your business. Such a thing happened to me recently, and after much emotional grappling, I have come to terms with it and am trying to move on.

I'll start with a comment I read about employers today: they love seeing "entrepreneurship" on your resume, because it shows that you have personal accountability: taking your career into your own hands, rather than someone else's. And while I have built this wedding calligraphy business up from scratch since starting up five years ago, I am still one person. The buck stops with me - I made a mistake.

Calligraphy for Wedding Signs, $2 each

In this review, the bride had some valid points. I had dropped the ball, we had some miscommunication, and while she said my work was beautiful (a compliment she didn't need to make when dissatisfied), it still cuts to the core when you put everything you are into a business. I take pride in my work, and my goal has always been to have the bride over-the-moon excited for what I've been able to do for her, and when that doesn't happen, I hate to see it.

On the other hand, I can dispute some other points made in this review: but what would that solve? The damage has already been done, time has passed, and nothing will be able to change her mind. For example, one of the issues she had with me was that the ink color I used was inconsistent: some envelopes looked "darker" than others, and that was the only issue she had...and I know for a fact that she was simply wrong. This then transformed to a slew of other errors I was hearing for the first time in her review, which don't really give her much credibility.

I will say that I love this business. 99.9% of the time, the brides I work with are amazing, sweet and so much fun to work with. I love being able to do my part in making their wedding beautiful - especially in that first moment that one of their guests receives their invitation and are blown away by the first impression, which I love to hear!

So, I'm back to blogging. Contrary to my super-critical, take-everything-personal side, that bad review hasn't done any damage at all to my business. In fact, the amount of business I'm doing has DOUBLED since this time last year - with brides finding me both online and through fellow vendor and past bride referrals. All this makes me understand that I have high quality work, and shouldn't let one crazy bridezilla (okay, that was immature but makes me feel a bit better ;) stop me from doing what I love to do.

I continue to look forward to working with my brides, and doing whatever I can to make them happy!

Thanks to all my fabulous brides for being you,
Ashley

HUGS 2011: Hubspot User Conference

Before this becomes obsolete, I wanted to write a quick post on my attendance to the Hubspot 2011 Conference this past Friday. The company I am currently employed utilizes Hubspot software for its online marketing initiatives, and I have since become an obsessed user since being introduced to the system about 6 months ago. Hubspot hosted a conference at the Boston Sheraton this past Friday, called HUGS 2011, and it was, for the most part, good.

{Powerful Closing Here} Such delicious Geekiness...

The day had a full agenda of seminars that were broken up into three tracks based on experience of Hubspot users. I felt torn between the Intermediate and Advanced sessions, so I attended a few of both. Some of the presentations were a bit better then others, but for the most part I felt as though I knew most of the material already, or was in a real-life Hubspot webinar. Which has its great moments, but wasn't what I'd expected.

The event itself was okay, you could tell that they still need to tweak things a bit to make flawless. For example, there was a  Q&A lunch session with the CEO and Founder that I really wanted to catch, but I had gotten a late seat at a table waaay in the back with lots of chattering marketers, so I had no prayer of hearing what was going on. One of their big speakers also didn't show up due to illness, which was disappointing

However, I do not regret attending. I got a great spreadsheet that I'm still wrapping my mind around to measure ROI of online marketing efforts. I got further inspired and was yelling "YES! YES!" in my head during a content seminar about blogging and have a slew of new ideas to get my company involved with our blog. Lastly, my favorite presentation was by Jeanne Hopkins, Director of Marketing at Hubspot. The seminar not only gave me great pointers on marketing collaborations, but I was able to snag her for a quick conversation on how to be a strong female leader in the male workplace.

You're on your way, Hubspot, and I like what you're doing. I believe next year will be even better!

If you went to the conference, let me know what you think ;)

Follow Up: Knowing When to Say “No” to Freelance Clients

The last post, "Knowing When to Say 'No' to Freelance",  was a commentary on the first instance where I had learned when to say no to a wedding calligraphy client: the hard way. This past week, I came across this again: only this time, I was able to recognize the client and say “no”.

This woman emailed me 3 times and left me a voicemail on the same day, while I was at work, to schedule a consultation. And while I don’t believe she was mean-spirited, it was indicative of her already neediness and disregard for my time. I returned her phone call that night when I came home, intending to have a quick consult. This conversation turned into over an hour, during which time she required my assistance creating labels in Microsoft Word to submit me the names for her wedding invitations. She also was repetitive, indecisive, and unsure of what she wanted.

After I (finally!) hung up – during which I’m pretty sure she was trying to ask another question – I was thinking, there’s no way I can work with this woman. Not only was this going to be a huge time-suck out of my life, but it was only for 30 envelopes, which would have been about $60. Not to say that this job wouldn’t have been as valuable as my larger clients, but weighing out the cost of back and forth correspondence and the work itself, it was just not worth the headache or emotion.

            
Add this to the fact that she was a bit older, which is not my target market – which is typically brides ages 20-35: so chances of referral business was also very low. So all those considerations and three follow up emails later that same night, I informed her that something came up, and I was unable to work with her, and even provided her with some well-respected calligraphers within the industry that she could go to. Which, I got a very large needy email response again.

Just another learning experience: some small business owners are well-equipped or enjoy working with clients such as this. With a full time job, a store to run, inventory to make and other clients to work for, you need to prioritize and recognize when things are not worth it. I usually take on the world, but my reality now is that I just can’t stretch myself to that limit anymore.

Have you ever cut off a client before working with them? Did you regret it?

Trusting Your Gut: Knowing When to Say “No” to Freelance Clients

Freelance can be hard. I’ve been at it with my wedding calligraphy business for 5 years now. It can be especially difficult when you are desperate for cash to say “no”. But every once in a while, when speaking with a  potential client, you get this nagging feeling that this person can, and will, make your life a living hell for the next few weeks in your contract.

I have had great brides for clients: respectful, easy to communicate with and have been ecstatic with the end result that I deliver. About a year ago, I sat down with a bride and her fiancé, which isn’t too common, but I have seen it a few times…mostly the guys just sit there and nod, maybe ask a question or two. What was unusual about this couple was the bride sat there and said nothing at all, while I consulted with the groom.

Again, I was fine with it: that is, until the consultation dragged on and on, while he asked the same questions and flipped through my calligraphy portfolio over and over. He commented on a few totally different styles, and wouldn’t commit to any of them. If this wasn’t enough to give me that “I shouldn’t work with you” feeling, he asked of my 50 page sample book, “Is this all you have?”

Unfortunately, I felt caught at the time. This was back when I had intro calligraphy pricing – which was very low and beyond reasonable – and he already had his envelopes and deposit with him. So, I reluctantly had him sign my freelance contract and took the job – which also had to be completed within one week instead of 2-3.

When I returned the envelopes, he gave me the amount outstanding plus a tip that he expected me to fall over. Considering the amount of effort I had put into the job, a small tip – especially on top of my prices at the time – was not unusual. That night, however, he went through the envelopes and found a “mistake”, which he refused to disclose to me as I had the original list I wanted to check against it. I offered to re-do it of course free of charge, but he not only declined but continued to harass me with at least 5 emails on how disappointed he was. I knew he wanted his money back, but he had signed a contract. So I respectfully asked him to stop emailing me.

Honestly, it ate me up. I hate when customers aren’t happy with my work. Granted, it had never happened before or since, but as an artist you need to step back and realize that this person just has issues that have nothing to do with you. After you do everything – within reason – to make things right, and they are being disrespectful of you and your time, you just have to let it go.

Have you ever had a similar experience? Was there something you believe that I should have done to deal with this differently? Let me know!

Ash Tree Website Design

After working over a year as a Marketing Associate, I've learned a lot about websites, their functionality - and even how to build them.

The following are two websites that I designed the layout of, and continue to blog for regularly. The first is 6 In the Shipyard, which is the store location where you can find all of the Ash Tree's handmade jewelry and Dock This Way customized embroidery gifts.

I make sure the website's blog has at least a post every week, and you'll occasionally see guest posts by Ash Tree talking about new collections, images of my newest work in stock at the shop, or other Fashion commentary. Great blog to subscribe to for email alerts!

The second, RAM Construction, was actually made for my boyfriend (aw! I'm so nice) who is a carpenter and entrepreneur: I wrote content for a ton of pages, each describing different skills and jobs that he does. I also added an page breaking down areas he serves, as well as a page for a "Construction Portfolio", so prospective clients are able to see past jobs he has had.

I also blog for him once a week, which is interesting to look up how he does his job then writing about it. My favorite part of this is my #52 Ways to Improve Your Home segment, where every week I research and throw down a new idea for home improvements, including remodeling, small home construction projects, or fun interior decoration articles, which is a bit girly but I get to write it so whatever.

If you are in the need of a basic website, my rates are really reasonable: for a flat rate, I can set your website up, write some basic content, get you on Facebook,  Twitter, Yelp, etc. If you are unable to blog at least once a week, I can also offer SEO maintenance services, where I can write for you and help you out with your online marketing initiatives.

Contact me today to find out more information!

Have an opinion on these websites? I'd love to hear your feedback!

How Much "Klout" Do You Have?

My mother, while working at the 6 In the Shipyard shop today, was speaking with a woman who is the Director of Marketing at the Hingham Launch. She said that she LOVES all of my little updates, the weekly blog posts I do, and wanted to know if I needed any help in any way.

It's so funny to me because after being a Marketing Associate for over a year now, I've come to understand how important it is - (at least for SEO purposes, but also because online marketing has a huge "social media" aspect, now) to be engaged and updated with your website.

Nowadays, if you throw up a website and don't touch it or blog ever, users will notice and people will leave. They can tell when you are outdated, which is now being associated with how reputable you are. I've actually helped out a few friends on getting their own websites started, and actually maintain a few of them as a side-side business. (You know, with all that spare time I have?)

Find out your Klout Score at www.klout.com

Anyway, I had checked out this website Klout.com a while back to check out my "Klout Score" and had kind of forgotten about it. Now, with @TheAshTree getting at least a follower or two a day, I was curious to see what my score was.

I'm still in the gray "casual" section - though I don't know why. I feel like I'm tweeting the crap out of my business(es), but whatev. From this section, it looks as though I could be more active with my Twitter: which I agree, I could. I guess the "Listening" section is an accurate description.

So go check out your "klout" and the let me know how you rank!

Follow me on Twitter: @TheAshTree

Ash Tree and Online Identity

I came across this really interesting blog topic about crafting an "essence of you" when creating a blog. I found it interesting that I had to stop to really consider what is my online identity. Right now, I blog for so many clients, companies, friends, that it can be easy to lose my way. But through it all, there's been the Ash Tree: my personal blog that is going on it's 3rd year now.

Reflecting on this post, I understand that I'm scatterbrained. I don't follow my own advice to clients: that is, to stay consistent and blog about one umbrella topic. This for some reason isn't satisfying for me - I find it much more exciting when I have a plethora of topics to write and comment about. The Ash Tree especially does bounce around a lot - I use the blog to promote several different things: first of which is my creative businesses, which are my wedding calligraphy business, talking about my handmade jewelry line, and my products available at 6 In the Shipyard.

Photo Courtesy of elhawk, Flickr

When nothing creative is happening once per week, I usually throw up some content on a recent experience I've had living in Boston, or recently completed book review. Sometimes my online marketing work even spills over, and I write posts on marketing tips or how to improve your business. Could all this be even more random?

When not trying to promote my business through content and new projects, I guess I just try to write about what I would want to read. I know some people write rambling thoughts about things that no one finds important (no offense, guys. God knows this is one of those posts.) So I try to stay more informative than opinionated.

My next step is to try and foster more online relationships, phase 2 of my online marketing advice that I don't take. I of course respond when I get comments on my blog posts, but generally these are few and far between. I'd like to change that: I'd like to have more of a conversation.

So what do you think? Is the Ash Tree a relate-able, believable online persona? Or am I just a crazy person who's all over the place and needs to get her shit together?

http://www.scoutiegirl.com/2010/02/the-art-business-of-crafting-your-online-self.html

100th Post for The Ash Tree!

This is officially my 100th post for this blog! I can't believe it. A lot of this has changed since I started this blog a year ago: I've learned a lot and have had so many great experiences. I started my own business, lived and studied in another country, graduated college, and got my first full time job. It hasn't always been easy, but it really has been worth it. Now I'm here with 61  subscribers, (thank you!), 56 followers on Twitter, and have 73 fans on Facebook. Think I can double those numbers by 200 posts? ;)

Wedding Matchbooks, $250 Set of 100, by ivylanedesigns

100 posts is also significant for SEO purposes. In addition to website age, inbound links, and relevant content, 100 posts is really when the search engines start taking you seriously when crawling your website. Which has led me to start thinking about new ideas on things to be writing about. I think I'll scale back on Featured Etsy sellers to once a month, and start doing featured products more. Which may be bad for me because I'll probably ending up buying a lot - but hey, it's for my fellow etsyians, right?

I also want to write more about adventures in Boston that I have, and maybe bring some flashbacks back from Italy. I kept a journal there, and really want to go back - I figured doing some nostalgic posts will get me excited and motivated again to make my way back there. Plus, it gives me something to dream about.

100 French Music Hang Tags, $35 by jardindepapier

Since I've also started a job that basically revolves around SEO and marketing, I'll inevitably write a lot more about those topics, as it has been a greatly consuming yet interesting topic for me. I'll also try and do more adventure reviews of cool stuff that I do: this is a blog, after all! I am on Yelp as well, so that may absorb many of my restaurant ravings :)

Lastly, my art. I've graduated, and am feeling the pull to create now more than ever. This will range from drawings to designing handmade jewelry to more items in my Etsy shop. So look forward to more images of things I NEED to create. I'm going to try and commit to writing every day - see how quickly it will take me to reach 200 posts! Between all this stuff, some occasional book reviews, artist collaborations, and personal experiences, this next year will be the best for the Ash Tree ever. 

And please don't be shy! I really do want to hear from you and maybe start some more conversations. Feel free to comment, shoot me an email, or DM me on Twitter to give me your opinions, or ask questions about me and my work! Talk to you soon!

Vintage Typewriter Key "100" Necklace, by busterandboo

(p.s., these images are all based on a "100" search that I did on etsy!)

Blogging Tips

1. Do Blogging with Patience and Passion

Passion and Patience are the ultimate words for blogging. Always choose a niche for blogging about what you know (write what you know!) and are passionate enough to write about every day or twice a week. My blogging has really come into its own since I've started working for an online marketing company, where I blog basically every day. And, blogging won't make you money overnight, if that's your goal. You'll have to wait for the money and it will only come if you have a proper strategy.

2. Make Blogging Strategy

Make a schedule for blogging and stick to it. It's important to stay consistent with your blogging, as it will hold reader interest and encourage you to pump out fresh content for SEO purposes. Now, how many articles you will write in a day or a week? How much time you will spend in marketing your blog? How will you market your blog? For example, I now know I'm going to include my blog and twitter accounts the next time I order my business cards.

3. Make Social Media Marketing Strategy

Search engines are no longer the only source of generating traffic. If you target social media biggies(Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Stumbleupon, etc.) then you can get a great amount of traffic from them. Sometimes it can be much more than search engine traffic: but again, it won't come easily. You'll have to interact with people in Social Media in your niche and you'll have to build valuable relationship with them.

This is ME! :)

4. Make Link Building Strategy

Link building is important when it comes to search engines. Make proper link building strategy and try to get more backlinks from the blogs in your niche especially the higher page rank blogs. Find DoFollow blogs in your niche and the blogs using Comluv and Top Commentators plugins. Comment on those blogs but DON'T spam. No one likes to see that on blogs you comment on, it diminishes your credibility, and breaches blogger/blogging etiquette. Try instead to add value to the article: it's fun to check back and see how people respond.
5. Make Your Blog a Community

The environment of your blog should be such that when new visitor comes to your blog he should feel it as a community and become the part of it. So solicit comments at the end of your posts, and start a conversation!
6. Make Good Relations with Niche Bloggers

Interact with other blogger in your niche by commenting on their blogs and through social media. You can learn a lot from your competition, get more ideas, and competition breeds innovation.

7. Write Unique Content

Content is king in blogging and any website. Copying and pasting content onto your blog can result in your website being penalized by the search engines. So come up with something original: it doesn't have to be long or perfect, just get it up there! (Bonus points if you add some keywords you'd like to rank for!)

8. Always Reply to Comments

Interact with your readers by replying to their comments. Readers love it when their comment is replied and they will come back and comment again to create another conversation. Also be sure that it is easy for readers to make comments: users will give up trying to post if it takes them forever to add a one-sentence reaction.

How to get more comments on your Blog

9. Use Article Marketing

Write articles related to your niche in high PR article submission directories such as Ezine Articles, Hubpages and Squidoo with the backlink to your blog. It will definitely increase your blog authority and your blog will rank well in search engines.

10. Enngage in Mutual Guest Blogging

Try to write at least one article in a week to other blogs in your niche who offer you to write for their blogs. Guest posting on high traffic and high PR blogs is more beneficial as it will give you more exposure and quality backlinks.

11. Ask Readers for their Opinions

Ask readers for their opinions in your articles. It will increase comments on your blog and your readers will not feel that they are reading an article written by someone who's not real. Adding personality and invoking a conersation will score major points.

12. Write for Readers

Ever heard the expression, "Write like a reader"? Always give priority to your readers. SEO of the article is also important but it will be of no use if you can’t make a loyal readership from your articles...and often too much SEO work will make a post read awkward, and low-quality writing discourages readers.

13. Make Your Blog Design Reader Friendly

Your Blog Design should have a clean design with proper navigation. It should be such that readers can easily find the content of their choice. Even now, a year later, I'm still fooling around with my blog. Blogger.com has come out with some great new features that I always make sure to explore, like new template designs and widgets to make my site more interactive.

14. Use SEO friendly Theme and Have Visual Consistency

Use SEO friendly theme on your blog with proper header (h1, h2,..) tags. Always use h1 or h2 tag for post title. You can try Thesis Theme. Also be consistent with fonts, font size, and font color within posts. AND NO HIGHLIGHTING. It looks gross, just don't do it. You guys are artists, you know what's up.

15. Use Effective Title

Title of the article should be both reader and SEO friendly. Title should be appealing to the readers and important keywords should also be used in the title.

I hope these tips help out! While I know the average blog reader has ADD (I know I do) and merely scans titles, I hope you gained something from those bold headlines (like how I did that? OoOh sneaky!) 

I'm interested to know if you guys do anything else to brand your blog. As always, feel free to email me with any questions! 

Source Article: Tips For Newbie Bloggers

Sales and Marketing Experience: Career Treking

Oh how fondly I remember my Sales and Marketing Class at Tufts within the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program. This class was at 8:30 in the morning; and for the commuting student (me) to get there on time, I had to wake up at 6:00 and be on the train by 7:00. Then I had to catch a shuttle to the building. Fun. The class was taught by the amazing Jack Derby, who I felt slightly intimidated by yet excited to learn from.

I remember sitting in the classroom of 30 Tufts students, brilliant, thinking, "How do I win over my professor, who owns his own multi-million dollar consulting company and has entrusted us with assignments from his own clients, who need a marketing plan?" About four weeks I had found it - my solution; “Disturbia”, by Rhianna.

I'll explain.

We were assigned to real companies (clients of Jack's) to work with as teams to come up with fresh ideas for marketing plans for them. Our company was Career Trekking, a company that specialized in assisting college students in finding their dream careers and jobs. While we definitely pulled all the usual stuff, I wanted to make our presentation awesome.

I came up with an idea of a video for Career Treking after Jack mentioned something in one of his classes: how can you appeal emotionally to your client to have them purchase your product? Well, emotionally, as a college student, I figured it was a safe assumption that college students were afraid. This was a scary time in the economy, and it is still a scary job market. So I took this notion of "Fear", and applied it to a video, taking images and icons from old movies adored by our generation and putting them to appropriate music by Rhianna - a song called "Disturbia".



The company loved my video and ended up putting it up on their website! They've since taken it down, but it was still a moment of intense pride for me, and it was when I realized that I would really love a position in marketing. Now I hold a marketing position within Boston Logic, I am looking forward to a great career in this amazing industry, and I do owe so much to Jack Derby and his intellectually stimulating and invigorating class.

Check out the video and let me know what you think!!

Book Review: Crazy Bosses

Crazy Bosses!

Everyone encounters them at some point. Unfortunately, according to Stanley Bing, a certain amount of crazy seems to be necessary to keep management running smoothly. Huh.
Citing ridiculous examples from eyewitnesses, Bing identifies the Five Different Types of Crazy Bosses, outlining both symptoms to identify them by, and then a chart of things you can do (to maintain your sanity) corresponding to level of effectiveness. The 5 types are: The Bully, The Paranoid, The Narcissist, The Wimp, and ultimately, The Disaster Hunter.


I thought this book was funny in addition to being enlightening, albeit in an arrogant way. It gave great insight to the reasonings of those crazy people - and when these behaviors are set next to an explanation, it actually helps you understand the mentality (stress on MENTAL) of these people. Knowing that you are not alone, in addition to trying to find the humor in your situation and gaining the knowledge that you are not alone helps out a lot. One of my favorite points that Bing makes is that a crazy boss actually bands you and your coworkers together, dealing with this insane person.

Bottom Line: Quick, easy summer read. Light and funny, and a great summer or vacation book. If the topic alone doesn't intrigue you, curiosity should! :)

If you've read it, let me know what you think!

The Commonwealth Institute "Breakfast of Champions"

I just returned this morning from a The Breakfast of Champions hosted by The Commonwealth Institute at the Back Bay events center (gorgeous venue, check it out!) in Boston. The keynote speaker was Ellen Alemany, who is a Chairman and CEO of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. and RBS Americas. She was recently ranked by U.S. Banker and Forbes as one of the most powerful women in banking.

After receiving an invitation from a Tufts Professor to attend, I jumped at the chance to come to this event. Not only was this a fantastic networking opportunity, but I really believe in promoting and learning more about supporting women positions in business and senior management.


I felt as though Ellen was an accessible speaker, talking about her family and her roots working for her father in a Brooklyn liquor store. It was refreshing to see someone who had worked their way up (albeit via the corporate ladder rather than entrepreneurship) and not born into wealth and success that I sense to sometimes be surrounded by at events like these. And yes, I become frustrated when people do not know my parents or recognize and inquire about my last name, but I'm confident I will get there some day.


After recently being hired full time to work at Boston Logic, I am assessing my role there and what I am bringing to the company. The advice that Ellen gave was very helpful and applicable to my situation. Several points she made were:

• Don't think about your sex. Focus on the work and how to achieve what you want to achieve.
• Do not try and be something your not. Look at your strengths, and think of how you can apply them to your company to result in success for your personally and your company.
  
• If you are bored, ask for more responsibility! Your managers have no way of knowing that you are bored, and taking the initiative to ask for more work will not only give you greater job satisfaction, but also have you noticed by the right people.
  

Overall, I am glad that I attended, particularly to gain the points above. Though there was the typical master of the universe talk and suspended eye-rolling on my part to these elite people in all they know and have accomplished, I am nothing but privileged to be able to attend :)

New Apartment, New Beginnings!

All right, so it's been a few weeks since graduation. And pretty much since that day, I have gone nesting crazy. Yes. I've found a new place, and want to fill it with pretty things. I want it to look sleek and chic, and reflect my taste. I'm drooling in front of West Elm by my apartment, and am envisioning a big mirror to make my apartment even bigger. Black, funky bookcases, a cool TV, an actual full size bed instead of this freakin twin that my 5'10" body just will not accept.

As you can see, I have even joined The Nest, and yes, I know, you're supposed to do The Knot thing first but I don't care. Above is a ticker until I move into my new place in August. It's so roomy and the light is fantastic. I can't wait to decorate it and make it a home, instead of a place to live - if that makes sense. I've bought some photo frames from my black and white photography from Italy, and have assembled my brand new drafting table for my calligraphy that I got from Blick.

And instead of slowing down after graduation, I feel that life has only sped up. Like today, for instance, went by so quickly. All of my businesses need my constant attention: wedding calligraphy season has passed, and frantic "I need these done in a week!" brides are flooding my business. I've also recently committed to a part time salaried position with Boston Logic, at which I specialize in SEO and online marketing, which I'll get into some fun times later :) Also coming up, some great esty sellers for featured shops! Stay tuned!

Advice for decorating little apartments without paint welcome - it helps having an interior designer as a mom :D

To all my dear fellow freelance - ians: DO NOT DO THIS

Oh my dear, precious freelancers -

After a recent particularly awful calligraphy client experience, I wanted to just put this out there, so you never make the same mistake I did. There is just one rule when it comes to freelance: never negotiate your price. Why, do you ask? This merits a story.

I recently got an calligraphy inquiry (We'll call her Melissa) that was very interested in having me do a job for her. Then I did not hear from her for a while, and when I followed up with her, she said that due to budget restrictions, she could not do $1.00 per outer envelope, instead could only afford $0.75 per outer envelope. I did the math, and it was actually a decent amount of money, less the quarter. So I said yes.

Well, fast forward to the consultation, and surprise! Melissa thought that the outer envelope price also included writing the return address on the back of the envelope, which she neglected to mention in her email. In the past, all of the brides I have had always had their return address embossed when they have ordered the envelope, or not had it at all. Clearly, Melissa did not want to pay for that, either. So I explained to her that I would do the return address for an additional $0.50 per envelope, which was a mistake, but I was put on the spot.

That's not the end of the surprise! She also needed RSVP cards done. Now, come on - there's really no excuse for not mentioning that in the email, either. So since those were just the same address over and over again, I said I would do them for $0.50 each, also. So, we agreed that I would get $1.75 total per set.

I get the invitations, head over to Blick to get some pretty white ink for her navy envelopes, and a new quill and holder because I'd have to dip the pen every time I used it: white ink does not come in cartridge form or markers because of its opacity.

So I'm all excited to get started, and then I get a phone call. Melissa. She was on her way home, and was calculating the total, and decided it was too much money. If I was able to do the RSVP and the return address for $0.50, why couldn't I do the outer envelope for $0.50, too? So she wanted HALF my usual price. So on a job that I should have earned probably around $3 per set, I was now making $1.50. And she wanted them done in two weeks.

So, because of the sheer volume, I did make a good amount of money. However, my hand is still about to fall off and I'm now heading over to get the envelopes again (after dropping them off this morning) to fix 3 addresses that were wrong. What can we learn from this?

* Never negotiate your price, no matter how not-big-a-deal it may seem. This seemingly harmless adjustment will just lead to further complications later.

* You have experience doing what you do, and have determined a fair - if not underpriced - rate. They should respect that or take their business elsewhere.

* Above all else, don't second guess yourself. You are talented enough to have your own business and interested clients, there's no reason for you to want to get paid for it.

So get out there, kick ass and take names!!

Creative Problem Solving

So I just spent the last three days holed up in a Creative Problem Solving training course. And you know what? I LOVED IT.

It was a requirement for a job that I am applying for, and the three days flew by. I learned so much about how to think creatively, linguistic devices, and things that I do day-to-day that are not conducive to creative thinking.

For example: Questions are just hidden ideas or thoughts. There's no reason to ask them. And this creates poor communication. I know! Crazy. I'm not even explaining it right - if a speaker asks a question, all the person who hears it wants to know is "why do you ask?". Try it.


What I learned about myself is that I also like facilitation. I previously didn't care for giving presentations - but this was different. I was engaging a group of people, interacting with them and we came out with some great stuff.

When I first started, I thought that I'd have a bit of an edge going to art school and everything. NAY. Because there we are CONSTANTLY trained to critique and to criticize - which is not helpful when thinking creatively. You think of the most bizarre, outlandish wishes, and instead of thinking of why it won't work, they encouraged you use the linguistic device "how to..." in regards to overcome it. So if you are dealing with an abstract idea, you can delve into the concept behind it and then discover ways to make it real. All businesses should look into this!!

I know I'm not making any sense. Thanks for reading, though. It really was an amazing experience.

Social Media Overload: What it is and how to use it

Online social media applications for mainstream consumer use are becoming more and more popular. Entrepreneurs and small businesses have started to accept and utilize social media to their advantage. But what can social media do for you? What should it be used for? What shouldn’t you do with it?

The ambiguous term “online social media” is an online platform by which individuals communicate. Website tools that fall under the umbrella of this definition are Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, and blogs. All these online resources require a large and consistent investment of time, and an increasing number of companies are investing in job positions intended to only manage all of their accounts. But the most appealing attribute of online social media is its low cost, immediate response capabilities, and the equal opportunity of large and small businesses to compete.

The basic concept of social media is that it, like your business, is all about relationships and accessibility. You want to generate and retain relationships online just as you in-person. When it comes to your online profiles, however, it is important to note that these are NOT venues to market your business by publishing content-related information. Content, sales, and promotions should all be reserved for your advertising and website. No one likes a salesman when one is browsing these social sites on their personal time. Think of it this way: if you had a Twitter account, would you follow someone who is constantly promoting themselves, or someone with a sense of humor with their status updates?

The purpose of profiles like Twitter and your blog are to give a face to your company. Social media implies an “interaction” with your customer, or informational “sharing”, not a one-way channel for just slamming them with content. With applications like Facebook, you can go to where your customers already are, and catch their interest with your personality and dedication. People also find value in articles or blog postings that are relevant to your shop or industry, but have a more universal appeal for browsers that may turn into customers. For example, if you have a chain of bakeries, you could post an informative article to your blog “10 Easy and Unique Cookie Recipes”.

As a business owner, you can also gain a more thorough insight into your customers. You can learn from their questions or concerns and what is really important to your customer. The most successful companies are usually identified as those who respond quickest to market changes. Through appropriate use of social media you can always have a finger on the pulse of your customer base.

To conclude, social media shows your customers how much you care. The passion that you have for your company and doing what you love will shine through. This will make you stand out among your competitors.

Some take-away tips:

• Make sure to stay committed to your blog and update it at least 2-3 times a week.
  


• Twitter at different times of the day to catch different customers in multiple locations.
  


• With the rich mix of users now on Facebook, it’s a great time to create a fan page for customers to search, read, and follow you.

And lastly, if you haven’t already, be sure to create a profile on LinkedIn, which is an excellent networking resource for small business owners.

Internships - My experience

So I figured I would share some of my work experience, before I started my business.

Sophomore year, I decided that I did not want a life and became a full time intern and a full time student. Yeah, skill. 3 days a week, I'd wake up at 6:00 to commute to Salem, and I had class full time (9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.) on the other two days. AND I had a boyfriend. Boyfriends suck up your life WITHOUT full time crap going on.

My internship was with the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. They have an EXCELLENT intern program, and all art students and interested people should definately check it out; they pay great, and the museum itself is gorgeous. I learned a lot, and because I worked with the Registration Department, I got to check out a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff (They offer positions in all different departments). I loved it so much that after that spring semester, I continued to work there during the summer.

After last summer, I was at Tufts full time. I didn't want to stop working, so I got another (unpaid) internship at GASP Gallery, a small art gallery in Brookline. It was an interesting experience; lots of cleaning. And wearing black. But it was cool to attend the gallery openings, and have the chance to speak with artists and patrons.


And in January of this year, I left GASP to pursue the embroidery and silkscreen business with my mother, and had begun to expand on my jewelry line to make it more of a business, too. I also took 3 ELS courses at Tufts, which one must never do at the risk of losing your sanity in the coursework (more on that later).

I've also worked as a florist and commissioned artist. And most recently, calligrapher. So basically, I have a good mix of small and large business experience, and have learned a lot that I continue apply to Ash Tree.