Starving Henna Artist

Gorilla Marketing for Artists 658.8???

2007-11-21T09:31:00.000-08:00

I'm a library addict. I've memorized the location of all of my favorite subjects at the local library. Metaphysics - 110's, Philosophy - 100's, Religion - 200's, Languages - 400's, Cookbooks - 641's, Business start-up 346.7, Marketing 658.8, Yoga 613 for practice and 181 for philosophies.

I'm not sure if I've spent more time on spirituality and philosophy or business and marketing at this point in my life. The two are passions of mine that sometimes compete and other times overlap. I think being a conscientious business owner is something that's really important because it seems like the world revolves more and more around the profit margin every day, and that's something I have a real problem with. I won't even get into my frustration with the completely unbalanced distribution of wealth.

So in my own small way, I fight the system with my personal code of business practices. I read this or that business or marketing thing and try to find the most responsible way to do whatever the book or article suggests. Like setting prices for work, I read what the percentages should be and decide that they're based more in trying to keep up with what some fool with a MBA and other illustrious letters following their name that really mean little in the bigger picture, and decide what I really need to take care of me. I struggle with others about what I charge ALL the time. The thing is, I don't care what another artist working at the same level gets. If that's what they need, great for them. I do things for free way too much, undercharge every time and never do the same henna for the same price. Maybe that's not a good standard. I just feel like each situation calls for a different thing. I did one event for $20 an hour just because it was a church function, and it was a working vacation. It seemed like not only a responsible choice karmically, but also in that it would bring me other business from the church ladies, making it a marketing write-0ff of sorts.

I think people get caught too often in the trap of trying to keep up with the going rate and lose sight of doing what's responsible. We allow big business to dictate what we have to do to survive, and we get lost in the perceived reality of 'making it' instead of standing up and changing things by not following along with what we can see is unbalanced. I realize that the established system is not always easy to defy, but just going along with it reinforces it every time we do.

So dare to be responsible. Every little thing makes a statement when you allow it to be about that rather than just a cheaper choice because that's what you can afford. Take business cards for example. Does it make sense to support the companies that are overcharging because they can like all the major business supply and printing chains? Or does it make more sense to support a company that's giving you a free option because they realize they can afford to give it away? Sure, it's a marketing choice on their part. But why not take advantage of 250 free cards that keep you from having to charge more for your services instead of 250 cards for $25 for raised lettering and pretty whatevers. Or, if you need to have the more expensive presence with your business card, find another way to choose responsible spending. Get them done on recycled paper or by a company that sets profits aside for charity. Every person that makes even one choice like that adds to the momentum of change.

Guerrilla Marketing is about finding ways to make a big impact with less money and more creativity. It has some great concepts that are useful for people trying to start or manage a business that don't have a huge marketing budget, but guerrilla tactics make me think we're out there waging war instead of just trying to make a comfortable living with our talents. I'll be a conscientious objector, thank you. I'll use Gorilla tactics instead, being at one with my place in nature and surviving on available resources. I'm not in this to win or conquer or have a huge enough profit margin so I can get stupid with my money. I'd love to take trips abroad and buy the occasional extravagant Moroccan Palace Door Mirror, but I think I can do that without overcharging for my services. It might take a while, but I believe we are where we're supposed to be. When it's time for those things, they'll come to me.

In the meantime, I'll follow the Gorilla code of conduct.

Be at peace with your situation, whatever it is. You're there, what's the point in whining about it really? Do Gorilla's even whine? Probably not, considering they're not surrounded with overachieves setting an unattainable standard.

Create a responsible marketing plan. Decide what amount of actual money allows you keep your prices below the 'going rate' and use more creativity and energy to market yourself and your business. When was the last time you saw a gorilla with a shiny four-color business card or brand new SUV with his name and logo on it just to say "I'm a pretty hot gorilla, you want me!" Think about what you need to be happy and create a budget for marketing yourself accordingly, and always try to make the most socially conscious choice when possible.

There's no such thing as competition. If you're just doing what you do, and not worried about how many other people are doing it, you take yourself out of the business warfare mindset. Everyone has something different to offer. Even if I'm at a faire with another artist, people are going to go where they want, no matter what you do. Why fight it? Just live and let henna! You may have to find a way to balance your income with another talent. Just do what you do best and be who you are and it'll all work out. Not everyone is entertained by a gorilla in a tutu juggling colored balls. And some people are. Do your thing, find out how it fits best, and use it rather than trying to do something you're uncomfortable with or not good at just to come out on top. If there's a winner, there's always a loser, so opt out of the competition all together and go get a nice frosty glass of stress-less-whenever-possible with a way-happier-existence chaser. Cheers!

Find a way to give back with your talents. It's all one big human family. Be connected to what you have to give and where you can put that to some balancing good work. If it's free face painting for disadvantaged kids once a month at homeless shelter, a free class every other month in your talent at the local community center, career day at your closest middle school, whatever you can think of and honestly afford with your time and funds. There are lots of forms of giving of yourself that are becoming lost. People are so busy with their lives that the disconnect from the good they have to offer. Even one of your hours a month could change someone else's life. Give what you can the best way you can figure out because the more community we share, the less the distribution of 'wealth' there becomes. A generosity of spirit and random actus of kindness should be the currency of the world. Imagine what the world would be like if you could only buy food with kindness... Gorillas are chilled out, gentle beings unless provoked. What provokes them? Attacking their families. Protect your family by giving what you can to make the human community a better place to be a part of.

Let karma not coin be your profit margin. We all need to eat, I get that better than you might think. I currently live in an extremely challenging financial situation. It makes the soapbox wobbly all the time. It's a struggle to choose karma as a guiding principle all the time. I have teenagers who want to keep up and fit in. I have rent and electricity and have a cellphone that the karma fairy isn't paying my bills for. But I try to mindfully make ethically and karmically aware choices as much as possible. I think what comes around goes around. Sure, sometimes it seems like people driving a nicer car or living in a nicer house have a better situation. But having more money than you need comes with it's own set of challenges. No thank you! Once upon a time I felt differently. I thought having a huge house and a gas-guzzling SUV and expensive presents under the tree was what I wanted for my family. Fitting in is really more expensive emotionally than financially! I stress less and have more to do good things with than I did when I was living the proverbial american dream. Creating good karma is much more satisfying for me. And with a string of misspent youth bad karma to work off, hopefully someday I'll balance it all back out. I think gorillas are probably karmically neutral like everything else on the planet that isn't human. I wouldn't mind a little karmic neutrality, how about you? I'll just hope for as close to balanced karma as possible and spend my karma points helping out others whenever possible with my blessings. I feel much more accomplished when I can do what I do from a place of love rather than one based on what I'm putting in my savings account at the bank. I think karma earns a much higher interest rate in the what you do comes back to you rate plan anyway.

So my marketing action for today is to just be myself. Eat a banana, hang out with my kids and know that I'm where I'm supposed to be. Post a business card if I pass by a bulletin board, do something nice for a random stranger if the opportunity presents itself, and just accept my place in the universe the best I can.

The art of frugal living

2007-11-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

Every starving artist knows that frugal living is an Art all of its own filled with creativity and individual forms of expression. Having five daughters and a start up business are challenges each with their own set of juggling shows, but together they make for a whole circus unto itself complete with three rings and an elephant act! And do all that on a what the IRS considers middle class income, oh, and then let your income situation change suddenly and drastically and try not to go completely insane in the process!

So besides being a walking sideshow attraction, frugal living causes you to make all sorts of choices that most people wouldn't be able to grasp on a their best day. You can tell by the way they look at your acrobats and clowns as you walk through any given store. The most seemingly simple 'socially accepted' options are just beyond me. For example, matching socks. They're really way beyond an overrated experience. Nine-year-olds with matching socks are a sign of mothers with way too much time on their hands IMHO. And this also goes for teenagers with matching socks, though that one's really less about the mom at that point and more about the teenager's lack of character. But don't even get me started on teenagers and character. I have enough opinions to fill volumes.

When you finally accept that matching socks are not something you're going to see on your child other than the first two days after you buy that new eight pack, you're going to be a much happier ring leader. Just do yourself a favor, find a more worthwhile thing to stress over and move on.

Frugal choices include all sorts of socially challenging situations. Home lunch is always a fun one. One day my middle daughter packed lunch for her little sister with a toaster pastry as her 'dessert'. It was a chocolate one so I guess it works. And they'd rather have pancakes and waffles for dinner than breakfast. Or 'Totally Chocolate Dinner', that's another great one for when you can't get to the store and all you seem to have left in the cabinet is brownie mix, chocolate frosting, chocolate chips and cupcake paper dealios. For those of you writhing in your nutritionally aware skin ready to email me just how irresponsible that is, take a moment to consider that there is nearly nothing on the MickyD's menu that don't have sugar! And we almost never eat there. And we only TCD twice a year at the most!

Being creative is one of your best allies in the war on living on a limited income. If you're one of those people who can see limitless possibilities, frugal living can become an adventure instead of the dread filled challenge of labeling yourself a low-income struggler. Quit trying to keep up with the latest things for your kids and yourself. Honestly, why do trendy teenager clothes cost that much!?!? It's just ridiculous! $40 for a off-brand pair of jeans? $50 for a hoodie? No wonder there are more and more commercials on TV every day for cutting your credit card debt! Honestly the average person couldn't survive without being in some sort of debt. What's the point though in spending yourself upside-down? You're teaching your kids to live beyond their means, fostering their dependence on material things to define who they are, and encouraging them to fit it! Shame on you!! I've been there. Mortgage, car payments, the whole shebang. I'm much happier without them and the stress they brought into my universe. I'll take my circus over your rat race any day!

Certainly there are those new and improved purchases that you're going to need to give yourself. Mine was my Zen and monthly subscription music service. It's become my life-support system. And when you can manage to pay for it over time it takes the sting out of doing something 'extravagant' for yourself. I balance this by getting everything else I can for myself on clearance! I wait to need a new purse until the thing is 70% off. And I don't resent it because I treat it like I'm doing something that's a gift, not a burden. I'm not on a financial 'diet', forcing myself to spend less and being angry that I don't have more money to buy buy buy. I could easily look at it that way, but I'm not on Prozac so it'd just create more stress than I'm medicationally equipped to deal with.

I'm ok with not keeping up, being behind the current fashion curve. I'm naturally retro, and since retro is in again, that actually makes me ahead, a trend-setter right? So be cheap, it's cooler than you think!

Some resources for the financially challenged -

CheapEats - this is a blog with some really great ideas for cheap eating. Most of it's relatively quick and easy and if you're like me and never have all the things a recipe calls for, there's room for creative interpretation with most of them.

Etsy has a few sellers who do recycled clothing. I liked things from UrbanConstruction, with a number of things at only $5, Cosmic Ripple, who has preowned tiedyed onesies for $5, LovePeaceAndDye who snagged my heart with swirly hippy stripe skirt starting around $45, and PantsToPurse tote bags from repurposed khakis for $5. There are options like that all over thanks to the age of information, I could spend days just surfing for ideas and inspiration and new wardrobe additions.

The Frugal Life - Living Well With What You Have has a number of interesting articles and a listing of categories for those looking to cheap it up in a particular part of your life

Frugal Living at About.com has some useful reading. I used to really like about.com, but the site has become more and more cluttered and harder to navigate so I don't have the patience for it anymore. If you can tolerate popups and sifting through ads, there's helpful stuff to be found.

And if you're looking for more, try dmoz.org's Frugality listing for more sites.

ideas for survival

2007-11-14T12:27:00.000-08:00

If you've ever read Catherine Cartwright-Jones's "The Classic Rant: So, you want to be a Professional Henna Artist?" you know there's a ton of ideas in there about how to get your act together and really do this as a business. If you haven't read it and you're considering doing this even part-time, find it, read it, learn it, know it, read it again every few months for inspiration. Over the years that I've been doing this off and on and off again and on again, I can't even count how many times I've read it. I read it again today hoping for that idea that might help me make it through the next few months of frozendom.

"Start by ALWAYS having your hands wonderfully hennaed" she says. Yeah, this one is a bit more complicated than it was a few months ago. Short of sitting in the kitchen for hours with the oven on 450 with the door open, I'm not sure how I'm going to manage a decent stain. A few more days now until the last attempt is completely gone, but I'll keep trying.

"Two, you may begin a business because you NEED MONEY!"
ok, yep, this is me. Circumstances dictate "finding a way to make money to survive with whatever skills and resources you can muster in a hurry." I'm there. What did she say again I need to be... let me find it... "boundlessly energetic, intense and highly motivated, with a strong ego and undauntable will. You must be unquestionably excellent in your art. You will need a reliable car. You must have an answering machine. You must have no difficulty making decisions." Wow, wishing I was a Leo not a Pisces!! I have a car! And a cellphone with voicemail, it's a start!

Now beyond that, the majority of the rest of the article is the stuff I've already handled, like the DBA, the business license, the books, cards (oh, here I totally recommend MOO cards, highly!). And really, none of the rest matters so much until you've conquered the energy, motivation, ego, will cocktail. Since I wasn't born a Leo, I guess I'll have to fake it and move on!

Thinking I'll get out my nifty little box of MOO cards today and spend a little gas and time finding anywhere I can put them up in town. Maybe I'll even drop by the library and hide a few cards in books in the yoga section. Then I'll work on something to post on craigslist. And hopefully I'll get through all that before Parent Conferences at school this evening!

And the starving begins...

2007-11-13T04:04:00.000-08:00

So the average temp is now in the 30s and 40s. The warm season goes by way too fast here!

So what's a starving artist to do when everyone is bundled?

I finally rebuilt the pages for gothenna.com. It took a little longer than I'd hoped and there are still a few bugs to find. I'm just grateful I caught the caught on the keyboard before she deleted the entire folder. I'm still trying to figure out how she managed to initiate that with just her... well, anyway, thank goodness. I promptly backed up the whole thing on a portable drive.

I finally logged back in to the amazon associate site after something like three years. It's amazing I still had a valid account. I was expecting to have to go thru the whole waiting process again, but thankfully I got lucky again. I added a list of random things henna artists could use, like yoga pants that say bellyrina on the back! Brilliant! I know every bellydancer I've met is a henna junkie so hopefully others will find them as amusing.

I also threw together a cafepress shop. A couple of shirts, a hoodie, a mug and an apron! I hate that I didn't have anything better than the logo to use at the time. I have a couple of ideas, just need to make time to do graphics. My Emma has become addicted to CafePress since she found a shirt that said "Krishna is my OM Boy", and she of course had to have the shirt that said "Lycanthrope". Too many episodes of the X-files when she was younger I guess.

So today I'm back to figuring out what I want to do on the fullmoonhenna.com first page. I got a nifty photo slideshow at Slide.com that I really like, but it's misleading. When you get to the page it looks like you might click there to enter the site. If you click there you end up in the slide.com window for the photos, kind of a dead end. I really don't want to build an animation myself either. Maybe I'll find a happy compromise somewhere along the way.

And fwiw, never underestimate the importance of heat. I spent the entire morning henna'ing my arm a few days ago when it was really cold. I did everything I've read about being warm, drinking tea, sitting by the heater, wrapping. None of it helped enough. It was on for hours and the stain was barely visible on the front, lightish on the underside of my arm and just moderate on my palm. The upside is that I'll be able to try again soon since it won't be there long.

I found this site the other day called the SEED network. I read the SEED Handbook last year and thought it was a great approach. It's not one for the three weeks the library allows, so it's on my wishlist for the next time I feel the need for an amazon moment. The website has lots of stuff for any woman trying to start, run, and grow her own business. I didn't have time to look through it all, but I copied the manifesto. You can find it on the site here -http://www.seednetwork.com/seed_advice/seed_manifesto.phtml

SEED Manifesto

I …………, affirm that I will

Constantly plants seeds as well as pick the blooms

Keep the space and time to stay in tune with my higher self

Never let go of the big vision

Put my values, including integrity, compassion and love, at the centre of my enterprise

Remember the three R’s: respect for self, respect for others, responsibility for all my actions

Believe in myself so others will too

Keep humour and laughter as vital ingredients of my business plan

Get up early in the morning

Not neglect my personal relationships, loved ones, and friends in any way

Manifest abundance in all areas of my life

Keep clutter to a minimum

Recognize my gifts and delegate the rest

Look at difficult situations from all perspectives

Welcome in mentors and mentor others in return

Light candles every day and surround myself with fresh flowers

Give people more than they expect

Talk slowly but think quickly

When I lose, don’t lose the lesson

Know my industry

Keep improving my technology skills

Smile when picking up the phone

Remember my body is my most important tool – stretch, exercise, breathe, go for a walk, dance

Every day try and read a poem, listen to an inspiring piece of music, look at a wonderful painting or go into nature

Drink six to eight glasses of pure water every day

Listen as well as talk

Learn the rules then break some

Know there is nothing more sexy than confidence

Remember that no-one, not even I am perfect, but I’m doing the best I can

I'm starting with getting up early. Think I'll work my way through them slowly. A few of them are a little harder than others, like keeping clutter to a minimum!

The site has other lists, tips, articles and great tools so go check it out.

http://www.seednetwork.com/

It's finally warm

2007-06-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

Things are finally picking up now that the weather is getting warmer! fullmoonhenna was at the Janesville Renaissance Faire in May and the Port Pirate Festival last weekend. There was quite a bit of wet weather, but both events were great fun.

Janesville Renaissance Faire 07

Never overschedule yourself! Last year we had one daughter going to prom on the first day of the fair. This was apparently not enough of a challenge for me! Always ensure you have your datebook before scheduling anything! This year we had two daughters going to prom, the Faire and my cadette troop camping for the weekend. I'm buying multi-colored highlighters this week so I don't make that mistake again!! I did meet some really nice people this year and hope we'll have more of the quirks worked out of our system before we do anyother faires.

Port Pirate Festival 07

This was our first year at this event and we were lucky to get a spot at the last minute! We were initially to be set up in the bar area, but an electrical problem found us relocated into the main pavilion with the regular vendors. Once the weather started happening on Saturday we were happy to be more enclosed. Note to self for next year - try not to be next to the storm drain!

Even though we ended with a tornado closing us down early, all and all it was a really fun event. I’ve never seen so many pirates! Our neighbors at the Northern Horde were gracious enough to provide us with a waterproof sword to protect ourselves. I highly recommend these to any and all vendors and small children who find themselves surrounded by pirates in the swimming pool!

This was our largest event so far and a great learning experience for henna people still working the kinks out of event henna-ing. We brought our faire setup not knowing it was a public show. We were either swamped with people or henna-ing each other for something to do.

Thoughts to make it better next year

Bring a table for books. People don’t realize how much money you’ve invested in your pattern books until you’re flipping out because you’ve just been splashed for the third time as your oversized paperback version of Sumita Batra’s ancient henna journal is casually tossed in a puddle beside you.

Find waterproof seating or a way to suspend people to henna feet after rain. Completely saturated fabric pillows offer a seating experience that’s incomparable in the shock department. Looking into the situpons that the girl scouts make as a possible alternative.

Always bring extra containment for things you never expected to have, saturated fabrics, pirate doubloons, swords and other baubles. You can never really know what your husband and children will find amusing, so just make sure you’ve brought something to keep it safe and dry. Wet playthings just make for a lot of pouting.

Learn to pack lighter. Carrying multiple bins back and forth every morning and evening to sleeping place and event isn’t much fun. Consider smaller bins or other watertight solution. Being realistic about what you’re going to need for three days away from home is really important. Even with the massive rain, no one needs eight pairs of socks and matching outfits. Having A costume per individual and a couple of pairs of mundane garb are better than filling suitcases when you’re traveling with you’re entire clan of gypsies. No matter what you’re children say, they don’t really need half of what they think they need to bring. And never take you’re favorite white quilt unless you’re sure you can keep it safe and dry!! It also leads to a lot of pouting.

The people who ran both events were fabulously helpful and I'm hoping to put both of these events on the calendar again next year!