I think I need a mentor

[annettemarie]

and I thought this would be a good place to ask.

I don't have a whole lot of business sense. There are a lot of things in life I can do intuitively, but this isn't one of them.

I have my Seasons of Joy guides (in my link) and I have more ideas for writing, but I never seem to have time to do it. Or the ideas come to me during the season, and then it's too late to write. For example, last night I woke up thinking "I should write an advent book!" Which is great except it would need to be finished by next week.

Anyway, I really need someone to walk me through this stuff and give me "assignments"-- how to use my blog, how to use twitter, how to use facebook. If you have a blog or book rec, I'd take that, but what I'd really love is for some wiser WAHM to take me under her wing.

[annettemarie]

:bump

Anyone? Resources even? I don't know what the heck I'm doing.

[earthyamber]

{{Hugs}} Business can be confusing that is for sure! Just take it one step at a time. It will get easier. I really like your blog and I think you have some great stuff!

Here are a few of tips that may help you -

- One thing I would recommend is making a schedule and treating it like a job. Make sure you have scheduled jobs and scheduled times and stick to it.
- Keep a notebook or tape recorder with you all the time so you can record any ideas that come to you so you won't forget them.
- Plan ahead! Start the advent book now when the ideas are fresh and have it ready for next year. Always be planning ahead for upcoming seasons or holidays.
- Social networking is your best friend...twitter everyday (several times a day), use facebook, blog daily, and get as many friends as possible.
- Have you thought of selling on Etsy too? I have seen E-Books on there and I think it could go over well. I have had really good luck on Etsy and I think you could too.
- Market and advertise. You can do this for free. I am posted on every free search engine, blog exchange, and free advertising spot I could get my hands on. I feature other shops on my blog and that brings me new customers too.

So, this isn't detailed, but I hope it is a little help. I am now following your blog and facebook. Are you on twitter? If so, let me know your name on there and I will follow you (I have over 800 followers in less then 3 weeks). I am going to tweet about your store in a few minutes.

You can do this!

[annettemarie]

Thank you so, so much!

You're absolutely right about the schedule. I'm crazy busy now-- homeschooling 4 kids, I direct 4 children's choirs (that sounds insane when I type it, but it's true-- I have 3 choirs at church that I get paid for doing and 1 at co-op that's volunteer), I'm a LLL leader, and I'm a pastor's wife, which seems to mean I'm on permanent volunteer duty. So I absolutely have to carve out time for this if I want to make it work.

I started the notebook today-- that's an excellent idea! And I already have 4 pages filled.

I also finished the Advent book today! YAY! I'm really proud of this. I started a Seasons of Joy page on Facebook and advertised the book there, on my blog, and on some email loops I'm on. I need to check the rules on a couple other groups to see if I can post there.

I do have Twitter, but I just don't get it. I LOVE Facebook though, so I hooked my Twitter up to my SoJ FB page, and everything I post on FB goes to Twitter (but just my business stuff, not my personal stuff). I probably need to put a Twitter thing on my blog. I used to have one, but I must have lost it when I switched my blog design.
http://twitter.com/ourseasonsofjoy

Etsy is a really good idea! I'm going to look into that.

I'm no good at the advertising/search engine stuff, so I need to figure that out as well.

This is what I posted on my blog a few days ago:

Wow! That Advent book is almost finished. Almost, but not quite. There are still a lot of finishing touches to add on. Meanwhile, I've created a Facebook page for Seasons of Joy.

I have a lot of plans on the table. I don't know how many of them will come to fruition, but some of the things I'd like to do in the coming year include...

--completely redoing the web page and moving it to its own domain name (I think that's what you call it,LOL!)

--inviting readers of Seasons of Joy to share pictures of them doing the activities, which I will then post on the website

--writing an Advent saints book (the book I'm completing now does not include any of the saints' days celebrations)

--writing a 12 Days of Christmas book

--learning to use Twitter

--using social media like Facebook and Twitter to post links of interest, such as fun craft ideas from other sites

-- completely rewriting the Summer Seasons of Joy book

-- revising the other books to clean up any problems

-- creating a reader survey to help determine the direction Seasons of Joy goes

-- learning to add MP3 (??) files to the blog so readers can listen to the songs

Typing that out, it all seems rather ambitious!

I am also looking to create a logo for Seasons of Joy. I am not sure what the protocol is for this, but I'm willing to barter the complete $50 curriculum set, including the new summer book when it is complete, for a logo. I'd like something "waldorf-esque" that reflects the 4 seasons. Please comment or email me if you're interested!

Additionally, please be sure to check out my trade list on "yard sale" blog, The Gnomes' Home. I'm more than willing to barter Seasons of Joy for things on the list.

I think that's all the "business news" I have. Please do join me on Facebook. You can can always friend me on my personal page as well. I look forward to seeing you there!

I'm coming to the conclusion that a lot of this is psychological. On the one hand, I love what I'm doing here. I didn't have any sort of stable life as a kid, and this idea of empowering families to create traditions and rhythms and routines is really a beautiful thing to me. OTOH, I think "Why should anyone listen to me? Who am I?" I'm trying to deal with those feelings.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some of my questions.