The Business Plan for 2012

Things CHANGE so rapidly! Since we started Brass Hammer Designs in late 2011, we've learned that there is a lot of "social media stuff" out there that people have no idea about. Some people know how to use it and others have no clue. Too many times, we, ourselves, have fallen into the "no clue" category as well. Shoot.... we just learned that when you "follow" a blog, that means that at the bottom of your blog home page, you will have a newsfeed of the latest posts from the people you follow and a preview of their posts. Who knew?! LOL! It's all rapidly changing, so we need to figure out our plan or we'll be left behind! Five years ago, Facebook was the latest craze and MySpace about 10 years ago. Now there's Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and who the hell knows what else. Every time we turn around, someone is asking one of us if we're putting things on Craig's List, Etsy and so many other web-based selling lists. And I just had a friend tell me how great Pinterest would be for our DoItYourself series we want to eventually do on the blog. It's so early in the stages for us that we haven't sold anything and haven't built up any significant inventory to do anything with it. We're still learning a ton, and we're so thankful for all of you telling us what potential places we should be tapping into. Please NEVER STOP SHARING your resources!

It's craziness and making a business and marketing plan can, alone, be a daunting task!  We've attempted to make one, so that we do not get too overwhelmed with the flutter of information that you all have shared. We thought it'd be good to share it here with you. Brass Hammer Designs is trying to do this the "right way", which might seem slow to others. We're taking our time though because we want to make this part of our retirement plan when we move to "Our Island". And it can take years to build a business anyway, so we know we have time. Hopefully the below list though will take us about a year. And then we can re-evaluate our plan for our next set of stages.

• We started a webpage which we are still working on and learning how to manage: Brass Hammer Designs Web Page.
• We have a Facebook page that we handle pretty well, but are learning how to be more active and "in your face": Brass Hammer Designs Facebook Page
• We are trying to blog here once a week to keep your interest! (Please follow the blog if you don't already!)
• Jen is tweeting some about it - feel free to follow her: Proud_Boiler
• We are following small businesses, artists and other ADD posters on their respective social media outlets including blogs, Facebook pages and twitter accounts. And we're learning from their experiences with how to market, where to find material resources and what business tools work best (like Evernote and Google Calendars, etc).
• We're buying better tools so that we can build an inventory efficiently.
• We have a goal to build the inventory to the level that we can sell product at the local festivals and get exposure locally.
• We are trying to support local and small businesses any way we can through buying products, negotiating, bartering, advertising each others' businesses, etc. 
• Let's face it - Word of Mouth is one of the best methods, so we're trying to use that to the best of our ability as well.

So there's the plan - written out all pretty and sweet. I think that it looks pretty good, but it will probably be tweaked through the year. For now, this is what we're attempting to do in order to build our success story for the ultimate end goal of owning BHD on a street on our Island.

Until Next time.....

Depression Sucks!

I hate depression! I absolutely hate it! The Serenity Prayer rings so true, but where I struggle the most is when the things that I cannot change affect me even though I can do nothing but accept them for what they are. And those things just start to chip away at your soul and your hope and wear on you like no other concerns can. The state of the economy has put us in circumstances that we cannot seem to get out of easily. And it appears to be affecting our friends too. None of us have the time for each other to hang out any more and we're all restricted financially, so the things that we used to do together have all but ceased. We're all depressed and down because we cannot seem to get our circumstances to change and they are difficult to accept. It's a tough battle to fight and I have to say, it's starting to wear on us both and leaving us a bit hopeless.

And of course, it has a ripple effect....like lack of creativity and not wanting to talk much. Yes, it is what it is and no, we don't want to talk about it. It's tough enough to live it.

And as depressing as this post started

out because I wanted to be real in it, I realized that I am full of hope again. We just shared our own emotions yesterday and by expressing a little bit of how we each feel, somehow we feel closer and more at ease. Because we expressed those feelings to each other, I found that it was easier to communicate my feelings to others and to express how I feel in here. Then yoga today, I set my intention to be for the universe to express understanding, compassion, and hope. It does cycle and there is a good chance that I'll fight it again, but for now, hope is prevailing.

Eternal Optimism vs. Reality

"Self-esteem is a fruitless pursuit. If we want to be artists – to make something truly great – we are signing up for a life of frustration and disappointment punctuated by moments of thrill and satisfaction. Feeling good about yourself is secondary to doing the work. You may not recognize what’s truly great until much later. Do the work, and worry about it later." - Justine Musk - quoted on Todd Henry's Accidental Creative blog.

 This does seem to be the theme for artists, doesn't it? Why does the creative lifestyle seem to be so difficult for most? There definitely seems to be a conflict between creative and earning cash. You can either have one or the other. So, how do artists survive without having eternal battles of unemployment, self-esteem and depression? Do they have someone in their corner pulling for them from their past or present or possibly did they struggle growing up? Is there something in their makeup that pushes them to struggle and survive simultaneously in adulthood? Josh and I debate about our personal experiences with this all the time. For me, my optimism motivates me to create and work towards a goal. That's how I operate. For Josh, it sometimes sounds to me like he is defeating himself before he gets started. But the longer we are married, the more that I realize it's a difference of opinion and perception and he usually comes back to me that he is being realistic. I feel I am realistic as well, but the future outcome that I want is more optimistic than the future outcome that he believes will happen. We have analyzed this quite a bit and analyzed specifically about the differences in how we were raised. Though we both come from divorced families, my parents re-married and have been for 25+ years, where his mom remained single until he was in his 30's. She usually worked 2 jobs while raising him and his sister (11 years younger than he). While he was young, he can remember his mom struggling to pay rent and bills, while I remember mostly happy memories like visiting my grandparents and step-grandparents and enjoying vacations and having support at my sports and choir events.  College was never an option for me. I was presented with questions like, "Where do you want to go?" and "What do you want to do for your career?" Josh's family didn't really push him towards college, though I think they wanted him to go. I can remember, at one time, wanting to pursue a singing career and my mom encouraged me another direction because of the lack of security in the field. I wound up in a science-based career. He grew up in a town that was highly influenced by the Chrysler plant, which was where his parents worked. Most people grew up and got a job at that plant or a local manufacturing facility of some type. Josh often felt that was the direction his family expected him to go, though he wanted more for himself, but what.....? That was always the question.  His goal of getting a college degree came true in 2010 with a B.S. in Behavioral Sciences. But by the time he got there, he was burnt out in the social services field and there have been no jobs to be had that he would like. He is a man of all trades, literally, but none are specific enough to be in the "Corporate World." We've tried and tried to find him something and finally caved to a non-traditional career while also trying to continue starting up Brass Hammer Designs (which right now feels like it's losing steam). And after reading this blog posted by Todd, I have to wonder if this is what it means to be a struggling artist....

"The imperative is on each individual to find their voice." (Accidental Creative interviewing Justine Musk) 

Just as I type this, I'm starting to realize that finding this "voice" IS the journey of the struggling artist. Actually, the more I think about it, as I watch my lover, husband and live-in artist look for his voice, I realize that I may have quit pursuing my own voice somewhat. While he's still searching for his purpose, I got too settled into the idea that I had found mine. In fact, I gave in to the rat race around me years ago. I strive to make a difference in this world, but I actually am confined to the 4 walls of the "corporate structure" and struggle with my own personal creativity much more often than he does. Finally five days in to my vacation in the most beautiful place I know, I am starting to feel creative juices flow enough to write this blog. I am plagued with the optimistic thought that "Maybe, just maybe, we can figure out a way to move here earlier than retirement years." Josh, the realistic-struggling-artist, knows that we can't move here til we get ducks in a row back home and that could take 15-20 years. But I am craving MY inner artist and "voice" and he already knows the reality is that it is a constant struggle. Is he protecting me or is he being a realist? Either way, I know the optimistic realist in me says that it will take time before we can take the leap to move to our future home. So off I go to plan my goal to pursue and figure out how to make it happen earlier than planned.....

Til next time, 

Jen
Wife/Manager, Brass Hammer Designs