Writing Lists, Kicking Ass: I've been writing to-do lists and kicking their asses! I've been writing my goals, then diving the goals into specific action steps. The more specific, the more likely you'll get it done!
Getting Organized: After my disorganization confession, I got proactive and tackled house clutter. I sorted everything into "donate", "yard sale", and "organize later" boxes and put those boxes out of the way. The house is still clean and clear!
Special Creative Time: My friend Birdie and I (interviewed here) started a creativity night. Every Tuesday we meet with friends at my favorite cafe to draw and create our hearts out. I finished over 50 line art drawings this month! I'll follow-up with my art line progress soon!
Creative Business Interviews:
- Thrifter Profile: Comic Book Artist and Haiku Writer Birdie
- Ismoyo's Etsy Reselling Tips: And Going from Blog to Published Book
- Brian Adams Turns his Pop Culture Passion into a Dream Job
- Art Walk Interview: Thrifter and Artist Teresa of Artefact Redux
- Art Walk Interview: Meredith's Tips for Creative Business Success
Antique Store Improvement Tips:
- Antique Store Wisdom: 10 Action Steps to Improve Sales, NOW!
- Antique Store Wisdom: The Vintage Cabin's Expert Selling Tips
Blogging and Reselling Tips:
Keeping Organized:
- 5 Confessions From a Busy Thrifty Professional: Finding Balance
- Peeks Around My Office: Art Keeps Me Productive
- My Home Office: Welcome to Thrift Core Headquarters
Creative Business Posts (Since 3/31/2011): For an extra boost in creative mojo, I'm throwing in all of the creative biz tips post I've written for Papernstitch, too! I hope you find these helpful!
- You Don't Need Art School to Sell Art
- Why You Should Start at the Shallow End of the Creative Pool
- 5 Steps for Spreading Your Creative Business Message Today!
- How to Get Them Talking About Your Art
- How to Become an Instant Success in Your Niche
- Come Out on Top of Your Competition
- Writer's Block? 5 Endless Wells of Inspiration
- Define Your Purpose for Business Success
- 5 Ways to Use Twitter to Engage Your Community
- The Secret Ingredient to Blogging Success: Passion
If you've been kicking creative ass and taking names along with me, it's time for a well-deserved break! Enjoy your fourth of July weekend. Expect fun sponsor giveaways and features next month. (Also, there's still time to be a July Thrift Core sponsor!)
Starting Your Own Antique or Thrift Store: I'm currently interviewing successful thrift and antique store owners. Do you want to know how to get started? Price items? Make sales? Leave your questions in the comments, and I'll get the answers from the pros! I want to write content that will help you, so give me your feedback!
Very cool creative time idea! Strangely enough I met Birdie(he is a friend of the fiances) a couple of weeks ago and he mentioned your group. Can't wait to see the line drawings!
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting us follow along on your research and your productivity experiment.
ReplyDeleteMy thrift/antique booth question is should you try to find a store that has merchandise similar to yours or how well would one do if their booth is far different than the others in that particular antique mall?
How often should one change the whole theme of one's display? By holiday or by season or monthly or should one stay pretty much predictable in a booth's "flavor?"
Can you ask questions regarding theft, shoplifting, price tag switching?
Generally, how much play is there in a price if the boothowner is not present? Should items be priced higher knowing customers will ask to pay less? (I never pay sticker price.)
Beccalina: I love how easy it is to make connections in the creative community in Riverside! Everyone knows everyone. Since you're working on art, you should try to make it out sometime. Getting out of the house and scheduling time to really -get shit done- helps!
ReplyDeleteDogsMom: Thank you for your excellent questions! Remember, I'll be asking antique store and thrift store OWNERS specific questions, not just little guys that rent "booth space" like me.
ReplyDeleteEither way, your questions are getting answered!
You can read my other antique store booth tips here: http://bit.ly/lfuzA4
Wow, thank you for sharing this fantastic collection of valuable information with us. So inspiring!
ReplyDeleteI just sifted through some of these and am grateful and amazed! Your energy definitely shines through... how do you have so much?!
ReplyDeleteretrodame: Glad it was helpful!
ReplyDeleteVintage Scapes: Thank you for the kind words! I stay so energetic because I'm truly passionate about what I do!
I know you have already discussed some of these questions but in case you haven't (and I'll take some time to read more of the "business" posts again) I'd like to know if antiquers recommend cleaning finds all the way before reselling, or leaving some grime ("patina") to show age. Do they do their own advertising for things in a booth setting, such as you do blog posts, and any suggestions? Newsletter, postcards, etc? Do they hire pickers to help them find things or just make offers on things brought to them? Does it make economic sense to buy an entire household, or does the junk and work involved defeat the profit margin?
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of insurance does on need to buy?
Laura: These are all excellent questions that I'll investigate!
ReplyDelete