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5 Tips For Staying Motivated Through the Holiday Homestretch

December 21, 2017 by Karin Beery Leave a Comment

I love this time of year – Christmas parties, cookie baking (or Chex Mix making!), family gatherings, and all the twinkle lights a girl can handle! As much as I enjoy it, however, I also dread it. It was easier to work through the holidays when I drove to an office and had to be accountable to others. Now that I work from my living room in my Christmas pajama pants in front of my Christmas tree, motivation is harder to find.

This week – the last few days before the family celebrations begin – is the hardest. I want to start prepping for our family dinner. The house needs to be cleaned. Maybe one I should make one more batch of Chex Mix. There’s always a reason to avoid work!

If you struggle with the work-from-home holiday doldrums, here are five simple tricks for staying motivated through this final holiday stretch.

Make a list. Check it twice. Make lists, and ease your anxiety. By putting it in writing, you reduce the risk of forgetting an ingredient or present. Check the list twice to make sure you’re only including those things that need to be done (sure you need a Christmas dessert, but does it have to be made-from-scratch cinnamon rolls and cookies?).
Set small, reasonable goals. Nothing motivates me more than success! If I need to finish reading and reviewing a book, I don’t set a goal of reading the book – I determine to read one chapter per day. After I finish one chapter, I’m inspired to read a second. And if I don’t read the second, at least I’ve achieved my goal.
Take frequent breaks. Don’t try to force your way through eight, uninterrupted hours of work. Not only is it not recommended for your health’s sake, taking breaks also let you rest your brain for a few minutes, which can help reinvigorate your motivation.
Use your breaks wisely. Stressing about your holiday house guests? Take advantage of your breaks to get your house ready. I often take one break to tidy the kitchen. During another, I’ll vacuum the house. I can re-motivate my mind while checking items off my holiday list.
Go easy on yourself. The holidays only come one a year. Don’t be afraid to enjoy them! If you don’t get as much done leading up to Christmas, be willing to work a little harder the week after. Unless you’re on a specific, immovable deadline, it’s okay to go easy on yourself.

Now that you’ve taken a few minutes away from work to read this post (thanks for that!), it’s time to get back to work (at least until the weekend). Merry Christmas!

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5 Tips for Writing Better Promos

December 14, 2017 by Karin Beery Leave a Comment

Good writers are readers.

When I started writing novels, every class and conference I attended offered that same encouragement. Read, read, read, they said. Don’t stick to your genre, read as much fiction as you can find. Why? Because you’ll start to recognize what works, what doesn’t, and how to apply it to your own writing.

The same goes for promotional writing.

The worst thing you can do as a promotional writer is to try to write something you’ve never read. Before you start writing your next press release, mailer, or blog post, do your research. Here are a few tips for finding good reading material.

Newspaper: Check your local paper’s community events section. Do you see articles without author bylines? Those are probably press releases. Read those, because they were written well enough that they earned a spot in the newspaper.
Mailbox: Have you ever wondered why you get so much junk mail? Because it works! Companies wouldn’t pay to send out so many generic mailers if they didn’t get a few customers. So walk past your recycle bin and hold on to that junk mail.
Spamfolder: Like the junk mail that arrives in your mail box, your spam folder is full of promotions and announcements. Watch out for viruses (of course), but pick a few pieces of spam to see what other people are writing.

If you’re anything like me, however, you receive DOZENS of spam emails and junk mailers each week, so how do you know which ones to read? How about a few more tips…

Pick promos from similar markets.If you’re in the financial industry, read credit card offers. Are you in the non-profit world? Read the letter from the Boys and Girls Club of America.
Read promos that grab your attention.There are several techniques for writing attention-grabbing copy. Read a variety of styles until you find one that appeals to you. Study the format – it will be easier to replicate the style if it’s something that captures your attention.

This is, of course, a very basic approach to copy writing, but it’s a start. Don’t just write something and hope it works. Do your homework, and read, read, read.

Entrepreneur Interview: Jamie McCoy, WanderRoot

December 4, 2017 by Karin Beery Leave a Comment

Changing jobs is always stressful, but leaving your full time job to launch your own business? That takes stress to a whole new level, but that’s what Jamie McCoy did when she started WanderRoot – a handmade paper company that’s expanded to include a variety of handmade creations. Jamie’s learned some things over the years, and she was kind enough to share her story with us.

Welcome! Please tell us about your business.
My business is called WanderRoot, and I make and sell handmade plantable seed paper products such as wedding place cards, gift tags, and greeting cards as well as seed bombs, hand embroidery, paintings, illustration prints, copper jewelry and ornaments, and more. I’m crafty!

I started with selling my photography on Etsy in 2009 after a friend urged me to do so. It was a side project for a long time while I worked in social work, and became a full time job later almost by accident after getting laid off.

What has been your biggest struggle in launching your business?
I think for me, launching wasn’t a struggle at all, but maintaining was more difficult. I’ve struggled with maintaining normal life stuff like relationships and a savings account, as well as business related things like consistent order flow and inventory.

How are you overcoming that obstacle?
I’ve recently picked up a part time job to supplement my income and to help me meet people and to help me continue to be social. I’m now focusing on selling in-stock items only as opposed to custom wedding orders, which became complicated and difficult to maintain.

What’s surprised you the most about working for yourself?
I was raised as an only child, so I have always been independently motivated; however, I didn’t realize how satisfying having only myself to rely upon would be. When you do well, that’s a huge sense of accomplishment.

What’s your favorite part of this kind of work?
I love the flexibility. It’s so nice to be able to set my own schedule and work when I want. I also like coming up with new crafting ideas and implementing them.

Is there any one event/moment that helped you move from starting your own business to making a living with your own business?
I honestly quit my full time job on a whim, without any planning at all. I’d been selling my arts and crafts online and at craft shows on the side for a number of years while continuing to work in social work, but I wasn’t happy at my full time job. It was stressful, and while I am a compassionate person, I don’t excel at compartmentalizing in the way necessary to work in social work. While I was good with my clients, I became not-good at real life and carried a lot of stress with me. So when my employer changed my job title and description to something I was no longer qualified to do, I took the opportunity to move on to a new career.

If you could give a new entrepreneur one piece of advice, what would it be?
Plan ahead for money. Work load may vary, and if you don’t have a plan in place for how you will financially sustain yourself during these times, you will not be able to maintain your small business. Unless you have a financer, you will need to have this taken care of yourself, preferably before the drought in work hits.

If you could do one thing differently in your career, what would it be?
Similar to my previous answer, I’d have planned better for slow periods financially. The first year or more will be a struggle unless you have a plan in place. I also recommend diversifying your income streams as much as possible.

If you’re crafty like me, Etsy is a great jumping off point, but it’s not meant to sustain your entire business forever, so build your own website, sell at local businesses, other websites, and at craft shows. Get your name in as many places as possible. That way, if one income stream is negatively impacted by a set back of some kind, you will still have an income coming from somewhere.

I would have started with a savings of several thousand dollars before I even considered selling my arts and crafts full time. I’d also have set up my stand-alone site sooner and funneled my returning customers from Etsy to my website to reduce overhead costs.

What’s your favorite kind of work? Why?
I like painting. It’s a lot if fun to have an image in mind and find a way to bring it to reality. It’s very fulfilling.

What does your work space look like?
I work out of a spare bedroom in my home. It has a ton of shelving units for storage, a closet full of displays and tents for craft shows, and fold up tables that hold my current projects. It also houses a cat tree for my furry office mates, Chibi and Gordon.

What does your work day look like?
If I am not working at my part time job, I am working on my business. I get up in the morning and go to the coffee shop to do any website or internet work that is necessary. Then I run my personal errands before coming home and making a to-do list of projects to work on. Before bed, I package any orders that need to be shipped, then ship these first thing the following morning.

What’s your go-to snack when you need one?
Chocolate covered peanuts or chocolate covered espresso beans.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Check out my offerings at www.davitasrg.com and use coupon code “karinbeery” at checkout to save 15% on anything! And take a chance in yourself. Even if you fail, you learned something. Life is too short to stay in a job that isn’t right for you.

Cyber Monday Special: 25% Off Through December 31

November 27, 2017 by Karin Beery 1 Comment

What would the holiday season be without special savings? I’m a huge fan of Black Friday deals and saving money, so I thought I’d share my love (and excitement!) with you.

Do you need help with your website? A press release? A promotional brochure or white paper? I can help, and right now I can help you save 25%!

Let’s chat about how I can help you create more engaging content. Book my services between now and the end of the year, and you’ll receive 25% off (even if we don’t start your project until after the new year).

Contact me today for stronger, more effective copy tomorrow!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

November 20, 2017 by Karin Beery Leave a Comment

It’s Thanksgiving week! Not only am I getting ready to cook dinner for the family (we’re roasting root vegetables this year), I’m also shopping this week, taking advantage of sale prices to buy toys and clothes for local families in need. That being said, I’m taking most of the week off, and I hope you can do the same.