In sight

Is it not funny how life happens? In my last post I mentioned how my complementary business came to a halt when I moved and how I had not tried to build up a client base again. Well, about a month ago we went to a get-together for Neil's daughter's birthday and I landed up giving someone an Indian Head massage. I was told I should advertise because I had 'magic hands', LOL. But it did get me thinking about a possible alternate income source besides my beadwork. Unfortunately one step does not complete a journey and before I start getting too excited about the prospect I have to sit down and do a little bit of planning. Keep my feet on the ground! Another exciting development, for me, is learning a new beading technique. A couple of months ago I met a wonderful Zulu lady, Christina who is very talented in creating ethnic beaded jewellery. I invited her around to my place and she brought along a cousin, Sellina. Wow, these two ladies rock! The connection was instantaneous and we now have a regular get-togethers once a month. It has become an exchange of ideas and techniques, hence me learning how to create a 'raslo'. Christina and Sellina have learned how to use stringing wire and crimps along with the skills of the various beading tools. A raslo is a collar-type zulu necklace and comes in a variety of widths and colours. Now, I'm probably not using the correct terminology but these ladies are self-taught like me, and the language barrier reduces explanations to simple terms and most understanding is a result of practical demonstration. so the best way to explain is to show you the raslo which these women taught me how to create. Anyway, now that I have learned a new technique it opens all sorts of possibilities one of them being an ambitious project. Sorry, but this I'm keeping under wraps for the time being.*grin* Well that is all for now folks. Have a fabulous week!

A new beginning

2004 was quite a year. My daughter fell pregnant and the company I worked for was offering voluntary separation packages (a fancy phrase for optional retrenchment). I was pursuing an interest in complimentary therapy which was worlds apart from my occupation as an insurance trainer... Decisions had to be made, so after a discussion with the family and a look at finances I opted for the company package deal. A HUGE leap in faith on my part - and the saying 'look before you leap' took on a new meaning in the following years. A couple of things I discovered was that I knew absolutely NOTHING about marketing myself and that other people made it look so effortless. Anyway I pursued the complementary therapy and managed to build up a small clientele. This was from word-of-mouth and not from the expensive ads I placed in the local newspaper. My conclusion was offer the best service you can and once the 'word of mouth' clients have built up, then look at advertising. Great...and then I moved and of course that meant no more client base. The move, from a home that had seen joy and sorrow, was a particularly hard one emotionally and I spent months wallowing in self pity. Not a good thing when you need to earn a living! I literally spent weeks indoors making no effort to care for myself, with absolutely no verbal communication with anyone other than my family. Talk about self sabotage! Fortunately my friends and family ignored (or maybe they didn't) my rather dark state of mind and one friend introduced me to several inspirational writers and speakers. One that stands out in my mind, and provides me with the 'tools' to cope is Mike Dooley - wow but this man knows how to motivate! I had the pleasure of attending a talk he gave at Monte Casino in Johannesburg a couple of years ago and impressive does not even begin to describe the experience! Thoughts become things, is tagline that I will forever associate with him. Things he taught me. Don't worry about the HOWS Do whatever you do with JOY and ENTHUSIASM Don't dwell on what you want for too long but DO visualise, taste, smell and feel exactly what you want your life to be and do this for a few minutes a day. Be PASSIONATE about your dreams (ok, maybe he didn't say that, but that is what I got out of it) So, if you are where I was a couple of years ago or if you are looking for life skill tools, or even just some inspiration do yourself a favour and purchase his CD programme called Leveraging the Universe or Infinite Possibilities - both are filled with humour and down-to-earth advice on how to live your life to the fullest. You won't be sorry and you may even thank me :)

Starting out

This is my story about how I got involved in beading and the journey involved in learning how to market my products.

How this blog will evolve I have no idea - although this is a big no-no when planning a business, one has to have a business plan or so the fundis advise!

This blog is not my business but a story about how my business started. I will be sharing my emotional ups and down, my detours into other business 'opportunities' and how I see the business world in general.

If you are expecting structure you will be disappointed

If you are expecting business logic you will be disappointed

If you want a fresh outlook expect it!

There are so many people that have inspired and motivated me and I will be giving credit where credit is due. These people come from all walks of life, some I know personally, some I have read about and some I have even lived with (yes, I do mean my family).

Expect links on beads, links on inspiration and links to networks of people that are, like me, trying to make it in the business world.