This week, we attempted a craft that I (Nicole) saw in a ReadyMade magazine, or so I thought. I ripped apart the house looking for this article. I am now convinced I am crazy and somehow hallucinated it. Nicole 0, Craziness 1.
This cheesy Youtube video allows you to believe that cutting a bottle half with string is easy, involving fire, acetone, string, and cold water.
Materials Acetone, and lighter fluid String Scissors Bottles of Corona, empty Lighter Basin of cool water Safety glasses (sun glasses) Sandpaper (was supposed to smooth out the small shards left over)
Cocktail of the Night: Coronas (so we could use the bottles)
Every Monday, I profile a business, person, or website doing neat things online. I thought I’d take a little break from the usual format and talk about something I see a lot: business owners working with the creative people they hire: webdesigners, writers, graphic artists, internet marketers, etc.
Admittedly, I’m somewhere in between. I do creative services for people but I feel like I also do a lot of organization of creative people to keep things moving forward too. Here’s what I’ve learned over the last couple years:
1. You might not know exactly what you need but be as specific as you can with what you do know. There is a reason you’re hiring someone to create a logo, a website, a painting, or anything really: You don’t know much about it or you don’t have the time/interest to do it yourself if you do. Creative people understand this.
That said, to get the best quote possible, be up front with what you do know: budgets, other players on the project, and deadlines are all helpful. It’ll keep the person from doing something embarrassing like bring up the name of a rival company or time wasting, like generating a quote for a project four times your actual budget.
This week, since Nicole is out of town in beautiful Savannah, Georgia, Too Cute Tuesday ) St. Louis picked up the slack and, instead of just crafting like we usually do, tried to pitch in with a blog post.
This week, it was just a few of us since there’s a St. Louis Cardinals game tonight (and at 95 degrees outside, I think we have the better end of the deal). And, in honor of it being summertime and being able to hang our laundry out on the line (or, we would if we had a backyard), we’re getting crafty with clothespins.
What made you decide to do such an ambitious fundraising campaign now?
We wanted to engage people outside of our business to be a part of something much bigger than what they alone could do. We also need to raise the money for this piece of equipment in order to grow our business and offer Barkwheats to more pet guardians around the country, and support more growers who produce a great product for us. I know both of you have non-profit experience in addition to this business you run.
Do you find people have a hard time ‘donating’ to a business versus a non-profit? I know both you and Renee are actively involved in several area non-profits.
Kickstarter is cool in the way that it’s not so much just “donating” but it’s more transactional in nature. You are kind of “buying” a product. For example, spend $25 and get some cute Folk Dog magnets that would cost the same as if you were to purchase them at a store. Spend $7500 and your dog gets to be the cover dog on our next flavor of treats! A very neat way to not only support what we’re doing, but make your dog famous.
So the Obama family spent the weekend visiting my normally quiet corner of the world. It’s pretty much all anyone can talk about. Seeing the folks with signs sitting on lawn chairs near the bridge connecting MDI to the mainland was really sweet. Some people actually had the nerve to complain. I say the opportunities a visit of this magnitude presents far outweigh the small incoveniences to me. And I can say that with complete honesty because I live right in the thick of where the Obama family was visiting.
In case someone connected with them is reading this, thanks for coming to Maine. We were happy to have you!
These past few weeks have been really busy, which is always the case if I don’t post ‘this week in business’ one week. I’m working on several projects, most of which I can’t really talk about until they are more done so that I actually have something worthwhile to say.
For the first time ever, I have my newsletter done ahead of time.
Because I’ll be doing a little travel with my family next week, I decided to start the newsletter *gasp* ahead of schedule. It’s all about free and easy ways to set up a blog (for your business or just for you). Click here to sign up (or look right for the ‘Keep In Touch’ section)!