NaBloPoMo – Life Unfolds Blog

Right-Brain Business Plan Part II – AEDM Day 30

With scissors, pens and glue stick in hand, I worked on detailing out the different sections of my Artizen Coaching Right-Brain Business Plan on the flip side. Sure beats sitting in front of a computer for hours!

I revised my company description with the look of my ink and water colors visual journal. The paint really brought the key words to life and made it feel more like me.

I wanted my plan to be interactive and evolving, so I created different ways to incorporate information that I could take out, update and put back in. The next page to the left has a pocket that holds cards describing my different services and products. I like that I can pull them out and add to it easily.

Next, I created a mini bound calendar to list out my major events and milestones. It actually slips out of the little holder so that I can thumb through it (see picture below).

I also created a section for describing who I’m partnering with and for what. In addition, I thought through what my role would be versus what I have already outsourced or need to outsource in the future.

I really love that this format is expandable and adaptable – just like my business! Plus, it’s portable and fun to look at!

Finally, I created spaces for holding my financial and overall business goals plus my marketing strategies and approaches. Since these are also in an envelope type form, I can easily slip cards in and out. Plus there’s a little more privacy.

I’m super-excited to have a tangible, interactive vision for where I want to take my business in the next year and beyond. I’m also thrilled that I’ve developed another creative approach to use with clients in crafting the personal and professional goals.

I am so grateful to the Art Every Day and NaBloPoMo challenges (I’m overlooking those days when I was sooo overwhelmed and stressed!). This month’s art making and blogging has culminated into a new way for me do business planning, has helped me to develop new approaches and product ideas and has widened my community of creative souls. This process reminds me that the more I try new things, connect with others, tap into my creativity… then the more quickly my vision and ideas can evolve and manifest. Doing art every day has definitely accelerated my life big time in ways I wouldn’t have even imagined 29 days ago and am still processing. Amazing!

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, business planning, right-brain business plan, art visioning, expressive arts coaching, business coaching, entrepreneurship, collage, book arts, accordion book[/tags]

Right-Brain Business Plan – AEDM Day 29

How many of you cringe when you hear the words business plan? Or maybe even worse… budget, cash flow or P&L statement? If you’re like me, those terms (especially the financial ones), make your skin crawl. Yet, as an entrepreneur it’s vital to know where you’re going and what it’s going to take to get there.

So, how about approaching business planning (and life planning) from a visual, creative and fun perspective instead?

The idea of doing a more right-brain approach to my business plan came to me while brainstorming materials with my colleagues Starla Sireno and Tara Russell at The Fearless Entrepreneur. As we refine resources and exercises to use with our business coaching clients, it’s also important that we walk our talk, too. So, I revisited my business plan (originally in a boring, static Word document) and decided to update it for 2008 and beyond using my art visioning techniques.

Above are the front and back covers of my Artizen Coaching business plan accordion book. I started off decorating the front with a really cool art studio image from a magazine. Then I thought it would be clever to have the back be more of the “zen” in the Artizen.

Here are some detail shots of the interior.

Typically a business plan has sections such as: an executive summary, company description, industry analysis, target market, financials, marketing and sales plan, etc.

In the first couple of pages I wanted to just set the tone of my business and also list out the different products and services I’m offering or working on.

Next, I got clear on my strategic alliances and affiliations – who I’m working with and what organizations I belong to for networking and support. It’s a relief to know I don’t have to go it alone!

For the finances, I really wanted to concentrate on abundance and chose images/words around that. I have my P&L statement folded up in the little manila envelope so I can pull it out and look at it when I need to.

These last pages are about marketing and getting myself out there. Part of what triggered doing this project now was that today I received galley copies of the book that I’m featured in: The Girl’s Guide to Kicking Your Career in Gear and I got excited about next year! I also want to write a book, so there’s a little 3D book attached to one of the pages.

Tomorrow, I’m going to write out more details on the back of each page. Now that I have visuals and the emotional connection to what I’m wanting to create, I can articulate it more clearly in words. I’ll probably write out my strategy and tactics in a creative way, too, and have some images as well.

How do you plan out your business and personal goals? What if the process was more fun and engaging? What else would be possible for you if you let your creativity and intuition run wild?

Random Things Meme and Yet Another Felted Basket! – AEDM Day 28

Was tagged by Matlide for a 7 random things about me meme. Thanks Matilde!

Here are the rules:
Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog. Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself. Tag 7 random people participating in nablopomo at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, here it goes…

I can burp the alphabet.
I’m a really speedy speed player (and quite a sore loser when it comes to pretty much any card or board game, so watch out).
I missed my high school graduation day to compete in Dramatic Interpretation at the national speech championships in Fargo, ND (was cool to be able to say I’d been to Fargo once the movie of the same name came out!).
My husband and I met at our college newspaper.
My favorite movie when I was in junior high school was Sixteen Candles. I could recite practically every line. Ironically, my brother got married the day before my sweet 16 (in the movie Samantha’s sister gets married the day after). Alas, there was no Jake Ryan and no red Porsche waiting outside the church for me! ;).
I’m a total Elmyra when it comes to my dog . He’s just so cute I can’t stand it!
My mom taught me how to knit a few Christmases ago when I was sick with the stomach flu and bored out of my mind.

I’m tagging:

I’m tired and need to go to bed, so I’ve just tagged 5 and I’ll call it a night.
Today I felted yet another spotty basket. I went to the yarn shop yesterday and got some different colors, so I’m looking forward to experimenting with new color combos now that this one is done.

Winter Shadows – AEDM Day 27

I know it’s not officially winter yet, but the chill is in the air, the wind is blustery and so many people I know are coming down with colds. Winter slows us down. Gives us time to hibernate. Reflect. The colder nights remind us to take care of ourselves. To bundle up and to protect what we hold dear. It’s a time to integrate all that we’ve grown and harvested throughout the year.

I’ve been feeling slower and more tired and I tried to capture that in this piece. I used gray and black oil pastels. As I was blending the colors off the corners of the pages, I saw this cool shadow effect on the paper underneath. So, I tore up scrap paper to smudge a shadowy outline of a tree. That’s how I’ve been feeling the past few days – a little fuzzy around the edges.

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day, winter[/tags]

Modern Domestic Goddess Recipe – AEDM Day 26

Today’s art is an homage to the revival of domesticity and “women’s work” with a modern twist. I originally wanted to do a piece using aprons (I love their symbol of home and housekeeping and they’re just so darn cute! – That’ll be for later). But as I played with the images I cut out, I cooked up this recipe idea. So, I pulled out a blank recipe card and started to list out the ingredients that make a modern woman. Those superwomen who juggle home, family, work, their own needs/values, health, meaning, fun, etc. and do it with panache, style and grace. What qualities would you add to the recipe? Seconds anyone?

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month[/tags]

Catching Up – AEDM Day 24/25

This weekend was all about catching up.

Yesterday I got to catch up with my college roomies. Matea was in Sacramento visiting for Thanksgiving, so we all met up at Julie’s house to hang out. It was amazing to see how much Carson had grown in the several weeks since I last saw him. We missed seeing our other roomie, Katie, who also just had her second son not too long after Julie. Times sure have changed since our college days!

I had no idea how tired I was. Upon coming home after the long drive from Sacramento, I fell asleep before 9pm and was out for about 15 hours! Yes, 1-5. Guess I had to catch up on some much needed sleep!

Today, I’m getting caught up on my knitting and on my AEDM and NaBloPoMo posts that I missed yesterday. Finished my second felted basket. I like how this one has more structure than the first one I did. I actually refelted the first one, too, and am happier about how it came out this time.

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, knitting, felting[/tags]

More Knitting – AEDM Day 23

I’m knitting my second felted basket. This one has a cute spotty pattern. Even though this pattern looks more complex than the first basket I did, it’s actually much easier to follow and I’m having more fun with this one. My neighbor also took the felted basket class with me, so a couple days ago we did a quick show and tell outside our house. She had already felted her spotty basket and it came out really great and will make an excellent plant container. Can’t wait to see what mine looks like when I’m done!

Thanksgiving Dinner – AEDM Day 22

When I was little, I got so excited when my mom would ask me to be in charge of setting the table for special occasions. My budding inner-Martha had a field day thinking up what I would create. I loved folding the napkins just so – sometimes in the shape of flowers or fancy triangles. And I often times got to make the centerpiece. Sometimes I drew pictures to display (including pilgrims and turkeys for Thanksgiving, Noah’s ark for my twin nephews’ baby shower and even Voltron for my cousin’s birthday party!). Other times I simply arranged decorative objects like I did for today.

During our big Thanksgiving gatherings with my cousins we would go around the kids’ table and say what we were grateful for. Those were fun days. This morning I reflected on the many things I am thankful for in my life right now – Brian, my friends and family, my home, living in the beautiful Bay Area, my dog, my health, my work, my creativity, nature, connection with myself and the world and so much more (oh and I’m very thankful for the new nearby Whole Foods for preparing the majority of our feast!). 😉

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, Thanksgiving[/tags]

Magic Wand – AEDM Day 21

Every Wednesday, Jamie invites people to share their hopes and dreams on her Wishcasting blog. In the spirit of wishcasting, I decided to finally make my magic wand. Since it’s from a kit, I personalized it a bit by stamping the words, “wish” and “believe” on the front and back.

I’m a fan of wishing. My collaged wish boxes encourage people to hope and dream and I use them myself to help visualize what I want to manifest in my life. I write my goals and dreams on little cards and revisit them every once in awhile to see what’s already come true. And even though I give myself permission to wish (many people struggle with the pie in the sky thinking), I also place tremendous value on believing in myself and on taking action to move forward. And when I’m doubting myself, I turn to my blessings box to remind me of all the things I already have in my life to be grateful for. That usually helps me shift my perspective from doubt and worry to abundance and appreciation.

If you had a magic wand, what would you wish for? What bold actions would you need to take to help this dream manifest?

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month[/tags]

Autumn Leaf – AEDM Day 20

Fiery oranges, yellows and dark reds popped out of the landscape as I walked my dog this morning. The turning leaves looked brilliant against the crisp, blue fall sky. I love how autumn makes me so aware of transition, of moving from the lush abundance and freedom of summer, to hunkering down, keeping warm and taking a more internal focus.

This drawing was done in colored pencil on the back of a grocery bag, which adds a nice rustic element.

How does the season change affect you? What do you notice as the leaves turn color? What transitions are taking place in your life?

[tags]National Blog Posting Month, NaBloPoMo, Art Every Day Month, autumn[/tags]