03 April 2009

to do list.

jena is a genius. not only does she have a popular design blog, she has recently started a new blog for those of us working toward having, or already have, our own creative micro-businesses. and now, she has introduced her modish monthly goal meetup! and, she's pretty. and so nice!
all of this is perfect for a capricorn/badger girl like me. i like lists, i like to get things done, cross things off, stay focused. and now, as i share with you my To Do List for April, you will see the mountain of work i have ahead of me. but this is just motivation! and i feel up for the challenge--if i didn't, i wouldn't be doing this. okay, okay, on with it then.

1. DONE! finalize business card design. i am open to helpful and kind input. i am going for simple, clean, and a little clever. i would have loved to upload a larger photo right here, but i am still mystified by how blogger photo uploading works. anyway, these will be letterpressed by moi, probably on various colors of paper in various other (darker) colors of ink.





2. DONE! order a boxcar base and plates for hello, thank you, and business cards from boxcar press.
3. DONE! buy a printer. maybe that should have been #2, as printing these things out before sending them to the platemakers might be helpful. as would learning how to use adobe illustrator.
4. DONE! talk to a lawyer. good thing for me heather s. is in town and sleeping on my couch tomorrow night.
5. DONE! order paper, paper samples, and envelopes.
6. design and print mel's baby announcements.
7. BACK BURNER. develop regular blog content and start writing it. anything you guys particularly want my perspective on? this will probably be an on-going project.
8. start printing sample stationery sets. run a promotion asking if anyone wants a sample stationery set made my me.
9. decide which causes i want to support with my business (kiva, invisible children, and lifewater are the ones that have been on my mind lately--oh, there are so many!) **i think i am going to go with kiva and toms shoes to start. but if anyone knows of a good organization that helps afghan women, i would be interested to know about it.
10. finish my once-through of the boss of you. this book is amazing, ladies.
11. get a file box.
12. nail down a final budget, mission statement, and overall vision for my business.
13. write a profile--heather and kim lambright, could you maybe help with that? and organize blog links, make the whole thing look more intentional and together.

okay, that is a lot of goals, but a lot of them are underway, and a lot of them are small and have been on my to do list for a long time, so it's definitely time they become concrete and crossed off.

also, a couple of working habits i want to start:
1. work in my workspace! there's a reason i bought this little table from ikea and put it together myself (well, dad did the tough stuff).
2. no tv while i'm working. this just leads to wasted time on the internet/computer.

19 comments:

  1. Wow Laura! I love your business cards:) and am amazed at your 'to do list'. Looks like lots of neat things happening! Hope it's a great month!

    ReplyDelete
  2. i'm so sorry that you had to comment on your own post before i got here! i'm here now! and i had already volunteered for #13 before i read it. we are the same person. anyway, i'll take a sample stationary set. and i'll even pay for it. ummm, and i really like the black and white business card as well. i know colors were a suggestion i made, but really just because i felt i needed a suggestion. i honestly think they are perfect, and i love them. i have some workspace pictures for you. and the start of my own to-do list:

    1. tag photos on flickr
    2. convert film photos to digital
    3. develop regular blog content

    there you go. love you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. your business cards are lovely, and your "to do" list is inspiring! i can't figure out how i just landed on your blog, but i'm loving it. excited to see what your new biz brings!

    ReplyDelete
  4. thanks, lillie! welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere.

    ReplyDelete
  5. thanks for checking in. i like you too! and boy am i having fun with flickr pro!

    ReplyDelete
  6. My goal: Find someone who has the time, patience and expertise to help me learn to use flickr. Not so ambitious, but maybe in this case less is more.

    ReplyDelete
  7. i will teach you, fern! put on the list for next weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Perusing through Flickr is also on my to do list, but I put it off for this month. And I completely agree with the whole TV while working thing. Complete distraction. Good luck with achieving your goals!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your business cards are brilliant! Good luck with the list! I can't wait to see how everyone's month turns out.

    ReplyDelete
  10. your list is cool. you're one cool cappish-badge.

    ReplyDelete
  11. love your cards! i'm a list maker, too .... gotta get back to crossing things off.

    simple-pretty.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for the comments, Laura. I've been using Quick Books on and off for years in various "real" jobs and am using it now at my current "real" job. However, even with the experience of using it for a while, if I can do it I really think anyone can. I have no formal accounting training and have learned it from books and others who had some knowledge. I think the greatest advantage is that you are able to track in great detail the specifics of your sales, expenses, profits, etc. Also, BIG help come tax time. It's a bit pricey, but if you have a PC computer lying around, I know they have a free web based version that you could play with. Sadly, nothing free for Mac.

    ReplyDelete
  13. OR you could create a personal accountant position, for which i am qualified, due to my 2 years at the ELEVENTH largest accounting firm in the united states, FOURTH on the west coast.

    ReplyDelete
  14. kim: you really want to do my accounting? have you been working there for two years as an accountant?

    ReplyDelete
  15. i could easily and breezily do your accounting. secondly, i resent the implication that i haven't been an accountant for the past 2 years, although i haven't.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Laura, I made a rule for myself maybe 8-9 months ago - absolutely no sitting on the couch with the laptop during the day, only upstairs, in the studio, on my rolling chair, in my workspace. It's made such a huge difference! The computer sits on the table as a secondary thing; I do my work; and there's no tempation to, oh, say, lie down. Or go to Target online to look at random things. So much more productive this way! Good luck with all of your to-dos.

    ReplyDelete
  17. anna, i have totally noticed a difference, even just in the last two weeks of doing this--it's amazing!
    also, can anyone tell me how to cross things off my list--formatting my post that way?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Laura!
    You're so so sweet I just can't stand it! Glad to have you on board for the goal meetup! Your business cards look great, I imagine they'll be soooo awesome letterpressed. Ooh la la. You have a lot of goals there missy, good luck getting them tackled. I know you can do it! Have a good month awesome possum! And use that workspace! :)
    -jena

    ReplyDelete