Designer & Entrepreneur Cathryn Lavery Shares Her Personal Productivity Habits, Tactics for a Successful Kickstarter Launch - The Busy Creator Podcast 65

Cathryn Lavery (@CathrynLavery) is an architect-turned-designer, entrepreneur, and maker. After leaving architecture, she created Calm The Ham, where she designs and sells posters and other products. Cat's next project is The Self Journal, a printed, bound journal with templates to help you craft a productive morning routine and accomplish your quarterly goals. Our conversation covers Cat's productivity habits, especially as they relate to morning routines, how she leverages her passions for design but leaves the marketing duties to other people, and how she takes a systematic approach to launching on Kickstarter by manipulating her media contacts. Catch up with Cat on her personal blog, LittleMight.com, or via CalmTheHam.com and TheSelfJournal.com

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[caption id="attachment_2565" align="alignnone" width="452"] The Self Journal, closed[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2566" align="alignnone" width="411"] The Self Journal, open[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2567" align="alignnone" width="411"] The Self Journal, open[/caption]

Show Notes & Links

Cat studied at Glasgow School of Art, and trained as an architect

Cat describes herself as a "maker"; it's on her business card

She abandoned architecture after discovering that the job becomes less creative as the years endure

Cat's design company, Calm The Ham, produces posters and other design goods

The initial investment for Calm The Ham was essentially the cost of a nice printer

Cat began working on websites because people asked her

The Foundation, a course to build SaaS products

Clinic Hero, Cat's software for Chiropractors/Physical Therapists

Groupon

"Decision Fatigue" is to be avoided

Nate Voss, guest on a previous episode, described team-ups as "forming Voltron"

"California doesn't have a water problem, it has a people problem."

—Cathryn Lavery

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Fart apps

"You don't want two designers starting a business together. You need someone doing the marketing & sales."

—Cathryn Lavery

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The metaphor of "The Invading Army" vs. "The Occupying Army"

Coffee-flavoured Doritos Cappuccino-flavoured Lay's (yes, this is a real product) [caption id="attachment_2556" align="alignnone" width="250"] Cappuccino-flavoured Lay's[/caption]

"Do the things you love to do to keep your batteries charged."

—Cathryn Lavery

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The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod On Amazon and On Audible

Cat installed multiple habits simultaneously early in January

Bulletproof Coffee

Hurricane/Super-storm Sandy

The Self Journal, Cat's new product, launching on Kickstarter 19 Aug 2015

The brain's Reticular Activating System

Getting Things Done by David Allen On Amazon and On Audible

"You want to make it look like Apple created it."

—Cathryn Lavery

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Trust Me, I'm Lying by Ryan Holiday On Amazon and On Audible

QNS Collective, co-working space in Queens, NY

Cathryn Lavery on Twitter

Cathryn Lavery on Facebook

Cathryn Lavery on Instagram

Calm The Ham on Twitter

Calm The Ham on Facebook

Best Self Co. on Twitter

Best Self Co. on Facebook

Tools

Clinic Hero

The Foundation

LeadPages

Medium

7-Minute Workout app on iTunes app store

The Self Journal

Techniques

Share how your projects are made

Learn from people outside your industry (e.g. digital marketers if you're a designer)

Listen to your audience for advice on what to create next

Research a market, pre-sell a product, and then look for a developer to make it happen

Look for people to buy in to your project; folks to be invested not just have a job

Leverage parts of the project you most enjoy, and give the other elements to other people

Don't try to do everything yourself (e.g. marketing, content, design)

Align your skills/passion with the sort of work that suits you (long-term vs. short-term)

Hoard water in buckets if you live in an area prone to droughts

Limit yourself to three targets for the day (not a huge to-do list)

Practice a gratitude habit in the morning

Get things out of your head and into a system

Create a high-quality video on Kickstarter, even for a print or physical product

Create professional image assets for your project

Build a media list for future outreach - Cat's blog post on her Kickstarter methodology

Use Google Images to search for articles covering a specific product

Use a Virtual Assistant to build your spreadsheet and take care of research tasks

Impose deadlines on yourself, if only to keep things fresh!

Habits

Develop a morning routine. Here's Cat's

Meditate first thing in the morning, or move it around to whenever it fits best

Do a quick workout before your [ice-cold] shower so your body is warm

Use a journal to plan your days, and your goals for the quarter

Tell your story of how you develop a product

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Download The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 65 (MP3, 48:46, 23.6 MB)

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