Explore Your Enthusiasm

Are you in the middle? Past that clearly defined start-up phase, where you knew exactly what to do...and now...what? After your shop is up, your products are photographed and you've made your first sale - your destination becomes fuzzy. How do you keep going, day after day?

In this episode we'll talk about what the middle is, and how to thrive in it.

Find links to everything here: http://taraswiger.com/podcast23 

In four years of leading the Starship, I have had an inside look at dozens of creative businesses. I've seen what works (and what keeps them stuck).  I've watched captains grow their business until they could quit their day job, captains start their business from scratch, and captains totally change directions. I've noticed some things are true of all the captains who have met their goals, and I'd like to share them with you today.

In today's episode I'll share: 

The Starship is an online community for makers, artists and writers with a library full of classes, a forum to ask and answer questions, and a weekly live chat with me, where everyone checks in on what's going well, what they're working on, and how we can help.  It is open this week (it closes on Oct 1); join here.

Does your family support your craft business? Or hassle you?
Do you feel like they respect your time? Or impinge on it?
In this episode we're going to talk about how to get them on your side, supporting your business ... and how to deal with it if they don't.

Sign up for the Starship Early Boarding email here.
Find links to everything at TaraSwiger.com/podcast21

This week, with the re-release of Pricing 101, we're talking about money. Today let's talk about that perennial question: How can you start (and grow) a business with very little money? What are your options when you can't spend money on advertising or staff?

In this episode of Explore Your Enthusiasm, we'll talk about:

 Get Pricing 101 free with Pay Yourself!

Last week a Captain asked me about how to deal with Fear of Success. First: What is it? Once you've identified what you're really afraid of (hint: it's probably not "success"), how do you overcome it? That's what we'll cover today.

We'll discuss these fears and how to create the kind of business success you want, even while feeling the fear.

In the second episode we talked about why  you should explore your enthusiasm, what it can add to your business (and life!) and how it works to keep you motivated. But I feel like my commitment to enthusiasm (and that of my clients) has been tested this month and I wanted to share it with you, in case you're also questioning your enthusiasm.

This week, I'm sharing some stories of creative business ladies following their enthusiasm, both myself and my clients, in the hopes that it helps you on your journey.

When I hired my Number One (ie, my editor, my assistant, my Vulcan), I told her in our first email, "The motto of my company (my life!) is: Assume the Best. Of each other, of our customers, and of every interaction." When I mentioned this in the episode on Personal Responsibility, I got a lot of feedback from you that you've found this both hard and necessary to running an online business. So let's dig deeper!

In today's episode, we'll talk about:

Now that you've identified your buyer's needs, you can use this information to make ALL of your business decisions easier!  In today's episode, we talk about knowing the needs of your buyers and how to use this knowledge to make your business better and your marketing more effective

Once you identify the needs of your buyer, you can:

Your craft business success comes down to just one choice. 

Whether you're a maker building your business or a teenager fighting with your parents, there is one key to making changes: Personal Responsibility. It's not sexy or exciting, but it's true!
In today's episode we'll talk about the importance of taking responsibility in growing your craft business and how to stop being confused and start taking action.

Instead of looking online or in books for the answers, you accept responsibility by:

Everyone told me to "Be Myself" when I did my CreativeLIVE workshop. Which is ironic, since that's exactly the advice I give to crafters who are struggling to talk about their business and work. In fact, a whole section of my workshop includes pages of questions for you to figure out what that really means, for you.

But how do you do it? How do you "be yourself" in your business?

In today's episode, I'll share how the heck I figured out how to Be Myself, and how it totally changed the way I think about things.

How to Be Yourself (really)

Find links to everything I discussed at: http://taraswiger.com/podcast14/