I love to get to know individuals and the businesses they are passionate about, in order to find what kind of design will give the right first impression on the web.
I work fast once I have the images and content needed, completing websites in as little as one week. I love to provide small businesses with room for growth by giving my clients the ability to edit their own content. Contact me to find out what I can do for your business!
This month I decided to take some time to wrap up some website designs, re-evaluate my own potential sources of income. I haven’t put much into the production or marketing of either my website design business or my ShotSlings business since my primary job is to raise my kids. A four year old and two year old pretty much need constant attention!
Just as I wrapped up a large project, the power supply for my laptop died and I directed my efforts to taking care of the neglected areas of the house (all of it) that had gotten worse during the project. Then my power supply came and I fixed some details on the large project. Then my ferret (who recently had surgery removing 2 mast cell tumors) took a turn for the worse and I’ve spent the last couple of days tending to him on top of my parenting duties. He’s going to be taking a good amount of my time for the next two weeks at least. My house mess is back again.
Why is it then whenever you decide to start in on something new, obstacles instantly start cropping up? I must say that this has happened enough times that it’s par for the course and doesn’t put me off of my goal. I need to focus on just one of my businesses at a time. My website designing has generally been just one website every couple of months and then long periods between them when I’m not working on anything but minor updates to my clients’ websites. I’d like to use those lull periods to produce ShotSlings, and produce enough to carry me over the times when I am working on a website design. If I can save up some up-front investment money, I may hire someone to sew for me, especially if that means I can get my product placed in retail venues. Life also happens, and both business models need to account for that.
There are different ways of dealing with this. I have developed the talent for holding a thought if I get pulled away, even if I can’t get back for an hour or two, or a day. I can dive right back in where I left off. Then there are more useful things such as childcare or structured activities to engage the kids while I work. De-cluttering gives me less stuff to deal with when cleaning the house.
I don’t know fully why I must work alongside my job of raising the kids and keeping a house. Maybe it’s the mental stimulation, feeling part of something outside my household, or the fact that I have control when I’m working on jobs. Parenting is not about control, it’s about guidance. I don’t have a goal, just hopes. There is no wrap-up on parenting, it’s continuous. Taking care of the house is much the same. I can complete tasks, but only fleetingly until they need to be done again. It’s continuous. With a website, though there are always minor bits and pieces to work on or update, the overall design is completed on a deadline, and I can feel good about it. When I mail out a ShotSling and I get feedback about how helpful and wonderful it is, my work is done on that particular ShotSling. It feels good. I can improve upon my product and see instant improvement. When I make improvements to my parenting, and the effect is subtle, complex, gradual, and sometimes mysterious.
It’s certainly not about the money! Not currently, anyway.