Slowing down

I am again giving up on a business idea. It is just too much. I simply cannot sustain life right now and do this business that I am trying to build. It is just so much work and every time I think about it I get so overwhelmed that I start to get a nervous tick. Butterflies build up in my stomach (not the good kind) and my mind goes into some kind of overdrive.

There is just so much for me to learn and I have so many other responsibilities (laundry, dishes, vacuuming, quality time with family) that won't get done if I pursue this business. I don't want to be one of those moms that is always thinking about all the things she could be doing when she is spending time with her kids, or worse, sticking them in front of the TV so that she can work.

At the same time, it saddens me to think that I am giving up on it. I really think I could make money on it. I'm not giving up completely, just postponing it. I am going to build a website with all the content that I would like to have on it, then use it for a bit, then see where I end up. 

Still, I could have a link for purchasing...just in case...maybe so. I will do a few sketches and see. 

I feel a little aimless right now.

still stuck, but why?

It has been so long since I have posted here. This is one of my four blogs (yes, four). Not that I have that much to say, (obviously, since my last post here was over a month ago). This blog was created to go in tandem with the last business that I started and failed at. The nice thing about starting businesses online is that there is little cost in doing so. The only real cost is the time spent in the start up.

Now, this blog mainly serves as a write-out-my-issues-and-inspirations-while-starting-an-online-business platform.

I am not sure that I need or even want to continue with this blog. Lately, I have just been flying by the seat of my pants. And when I say "flying" I mean sitting. I have not had a chance to work on anything business related in about 2 weeks. My actual job has been pretty demanding lately. I hosted an Art show at my school. It was really good! But really time consuming.

When I get home, it is all family time, and when the kids go to bed, it is dishes and QT. Which hasn't really happened today. I don't really know what I am trying to get across here. I want to continue with this business venture, but I am afraid that I won't have the time to commit to it.

Time is always an issue. I really need to believe that this service is necessary to continue in its creation.

I just finished a book Start With Why by Simon Sinek. It was really good and made me think a lot about why I do the things that I do. Not only in my business but also in my life.

Why do I want to start this particular business?

1. I want to have the opportunity to stay home if I want to.
2. I want to have lessons of my own that can taught while I am not there if necessary.
3. I want kids to be able to work at their own pace.
4. I want to connect with other art teachers to see if there is a better way of doing the things that I do.

Are those good whys? Is it too much? Simon said his why was "To inspire"...It sounds so empty, so...vague. But should I make mine something easier to remember?

Maybe it ought to be something like "To provide students with a comprehensive learning platform that will allow them to learn at their own pace and in their own learning style." Perhaps that is my why and the other stuff is just the effects of that why. I like that. Keeping the students in mind as I am creating.

I want to have these things for my own students, so I may as well do it for my classroom and just put it online whenever I get it done. Bare bones, just get it up and start communicating with other teachers. Start working on this blog thing, plan to blog once a week.

There are so many things that I need to do. I never know where to start. I think I want to have some weekly things that I want to do, and the blog will be the start of that.

wish me luck!

It's official

I now have a domain name:

Digitalartteacher.com

I think I'm ready, I just have the time to follow through with it. 

So what are my next steps?

1. Set up my website

2. Build some content

3. Start promoting

     -Pinterest

4. Record more videos

Mustn't fail again...

I'm scared. I don't want to fail again. I know that failure is only failure if you don't get up and try again. But it just never seems like I will get to the point where I will succeed.

I've started so many businesses that it failed. I tried Mary Kay for a couple years, or really a couple of months and then I just had a lot of makeup for a couple of years. In fact, I think I still have some Mary Kay makeup in my vanity.

I thought about making tutorials on how to do different art techniques. But then I did nothing with it; there's probably a video of me painting somewhere on one of our hard drives.

Then there was the Amazon experience where I went out and bought things at retail stores on clearance and tried to sell them on Amazon. It works… Sort of, but I hated it in the end. I ended up dreading the clearance aisle at stores because I knew that I would have to look for objects to sell, and then became no fun to go bargain shopping.

Most recently I started trying to sell things on Etsy, again, now that I think about it. I think that I tried it a few years back with no success then either. In the end I just didn't enjoy what I was trying to do enough to keep doing it. Making digital cards is all well and fun, but a lot of people do that, I was having difficulty making my cards unique.

I think one of the issues with all those business flops was that I didn't really believe in what I was doing. I hear stories on Brilliant Business Moms podcast about women who build a business from the bottom up from an idea that really meant a lot to them. They're passionate about what they're doing.

Am I passionate enough about building lesson plans and video tutorials for Digital arts to follow through with it? Or is this just another thing that I'm trying? I think that it would be a good idea. I feel like people would like it, but would people buy it?

I just don't know.

I really enjoy having video tutorials for my students to work on. I believe that it is the best way to teach digital art, simply because some people just get it and some will need a lot of remediation. And if they have video instruction that they can go back and look at and repeat different parts without dragging the whole class with them, it makes the experience more enjoyable for all parties involved, including and especially myself. It allows me to really help the students who are struggling without feeling guilty for stopping the more advanced students.

It may even be a system that can work for schools that don't have art teachers. However, I don't want to admit that our teachers are obsolete. I think that piece of information makes me feel a little uneasy about selling my product. On the other hand, if a school can't afford to have an art teacher, this would at least be a way that they could get art. I would just feel bad because I would feel like I was taking place of an art teacher.

But no video can take the place of an actual person. If you're not an art teacher, or at least a person with a creative open mind, then you can only help them work through video, you can't help them spur on their creativity and produce unique and dynamic artworks.

So I guess that I will be marketing toward schools that can't forward to have a digital art class. Small schools that can only have one art teacher for middle and high school or even K – 12. It would certainly make life a lot easier if they did not have to make lesson plans or find projects for kids to work on.

But it's something that I really have to believe in, I think. I need to really go for it this time!

Time

I've started listening to the flipped lifestyle podcast. Their situation is very similar to mine. They were both teachers when they started their online businesses, parents of two young children, and they started the business in the subject areas in which they taught or coached. 

They make a lot of solid points about the way that they got started. The first podcast was just an introduction. The second podcast talked about all the different ways to make money online. The third podcast talked about setting goals. And the fourth podcast, which I'm listening to right now, is talking about the time factor.

"I don't have time"

The phrase said all too often. One thing that I've been hearing a lot from all the moms who are featured on the brilliant business moms podcast is that there is no such thing as "not having time."

"We all have the same amount of time, it's just a matter of how we spend it."

I thought about this in the past, and it really is true; no matter how much I might want to deny it. "I have kids," is not an excuse for not doing other important things in your life.  

The time is there you just need to find it. This is not to say that spending time with my kids is not important to me, but there are times when I waste precious minutes with frivolous things. A TV show here, Comfort eating there. I may not be able to carve out a whole work week, but an hour or two would certainly help. 

I like the idea of documenting my time every day for a week, but that could be difficult. Do I document every minute?

Email Survey

I almost have one lesson completely planned out. I am just trying to decide what to include in each lesson or unit.

My thought was to include:

• video tutorial
• instructional ppt
• basic instructions document (for students)
• lesson plan with Standards run down
• grade sheet and needed files folder

I think that this would be a good place to start. I could always add more if needed. I want to keep things very simple. And I don't want to have to change it from the way that I use it to the way that it will be set up when I sell it.

I am a little stuck on what standards to use. There are National art standards, but are these the ones that people use?  I know that Kansas has their own set of standards. If people use their state's visual art standards instead...I could never align my lessons with every state! 

So I am thinking that I will email other art teachers and perhaps principals to see what they align to or what they would like lessons to be aligned to. And perhaps some other questions, too. I just need to figure out how to set up the email so that people will, first open the email and read it, then respond to it. Do I send them to a survey service, or would they be more likely to respond to my email if I ask the questions right in the body of the email?

Perhaps I could do both...do a couple test groups... That could be good, maybe 10 of each to start, and do the top 20 schools listed in the Kansas Schools Directory. I like it. 

Now, what questions to ask, and how to set up the email:

Subject Line: Digital Art Video Tutorials and Lesson Plans

As an educator that values art in schools, I am wondering if you would take a minute to answer a couple questions. I am an Art Teacher who is trying to find an easier and more effective way to teach my students digital arts (both Graphic Design and Photography).

This year I am testing the "Flipped Classroom" technique. Requiring my students to watch instructional videos that I prepared for them instead of the traditional teaching method; standing at the front of the room demonstrating. This allows them to work at their own pace and allows me to answer specific questions for those who are struggling and engage more with individual students.

I have found that I love this method of teaching. So, I am reaching out to see if other art teachers might benefit from a set of digital arts lesson plans with video tutorials which would allow any teacher to facilitate these classes (including Photoshop and Illustrator).

I have prepared a short survey and would appreciate it if you could take a minute to answer my questions. Your responses will help me understand what needs to be included in my lesson plans as I move forward.

1. Does your school currently teach any digital art classes? (Graphic Design or Photography)
2. If not, would you consider adding a Digital Art class to your schedule if you had a set of easy to follow lesson plans and video tutorials at your disposal?
3. What standards are your visual arts teachers supposed to follow? (Example: Kansas or National  Standards)
4. What would you expect to be included in a lesson plan packet containing digital art training?

Thank you for participating,

Chelsea Lewis

Art Instructor

I think that ought to be good. Now I just need to send it out and see what happens!

What to do...

I'm trying to figure out what to do for my business. I'm listening to the brilliant business moms podcast (episode 68) again and there is so much information packed into the half hour or hour of the podcast that it is a little difficult to make time to process. I feel like there is so much that I want to do with this new business idea, but I never have the time to really think about whether or not these ideas will be beneficial for my business.

Right now I'm really just trying to build content. I'm trying to make video tutorials as my students are going through them. This helps me to see how they need to be improved before I put them on the market for profit. For the most part my tutorials are doing very well. My feedback from the students is quite positive. They really like these tutorials and they really like that they can work at their own pace. Which is going to be part of my sales pitch. 

I am just not sure if it is beneficial for me to be working on a blog or Pinterest or Facebook or setting up the website until I actually have a product. But I do like to think about the different things that I want to do. I'm just afraid that I won't have the time to develop all the little nuances of owning an online business.

The nice thing about this new business idea that I have is that I am actually using my product right now with my high school students. I'm scared to try yet another online business venture since all my previous ones have ended poorly. But...if I don't try it then I'll never know. 

I need to set goals for this business but also for my life, at least this season of my life, to help me organize my time; to help me decide what's important enough to throw my energy into and what I can eliminate from my day. I have goals that I set for the year already and I'm not doing too bad with them. I've already read a book, I have been flossing almost every day, Brian and I met with a young couple last week (we want to do that every month), and I even met a goal for my business to record a video. 

I wonder if I ought to set more goals for my business. I guess for now I can't do much more than build content. Perhaps my first goal ought to be to have a class completely set up. And what content I plan to provide. Maybe it should just be the sample lesson plan that I plan to give away. 

Reevaluate

So, it has been for ever since I have blogged here. The day after my last post, I went into labor. The list to say, I have not worked on anything for business since then. It really wasn't in the Etsy business in the end. 

I remember this amazing sense of freedom when I decided not to pursue the digital card making venture anymore. I keep mulling over the idea of starting a tutorial days digital art website. I feel like it would be a good idea, but I thought that way about all my previous failed businesses as well.

Sigh, you know what they say about Thomas Edison. If I don't try it, I may always wonder if I could've been successful. 

I hear all these podcasts about women and moms who make enough to get by. And they're happy. And I guess that I would be okay with that as well, but truth be told I want to make enough to be comfortable. It makes me feel vain to say that. If I'm going to spend the time on it, I wanted to be lucrative.

Perhaps my perspective is skewed. Maybe I need to be okay with knowing that my business won't ever be a real moneymaker. Then again, I don't really know what I consider to be successful. 1000 a month? 2000 a month? Three?

I'm reading the book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Steven Covey right now and it's really making me think. About the person that I am and the person that I want to be. I want to be more proactive, to put myself out there more. Will this business in line with the person that I want to be?

I don't know, I just don't know. Well, maybe I have to define who I really want to be before I decide if starting this business is going to help or hurt my self image.  

Hopefully as I read I will blog mine. I do want to be "highly effective person". and I think that I want to start this business. I want to help Brian provide; I just don't want it take over my life. I may be asking too much: I want it to be successful, but I also don't want to spend that much time on the business.

I know that all these questions will take time to answer. I just hope that I am diligent enough to take the time to find answers.