Trend Jumping in Indie Business

Unless your business is all about selling the latest trendy pieces, it's probably not in your best interest to jump on every trend that comes around.  It's fine to try them here and there if you are still trying to figure out what your brand is all about, but I think the most important thing when establishing a brand is to strive to create something lasting.  Add your own touch to every piece you create and don't worry about being like everyone else.  Because having your products stand out and be unique is way better than selling a version of what everyone else is.  That's how you create your niche.

It should be obvious that I am not saying that your business should never change.  Your business should definitely change as you do.  But too much change happening all of the time can drive customers away.

For example, I run a jewelry business.  My pieces are all very unique and in a range of styles.  They all reflect my personal taste.  I have never jumped on the statement necklace trend, the ombre trend, or the neon trend.  Despite the fact that those things were all the rage and couldn't stay on shelves, I stayed true to myself and I stayed true to my brand.  Why?  I guess it's because of my motivation for making jewelry.  I make jewelry because I love to be creative and make things that I am proud of.  If I was just in it for the money, I wouldn't mind jumping on trends.  Because let's be honest, I have made under 50 sales in the two years I've had my shop, and some people have made 50+ sales in their first month.  That's not a lot of money and it's definitely not enough for me to quit my day job.  But I make jewelry because I love it and I take pride in it.  I'm not really sure where I'm going with this.  I guess I'm just trying to say that if you're trying to make a quick buck, go ahead and jump on every single trend that comes your way, but if you make things with passion and pride, forge your own path and you'll create something that lasts.

I am Quirky, but so are You

Everyone has things that make them who they are, things that are specifically unique to them, things that might make people think they are crazy.  Here are some of mine.

I love to share recipes on my blog, but they never include measurements or cooking times. When I make up recipes, I never use measurements or cooking times. I only ever measure ingredients when I'm baking because not doing so ends in disaster for me. I like to dance around the kitchen or run back and forth from the chair to the wall while I'm waiting for water to boil, because it is so boring to just stand there and wait.

Sometimes when I blog, I'll use British phrases, though I rarely do in real life. In real life, if I try to do an accent, all I end up doing is making my voice higher pitched and say something specific to the country the accent is supposed to be from. For example,my British accent "Cheerio old chap, let's get tea with the Queen".

I love laughing at my own jokes, no matter how lame they may be. My boyfriend will tell me my joke wasn't funny and I'll reply, "I'm sorry, did you hear how much it made me laugh? I tell jokes to make me laugh, not you." I firmly believe that laughing at my own jokes (or sometimes just at myself) is the secret to my happiness, along with lots and lots of ice cream :) I am very easily entertained and it does not take much to make me laugh, and even less to make me smile.

I love having my nails painted but almost never take time out of my life to paint them.  Sometimes I'll just paint them on one hand, because I always smudge the second hand when I don't wait long enough for them to dry.  I have never gotten a professional manicure or pedicure.  I never painted my toenails until about last year.  I didn't wear makeup until I stopped being able to walk.  I found that it helped my self-esteem and sometimes made people see me as a real person and not just as that girl in the wheelchair.

I love headbanging.  Loud music makes me so motivated.  I was raised on country, but then my brother finally convinced me to listen to Metallica and there was no turning back.  Now I like very few country songs (I find them mostly whiny and complainy which is just depressing)  I love metal, but I also love classic rock, lots of folk, and most indie and alternative.  I also like hip hop now, thanks to G's influence, as well as the fact that he used to play only the same two hip hop CDs over and over in his car until I finally started singing along with parts of them.  Lately I have been dancing all the time, even when there's no music on.  I think it's because lately I've been extra happy, despite the stress of having to find a new job and place to live.

I got the idea for this post from one of my favorite blogs, Wake Up, Lovely.  If you don't read it, you probably should.  She almost always puts me in a positive mood and she has a fantastic blog design/fonts as well (I'm a design nerd.)

this picture is old but I love it, headbanging and air guitar in my pretty dress :)