My Generation doesn't do SELFIES

It's SELFIE SUNDAY

I was doing a bit of research into the origin of the "Selfie".  I was surprised to find that the word is supposedly used for the first time in 2003

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna is given credit for taking the first teenage girl selfie in 1913 using a brownie camera and a mirror.  Who would have guessed it would be a teenage girl.  According to what I could find on Wikipedia, the first published online use of the word is recorded in 2001 and did you know that "Selfie" was the 2013 Word of the Year?  It has quite an interesting history for use.  

I know that I never feel completely comfortable with this forward facing camera option and even with my fancy selfie stick, I still feel a bit of anxiety.  I'm always squinting and never really sure how to tilt my head.  So you might wonder why I would designate Sunday as "Selfie Sunday" on my new marketing plan for 2024.  

Well, I have several reasons that I have convinced myself that this is a good idea.  1.  It is proven that people want to see the face behind the art.  To effectively sell art, you really have to sell yourself.  People are more likely to purchase from you if they feel a connection to you.  So selfies are a way to get myself out there.  2.  They document the time when I created the piece.  For some time now, I have tried to take a picture of myself holding a new piece of artwork when I finished it.  This gives me a memory of the piece and is something that will help me promote my art down the road.  I guess I have been doing selfies for a while, except I have my husband holding the camera.  Does that count as a selfie?  3.  Taking selfies is going to improve my photography skills by looking for fun and creative ways to take photos.  It will get me out of the house and out into nature or always looking for cool or fun places to take a photo.  I promise that I will not be doing any risky selfies on the edge of a ledge. You know that this girl is scared of heights!

So, my first Sunday Selfie to share with you is this one that I took back in September of 2019.  This is a picture of us off of Pole Line Road in Ely, Nevada.  That particular year we enjoyed staying at the Valley View RV Park for a whole 2 months.  This was the last year that we were able to find a long term space at the RV park because once COVID broke out, there was never any space for us.  I guess we showed them, because in 2023 we purchased our own 5 acres just a stones throw from there.  We just fell in love with the little mining town and the beautiful mountains and all that amazing wildlife.  Quite a contrast from the Wild Life you find living in Las Vegas. 

I Love Me a Good Spreadsheet - 5 spreadsheets that I use to run my small business

 

 

I have always loved a good spreadsheet. I remember the first program I tried to learn was called Lotus 123 but that was just too hard for me to figure out and since I didn't have a good practical application for it at work at that time.  That was so many years ago and I was one of those girls that would grab a green column work pad and my trusty Monroe adding machine to keep track of my numbers.  Do you remember those really long pads that had like double pages in them?  I sure do.  

Well, it wasn't too many years and I was converted to using an Excel spreadsheet.  I was never a master at it but I sure loved how it could do calculations along with sorting numbers.  I used spreadsheets often  in my daily career.  

When I retired from the church and decided to start my own small business from home, the need for spreadsheets was even greater.  I didn't want to spend lots of money on accounting software so I just started keeping my books on Excel.  Eventually, my version of Microsoft Office became obsolete, so I was more or less forced to switch over to Google sheets.  I'm actually glad because I love the ability to have access from any computer and even my mobile devices.  Very handy.

So you might wonder what spreadsheets that I depend on to keep my business running smoothly.  Here are the 5 main spreadsheets that I use on almost a daily basis.

📈1.  I keep my books on a spreadsheet.  I have sheets for each month that I track the revenues and expenses on.  I can see how much sales revenue is generated from my website, Etsy shops, royalties and other sources.  Each deposit to my bank account is there and I then spread that revenue out into specific categories.  I know how much I have sold in stickers, greeting cards, recipe cards and so on.  I do the same with all my expenses.  Each monthly report is rolled into a one page summary report that I use when I calculate my schedule C for my income taxes.  I even have a sheet that calculates my quarterly sales tax liability to make it easy for filing my state reports.  I would be LOST without this spreadsheet!

📈2. Mileage Log - I have my business mileage log set up on a spreadsheet and it has been a game changer when it comes time to calculate my taxes.  It is so much easier to keep a perpetual record when I can just enter my odometer reading into the spreadsheet on my phone each time I head to the post office or to and art gallery.  

📈3.  Cost of Good Sold - I keep a spreadsheet on all my supply costs and have that roll into a finished product sheet.  It is amazing how you think in your head how much something costs you to make but this way, I know for certain.  When purchasing more paper or shipping supplies I can just update the per item cost and it will automatically adjust my finished product costs.  This allows me to price my art and gift merchandise accurately and I know my profit margin.

📈4.  One of my newer spreadsheets that I have started using is one I call my Art Inventory.  I have so many online listings between all my shops that I can't remember what I've gotten done and what I need to be working on.  This spreadsheet gives me a focus.  When I make a listing I document the name, the date I created the listing, and then if I have added the item to all of my online shops.  I also have a column to track if I have posted Pinterest pins, updated mockups and videos for each of the items.  This spreadsheet has really become an invaluable time saving tool for my business.

📈5.  My most recent spreadsheet that I have created is one I use more like a vision or goal board.  I know there are programs that I can pay to track my schedule and keep track of my goals and daily to do lists but I don't really want to learn another program or pay for another monthly subscription.  So I decided I could accomplish much of the same thing on a spreadsheet.  I love how it looks and there is just something about tracking your goals for each month and quarter.  It is available for me no matter where I am and I LOVE that.  

If you are interested in getting more information about any of  these spreadsheets, I would be happy to help.  Just send me a message or leave a comment below.  Just remember, if you are a small business owner,  A SPREADSHEET IS YOUR BEST FRIEND!