I haven’t answered any of your questions on the blog for awhile.
I asked for questions on our Facebook Business Page this week.
Here are some of your questions and my answers.
Keep your questions coming:-)
Heather asked
How do you handle blatant knock offs of your work? And, how do you feel about others selling your packaging as their own? (For instance, I went to a local antique mall and noticed several burlap bags with a 5 stamped on them, with a piece of rolled up french script and a merci tag all attached together, in a booth. I mentioned it to the store proprietor, but wondered how you, as the artist and creator felt about it.
This is a really good one. I am very open with my readers and I really try to share my experiences hoping they will help others. I sure appreciate when someone that is ahead of me in business shares their knowledge. I share photos of my work, my packaging, and of course you see the packaging when you receive your order. My clothing, bags etc are all online for everyone to see. My best answer to this is that I have friends that have done online art courses. I see their work reproduced all of the time and I always know it is reproduced. Does that make sense? It doesn’t ever look as good as the original. Even if it does….hopefully that artist/business owner has moved on and is on to their next creative idea. I also think people imitating your work pushes you to make new things and stretches you. The old thing loses its appeal. I guess I better change up some of my packaging now:-)
Tracy asked
Is there any creative business tip/advice that as soon as you shared it, it sort of snowballed out of control and you wished you’d never shared?
I really believe that you get more from sharing than keeping things to yourself. At this point I have never regretted anything I have shared. I hope I never do. I hope I will also have the discernment to know if there is anything I shouldn’t share.
Kip asked
What’s the latest status on your Dad? Are you talking to him?
I guess I did say you guys could ask anything:-) I forget that even though I don’t talk about it much.. I have talked about it and you may wonder about things. I have reached out to my father over the past year to try to talk about his actions and the pain it has caused our family. He is not interested at this time to hear about our pain and would like us to move on. Because of this there is no desire on my part of have a superficial relationship. I am constantly working on forgiveness in this situation. I have had to forgive him many times in my past and I know I will this time too. Please know that I do not have a heart of hatred for him but of sadness for what his actions have caused.
Kimberly asked
How many hours do you spend on homeschooling each day and do you follow a structured schedule for working on your business?
I get this one a lot! A lot! I would like to say that I honestly believe that I have more time for my business because I homeshool. I know that sounds crazy but we don’t have homework at night, no volunteering at school, no unexpected big projects, no driving kids to school and then picking them up etc.
During the school year we start around 9am. Keep in mind that my two older children are pretty self motivated to be finished early so they sometimes have things done before I even wake up. Things that they can do by themselves like math, reading, memory work, piano etc can be finished before 9. I then do school with all three from 9-12:00 (sometimes 1pm). It will be a little more time added this year because Benjamin will be in first grade.
I really like to start my morning with devotions and a cup of tea or coffee. After that I will spend an hour going through emails that the business received in the night. I will use that time to answers emails, register students into one of our online classes, update orders etc. I have this all done before we start school at 9. After school the kids know that this is the time that we work on orders, new product, calls to factory/contractors, ordering of fabrics etc. There are plenty of days when no business is worked on until really late and we are playing with friends, at a museum, making art or just hanging out doing nothing. After the kids head up to bed I spend many nights checking in on social media, answering emails and working on blog posts. I guess I work on business in the free moments throughout the day. Some days there are more free moments than others and some days there are no free moments. My children are amazing about understanding when I have to get things done. They are good about this because they know how many days we just have fun all day and no work is done. I really do work 7 days a week though..even if I just check in and make sure things are ok. I have just hired an assistant that I know will help give me more free time with my family and more time to create.
I know that wasn’t very detailed but I hope it gives you a little idea about the structure of our days. There is no balance in my eyes. Some days the kids get every drop of me, some days the house wins and some days the business has to get all of my attention.
If you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments section or email me at jeanneoli@hotmail.com or jeanneoliverdesigns@gmail.com
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Come visit me over at Kimberly Taylor’s blog for her “Simple Moments” series.
I love your open heart and your honest voice Jeanne. I truly respect your response to Kip’s question about your relationship with your father. I love that you don’t have a heart of hatred for him (I would find it hard to imagine you having a heart of hate for anyone) and that all you want is open dialogue so that your feelings can be heard and valued. There is nothing wrong with that at all. It’s a necessary part of who we are, like breathing. Your father must feel a great deal of guilt if he just wants everyone to put it behind them and move on and never discuss his actions and their consequences. Be true to yourself Jeanne. It’s really what matters.
As for your response to your work being copied…your’s is one of the most truthful and fully self evolved I’ve ever heard. That you know it has happened to others and that it will always happen. It’s just the way the world is when it comes to creativity. And that it forces you to move on, to challenge yourself even more — that is a wonderful attitude!
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much. Such sweet words.
Such a great post, Jeanne, and full of a heaping dose of inspiration for us!! 🙂 Thank you for sharing your heart…I think of you often and all that you have been going though regarding your dad when I see your FB posts and such. You have a beautiful heart, and I hope time will help it to heal more and more. Such a great way to look at the whole area of competition/being copied…we just have to focus on letting our story, our light shine in all we do…hard to copy that part, at least!! 🙂 Hugs to you!
I agree!
Hi Jeanne,
I love your answer about homeschooling. I will be homeschooling my 8 year old son this year who will be in the 3rd grade, and I am a bit nervous about it.
I just felt that he really needed the one on one time with someone to really teach him what he has been missing in public school. There were so many students in his class last year that I felt he was getting left behind.
Wish me luck! 🙂
Have a beautiful day.
Sincerely,
Melinda
I hope you have a wonderful first year of homeschooling. I am hoping to do a series about homeschooling soon.
fun series, jeanne. loved that homeschool/business question. it is always interesting hearing how mom’s make it work.
Or how they don’t:-) My toilets look pretty scary right now:-)
Thank you for sharing your thoughts regarding the situation with your father. It spoke to me particularly because I sometimes feel like I’m the only one who has these kinds of issues with my dad. My father, like yours, also doesn’t want to discuss how he has hurt me and my family, but says he wants to move on, and “let bygones be bygones”, but like you, I’m not interested in a superficial relationship with my dad. I remain open to having more with him, and pray that someday we will. Until then, I’m working on the difficult task of forgiving him (that task of forgiving someone who refuses to participate in the restorative process). Thanks for the vulnerability of being real.
I am so sorry that you are going through something similar. I truly am.
Hi Jeanne
I just love how open and honest you are. I appreciate you more than I can say and have loved your online classes. Thank you for sharing so much of your heart and life with all of us. You are a great blessing to me.
Kim 🙂
You are so sweet! Thank you.
Hi Jeanne, i have been following your blog for over a year now,and I love it.I came across a lovely blog recently and I thought of you. I have been following some food blogs lately, which to tell the truth, I don’t cook much, because my husband is very particular and my child has alimited menu as well, but I have enjoyed reading the recipes and love the photography. I thought you might enjoy this site/blog as well.happyolks.com
check it out!
Hi Jeanne, didn’t see the post on FBook for questions this time – but any chance you could give me your opinion on what to buy…I can finally purchase an SLR (and lenses?)!! Also looking for a printer that does giclee prints. Thanks for always giving and sharing your heart most of all. I have so enjoyed the classes 😉
I’m really looking forward to your new Petite collection and was hoping you might give us a little insight into what it was like for you to create it. I’m interested in your process and how one thing led to another.