With no fanfare, and not even any real discussion, I decided that selling It Works isn't for me. I thought about quitting in the beginning when I didn't get a super warm reception from family and friends, but decided to push on through and give it a real chance. In the end, for me, that was about 3 months. About a week before I officially quit, I just couldn't stop thinking about it. Much like the decision to join, once that gut feeling was there, I knew that following it was the right thing to do.
I'm actually really happy with the whole experience. I'm glad I decided to give it a try. I don't have to question "what if?" down the road. I did meet some nice people. I pushed my comfort zone, and I feel pretty happy with the way I was in it too. I was sure to try to make any social media post that related to my business genuine. I didn't go balls to the wall and try to push products or the distributor gig on everyone I know, which is probably one of the things you are supposed to do to be successful, but I did reach out from time to time when I really thought that it might be right for someone. Some people were interested, most weren't, and that's totally fine. Like I mentioned, I wasn't interested myself for over 2 years. Maybe, given time, it would have been like that down the road if I'd decided to stick it out, but I decided that it wasn't worth it for me. I didn't start out with much in the way of "quick wins" or momentum, and I decided that the best thing for me would be to let it go before I was in for too long. It was getting a little difficult self-esteem-wise to separate people not wanting to buy a product with worrying if people maybe didn't like me either, you know? I would feel a little sad if I couldn't "grow" my networks, and I don't like to worry about that kind of thing. I think it can really bring you down if you need to focus on big numbers and needing to convert those numbers to sales rather than just getting to know people, and that's how I prefer to use my social media. That, and a record of projects I've made or books I've read or whatever. Just personal, not business. That's my happy place.
In case anyone is ever wondering, it wasn't hard at all to "get out." All I did was turn off my personal shipments for products as well as for my website....and I think that's it? I did export my customer list and passed that along to my upline so that she can take care of them. Being a customer is actually a pretty decent arrangement, and something I might end up doing myself. I had actually ordered a 90 day supply of the Greens in my last shipment, as well as my face lotion, so I'm probably good for awhile. You get the same pricing as a distributor when you are a customer, so the real incentive to distribute is if you're going to get out there and build a big network of customers and teammates, and in the end, that wasn't me.
Blink and you'll have missed it, but here ends my tenure in direct sales. :)
I make things. I can't seem to help it.
Friday, November 4, 2016
Monday, October 24, 2016
Podcast Episode 5 show notes
Podcast episode 5 is up! You can either listen below or subscribe in iTunes. You can search for Cozy Cape Cottage, or click this link. (Note: the iTunes link will update in 24 hrs. I was using soundcloud to host my podcast, but I didn't realize that it was only giving me 3 hours....TOTAL! I thought it was 3 hours per month. Sigh - I'm moving over to podbean. Hopefully I've set it up so that the old episodes will still show up in iTunes. So complicated!) Edit to add: NOPE! You probably will need to re-subscribe in order to get new episodes. So sorry about that! #techfail
Links mentioned:
Knitting
Love the Winter hat
Ease pullover
Strie socks
Gingell socks
Simple Hat
Sewing:
Lola dress
Tinkerbell costume
Classes:
Sarah Eichorn natural dying class
Wild Haven Fiber Company
Books:
Loving Frank
The Wonder by Emma Donaughue
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Mari Condo
The Modern Natural Dyer, Vejar
Natural Color, Duerr
Harvesting Color, Burgess
A Garden to Dye For, McLaughlin
Contact links
email - cozycapecottage@gmail.com
instagram
ravelry
facebook
Music courtesy Bensound.com
Links mentioned:
Knitting
Love the Winter hat
Ease pullover
Strie socks
Gingell socks
Simple Hat
Sewing:
Lola dress
Tinkerbell costume
Classes:
Sarah Eichorn natural dying class
Wild Haven Fiber Company
Books:
Loving Frank
The Wonder by Emma Donaughue
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Mari Condo
The Modern Natural Dyer, Vejar
Natural Color, Duerr
Harvesting Color, Burgess
A Garden to Dye For, McLaughlin
Contact links
email - cozycapecottage@gmail.com
ravelry
Music courtesy Bensound.com
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
October 2016 Day in the Life
According to my sidebar, I did one of these posts a year and a half ago, and it's also one of my most popular posts! I haven't been moved to do it in a while, but this year, something about it spoke to me, so here we go!
Again, I chose a Monday, but that's just a coincidence. It's still my day off, and I still love that schedule. I woke up around 6:30, which sadly is sleeping in, and even more sadly is hours later than it was a few months ago. Everyone slept all night too, so it was a relatively restful sleep. It's October and a gorgeous fall day. It's cool this morning, but should be nice later.
Feeling a bit like a mad scientist, I crush up some vitamins in almond yogurt (fun with food allergies!), and make some coffee in the french press. Which, can I just say, I think I'm doing fancy coffee wrong. I don't have a teapot, so I have to heat the water up in the microwave, and half the time I don't get to the second cup in the carafe while it's still hot, and I have to nuke it anyway. None of this is fancy. I should be demoted back to drip coffee with the hot plate to keep the second cup warm. I also threw in a load of laundry.
Breakfast is followed by playtime, and I remember that I'd planned to put something in the slow cooker for dinner. Yesterday I pulled out both chicken and a roast to defrost. The roast was still a bit frozen, so I decided on chicken, and, feeling uninspired, I googled. Cilantro lime chicken tacos sounded good, but I didn't have any salsa. Knowing I was probably making a mistake as I did it...I put in tomato sauce instead. I know, I'm ashamed. I didn't actually have any cilantro either, so I put in parsley and wondered if this was even going to be edible. I finished up in the kitchen and unloaded the dishwasher. At this point it is about 9:30
I was surprised to see a familiar face on the tv when I walked back into the living room. A dad of a school friend was on some morning show talking about bike and pedestrian safety. I was glad that I was able to go back to the top of the segment to catch his name and confirm that he WAS who I thought he was. I have such a hard time recognizing people "out of context".
After that we settled back in for some more playing while I played my youtube "watch later" list in the background. I was treated to a podcast episode from Susan B. Anderson. I just love her, and knitting podcasts in general are just so great because you are nearly guaranteed that there won't be anything offensive to little ears. I pulled the sheets out of the washer and threw in the still gross shower curtain liner again with a couple of towels in super hot water to see if I could get rid of the mildew spot I had been trying to address. We have a block window on the back wall of our shower that is super not waterproof, so we have a clear shower curtain hung in front of it. We don't open and close it frequently since that's not the in and out curtain, and I had noticed a couple weeks back that I hadn't noticed a hidden fold and it was looking yuck. Spoiler alert, my plan didn't work.
Naptime = me time. 10 am, and I get set up to do some yoga. A friend saw my complaining that the 90 min P90X workout is just way too flippin long to get through, so he shared the newer version from P90X 3 with me (no, I did not know there was more than one version!). This one is only 30 minutes which is MUCH more manageable with my limited free time. I was surprised that it wasn't a super tough workout, but instead more on the level of a moderate flow class. Other than my lack of flexibility, I could do all the poses with the group, and only nixed the extra stuff like pushups during vinyasa and some of the more difficult yoga trick toward the end - I did manage all of the balance poses though, even crow!
Then I grabbed a quick shower and another #nomakeup selfie. In fact I skipped makeup all day because lazy.
I still had a little time, so I headed downstairs to continue working on a Halloween costume. So many layers of slippery, sheer fabric going through my poor machine. What a pain.
Around noon I stopped to get lunch going. We had leftovers, one with cheese, one sad without. Same serving sizes, and still the small one screeched when the food was gone. Which is nuts. Little bottomless pit!
I got the mail, and my husband is apparently A List now on Southwest. This is great and horrible, because we should get upgraded seat assignments if we can ever get away, and horrible because it means he's logged enough trips to have earned that status.
We headed outside for a bit to enjoy the weather. It was very nice in the sun without our jackets on, but there was just enough crispness in the air that I half regretted not putting them on. Oh well, I knew we wouldn't be out for long.
When we got back inside, it seemed like I was going to get a few non-hands on minutes, so I sat down to frog back a couple rows of a pair of socks. Now that I'm on the home stretch of my other in progress pair, I wanted to get these back to a pick up and go spot. I had started them back in June when I was doing a test knit for Chrissy and I didn't love how they were going so I switched from the pattern to just doing stockinette...but then I didn't like that either and decided to go back to the original plan. So that meant ripping back several rows of plain knitting. Props to the Kroy yarn, I think I only dropped two stitches....despite all this fun going on as I ripped.
3 pm, and naptime again. I mixed up my daily glass of greens. I'm surprised again and again how much I really like this stuff! I like the taste, I like that it makes me drink more water, and I like that I have more energy and have NOT caught the plague which is constantly surrounding me from my coworkers! I've been ordering the "old" version because they are on sale and I'm cheap. :) (Also, Miller glass - #milwaukee)
The skirt is now attached to the costume, and I set about installing the zipper. I hate installing zippers, and am extra nervous about all of those slippery layers and fluffiness. I put on Buffy to keep me company (YES I watch a lot of tv), and it's the horrible, sad episode where her mom dies. Still gets me, every time.
I get the zipper in, hold it up, and have done a crap job. I put it aside for now and contemplate redoing it. One the one hand, it's just a kid costume. On the other, it's an opportunity to practice a skill I suck at. I'll probably decide to fix it, but not today. I head upstairs, continue watching Buffy (alternating with Angel because I'm watching them all in original airing order because my friend Maggie mentioned doing that once) and started the first colorwork rows of my hat. So far, so good!
4:30, and the rest of the evening hours fly by in a flash. It turns out we didn't even have any tortillas, so I popped out to Target when my husband got home to grab those and some other random things, including the crazy pea protein milk I can ONLY get at Target (annoying) (I could also go to Whole Foods, but it's not conveniently located for me, and probably more expensive) and some new shower curtains because I give up. And fell victim to a $5 deal at the checkout line, which reminded me that I forgot to grab that movie as I flew out the door to return at the library. I made a mental note to drop it off before work Tuesday so we don't get fined. I stopped by my parent's house on the way home to collect my other child. We ate dinner, and while it definitely wasn't cilantro lime chicken (how can it be when you are missing 2/5 ingredients!?), it was edible, so that's good. After dinner we watched some Hocus Pocus before bedtimes for about an hour.
After bedtime, my husband and I popped on the Netflix series we are watching (oh my GOD we are going on some kind of screen time diet!!!), Bloodline. We are about halfway through season 2. It's ok, but it's something we can watch together, so that's always points positive. By the end of the episode, I finished the colorwork portion of my hat, hooray! I even learned how to "catch my floats" in the middle sections of the hearts.
10 pm, weirdly on the dot, and it's time for bed for me. Tonight's featured 20 minutes of podcast is an episode of the crafty planner, which is an interview based show by a former city planner. I usually have no idea who her guest is, but the host does a lot of research and asks pretty insightful questions, and I like that. Happily, I fall asleep easily.
Again, I chose a Monday, but that's just a coincidence. It's still my day off, and I still love that schedule. I woke up around 6:30, which sadly is sleeping in, and even more sadly is hours later than it was a few months ago. Everyone slept all night too, so it was a relatively restful sleep. It's October and a gorgeous fall day. It's cool this morning, but should be nice later.
Feeling a bit like a mad scientist, I crush up some vitamins in almond yogurt (fun with food allergies!), and make some coffee in the french press. Which, can I just say, I think I'm doing fancy coffee wrong. I don't have a teapot, so I have to heat the water up in the microwave, and half the time I don't get to the second cup in the carafe while it's still hot, and I have to nuke it anyway. None of this is fancy. I should be demoted back to drip coffee with the hot plate to keep the second cup warm. I also threw in a load of laundry.
Breakfast is followed by playtime, and I remember that I'd planned to put something in the slow cooker for dinner. Yesterday I pulled out both chicken and a roast to defrost. The roast was still a bit frozen, so I decided on chicken, and, feeling uninspired, I googled. Cilantro lime chicken tacos sounded good, but I didn't have any salsa. Knowing I was probably making a mistake as I did it...I put in tomato sauce instead. I know, I'm ashamed. I didn't actually have any cilantro either, so I put in parsley and wondered if this was even going to be edible. I finished up in the kitchen and unloaded the dishwasher. At this point it is about 9:30
I was surprised to see a familiar face on the tv when I walked back into the living room. A dad of a school friend was on some morning show talking about bike and pedestrian safety. I was glad that I was able to go back to the top of the segment to catch his name and confirm that he WAS who I thought he was. I have such a hard time recognizing people "out of context".
After that we settled back in for some more playing while I played my youtube "watch later" list in the background. I was treated to a podcast episode from Susan B. Anderson. I just love her, and knitting podcasts in general are just so great because you are nearly guaranteed that there won't be anything offensive to little ears. I pulled the sheets out of the washer and threw in the still gross shower curtain liner again with a couple of towels in super hot water to see if I could get rid of the mildew spot I had been trying to address. We have a block window on the back wall of our shower that is super not waterproof, so we have a clear shower curtain hung in front of it. We don't open and close it frequently since that's not the in and out curtain, and I had noticed a couple weeks back that I hadn't noticed a hidden fold and it was looking yuck. Spoiler alert, my plan didn't work.
Naptime = me time. 10 am, and I get set up to do some yoga. A friend saw my complaining that the 90 min P90X workout is just way too flippin long to get through, so he shared the newer version from P90X 3 with me (no, I did not know there was more than one version!). This one is only 30 minutes which is MUCH more manageable with my limited free time. I was surprised that it wasn't a super tough workout, but instead more on the level of a moderate flow class. Other than my lack of flexibility, I could do all the poses with the group, and only nixed the extra stuff like pushups during vinyasa and some of the more difficult yoga trick toward the end - I did manage all of the balance poses though, even crow!
Then I grabbed a quick shower and another #nomakeup selfie. In fact I skipped makeup all day because lazy.
I still had a little time, so I headed downstairs to continue working on a Halloween costume. So many layers of slippery, sheer fabric going through my poor machine. What a pain.
Around noon I stopped to get lunch going. We had leftovers, one with cheese, one sad without. Same serving sizes, and still the small one screeched when the food was gone. Which is nuts. Little bottomless pit!
I got the mail, and my husband is apparently A List now on Southwest. This is great and horrible, because we should get upgraded seat assignments if we can ever get away, and horrible because it means he's logged enough trips to have earned that status.
We headed outside for a bit to enjoy the weather. It was very nice in the sun without our jackets on, but there was just enough crispness in the air that I half regretted not putting them on. Oh well, I knew we wouldn't be out for long.
When we got back inside, it seemed like I was going to get a few non-hands on minutes, so I sat down to frog back a couple rows of a pair of socks. Now that I'm on the home stretch of my other in progress pair, I wanted to get these back to a pick up and go spot. I had started them back in June when I was doing a test knit for Chrissy and I didn't love how they were going so I switched from the pattern to just doing stockinette...but then I didn't like that either and decided to go back to the original plan. So that meant ripping back several rows of plain knitting. Props to the Kroy yarn, I think I only dropped two stitches....despite all this fun going on as I ripped.
3 pm, and naptime again. I mixed up my daily glass of greens. I'm surprised again and again how much I really like this stuff! I like the taste, I like that it makes me drink more water, and I like that I have more energy and have NOT caught the plague which is constantly surrounding me from my coworkers! I've been ordering the "old" version because they are on sale and I'm cheap. :) (Also, Miller glass - #milwaukee)
The skirt is now attached to the costume, and I set about installing the zipper. I hate installing zippers, and am extra nervous about all of those slippery layers and fluffiness. I put on Buffy to keep me company (YES I watch a lot of tv), and it's the horrible, sad episode where her mom dies. Still gets me, every time.
I get the zipper in, hold it up, and have done a crap job. I put it aside for now and contemplate redoing it. One the one hand, it's just a kid costume. On the other, it's an opportunity to practice a skill I suck at. I'll probably decide to fix it, but not today. I head upstairs, continue watching Buffy (alternating with Angel because I'm watching them all in original airing order because my friend Maggie mentioned doing that once) and started the first colorwork rows of my hat. So far, so good!
4:30, and the rest of the evening hours fly by in a flash. It turns out we didn't even have any tortillas, so I popped out to Target when my husband got home to grab those and some other random things, including the crazy pea protein milk I can ONLY get at Target (annoying) (I could also go to Whole Foods, but it's not conveniently located for me, and probably more expensive) and some new shower curtains because I give up. And fell victim to a $5 deal at the checkout line, which reminded me that I forgot to grab that movie as I flew out the door to return at the library. I made a mental note to drop it off before work Tuesday so we don't get fined. I stopped by my parent's house on the way home to collect my other child. We ate dinner, and while it definitely wasn't cilantro lime chicken (how can it be when you are missing 2/5 ingredients!?), it was edible, so that's good. After dinner we watched some Hocus Pocus before bedtimes for about an hour.
After bedtime, my husband and I popped on the Netflix series we are watching (oh my GOD we are going on some kind of screen time diet!!!), Bloodline. We are about halfway through season 2. It's ok, but it's something we can watch together, so that's always points positive. By the end of the episode, I finished the colorwork portion of my hat, hooray! I even learned how to "catch my floats" in the middle sections of the hearts.
10 pm, weirdly on the dot, and it's time for bed for me. Tonight's featured 20 minutes of podcast is an episode of the crafty planner, which is an interview based show by a former city planner. I usually have no idea who her guest is, but the host does a lot of research and asks pretty insightful questions, and I like that. Happily, I fall asleep easily.
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Podcast Episode 4 show notes
Podcast episode 4 is up! You can either listen below or subscribe in iTunes. You can search for Cozy Cape Cottage, or click this link. (I'm not sure why episode 4 doesn't show up in the store list, but it did download in my iTunes subscription, so it's there somewhere)
Thank you to 3grrrls and Trinka11 for the sweet iTunes reviews. So exciting and unexpected to see those pop up!
I finished the podster mittens!
Finished - shop sample for the mitten class - still some spots available! We will be using Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride worsted.
I mention the stretchy slipknot cast on
With one project off my needles, I went back and picked up 2 others that have been in progress for quite a while.
Ease pullover by Alicia Plummer, on the needles since February. I want to wear it this fall! I prefer the funnel neck, so now that I'm done knitting the hem, I'm going to divide my last ball to knit the sleeves 2 at a time, and judge the leftovers to see if I can squeak out the funnel neck.
Strie toe up socks by Lara Neel, Sock Architecture. Finished a full color repeat during WI Sheep and Wool. Did a lot of trial and error on turning the heels before just going through all of Lara's calculations as my stitch count is smaller than the pattern sizing due to sport weight yarn. When math4knitters gives you math to do....just do it.
Started Love the Winter hat by Emily Dormier using leftover pink HiKoo worsted from a sweater for my niece, and random stash yarn in white.
Ease pullover by Alicia Plummer, on the needles since February. I want to wear it this fall! I prefer the funnel neck, so now that I'm done knitting the hem, I'm going to divide my last ball to knit the sleeves 2 at a time, and judge the leftovers to see if I can squeak out the funnel neck.
Strie toe up socks by Lara Neel, Sock Architecture. Finished a full color repeat during WI Sheep and Wool. Did a lot of trial and error on turning the heels before just going through all of Lara's calculations as my stitch count is smaller than the pattern sizing due to sport weight yarn. When math4knitters gives you math to do....just do it.
Started Love the Winter hat by Emily Dormier using leftover pink HiKoo worsted from a sweater for my niece, and random stash yarn in white.
I started spinning a new project, my first merino. I'm almost finished with the third bobbin, so I'm looking forward to plying, and to redoing part of the too tightly plied brown yarn from last time.
I talk a little bit about my sewing debacles described in the last post. I've let out some of the seams on my Lola dress and the fit is quite a bit better, but not perfect. I'm also working on a Halloween costume, Tinkerbell from Simplicity 1792. The size 4 measurements should have fit perfectly, but I think I'm going to start again using size 4 measurements at the neck but grading out to size 5 at the waistline for a little more ease and hopes of wearing it again in the future. Luckily (?) the pattern wildly overestimated the amount of satin fabric I'd need.
After the crafting segments, I talk about teaching crochet 101, WI Sheep and Wool, acquisitions
Contact links
email - cozycapecottage@gmail.com
instagram
ravelry
facebook
After the crafting segments, I talk about teaching crochet 101, WI Sheep and Wool, acquisitions
Contact links
email - cozycapecottage@gmail.com
ravelry
Thursday, October 6, 2016
This is why they don't like you
Did you guys know there is such a thing as Instagram strategy? And that, at least to some people, it involves being annoying?
I never really experienced this whole thing of people following you, maybe leaving a random comment on a post, and then unfollowing you about 3 hours later until I started doing occasional it works posts. And I just...I'm so confused! How on earth is this a good strategy, and what are they trying to accomplish?
I'm not naive, I totally get that social media can be an effective marketing tool, and that gaining followers is a goal. You gain followers, you build a relationship, they buy your product because they like you, they believe in you, and they believe in your product. That makes sense, and that's fine. I've been on the consumer end of this relationship for podcasters I like, indie dyers, etsy shops, even some bigger brands, and it's pretty straightforward. Some of these accounts are purely for advertising and I don't expect anything from them other than pretty pictures, but some I do expect a little bit more personal interaction. Maybe not for them to follow me back, but to at least occasionally respond to a comment if I've left one or whatever. I just basically expect people to be straightforward. As I get older, I just don't have time for less.
Personally, I've been keeping an eye on my follower numbers just to make sure that I'm not losing people who might be turned off by too many it works posts. So maybe I do have a strategy, and it's called "not being annoying." The thing I've noticed most though is a rotation of accounts that are either about growing your social media, direct sales leads, or it works automatons who must be secondary accounts designed to be exclusively sales because there is NO evidence that there is an actual personality behind them....and they follow, unfollow, follow, unfollow....and it leaves me somewhere between befuddled and side eye. This kind of thing doesn't really affect my life in a real way...but I just don't get it! If I was going to try to gain or buy followers (I'm not), first, what would be the point, and second, why would I go to you to get them when your weird behavior has completely turned me off to YOU?
Increasing numbers just to increase them....that's just stupid. I prefer my relationships to be real, thanks! I'll continue to follow and friend people I like, people I find inspiring, products I find interesting, and I hope that others do the same.
EDIT to add that I've already had 2 follow/unfollows since writing this post 4 hours ago. I still don't get it.
I never really experienced this whole thing of people following you, maybe leaving a random comment on a post, and then unfollowing you about 3 hours later until I started doing occasional it works posts. And I just...I'm so confused! How on earth is this a good strategy, and what are they trying to accomplish?
I'm not naive, I totally get that social media can be an effective marketing tool, and that gaining followers is a goal. You gain followers, you build a relationship, they buy your product because they like you, they believe in you, and they believe in your product. That makes sense, and that's fine. I've been on the consumer end of this relationship for podcasters I like, indie dyers, etsy shops, even some bigger brands, and it's pretty straightforward. Some of these accounts are purely for advertising and I don't expect anything from them other than pretty pictures, but some I do expect a little bit more personal interaction. Maybe not for them to follow me back, but to at least occasionally respond to a comment if I've left one or whatever. I just basically expect people to be straightforward. As I get older, I just don't have time for less.
Personally, I've been keeping an eye on my follower numbers just to make sure that I'm not losing people who might be turned off by too many it works posts. So maybe I do have a strategy, and it's called "not being annoying." The thing I've noticed most though is a rotation of accounts that are either about growing your social media, direct sales leads, or it works automatons who must be secondary accounts designed to be exclusively sales because there is NO evidence that there is an actual personality behind them....and they follow, unfollow, follow, unfollow....and it leaves me somewhere between befuddled and side eye. This kind of thing doesn't really affect my life in a real way...but I just don't get it! If I was going to try to gain or buy followers (I'm not), first, what would be the point, and second, why would I go to you to get them when your weird behavior has completely turned me off to YOU?
Increasing numbers just to increase them....that's just stupid. I prefer my relationships to be real, thanks! I'll continue to follow and friend people I like, people I find inspiring, products I find interesting, and I hope that others do the same.
EDIT to add that I've already had 2 follow/unfollows since writing this post 4 hours ago. I still don't get it.
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