Interview with Rebecca Thomas of Rebecca Thomas Designs, Part II
Jun1
Read Part I of this interview here.
What’s the hardest thing about starting your own business?
Honestly, the hardest thing for me in starting my own business is the fact that I’m such an introverted person. Approaching people is so necessary for my work, and it’s so difficult trying to make connections to get myself out there and known. Another problem is that I’m not comfortable talking about myself (wouldn’t know it to read this interview, but I’m really trying to get over this problem). I always figured my pieces would speak for themselves, but as I recently told someone, I know people respond better to stories, so I intend to start building stories around my designs both on the website and in the catalog I’m developing.
It also doesn’t help that I moved less than a year ago to a state where I knew a grand total of two people when I got here.
As far as telling stories around your designs, were you inspired by Seth Godin’s book, All Marketers are Liars, or this article he wrote for Fortune?
Interview with Rebecca Thomas of Rebecca Thomas Designs, Part I
Jun1
Rebecca left a comment on one of my earlier posts and included a link to her website. I was very impressed by the elegance and beauty of her jewelry designs. When I found out she was trying to start a business of her own, I knew I had to interview her!
What services/products does your business provide?
Rebecca Thomas Designs provides sterling silver wrapped wire jewelry accented with various semi-precious stones and glass beads. I offer pieces that I’ve made and also do custom and commissioned work. I also am available to teach jewelry classes, and hope to have a series of technique and project sheets available by the end of the summer.
How long have you been in business?
Truth be told, this business started under another name in the summer of 2003. A poor peformance and a series of moves led to the business not operating for about a year. I just started reorganizing and putting my pieces out for the general public again last fall. The new website and business name were launched only in the past couple of months.
Where is your business located?
The international headquarters for Rebecca Thomas Designs is located in Bothell, Washington!
Is it a home-based business? Online-only business? Retail storefront business? Full-time, part-time?
It’s a home-based business that conducts business both online through eBay and an online consignment shop (www.oldegarage.com) and offline through friends and coworkers. Eventually, I expect the website to be the major point of sale.
It’s definitely a part-time business that takes anywhere from eight to twenty hours of my week, depending on other demands on my time that week.
What kind of traditional 9 to 5 job(s) have you had in the past, if any? What are you currently doing as you build up your jewelry design business?
Off-topic: phishing schemes
Jun2
Email spam, comment spam, phishing schemes… these are some of negative things we must contend with even as we take advantage of the power of the Internet. This week’s I, Cringely column proposes a very simple way to tackle at least one of these problems. When confronted with a phishing email, go to the site and enter false information. If enough people do this, the phisher would have too much false data to sift through, thus foiling his criminal intents. It’s somewhat analogous to returning junk mail to companies in their own prepaid envelopes. Make things unprofitable enough for them and maybe they’ll quit bothering us. Anyway, I just wanted to help spread the word on this.
Business venture from right field
May5
My fiance is a very artsy and crafty person. She recently made a ring bearer pillow, flower girl basket and garter for a close friend of ours who was getting married. I was amazed at the quality of her work (no bias here, really 
) and consequently took pictures of the wedding set she made to post in an eBay auction. Lo and behold, someone bought it, so she made another set and we shipped it (after taking more pictures).
Then another friend saw the first set she made and wanted one to give as a gift. My fiance sold yet another set. This led me to whip up a simple e-commerce website for her: www.elegantweddingshoppe.com.
I also put up another eBay auction, but no one bid this time and the auction expired with no winner. I’ve since listed another eBay auction and we are trying again. This happened in a matter of weeks, but the great thing was, aside from the cost of the ebay/paypal fees and domain registration fee, which totaled less than $20, we didn’t have to put any money upfront to start this business.
I still need to learn how to market better and bring more visitors, but even with just 2 sales, this unexpected and unanticipated business venture is quite exhilarating. And I could use any marketing tips that you have!
Becoming more and more unemployable
May5
With my reluctance to work for the Man growing stronger and stronger with each passing day, I better make darn sure my businesses-in-progress will work out for the long term before quitting my job. Because once I do, I don’t think I can go back to working in a corporate purgatory. Even now, my tolerance for corporate stupidity and red tape is dwindling. I mean the hoops I had to jump through this past week just to get a static IP address! I had to go through 6 layers of people and it took a whole week just for a stinking IP address. This was for a piece of lab equipment that I couldn’t do anything further without, so just the lost productivity alone cost at least $2,000. Unfortunately, I don’t think quitting my day job is a viable option for quite a while yet.
But sometimes I think my day job is too much of a safety net. My motivation and drive may kick into a higher gear if I don’t have this day job to fall back on. On bad days, I want to just quit and make a go at it on my own, but any way I look at it, that would be an emotional decision, not a rational or wise decision. And with marriage coming into the picture, I have more than myself to think of. So I have no immediate or even short term plans to quit my job. But I can dream, right?
Everyone wants to be free from 9 to 5
May11
Since I’ve started this blog, I’ve come across many many people trying to be free from 9 to 5, in one way or another. Some, like me, are developing a software product; others are studying how to better plan and manage their career/finances; and yet others are doing things way outside my realm of expertise who I can learn from. I thought I would just round everyone up in this post and wish everyone luck in their quest to be free from 9 to 5! If I missed you, please feel free to “advertise” here with a comment on how you’re also trying to ditch the day job.
David St. Lawrence – Ripples – Bent Crow Press
Star – astepcloser.com
Darren Rowse – problogger.net
Jeremy Wright – www.ensight.org
Neville Medhora – www.nevblog.com
Cubicle Coder – cubiclecoder.blogspot.com
Phil Wright – componentfactory.blogspot.com
Dave – www.buyeranalytics.com
Ian – www.userscape.com/blog
Michael Sica – www.michaelsica.com/ataraxissoftware
Lachlan Gemmell – lachlan.gemmell.com
Chris Cox – www.leaplogic.com
Jacob – greenplans.blogspot.com
Mr. Phil – www.mrphilgames.com
Craig Cecil – www.craigcecil.com
Jon – www.outerlevel.com
Lisa Verkley – goldwingnetwork.com
Brandon Doyle – www.freewebs.com/doyle
Server Switch
May0
I switched webhosts last night for this site. Please let me know if you see any weirdness occurring.
Owning A Business Can Be Worse Than A Job
May2
Neville Medhora has a very insightful post about the down sides of trying to be free from 9 to 5 by owning your own business. Unless you think hard about the type of business and the lifestyle you want, owning your own business may not actually free you from 9 to 5.
Just do something, anything!
May3
The very act of moving forward reveals doors to you not previously revealed.
I forgot where I read that, probably from Steve Pavlina again, but I’m finding it to be true. I’m not at my destination yet, but from where I was 3 months ago, with just a day job and wishful thinking, I now have a blog, some blogosphere relationships, a software idea and a software application (or close to one). It all started with just getting started:
- I started this blog in mid-March 2005.
- I met people (other bloggers) I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t start this blog.
- One of these blogger’s post gave me an idea.
- I coded a software app.
- Developing this app gave me ideas for TWO other related apps.
- I now have a fledgling software shop of my very own!
By no means is this supporting me or anywhere close to freeing me from my 9 to 5 job yet, but things are looking a great deal brighter now. And it all started with the mere act of starting a blog.
3 months ago, I knew starting a blog wouldn’t in any way free me from my 9 to 5 job. But I didn’t know what else to do, so I just did something related, anything, and this blog was it. One thing led to another and I’m working towards my very own software shop now. There’s something very liberating about knowing this that makes my 9 to 5 job a bit more tolerable (just a bit though). And I have to believe that this new direction I’m embarking on is how my newfound attitude towards deadlines and overtime came about.
Congrats to Nick Bradbury!
May2
One of the most successful microISV’s around, Bradbury Software, has been bought by NewsGator. Nick Bradbury is moving to the next level with his popular FeedDemon and TopStyle software!