Today Eliza Fayle of Silver & Grace has launched what we believe to be her true calling: A stunning line of jewelry that is sure to dazzle you. Each piece is drawn from Eliza’s inspiration from her newly rediscovered spiritual connection to the elements.

If you’re looking for a totally unique, handmade gift for the woman in your life, whether she’s your mother, daughter, sister, girlfriend or wife, you’ll be certain to find a piece that resonates with them.

Congratulations, Eliza, the Team here wishes you the utmost success and abundance with your new venture!

Take it away, Scott!

A few days ago I was at a convention of science fiction writers and podcasters. We’re all big fans of the various methods of self pub that are out there. During that weekend, more than one friend launched a book that they had put out themselves . We talked about a variety of pitfalls and pluses and I even attended a panel on that very topic. What was my takeaway?

Why would any sane person self publish?

There are a number of reasons that you shouldn’t, at least not as a first resort.

I’m primarily a fiction writer and there’s at least one major problem that I’ve run into when it comes to publishing my own short fiction. If you publish short fiction online in any form, there’s the potential that your work will be unsellable in most primary markets. The publishers that are looking to buy those shorts want First North American Serial rights. That means they want to be the first ones to put your stuff out there. Even if you don’t give up those rights by putting it out through a variety of electronic means, you might just undercut yourself in their eyes if they feel the market is tapped out.

The other big issue with self publishing is that you aren’t being “vetted” by anyone. There’s no official editorial process, unless you spend the money for a good copy editor, and unless you possess the ability to be incredibly objective when it comes to what you do it can be difficult to reject yourself. Given that, there’s no real good reason for most audiences to read your self published material, particularly if you’re charging for it.

Finally, there’s the matter of distribution and marketing. If you’re publishing on your own there’s a high probability that you’re tooting your own horn and delivering your own product. If you’re just “pushing pixels”, distribution may not be that big of a complication, but the marketing piece is still there. And frankly, that’s a skill set that most of us don’t have. You may be a phenomenal copy writer or fantasy author, but do you know how to spread the word or make sure that your audience gets what it orders?

So having said all that, why would any sane person self publish?

I think there are a number of very good reasons.

In the self publishing panel I attended, web-comic artist Howard Tayler went over his reasons. His webcomic has been out for ten years and he decided to self publish and sell printed collections. He did some excellent market research via his web site and knew how many copies he could sell. A publisher approached him about putting it out for him and they confirmed the numbers that he came up with. Simply put, based on what the publisher told him, he would make more money and sell as many copies if he just did it himself. He was quick to point out though that this was a serious risk since he would be holding inventory and sales aren’t guaranteed no matter how good your research is. He certainly didn’t recommend this course of action to anyone that didn’t have firm numbers to back up this decision or the financial wherewithal to make the investment. The truth remains though, in almost every case, you will see a larger percentage of profit by self publishing.

Another good reason to take the plunge is that what you have to say may fill a very specific niche. “Narrowcasting”, finding this niche audience and delivering them content, is custom made for self publishing. I see this daily in new podcasts that spring up. Traditional publishers may simply not know of the need or might be unwilling to fill it since there won’t be enough sales to satisfy their needs. In the case of fiction publishers, the genre mashup that you’ve come up with may be too outside the norm for them, whereas there might be thousands of people on the internet that would eat it up. If that’s the case then a strong argument can be made for doing it yourself.

Finally, we get back to the reasons that I do most of the self publishing I do. Getting noticed and getting better. This is not a tactic for getting rich overnight, or perhaps ever. It is a tactic for getting eyeballs on your product. It may be only a few dozen, or hundred, or perhaps even thousand, but that’s progress. The feedback that you receive and the hundreds of hours of practice you put in, not only in creating but also in honing that creation, are invaluable steps. Perhaps the result will be a successful and lucrative self publishing career such as Mr. Tayler has for himself. It could also mean that down the road you’ll attract the attention of the gatekeepers and have the numbers to show them that there is potential in your work and that it has grown. Having a back catalog of work when they do show up isn’t a bad idea either.

So, there are some very good reasons to not self publish and some even better ones to follow through. You don’t have to be crazy (though it might not hurt), but you do have to be informed and really think through your reasons for doing it.

In it, a kid’s soccer league in Ottawa has instituted a new rule that no team can out score another by 5 points. So, once one team reaches 5 points and the other team has zero, that winning team can’t score anymore goals.

What’s the point to all this (yes, pun intended)? I quote “To be fair to everyone.”

Excuse Me While I Bang My Head Against  The Wall

What??? To be fair? This is wrong on so many levels it’s not funny.

However, let’s look at this in terms of real life – read: Adult Life. As children, failure may not seem fair. We’ve all experienced it in one form or another. Maybe our team wasn’t the best and never won a game the whole season. Maybe we as individuals weren’t the best in class and had to work harder than the rest of our classmates in certain subjects to achieve better grades. In teen years, maybe we got fired from a summer job or two because we just couldn’t cut it.

Or maybe we excelled. Maybe we were among those where our natural talents shown through, or maybe because we worked harder we overcame the obstacles and in the end shown through like a diamond?

Life is not fair. There’s a reason for it. If life were “fair”, evolution would have come to a complete and utter standstill. We’d still be amoebas swimming in the soup of creation. Yes, competition began on that level. Remember survival of the fittest? That’s it at its very foundation.

A World of Fair

Without failure, we wouldn’t have a single item of technology that makes our lives easier. We wouldn’t have phones, lightbulbs, cars, homes, the wheel, or the freedoms we so treasure in our countries.

We would have nothing because NOBODY TRIED HARDER.

And all those great novels out there? The ones on the New York Times Bestseller list? Non-existent. Why bother to polish up that first draft? It’s good enough as is, right? That mediocre manuscript sitting in your sock drawer is fine – according to this new sense of fair play, everyone should be published even though their writing isn’t good or the story is poorly constructed.

Hey, after all, you tried, right?

No, sorry, that’s not good enough. For anything. What if you hired a designer and they gave you a half-assed website or logo? Would you be so forgiving? Would you pat them on the head and tell them it’s okay? Would you want a second rate surgeon operating on you or a family member?

I think not.

What’s The Point?

What’s the point, indeed. Not only does this way of thinking hurt those who have to work harder, it hurts those with genuine talent as well. No one will try harder. No one will have the drive to reach for the stars and move above and beyond the constraints of the norm to create bigger and better things.

Without failure, there is no progress. None.

When you think about it, we fail every day. Sometimes in small ways, sometimes in huge, epic, oh-my-god-I-can’t-believe-I-just-did-that ways.

And we learned what not to do so we could better understand what to do. Failure shapes our lives and our character just as much, if not more so, than success.

So, go ahead, I dare you to make a big, honkin’ failure today. See where it leads you. I bet you’ll be surprised.

I’m not going to say “we’re busy”. Ever since Friar posted about the Busy Bus I refuse to think of this thing I do as work. It’s not. It’s actually fun and as far as I’m concerned I’ve started retirement early doing what I’ve always wanted to do. That’s just the way it is.

So, instead, I will say that we’ve been quiet and intensely focused.

Las Vegas Invasion

So, yeah, we’ve been up to a lot of somethings.

Part of the reason you haven’t seen us around much this week is the Team and I have stepped away from the computers. After all, why should we be at the computers when each of us were not only on the same continent and neighboring time zones, but actually in the same state/city/house at the same time?

We took time out to solidify ourselves and met right here in Vegas. On Monday we had the honor and privilege of Allison cooking for us the best sushi dinner I have ever had. Over several platters of beautifully presented foodstuffs and a few glasses of wine, we discussed our plans for the future and toasted the milestones achieved so far and the ones we’ve set for the future.

Chief among them a massive first draft manuscript well on its way through second draft rewrites.

For the last several days we’ve gotten our inspiration from the desert (even if it was a tad windy and dusty) and connected with real people instead of IMs on a monitor.

Busman’s (Or Woman’s) Holiday

As I sat in the Fiesta Hotel/Casino’s Starbucks with Wendi yesterday we did a complete deconstruction of our manuscript. Don’t know what a deconstruction is? Then I highly recommend visiting storyfix.com and learning what one is.

Larry Brooks has one of the most useful tools for structuring your novel we’ve ever seen called Story Structure Demystified.

People, I’m telling you, if you’re serious about getting on the NY Times Best Seller List, this is one wise investment.

I have been enlightened and I want to share this wisdom with you. Get it, read it, and above all USE it. Don’t just let it collect dust on your desktop.

Despite the fact we were technically working, it sure as hell didn’t feel that way. And you know what? We’re looking forward to doing it again today.

Rumor also has it that our Allison is considering speaking at a Word Press Blog Camp and at Blog World Expo. If there was one topic about working with code on your site that you would like to know, what would it be? Ask us here in the comments, or send us an email.

I also had a guest post on Shades of Crimson, contributing to Davina’s lovely series on The Muse. At first I thought she was doing a series about me (that used to be my nickname and probably still is in some obscure corner of the world). Alas, it was not about me as I expected.

Davina’s series takes a fresh look at our processes for inspiration. Forget the usual posts about how to overcome writer’s block. This stuff is truly original thinking. You’ll love it. Go have a read.

The Dodgy Yam

No, The Dodgy Yam is not a bar. Apparently yams are considered dangerous and airline security will confiscate one should they find it in your carry on.

*shakes head*

Things the media conveniently leaves out; go figure. Next thing you know they’ll be doing pat-downs for bacon rolls, or bagels with cream cheese and lox smuggled across state and international borders.

Back to Business

Next week things will return to normal. Or as close to normal as normal is for us. Only minus a Rose and an Allison. One is going to Alaska and the other to Vietnam.

Ahhh, such world travelers we are!

But, the good thing is that our brains never stop. Even when we go away, or just pretend to take a vacation, we’re still jotting down ideas, helping people achieve their dreams and in general, making a difference in the world one project at a time.

Oh my…I could hear the groaning from here.

I could also hear those of you that answered with a resounding YES!

What makes the difference? Why do some of us get to go through life madly in love with our careers, waking up each day on fire to hit the streets, excited to be making new plans, reaching new goals, hitting our targets, changing lives and in short, having the time of our lives while others-live a life they dread, watch the clock, hate their boss, their clients, their paperwork,their lives and feel as if their very soul is being sucked out of them day by day.

What is the difference? Is there hope for those that live their lives in quiet- and often not so quiet- desperation of dead end passionless jobs to one day wake up to a  life that is  fulfiling and rich and full of passion in their career?

I’m not here with answers today. Only points to discuss. It’s a heady and emotionally charged topic.

I listened to an interview this morning that got me thinking about this topic.

Here it is if you want to listen to it too:  Greg Levoy Interview Paul Dyer.com It was an interview on following life’s callings. When I was done listening to it, I asked Deb if she thought that Blue Sun was her life’s calling. Without hesitation she answered yes. I know without a doubt that it is mine too. Everything we have ever dreamt of and wanted in our career lives will be done at Blue Sun. It’s true that we have a lot of plans and goals that stretch out many years and step by step we know we will get there. We also have a great deal of passion and energy to make them happen. We have employees and friends and family that believe in us and want to help make those visions happen.

Sirius Graphix and all of Blue Sun Studio, Inc is a calling. It’s a Life Dream come to life. It’s a Love Affair Career that makes  us and the team feel passionate about coming to work every single day.

So how does someone tap into their inner calling and build a dream business perfectly suited to them?

Those of you out there who love your work, I’d like to hear from you. How did you know how to build your dream career? How did you know what would make you love working everyday? What gave you your passion and how did you find it?

For us, it was not being afraid to dream big. Believing that we could do whatever we set out to do if we worked hard enough. Believing that there was no such thing as a bad idea, that all ideas are just springboards to somewhere else. It was listening, really listening to our hearts and the little voices in our spirits that told us what we were meant to do. It was believing in faith and trusting that if we set out to make other people’s life and dreams work and be prosperous that our dreams would work out too.

And it was- is and always will be, following the plan with sure-footed baby steps. Not getting off track, not letting tangents lead us off course, not letting naysayers and negative nillys tell us where we should be or what dreams are too big for our britches.

We are committed to living and working passionately. We love our clients, we love our work, we love each other.

In the interview, Greg Levoy talked about how he thought some people closed themselves off to their callings because they were afraid to face them. Does this ring a bell? Do you know what your calling is? Or are you one of those people still waiting to find out what you are going to be when you grow up?

If  you knew what your calling was, would you go after it? Or do you know what it is, and yet, does life stand in your way anyhow?

What would it take for you to be in love with your career?

• Go to art school
• See Alaska
• Get my stories published.

In the 7th grade, Wendi made her own goal when an English teacher told her one day she’d be a published writer. That goal was to have a novel published before her 51st birthday.

Well, I went to art school and I haven’t gotten to Alaska – yet.

And Wendi isn’t 51 – yet.

This is the story of where two lifelong dreams merged.

It Started With A Game…

Around the same time I was writing out my future goals I was also getting into the world of role playing games. Back then it was Dungeons and Dragons. Yes, it’s true, I was among the pioneering gaming geeks.

Our small group met every Saturday night to play. I distinctly remember my mom’s reaction when I told her I was going out to play some D&D.

“Be careful. Don’t get into anything strange.”

I think she confused “D&D” with “S&M”. Don’t worry, I cleared up that misconception. Fast.

The gaming sessions were fun. I was hooked. I couldn’t get enough of it. To fill the time between Sunday and Friday I started writing down the campaigns. They were more than just notes. They were the beginnings of my first step into fiction/fantasy writing.

…And A Special Teacher

Barbara Sheehan, a 7th grade Literary Arts teacher said to a young girl that she knew someday the girl’s name would be on the cover of a book.

Wendi promised that if it happened she would dedicate the book to Ms. Sheehan.

Unfortunately, Barbara Sheehan died of breast cancer, but Wendi decided to keep her promise and make it happen in her honor. She was the one teacher who inspired her and believed in Wendi’s dreams.

No Avoiding Fate

Cut to two years ago. That’s when Wendi and I met. At the time she knew me as “Harry” (Long story if you don’t know it by now, but if you want a quick synopsis you can find it here). We became friends and started writing together on another creative writing role playing board.

This was her first time using this collaborative forum. As for me, I’d been writing on my own RPG boards for the last ten years.

The chemistry was just right and we liked it.

After we established our business we took a look at our gaming/writing and asked ourselves “What are we doing?”

The games were fun, but while the talent wasn’t exactly being wasted, it was still hidden away from the world. Sort of like singing in the shower when you know you have the voice of an opera star.

That was when we decided to get serious about making a novel happen.

This was 4 months ago.

Yes, Four Months.

That’s what I said. Four. Months.

Four months to write a complete 500 page novel . 181,578  words. That’s two NaNoWriMo competitions apiece. Roll that one around in your head for a bit.

Was it hard? For the most part, no. We did have our sticking points, but we talked them out and worked through them. I think our bouts of “writer’s block” lasted no more than a couple of hours or a couple of days at the most as we figured out why things were lagging.

Keep in mind, these are atypical results. Not everyone can crank out a full length novel in four months, especially if you’re working alone.

There’s something to be said for collaborative writing. When you have the right partner you can bounce ideas off of one another, explore options, work out the rough spots and see the twists and turns where the other may not.

Wine and Cowtails*

So, if you haven’t guessed already, our novel was completed in the wee hours of Thursday night/Friday morning. We celebrated with drinks and a phone call at one and three AM PST/CST respectively.

And the next day we dove right into rewrites despite our affirmation to take a break for a day or two before doing so.

This was an amazing event. We actually achieved something major. Okay, maybe we do that more often than we realize. After all, we did start a business in roughly the same amount of time and did/are doing way better than most start ups.

Like I said before, these results are not typical and will vary from person to person, so I can’t say “Yes! Do this! This is THE SECRET to ULTIMATE SUCCESS!”

In some ways it is, and in just as many ways, it isn’t.

You see, Wendi and I don’t work like most folks. We follow what our guts tell us. We stick to our plan; plans that are realistic and always start with baby steps. There’s something to be said for following a well thought out path to reach a goal, personal or otherwise.

The book is called Bonds of Blood and Spirit: Loyalties and is the first in a very long (dare I say “infinite”?) series of books in the paranormal romance genre. We’ve got a lot of plans and events coming up as we progress from first draft to finished printed copy, so be sure to stay tuned.

And of course none of this would have been possible without the people who believed in us along the way. There are also a few, like Larry Brooks of Storyfix, who never knew they were a part of the process at all.

Thanks again everyone. Now buckle up, it’s going to be a fantastic ride.

Maybe I will get to Alaska after all.

*Las Vegas Cowtail: one part Bailey’s Caramel Irish Cream, one part Kahlua, one part milk

photo courtesy of Wendi Kelly

Greg’s post on Self Publishing on Wednesday brought up some great comments and some interesting questions. Our readers had great suggestions of their own for ways to get around the daunting fears of self-publishing.

Yet as I have been tossing around the post for the last few days, what has really stood out to me is the open doorway that writers now have to take their dream of becoming a published writer and know for sure it can actually become a reality.

Does Self-publishing  Make a Difference to You?

Do you see that open door? Does it make you bold enough to take a chance on you? What would you be willing to do if you knew you didn’t have to face that awful rejection letter?

My entire life, since I was old enough to know what the written word is, I have wanted to be a writer. It has been my number one goal. And I am. I write every day, but although nothing has stopped my pen (or keypad) from producing out story after story since I was a tiny tot, that hasn’t been good enough.  I wanted to be a published writer.

I wanted to write my story, put it in a book and send it out into the world. I had a deadline too. A very specific cross the line in the sand written down deadline. One that would be the difference between if I considered myself to have met that goal or not.

I had to do it before my year of being 50 had closed its final chapter.

It’s not time to fill  you in on all of the details yet, but I will tell you this much six days before my 50th birthday. I am 100 % confident that goal is going to be reached.

If I am breathing, that book will be published.

How can I be that confident?  Because now the only thing that could be standing in my way is me and I’m not standing in my way. The job is getting done.

That wasn’t true a handful of years ago.  Honestly, it wasn’t even all that true a few years ago. I lacked the confidence to believe the dream could come true.

Even though I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was my life-long goal and the reason for collecting all my life experiences, (in my humble opinion) I still couldn’t seem to muster up the daily discipline that it took to sit my behind down and write that next great novel.

Well, actually that isn’t completely true. I sat down and wrote one in Junior high. One hundred plus pages of teenage angst, hand-typed manuscript  (uh…back to that turning 50 thing…we didn’t have computers back then…)  and sent it off bravely to publishers to wait breathlessly for my big break.  The big break came. It came in the form of a broken heart and rejection letters.

I think the manuscript is still in the sock drawer of broken dreams where it may stay til the day I die. Or until I run out of other books in the series that…oops….not going to talk about that yet. You have to wait…

But anyway, it is sitting there alone, because hell or high water, this next one gets published. Because it can.

I admit, it helps that here at Sirius Graphix, we have a lot of the resources that it takes to get a self -published book pretty far down the publishing path. And where we don’t yet tread, we have the connections and resources to make it happen. That makes it a lot easier to focus on what a writer ideally wants to focus on, which is creating what is hopefully great content.

After all, without well-written content, any variety of publishing isn’t going to go very far in the long run.

Did the Line in the Sand Change?

As little as two years ago, I had a conversation with a well known blogger who flat out said that self-published books were for writers who couldn’t write well enough to be taken seriously by mainstream publishers. At the time, I didn’t have enough information or opinion to put up a very compelling counter-argument to the claim. Two years later, there has been a ground swell of books being self-published, published by vanity publishers or skipping hard copy altogether and going straight to e-book or formatted directly for Kindle. Now we hear dire predictions to the tune of “Traditional Publishing Houses are the thing of the past.”

We seem to be poised on the edge of a revolution. It may be that in a growing number of readers’ minds the tide is turning. That they see little difference between the credibility of self-published authors vs  traditional ones. I know I didn’t even blink to find that Seth Godin self-published and in my mind he is as credible as it gets. I could care less who publishes his books, only that he is the one who pens the thoughts.

Still…I will be heart-felt honest here and say, even though this book may be self-published it doesn’t mean that if some great big traditional publishing house came knocking on the door  and said they wanted the book that I might feel more credible as an author.  Decades of holding traditionally published books in my hand as a child and envisioning my name blazed across the front doesn’t change very easily.  Perhaps I harbor some Sally Field need to be able to stand there, book in hand and cry out those famous words, “They like me, they really really like me…”

In one sense, the open door to self-publishing or vanity publishing will allow your dream to come true. You can make it happen. Your book can be published now if you want it to. There are no more gatekeepers standing at the door telling you that you are or aren’t good enough to come through. Now you have to be the one to say the words to yourself. Can you? I’ll admit, it’s hard.

What do you think? Does self-publishing give you more confidence as a writer to go out there and make it happen? Do you still have fears that you won’t be taken seriously? Do you need the permission of a traditional gatekeeper to tell you that you are good enough to go through the gates of calling yourself an author? Does the idea of all the work of doing it yourself and having to do your own marketing scare you to death?

What does the open door of Self Publishing mean for your dream of getting your book done?

Two cats are sitting on the windowsill outside the imaginary Sirius Graphix office. They peer with typical feline indifference at the activities within.

Cable: I’m hungry.

Tuft: Go eat something.

Cable: I will. (beat) What do you think they’re doing in there?

Tuft: Playing.

Cable: You think?

Tuft: Yeah. Especially the short-haired one. Humans only make that barking noise when they’re amused.

Cable: Scary. What about that one? Her mouth is moving.

Tuft: The yellow-haired one? I think she’s mewling. She hasn’t stopped doing that since she sat down. I think humans’ mouths have to move so that they can think. Her claws are going pretty fast.

Cable: Why does the really tall one have that thing on her face?

Tuft: She’s hunting. That’s how humans eat. They growl into it and other humans bring them food fresh from a hunt.

Cable: No way! That’s wicked cool. What’s that other one doing?

Tuft: The kitten human? The one jumping around the room on her toes? Come on. You know what that is.

Cable: Is she chasing a butterfly?

Tuft: No. There aren’t any butterflies in there.

Cable: Is she showing the others how to hunt crickets?

Tuft: Nope. Catnip. She’s a nipper through and through.

Cable: Wow! I didn’t know catnip worked on humans too. She looks like a fairy. (beat) Are fairies real?

Tuft: I haven’t seen any. We could go look for some, if you want.

Cable: Nah. These humans are pretty interesting. Let’s stay here for a while.

Tuft: Okay. I thought you were hungry.

Cable: Hmm. Maybe if we sit here long enough they’ll growl some food for us and send it with the nip-kitten.

Tuft: It never hurts to hope.

Pretty Interesting Humans

If you don’t know how cool the Sirius Graphix staff is, it’s your own fault. Not to toot my own horn, as the saying goes, but there is a whole world of opportunity wrapped up in the heads, hands, and talents of the Sirius team.

Friends, we can show you our world: a new fantastic point of view! There’s no one to tell you no or where to go, or say you should stop dreaming.

(Who knew Aladdin was a Sirius fan . . .)

I was struck anew by the magnitude of our talents when I read Deb’s post on Tuesday about strutting your secret stuff. Are you selling yourself short to your clients? With the economy the way it is you’ve no doubt heard people complaining about having to settle for jobs that they’re overqualified for. But if your boss knew the extent of your talents would you still have to worry about your job? Let Sirius help you put your best foot forward.

Thursday brought us another lovely post on HTML from Allison, this time about coding headers. Pristine language, an invaluable lesson . . . I think she deserves a round of applause even if you’re too afraid of technology to even read her articles. They’re genius! And so regular, like the paperboy.

Thank you, Allison, for the constant stream of technological wisdom. You are irreplaceable.

And So Are You!

Don’t ever let anyone tell you anything different. You are the only one with your abilities, talents, and skills—don’t think for a minute that it’s okay for other people not to recognize your gifts. The Sirius motto, if you don’t want to scroll up to the header and see it for yourself, is, “Because what you say matters.” How many times do we have to tell you that it’s true?

Don’t worry, friends. If you don’t get tired of hearing it, we won’t get tired of telling you. Contact us today and let us prove that your success is our number one priority.

Siriusly.

Yet the more we talked and compared our experiences and talents, the more we realized that combined together our two parts created a whole that synergistically exploded into something powerful. Unique.

Each of us apart had goals and dreams that complimented each other. And when combined, the ability to reach those goals faster and in a better way than either of us had dared to dream of alone, became a reality. Sirius Graphix became a partnership of two women and a team who together lift each other up into something amazing.

The energy began to build, the confidence grew and a talented team of women help joined in to become part of the project.

I know we would not blasted off so quickly without their help.

But we didn’t move at the speed of light on good will and enthusiasm alone.

That may have been the spark that lit the flame, but once we knew this dream was becoming a reality it was an entire different type of fuel that ran the jet.

Starting a Small Business at the Speed of Light

In order to distill the dream into a workable reality, the very first order of business was to find a way to capture all of the rampant, mind-blowing enthusiasm and frankly brilliant ideas that were spewing forth into the atmosphere and capture them into some kind of workable document.  That ended up being a list, a very long list, one that I lovingly think of as The- THERE’S  NO SUCH THING AS A BAD IDEA list. ( Truth- It’s actually so long it’s a small book, and now Deb and I just say, “Put it in the book.”) But it started as a list.

The reason for capturing those ideas and setting them aside is that they can be paralyzing. They slow you down and get you off track, causing you to focus on tangents rather then the task at hand. The corporate world has a term for ideas or comments when they spring up out of nowhere at a meeting. They call it “Parking Lot” They keep a running list of side ideas to get back to later. Some they do and some they don’t. They just “Park” those thoughts somewhere else for later. They don’t let them crash the agenda. We couldn’t either, there wasn’t enough time. We had to stay focused on one task and one task only.

Deciding Who We Were

Before we could become a company, we had to decide what kind of company we wanted to be. Part of that equation was also deciding what kind of company we did not want to be. We had to define our values, our goals, who our ideal client was and what we wanted to do for that client and more importantly in a lot of ways, what we weren’t willing to do.  We needed to define our boundaries, our skills, our services and our own unique value that we believed we had to offer the world- and that specific ideal client. What we were really doing was the start of a business plan.

We did more then start it. We followed through with it. Beginning a business without a business plan is like picking a destination without a map. It’s highly likely you are going to get lost. A lot of start up companies stall on the idea of beginning with a business plan because they think they don’t have time to do one.

They feel as if they are too busy getting started to take the time to do one. They promise each other th at “As soon as they have time” they will get right to it.  They believe that they don’t have the money or knowledge to get one done right.

You Can’t Afford Not To

None of these excuses  could be farther then the truth.  Not taking the time to talk through who you are, who you aren’t, and who your market is will slow you down. Not opening your door on day one with a clear idea of what your brand focus will be presents your company to the public with a diluted fuzzy focus that you will  have to back pedal to rebuild.

It isn’t expensive either. It’s expensive NOT to do it. The Small Business Association has every resource you need at your fingertips to create your business plan for free.

That is a lot cheaper than the mistakes you will make without one.

In February we continued to plow ahead and did something Wendi and I have dreamed of doing for a long time.  Separate dreams that were actually the same dream. We were able to take our business to the next level and incorporate.

I would now like to introduce you to Blue Sun Studio, Inc.

The Blue Sun Network

You may have noticed that our navigation bar and the one on Life’s Little Inspirations there’s a new button called “Blue Sun Network”. This little network connects our blogs and will no doubt have more added to it as time goes on. For the time being we have LLI and a new inspirational blog called “Saya no Uchi“. This blog was a revival blog for me; one I started a while back and put on hold. It’s not exactly Zen, but the flavor is definitely spiced with a lot of martial arts philosophy.

We also have a lot of projects in the works and plenty of surprises for the future. So stay tuned, and visit frequently!

A Thank You

Thanks to our clients, our readers, our friends and supporters. I have to say that we work with a great bunch of people, everyone from The Team right down to everyone who follows us on Twitter and Facebook. Far too many people to list, but I’m sure you know who you are.

We’d also like to hear from you all. Tell us what you’d like to read from us. Pick our brains, that’s what we’re here for.