I know, I know…two blog posts in one day is quite unlike me, but I really wanted to bring attention to the latest pair of earrings I posted and the reason behind their creation:
If you’ve been visiting my site for the past month (and wondering why I hadn’t posted in such a long time), you can attribute part of the delay in news to these beautiful earrings shown above. Back in May, I was contacted by SheFinds to participate in a promotion to help raise money for Count Me In, the leading national not-for-profit provider of business resources and education for women entrepreneurs.
During September, SheFinds will feature original accessories created by independent designers that incorporate either the Count Me In motto “Believe In Youâ€, their logo or program logos, and/or the official colors into the design. The designers are all pledging to donate a portion of the proceeds from all sales of these items made from September 1st to December 31st to Count Me In. Once the promotion starts, you can keep up on the designers by clicking through to the SheFinds site or through the image at the right.
The Count Me In mission of promoting economic independence and the growth of women-owned businesses really hits home for me. As a woman entrepreneur who has not one (jewelry), but two (web development) businesses, I understand the necessity for programs to help women in all aspects of business.
My hope is that by donating 25% of the proceeds made from the sale of these earrings, which will be a limited edition series, Count Me In will get one step closer to their organization’s goals. The great thing about this is that I’m not the only one who feels like this and I’ve heard that plenty other designers are stepping up to the plate.
If you know anyone who can benefit from this organization or who would be willing to make a purchase knowing that it was for a good cause, please take the time to forward this information to them. Help yourself or someone else grow their business!
These are gorgeous! And for such a terrific cause. You go Yazmin!
Hi Yazmin,
Asking as someone who does two “things” as well, do you find it difficult to balance your two businesses? I have had to focus my business efforts on my translation lately, and keep wondering how I could get more time for the jewellery side, without risking my income too much. It’s difficult, since I need to keep my income up for my family’s sake, but at the same time I know that to get my jewellery business to grow, I would really need to put more time and effort into marketing and selling.
I hope it’s OK that I post this question here, I’m really interested to hear about your views and experiences.
Absolutely, Lotta! I normally answer questions by email, but this is such a good question, I hope that you do not mind me sharing my response here on the blog.
For me, it’s all about time management and calendars. I will admit, though, that it was hard to manage the time at first…a few minutes keeping up with posting would turn into browsing new listings or even writer’s block, but if you schedule the time and set a timer and then the hard part – sticking with your timer, you can definitely see the discipline you need to keep both businesses growing.
Another thing to consider…sometimes you need to change your income stream to accommodate the new business. I’ve done that once before, by moving from completing various contracts with different clients to mainly working on a regular basis with one or two clients. I’m actually looking at revamping my work model once more to accommodate having a baby and moving my mom up here to live with us (in about 2 years.) So, if you see that something is not quite working how you expected, step back and see how you can modify it to work for you.
Ultimately, the business that needs the most priority is the one that pays the bills. Until you can make enough money to have a cushion for times when you want to focus on your jewelry, that is.