To enter, all you need to do is subscribe to the Epheriell Mailing List! That’s it! (And yep, this is open world-wide.)
I usually send an average of one email a week – with a few extras here and there when something particularly exciting is happening! I sometimes even offer special deals that only subscribers know about…
If you’re already a mailing list subscriber – awesome! You’re automatically entered into the draw. Each month I will launch a new giveaway, and long as you stay a subscriber, you’ll be in the draw to win it!
I’ll announce the winner here, and in the newsletter, a month from now… and, of course, put something else up for grabs.
Good luck!
P.S. The winner of May’s giveaway is Megan, congrats, I’ll be in touch soon!
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So, I arrived in Sydney yesterday a few hours later than expected, (due to the Virgin check-in system going on the blink, which pushed back all the flights for the day). Thankfully I skipped the insane line as I had checked in via web from home – win!
I caught the train from the airport to Kings Cross station – the closest station to where I’m staying in Potts Point. I had just dumped all my stuff in my room when I checked my phone and saw a DM from Darren (a.k.a. Problogger). He told me to check my email… and I have to admit, I had NO idea why!! I thought it might be something related to the Problogger conference I’m going to in October, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I opened up my email and noticed one from Tourism Queensland. At this point, my heart started to race!
You see, I had entered this competition earlier in the year, but as the winners had been chosen a while back, I hadn’t given it any more thought.
Well, turns out one of the international winners had to pull out at the last minute… and I just happened to be next on the list!
The gist of the email was ‘we’d love you to come aboard for this trip to North Queensland… and by the way, we leave next Tuesday!’
You know, I am thankful every single day that I’m self-employed. I love waking up in the morning and knowing my day is completely mine to plan – that whatever I accomplish is down to me and me alone.
Yesterday, I was more thankful than ever that I didn’t have a boss to ask for time off! Although, I could have just looked at myself in the mirror and said ‘hey, boss, so, I’ve been invited to go on this trip to North Queensland with 9 other bloggers from around the world. We’re getting to have 2 days of workshops with one of the world’s top bloggers, and we also get to experience some of the amazing natural wonders – like the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree. I know I’m a Queenslander, but I’ve never been to the Daintree, and I haven’t seen the reef since I was a kid! Of course, it’s next week, so… can I have the week off?’
To which mirror-boss would have replied ‘HELL YES YOU CAN!!’.
So, I just skipped that whole conversation and jumped around the room a few times trying not to scream in excitement. Then I called Nick to make sure it was cool for me to disappear again for a week (I’ve already left him alone with the new furbaby until Sunday…).
Predictably, because he is the best husband ON THE PLANET he excitedly told me to go for it… and to ring him back when I was more coherent and explain exactly what it was I was going to be doing on this trip.
So, in short, I’ll be heading to North Queensland next Tuesday for 5 days and nights of exploration with these other fabulous bloggers from around the world!
Of course, I will be sharing the highlights of the trip with you all – and no doubt sharing some juicy blogging advice from the 2 days of workshops we have with Darren. I am so incredibly excited to share the beauty of my home state with you all – I’ve lived here all my life and I truly think it’s the best place in the world!
To follow my journey as-it-happens, make sure to follow me on twitter (I’m @JessVanDen) and instagram (I’m JessVanDen on there, too), I’ll be snapping photos like crazy!
I’m still on Cloud 9 over here… but enough chatter, I’ve got some tog-shopping to do (togs=swimwear for you non-Aussies – I shall educate you in some of our slang along the way)!!
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So, today marks the end of my month-long attempt to do one TIL post every day. I dropped the ball occasionally, but am proud of the effort I put in! I won’t be continuing these posts from here-on-in – my blogging style will be changing slightly – less volume, more substance.
It was a month for some other habit-building, too – I’ve been running regularly again in an attempt to run the 10k race at the Bridge to Brisbane in September (eek, never run further than 5k before!) and I’ve also been doing Marianne Elliott’s 30 Days of Yoga (which isn’t over yet).
Another thing which I’m bringing to an end is the advertising program here on the blog. After spending a lot of time dreaming and scheming, I’ve decided to move away from offering advertising to make this more exclusively a space for me to share everything I create with you all.
I do a lot of different things, and I don’t want those things to get lost amongst the volume of information. I’ve also got some projects in the works for the second half of 2012, and I want to make sure that this space reflects what I have to offer the world. Leaving the advertising program behind will also free up some space in my schedule, which I will aim to spend creating more fab content for YOU! Of course, those of you who have paid up into future months will still have your ads front and centre, I simply won’t be taking any further bookings.
I will – of course! – still be blogging about wonderful handmade and indie finds (beautiful things) throughout the interwebs, so always feel free to send me an email about what you create! For those who would like to do a giveaway/sponsored post (which will be the only paid space for others on the blog in future) the info is on my updated contact page.
One of the things I ADORE about blogging is the fluidity and flexibility that this space offers. I don’t believe a blog is ever ‘done’ – in fact, if it is, that may mean it’s become stagnant. Blogging is a journey, and every day we choose which way the path takes us. How cool is that?
Finally… I flew in to Sydney today for Etsy Success Sydney, and am currently typing this on my laptop, sitting on my bed in the hotel looking out over one of the many bays. When I arrived I got an email that knocked my socks off… but more about that tomorrow.
I know, TEASE! Of course, if you follow me on twitter you already know what I’m on about!
May has been really great to me… so much exciting stuff has happened in my biz… we have a new fur-baby… my dad’s chemo is working to get rid of his damn cancer (hurrah!!!!!)… so here’s to an even better June!
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‘Chris, my review copy* of The $100 Startup hasn’t arrived, and I’m dying to read it! Could the publishers perhaps send another?’
I was hoping it was just because I was in Australia, and was the victim of cross-Pacific shipping delay, but was concerned that my book had gone awry. And I was really, really keen to read it after seeing reviews and chatter about it popping up all over the interwebs.
In typical Chris style, he got back to me within, like, 10 minutes with a ‘sure thing!’.
Wouldn’t you know it – later on that morning I went to the post office, only to find the book had finally arrived. Seems I had been a victim of the Australian Customs Service and Murphy’s Law, instead. Happily, I got back to him before he got a second copy sent out, and I set about digging in to Chris’s lastest gem.
You’ve got 2 options – a 2 1/2 minute vid review and/or the written review below!
Before I read it, I didn’t actually realise how much of a ‘how-to’ manual this was – so I was pretty damn excited when I realised all the juiciness that was to be found between the covers. {Wow, how’s that for a mixed metaphor, hmm?}
The book is divided into 3 parts:
Unexpected Entrepreneurs
Taking it to the Streets
Leverage and Next Steps
The first part of the book is very much for those who are thinking about starting a new, passion-based biz OR – as in my case – a reminder for those of us who are considering a new project that will integrate with a currently existing business (yes, I have something rather exciting in the works, peeps!).
I loved the stories in the first chapter – Renaissance – because they resonated so strongly with my own journey! I, too, am an ‘accidental entrepreneur’ – I never actually set out to make what I do my full-time gig. In the beginning, it was just a hobby, but life and circumstance combined to give me the opportunity to make it happen. Thankfully, like those profiled in the book, I have never looked back, or been happier with the work I do.
For me, this first section just reinforced a number of ideas that I’ve spoken of before – the main one being that just because something is your passion doesn’t mean you should turn it into a business. Or, more to the point – you need to find a convergence between what you love doing and what people will actually buy – something I’ve spoken about before. This is a BIG one for those in the handmade industry.
For those of you just starting out, this section will be an invaluable tool in helping you get your head straight about what sort of business and products you should create, and how you can craft a business around your dream lifestyle, rather than the other way round.
The second section was the ‘meatiest’ part of the sandwich, with densely packed info and advice on how to actually craft and sell a product people will want to buy.
I found this section the most immediately useful part of the book, as I’ve got a few new products and collections planned for the second half of 2012. The information on crafting an offer, launching, and even hustling were invaluable to me. It really helped me to clarify a few decisions I’d been wavering on for a while now – and we all know how draining a non-decision can be.
Like all good books/blog posts/ecourses, I didn’t exactly learn anything NEW or anything I couldn’t have figured out for myself after a lot of try-and-fail type scenarios… however, I was gifted strategies and plans on a creamy white platter that would have taken me untold time and struggle to figure out/put together on my own.
The third part of the book was future-focussed – you’ve got a business, you’re doing well… but where do you go from here? How much do you want to grow, and what business model do you want to create? Do you want to keep going-it-alone or bring others on-board? What if it all turns to crap and I fail?
Yeah, we’ve ALL had those thoughts. Chris gives us answers to all of these questions and more – and he is especially good at assuaging our fears of failure. In fact, sometimes, failure can be the best thing that ever happens to us – a hard lesson to understand if we’ve yet to fail big-time and come out the other side more determined than before.
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This is not the sort of book you read once and then put on the shelf.
I can see myself coming back to this again and again throughout the years to come, in order to remind myself of things that will help my business grow authentically.
If nothing else, definitely make sure you head over to 100Startup.com and download the AWESOME free resources that Chris has put up there. I’ll be sticking a number of them on my wall to make sure my upcoming products are created with YOU in mind, and to get them launched out into the world in style.
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{*Disclosure: I was provided with a free copy of this book to review, thanks to Chris and Crown Publishing. Thank you, guys!!}
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Today has been rather mental – running around getting all sorts of stuff done and dusted before I leave for Etsy Success Sydney tomorrow (yay!). The work day isn’t over yet, but I thought I’d pop in to share today’s find.
This lovely cushion has been hand-embroidered by my friend (and May Advertiser) Stacey of nisseworks. I really like this sort of pretty free-form embroidery. I’ve even done a little bit of it in my time, but it certainly didn’t look anywhere near as pretty as this!
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By Jess, on June 1st, 2012
