Lady Boss with a fearless attitude (and a FREE print!)

I took a quiz yesterday to determine what kind of business-owner I am… just for fun, and mostly because it reminded me of those quizzes I used to do in teen magazines back in the day (mostly full of questions to determine whether you’d be a good match for a certain celebrity: remember doing those?!).

And the result? Well, apparently I came out as ‘fearless’!

I have an authentic, fearless personality which puts customers first when it comes to creating an awesome product that they will love (yes, I like to think that’s right). Sometimes I get frustrated with aspects of control over my business (yea-uhuh!), but I have a unique skill for powering through imperfections and I am incredibly persistent (yup). I have the opportunity to continue growing and using my wisdom to take my business to the next level.

So, although the quiz was just a bit of fluff and fun, it has left me feeling a bit empowered to be honest. I run my business myself, from home, and sometimes to be perfectly honest it can be hard to maintain a feeling of positivity. I adore what I do, and I have truly AMAZING customers - buy hey, we all have ’off’ days and I’m no stranger to the wobbly ’am I doing it right’ imposter-syndrome times. Even after nearly 10 years of doing this! So it’s actually rather lovely to be told that you’re fearless.

It may have been a bit of daftness, but I’m going to believe it (just the same as I believed the quizzes in Smash Hits magazine and Just Seventeen!).

If you're feeling a bit fearless yourself, or fancy a bit of motivation on your wall, I've got a free print you can download. Print if off, put it in a frame and put it up on your wall for a little bit of empowerment whenever you need it! Follow the links below - the print will print on A4 and will fit in any standard frame with an 8x6" opening (or a frame with a mount that has an 8x6" aperture).

Free Motivation Print in Blue - click here
Free Motivation Print in Pink - click here

(Small print: the print is completely free for your own personal use. You may not reproduce or sell the print, or pass it off as your own work. Not allowed for commercial use. Copyright belongs to PhotoFairytales.co.uk)

Enjoy! And now I'm going to go and get on with my fearless day and see if I can use my wisdom to get my business to the next level!!

Sarah x

The Sound of Silence...

Since being a child, I've always found it near impossible to work in silence - my homework was always done with the sound of Scooby Doo or Hong Kong Phooey in the background! And as an adult, I'm no different. Whenever I'm working I always have the radio on, usually tuned into Radio 4. Now, apparently, the average age of listeners to Radio 4 is 55 - and before you ask, no I'm not! Call me an old fogey, but I've actually been listening to it since I was in my twenties - and favourites include Woman's Hour, The Archers (of course), and the fantastic comedy (if you haven't discovered Milton Jones, The Unbelievable Truth, Just a Minute or the News Quiz - well, quite frankly, you're missing out!).

As well as those favourites, I do end up listening inadvertently to a large amount of news bulletins throughout the day. And on budget day this year I found myself putting orders to one side and seizing on a bit of inspiration that seemed to appear from nowhere. Although, with the budget and politicians whittering away in the background its' actually quite easy to work out where my idea for a series of three new print designs came from!

You can find all three designs in my Folksy Shop, or at wowthankyou.com

Now, Money Box Live has just started, wonder what that will inspire...!
Sarah x

PhotoFairytales is an Award Winning Site!

And now for a bit of blatant showing off (sorry!).... This is a snippet of an email that has just arrived in my inbox:

"I am happy to inform you that your website was scored by three professionals within the online industry, and based on the criteria provided to them by Mumpreneur UK your website was scored as a Gold Award Winning Website!"

Mumpreneur UK is a support network for mums in business, offering advice, support, conferences and resources to parents in business. They say:

"Having worked our way through hundreds of websites during The Mumpreneur Award judging, it became very clear that there are so many mumpreneurs out there with fabulous websites! We want to ensure that these sites are rewarded, and that their customers can see that their high standard is being recognised. We're looking to acknowledge mumpreneurs who have realised the importance of getting your business online, and doing it well!"

The criteria used to judge a website are:

• The website should be visually pleasing
• The website should be easy to navigate
• Ecommerce sites should include a simple payment process
• The website should be clear and easy to understand
• The website should include ample information about the products/services provided

How chuffed am I?!! So now, when you meet me you'll understand why I'm going around humming a certain Spandau Ballet song...

Gold! Always believe in your soul, you've got the power to know you're indestructible, always believe in.... Because you are GOLD! Dum de dee dum de doo....

Sarah x

Are you a Clickaholic..?

Chances are, if you’re reading this, then the answer is a resounding: YES

I run my own business, I have orders I need to fulfil, I have a website I need to promote, I have emails to answer and paperwork to sort. And yet the one tool that has made my business possible in the first place (ie, my computer), is my biggest distraction.

I’ll check my emails and amongst the orders and other more urgent stuff, I’ll find an email relating to an article that looks really interesting. So “click!”, I’ve followed the link. Lo and behold, after reading the article I see something else that catches my eye, and “click!”, I’m off again. I’ll decide to post a quick message on the PhotoFairytales Facebook wall - and after doing that, “click!”, I’m just checking the newsfeed to see what everyone else is up to (and leaving the odd comment or like…). Then I’m heading over to Twitter (all in the name of promotion you understand), and find myself in conversations I don’t have time to have, or looking at people’s links I don’t have time to visit. And all the while, in the corner of my eye is the pile of things I really should be doing along. The trouble is, every now and then I’ll stumble on a nugget of information or a fabulous site, that will give me inspiration or an idea that makes it all worthwhile. And I guess its that that stops me from being able to crack my habit!

So, the question is, am I investing my clicking time productively, or am I wasting my clicking time? Well, I reckon its half and half. OK, I’ll be honest, 30/70. Oh, OK then, 20/80 (but I won’t go any lower than that!). Is it research, am I learning, or is it procrastination….? Hmmmmm, tricky one that!

So if you find yourself having to give your brain a mental shake every now and then to stop yourself hunching over the screen, site hoping and clicking, then maybe you’re a clickaholic too. Feel free to leave a comment to make your confession and get it off your chest so that I don't feel so alone! And then move on, you’ve got things you need to be doing - go on, no more links here, move along please.

Sarah x

I'm running a business, not a hobby!

About 8 weeks ago I had a brief online chat with the lovely Nicole from Kenzo Crafts. Basically, we were both bemoaning the fact that when you work from home or run your own business, somehow it never gets taken all that seriously.... People (quite nice, intelligent people usually!), make comments about your work as your "little thing", or refer to it as "your hobby".

We were holding this conversation on Facebook, and so (never one not to seize a moment!), within 5 minutes I'd created a new page: "I'm running a business, not a hobby!". No, I know it's not catchy - but at least it gets to the point!

Just 8 weeks later and there are now over 200 fans of this page - all of them equally frustrated that so many people simply think they are working purely to fill in their spare time. And some of these are mothers to young children, run households, AND run their own business! The page is just growing organically with new people joining every week - and the message from everyone is the same. Just take a look at some of the comments on there!

So why is it that people who run small businesses and/or work from home don't get taken seriously? It is quite odd, especially when you consider most of us work much longer than the average full-time 40 hour working week. And that many of those hours are either at the crack of dawn, or late at night when other workers are either tucked up asleep or watching telly.

A huge number of women decide to run their own business as a route back to work after babies. I know that's one of the reasons why I set up PhotoFairytales. It means we can juggle work and homelife in a way that probably wouldn't happen if we were employees. Society is always discussing how to best allow parents the flexibility to hold down a career and look after children - and in the meantime while these discussions are taking place, many women are just getting on with it: setting up their business, making it a success, looking after their home and family. But just because those hours of work are from home and are split up over the day, it seems there is a blur between "working from home" and just "being at home all day".

So, lets get one thing straight: people who work from home and run their own business often work longer and harder hours than the standard employee. We are totally committed to the business we run - not only do we want it to be a commercial success, we want it to be a personal success too. We are creative people who take on many, many roles: book keeper, marketing manager, website developer, customer service officer, administrator, technical support, purchaser, business developer, office cleaner, tea trolley operator... I could go on!

If you're one of those who works from home too and gets frustrated from time to time, head on over to the "Business, Not Hobby" page on Facebook and have your say. You'll feel so much better afterwards and you'll be in good company!

Now, get back to work slacker!

Sarah x