How good are you at follow-up? Coming back from Quilt Market or any trade or retail show, I have lots of notes, and sometimes it is hard to get them handled with all the other activities I have. What I have found, though, is that the when I pay attention to following up on a consistent and timely basis, it lets me build better relationships, which is really my goal, and that means adding to my business bottom line. Here are some ideas to help you with follow up.

Organize your list and prioritize. Who needs to be contacted first and by when? Consider which items will bring you the greatest return. Set aside time in your calendar for the follow-up. It may take several sessions.
Determine the goal for follow-up. Do you want to get a distributor to pick up your pattern line? Do you need more information for your next step in a project?

How should you follow-up? You have options. Email may be easiest and fastest, but also consider leaving a voice mail or handwritten note. You are able to express you energy through a phone call. And, so few of us receive handwritten notes that they are often remembered.

Get started!

Quilt Art 2014 Engagement Calendar
ed. Klaudeen Hansen
American Quilter’s Society; $13.95

Have you started looking for your 2014 calendar? They’ve been arriving at my office for a while. I love choosing one for my home and one for the car. Yes, car. The Quilt Art 2014 Engagement Calendar is headed for the car. I keep it on the passenger seat, where I use it for my travel log. And, when I’m stuck in traffic, I will often thumb through the pages looking for inspiration. As for what will go in the house, I think I have settled on the 2014 Calendar of Award-Winning Quilts featuring quilts from the International Quilt Association. What calendar looks to be your choice for next year?

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to www.Amazon.com if you would like to learn more about the book.

I will admit that I got in mini-one this year. And, I’m sure that many of you who do Quilt Market or Festival, or any creative arts show, have been in this position. You have a big list of what needs to get done before the show and you are trying to manage it all and something will go awry. For me, the last week has been filled with technology issues, from my email program not functioning and losing emails, to delays with outside vendors, to issues with my color laser printer. Naturally, they don’t happen in a good time frame. The key for me was to think about what I learned from this? I think you may be able to use these tips:

1. Add more time into your plans. I actually got out the 2014 calendar and made notes as to when to accomplish certain tasks. Of course, I could not have anticipated the printer problem, though if I printed earlier, I would have had time for the repair.
2. Be clear about what your intentions are for the show. I realized that some of what I was doing did not really fit with what I wanted to accomplish at the show.
3. Remember that if something does not get done, it does not get done. In all likelihood, no one will know that but you.

Please share your thoughts about this blog below.

Sew Gifts
25 Handmade Gift Ideas From Top Designers
Martingale; $24.95

Holiday and gift giving season is just around the corner. If you haven’t already started, you’re sure to find some wonderful ideas in Sew Gifts. This collection features designs from 16 designers with a modern feel. The gifts are divided into four categories: bags, gifts for special interests, kitchen gifts and pillows. I found so many cute gifts I’d love to make, from the casserole carrier by Linda Turner Griepentrog to the artist’s sketchbook cover and pencil pouch by Adrienne Smitke to the quick mug rugs by Pippa Eccles Armbrester.

This week’s article is a letter written by Kat Tucker, a quilter from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She was taken with the article last week and wanted to respond.

“I was sorry to read about those that feel that they are not where they think they should be. Oh boy, can I ever relate to that.

For me it has been a meandering journey. From the time I sold my quilt store with a five year clause of only being able to Internet sell, to losing my husband and having to go back full time, instead of staying part time, in our business, to closing the doors and semi-retiring, to procrastinating during the five years, to OMG the five years are finished and now what do I do? Oh, I know, sign on as Treasurer to the Canadian Quilters Association and use that as an excuse not to work hard, if at all, on my quilting business.

Well, the working not hard became taking course after course about learning about myself, my business, other peoples’ businesses and how they got there, and repeat, especially learning about myself. It got so comfortable taking these courses that the procrastination and the ‘fear of success’ lasted five years plus one more year.

Then one day, don’t ask me when, I decided to go to Quilt Market. Why? I finally got tired of saying, and I’m certain that my quilting friends also got tired of hearing me say, ‘I’m working on my business.’ So now, I’m walking the walk instead of talking the walk.

I go to market. It all seemed too easy to get there and be there. I wasn’t nervous or anything. In fact, I said to the universe, if I get one order I’ll be a success. Well! I got one order. LOL. Thinking back, perhaps I should have asked for more orders. On top of that order, I made lots of contacts and my friends introduced me to contacts with possibilities. One of which has been successful and is a step in the door.

During this journey I’ve always had in the back of my head that this is what I want to do. The journey to get to this point may have taken longer that it should have, not because I didn’t know my business or what had to be done, but because I was standing in my way. ‘Get out of your white man’s head,’ as a friend of mine keeps reminding me.

All that being said, today, I’m a person that has and still continues to trim garbage out of my life. I’ve finally seen that I cannot do exactly what another person did in their journey to become successful and then get upset because it didn’t work for me. That is their journey and this is my journey. Best of all, my journey will probably still meander but it can also be tweaked as it moves down the path.”

Please share your thoughts on this blog below. . .

Imagine
Jonah Lehrer
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; $26.00

I’m going to start this review with a caveat: the book has been withdrawn from publication because the author fabricated quotes included therein. I was reluctant to include this review because of that, though once I finished the book, which had been recommended by a friend, I could see that it had something to offer this audience. The author, a neuroscientist, takes a look at how creativity works in a variety of situations. He looks at the science and explains it through anecdotes, making it accessible to many who would get bogged down otherwise. Some of what I got from the book: how we solve problems through insight vs analytically; why a relaxed mind is important for creativity; why the morning is better for solving problems when insight is involved; and how the unconcealing process works in creativity. The book has a lot to recommend it, so if you can find it at your local library, it would be worth reading. Just don’t rely on the quotes.

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to www.Amazon.com if you would like to learn more about the book.

Becoming a Confident Quilter
Elizabeth Dackson
Martingale; $26.99

Elizabeth Dackson didn’t own a sewing machine until 2010 when she was looking for a hobby as a new mom and picked one up at JoAnn’s. She ended up as a self-professed fabric-a-holic and admitted fabric geek. Her first book is designed to help beginners gain confidence so they find the same joy that she has. Written in her easy-going style that is familiar to followers of her blog, Elizabeth includes the essentials – fabric, tools, rotary cutting, piecing basics and pressing – before getting you started with any of her 14 projects that build your skills. I found lots of quilts to like, particularly the improvisational Wonky Fences. She also covers all the finishing techniques you need from adding a backing through adding a label. I appreciated the section on reading quilt patterns and the resources for modern quilters.

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to www.Amazon.com if you would like to learn more about the book.

I’m enjoying a vacation as well as a business retreat this week and getting to both involved flying. Of course on the flight, I heard the safety warnings, including the following:

“If cabin pressure should change, panels above your seat will open revealing oxygen masks; reach up and pull a mask towards you. … The plastic bag will not fully inflate, although oxygen is flowing. Secure your own mask first before helping others.”

When I first heard this years ago, my initial thought was that it seemed selfish. Shouldn’t we take care of those who can’t take care of themselves? Of course, if I don’t take care of myself first, I’m useless to those I need to help. After all, you’re no good to anyone if you are not conscious.

I saw two good reminders in this. First, I need to take time to secure my own mask. Immediately for me that would be the vacation. I think self-care fits here for most of us. It’s easy to neglect that mask with all we have going on. For those of you who are going to Quilt Market or Quilt Festival and have booths or anyone who is getting ready for a show, I know you can relate to taking care of yourself now so you can be at your best at the show.

My second reminder was “the plastic bag will not inflate, although oxygen is flowing.” I think that is why we need to keep growing by taking classes, going to workshops, attending business retreats. While we are receiving the information, we don’t always see the impact it is having in our lives.

Please share any parallels you see in your life or business below.