This week we have a teleclass with Marcia Hoeck on working with a virtual assistant. I began partnering with my virtual assistant, Terry, about 16 months ago. I know some of you have had occasion to work with her. Why did I make this decision? I wanted to grow my business and knew I didn’t have enough hours in the day to accomplish everything. I also knew I wasn’t as skilled at some aspects of the business as someone else might be. And, I knew I got a better return on my time investment working on other projects.

How did I first learn about virtual assistants (also know as VAs)? That I’m not sure about. In 2004 I began working with a VA on my husband’s behalf and quickly realized the benefits. Dawn, his first VA, started by taking over his e-zine, something I had been doing. Today, she has another business and he has another VA. Partnering with a VA left him with more time to work “on” his business, rather than “in” his business. I was sure it would do the same for me.

How can quilt professionals use a VA? First get clear on why and how you can use some help. Are your books woefully behind? Some virtual assistants specialize in bookkeeping. Do you want to grow your business online with a monthly newsletter and don’t know where to start? Many VAs are skilled at html, so they can handle lots of online tasks. Here are eight ideas to get you started:

1. Start with the bookkeeping mentioned above. If this is not one of your skills, look for a VA who is skilled in this area. She can bill your clients and follow up on overdue invoices, keeping you abreast of a situation that you need to handle. She can pay your bills and balance your books.

2. If you are a quilt teacher, you can have your VA manage all your bookings. She can keep your calendar, handle inquiries for teaching, know when you need to be where, get your handouts prepared and shipped to your event. She can even book your travel.

3. If you are a pattern designer, your VA can handle your back-office support activities, including order processing, delivery confirmation and follow-up.

4. Most quilt businesses have a web site and/or blog. Your VA can handle posting, linking, site updates, etc.

5. If you are a longarm quilter, your VA can handle initial inquiries and schedule your work. She can keep track of your supplies and order them for you when you are low.

6. If you are coming out with a new product, you can find a VA to work with you to develop a marketing plan.

7. If you’re an art quilter and preparing for a show, your VA can send invitations, contact the press, help you create advertising and publicity materials, etc.

8. Many quilters today have online newsletters, or e-zines. Your VA can manage your database and work with you to get your newsletter sent out in a timely manner.

I’m sure as you look at your business, you can find tasks that a VA could do. As you go through a typical week, track the tasks that you handle. Many of these tasks, particularly those of an administrative nature, are ones that your VA could do. Sure you could hire someone locally, but you’ll find advantages to having someone do them virtually. The big one is that your VA owns her own business just as you do, and she’s committed to building her business. She’s also responsible for her own taxes, insurance, sick or vacation pay.

I found in the time that I’ve worked with my VA that I’ve been able to build The Professional Quilter into the International Association of Professional Quilters. I could not have done this without the help of my VA. Not only does she handle some of my administrative tasks, she’s a good sounding board for my ideas. A bonus is that she’s a quilter. Regardless of whether you choose to work with someone virtually or hire someone to come into your office, when you turn over some of your work, that lets you spend time working on your business not in your business. And that’s when your business can grow.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership here.

The Winter issue of The Professional Quilter includes a profile with Matt Sparrow by Mindy Caspersen. Mindy originally met Matt on Facebook and when her attempts to connect at MQX (Machine Quilters Exposition) didn’t work out, she took the opportunity to learn more about Matt. Here’s an excerpt from the profile.

How did you get involved with longarm quilting?
Shortly after I basted and quilted my first quilt on a domestic sewing machine (DSM), I realized that it wasn’t something I wanted to be doing over and over again. I loved piecing but hated the quilting part of the process. After researching the price of longarms, the only way to justify the purchase was to take in customer quilts to recoup the investment. I had no idea it would explode into a full-time career in a short few months.

What is ManQuilter and how is it separate from the rest of your quilting business?
ManQuilter is the essence of my quilting business. I created Manquilter.com to market myself as a longarm quilter. It is my “brand” that I continue to grow every day. I am very committed to building my brand to a point that it is familiar with a large portion of the quilting world. Read the rest of the article nd share your thoughts here.

Tell us about your studio and machine.
I converted my front living room into my studio and run my longarm quilting business out of my home. I am the proud owner of a 2009 APQS Millennium and am one of the newest sales reps for APQS. I have had my hands on every major brand of longarm quilting machine and can tell you without blinking an eye that nothing comes close to the feeling I get when I start stitching on my Millennium Falcon (my pet name for my machine). The horizontal wheels and electronic stitch regulator allow me the joy of precision quilting that my customers demand.

How did you get started teaching quilting in general and also longarm quilting?
I went to MQX in April to take several of Karen McTavish’s classes and was fascinated by her teaching style and the energy she brought to the class. I became certified to teach her quilting technique and came home and approached a local shop about teaching a class. Several months, seven classes and two open house presentations later, I am now officially a competent and confident teacher.

Do you have any business tips you can share with us?
The most important tip I can give is that the sooner you realize that this is your business you are running the better. You are not only a longarm quilter but a business owner as well. Quilting often requires loads of emotion. You need to remove that emotion from the business side of it and make decisions based on a profit model not an emotional response to how you (de)value yourself.

You can read more about Matt and how he and his wife, Bradie, support thier family of ten from quilting in the Winter 2010 issue of The Professional Quilter. The Professional Quilter is one of the benefits of membership in the International Association of Professional Quilters. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership here

Did you make resolutions a few weeks ago? Were they the same ones you made last year and the year before? You know, lose weight, exercise more, get out of debt, get organized. I use to make some of those, too, and, if truth be told, probably still do.

For the past several years, though, I’ve tried something new. I’ve picked a word to reflect on and act on for the year. I started this practice in my yoga class. At the first session of the year, Kathy, our instructor passes around a basket with words and we draw one. A couple of years ago I selected “openness.” Pat, the woman next to me picked “love,” and I thought that was a much better word. I asked if I could draw again, and Kathy told me that I didn’t pick the word, it had picked me. OK, so openness it was. I took the paper home and taped it to the top of the computer screen where I looked at it each day. Something really magical happened. I began to look at opportunities in both my business and personal life in a whole new light.

So at yoga class on Saturday, it was time to draw this year’s word. Knowing how powerful the word as an intention was for me in the past, I had already selected a word for 2010. That word was “challenge.” I wanted to challenge myself each day, whether that was challenges I sought out or those that came to me. I put the word challenge on a post-it by my computer.

The word that I drew in yoga class was “enjoy,” and I look at it as a perfect complement to challenge. I tend to get highly focused on something and need to see it to completion, easily neglecting the joy of the journey. With both these words, I see a great 2010 ahead for me.

Another thought on resolutions: Often we tend to try to correct those things that are weaknesses in ourselves. This year instead try to focus on your strengths and build on them. Some good resources for learning your strengths and how to capitalize on them are Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton; StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths by Tom Rath; and Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance by Marcus Buckingham.

One way you could put this into practice is when you find a weakness,  look for a way for someone else to handle it. Here’s just one example: hire a bookkeeper instead of struggling to do your own books, if that’s not one of your strengths. Your time will be spent more productively on those tasks at which you excel, and you’ll make enough money doing those tasks at which you are better. A bonus is that someone else is able to put her strengths to work. Remember you have power in your strengths.

Please share your thoughts on selecting a word or building your strengths.

The International Association of Professional Quilters offers resources and networking opportunities for you to create a success from your quilting business. Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership here.

Have you considered holding an open studio to educate the public about your art and make a profit at the same time? While many such events are often held at a holiday time, they can be successful year round. In the Fall issue of The Professional Quilter, Eileen Doughty interviewed eight art quilters to get their take on how successful their open studios were and what was involved in putting one on. If this is one of the marketing ideas on your goals list for 2010, you’ll want to go back and read Eileen’s article to refine the notes you probably took when you were researching at local events this season. Following is an excerpt from part one on preparing your studio. Part two of the series is in the Winter issue of The Professional Quilter.

The most engaging studios tend to highlight the creativity and individuality of the artist. They are beautiful and inviting, inside and out. Consider including demonstrations, an artist talk, works in progress, photographic displays or even videos. Display samples of your work or process that you don’t mind being handled by a lot of fingers.

Whether your studio is in your home or a public place, it may take a few days to set everything up, and even more time if you are using someone else’s space and have to start from scratch. “Getting ready is a huge job – not just in terms of making and mounting my artwork, but rearranging the furniture, cleaning, preparing refreshments, labeling, pricing, doing the signage, arranging for helpers, printing and packing greeting cards, and preparing storyboards and displays of materials and equipment,” says fiber artist Susan Else, who participates in a tour sponsored by the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County, Calif., each October.

Consider offering artwork in a variety of sizes and prices. Place neat labels next to each work with title, size, materials and price. Besides wall art, several artists offer hand-dyed scarves, books written by or featuring the artist, note cards, small gifts, jewelry, framed art and wearable art. Inventorying every single item can be time-consuming but will help you track sales patterns, and you’ll know if there was any shoplifting.

Have a guest book to build your mailing list and get comments. Also set out your business cards and postcards. Susan puts her sign-in book on the way to the kitchen, so no homemade apple cake until you sign!  Susan’s homemade apple cake is not the exception, as many artists provide beverages and non-greasy food.

To read more of Eileen’s article on Holding an Open Studio in Issue 109 of The Professional Quilter, your subscription or membership in the The International Association of Professional Quilters must be current.Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership here.

Artful Bras: Hooters, Melons and Boobs, Oh My!
Quilters of South Carolina
Kansas City Star Books; $24.95

Art bras – bras that have been decorated – have become popular the last few years and this surge in popularity spurred the Quilters Guild of South Carolina to sponsor a statewide challenge to its 650-person membership. Their goal was to raise awareness of breast cancer, and 41 members took up the call creating 50 artful bras. Each art bra is showcased on a full page in this book and is accompanied by the artist’s summary of her inspiration and how she created her bra as well as any specific connection she might have to breast cancer. I had a blast looking at the bras and choosing a favorite is impossible. I laughed at Monkey Business (the bra decorated with the sock monkey), marveled at the ingenious application of boas and feathers and chuckled at the titles. Several of the bras went onto greater fame, including two that became cover girls for the American Journal of Nursing. The bras were exhibited throughout most of 2009 and are currently on auction. All proceeds from the exhibit, book and auction go to Second Chance Network, a South Carolina program that helps women without insurance pay for breast-cancer screening. Here’s a link to Amazon to learn more about the book  and a link to the Quilters of South Carolina if you are interested in bidding on an art bra.

I’m really excited to announce that The Professional Quilter is becoming part of the International Association of Professional Quilters.

Over the last few years most of you have noticed that we’ve harnessed the power of the Internet to offer more information to help you, the serious quilter, create business success. We publish this e-zine with business tips, tools and techniques to help you build your business. We regularly sponsor teleclasses and longer teleseminars all geared to guide you as you grow your business.

As I talked with subscribers and participants in our programs and looked at what we offered, I knew the best way to help you uplevel your business was to package these products together, along with some other goodies. Members of the IAPQ will receive:

• The Professional Quilter, our quarterly business journal;
• access to monthly teleclasses with experts both in and outside the quilt world;
• access to a monthly tele-networking/ mastermind event;
• a free consultation with an intellectual property attorney;
• an IAPQ lapel pin designed by our art director, Kim Bartko;
• discounts on our books and other resources;
• and more.

The actual value of these benefits easily exceeds $700; the value of these benefits to you is priceless as you build and grow your business. You can see complete details of the benefits on our redesigned Web site.

If you are a subscriber to The Professional Quilter, I know that you are interested in how your current subscription converts to IAPQ membership. Effective immediately, we will no longer accept single subscriptions. The regular price of the IAPQ membership is $137. Through December 31, 2009, we are offering an introductory price of $97 for the first year. We will never offer a special at this rate again. When you convert your subscription online and input the expiration date shown on your address label, you will be credited for the amount remaining on your subscription, in most cases $7.49 an issue. Details are on the Join Page on our site.

I know that networking with other professional quilters is important. Please join me on our new IAPQ Facebook group page where you can interact with like-minded quilters. Here’s the quick link.

I look forward to helping you uplevel your quilt business. Our mission at the IAPQ is to provide the resources to educate and empower you to create your own success in our industry. Whether you’ve been in business for years or you’re just starting out, you’ll find the resources you need to create your own success at the IAPQ.

Learn about all the benefits of IAPQ membership here.

Storm at Sea Quilts
Wendy Mathson
C&T Publishing; $24.95

I’ve always been drawn to the Storm at Sea block and the optical illusion of waves it creates. While the traditional coloration is most often blue, the block lends itself to endless design possibilities. Wendy Mathson offers her unique piecing technique to produce accurate units for the three pieced units used to create the Storm at Sea block: a diamond-in-a-rectangle unit; a large square-in-a-square unit and a small square-in-a-square unit. Wendy calls the square-in-a-square units Big SIS and Little SIS and has created a set of acrylic tools called Quilters’ TRIMplates (short for trimming templates) to accurately cut the units. While it is possible to cut and sew the units without using the templates, they offer advantages for producing accurate block units. The book includes six Storm at Sea projects, a gallery of inspiring quilts, options for border treatments and design grids to copy to work on your own designs. You’ll have fun creating your own designs.

Here’s a link if you’d like to add it to your library.

When I go to my local yoga studio, Follow Your Heart Yoga in Germantown, Md., I see a tile hanging by the door. It says Just Be! I’ve seen it for years now and never really gave it a lot of thought. What does it mean to “just be”? On one level it means to be present in the moment, without distraction, still. And, that’s probably what we’re supposed to consider when we see the tile and begin our practice in the studio. But who is it that you want to be?

I don’t know if you are familiar with the Be-Do-Have principle. I think I first heard of it years ago, probably on a Tony Robbins audio program. It got a lot of play recently with the movie The Secret and the Law of Attraction principle. Early on most of us learn that if we do whatever, we will have whatever and then we’ll be whatever. That’s DO-HAVE-BE; it really should be BE-DO-HAVE. You first need to figure out what kind of person you want to be. Being is how you create the life that you want.

This past Sunday my husband and I went to church in Connecticut, and, in her sermon, the deacon asked, “Who Are You?” Most of us say, “I’m a wife, a mom, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a quilter, a writer, a cook, etc.” But who are we really and who do we want to be? It can take some listening to figure it out.

Spend some time thinking about who you are and who you want to be. For me, I want to be a person of integrity, filled with joy and gratitude. I want to be generous and open and spirited. Since I know the person I want to be, it makes it easier for me to do things in accord with that. My actions are based on who I want to “be” and what a person of that “being” would do.

So, who do you want to be? You need to listen to your inner voice to find out. And, to do that you need to Just Be!

Here are two quotes on being that I like:

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
e.e. cummings

I think of life itself now as a wonderful play that I’ve written for myself, and so my purpose is to have the utmost fun playing my part.
Shirley MacLaine

The Professional Quilter includes articles to help you create success with your quilt business. If your subscription is not current and you need to renew, or you want to start a new subscription, here’s a link to our order page

Simple Stained Glass Quilts
Daphne Greig and Susan Purney Mark
Krause; $24.95

Daphne Greig and Susan Purney Mark began creating their Too Easy Stained Glass patterns in 2003, and they wrote this book as a result of customers wanting more of the duo’s stained glass quilts. Their concept is “too easy,” since you create the leading from a single piece of fabric and fusible web rather than creating yards of bias. The book includes 20 projects ranging from pillows to wall hangings to full-size bed quilts and includes full-size patterns for the leading. I was intrigued by many of the designs, particularly one that leaded half a tree and the Hillside House projects where the leading was the framing of a house.

Here’s a link if you’d like to add it to your library.

The Summer issue of The Professional Quilter includes a profile of Joan Hawley, owner of Lazy Girl Designs. I’ve known Joan for years now, first meeting her at Quilt Market. Isn’t that where you make some of the best connections? Anyway, here’s an excerpt of our interview with Joan.

Why did you decide to start Lazy Girl Designs?
I started Lazy Girl on a whim. I was between jobs in my  planning career due to relocating for my husband’s job. Sewing, quilting and writing patterns were something to do while sending out résumés and waiting for interviews. When quilt shops showed interest in my designs, I decided to give it six months and see what happened. That was 1997, and I haven’t looked back.

I think your business name is quite creative and distinct. How did you decide on it?
I was struggling to find a name that fit my style and approach. I searched high and low. I read the dictionary for inspiration. I checked out the thesaurus, too. One day, I picked up a cookbook and started reading. I saw a recipe for Lazy Girl Soup and my search was over. Lazy Girl fit.

How large is your product line?
In addition to 50 patterns, I have three books and one DVD. I also created the Lazy Angle ruler and market a “no math needed” Flying Geese x 4™ ruler. To complete the bag line, I also designed Bag-E-Bottoms, acrylic bases in several sizes to give our most popular bag, purse and tote patterns a sturdy bottom, and Handy Tab™, ready-to-sew fabric strips used to attach accessories, such as handles or D-rings, to the bags.

What has been the biggest challenge in your business?
The single biggest and ongoing challenge is achieving my goal of not having the business force life changes on me. I structured the operation and functioning of the company to fit me, not the other way around. For instance, I don’t want to manage employees. I’ve done that in my previous career. It’s administrative and emotional overhead and takes away from the time I need to run the company. I hire contract labor as needed for specialty tasks. For instance, I pay my acrylic manufacturers to package my items for me rather than create warehouse/assembly space and hire workers on my end.

You can read more of the interview with Joan Hawley in the Summer issue of The Professional Quilter. If your subscription is not current and you need to renew, or you want to start a new subscription, here’s a link to our order page.