What does "Other" mean?

Hi, friends.

In my industry section, I chose to mark "other." Why is that? It's not that my industry is not on the list. The trouble is that my business encompasses several areas. You can keep up with my doings over at the blog I've linked in my profile, The Dragon Nthly. On that blog, you will find the links to all of my online shops.

I am an award-winning photographer. I have had my photography used as album art for a friend's CD. I have provided production assistance in creating music videos.

I am also a crafter and fine artist. I make all kinds of things by hand, from recycled materials. Most of them are functional. I like to think all of them are cute! In addition to my handmade items, I do mixed media paintings. Right now, I do a lot of collage, but I also paint and draw. My moods dictate my media.

I am also a published writer (no books...yet,) and I offer editorial assistance, proofreading, and the like. I do have some books planned, and I have 2 chapbooks in progress. I hope to finish them soon, but I tend to take breaks from those projects. I have worked as a stringer for a few local publications, and I have had articles published various places on the web. Of course, I'm also a blogger.

Finally, I am a secretary by trade. I offer these same services under the umbrella of my little company, as well.

So you see, "other" really means "I do a lot of things."

Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any projects for me or any questions, comments, or advice.

It's nice to be here!

Tags: business, introduction

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Comment by JenniferLynn Productions on February 8, 2009 at 10:27pm: Wow, Robert! Thanks for all of the info. I want to note that I have not quit my day job yet. I'm a start-up as of December 08, so I'm not ready for that just yet, but that's what I'm hoping for down the line. For now, I effectively work two jobs, because I have to.

I've dabbled in pastels a little bit, and it's something I'd like to look into again. I will definitely be looking at your site when I get a chance. :)

I have considered copy writing, and I would do it, if someone hired me to do so. Thanks for the suggestion.

For now, my boyfriend has offered to do my web site maintenance, but I appreciate the tip.

Good stuff! Thanks very much!

Jennifer

Comment by Robert Sloan on February 4, 2009 at 1:27pm: Thanks for friending me! Your business reminds me of my first typesetting job: Mime-Sherelle Graphics. The owner, Marge Skalecki, was the small business mentor who taught me the most about self employment long before there was an Internet to bring down the costs.

Your strategy rules. A diversified small business that's a mosaic of many smaller businesses will thrive through market fluctuations a lot easier. If your secretarial services are down, your art or crafts could be flourishing and vice versa.

Check out http://www.explore-oil-pastels-with-robert-sloan.com -- it sounds as if you might enjoy it. Using different mediums in mixed media is a traditional way artists have used oil pastels -- because they were invented to go over anything from cardboard to wood, glass, plastic and have a strong expressive mark, they're great for combination works with other mediums. Also they have this great benefit of sometimes being loony cheap. I'm planning to run a documented, rigorous set of lightfastness tests on every brand available in 2009-2010 because I suspect some of the supercheap brands may have colors that are lightfast enough to treat as artist grade. The high end artist grade oil pastels range from the cost of cheap student grade soft pastels on up to midrange for soft pastels -- nowhere near the cost that the high end of soft pastels run. So they're cost effective at any level and they also help me avoid excessive detail that slows down the painting process while dragging attention away from the focal point. I've loosened up a lot since getting back to pastels.

Also, there's another site you may want to visit in general, for everything: http://www.copywriterinfo.com -- this is my daughter's site. She gets paid hundreds of dollars for short articles sometimes, it awes me how much she brings in on the copywriting. I've been learning from her and it's improved my writing on my site a lot.

Plus both sites are from http://www.sitesell.com which I recommend for any self employed person. Site Build It! software is easy to use, but the system also lets you use your own HTML if you don't find anything you like in the templates. I'm a dummy so I use the templates and easy ware, but the real value is in the business plan. I would not be raving over it if I hadn't put in the work to build one and seen insane levels of traffic start coming in.

I'm just at the point of monetizing my site. It's been online since mid-December and I got over a thousand visitors in January when it isn't even half done in terms of my plans for it, though a lot of good articles are up already. So this is becoming a serious flagship for my multiplex business -- novelwriting, article writing, short stories, how-to (especially art lessons), ACEOs, fine art and sketching. I used to be a street artist and will eventually do a site on Street Sketching, I think.

It's a joy to see someone building a life and a solid multidimensional business. When anyone walks away from the "job market" and stops feeding most of their profits upward to shareholders, that strengthens the roots of a sound economy. I look at what's going on now and it's not our policies and habits that caused a problem. It's that people at the top of the pyramids played fast and loose on a mega-scale and their days of easy robbery are ending.

Everything you do adds something real to the world.

I think there should be a category for "multiple" as well as "other" since the big successes in self employment are usually harder to categorize.

Robert