Gabrielle

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For Moms who want a Home Based Business,Build your business in Life Casting,sculpture,create shadow box keepsakes and start building the life you love.

My name is Gabrielle Fischer and I teach people how to build a home based business selling life casting in baby hands and feet shadowboxes.

As a Mom and an artist, I offer intensive hands on workshops creating a home based life casting business in keepsake memorabilia

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6 Real Ways An Art Based Business Can Improve Your Life

Creativity is tapping into your soul and your intuition and allowing them to guide what you make.”  Bernadette Jiwa

The creative process has a way of getting into that deeper part.

Your intuition.

That space that makes you forget about what troubles you.  It’s a straight forward way of connecting to your happiness.

It’s a shame that most of us don’t deliberately connect with this more often.

THINKING ABOUT STARTING A BUSINESS FROM HOME?FIND OUT HOW TO KNOW WHICH ONE IS RIGHT FOR YOU!

But art as a business?  Now that’s a way to build a life with meaning.

The benefits to your life are so powerful in profound ways.  And when your cup is full, it fills the cups of those around you.

It’s a deep and very rewarding life in so many ways.  And there is science backed research to say this is true.

Here are 6 ways an art based career is good for your life.

Creating art reduces stress and anxiety.

High levels of cortisol in your body are known to be associated with stress.

In a recent study in the journal Art Therapy, researchers found that after 45 minutes of making art, the levels of cortisol were reduced in participants. What’s even more fascinating is that this was regardless of their art skills.

Creating art focuses your mind and puts you in a meditative state.

It offers a distraction from your usual thoughts which tends to keep you calm and allow you to let go of stress.

Art gives you a sense of accomplishment and boosts self esteem.

The artistic process creates dopamine in your brain.  Dopamine is a feel good neurotransmitter that stimulates the creation of neurons and prepares your brain for learning.  It also improves concentration, focus and drive.

When your work is complete, the levels of dopamine cause you to feel a sense of accomplishment.  You can relate – there’s nothing more satisfying than creating something new and showing it off to your loved ones.

Even if you keep it to yourself, that sense of accomplishment is still there.

Art Increases feelings of Love.

A study at the University of London revealed that the connection between creating art and the production of dopamine results in feelings of pleasure that are similar to being in the throws of romantic love.

Just by visiting a museum can change the way you think.  Students who visited a museum were recorded to have greater empathy and tolerance to other people and the way they lived.

Its not always possible to visit a museum every day.

But when art is your business and life, you don’t need one.

Art relieves the burden of chronic health conditions.

Dr. John Graham-Pole is a retired pediatric oncologist.  He developed art workshops to help patients and staff cope better with their illnesses through writing and painting.

Dr. Graham-Pole stated that “Art is a social determinant of our health.  It doesn’t cure a particular disease, but benefits whatever ails you.”

Time and time again, studies have shown the benefits of art in patients suffering from illness.

It not only relieves stress, helps them express their feelings, and gives them a sense of achievement.  But it also allows them to remember who they were before they became ill.

Art can help us get over sadness.

Researchers have found that creating art can improve the feeling of sadness better than venting can.  Distracting yourself from sadness and interrupting the emotion through art is an effective way of letting go.

So if you’re feeling down, it’s time to pull out your unfinished art work and get at it.

Oh yeah, that’s what your business is for!

Making art is meditative and can help you get in the flow.

Art has one of the most positive and strongest effects on mood in high school students.

Doing art is pleasurable and gets you in a zone.  Being in the zone, or flow, is defined as being totally absorbed by and enjoying the task at hand.  It can temporarily push aside all your worries and resistance in your life.

Feeling good is only about letting go of resistance.

You don’t attract well being.

It’s already continuously flowing.

You are either allowing it or resisting it.

Art brings joy to people’s lives

It’s a no brainer that art can keep your cup full.  It brings joy, inspiration, and eases  negative feelings that so that we can get closer to who we’re meant to be.

But the bottom line is that by creating art, we are also touching other people’s lives.  To open up people’s minds, or make them think, or even to evoke a memory or a feeling is truly giving a gift.  It’s leaving a legacy behind that touches others.

A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others. Salvador Dali

To me, that’s what really matters…

In reality, everybody is creative in some way.

Most people express their creativity to one extent or another at work.  It just has certain restrictions according to their job.

But being an artist is like saying you have permission to create all the time and without boundaries.

It’s like announcing that you have chosen to live a life that is more connected to that intuitive side full time.

And that’s a life worth living.

How do you express creativity in your life?  Let me know what you do to let go of stress and negativity through art work.

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The 5 things that will kill your art based business

There’s so much creativity in building a business and watching it grow.  It really is like raising a child.

What I love most about it is finding inventive solutions to challenges that come up as the business evolves.  It’s that creative part when I’m inspired by a new idea that I really love.

But there are some basic principles to running a business that are absolute musts.

If you want a hobby, you’re free to do whatever you want.  But if you want to make some money, you have to follow some business guidelines.

It’s like art, science and raising a kid all wrapped into one.

I can tell you from experience that if you don’t follow the rules of business, eventually you won’t have one.

THINKING ABOUT STARTING A BUSINESS FROM HOME?FIND OUT HOW TO KNOW WHICH ONE IS RIGHT FOR YOU!

It’s just that as artists, you just want to do the art stuff.  But don’t make the mistake of forgetting about the business stuff.

It’s not as daunting as you think.  Just put some thought into these things and you’ll be fine.

And don’t forget you can have fun with it too!  Your originality, vision and flavor can and should go into all of this.

There are no set rules around that.

Here are some of the top business mistakes I see in art based businesses.

No online presence

You are missing out on massive sales if you don’t have a web site.  Period.

Building one isn’t as difficult as it used to be.  But there is significant planning around creating one if you want to do it right.

Content is king but design and visual appeal is nearly as important.  A professionally designed web site usually stands out from a home made one.  So spending a little bit of money on a web designer usually pays off.

What so many people get wrong is thinking that a web site is enough.

Think of it like a business card.  The only way people will see it is if you hand them out.  Getting your web site seen by people is where you really want to put your time and effort.

SEO, PPC, Social Media, flyers and all your other marketing channels should point people to your site.

It’s an absolute must.

No branding

I used to be confused about what branding meant.  Even after I learned what the literal definition was, I still wasn’t quite sure how to get it right.

But simply put, branding is just showing your market who you are.  You can get very creative with this and as an artist, it’s the most fun!

It’s the way you write your web site content, the pictures you use in your marketing material, the style you have on your business cards, the way you dress or the little thank-you notes you add when you deliver your products.

Its your personality.  It represents your values and beliefs in your life and how you bring that to your business.

It’s important to match your brand with your market.  So you can’t just say “this is who I am so I’ll brand myself that way”.

Figure out who your ideal customer is then showcase your business in a way that relates to them but with your own personal spin.  If you don’t brand yourself, you are just another face in the crowd.

So show them who you are.  The more creative and authentic, the better.

Lack of organization and planning

This one has always come easy to me but I’ve seen others fail as their business grows.  Their lack of organization eventually kills them.

Planning your week for outcomes and deadlines in advance will keep you from floating from one crisis to the next.

Organizing your day around these outcomes will allow you to move in a focused, forward direction.

There are always emails, phone calls, problems and distractions on any given day.  Certain unforeseen things can’t always be put on the back burner.

But scheduling your time on purpose will keep your business (and life) on track.

Not taking care of your clients

Customers are what make your business.  Without them, you’re broke.

Making money is something we all have to focus on, but focusing on helping people by giving them solutions to their problems is what will make your business fly.

I’ve seen so many businesses that operate just to make money.  They don’t care about how you feel and they won’t spend any time or effort to help if you don’t get what you expect as a customer.

It feels meaningless and cheap.

Regardless of what you’re selling, don’t ever compromise your promise to your clients.  You aren’t just selling a product, you’re selling an experience.  That’s rule number one.

Rule number 2 is to go out of your way to make them feel special.  A follow up phone call, a special note, a hand delivered package or even just give them what you promise.

Let them know you have their back and be in a spirit of giving.

That’s what business is about.

Not taking care of yourself

My Dad taught me that we will always have problems in one form or another.  It’s how we deal with the problems that will define your life.

How we deal with problems has a lot to do with our state of mind.

You can’t give anything if you’re feeling empty and depleted.

Not taking care of yourself is probably the number one business killer.  You can make mistakes in other areas but those can be fixed.

If you don’t feel good about yourself, how can you take care of a business.  Not only that, but your mood and energy is reflected in everything you do.

There are ways to practice getting into a good state of mind.  Meditation, diet, being outside and just taking breaks all help from getting sucked into the day to day troubles.

You can’t pour from an empty cup.

Take care of yourself first.

I’d love to hear what your priorities are.  What’s the number one most important thing that would kill your business if you didn’t have it?

Leave a comment and share with somebody who could use these tips in their business!

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Can You Be A Mompreneur And A Good Parent?

Mom guilt is the worst.

The, I should’ve done this or I should be doing that.  It’s the guilt from not finding the balance you hoped for every day.

As a stay at home Mom with a business, I find it hard not to feel guilty when I’m not taking care of one or the other.  If I spend a lot of time with my kids, I feel like I’m ignoring my clients.  If I’m working on my business, I feel like I should be with my kids.

How can I win?  I can’t be everything at once.  Either I figure out how to balance both or risk going crazy with guilt.

It was only when I started putting things into perspective that I found relief.  Being a Mom these days means wearing a lot of different hats.  And you shouldn’t feel guilty about which ones you’re wearing.

Not only did I find a way to feel good about that.  I turned my weaknesses into strengths by shifting my perspective and used that to teach my children.

I used to see all the things I should be doing and it stressed me out.  That stress transferred to my kids and my business and I wasn’t having much fun at anything.  I was focusing too much on the negative instead of the positive.

So rather than trying to be Superwoman, I shifted the way I saw things.  I did this by giving myself permission to do only what I could do.  Not all the things I couldn’t do.  That gave me a way to feel good about what I did accomplish, and not what I didn’t accomplish.

Look at the glass as half full rather than half empty.

Ambitious Moms like us tend to take on a lot.  Let go of trying to be perfect and cramming in as much as you can into a day or a week.  Give yourself permission to move forward each day a little at a time.

Don’t chose between kids and work.

The idea that we have to choose between being a Mom, entrepreneur, wife and trying to take care of ourselves is old school.  We can’t let go of being a Mom to take care of business and we can’t ignore our relationship to be a Mom.  And if you don’t take care of yourself, you have nothing left for anybody.

We are all of it.  But that doesn’t mean we have to run ourselves down to do it all.  Prioritizing your day is key.  Plan on where you need to put your focus and give yourself permission to be flexible.  Focus on one thing at a time but allow your role to change as it needs to.

Be a role model.

The role of a parent is to teach your kids how to be independent, confident contributors to society.  Kids do what you do, not what you say.  So let them know what you’re doing in your business.  Let them see it takes work.  And ask them to pitch in and help by doing little things to take care of themselves.

Get it out of your head that you have to be everything to them.  By protecting your kids and doing everything for them, you’re teaching them how to be entitled adults.  That’s not to say let them suffer.  But never feel guilty for teaching them some independence.

It’s not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.  – Ann Landers

It’s not always about them.  If you find yourself jumping at every request and feeling bad when you can’t always be there for your kids, ask yourself why.

Animals in nature are parents for a very short time.  They feed and protect their young only until they are old enough to do it for themselves.  Then they kick them out.  Now, there is a time when our kids need us to do things for them.  But soon enough, they can learn a lot of skills to care for themselves.

If you do a lot more for your kids than they do for themselves as they get older, that’s because you need them.

They don’t need you.  You want them to need you so you can feel special.

Take stock of all the things you do for them over a day or a week and ask yourself how many things they could be doing themselves.

Being a Mompreneur is as challenging as it is rewarding.  But you can take on all of it if you make a minor shift in your mindset.  We get stressed out when our reality doesn’t meet our expectations.  Change your expectations and you can get rid of the stress.

That doesn’t mean lower the bar or dream smaller.

Dream big.

Set your bar high.

But be flexible on how you get there.  Then you can have it all.

Do you find it hard to juggle work and kids?  Share some tricks, tips or insights below and tell me how you manage to keep a life for yourself, your family and your business!

[lifecastingschoolofart]

For Moms who want a Home Based Business,Build your business in Life Casting,sculpture,create shadow box keepsakes and start building the life you love.

[lifecastingschoolofart]

What My 8 Year Old Son Taught Me About Building A Successful Business

Sometimes our best life lessons come from the most unexpected places.

Overwhelm is one of the biggest challenges I have to deal with as a Mom and entrepreneur.  Probably because I’m a perfectionist (which is a sure way to kill any chance of business success, so that’s another challenge).

So I’m constantly working on it.  But any successful entrepreneur will tell you that the workload can sometimes feel pretty heavy.

And knowing what to do next can be stressful.  Especially when you’re a Mom!

I’ve started and run a few businesses.  Some were very successful, and others had their struggles.  But I’ve learned a ton about myself and business along the way.

Building a business can often feel like an impossible climb to the top.  And most of the time, we’re our own worst enemy.

THINKING ABOUT STARTING A BUSINESS FROM HOME?FIND OUT HOW TO KNOW WHICH ONE IS RIGHT FOR YOU!

My fear of failure and lack of patience can slow down my progress if I let it.  But the bigger our dreams, the scarier they are.  And the only way to move through that is to focus on the next best thing.

Not the giant mountain in front of us.

Not too long ago, my 8 year old son was practicing his grade 3 printing.  All he had to do was copy one sentence in his book.  But since he hated it so much, he found every possible way to stall so he could avoid doing the exercise.

And I was trying every possible way to convince him how great printing was!

It drove me crazy.

5 minutes later, he had only printed one word and I was so frustrated I was ready to jump out the window.

So I shifted his perspective.  I told him that rather than looking at his homework like a chore, focus on one letter at a time.  Don’t think about being done.  Don’t think about what he’s missing out on.  Just focus on the process.

And before he knows it, he’ll be done.

I wasn’t sure if it would work.  But funny enough, he did it.

He became fully present on printing the letters and within a minute, he was finished.  You should’ve seen the look on his face…

I could see the insight he had gained in that moment.

And I was happy to be able to turn his struggle into a lesson.

The best way to learn, is to teach.

I knew that this was the way to overcome overwhelm.  But watching it work for him hit me harder than doing it for myself.

I often get so worried about all the work and all the possible outcomes, that I forget to focus on the journey.  And it slows down my progress.

Ever wonder why your vacation seems to go by so fast?  Because you’re having so much fun and staying in the moment.

The more you focus on enjoying the journey, the faster you get there.

His insight became a lesson for me and a hard reminder.

So relax.

And just do the next best thing.

Let me know what you do to stay focused on the process.  Do you have a trick to help you move forward?

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