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New Years Resolution? No Thank You

by Lori Mercer on December 29, 2012

20121229 115804 New Years Resolution?  No Thank You

I am so sick of reading posts and articles about making the perfect New Years resolution. Blah blah blah. Same old story every year. Maybe it’s because I turned 40 this year. (Is this what a mid life crisis feels like?). Maybe it’s that we’ve reached an era where we are so saturated with media and content that it can all feel like de ja vu.
But I am completely uninspired by 99 percent of those posts. (If you are twenty something listen up because maybe I am onto some elderly wisdom here I wished I knew 20 years ago)

I am going to keep this short and try not contribute to the avalanche of junk on the Internet.

Here is a secret. Those who are successful may spend a little time re calibrating for the new year but they are not stuck in thoughtful perspective with no action.

Successful people are do-ers and action takers. They are right now busy doing for their business and not writing their resolution in page one of their pretty new journal.

They have already tweaked their diets and exercise plans and are not researching the perfect routine for them.

They tossed their web page out there to get feedback even though the graphics are not the exact shade if blue they were going for. (Fix that later. No one notices but you.)

You want one key to focus on in 2013?
Clear your brain. Focus on your strategy (don’t have one? Better start there) and just act.

The fastest (quality) decision maker always wins.

Here’s to 2013 being a year of action.

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Always Learning

by Lori Mercer on October 6, 2012

20121006 123007 Always Learning

A weekend investing in knowledge and connecting. Social media GPS In Orlando. Lots of great tidbits to share with you. Find me on twitter to keep up in real time @lorimercer

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Fiverr: A Cheap Way to get the Creative Juices Flowing

by Lori Mercer on August 14, 2012

 Fiverr:  A Cheap Way to get the Creative Juices FlowingI’m in a busy building phase of a couple projects.  Some new clients here at Picture Your Life, a quickly growing community at FirefighterWife.com and a potential new direct sales opportunity for my husband.

So if I can scratch something off my to do list that would take me an hour and get it in <24 hours for $5, it’s worth a shot.   I’d been hearing about fiverr, a community for people who will do things for $5.  Jingles, slogans, writing, graphics, logos, short videos and other plain weirdness like this:

Capture Fiverr:  A Cheap Way to get the Creative Juices Flowing

 

So I spent 3 minutes scanning the most popular graphic / logo designers.  Picked someone with all good reviews and who’s style caught my eye.  I sent her a simple description and we were off.  $5 and less than 5 minutes of my time.   I choose an “express” seller who delivers in <24 hours.

This morning she had uploaded a file with 3 different logo styles, in 3 color variations each including the PSD files.  Not bad!   The color tones were off but the style was in line with what I was looking for and I had a couple to chose from.   I quickly picked one and wrote 5 specific things that needed to be changed and we agreed to $10 more dollars for those changes.

I was excited!  $15 to get the perfect logo that might have taken me 2 -3 hours to iron out.  Woot!

Within an hour I received the next product.  Uh oh!  There were like 29 more things wrong with it.  I realized that the broken english with which she was writing should have been in indicator.  She did not understand at ALL the 5 additional instructions I sent her.

  •  I asked for a specific orange color and it came back brown.
  • I asked to keep the font as is but smooth the edges a bit more. She totally changed the font.
  • I asked for stick figure monotone people and she used real pictures.

We discussed back and forth a bit.  She was super fast in communicating but was begging me to keep the positive feedback.  She needed this money to survive.  (Probably true but fiverr is a place to do business, not ask for charity hand outs.)  I agreed to remove the negative feedback on the round 2 work and she agreed to cancel the 2nd $10 request since she was not able to do the work.  Customer Service was responsive and helpful.  All was resolved.  All ended happy.

and for $5?   I was incredibly inspired by her designs and able to spend only 30 minutes whipping together a new logo.

My tips for you and your business:

  1. Manage your expectations.  Not too high.
  2. Pick a simple, easily explainable task
  3. Do not waste too much time picking a seller.  Go for someone with good reviews and fast response.
  4. Select someone who will give you more than one choice / design idea to pick from
  5. Write very clear instructions for what you want, considering it may be a non-native English speaker reading.
  6. Be quick and responsive back to them.  Efficiency for both of you.
  7. Keep it fun and light hearted.  Not worth getting your fur all ruffled over five bucks

Next up….how about this one?

Capture1 Fiverr:  A Cheap Way to get the Creative Juices Flowing

 

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Boycott Perfectionism

by Lori Mercer on February 17, 2012

97460779405893410 iWw84t5p c Boycott Perfectionism

Source: pictureyourlife.com via Lori on Pinterest

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Weary working Momma?

February 10, 2012

Whether you CHOOSE to be a working Momma, or NEED to be a working Momma, rest in this fact: God has you RIGHT HERE,  RIGHT NOW, in the midst of the chaos that is your day-care-dash, powerpoint-prepping, working-through-lunch break, off-to-soccer day. Because he KNOWS you are able.  He made you for this moment. Thank Him [...]

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