Listen to Your Heart

PaperNStitch (one of my favorite blogs!) reposted some sage advice from Mayi Carles on how to run a Successful Online Shop.

I love some of Mayi's advice. It is really encouraging me right now:

1. Listen to the little voice inside your heart. Yep, I typed that correctly. I didn’t mean head, but heart. Be aware about your feelings + ask yourselves the hard existential questions “Am I happy, really happy doing what I’m doing?”, “Am I doing what I was destined to do?. The rush of the everyday tends to dilute our emotions. Tip: Don’t be an android + don’t be afraid to feel + listen to your heart. I promise it will take you far when you embrace it.

2. Be a real person. Doing business online can sometimes feel a little cold, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Allow your customers to “see you”. Put a picture of you in your profile + write a heartfelt about page + tell your story. Allow your customers to easily identify with you, the person, not the shop, but actually I real skin + bones + heart pumping human being.

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4. Take yourself seriously. Get yourself an office space + buy the best supplies you can + hire a professional to help you do what you can’t + seek help + open an online shop. Don’t wait for your big break. Don’t wait for anyone to approve of your less than common career path. Don’t wait until Oprah invites you on her show to take yourself seriously. Give it all you’ve got! Turn off the “I’ll do that when I’m rich” mentality. Tip: take yourself seriously + have the gut to make the important decisions your business needs to grow. (site)

Too often we hold ourselves back from even trying, or when we do, we try to force ourselves into a cookie-cutter mold that isn't us - and isn't why we went into business.

Mayi also posted this helpful worksheet for figuring out what you are amazing at! I am using it in my quest to narrow down a start-up right now.