Accountability 2023

I have Abbey working for me this week. And Jessica wanted to earn extra money. So my house is getting a major upheaval. The art studio is getting organized and functional, and my bedroom is getting decluttered. I have boxes of papers to go through and either file, shred, or toss. But by the end of the week the upstairs should be good.

Weekends are becoming art days. It's fun. and Abbey is helping me learn how to upload my work to ko.fi.com. I have to make sure the right edit is being used but once I start that, I should have September filled in and ready to launch. I'm thinking of learning how to do video clips of my projects. And begin to journal short articles (400-500) words. My journaling will be done on the ko.fi site. Abbey found out it also has an online store where I can put the links to my books and art, as well as Joshua's work.

It feels good to be getting things done.

We'll miss you but I do understand. I'm putting in place ways to implement stream of income. especially passive streams of income. The ones a person sets up and then they pretty much remain in place and do their job with very little maintenance. I'm also adding getting my bearings back in the art world. I'm going to try, once again, to get a Kansas tax #. Joshua has one but I don't know if we can use his for business purposes or if its strictly for paying his help.

I'm playing with a cricut machine until Friday. I want to see how it works and decide which model I want to buy. We can add a lot of products to our sales tables. I will even be able to make custom T-shirts. We're also going to try putting our artwork on canvas bags. Jessica made the comment that as people walk around a show they might get their hands full carrying purchases and might buy a bag just to carry their stuff in. It seems worth a try.

i'm also wanting to create digital files of our art and sell the files. Not much money but people buy them for their own projects. Its worth learning how to do.

I have the first two weeks of September locked in. I'll get the next two weeks put in before the corn roast starts on Friday. Bill and Jacquie get to Kansas tomorrow. Sharon is in town. Connie has coded twice this week. I don't have a good feeling about this. I'm not sure she will ever leave the hospital. She's had a lot of units of blood and the bleeding doesn't seem to be letting up. The last time she stopped breathing was fluid on the lungs. I feel really sorry for the entire family and Sharon is not dealing with things very well.

I'm thinking about putting Joshua's memoir on ko.fi.com as a freebie every week. I'm posting new work on Monday's and Fridays. Eventually that book will go behind a wall and the reader would have to pay membership fee to read them. I'm offering a generous free intro to the books. And I'll make sure there is a warning about it so if people don't want to pay the membership fee they will know up front.

I'm also thinking of putting my cartoons on the site. Not sure yet if they will be behind the membership wall or as a freebie. I'll have to see how it looks artwise. If its really amateurish I'll offer it free but if it looks decent i'll put it behind the wall as a way to give the subscriber more for their money.

I also think I'll post my xmas short story that was published in the Gifts for Holly book. It's already written and the copyright is mine. I'm going to offer my newspaper articles as a podcast. Partly to learn how to do podcasts but also because it's another thing I can give a reader or subscriber. Bill is bringing me one of his early sound systems. I'm buying it from him. It will give us microphones and speakers for our reunions and also be equipment i can use to podcast.

I feel productive again. My creative brain is functioning again. Joshua has some fun projects going with Jessica and once his new chair gets here he's going to be back on the tobii and back painting. He's very excited about that.

How did Yates Center go? I hope it was a good experience.

I've got two paintings started and the round table. Weekends are art days for me and Josh. Its going to be hot so whatever pour painting we do will be early in the morning. I got alcohol ink in the mail today. I'll be playing with them to get a feel for how to use them.

I need to get busy on putting more of Knock Knock on Ko.fi.com. Somehow, I have to create a schedule so I can fit everything in. It feels good to be busy. I'm going to try and get a tax number again. To do shows, I'll need one. Deb is going to help me develop a logo. Once I have that, I'll get new business cards for me and Joshua. Once I get a little income coming in, I'll think about creating swag. although with the cricut I'll be able to make swag. Keychains, refrigerator magnets, etc.

I got a new laptop and had to hunt down this website address. Found it so I'm back!

It wasn't Yates Center. Old Settlers Days are in Halstead. It was okay for me - I sold a few books and a couple of t-shirts. I've done better the last couple of years though.

I'm making notes and working on my sixth murder mystery. I'm not going to make it as far as I had hoped by the end of the month. Part of the reason is my shoulder pain. I've done a lot more icing it and also preparing for surgery on September 1. I'm getting everything ready for not having use of an arm for a while and to have my dad here. He's coming up to help me those first few days. We may go to Susan's while I recover, I don't know yet. I'll see how I'm doing after the surgery.

Of course, that means I won't be able to write for a couple of weeks at least, maybe more. But it will sooooo be worth it if I can be rid of the pain!

I called my tax guy yesterday to ask a out a tax number. I want to start hitting a few shows. I found out that my EIN number is a federal number and I can use it in Kansas. I went right to it and printed off ten copies. I'll put the original in the file cabinet and make sure I have copies to show if I need them. I'm relieved.

We're starting to package and box the items we already have made. I'll inventory the items I already have for shows. I have a tent, display racks, etc. I'm determined to get OurHome Studio back in production.

I am going to set up the membership wall on ko.fi.com and begin doing an audio pod of Cosmic Shift. It will be one of the items that membership gets that people showing up at the site don't get. I'm going to put Joshua's memoir Birth to Artist as a free read. I'll get it started and post date it. It will go live on Wednesdays. So new chapters of Knock Knock will go out on Monday's and Fridays and Joshua's story on Wed. I'll take a day and get them up and post dated so I can forget about it. Ideally, I'd like to be 4 to 6 months ahead of the schedule. Take the pressure of deadlines off of me.

The biggest hurdle I see if visibility. I'll use tik tok, twitter, and facebook to funnel readers toward ko.fi.com. I don't know what to do about my websites. If I can put a shop up on ko.fi.com. I may let the website go. I'm not sure yet and until I'm sure I'll just leave it alone.

Aug 27, 2023 21:14:03 GMT -5 bill said:
You're gaining momentum - keep going!

I didn't get a lot done this week. Got to a stopping point on my murder mystery 6. I'm pausing it for now. I did a revision on my Grim Reaper In Training short story and requested quotes from the participants in the blog hop. I'm getting it ready for publication in October and want to use quotes with it since I've had some good feedback on many of the flash fiction sections of it.

I won't get much done this week either. I have a lot to do before my surgery on Friday. Have to be ready not to have use of my right arm for a few weeks. Dad is coming Thursday to take me to the surgery. Depending on how I feel afterward, I may have him take me to Susan's for a week or two of recovery. I think I would be more comfortable there since I don't have a recliner to sleep in. We'll see how it goes. Anyhow, don't plan to hear from me for a week or two after Friday. I don't know when I'll feel like typing again.