Interview date: June 15, 2010
vision, love, phraseologie, for niche-y enterprise at AbbyKerrInk
How would you describe “uniqueness”?
To me, uniqueness is any expression that comes from a pure place -- a place of authenticity and not imitation. Not worrying about "good enough," just being fully WHATEVER or WHOMEVER it is.
What “do you think” does it take to create something unique?
Vision. Courage. Desire. Being willing to not fit in or not appeal to the middle ground. Taking risks.
---You recently launched Abby Kerr Ink,
What has inspired you to create Abby Kerr Ink
(+ can you describe your process of launching Abby Kerr Ink)
What inspired me to create Abby Kerr Ink was a desire to get very real with myself, and then outwardly to the rest of the world, about who I am, want I want in life, and what I have to give that's truly great. Everybody has something truly great inside of them. But it takes vision and courage and decisiveness to tap into it and turn it out. This quest for a pure vision that reconciles all the parts of one's life, interests, and identity is what I think I have to offer. It's what I want to help other people figure out for themselves, through the medium of words and all they can do.
My launch process was a four month affair comprising all of the following: reading social media, marketing, and personal development blogs like crazy; listening to podcasts around the same topics; reflecting on the best and worst of my entrepreneurial experiences and what I've learned from them; tons of writing for my own website; brainstorming for ways I can shape what I know into different forms of content {blog posts, PDF reports, podcasts, teleseminars, video, service packages, virtual retreats, e-books...all stuff to come}; designing service packages around the best of my offerings and expertise, and networking with other inspiring people in my niche.
I worked with my friend/graphic designer to create a site that embodied the vibe of my brand. And I started conversing with my right people through Facebook and Twitter. I launched the site on June 3rd with a little extra nudge of encouragement from you, Dewi, via Facebook! :)
---Sometimes we have those moments when ideas are bombarding us.
How do you organize your ideas?
I write everything down. I carry my pink BlackBerry Curve with me everywhere and I have a contact in my address book named Muse. Muse is me. When I get a flash of an idea, I compose a text message to Muse and save it as a draft. Later, I transfer the text message over to a Word document on my laptop called Deets {short for 'details'}. I keep a running list of content ideas, segmented into Blog Post Ideas {then broken down from there into General post ideas and post ideas for my two ongoing series, Letters To a Young Retailer and What Every Indie Knows}. I also use this list to capture ideas for my future podcasts and video segments. I derive so much inspiration from reviewing my own list a few times a week. Don't think I'll ever get stuck for content ideas! I think it's so important to capture the ideas when they first come to you, in their pure and unanalyzed state. They fly right out of your head if you don't!
---On your website and in your e-course you talk about “your right people”.
Who are your right people?
I love this question. My right people are thinkers and feelers, people who don't take themselves too seriously but they definitely take their work in the world seriously. Entrepreneurs and creatives, but I suspect more cerebral/language-oriented creators than hands-on, crafty creators. Really decent people who believe in kindness and prefer transparency to guardedness and image protection. {I lived guardedness and image protection in my first business, a lifestyle boutique, and I know what it feels like to hide behind a brand. It's pretty uncomfortable.} People who want to do their work in the world for two reasons equally: first, because they have a passion for their particular work and they truly love to contribute, but equally because they envision a certain lifestyle and are after a certain feeling {to reference the amazing Danielle LaPorte} and they believe they can create that through their work in the world.
How important is a network to you?
More important than ever. In my first business, I was pretty much a lone soldier. I kept myself and my true perspectives hidden, I guess out of fear of what would happen if I revealed too much. {"What will they TAKE from me?" "How will this HURT my business?"} In this new venture {Abby Kerr Ink}, I am living by the credo that I heard Brian Clark share in his interview of Jason Fried: "If you think you're sharing too much, you're probably on the right track." I want to be connected with others who are interested in the same things as me. I'm after real relationships, not just referrals and promotion. I want to push other people forward who are doing great work. I want to travel together with likeminded friends. We need each other.
How can you create a network with your right people?
Social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are terrific ways to build community. If you're a newbie to these tools, be watchful of how others you admire in your niche make it work for them. {Emulate, don't imitate.} Read the Help sections on these sites! Ask questions. Experiment to see where your right people like to hang out and what they respond to. I'm still experimenting with my Abby Kerr Ink Facebook page to see what types of content my right people respond to most energetically: sharing of smart resources for entrepreneurs, personal musings, or cool creative tips. You'll find a mix that works for you. Also essential to creating a network is being clear about who you are and what you are and who you hope to serve or work with. Your right people will start to self-identify once you're being clear enough. And finally, be authentic. Be real. Show some skin. Every entrepreneur has to decide for herself how exposed she's willing to be, online or anywhere else. While you don't want to let everything hang out, you also need to show you're a real person. Be honest about some of your flaws. Show compassion for others. Really listen. Ask your right people about themselves more than you talk about yourself. Generosity is the law of social media. It's amazing how generous people out there really are and how much they're willing to give away for free -- expertise, tips, experience, and support. It's astounding.
Where do you get the ideas from for creating content for your website and e-course?
Anywhere and everywhere! I'm like a sensor, always being triggered by my environment. Something I see on TV, a line of a song, an idea raised in a podcast from my niche, a question someone emails me, an experience I had back at my old shop. I mine *everything*. But not everything that I think of makes its way into actual published content. I have to filter it through the eyes and mind of my right people. Is this what they need? Is this what they want? {I favor the latter, as I think it builds traffic faster.} Is this where they're at? What can I give them or share with them that they're not getting *anywhere* else?
How important is social media to you and which social media site do you like best?
Even though it gets a lot of flack for its questionable handling of its users' private info, I LOVE Facebook. I find it a truly friendly place where real conversation and neat connections happen. I still consider myself a relative Twitter newbie, only having been at it seriously for about four months. But Twitter lovers are pretty darn passionate about it. I *want* to love it as much as I love Facebook. I must say, the Tweeps in my niche have been wonderful for helping me get the word out about my new venture. Facebook feels a little more laid back, but that's cool, too.
Do you have upcoming plans for Abby Kerr Ink?
Lots and lots. More great free content on the site, which soon enough will include video blogcasts, some MP3 action, and podcasts which I'll syndicate to iTunes! I also have my first product launch up my sleeve. My goal is to launch my first inspirational/informational product by the Fall. And my arms are wide open for new copywriting and indie biz coaching clients! I specialize in coaching indie retailers, but I'd love to work with any creative entrepreneur who's ready to clarify his vision or hone her niche.
What is a niche and how important is it to create your own niche?
A niche, the way I think of it, is an entrepreneurial space in the universe that only you occupy, because you express a viewpoint within it or provide a service within it that's expressly yours. That's your micro niche. That's the niche of you. But your micro niche is included under the umbrella of a bigger niche which encompasses everyone else who's basically on the same page as you, entrepreneurially. For example, my micro niche is copywriting and coaching for creative entrepreneurs with a special focus on indie retailers, but the work I do is umbrella-ed nicely into a couple of bigger niches, too: the general copywriting niche and the creativity coaching niche.
Where does your inspiration come from? (books, movies, people)
God, several amazing friends, love, taking showers {no kidding!}, walks outside, dreaming of the future, transition and change and evolution, coffee shops, podcasts, magazines {from Redbook to O to Entrepreneur to Writer's Digest}, delicious shopping experiences {Anthropologies everywhere, Jayson Home + Garden in Chicago}, yoga, sublime food, traveling through cities, hanging out in the woods or by the lake or on the farm, and music, music, music. I love all kinds: indie pop, folk, rap/hip-hop/R&B, country. I'm an equal opportunity groover.
What advice can you give entrepreneurs who want to transform their dream into a business?
Nurture your passion through education, observation, soaking in the work of others who do admirable things. Have patience, endurance, faith. Seek guidance. Pray. Listen. Wait on the right timing. But don't be afraid to move when you feel the call.
vision, love, phraseologie, for niche-y enterprise at AbbyKerrInk
How would you describe “uniqueness”?
To me, uniqueness is any expression that comes from a pure place -- a place of authenticity and not imitation. Not worrying about "good enough," just being fully WHATEVER or WHOMEVER it is.
What “do you think” does it take to create something unique?
Vision. Courage. Desire. Being willing to not fit in or not appeal to the middle ground. Taking risks.
---You recently launched Abby Kerr Ink,
What has inspired you to create Abby Kerr Ink
(+ can you describe your process of launching Abby Kerr Ink)
What inspired me to create Abby Kerr Ink was a desire to get very real with myself, and then outwardly to the rest of the world, about who I am, want I want in life, and what I have to give that's truly great. Everybody has something truly great inside of them. But it takes vision and courage and decisiveness to tap into it and turn it out. This quest for a pure vision that reconciles all the parts of one's life, interests, and identity is what I think I have to offer. It's what I want to help other people figure out for themselves, through the medium of words and all they can do.
My launch process was a four month affair comprising all of the following: reading social media, marketing, and personal development blogs like crazy; listening to podcasts around the same topics; reflecting on the best and worst of my entrepreneurial experiences and what I've learned from them; tons of writing for my own website; brainstorming for ways I can shape what I know into different forms of content {blog posts, PDF reports, podcasts, teleseminars, video, service packages, virtual retreats, e-books...all stuff to come}; designing service packages around the best of my offerings and expertise, and networking with other inspiring people in my niche.
I worked with my friend/graphic designer to create a site that embodied the vibe of my brand. And I started conversing with my right people through Facebook and Twitter. I launched the site on June 3rd with a little extra nudge of encouragement from you, Dewi, via Facebook! :)
---Sometimes we have those moments when ideas are bombarding us.
How do you organize your ideas?
I write everything down. I carry my pink BlackBerry Curve with me everywhere and I have a contact in my address book named Muse. Muse is me. When I get a flash of an idea, I compose a text message to Muse and save it as a draft. Later, I transfer the text message over to a Word document on my laptop called Deets {short for 'details'}. I keep a running list of content ideas, segmented into Blog Post Ideas {then broken down from there into General post ideas and post ideas for my two ongoing series, Letters To a Young Retailer and What Every Indie Knows}. I also use this list to capture ideas for my future podcasts and video segments. I derive so much inspiration from reviewing my own list a few times a week. Don't think I'll ever get stuck for content ideas! I think it's so important to capture the ideas when they first come to you, in their pure and unanalyzed state. They fly right out of your head if you don't!
---On your website and in your e-course you talk about “your right people”.
Who are your right people?
I love this question. My right people are thinkers and feelers, people who don't take themselves too seriously but they definitely take their work in the world seriously. Entrepreneurs and creatives, but I suspect more cerebral/language-oriented creators than hands-on, crafty creators. Really decent people who believe in kindness and prefer transparency to guardedness and image protection. {I lived guardedness and image protection in my first business, a lifestyle boutique, and I know what it feels like to hide behind a brand. It's pretty uncomfortable.} People who want to do their work in the world for two reasons equally: first, because they have a passion for their particular work and they truly love to contribute, but equally because they envision a certain lifestyle and are after a certain feeling {to reference the amazing Danielle LaPorte} and they believe they can create that through their work in the world.
How important is a network to you?
More important than ever. In my first business, I was pretty much a lone soldier. I kept myself and my true perspectives hidden, I guess out of fear of what would happen if I revealed too much. {"What will they TAKE from me?" "How will this HURT my business?"} In this new venture {Abby Kerr Ink}, I am living by the credo that I heard Brian Clark share in his interview of Jason Fried: "If you think you're sharing too much, you're probably on the right track." I want to be connected with others who are interested in the same things as me. I'm after real relationships, not just referrals and promotion. I want to push other people forward who are doing great work. I want to travel together with likeminded friends. We need each other.
How can you create a network with your right people?
Social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are terrific ways to build community. If you're a newbie to these tools, be watchful of how others you admire in your niche make it work for them. {Emulate, don't imitate.} Read the Help sections on these sites! Ask questions. Experiment to see where your right people like to hang out and what they respond to. I'm still experimenting with my Abby Kerr Ink Facebook page to see what types of content my right people respond to most energetically: sharing of smart resources for entrepreneurs, personal musings, or cool creative tips. You'll find a mix that works for you. Also essential to creating a network is being clear about who you are and what you are and who you hope to serve or work with. Your right people will start to self-identify once you're being clear enough. And finally, be authentic. Be real. Show some skin. Every entrepreneur has to decide for herself how exposed she's willing to be, online or anywhere else. While you don't want to let everything hang out, you also need to show you're a real person. Be honest about some of your flaws. Show compassion for others. Really listen. Ask your right people about themselves more than you talk about yourself. Generosity is the law of social media. It's amazing how generous people out there really are and how much they're willing to give away for free -- expertise, tips, experience, and support. It's astounding.
Where do you get the ideas from for creating content for your website and e-course?
Anywhere and everywhere! I'm like a sensor, always being triggered by my environment. Something I see on TV, a line of a song, an idea raised in a podcast from my niche, a question someone emails me, an experience I had back at my old shop. I mine *everything*. But not everything that I think of makes its way into actual published content. I have to filter it through the eyes and mind of my right people. Is this what they need? Is this what they want? {I favor the latter, as I think it builds traffic faster.} Is this where they're at? What can I give them or share with them that they're not getting *anywhere* else?
How important is social media to you and which social media site do you like best?
Even though it gets a lot of flack for its questionable handling of its users' private info, I LOVE Facebook. I find it a truly friendly place where real conversation and neat connections happen. I still consider myself a relative Twitter newbie, only having been at it seriously for about four months. But Twitter lovers are pretty darn passionate about it. I *want* to love it as much as I love Facebook. I must say, the Tweeps in my niche have been wonderful for helping me get the word out about my new venture. Facebook feels a little more laid back, but that's cool, too.
Do you have upcoming plans for Abby Kerr Ink?
Lots and lots. More great free content on the site, which soon enough will include video blogcasts, some MP3 action, and podcasts which I'll syndicate to iTunes! I also have my first product launch up my sleeve. My goal is to launch my first inspirational/informational product by the Fall. And my arms are wide open for new copywriting and indie biz coaching clients! I specialize in coaching indie retailers, but I'd love to work with any creative entrepreneur who's ready to clarify his vision or hone her niche.
What is a niche and how important is it to create your own niche?
A niche, the way I think of it, is an entrepreneurial space in the universe that only you occupy, because you express a viewpoint within it or provide a service within it that's expressly yours. That's your micro niche. That's the niche of you. But your micro niche is included under the umbrella of a bigger niche which encompasses everyone else who's basically on the same page as you, entrepreneurially. For example, my micro niche is copywriting and coaching for creative entrepreneurs with a special focus on indie retailers, but the work I do is umbrella-ed nicely into a couple of bigger niches, too: the general copywriting niche and the creativity coaching niche.
Where does your inspiration come from? (books, movies, people)
God, several amazing friends, love, taking showers {no kidding!}, walks outside, dreaming of the future, transition and change and evolution, coffee shops, podcasts, magazines {from Redbook to O to Entrepreneur to Writer's Digest}, delicious shopping experiences {Anthropologies everywhere, Jayson Home + Garden in Chicago}, yoga, sublime food, traveling through cities, hanging out in the woods or by the lake or on the farm, and music, music, music. I love all kinds: indie pop, folk, rap/hip-hop/R&B, country. I'm an equal opportunity groover.
What advice can you give entrepreneurs who want to transform their dream into a business?
Nurture your passion through education, observation, soaking in the work of others who do admirable things. Have patience, endurance, faith. Seek guidance. Pray. Listen. Wait on the right timing. But don't be afraid to move when you feel the call.
