Song of My Heart Demonstrators

Hosting a My Digital Studio event, part two

Continuing our discussion about why, when, where, and how to host a My Digital Studio event for your customers, downlines, and demonstrator friends...see Part One for common demonstrator concerns and fears, helpful tips about what to focus on teaching, who to invite and what they should do in advance of the event.

I have held multiple styles of MDS events since the software was released. The first one was a large seminar-style event held at a local college. The classroom was ideal, the lighting and number of outlets was optimal, and the set up with the large projection screen could not have been better. There was even a wonderful buffet and salad bar at the college cafeteria, which I was able to include in the price. However, if such a space is not at your disposal or the rent is out of reach, rest assured that you can still hold a great event in the confines of  your home or even around a kitchen table. I have also held smaller "overview" or "survey" classes and MDS worknights and felt they were equally successful in comparison with the large events.

One very important aspect of an MDS event is having displays of printed projects. If your customers cannot see any finished items, it makes it hard to envision the things on the screen translating into useful objects in real life. Challenge yourself to have several different types of print products ordered in time for your event. I would suggest at least one photo album; a calendar of some kind; a 12x12 page in both the paper and cardstock options; and at least one card. The journals and the swatchbooks are also very compelling finished products and would be attractive to people on the fence about ordering through Stampin' Up as opposed to another outlet.

If you don't have very many finished projects you can show, you can possibly borrow from other demonstrators. I am also impressed with the pre-selected kit of finished MDS samples that you can currently purchase from the Supply List on a demonstrator order. But what you want to aim for is a big enough selection of samples to really give an overview of the program's potential.

The only other base-line requirements for an MDS event are tables, chairs, good lighting, and plenty of outlets. You may want to ask participants to bring extension cords. I would also suggest they bring a mouse along as it can get tedious to digi-scrap with only a little touch-pad on your laptop.

I divided the talking points and teaching concepts of MDS that I wanted to cover into three main categories: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. You will not be able to cover all three in a single event unless it is a day-long seminar. Even that gets tiring by the end of the day However, you can either hold a "beginner" and "advanced" class on successive weekends, or you can simply give a quick overview of beginner techniques in the class, and work with those who want more on an individual basis. There is only so much they will be able to take in during a single session.

A suggested schedule for a day long event is as follows:

• Coffee and displays open at 8:30 a.m. Request all laptops set up and plugged in, ready to go  by 9:00 sharp.
• Morning session from 9:00-11:00 Beginner level functions
• Break for lunch 11-12
• 12:00-12:30  create a hybrid project from previously printed pieces combined with traditional papercrafting (for instance, a card whose focal point was printed and then punched out)
• Afternoon session from 12:30-2:00 Intermediate level
• Q&A time from 2:00-2:30
• 2:30-3:00 Coffee/stretch/bathroom break, play a slideshow of an album or MDS movie. At this point people could leave as needed, or continue on to the next session.
• Afternoon session from 3:00-4:00 Advanced level functions

A suggested schedule for a single evening event:

• 6:00 p.m. displays and set up. Request everyone be plugged in and ready to go by 6:30.
• 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Beginner level functions
• 7:30-7:45 dessert/stretch/bathroom break
• 7:45 to 8:30 p.m. Intermediate level functions
• 8:30-9:00 p.m. Q&A time

Alternatively, you can do a free-style event once a month or quarter, which I call an MDS Worknight. This event is for anyone at any level, and is really casual. Those who are already into MDS can work on their own projects and I am right there to answer questions, give design advice, and teach them some more advanced tips. Sometimes they come with a list of things they were wondering about or wanted to learn how to do. For those who are totally new, I can start with a walkthrough of the various buttons and then let them loose to play and ask questions as they think of them. I offer these nights for free, and I think they are very reassuring to my MDS customers. They know I'm not just going to sell them something and then leave them to flounder.

Whatever style of event you choose to go for, set yours apart from the pack by making the invitations in My Digital Studio, so that from the get-go they are seeing the potential of the software. At the event itself, you could serve “computer nerd” food—twinkies, Mountain Dew, beef jerky, Red Bull, Cheetos. Or, a more classy twist might be to bring in a chair massage during the lunch hour or afternoon break of a day-long event (make sure you are charging enough to cover this). Encourage the participants to dress comfortably and come prepared to work.

Follow up the day's or evening's activities with an email thanking them for their participation and retierating where they can go with questions. Include a link to your online store so they will recall how to view and purchase downloads. You may even want to include an attendees-only discount for the full version of My Digital Studio, if you know all they have is the trial version. Encourage them to show you their finished products when they come back from the printer, and include a link to www.mydigitalstudio.net, where they can share their work in the gallery.

Your customers are going to LOVE My Digital Studio. And once you feel more comfortable with it yourself, you will love not only the functionality of the software, but the potential business applications as well. This product can revitalize your business, but it must be marketed, and once we've sold it, it must be supported with training. Go after this new market with confidence! And feel free to leave comments below about your own ideas for MDS marketing and events.

Dream BIG, friends!

Hosting a My Digital Studio event, part one

I've been meaning to write this much-requested "how-to" article on My Digital Studio events for a long time... I mean a REALLY long time! Thanks to those who have requested, politely reminded, and waited patiently.

Here's my advice. Just do it! Hosting a My Digital Studio event often feels overwhelming to demonstrators, but it’s not nearly as hard as you might think.

One common misconception demonstrators have is that they need to be an expert in MDS before they can begin to teach the program to others. I certainly wasn’t. I knew I had delved into the program more than most demonstrators (and therefore customers), and I felt like an MDS event was something I really needed to do. However, I got concerned the more I tried to "study up" for the event. The more I learned, the more questions it raised. I lost count of how many times I called tech support while I was getting ready for my first seminar.

But I DID know more than my customers, many of whom were approaching a program on their own for the first time in their lives. And I had plenty to share with demonstrators who had not even loaded the CD's onto their computers yet. So don't underestimate the power of what you have to give, even if it is just basic navigation and explaining some of the capabilities of the software.

One very helpful thing I did was print the entire MDS manual and put it in a binder (it's big; be prepared). I was surprised when I started going through it, page by page, how much I had already picked up. I highlighted things that were basics in one color, more advanced techniques in another color. I wrote my notes and little tips I’d learned in the margins.

The most common questions I get about MDS are how to purchase and install additional downloads, and what the printing options are in regards to process, price, and time frame. You can find answers to those at www.mydigitalstudio.net, but the best thing to do is purchase a download and a print product yourself a couple of times to familiarize yourself with the two processes. At my events, when we have internet access, I buy a download right in front of them, and upload a small project (due to time) for printing as well (you can actually print it later, or not at all).

Another common concern demonstrators raise is a fear that no one will come. Actually, you will probably be quite surprised at the interest. Not only customers who have bought MDS already, but potential buyers can also come. Open it up to area demos and their customers, and you will find yourself flooded with requests to join. Be sure to advertise it well, using all the avenues available to you.

The marvelous recent addition of the free MDS Express 30-Day trial means that everyone can fully participate in your event, even if they have not yet purchased My Digital Studio. Encourage them to sign up and download the trial before they come, and then if they haven't done it yet, you can help them "launch" the program (and thus begin the trial period) at your event. Be sure to encourage the standard MDS purchasers to load and run BOTH disks before they come, as well, or they will lag behind the group when you get going. 

The tech side of things often scares demonstrators. Again, you do not need to be a technical whiz in order to help people understand and use MDS sucessfully on their computers. Everyone should bring their own laptop, but for those that don't have one and for the ease of keeping the class all together, your laptop can be easily projected onto a large tv or screen with the addition of a simple, inexpensive cord. Ask your local computer nerd or Radio Shack to hook you up. Write down the instructions for how to do it, if there's any danger of you forgetting. Practice in advance so you can rest easy about the technical side of things, and put that computer-saavy spouse or kid or friend on speed dial--just in case!

Before they leave your event, everyone should know at least three things—the first and second being how to purchase and install downloads and how to upload to professionally print through Stampin’ Up. Why, you ask? From a demonstrators' standpoint, those are the two ways you make money off of MDS after the initial purchase. And from a customer's standpoint, those are the two main things about MDS that are somewhat difficult to figure out by yourself, in my opinion.

The third thing they must know before they leave is where to go for technical support. Stampin' Up recommends www.mydigitalstudio.net as a resource, and maintains a hotline at 1800-ISTAMP2. In fact, it's a good idea to mention the support structure and MDS updates and improvements now and again on your Facebook business page or your blog, just so that potential MDS purchasers know that they will not be out there on their own if they buy the software. Having regular updates is not an unusual event, by the way. Every software out there gets "patches" or updates. Each update fixes behind-the-scenes bugs and often adds increased functionality, so that's a good thing. I love that MDS will remind you every so often to check for updates--one less thing to remember to do.

Because this is getting rather long, I will talk about the logistics of a couple of different types of My Digital Studio events, and tips and tricks to make the event go more smoothly, in Part Two.

My Digital Studio: Card Guards

This past month I presented My Digital Studio at the Stampin' Up Milwaukee regional conference, an opportunity I welcomed, as I get the feeling that lots of demonstrators don't quite yet know what to do with MDS. Over the week that I had to prepare, immersed in MDS again after a hiatus during my busy Sale A Bration season, I fell in love all over again. I am convinced that if demonstrators truly caught on to the potential of My Digital Studio, it could radically re-energize their businesses.

Another thing I realized is that IF MDS were just for demos--just a business tool and not a product we sell--it would be worth it, for that alone. The business potential of MDS is amazing. And since I am not the leading authority on digital scrapbooking techniques by any means, I chose to focus on sharing some business-related MDS ideas for my presentation.

The first thing I shared was a Card Guard idea that both gives customers an idea of what MDS is all about, and gives you a cheap, fun thing to give them as a thank you.

A 'card guard", for those of you who haven't heard the term before, is a piece of cardstock placed over the embellished card front before you put it in the envelope to mail. It protects the card and ensures that the envelope doesn't get demolished by postal machines. I'm sure the USPS appreciates it when we stampers use these!

Well, the card guards I have seen were really basic--a piece of cardstock, sometimes crimped, sometimes with a cute saying printed on a label and stuck on it. I decided that would be a handy thing to have a supply of, so I decided to print some and knew I would use MDS so it would be professional and cute. Here's a photo of the front and back sides.

I designed it using the Sale A Bration reward CD to get that out there, and I liked it, but realized the back was just wasted space. So I added a 2012 calendar using the amazing new Calendar feature in the Design Center. You can add a calendar of the month or the whole year for any year between now and 2022, and it will automatically set up the dates for you. Everything about the calendar is customizable, from the font size and style, position of the numbers, addition of the headings, and the lines or boxes. You can have as small a calendar as my Card Guard sized one, or as large as a 12x12 page.

This feature is SO awesome. No more having to purchasing a calendar template every year, and no more waiting for them to come out with one! If you don't see the Calendar feature on your Design Center (right hand side of MDS), make sure you are using the latest update for MDS and it should appear.

I ALWAYS use Stampin' Up's professional print services with My Digital Studio for best results and the most business sense, so my original intention was to have these Card Guards printed with the new postcard option. However, if I was willing to cut them in half, I would get twice as many for almost the same price, by ordering the A-2 card size. Plus, they come with envelopes. Can't beat that!

Also, I say go ahead and leave the MDS logo on your projects. It's fantastic advertising, and another way that customers will realize they are holding an actual sample of the professional MDS product that they, too, can make at home. Getting MDS samples into your customers' hands is priceless advertising to people who think they won't like digital designing.

You're also giving them value added, because you're giving your customers something they can actually use (a pocket calendar). And why not? it's just a throwaway piece of cardstock, otherwise. MDS-made card guards can set you apart from other demonstrators in that way, as well.

This post has gotten a little long, so I will break up the rest of my presentation into separate articles. Check back for more business-related MDS ideas shortly. I am convinced that My Digital Studio will soon be known as one of the best tools a demonstrator can have to customize every aspect of their business.

Creativity Journal Project

I recently attended a Stampin' Up regional seminar and was intrigued by the Creativity Journal project presented by Carrie Cudney and the sample journals shown by her associates. I thought it was a wonderful excerise for any stamper to work on, especially those of us who tend to think all our best work is CASE'd from someone else.

I'm a firm believe that every person on earth has a spark of creativity in them, placed there by the Creator. Some forms of creativity may not follow traditional lines of thinking or use common mediums, but everyone is creative.

I get a twinkle in my eye at the beginning of a workshop when someone announces they are "just not creative," because I know that by the end of the evening, they will be having a great time and they'll be so impressed with themselves. That remarkable feeling of accomplishment and creativity is addictive. Good demonstrators find ways to point out creativity of thought and technique and foster that feeling in their customers.

Consider hosting a creativity journal class for your customers, perhaps at your next Hostess Appreciation Event. You don't have to use the 5x5 chipboard albums that Stampin' Up gave us all at the seminar, but it does make sense to do your purchasing from yourself. Everyone will start with the same basic notebook or album, but where those end up will ultimately be completely different and unique to the creator.

The "rules" and creative challenges below are a combination of concepts from Stampin' Up along with my own thoughts and additions.

Creativity Journal Rules

• Don't go in order. Start in the middle or the end, anywhere but the first page.
• Use any papers, stamps, inks, ribbons, whatever that you like. Incorporate anything that makes you happy and can be affixed to a page.
• Don't compare your journal to others. This is about you and your likes and dislikes.
• There is no such thing as a "start over". Any "mistakes" are only "oops"portunities.
• Don't over think the exercises. It's supposed to be fun, and yes, a little silly. 
• Do any of the challenges you want to, in any order you want to, or come up with your own.
• Try to do at least one challenge a week.

 Creative Challenges

1. Find 10 quotations about creativity that inspire you or remind you of the importance of being creative. Find a way to incorporate them into your journal... one per page, or all on the same page.  Anything goes! Use your own handwriting. It's a part of who you are.
2. In your journal, write the phrase "I am creative" 25 times.  Make it look different each time you write it. Use different pens, hand positions, colors, art styles.
3. Dump all your markers into a shoebox. Grab random markers and color little circles or stars in groups of three or four. Mark down any unexpected color combos that grab your eye.
4. Doodle stick figures of yourself or even the whole family. Draw a fancy frame around them.
5. Get past your inner critic by doing some stream of consciousness writing. Nothing is too silly, too weird, or too trivial to be included.  Write it in a shape such as a rectangle or spiral.
6. Pablo Picasso once said, "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." Do something creative that you loved to do as a child (put together a puzzle, color a picture, build a sand castle, play make-believe, etc.). Create a page in your journal inspired by your experience.
7. Do something creative to your appearance. (Wear brightly colored accessories, paint your toenails a fun color, wear your hair a different way than you typically wear it.) Take your photo, put it in your journal, and record how you feel about your creative new look.
8. Papercrafting is your medium. List in your journal all of the reasons why you are a legitimate artist and/or designer.
9. Make a two-page spread about the best dream you ever had.
10. Create a rebus about yourself--a short story that uses images instead of words, such as a photo of an eye instead of the word "I" or a picture of a tree instead of the word "tree."
11. Fill a page in your journal defining the word "Fun" by using only images - no words.
12. Make a representation of yourself stepping out of an imaginary comfort zone and finding something pretty outside the box.
13. Steven Spielberg once claimed that his very best ideas came to him while driving the freeways. On a nice day, go for an afternoon drive by yourself, put on some inspiration music, roll down the window, get comfortable, and let your mind wander - but please drive carefully! When you get back, record the ideas that flowed through your mind.
14. Ask at least two people you love to say something nice about your creativity and record their comments in your journal. Add their pictures if possible.
15. Describe yourself using the most adjectives possible. Say only nice things.
16. write down the nicest comment you got last month on your blog or gallery or Facebook page and embellish it in colors and images that remind you of how good you felt when you first read it.
17. use only shades of your very favoritest color to decorate one page. if your favorite color changes, decorate another page and articulate why it changed.
18. Cut out a photo of a celebrity you admire and adhere it in your journal with a "conversation bubble" in which they are saying something "way over the top awesome" about you.
19. Write down an idea you had that didn't work, and what you unexpectedly learned from it.
20. Finish the sentence: "Next time I am feeling stuck in a rut or uncreative I will_____"

Getting your head back in the game

I always suffer from post-Sale A Bration blues around this time of year. For the past few weeks, I've been going, going, going, with shows and classes and stamp camps and clubs. While it's always crazy fun, I step gratefully off the SAB treadmill each year. But the runner's high wears off all too soon.

Taking a mental vacation can be a good thing--a necessary thing--when you've been working as hard without a break as business demos often do during certain times of the year. However, getting your head back in the game can be a bit of a challenge, if you have been slightly too successful at relaxing!

A sense of letdown is totally normal after a big, multi-week sale. The constant flow of orders arriving via Mr. Brown trickles to a halt. You have to retrain yourself to not be disappointed in orders under the magic $50 mark, that would have delighted you in the past but now seem small.

Sometimes we recruited so well during SAB that suddenly we find ourself lacking customers. And since everyone just had a party, no one wants to book again so soon. For two months now you've been working event to event. You unpack from one and start packing for the next. Now suddenly, there are days between events--maybe even weeks. There is nothing pressing that must be accomplished--and so you don't know where to start.

Start by assuring yourself that blase' feelings or a sudden lack of direction is quite typical and does not mean that you are losing your touch or that your business is headed down the drain. Here are some practical tips to help you get kick-started after a big sale period:

• Make sure all your new SAB contacts are entered into Customer Manager, your email address book, your address book, your birthday calendar, and anywhere else you keep your contact info. Don't let your efforts go down the drain due to lack of follow up with new customers.
• Schedule an event for your customers to use up their consumables, such a crops or worknights. They're likely pretty stocked up after multiple Sale A Bration orders, and you'll want to help them run down their supplies so they won't feel too guilty when they want to place orders for the new catalog.
• Continue to share ideas on your blog or Facebook page with Sale A Bration products you know they have. You may be tired of them after three months plus the pre-order period, but your customers just got them, and will need inspiration.
• If they won't host again so soon after having back to back parties in their social circles, host your own workshop. Call past hostesses who didn't have one during SAB, too. If you have extra SAB sets (who doesn't?), offer those as a booking incentive.
• Use the down time to stamp something just for yourself, like a home decor piece or a creativity journal. When's the last time you made something pretty just for you?
• Shake things up. If paper is your preferred medium, try your hand at fabric for a bit, or dust off My Digital Studio. Participate in a challenge, or enter the Artisan Design Team contest.
• It's easy to get burned out during an extended sales period, so don't push it if it isn't happening right now. There's nothing wrong with needing a break. Close the stamp room door for a week after you deliver those final orders, and plan something fun with the family instead.  Schedule a week's blog posts in advance and then try to go on the computer just once a day. But set a time limit on the break, or your vacation may stretch out longer than is good for your business.

Do you have routines for post-Sale A Bration blues? Maybe something you traditionally reward yourself with for making it through a busy time of year? Feel free to share your comments below.

Dream BIG, friend!

Lyssa

More than the highlight reel

Recently I read a guest post by Geoff Stewart on my brother Josh's youth ministry blog, www.morethandodgeball.com, and it really hit home with issues I've been dealing with lately. Because he already said it so eloquently, I'll post an excerpt here (emphasis mine):

"This is a struggle that most pastors (especially youth pastors) have. We end up sharing lots of the crazy stories that have happened to us, including the ones many of us go out of our way to make happen because they might make great illustrations. (One time I drove 5 minutes past my exit of the freeway following a pick up truck full of loaves of bread because I was hoping some would fly out and hit my car – and sure enough three loaves did.) But I really enjoy spending time with students, especially my small group, one-on-one because if anything they get to see that I am a pretty normal guy. The ones that don’t know the real me look at my twitter and Facebook, and it’s one event or conference after another, one more “adventure” that I am on. This highlight reel is not in any way, shape, or form an accurate portrait of my life."

I was talking to a friend at Leadership Conference this past January and confided that I had been feeling extremely run down, and burned out in a major way lately. She was aghast. "No way!" she said in dismay. "I was just pointing your blog out to my husband as an example that there WERE women out there who were doing it all." She went on to say I always looked like I had it all together, and she felt like if she could just get more organized, she too, could be like me.

She was truly dismayed. I felt terrible that I'd burst her bubble, yet I also felt like I was ultimately doing her a service by allowing her to see that all that glittered was not gold. Too often, all we see is someone's public face, and we think everything's fine. But just because there are no long silences on someone's blog does not mean everything is ok.

To some of you who follow me online, or only see me at events, my life may sometimes appear to be one big highlight reel. I do travel a lot for business, I have won some pretty big awards and I have been given some fantastic opportunities. I talk a lot, joke about my foilbles and boo-boos, and share photos and stories about my kids and other family events now and again. I chat online on a couple of forums way more than is profitable for my schedule.

But the honest truth is, you don't know me. You don't live next door or even in my town. You don't know what I miss because I'm too busy, what I turn down because of timing, what I say "no" to when I say "yes" to something else. You know only what I choose to present about myself through my Facebook status updates, my emails, and my blogs. And of course, for a business-minded person, that's always colored by professional enthusiasm and energy, whether real or forced.

But the thing is, while the trips and awards and opportunities ARE the truth, they are not the WHOLE truth. There's a reason they have you swear to tell the "whole" truth in court. Because you can tell the truth and still be living a larger "lie." The real truth is, Stampin' Up, even at the highest levels, is composed of completely ordinary women leading completely ordinary lives, JUST LIKE YOU.

Every thought to yourself after reading someone's blog, "WOW! I feel exhausted just THINKING about everything she's doing"? Chances are, SHE'S exhausted DOING all those things, too. But we get on this crazy fun merry-go-round and we spin faster and faster, and frankly, some of us hang on longer than others, but we all fall off or throw up in the end, if the merry-go-round never stops spinning.

Unfortunately, burnout is 'the elephant in the corner' of direct sales. A demonstrator friend I talked with recently about this commented, "it's like we're afraid it's contaigious." No one wants to talk about it. No one wants to admit it could happen to them. And nothing will change unless women start talking about it.

I think it's time to stop pretending there are super-demos. It's not healthy for them or for anyone trying to emulate them. There's only women, doing the best they can with the differing resources they have available, sometimes suceeding, sometimes failing, often being way too hard on themselves. Enjoy the journey. Quit comparing yourself or your business to anyone else's. You are a complicated and complex human being with lots of modern and unrealistic expectations on our shoulders in addition to all the traditional roles we women still have to fulfill.

Don't start believing your own highlight reel. Give yourself a break, and along the way you'll be doing your downlines and demo friends --and even people you don't realize are watching you-- a favor, too, by showing them a real, flawed human being doing the best she can with grace and humor.