On the cusp

We’re in that liminal, in-between space, seeing out one year and starting to look forward to the next.

If you’re anything like me, you have a secret mess of a list titled ‘2017’, which includes every idea you’ve had since about September and couldn’t find time to work on. And perhaps that list doesn’t seem as exciting now that we’re approaching 1 January…

Well, the good news is, list or no, a new year brings the opportunity to start afresh anyway.

You get to cast aside any and all preconceptions.

You get to dream, fully.

You get to put everyone else’s ideas, contributions, expectations and ‘helpful’ suggestions to one side.

You get to carve out space exclusively for yourself to dream and plan.

You can let go of anything and everything that isn’t working for you.

You can introduce new ideas, concepts and tiny nuggets of gold to your plans, big and small.

And you can change your mind.

 

What we know about 2017

This year, spreading out in front of us, demonstrating the start of a new cycle and bringing new hope, is unknown. It’s uncertain – deliciously so, if we can choose to embrace it.

We know it will surprise us, but also that there will be challenges and disappointments.

There will be beauty, but there will also be sadness.

There will be opportunities to move closer to our dreams, or further away from them. And the choice will be ours.

2017 is delightfully unwritten, but you can write it, if you choose to stand up, in your courage, to live the life you want to.

I’ll be right there with you.

With care,
Jenny xx

The Year’s End: a workbook for your creative business

This year, I created a workbook, spreadsheet and video package to help you reflect on 2016 and look forward to 2017. It’s still available here, and highly recommended if you want to dive in deeper to planning the year ahead.

The Small Creative Business Retreat 2017

Described as “life-changing” by the women who came last year (over half of whom have booked to come again), my retreat is still open for booking until the end of this week! A long weekend in a stunning house in the Cotswolds. A place where you don’t have to wash up a single cup or cook a single meal. A place to dream, scheme and meet like-minded business owners. A necessity!

Retreat with me in January

I’ve created a long weekend that takes care of you, where you don’t have to think about making dinner or looking after anyone else, and you can simply focus on looking after you and your business.

In my own life and business planning, I’ve found it completely invaluable to have time out, in a different (and beautiful!) place, with a group of like-minded people. You’ll have chance to reflect on your business as it is now, the things that have gone well, and the dreams you have for the future.

Small Creative Business Retreat 2017I’ll be running workshops that will help you identify your core strengths as a business and an individual, that will help you to plan for the next year, and that will inspire you to move your business forward.

The practical workshop stuff will be balanced with some real retreat stuff, too, to make sure you go home on Monday feeling rested, nourished and energised. You’ll be able to have a massage, sleep in, take naps, take walks in the beautiful gardens, and have time to read and write. We’ll do some simple meditations together that will settle us in to doing the important business planning work.

Small Creative Business RetreatWorkshops will be as a whole, and in smaller groups, and I’ll be available throughout the weekend to have some one-to-one time where it’s needed. I’m confident you’ll be leaving with plenty of ideas and tools to help improve your business.

Ready to book your place? Click here to choose your room and book.

 

 

 

Save the date: Friday 6 to Monday 9 January 2017

When: arrive Friday afternoon, leave early Monday.

Where: Pedington Manor, near Berkeley in the Cotswolds

Who: me, you, and a group of wonderful small creative business owners
(up to 14 people max.)

This particular retreat weekend is only available to new attendees, those who haven’t retreated with me before. This year, I decided to offer repeat retreats for my existing group so that we can dive deeper the second or third time around. Anyone who retreats with me for the first time in 2017 will be able to do the same next year!

 

Previous years

I’ve been lucky to have so many brilliant women at my retreats in previous years. Here are the highlights:

2015:

 

2016:

 

Accommodation and catering

We’ll be staying in Pedington Manor in the beautiful Cotswolds. It’s a gorgeous and cosy manor house with lovely and inspiring suuroundings. We have the whole place to ourselves, and lots of opportunity for comfort and relaxation.

When planning the retreat, I wanted to find somewhere luxurious but cosy and homely – somewhere we could really settle in together and would feel like an escape. Pedington is full of open fires, squishy sofas, and comfy beds. There are places for a peaceful moment all to yourself, and plenty of room to connect and create with our supportive group.

A number of accommodation options are available to suit different budgets and preferences. I’ve included more info below.

Small Creative Business Retreat

The retreat is fully catered from Friday night to Monday morning. If you have any dietary requirements, we can work with that – just let me know. There’ll be copious tea and cake, naturally!

There’s plenty of parking available at Pedington. Your travel to the retreat isn’t included in the price, but I can help to coordinate travel from nearby train stations.

 

Rooms and prices

The accommodation at Pedington Manor is all gorgeous, with a variety of different rooms available to suit your budget and preferences.Small Creative Business Retreat

En-suite individual room: £1,200
Individual room: £950
Standard twin room: £750
Dorm room: £550 (up to 4 people sharing)

 

 

 

All rooms (except individual en-suites) have lovely shared bathrooms.

Please note prices do not include VAT.

 

Who’s coming

Our group will be a maximum of 14 – a number that allows us to get to know each other and create a truly supportive group. This retreat weekend is for new retreaters only. I’ve had such a high re-booking rate (hooray!) that, this year, I decided to offer repeat retreats for my existing group so that we can dive deeper the second or third time around. Anyone who retreats with me for the first time in 2017 will be able to do the same next year!

I firmly believe that everyone coming on this retreat will benefit not only from a restoring weekend, but will also receive the ongoing support of a close and non-competitive group. We connect with each other in a private group on Facebook before we meet in person, and we really work as a group to listen to and see each other clearly.

Why retreat with me?

I adore running retreats. It honestly feels like the work I’m meant to do in the world. My work as a coach and mentor brings me plenty of experience working with individuals and groups, and I bring a wealth of experience – personal and professional – to the table.

I’m open, honest, and I hold the space for you. I bring structure to conversations about who you are, who your brand is, what you really want, and how to move forward. I know from personal experience that big change can come from retreats and deep insights. Sometimes it’s gentle, sometimes dramatic, but it’s always from a place of truth and authentic growth.

If you’re up for a relaxed, informal, yet insightful way of learning how to improve your business and your life, this is the retreat for you. And you’re bound to make some friends along the way.

To book:

  1. Pop over here and choose your room type
  2. You can choose to pay in full now, or pay a £250 deposit with instalment options. If you choose to pay in instalments, I’ll email you to set this up.

Please note your deposit is non-refundable. If you change your mind or are unable to attend, your place can be transferred to someone else if available. Otherwise, you will be charged in full.

Any questions? Please let me know if there’s anything you’re worrying or wondering about. You can email me: jenny (at) thejennyhyde.com

I can’t wait to see you there!

Jx

 

The Big New Idea: Crowdfunding

blog-13-aaA couple of weeks ago, over at Copper Boom Studio, we launched a Crowdfunder campaign to raise some money for our expansion.

Now, I’ve never done a Crowdfunder myself before. I’ve worked with a couple of clients on similar things, but I’ve never done one myself.

I started thinking about it when I was figuring out financing the growth of Copper Boom. We’ve taken on a big studio space and we’re aiming to grow the business quite quickly in order to keep up with demand. It seemed important and exciting to involve clients of the business and create some brilliant benefits for being early supporters of the business.

So I created packages for VIP membership to Copper Boom, allowing for annual discounts, support and more. There are a few different levels for different business needs, and of course some smaller packages for smaller businesses and family and friends who want to offer support.

Why Crowdfunder?

The most popular platform is Kickstarter, but Crowdfunder is based in the UK (which I like) and has more general business projects, rather than focusing on funding an end product. I also chose to keep whatever we raise, rather than having to reach a target in order to get any of the money people pledge.

Setting a target

So I set a target for £15,000. It’s ambitious, especially considering I’ve never done this before. But the theme of Copper Boom has become go big or go home, so I figured we might as well aim to raise enough to buy equipment and props to last us a really long time. While £5,000 would get us a really long way in terms of lighting and set build, £15,000 would allow us to get way more specialised with the props and set-ups we create. It also means I can invest time training the team on creating amazing copy and marketing content.

My intention is that by expanding our capacity we will also extend our quality because the team will be more specialised. We’ll be able to get super mega lenses for working on jewellery, and we’ll be able to build sets so that we can photograph bigger pieces.

Creating pledges

I decided to offer VIP year-long packages as pledges, giving discounts, first refusal, my Planning With Purpose course, and lots more. The idea is that pledgers will be on our radar at the studio, and we’ll give them the VIP treatment when they book in work with us. We’ll create mini style guides, boxes of props and backgrounds, and tone of voice documents for every VIP backer.

I’ve also put together helpful PDF guides on conversion rates, photography and writing skills (love these so much!) to offer our expertise to small businesses, not just bigger companies.

And of course there are some BRILLIANT Gilmore Girls enamel pins and a gorgeous investor certificate for every single person who supports us in this launch period. Because seriously, I’m grateful for every single penny right now.

Progress

We’re currently nowhere near our target. That’s okay, because we get to keep whatever we make, but I’m also thinking about ways to spread the word in the last remaining weeks. I’m thinking about showing the value of what we do. I’m thinking about sharing more and more on social media (so prepare to be inundated!) and asking people to spread the word.

We’ve had 25 backers so far. I love every single one of them. If you haven’t already backed us, I’d be honoured and humbled if you’d consider it. Each pledge makes a big difference to us: £5 gives us more mountboard colours for backgrounds, £100 means we can get another desk to work and shoot on, £300 means I can get the team another laptop so we can stop borrowing ancient and heavy personal laptops, £1,500 would allow us to get shelving and storage for EVERYTHING, making us more efficient (and less messy).

How you can help

Honestly, I’m nervous. I’m excited, of course, but right now, cashflow (as many of you know) is challenging as I balance work coming in with being able to grow and afford rent for the first time.

So. Every single share, pledge, investment, comment, click, positive thought (and did I mention pledge?) makes a HUGE difference to getting this thing firmly off the ground and supporting small businesses.

Is there a pledge you’d like to see?

Let me know. If we can offer support in a different way, I’d love to hear about it!

Jx

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Enter The Forge

Life's too damn short to chase someone else's definition of success. I'm here to give you the courage and tools to forge your own path.