Creative Path Studio: Trish Roque’s blog, studio, and musings on living a purpose-filled life.

Among the many activities in my insanely busy life, I’ve been working as a contractor for an awesome gallery software company called Masterpiece Manager. If you’re an artist or gallery in need of inventory software, I highly recommend their product! Star’s website uses Masterpiece.

My latest project with Masterpiece has been a lot of fun and the client has been wonderful to work with. The products offered on her site are top of the line Judaic art and gifts. We went live yesterday, and the site can be seen on UrbanMensch.com.

Check it out when you have a chance!

It was a rough weekend, one that was spent working to try to get my site back up. As you can see, it is now up, but not without pain and suffering. Rather than detail what occurred in the past, I would rather move forward and pretend it never happened.

A new web host doesn’t hurt either. When looking for one, I chose the most important criteria to me: excellent customer service. I did the usual google search and in the process ran across several websites that gave Lunarpages excellent marks when it came to support.

So, after four days of banging my head against the wall with my previous host, here I am up and running with Lunarpages.

*Big sigh of relief*

Jon and I returned from Tahoe last weekend, well rested and ready to catch a couple of nasty colds with sore throats. We’ve spent most of the week recuperating - and when I managed to get myself out of bed, I forced myself to implement some changes I’ve been wanting to make on my site. Ahh, the joys of freelancing… there’s never any downtime.

These changes include:

• web hosting at an unbelievable rate [update 3/29/07: I am in the process of finding better web hosting for my clients]
• the implementation of Google Checkout (i.e. I now accept credit cards!)
• making the Portfolio its own section, as I expect it to grow

I’m hoping these changes and additions will make life easier for me and my beloved clients!

Ok, I must now get my coughing self to bed!

This site is really about the ability to realize my dreams - to think about the possibilities, ALL the possibilities and then to see what happens when I focus my energies toward realizing these possibilities.

In many ways, Creative Path Studio was a long time coming. I have been thinking about creating a business for while now - to create my own path in life. There’s so much more I want to do and the creation of this site, this business, this experiment, is the vehicle to allow me to do that.

I should not be surprised that my goals for this business are coming to fruition. I have other goals that I need to articulate. Writing them down forces me to think about the path I need to take to get there.

Some of my goals include:

• creating Word Press themes and sharing them
• create a site for santafe-etching.com
• interview artists and designers (I have several folks in mind)
• become an Illustrator and Photoshop guru
• draw, draw, draw
• continue to think BIG, and to think of all the possibilities
• find the balance and really enjoy life

Creative Path Studio is just as much about experimentation as it is about creativity. It is about living a life worth living.

I started my week by telling a client that I could no longer work with him. This was not a fun experience although it helped me to clarify what it is I am willing or not willing to do. What other lessons can I take from this?

1. Know my business, and when to say no. Ok, this seems straightforward but if you’re like me, a person who has difficulties saying no to projects, this lesson can be elusive. This is especially true for freelance designers and artists, for whom it may be easy to accept projects that they may not normally accept because of a dire need to pay the mortgage and buy groceries. In this case, I accepted a project before I completed my business plan (I confess I’m still not finished with it) — and before truly asking the question, “Does this project fit in with the scope of what I want to do?” Initial red flags came up that I ignored, and ultimately, not trusting my instincts was my biggest mistake.
2. Manage time efficiently. I suspect that this will always be a challenge, but it is important that I manage my time well. I said goodbye to one client, and by the end of the week, found myself with two clients who are anxious to get their site up. I am currently in a state of transition that has me keenly aware of how valuable my time is. Some ideas:

• Track quantifiable time: it may sound obvious but this was a challenge with the client I am no longer working with (I was on a commission basis and for reasons that are now clear to me, I will not do any commission work)
• Give myself actual working hours: this is really no different from a 9 to 5 job, and again, this may seem obvious but it is a challenge for the small business person.

3. Take better care of the boss. What does this have to do with starting a business? Well, if I am to be my own boss, I can’t afford to have my body give out on me. I’ve been nursing my lower back all week and this has kept me from doing any work. Sitting in front of a computer is not the best activity for my lower back right now, but neither is hiking or swimming. I enjoy all these activities and it has been tough to stay away from the computer, the hiking trails, and the pool. Yes, I’ve gone to the doctor but hopefully, this will resolve itself very soon without the use of prescribed drugs (though they’ve really helped!). And yes, the title of this post was a pun intended!

I’m sure I’ll revisit these topics in further detail as my journey continues to unfold.