After two and a half hours (and a previous meeting postponement) at the Nevada City City Council meeting, we got a unanimous “Aye” vote for a Resolution to close Union Street in downtown Nevada City for the 18 Saturdays between June 28 and October 25! Yay!

The event will be under the umbrella of the Nevada City Downtown Association (of which I’m Vice-Chair).

The last two places that I called home: Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo both had fantastic markets that involved at least 4 or 5 streets in the middle of downtown being dedicated to vendors, residents, and visitors having a great time.

It shall be a feat of many people’s efforts (and organization, of course!) to pull off the first one in 2 months time. I’ll be speaking up in favor of planning, structure, planning, and more planning at our weekly meetings until then.

More to come soon, I’m sure.

I spoke with Frances Fayden of Create Your Amazing Life, a woman whose business philosophy is very similar to mine. We talked about marketing philosophy and how the old school way of pushing and blindly canvassing every nook and cranny was out while putting out a heart based message to attract compatible clients is now the way to go. She works with Denise Liu and together, they sound like quite a duo!

If you are a women entrepreneur, want to develop your creative and heartfelt marketing for your business, and can make it to Grass Valley, CA this Saturday, April 26th, then check out their workshop called, “Set Your Mind for Success and Grow Your Business Quickly.”

In just four hours they’ll teach you the two most important things you need to know to succeed in business, you’ll learn the MOST effective type of marketing, plus, you’ll be privy to the 3 Secrets to Creating a Success Mindset.

Sounds good, eh?

(disclaimer: I just found out about this and, unfortunately, won’t be able to make it due to a previous engagement. I’m hoping that one of the upcoming workshop dates will be in our area again!)

A potential client relies on your reputation, your professionalism, and your ability to articulate when deciding whether to hire you.

A few updates for the Nevada County area:

1. Today I saw the coordinator of the paper shred-a-thon fund raiser that happened on Saturday–”Success!” was the report. He said they raised a great chunk of change and filled up two large trucks with shredded paper. Last year they had one truck and they had to turn people away when it filled up. People even stopped by to say they supported the cause and wrote a check, even though they didn’t have any papers to shred.

2. I added Sisters Consignment (women’s clothing, shoes and bags) Store and Animal Save to the “Getting rid of stuff in Nevada County” list.

3. I also added Animal Save thrift store to the same list.

The other day I posted a PDF list of resources for getting rid of stuff in Nevada County, CA. I’ve been asked to post this in a web-friendly html version. Great idea! Here it is.
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I’ve recently added a local, Nevada County resource to the Freebies and Downloads page. It’s a list of resources for getting rid of your stuff. You’ll see that the dump aka Transfer Station is mentioned on the page because really, that’s the only place that will take the junk sometimes. However, whenever possible keep stuff in use!

If someone can use that lamp that you no longer want, that’s one less thing to be produced (in some other country, most likely) and shipped over here for purchase. If you no longer want or need it, by all means, it’s time for it to go. With a little effort on your part, you can help it find a new home where it will be appreciated and enjoyed.

The list is by no means an exhaustive list of businesses and resources that will help your stuff get to its new owner. It is however, a start. It should also give you some ideas as you look through your stuff. All the contact info for these resources are from the phone book–I’ll bet you have one of those!

This article was originally published in The Simplifier #61.

Article: Where the Wild Things Aren’t: Taming the Invoicing Beast

By Shawn Tuttle

The idea of “invoicing clients” is deceptively simple; it is the means to get paid for work you’ve done for a person or business. In reality, without effective systems in place to run your business, invoicing will throw you into an arena filled with snarling beasts. Savages loom, ready to pounce, in the form of self-worth insecurities and confidence issues, holes in your client agreements, and inefficiencies in your tracking systems—all of which you thought were tamed and good-to-go in your new business venture.

Michael Gerber, entrepreneur and author of The E-Myth, sums up the maxim that any business wanting to thrive must follow:

“Systems run the business and people run the systems.”

In addition to laying a solid foundation for growth and avoiding the arena of nasty varmints, good invoicing systems are crucial for maintaining good client relations. They make life much easier for you, too! 

You might think I’m exaggerating the beastliness of the situation, and I may be… but not much. While I’m sure you’ve done great work for your client, presenting them with an unprofessional or delayed invoice can (more…)