Change –
Pivoting My Business
Have you? The other day I realized I’d come full circle, I’m back at updating my own Elevator Pitch and Brand and Websites.
I’ve been writing for my blogs since 2013. At that point it was about Journalism, Jewelry and Book Reviews. Prior to that, I had spent 2 years writing a weekly column for a local newspaper until the paper changed hands. The idea of writing a blog seemed like a natural transition.
I began with two, one for my writing and one for Tracy’s Gemstone Jewelry and travel in Escalante, Utah. The travel posts brought in more than the jewelry so I began to write about rocks and where you could find them. That turned out to be evergreen content. Even after we sold and moved to Cedar City in 2015, those posts are still the most read.
Blogs pretty much went by the wayside in 2016 and 2017 while we remodeled the home we bought, landscaped, and traveled. I joined the Women In Business lunch group, hosted by the Cedar City Chamber of Commerce. That led me to being a member of the Chamber Ambassadors and writing about the community. Ribbon Cuttings, golf Tournaments, Pumpkin Festivals, Luncheons – there is always plenty to keep a volunteer busy. And that led to being asked to serve on the Frontier Homestead State Park Museum Foundation Board. I began writing about the Park and its’ special projects, festivals and a new website came along.
In 2018 Debbie Drake invited me to become involved with the Women’s Business Center and coach/consult for the Ms. Biz program. That resulted in another new website. At that point I was on overload with getting blog posts done on a weekly basis, but the Pandemic saved me. I could write about business and closures and changes in our community. There were:
- No rock shows to vend at and sell Jewelry and Rock Related items
- No jewelry classes for Tracy to teach as the Club Shop was closed.
- No Hotels open, thus no travel
- No supplies on grocery store shelves, so much of our grocery shopping was done on-line and later curbside.
- No in-person events. Zoom became the default meeting place.
Most everything I had been doing either stopped or changed and life changed again.
By April of 2020 it became clear I needed to focus on just a few things. Tracy decided the rock shows, as we had been doing them, were too equipment dependent. We revised our layout, tables, merchandise volumes and product mix. Sold our Jewelry display racks and bought new lighting.
In the meantime, I realized I really enjoyed helping people with their writing, business plans and elevator pitch. The Ms. Biz program re-started and became a zoom event for me, and I was back writing for Women in Business.
The local travel industry awoke from Covid with a renewed interest in Heritage Tourism and the Museum has new leadership and new programs. That brought change to the website I created for tourism. It has been shut down and posts incorporated into my main site.
Tracy’s Utah Gemstone Jewelers website needed more than one post a month, so I settled in for two a month. That’s working for now. Our expected travels for the next year will give me topics to write about.
The change in our Rock Show booth and renewed interest in my miniature baskets led me to a member of our local fiber arts guild that makes hand-crafted journals with hand-made paper. Another member weaves lovely bags and they’re a fit with my baskets. Add commercial leather covered journals with gemstone add-ons and JanasJournals.com was born and is also at Rock Shows with Books, Bags and Baskets.
Thus, I have focused on writing, making baskets, and helping Women Business Owners learn how to manage their operation with a journal and perfect their elevator pitch.
It’s so exciting to see and hear the change in their presentation from the first class to the last. Even the Instructor has grown and improved her personal project pitch.
I’ll be moving some posts to my business services website, some to my Journal Writing website, Some to Tracy’s Jewelry site and some to my News and Reviews site. We’ll have a new and improved store for all the product we make or have made for us. It’s exciting for us.
So, stay tuned for change.