Meet Kathy and Phyllis. Don’t they just looks so kind and wise? And maybe you can’t tell from these smile-y photos, but these women are crystal clear on standing in their own power. Kathy continually inspires me to hold on to hope. And Phyllis taught me it was perfectly fine to be angry. (Jesus, she reminded me, sat down and wove a whip.)

But neither of these women stop at anger and hope. No, they move all the way to healing.

From the walking wounded website:

“Have you ever:

-Been asked to leave a church or told you’re not a “good fit”?
-Felt forced to conform or remain consistently overlooked?
-Been told that you are loved but not your sin?
-Questioned leadership or theology and found yourself on the outside?
-Felt sad, angry, afraid, lost, or disoriented after painful church experiences?
-Experienced a significant shift in your theology or faith perspective and find yourself feeling disoriented and unsure?

You are not lost, and you are not alone.

Walking Wounded: Hope for Those Hurt By Church is designed to help you move through the painful and confusing aftermath of a negative faith-based experience.

In this 4 week class you will:

• Connect with others who have similar experiences
• Identify your losses and reclaim your dreams
• Tell your story and receive support
• Work through your unfinished business
• Learn effective practices to restore a sense of sanity

Through interviews, conversation, journaling and storytelling, Kathy Escobar and Phyllis Mathis will guide you through the confusion and into a place of purpose and peace.”

Affordable ($49), accessible (online), doable (just 4 weeks).

Ready, set, heal up!

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Curated Care (formerly known as Tools of The Trade) features carefully selected courses, books, and other treasure that will feed your beautiful soul. I take pride in only reviewing only trustworthy, totally-worth-it products and services. I believe in this course with Kathy and Phyllis 100%. To see some evergreen products and service providers I enjoy, click here. To read all my review posts, click here. Thanks for being here today Magpie!

One-moment Memoirs
by Jenna McGuiggan

That moment when you’re washing dishes, and you see your own hand holding a little metal bouquet of silverware, and for a second you think it’s your mother’s hand.

That moment when your beloved touches your cheek, and you know in your bones that something fundamental has shifted.

That moment when you hear the loud summer buzz of cicadas, and a line of poetry floats into your mind, begging you to capture it for later.

That moment when the sun slants just so, or the clock ticks too loudly, or you get the phone call you’ve been waiting for. Those moments big and small, those moments that matter, those moments that you want to live inside of, or make sense of, or share with others.

Some experiences beg us to write about them, but we often feel overwhelmed when trying to capture the whole story at once. One-moment Memoirs helps you take a relaxed yet focused approach to telling life’s big and small stories in bite-sized pieces.

In this workshop we’ll explore the art of short-form storytelling, also known as “flash creative nonfiction” (which also happens to be the prefect size for blog posts). Using writing prompts and exercises designed to help you connect with the heart of your story, we’ll dig into the details of a single moment. You’ll use these to write your very own one-moment memoir in two to three pages.

I’ll be teaching One-moment Memoirs online as part of wishBIG ecampin February. I’ll also be teaching a full-day workshop version of it this May for The Midwest Be Present Retreatin Culver, Indiana.

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Curated Care (formerly known as Tools of The Trade) features carefully selected courses, books, and other treasure that will feed your beautiful soul. I take pride in only reviewing only trustworthy, totally-worth-it products and services. I believe in this product 100%. To see some evergreen products and service providers I enjoy, click here. To read all my review posts, click here. Thanks for being here today Magpie!

I absolutely love the art of Nikki McClure. Every image is created by cutting away black paper with an exacto knife. And the way she combines a single resonate word with a stunning graphic image — well, it’s positively poetic.

Paul just gave me her most recent calendar as a Christmas gift. When Eden saw me peeking at the first page today she said, “Are you going to look at them all now Mom, or save them as surprise?” I was glad she asked, because I hadn’t really thought about it, but now I think I will save each one as a surprise. I’m even thinking about doing some collage work around each monthly word. (January’s is “Permit.” That seems ripe with promise!)

What will you inherit this year? Order Nikki McClure’s Inherit Calendar and find out.

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Curated Care (formerly known as Tools of The Trade) features carefully selected courses, books, and other treasure that will feed your beautiful soul. I take pride in only reviewing only trustworthy, totally-worth-it products and services. I am an amazon assoicate for this product, because I believe in it 100%. To see some evergreen products and service providers I enjoy, click here. To read all my review posts, click here. Thanks for being here today Magpie!

Graphic Design for GLBTQ Youth: My beloved brutha Shay of Anarchist Reverend helps run a summer camp for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth. (Wow that’s a mouthful!) Camp Osiris provides support and spiritual nurture for young people who are often ostracized and bullied. At Camp Osiris teens and young adults don’t have to wait for it to get better, because they are already in a safe and joyful oasis. Got design skills? Help Camp Osiris create some super hip merch for the campers this summer. Click here to find out more about this design contest. (Contest closes January 30th.)

Support Grandparent’s Rights: This is a complicated story, so I’ll try to sum it up. Kelly Bean is an inspiring light in my life. Without her example and support, I would not be leading a spiritual community outside of the religious institution. When I was floundering in the dark, Kelly’s work showed me there was a way. Kelly, who receives little to no pay for her inspiring work, is now in financial need. The estranged father of her 5 year old grandson is trying to win full custody of Gabe. Gabe is in danger of loosing all contact with Kelly and her husband Ken, who Gabe has lived with his entire life. They are now required to go to court to petition just for simple visiting rights, while Gabe’s father is trying to prevent them from seeing Gabe at all. With grace and dignity, Kelly and Ken have started a Chip-In fund to help with legal costs. If this story resonates with you, please click here to read more about Gabe’s story and chip in.

Have Kids, Will Travel: Finally, my sweet friend Bethany Bassett of Coffee Stained Clarity has an intriguing Kickstarter project up right now, Appertifs and Sippy Cups. Bethany, who has been honing her travel writing skills the past few years, is now ready to write a book full of tips for traveling with young children. An American ex-pat in Italy, Bethany played hostess for me on my solo 40th birthday trip to Rome and Perugia. Her preschool girls completely charmed me, and their tales of travel throughout Europe were downright inspiring. If you are parents (or parents-to-be) and you think you’ll never be able to travel again — be encouraged! Help is on the way. Click here to see the video and make a Kickstarter pledge.

Thanks for supporting the efforts of these beautiful souls!

Much Warmth,

Rachelle
*your magpie girl

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Curated Care (formerly known as Tools of The Trade) features carefully selected courses, books, and other treasure that will feed your beautiful soul. I take pride in only reviewing only trustworthy, totally-worth-it products and services. To see some evergreen products and service providers I enjoy, click here. To read all my review posts, click here. Thanks for being here today Magpie!

In the End
by Tara Sophia Mohr
*originally posted Feb 2, 2010

In the end
you won’t be known
for the things you did,
or what you built,
or what you said.

You won’t even be known
for the love given
or the hearts saved,

because in the end you won’t be known.

You won’t be asked, by a vast creator full of light:
What did you do to be known?

You will be asked: Did you know it,
this place, this journey?

What there is to know can’t be written.
Something between the crispness of air
and the glint in her eye
and the texture of the orange peel.

What you’ll want a thousand years from now is this:
a memory that beats like a heart–
a travel memory, of what it was to walk here,
alive and warm and textured within.

Sweet brightness, aliveness, take-me-now-ness that is life.

You are here to pay attention. That is enough.

***

Did that feed your soul? Tara Sophia Mohr’s poetry does that– it opens up a little window and lets the light shine in.

Give the gift of poetic fresh air to yourself or someone you love this holiday season, and nourish yourself one tasty morsel at a time.

For more information about the poetry and photography in this book, click here.

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Curated Care (formerly known as Tools of The Trade) features carefully selected courses, books, and other treasure that will feed your beautiful soul. I take pride in only reviewing only trustworthy, totally-worth-it products and services. To see some evergreen products and service providers I enjoy, click here. To read all my review posts, click here. Thanks for being here today Magpie!

I love things that are beautiful, clever, and functional — like this handy bandolier from Clever Hands. No more digging for a pencil at the bottom of your purse, or losing a poem because it rushed past whilst you were looking for a pen. These handy bandoliers are designed for various sizes of moleskin notebooks, or can be made-to-order. I got one for my moleskin pocket calendar with a special-fit slot for my favorite kind of pencil and eraser. (Joy!)

Click here to order one for you or for a friend.

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Curated Care (formerly known as Tools of The Trade) features carefully selected courses, books, and other treasure that will feed your beautiful soul. I take pride in only reviewing only trustworthy, totally-worth-it products and services. To see some evergreen products and service providers I enjoy, click here. To read all my review posts, click here. Thanks for being here today Magpie!

Oh, the grey. It makes me dream of vacations in sunny climes.

Are you dreaming of an exotic get away? Stumped because you don’t have a travel partner? Have no fear, The Gypsy Gals are here! Veteran solo travelers Prime and Nina Sarmiento are sharing their joint experience in Prime’s free e-book Gypsy Gal Tales: Inspiring stories and tips for and by female travelers. To get your copy just click here and make your armchair travel a reality.

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Curated Care (formerly known as Tools of The Trade) features carefully selected courses, books, and other treasure that will feed your beautiful soul. I take pride in only reviewing only trustworthy, totally-worth-it products and services. To see some evergreen products and service providers I enjoy, click here. To read all my review posts, click here. Thanks for being here today Magpie!

There is no doubt about it. It is the grey season.

Here in the Pacific Northwest we don’t tend to talk about summerfallwinterspring. We talk about Summer — meaning the 4-6 weeks from August to mid September; and Winter, by which we mean the grey season, stretching from mid-Sept through the end of July.

My physicality and personality are not well adapted to this grey, yet somehow I keep being drawn to places with seasons like this. The damp “bay shine” of my childhood in the San Fransisco bay area, my adulthood in Seattle, three years spent in Vancouver BC, record-breaking winters in Copenhagen–I keep calling places with grey “home.”

Thankfully there is something new to add to my arsenal of vitamin D, the happy light, and a solid dose of antidepressants. Fellow Pacific coastie, Vivienne McMaster, is offering a beautiful online photography course this winter: Light Hunters, Getting Through the Grey.

Each Monday through the winter you’ll get a prompt and instructions on how to appraoch this different kind of light through the lens of your camera. An inspiring group of fellow photographers (newbies to pros) will gather ’round you in the private Flickr group, and the beauty of the pictures will carry you through.

Need help surviving the grey? Just click here to join the Light Hunters. ($39 CND for a season full of inspiration.) See you there, Magpie.

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Curated Care (formerly known as Tools of The Trade) features carefully selected courses, books, and other treasure that will feed your beautiful soul. I take pride in only reviewing only trustworthy, totally-worth-it products and services.  I am not an affiliate of this product, but after I asked if I could feature it here, Vivienne offered me a complimentary seat in the class. (Thanks, you!) To see some evergreen products and service providers I enjoy, click here. To read all my review posts, click here. Thanks for being here today Magpie!

I’m doing a lot more writing these days. I love it. Writing is a juicy practice for me. The editing…the revisions, the wrapping-it-all up, not so much. But the first draft, I love.

Knowing that I need to be spending even more time writing, I put out a call for accountability and my inspiring friend Melaine Martin issued me a deadline.

04 May 2011. I pledged to have written a book by that date. I may not have a publisher, but dangummit, there’ll be a book.

I’ve started book projects before, so I know I’ll need some advice and encouragement along the way if I’m going to get to DONE. That’s why I’m grateful for Heather Plett of Sophia Leadership. She assembled a free ebook full of quotes from 27 authors who give you their best writing tips, (including me!) Click here to download Writing to Impact Change. May it encourage you to tell your story today.

Much Warmth,

Rachelle
*your magpie girl

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Curated Care (formerly known as Tools of The Trade) features carefully selected courses, books, and other treasure that will feed your beautiful soul. I take pride in only reviewing only trustworthy, totally-worth-it products and services. To see some evergreen products and service providers I enjoy, click here. To read all my review posts, click here. Thanks for being here today Magpie!

Welcome to the second annual Girl Effect Blogging Campaign. All this week, women bloggers from around the web will be featuring powerful stories and causes dedicated to helping girls worldwide get education, medical care, and justice.

It can be hard to find a trustworthy organization to sponsor. Here at Magpie Girl we make a donation as a “thank you” for each of our guest posts, so we’ve seen a beautiful collection of good causes. Still, our heart belongs to our regular cause, so today as we curating causes we feature the centerpiece of our collection: The Apparent Project.

“Haiti was said to have as many as 500,000 orphans before the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010. The vast majority of these “orphans” were actually not true orphans. They were children given up by living parents because of extreme poverty….Yet, while a single adoption costs $15,000-20,000, these funds could sustain up to 40 families by providing seed money for ongoing small businesses! Something needs to change.”

I once heard an activist say, “We can keep pulling drowning girls out of the river all our lives, but if we don’t prevent the men and boys from throwing them in upstream, we’ll never end the cycle.” Empowering families to stay together through sustainable women-owned small business is one way The Apparent Project is keeping everyone’s toes dry.

With Corrigan’s background as an artist, The Clay’s founded The Apparent Project, an experiment they called the “un-orphanage.” Through the project they began to teach Haitian women (and men) to set up small, sustainable businesses. Recently their jewlery making co-operative caught they eye of Donna Karan, who visited their home and workshops earlier this year, advising Shelley and helping them make political and industry-based connections in order to build long-term sustainability into the project. Then this summer, The Apparent Project’s creative “beyond the orphanage” methodology drew the attention of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who came to their home in Haiti and helped them make more connections for their struggling grassroots project. (T0 see more about Clinton’s ah-ha moment around the devasting effect poorly planned U.S.-aid to Haiti has caused in the past click here. Kudos to Clinton for acknowledging his past mistakes, and for turning to intelligent on-the-ground first responders like Shelley and Corrigan for real-life advice on wholistic support for Haiti!)

In spite of thier recent boon of wonderful connections, The Apparent Project is still staying open one donation at a time. You can help this creative, intelligent family (and thier team of ex-pat and local staff!) make a difference for mom’s and girls in Haiti. Click here to donate or click here to support the Haitian artisans by purchasing their beautiful goods. Thanks so much for helping girls, women…and heck, entire families in Haiti!

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Curated Care (formerly known as Tools of The Trade) features carefully selected courses, books, and other treasures that will feed your beautiful soul. I take pride in only reviewing only trustworthy, totally-worth-it products and services. I am an supporter of The Apparent Project, because I believe in it 100%. Click here to donate or click here to shop. Thanks for being here today, Magpie!

You Might Also Like:

• Click here for more information about the state of women and girls in Haiti.
• Click here to follow Shelley’s spirited posts on Facebook about life in Haiti and intellegent advocacy.
• Click here to find out why you should NOT send peanut butter to Haiti.
• Click here to read a recent story about one of the Apparent Project mom’s, and to see how real-life with these women is shaping Shelley and Corrigans right-fit spirituality.
• Want to write your own blog post for The Girl Effect Blogging Campaign? Click here and play empower along!

photo credit: in her image

Have you met Kate Swoboda? As generous as she is productive, as pragmatic as she is soulful, this glowing woman is ready to coach you into your most courageous life. Kate’s coaching is my favorite flavor — supportive, practical, and chocked full of truth. That’s why I’ve been thrilled to work with her past projects, and to spread the word about her latest timely offering.

Kate’s new program — The Coaching Blueprint — is a toolkit for new and emerging coaches. If you’ve set up a coaching practice, or if you curious about starting one, this course is for you. From setting good boundaries, to time-effective marketing, to booking group retreats and writing courses–The Coaching Blueprint has got you covered.

What I like most about this product is Kate’s deep passion for making it easier on you than it was on us. Coaching is an emerging field. There’s no rule book. I know I felt very lost setting up my practice, and even with a few years under my belt Kate’s program is still teaching me things I need to know–like how to do all my marketing in just 4 hours a week!

Not only do you get Kate’s experience as a coach, but she’s also assembled a cast of coaching insiders including: Tanya Geisler, Julie Daley, Jamie Ridler, Dyana Valentine, Michael Bungay Stanier, Pam Slim, Tara Sophia Mohr, Tara Gentile, Jennifer Lee, , Michelle Ward, Bridget Pilloud, and even a contribution from little ole’ me.

Plus, the price is ridiculous.

Check out Kate’s cheeky, informative video below, and get ready to hang out your shingle!

Click on to get The Coaching Blueprint.

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Curated Care (formerly known as Tools of The Trade) features carefully selected courses, books, and other treasure that will feed your beautiful soul. I take pride in only reviewing only trustworthy, totally-worth-it products and services. I am an affiliate for this product, because I believe in it 100%. To see some evergreen products and service providers I enjoy, click here. To read all my review posts, click here. Thanks for being here today Magpie!

One of the women I’ve been honored to get to know this Summer is Tara Gentile. A business coach for creative types, Tara knows just when to blow the bullshit bullhorn on me, and when to point out that I’m being too hard on myself.

One thing Tara has done this summer is to help me get right about money. You may have noticed, but I tend to be a money monk. I’m afraid money is going to corrupt me so I don’t like to handle it. I under charge for my work. I offer too many scholarships. I forget to collect payments.

This does not serve me well.

Moreover, it does not serve you well.

Tara’s new ebook, The Art of Earning has broken me of that habit. In just a few pages I hit six major ah-ha moments that helped me heal up the bad dynamics I have around money, especially around charging for my work. In fact, I loved the book so much I decided to become and affiliate and spread the word!

Directed at artists and creatives, The Art of Earning is worth both your time and your funds. It’s already fairly priced at $25, but Tara (and I!) want it into your hot little hands so badly, you can NAME YOUR OWN price.

Just click here to find out more.

May you earn some beautiful money today, my magpies.

Much Warmth,

Rachelle
*your magpie girl

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One of my community-building goals here at Magpie Girl is to gather up all the most helpful tools and resources and pass the word along to Y.O.U. I take pride in recommending trustworthy products, and people who give you the biggest bang for you buck. To see some evergreen products and service providers I enjoy, click here. To read all my review posts, click here.

One of my community-building goals here at Magpie Girl is to gather up all the most helpful tools and resources and pass the word along to Y.O.U. I take pride in recommending trustworthy products, and people who give you the biggest bang for you buck. To see some evergreen products and service providers I enjoy, click here. To read all my review posts, click here. And to learn about my current crush, read on!

Darrah Parker: Photographing your life, one slice at a time.

This is Darrah Parker. Isn’t she almost unbearably cute?

Darrah and I met on Twitter. I saw her photography and said, “Hey Darrah, you should teach people how to take these kinds of photos!”

And she said, “Hey! I want to. Can I brainstorm with you?”

At the time I was living in Copenhagen, and she was in Seattle. But as soon as I landed back in town, we started meeting together to dream up all kinds of things for our soulful businesses. Darrah lent me her photographs for my Art of Noticing class, and I sing the praises of her Slice of Life Project. Because you know what? Neither of us want you to miss out on what Mary Oliver calls “your one wild, precious life.” We are quite serious about it folks. You only get one life. Savor it (with ease.)

This summer Darrah is helping you capture images of your one wild, precious Summer with another round of the Slice of Life Project. I call this class “photography for the rest of us.” It’s gentle prompts and encouraging reminders nudge you toward taking photos, without scary tech-speak or tough assignments.

Listen friend, these precious peach-filled days slip by so fast. Slow down. And notice the slice of life that is on the plate in front of you.

Class begins July 11th. Click here to register.. (You won’t regret it!)

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You might also like:

To see a gorgeous collection of student photography from the last click here, click here.

To see how taking Darrah’s class inspired my own work, click here.

One of my community building goals here at Magpie Girl is to gather up all the most helpful tools and resources and pass the word along to Y.O.U. I take pride in recommending trustworthy products and people who give you the biggest bang for you buck and don’t waste your time. To see some evergreen products and service providers I enjoy, click here. To read all my review posts, click here. And to learn about my current crush, read on!

Your Organizing Coach: Claire Tompkins

I have this problem.

I generate more ideas than I have time for. I spend more time making lists of things that could make money, than I spend  actually making money. I have a tendency to spin in circles.

Enter Claire Tompkins, The Clutter Coach. I recently snagged one of Claire’s free Brain Dump sessions. In about 45 minutes, she sorted through the miasma of to-do’s that was fogging my vision, and pinpointed the one thing that would make space for productivity.

Claire offers coaching on Flow, DeCluttering, and just generally Getting It Done! She also has a nifty free ecourse around getting organized. Stop by her blog–you might just find the break through you’ve been looking for! (Drop her a comment and tell her Magpie Girl sent you.:-)

May you have a day that is graced by clarity.

Much Warmth,

Rachelle

One of my community building goals here at Magpie Girl is to gather up all the most helpful tools and resources and pass the word along to Y.O.U. I take pride in recommending trustworthy products and people who give you the biggest bang for you buck and don’t waste your time. To see some evergreen products and service providers I enjoy, click here. To read all my review posts, click here. And to learn about my current crush, read on!

Free Monday Morning Caffeinated Business Chat

As a solopreneur you are you own boss. You set your own schedule. You work alone.

You may also have this teeny-tiny procrastination problem.

Need a shot of something  to get going at the beginning of the week? Might I recommend the free Caffeinate Business Chat with Rachael Acklin of the Caffeinated Elf? The Caffeinated Business Chat is a free Skype chat that happens on Mondays at 3pm EST (12pm PST / 1pm MST / 2pm CST / 8pm GMT / 6pm Tuesday in Melbourne). Ask questions of Rachael, or get help from the rest of the folks on the call. Using Skype you can ask your questions out-loud, or share helpful links with others on the call using Skype IM. Sign up by clicking here.

See you Monday at Rachael’s place!

Much Warmth,

Rachelle

One of my not-so-secret community building goals here at Magpie Girl is to gather up all the most helpful tools and resources and pass the word along to Y.O.U. I take pride in recommending trustworthy products and people who give you the biggest bang for you buck and don’t waste your time.

Today at Magpie Girl I’d like to introduce you to one of those folks: Kirsty M. Hall,  visual artist and professional Hand-Holder. Kirsty specializes in helping artists and other creatives get throughthe moat of emotional and technical muck that keeps them from getting thier work up on line. It’s her thing. And guess what? Kirsty is offering Magpie Girl readers a discount on her already affordable Internet Hand-Holding Sessions. (Click here, use the code magpiegirl, thru October 10th.)

“I am not a web designer or a code monkey, I’m an artist. However, I have picked up a fair smattering of tech knowledge and I can do the majority of things on my own WordPress site. So I can certainly tell you about things like plugins; blogs; setting up newsletter forms on your site and moving things around on the sidebar. And if you need heavy technical information, I’ll refer you to someone with more experience and refund your money.

Internet Hand-holding is not just a practical ‘ah, you need to do this technical thing’ experience, there often a lot of emotional work involved too. For example, you may think you’re putting off getting a website because it’s too expensive when in truth, you’re secretly afraid that your images or ideas will be stolen online. I’m skilled at getting people unstuck because I’m good at identifying the real problem and then finding solutions.

Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle with you.”

To let you learn a little more about what she does, let’s get her Behind the Mic. Kirsty, step right up…

Q: What prompted you to offer these Hand Holding sessions?

 I had a couple of consulting sessions with Catherine Caine from Be Awesome Online and she strongly encouraged me to do it.

For the last three years I’ve been writing blog posts about how artists can use the Internet and I felt I had enough expertise to start charging for my knowledge. I was constantly answering people’s questions via email or on Twitter so it seemed like the next logical step. I’d been thinking about writing e-books but offering consulting was something I could act on very quickly, so I decided to do that first. The e-books are on the way though.

I’m very passionate about getting other artists online and I’m motivated by a strong desire to help people get past their blocks. I think all artists should be using the internetbecause it’s like being part of a constant exhibition. My website gets between 2,000 and 3,000 visitors a month from all around the world and those numbers are steadily growing all the time. That’s pretty fantastic for someone like me who still hasn’t had an exhibition abroad.

Q: What are some of the “sticking points” you can help people get past?

Often artists and creative people find the web so overwhelming that they procrastinate for years about establishing a web presence. They know they ‘ought’ to have a website but it feels like way too much work, so they just don’t do it.

If you’re inexperienced with the Internet, I can help you devise a concrete plan to get you started. That might include a plan for starting a website but if that feels impossible, I can encourage people to make a start with smaller steps.

It’s a form of guidance and there’s a large emotional component. I have a talent not only for practical problem-solving but also for identifying what the real problem is. Often the root of the problem is quite different to what the person thinks it is. For example, they might think they’re stuck because they don’t have the money for a website when actually they don’t feel ready to expose their work to strangers yet. I help people get to the bottom of what’s really stopping them and then together we find a way to climb out of the hole. Or sometimes I just give them permission not to do something, which can be an enormous relief for people.

I can also help people who are more established but who feel a bit stuck. Maybe they’re not getting the results they want from their website or they need to evolvea social media strategy but don’t know where to begin. I’m very good at visually analysing sites & telling clients where they’re confusing visitors. I recently worked with Diane Gilleland from Craftypod. She’s done a fantastic job implementing the changes I suggested and it’s already resulted in improved sales and better visitor movement around her site.

During the consulting session, we talk through your specific problems and then work out a strategy that’s right for where you are at this precise moment. So it’s a bespoke service tailored to your exact needs. Then it’s up to you to make the suggested changes – I won’t do the work for you but I will point you in the right direction and tell you what to do first, which can really unblock people. Often when we’re procrastinating on something it’s not because we’re lazy, it’s because we don’t know which step we need to take first. Everything feels daunting, so we stay in a place of mental safety by doing nothing.

Q: How has being on line informed your artwork, sales and/or your artistic process?

Hugely. I’m a real net native, having been online since 1995 and I have a deep abiding love of the internet. Promoting my work online doesn’t feel like ‘marketing’ to me, it mostly feels like fun. As a result, I’ve found it far easier to establish influence online than offline.

There are other very practical reasons to concentrate my marketing efforts online. I have a chronic illness that really limits my offline activities so traditional art networking events like attending private views or taking part in conferences are tough and exhausting for me. Being online allows me to be proactive about my career whilst still protecting my health because I can work at my own pace.

I also feel more in control and less at the mercy of others: I’m out there making my own luck instead of desperately hoping to be noticed by curators.

It is still a lot of work, as any marketing always is, but it pays huge dividends. These days, the vast majority of my opportunities come from my online activities – mostly from my blog or Twitter or a combination of the two. I’ve had sales, work opportunities, interviews & exhibitions, plus I’ve made lots of useful contacts with cool and interesting people. Hardly a day goes by without something exciting happening because of my online presence.

Kirsty M Hall  is an artist & purveyor of mad obsessive projects. She blogs about art & chickens and helps other artists get on line with her affordable Hand-Holding Sessions. Magpie Girl readers half-price on their first session thru October 10th — £35 ($55 US). Click here, and use the code magpiegirl at the check-out. (Thanks Kirsty. You’re so nice!)

Got some time on your hands? Check out all our Behind the Mic interviews, of find more reliable Tools of the Trade.

I know I’ve been kind of sell-y this week at Magpie Girl, what with the spots coming open at Flock and all. But I truly believe that an offer which meets your reader’s need is a gift, not a sale pitch. That’s why I would just kick myself if I didn’t let you know about this deal that is closing on Sunday, May 31st.

Are you trying to sell your art, coaching services, or Ecourses on line? You need a tribe.

Third Tribe is a membership site dedicated to helping people market their business in a non-slimey way. It’s hosted by already very helpful people like Darrin Rowse at ProBlogger, Chris Brogan, Brian Clark from Copyblogger and Sonia Simone of the amazing Remarkable Blueprint. Each month Third Tribe  features a mp3 seminar just chocked full full of practical tips for on-line business — plus they help you take action with “next step” worksheets and other resources.  But my favorite is that each seminar has a follow up Q&A Call where you can submit your specific questions.

I listen to these on repeat as I walk, bike, and bus around Copenhagen. (So, SO helpful.)

Click here if you already know you want to join at the intro price of $47/month, before it jumps to $97/month on Monday.

Otherwise, read on and I’ll tell you how Third Tribe has helped me.

Another benefit at 3T is the a huge collection of forums where you can ask your business questions, get advice, and find partners. Third Tribe forums have helped me:

• find the right email service provider
• set up a membership site (Flock!)
• launch my first ebook
• figure out affiliate marketing

The price for Third Tribe is taking a tremendous jump. At the current price of $47 a month, it’s a great value. The new price of $97/mo will be hard to fit into a tiny starting-up budget. Honestly, it may too pricey to be worth the value. So get in there now and get your business LAUNCHED!

Click here to join before June 1st and take advantage of this introductory price.

If you have any questions about 3T, shoot me an email. I’m happy to help. See you in the Tribe!

I take pride in featuring services and products you can count on. Doing some soulwork? Building your soulful business? Need a little help getting over the next hurdle? Tools of the Trade are the books, courses, services, and coaches that get my gold star. Come find what you need to move forward.

Lately I’ve been using muscle testing to determine what to charge for the things I’m offering on line. Muscle testing is great for getting around chatty Gremlins and circumnavigating self-sabotaging thoughts.  Here’s how to do it in a few easy steps. (You’ll need a friend to help you.)

Write the different prices you are considering for a service on small pieces of paper. Create a whole range of options, from the lowest you’ll go to the highest you could hope for. If possible have whatever you are setting a price for in your line-of-site while you do the muscle test.

First, shake your hands to discharge any tensions or energy you are holding around the price setting process.  Ask your friend, the Tester, to do the same.

Extend your non-dominate hand out to one side. Have your Tester press down on your forearm to gauge how much strength you generally have in that arm. (The Tester can put one hand on your opposite shoulder for counter balance, but this may not be necessary.)

Now hold the first price in your other hand. Extend your non-dominate arm again and have your Tester press down on it with the same amount of force. If your arm remains strong, your body is intuitively telling you that is the right price. If it weakens or goes down, it’s the wrong price.

Between each price test, move away from the slips of paper and shake off your hands. (Have the tester do the same.) When you hold each price in your hand, think about the thing you are offering and imagine charging that price to someone.

You can also do this “blind” by folding the pieces of paper in half. It’s interesting to see if you get the same results.

If you get a range of prices with the same strength, you could play within that price range. Maybe you get $35, $40, $50 equally strong. Make $40 you base price, $35 your discount for people who are on your mailing list, and $50 the price you bump up to as the service expands.

For more tips on Resonate pricing, Pam Slim has an excellent round-up here, including posts from Mark Silver of Heart of Business, and Naomi Dunford of Itty Biz.

What techniques to you use to make sure you are setting the “right” price for you? And how do you stick to your guns once you set it? Do tell in the comments below! Thanks for being here.

Remember last month when I gave Everett Bouge’s The Art of Being Minimalist a kind of lackluster review in this post on *8Things to Minimize?

I changed my mind. (You knew I’d come around, didn’t you Everett?)

It’s sticking with me, this little book, and the ideas presented in it are turning ’round and ’round in my mind. Since reading it Paul and I are seriously considering:

• living without a car when we return stateside.
• extending the lease on our six bedroom house in Seattle in order to experiment with  living in small, downtown condo. 
• selling 90% of our 1,000 volume library. (150 is our new golden number)
• getting rid of most of our DVD’s.

Anything that makes you re-think that much stuff is worth the $9.95. (Soon to go up to $19.95.) Plus, it’s an ebook – no physical clutter required. And it has a beautiful minimalist design, which I, the migrainuer, appreciates. (No visual clutter!)

Now look, I know a lot of you are doing too much.  So don’t buy this if it’s just going to be one more thing sitting on your desk waiting to be read. But if you have 90 minutes to read it this weekend, it might change your life.

Click here to buy The Art of Being Minimalist.

P.s. If you buy the book by clicking on a link in this post, you’ll be buying me a cuppa. For my full disclosure statement about how I love you and only tell you good things, click here.

The publishing and writing schedule for Magpie Girl and Flock…as scribbled out during the kid’s gospel choir rehearsal last night. (Work where you can.)

I am on pins and needles waiting for my designer to upload the finalized version of our new endeavor – Flock with Magpie Girl. Flock is “a nesting place for restless souls” with lots of courses for spiritual nurture, all offered at one monthly price. Think of it as a spa for your soul! The bonus to this method is that it creates an on-going place for a soultribe to gather, and it allows for the kind of teaching-learning process I so adore. We can really fill up the giant pool of wisdom with the Flock!

I like knowing how artists and other creative people work. If you are intrigued by that too, here’s a peek into the process of starting our Flock.

Initially Flock started out as an idea for two Ecourses. But as I worked through 31 Days to A Better Blog and started on the elevator pitches for my Ecourses, I realized what I really wanted was an ongoing on-line soultribe. I’d already done some vocational work with my amazing life coach, Jena Strong, and knew that community building was a skill I’d been practicing for a long time. The short-term nature of Ecourses wouldn’t scratch my community building itch. Since reading Chris Guillebeau’s Art + Money, I had been thinking about opening a membership site. But I had allowed  the outside voices of Conventional Wisdom and Fear to negate my intuitive pull towards that option. As I embraced the membership site as a viable choice, things started moving into place.

Jennifer McGuiggan helped me move through the wheel of work, which made me realize I needed a partner to get through the bottom half of the wheel – the execution half. So I scraped my money together and hired Neil Sittler of Stickflower Design to help me get a website ready. This was important because my work with Jena had already shown me that “beauty” was high on my list of guiding values, and that if I didn’t have a esthetically pleasing site, I wouldn’t be able to tap into the right energy to sustain a long-term project such as an online soulcare community.

While Neil worked on the site, soulsisters Lisa Alexander and Jamie Ridler coached me on values-based pricing, so that I would not consider my pattern of chronically under-charging. I was still struggling with setting a price that truly reflected the value of my work, when Jen Lemen suggested I do muscle testing to connect with my inner wisdom on the matter. After a truly amazing round of muscle testing with my daughter Eden, I finally came to a place of  confidence with my pricing choices.

I also decided to face my fear of asking for help so I asked a few soulcare providers I know and adore to come on board as expert advisers for Flock. And while I cannot announce who quite yet, I’m happy to say that my dream team of (therapist, life coach, and dream analyst and more) is starting to come together for our “Ask the Experts” column.

Finally, yesterday I sat down and wrote out a schedule of what I’m going to be posting each day both at Magpie Girl and at Flock, and what day I’d have to write it in order to get it posted professionally, on time, and well-edited. Because my health is a bit of a crap shoot, I included a day to write “stockpiled” posts so I have something to keep the goodness flowing when chronic pain sets me back for awhile.

Now I’m just waiting for the last odds and ends to get done on the website, and before Christmas we will have sign ups ready for our New Year’s launch! (Join my mailing list for a grand opening discount.)

As I write this post I realize once again how blessed I am to have this (almost entirely virtual) community around me. Those mentioned here, and others as well, helped me get past my sticking points and uncover the “ah ha” moments I needed to get through this process. I’m also struck by how Jen Lemen’s advice to “write to the tribe you’re starting to form”; and my mentor Ed Cook’s adage “you always preach the sermons you need to hear,” have both been proven true. All of the links embeded in this story were written by myself, or by Magpie Girl guests,  because I needed to hear them, and so did my tribe. Now I can see them as the work The Muse and The Universe were doing to get us where we need to be — that is,  together.

So thanks you so much, dear Magpie Girl reader, for being a part of this process. Your comments and visits have encouraged me more than I can say. I cannot wait until we are all gathered together in our Flock! Thanks for being here.

Much Warmth,

Rachelle