Dear Pennies & Pens,
So here’s the thing…I’ve been meaning to post. I really have. But ummm I haven’t. This past week I realized that it’s my own fault because whenever I have good content I always post it on social media first. So I now recognize that I have to change my way of thinking. In this post, I be talking about life after retirement – a day in the life of a creative entrepreneur.
As a Creative Entrepreneur, instead of dropping my latest news and projects on social media — I need to post it on my owned channels. After all, I spend money on these sites every month + year to renew the hosting, domain name, etc. I also have my Shopify store so I have to pay the monthly maintence fee plus Send Owl which is the service I use to allow readers to download my books and travel guides.
Also, another thing I can’t stand about social media is that I can’t control how content is presented and who it reaches. But here on de la Pen, I can do all of that and more. And since I’ve landed some dope projects over the last few weeks — I knew I was going to post about them here first. Stay tuned to the page for more info on that!
Anyway, back to the matter at hand, life since retirement has been BUSY. I started a new job in mid July so I’m still getting used to a new work schedule, coworkers, etc. I work as a Copywriter for an eCommerce site so I spend my day writing product descriptions. It’s a pretty cool job although sometimes stressful. But having this job has already taught me so much about eCommerce.
At work, we use a particular format for writing product descriptions — the format is determined by the style guide which was created by the Marketing Director and my boss who is the lead Copywriter. Overall, it’s pretty simple, we describe the product then offer a reason for why the customer should purchase the product. Doing this everyday made me recognize my own shortcomings.
When I went back and looked at ISLPDTX I realized that our product descriptions were too long. Not to mention that they were all over the place.
In eCommerce, you have seconds to tell the customer what your product is and why they should buy it. That means your product descriptions need to be short and to the point. No more than 2-3 sentences. And you need great product shots. So I’m revamping all these things and more. Stay tuned!
Besides revamping ISLP, I am also designing our second digital travel guide Chillin in Chi-Town. I’ve already written the articles and edited the photos so I’m just finishing up the layout. Once that’s done, I can finally upload it to ISLP’s shopify and start marketing it.
As far as 8515, we’re working on our signature annual event, Pensgiving to be in Dallas this November. Read about last year’s event Pensgiving 2018. Then I’m also planning #MP5 – a social + standup comedy event for April of 2020. I launched #MP3 in 2018. But I didn’t do #MP4 this year because I was too busy traveling. I was chillin in Denver with my sister October and my homegirl Penny Green — we were Cruizing thru the Mile High. So I’m bringing #MP5 back next year and totally revamping the concept.
Beauty and the Pen is a brand new event that will also launch in 2020. Beauty and the Pen is a beauty, fashion, and lifestyle event for multicultural millennials + creatives. Beauty and the Pen will feature panel discussions with creative entrepreneurs talking about multicultural beauty and fashion. There will also be live demos and a pop up shop. This event is still in development but I know what venue I want to book and have already spoken to almost all of the panelists I want to book. So it’s just about finalizing all the details. If you’re interested in learn how to plan an event to promote your business, check out this post.
I’m also working on using my Passion Planner and Content Creators Planner more effectively to plan content and projects. I’ve been way to inconsistent over the years and that’s why I’m not getting the results that I want. Both of those tools are extremely useful and helpful but they won’t work if I don’t use them.
Aside from all these projects, I have three upcoming trips. One is a personal trip, I’m going home to Cincinnati in September to spend time with my family. Then in October I am going on what is sure to be an EPIC press trip. Stay tuned for the inktastic official reveal. I’m also going to Houston in October to participate as a vendor at the National Black Book Festival. So I’m working on getting my second book, The Loudest Pen Ever printed. This project is becoming huge because I’m working with a design team to do the cover and interior layout. Plus I’m getting it printed by a printer in Canada. It’s going to be epic!
Alright that’s enough updates. As y’all can see ya girl has been BUSY. I should’ve never “retired”.
And there it is. de la Pen…All Pen Everything. With us, keeping it real never goes wrong.
