live. work. dream.

The first shop in the new retail space along the Eureka Boardwalk, Sea Breeze Candy and Tees, just opened up. A fabulous candy and gift store with a huge selection. This is a great shot in the arm for development along Eureka’s waterfront, and it’s so terrific that we can walk there from our location. More great things will follow soon, that’s for sure.

Went to a networking mixer sponsored by the Redwood Technology Consortium at the Sea Grill Restaurant in Eureka last night. It was one of the funnest affairs the group’s ever put on. Mmmmm, good food. And someone made a great use of old floppy disk labels…we used them as name badges. How geeky is that?!
We’ve been involved with the RTC since we moved here in ‘98, and have made so many connections, and most importantly, good friends, through the group. The members are made up of people across the board, from small business owners like us, to academics at College of the Redwoods and Humboldt State University, to geeky employees from all over the county. It’s fun to get together and speak geek.

This morning I awoke to a gnarly rain and wind storm. The lights flickered all morning, but nothing went out. Meanwhile all across the county, power lines were dropping like flies.

One of the perks about living here is that despite our wild winter weather in Humboldt, the power always stays on in our building. What makes us special? Well, we are on the same power grid as the Eureka Police and Fire Departments, located just a few blocks away. Rest assured, the power will never go out in this neighborhood.

Not once in 4 years of being in this location has it ever gone out, even during California’s infamous summer long rolling blackouts. Once on New Year’s eve we had a really bad storm. Power was out almost everywhere in Eureka but here. Guess who had the raging New Year’s Party?

So, with a brand new roof in place, we’re hunkering down all safe and sound. Bring it on!

In 9 years, not one single day has been boring. In this business, every day is so different from the next. As long as you’ve got it in you to take each day and make the most of it, you’ll find that there’s never and end to things that need to be done. The biggest quality an entrepreneur needs is discipline, and motivation. Ok, that’s two qualities. But if you have those two things, you’re guaranteed to thrive.

But really, I’m not ever sure what to expect. For example, last Friday at 4:30 pm, just as we were getting ready to go to happy hour at the AA Lounge, a client who I’d previously sent a quote for, called with a huge rush order, worth $1k! Wow. Now that was worth being late for cocktail hour.

Then today, a guy who I gave lots of information and samples to about two months ago, finally placed an order directly through our website. He emailed his artwork, and it was perfect.

We did spend some time over the weekend working on fun production stuff, like cutting out mock boxes, but that’s because we’re taking a week off in two weeks.

There’s never an end to the variety and balls that we are juggling. And unlike the many jobs I had when I was a lousy employee, not once have I said “This job sucks. I’m bored.”

Or, I should say one of the beauties … is that the bright idea we had one day a few years back for an online storefront full of graphic solutions has proven itself to be successful. Here’s just one example:

When I got to my desk this morning, one of the first emails I downloaded said “Thank you for your order”. I just love it when that happens, especially when it’s unexpected. When customers place an order on our webiste they receive an acknowledgement email and we receive a copy. So I immediately logged into the shopping cart admin area of our site and clicked on “check orders” to view a new job ticket complete with payment infmration and all the materials required to produce a new order for shelf talkers. The comments field included clear instructions for artwork we would be receiving from the customer.

While they could have chosen to submit artwork through our Client Intranet or via our FTP site, this customer chose to provide a link for downloading the files from their site. We will preflight the files, contact the client if there are any concerns (of which rarely there are), produce the job, ship it, and charge the card they provided. This usually happens without ever talking to the customer. Such is the beauty of e-commerce. (more…)

Went on A Bike Ride on this Sunny Spring Day
Went to drop a job off at a local print shop. We print ‘em, they cut ‘em. We’ve got a great arrangement going on. They bill us at the end of the month for the variety of bindery service they help us out with.

We’ve known the owner of this shop for years.
He’s the guy you want to get to know when you come to town. Be nice to him; he’ll “kick ya around a little,” knock those big city ways right out of you, then make sure you get to know all the right people and leave a good impression.

So when I take jobs over there, I get to go for a bike ride.
I can usually just put our printed job on my bike rack, and pedal down the street to drop it off. On the way back, I’ll go pick up our mail, and if my partner’s really lucky, I’ll stop at the nearby chocolate shop and bring him back a treat!

Just another day in Humboldt.

“I’d Rather be the Captain of My Own Dinghy
than a Junior Officer on the Titanic”
– Dr. James Chan, founder and principal of Asia Marketing and Management (AMM)

We’re glad you’re here. Step into our shoes, and experience what it’s like to be a self-employed small business owner in one of the most beautiful places in the U.S.

You’ll learn about our everyday lives, working situations, client relations, and playtime, right here. We’ll share the “trials and tribulations” of being the captain of your own ship! So hang on.

For complete details, visit www.liveworkdream.com. We look forward to hearing from you.