Little by little, a little becomes a lot.
No, I’m not talking about money, though if you learned that at an early age, you are way ahead of me. I only learned that I really liked nice things that were way over my pay grade while being well within my fashionable vision of myself. So this is where an excessive amount of my hard-earned money went. But I digress.
Today I’m actually talking about commodities that are more important to the development of your brand than dollars and cents. Mainly because they will parlay into great amounts of wealth that you will create for your brand. Below are our 5 favorite valuables to save and why they are vital to your future success.
And like so many of the best #fashionfounder tips, you don’t need anyone else except yourself and some ability to research to accomplish. And yes of course time. We know you don’t have enough, can’t carve it out, etc. We have heard and made all the excuses ourselves. We will leave it to you to find half an hour a day or even every other to begin building the wealth you need.
𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬- As an incredible creative leader from my Limited Brands days Jed Krascella said, to read current events as enthusiastically as we read about fashion events. This doesn’t have to be a high-brow undertaking. Read publications that are relevant to your interests and industry. Save up for subscriptions where you can invest and where you can’t read all the free versions or shared articles you can on LinkedIn. We are partial to the New York Times, WWD, BOF, and Medium for a mix of art, fashion, and tech. Save the articles you read. Save anything and everything that feels relevant. They will declare themselves at a later date as to what their importance is. Sometimes it might be the next big idea or could be feeding your well of curiosity. And sometimes it might be a good conversation starter with your next interesting contact. Either is good and meaningful.
2. 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬-This one is pretty self-explanatory. Pinterest is still the best file cabinet we know for all of these. Remember to channel your inner VA and try to file the way you would think to go back to it to look it up. Exhibit A is our Fairies & Princesses or Seams & Silhouettes folders which would be a natural go-to for no one else but us. That said, it’s exactly the place we go to when researching related topics. Even if you are more of a design thinker than a designer of a product you can save charts, mind maps or other handy ways of working this way.
3. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬-People you meet, you want to meet and — Linked In This one is HUGE. For the obvious reasons that more people lead you to more possibilities. And for the not-so-obvious reasons that the company you keep within your community will say more about who you are and what you can do than any resume or LinkedIn bio ever could.
4. 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬-Especially ones that you have put into use. Another tremendous time saver. We love that so many sites like Air Table or Canvo offer Templates that have been used by others because they pass the real-world application process. These could be formats for anything from WIPS to mood boards to marketing posts. And while you save Share! someone might then make an even better version of what you used.
5. 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬-Why you might ask does this even matter to a fashion-loving business like yours? I will explain. I grew up in Alabama and then headed to an incredible art school called RISD. Neither of which set me up for a particularly good grasp of the English language, proper grammar, or the ability to write a well-put-together string of thoughts. And I am clearly still a WIP. So last but definitely not least are saving examples of those that do. This could be highlighting prose in your favorite book online or in print, a list of synonyms for words you overuse (in our case though), or other ways to write words that you don’t want in at all (But or Should). The way you come across to others in writing affects all else you do in life so the more polished the better.
Now that you know the goods to procure, begin saving away. Let us know how it goes.
Need some help knowing where to start? Or still, have some questions about why it’s so important to save these ideas? Reach out to us and we will be happy to schedule a complimentary 30-minute chat.