|
|
Post by MinnieMom on Aug 29, 2023 13:08:38 GMT -5
Class with DD was fun. We are covering Market Research this week and next week. Next month she is attending a bridal expo with me. We have a table as a vendor. The goal is branding / market awareness. So I've been working on a brochure. Other than fixing a couple of typos, this is about ready for printing. Images below. Please let me know if you see room for improvement!   That was fun. Now back to work on the investor info deck, soon to be added as "Investor" section on the website. Later! |
|
|
|
Post by Brian5581 on Aug 29, 2023 15:20:27 GMT -5
Looks great!
I'm sure you noticed, but choose (not "chose") how you camp, top left. That's the only major thing I saw.
|
|
|
|
Post by WDWGoof on Aug 30, 2023 11:48:55 GMT -5
Good catch Brian! If I can add, the next sentence has Standing on one line and Pine on the other (is it Pine or Pines?). I’d have both words on the same line.
|
|
|
|
Post by MinnieMom on Aug 30, 2023 12:44:30 GMT -5
Thanks! You are both correct. I posted the updated draft on the Standing Pines facebook site for more feedback. Barring any more updates, I'll send it off for printing next week. I have a new rant topic. Google Workspace. Positives: This is a great new tool! It will let me know all kinds of things that will be helpful to managing the business, including multiple branded emails, ability to host large video calls and record them, help manage records and give much more online storage space! Negatives: I signed up for google education first, instead of google workspace. That's on me for not doing the research first. Instead, it was an organic process. I wanted to set up a google classroom for Samantha for our homeschool. That required setting up a google education account. Okay, fine. But to activate it, I had to validate a domain. After some trial and error (and pulling out of hair) I figured out how to do that with the www.campstandingpines.com account. Then I played with it yesterday. Love it! This will let me create some blind accounts ("investor@campstandingpines.com" "service@campstandingpines.com" "reservations@campstandingpines.com") for no additional cost. Hurray - this solves some problems I have been trying to figure out! All that sounds positive, right? Here's the conundrum. Workspace education only offers a 14 day free trial. That ended yesterday. I could only add billing info during the free trial. I did not know that & did not add that billing info. I tried calls to google workspace sales, figuring that I want to buy the upgrade so sales is a reasonable starting point. Two tries, two strikes. Then I thought about deleting the campstandingpines domain. Nope, it won't allow that. Ok, then I tried adding a domain. That went fine, no problems. I used the www.shifting-lanes.com domain, which is the currently unused domain that costs a bare minimum to keep in case we ever add another business under this umbrella. So that was much easier this time, since I'd already figured out how to do it with the first domain. Then came the test: could I click on the option to switch primary domain to secondary in order to free up the campstandingpines domain for a new google workspace business account? No. Nope. Not a little bit, not at all, can't do it. So clearly I can set up a google workspace business using the shiftinglanes account. Very likely I will do that, as it would be the logical account name for the investor email account I need to create either today or tomorrow. However, long term I really need to be able to use the campstandingpines domain. Wait. Wait just a minute. I need to go check and see if campSP.com is available. That would be easier to type, might well be a better address all the way around. I'll be back with an update when I figure this out. Yep, that's how my days go right now. Lots of stream of consciousness problem solving!!!!!! |
|
|
|
Post by MinnieMom on Sept 2, 2023 20:20:39 GMT -5
Ahem. I spent all day Thursday solving a nonexistent problem. (bangs head against wall) I don't need Google Workspace. Yes, a low cost solution using the education avenue would have been helpful. But it is not necessary yet. Okay then. I sent our attorney a draft cover letter / executive summary for the investment package Friday morning. Perhaps it is not a surprise I did not hear back the Friday before a holiday weekend. While the actual package is chock full of legalese and page after page after page of vivid descriptions of the risks of investment in this business, this simple chart I put in the cover describes the potential investment most clearly to me. Again, this is a high risk investment only open to accredited investors. Let's just agree that I've warned anyone who looks at this sufficiently, as we will only be able to meet the payment obligation if the business succeeds well enough to make the payments. Also, this is part of a draft document that has not yet been reviewed with legal. Read at your own risk. Blah, blah, blah. I'm not posting this looking for investors here (but PM me if you want to learn more). Instead, I'm trying to lay out how I am thinking about it as an element of funding for building the business as part of the overall story of Standing Pines. The behind the scenes version for MO, LOL!!  Essentially, investors get 10% a year in interest. They can cash out and get their original investment back at maturity. Or they can choose to convert and own stock instead at any point during the life of the note. However, they get no say in the management of the business either way. That's our job. So, needing to take a mental break, I decided to explore canva. Wow!! It is like the one step creator paradise for anything visual. Last night, I used a bulk create technique to create 50 short 7 second videos on camping topics. Total creating time: maybe 2-3 hours, most of that learning as I was doing. That was a great way to look at different ways to use the tool. I don't think I will ever use any of those, but it was a good first experiment. Today I decided to take a break from Standing Pines. I used canva to block create some videos on Universal. While I took more time on this, again it was really only a couple of hours to create 13 higher quality, 49 second videos. I'll take another look at those tomorrow and post the best of them to my year of Disney youTube channel. I wanted to watermark these videos, so I grabbed my Year of Disney logo. I just used the graphic from the first book, which was a photo of our magicbands from 2013 arranged in a Mickey head. Upon reflection, that has not aged well. Plus I don't want to come anywhere near copyright issues these days. So I played with the logo creation tool in canva. I've got two new draft logos for A Year of Disney. Does anyone have any thoughts on either of these? I don't love either of these drafts, so this is still a work in progress. I'm not even 100% I want to keep using A Year of Disney, as I really like the other Orlando theme parks. This might be the right time just to rebrand that whole creative effort. Mostly, the theme park stuff is a hobby just for fun. But on the other hand, everything I learn doing this is knowledge I can apply back to Standing Pines. So, win! Anyways, here are the two logo drafts. They are at best mehh in my opinion.   But as usual, writing this out here is extremely helpful for thinking it through. I'll sleep on it tonight, but I am starting to think it is time to retire A Year of Disney. Maybe Playing in the Parks instead? Something like that anyway. Something simple, versatile and easy. ............... Okay, I'm back. This draft logo was less than 10 minutes to create in canva. Any thoughts on this as an option?  Random thoughts on a holiday weekend trying to wind down for the evening. Happy Labor Day everyone! |
|
|
|
Post by MinnieMom on Sept 2, 2023 20:31:27 GMT -5
Well, Playing in the Parks was a fun distraction. That's already in use by a non-profit, so that won't work. I'll keep thinking.
|
|
|
|
Post by MinnieMom on Sept 3, 2023 7:15:42 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by disneyteach on Sept 3, 2023 7:56:59 GMT -5
I like the Play the Parks and the logo!
|
|
|
|
Post by MinnieMom on Sept 3, 2023 8:17:36 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by PirateLinda on Sept 3, 2023 9:35:08 GMT -5
I like the carousel one in color the best. Looks very cool.
|
|
|
|
Post by MinnieMom on Sept 3, 2023 14:12:41 GMT -5
Thanks Linda! Me too. I'm running with it!
Okay, the learning curve for doing bulk videos and uploading to youTube is a bit higher than anticipated. Mostly because I could not stick with the simple mass production and went back to swap out audio and background visuals. The first couple are public on youTube now. I'll have these first 13, all with a few simple fun facts about Harry Potter lands at UO, uploaded this evening. Then I'll start in on some of the Disney stuff from over the years for similar shorts for those topics. I'll schedule those out for about one a day. That should start a steady stream of uploads, hopefully enough to get the last of the views I need to get $$ from youTube.
Once I get this current bug out of my head, I'll be able to use what I've learned to start doing some cool camping shorts. I have all kinds of ideas now!
Just for fun, here's the first UP HP short:
|
|
|
|
Post by zulaya on Sept 3, 2023 15:36:06 GMT -5
Love Canva. Been using that for nearly 10 years. It's a fab tool.
|
|
|
|
Post by MinnieMom on Sept 4, 2023 15:05:42 GMT -5
Mary - cool! Do you have any tips for me as a newbie to Canva?
I had a great call today with a potential guest / potential investor. Fingers crossed!!
Amy
|
|
|
|
Post by starry_solo on Sept 4, 2023 18:33:22 GMT -5
Good luck! I loved reading about your adventures on Mouseowners and can't wait to see the campground when it's done  |
|
|
|
Post by zulaya on Sept 4, 2023 20:16:45 GMT -5
Letting you know I saw your note about Canva and will chime back in likely early tomorrow when I have a bit more time for details.
|
|
