::The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft::

please stop by The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft where the izzy branch cuff will be featured. 

In the Artist Hall

20 Years of Bellaire HS Jewelry
December 29 - February 15

Opening Reception:
Friday, January 9
6:00 – 8:00 PM

Jewelry artist Mary Rogers has been teaching the jewelry program at Bellaire High School for 20 years. Stop by to see this beautiful selection of works by nearly 30 students who have studied with Mary over the years—ranging from current students to some who are now pursuing jewelry in college or as a career.

::today, ENVY is my favorite 4-letter word::

Woo hoo, yippie, sh** ya, (add favorite expletive here). Hot off the presses, is Envy Magazine's November issue. After you've taken a cold shower (please note the King of Hot, Mark Wahlberg, on the cover) feel free to cruise on over to page 106. Amidst the coolest boutiques in Houston, you will find an eloquently written blurb and Isabella Dean's first official piece of press. Don't wait any longer-click here!

Special thanks to Jayme Lamm. If you love her writing as much as I do, be sure to check out her blog-in fact put, it on your to do list!

::gracias...that's thank you in spanish::

i received this testimonial from a client and was blown away! thank YOU for allowing me the pleausre to help you...i did a very unique turquoise and platinum engagement ring for Lauren. She repaid me by buying my cuff so i would always have it...see previous post!!

Diamonds Aren’t Every Girl’s Best Friend

This is the story of a girl who’d been engaged for six months with the most unfortunate of engagement rings. The ring proposed – a garrulously curvy, perplexingly shaped, brilliantly yellow gold, and frosted with too many tiny, round diamonds – was a family heirloom of her new fiancé’s.

This is not a ‘diamond girl.’
She’d always thought of herself with a different kind of ring, a ring exclusively hers by design, one that could only be custom created. She found Isabella Dean.

That girl is me.
Today I proudly wear the most unique engagement ring I’ve ever seen. It’s a one-of-a-kind Lander Blue turquoise cabochon perched atop a dainty platinum band. It’s simple, classy, striking, and exactly what I never knew I wanted – perfect.

The process was thrilling. Jeweler and Owner, Kristi Kotsatos is completely aware of her design perspective and has impeccable skill for her craft. She worked with me to reveal my own critical design preferences and then transformed each imagined detail into a breathtakingly beautiful yet functional form. Kristi has been compassionate and toward my every want and whim, professional, and devoted just as much to her art as she was to my total satisfaction with the finished piece.

Working hand-in-hand with an amazingly talented jeweler to create my engagement ring was an empowering, fun, and rewarding experience not many girls get – an experience for which I am grateful. The outcome – a beautiful new ring my fiancé and I can be proud of but and, possibly even more precious – a dear friend.

This is the story of a happy customer and a newly happily engaged girl!
Lauren Condell, Denver CO
303.653.4255

::amazingness::

The most amazing and wonderful thing happened to me this past weekend! I got my cuff back! You know-the one I compared to an NSYNC song! I've never been more shocked and dazzled in my life and am so GLAD to have it back. I have a feeling that selling my jewelry is going to be harder than I imagined. I just don't want to let anything go...

::money, money, money::

everyone wants your money. it's expensive to maintain your business. there are a lot of other things you need to think about before you just jump in. will you have money to renew officer lists, domain names, hosting services, etc? you need to plan for these yearly expenses in your business plan. 

just to give you an idea of some of the costs- i just had to pay 125 smackers to renew my list of officers to maintain my LLC status. yahoo wanted 34 dollars to renew my domain name. ridiculous, so i paid about 60 dollars to keep my domain name for the next 4 years with godaddy including 4 years of private registration.  what is that you ask? making your domain name private means less spam, less junk mail like credit card offers, and more protection. after all you don't want any joe schmoe who is computer savvy to learn your address and phone number do you? especially if you are selling expensive goods. that's all i've got for today kids.

tip for the day:: track your expenses religiously

::my website::

Thanks to all of you who have commented on my website www.isabelladean.com, either sent me emails or told me in person. This website is one of many great templates made for photographers actually, but I think they work for just about anyone. 

mine cost 100 bucks and is the sadie model. as you can see, i've changed it up quite a bit.

check out blutemplates.com for all the info.

**one con to blu templates is that they have NO phone number and it took almost 2 weeks for my site to go "live" when they advertise one day. 

::all done::

platinum and lander turquoise engagement ring. all finished!

::bye, bye, bye::

you might love this song by justin timberlake, but I'm not talking about the song people. my beloved cuff sold today. it's on it's way to san francisco and i'm so sad. maybe i shouldn't have sold it, but i just thought i could use the money to really propel my business. i just put so much work into that bracelet, maybe i should by it back, no, it's too late. oh well, i hope whoever gets it will enjoy it as much as i have.

::randy pausch::

my mother bought me the last lecture for my 26th birthday. she said she hoped it would inspire me. i've wanted to read this book and watch his lecture for some time, yet never got around to doing it. time is such a funny thing.

for those of you who don't know who randy pausch is...let me fill you in. he is a professor at carnegie melon who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given 3-6 months to live. he is a mentor, father of three adorable children, husband, son, brother, but most importantly an inspiration. isn't it interesting that people only really find purpose to their lives (the purpose to really live) when they don't have much of their life left? what are we all waiting for? here is his webpage complete with video of his last lecture and updates on how he is doing http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/

i watched his lecture on my laptop, late last night when i couldn't sleep (still stuffed with bday cake). for 76 minutes, my eyes were glued, i was enthralled by his devotion to his family, students, and his unrelenting desire to acheive his childhood dreams and leave a mark on the world. That and he was pretty funny. It made me think about my own childhood dreams and dreams that have developed as of last few years. would i ever be able to accomplish them all? i think olympic gymnast is out of the running.

i want to leave behind a legacy. i want to be proud of my life and know that i did something that really helped others. i like to think i help animals when i volunteer at the shelter, or help clients achieve weight loss goals or do away with their blood pressure medicine. all those things are great, but they aren't on a global scale. i really hope my jewelry will be an outlet to reach people and organizations worldwide. i just keep thinking one person really can make a difference.

i am excited to have just purchased some recycled glass beads made from artisans in Ghana. the sale of their beads supports local businesses.

to be contd.......

:: i also heart eric kass::

a lot of people want to be so secretive about their vendors. i say share the love. i found the most amazing guy to do my logo and business cards. every now and then i like to check out his site and saw that my card was on his recent work blog. check him and his blog out. really fantastic stuff!!

http://www.funnel.tv/

and blog

http://funnel-eric-kass.blogspot.com/

::picking a reputable registered agent::

As my one year anniversary looms, it is almost that time again to send in my list of officers (who are all me). Annoying business cost=$125. It's also time to decide whether or not to stick with my current registered agent.

Q. What the hell is a registered agent?
A. If you are an LLC (limited liability company) then you must have a registered agent. There is a great article defining who they are and what they do here http://www.score.org/leg_registered_agent but in layman's terms they are glorified mail forwarders. The state in which you incorporate (Nevada for me) requires certain forms etc. be completed and filed every year to keep a good business standing. As a small business and as a new business, having a decent mail forwarder is very important. The last thing you want is your company to be in default which can result in the loss of your LLC status. Not good!

Q. How do you pick one out of all the RA's out there?
A. I noticed in my research that there are a million and one RA's out there. It's sort of being like a notary, anyone can do it. I found it best to go with a company (not a person) that is large and a member of the better business bureau. Usually the larger companies have more staff to deal with customer services issues or questions. The only draw back is they might be a tad more expensive but it is worth not having to risk losing your status and or paying a lot of extra money out of pocket to get back into good standing. I got 12 months of registered agent services FREE with The Company Corporation because I had them form my LLC which you can totally save the few hundred bucks and do yourself. Now they want to charge me $215 for another year. While they are reputable and have an excellent customer service, there are still companies out there that are worthwhile and do not charge so much. After speaking with a rep from bizfilings.com, I learned they will pay all the necessary state fees (since I am transfering my RA) and only charge $139/year still offering all the things The Company Corporation offers. Another one worth checking out is legalzoom.com

Sort of seems overwhelming but if you have any questions feel free to email me info@isabelladean.com

***MONEY SAVER TIP*** If you have a good friend or family member who resides in the state in which you are incorporated, you can save yourself the time, effort, and money of finding an RA and make them your RA. All you have to do is list their name and address on your state form, pay your fee (which I believe is 75 for Nevada) and make them promise to forward you the important documents the state sends to them to you and on time! Many of the forms the state sends are renewals and are time sensitive. Hopefully, you will never find yourself in this mess, but they could also send you notice that someone is taking legal action against you.

::lesson numero uno::

command what you are worth. after talking with some fellow business people, i learned that I was pricing my stuff WAY to low. i was barely covering my costs in the name of keeping it extremely affordable. i tried really hard to keep my profits low to keep affordability high totally neglecting the fact that my pieces are unique, eco-friendly, and most of them completely one of a kind. ex: my heavy cuff-i should have said in my description, sterling silver inlaid with blood, sweat, and tears. there is no way i'll ever be able to make that the same way again. maybe something with the same concept but nothing close to that. in a day and age where people are paying over 200 dollars for the same pair of cookie cutter jeans, 400 plus for iphones and other pdas, and in a market where gold hit 1000 dollars per troy ounce, i feel like i now priced my pieces accordingly, hopefully something for everyone. command what you are worth.

::i heart etsy.com::

i've stumbled across etsy.com a place for those to sell handmade goods. love love this site!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5683101

::to plunge or not to plunge::

id celebrates her first birthday this july. its almost a year later and i still haven't fully taken the plunge (i.e taking out a massive loan and devoting 23 hrs a day to watching id grow) for a whole year now, i've been thinking of anything and everything to distract me from my real passion (personal training, applying to law school, etc) what a contradiction from my first blog. when it gets down to it, i know i am just as scared as everyone else to really take the plunge, and why should i be? with big risk comes big reward, right? i keep thinking if i have a part time job i'll have more money to help me really pursue my passion or at least something extra to put in my bank account when this doesn't work out. (did i just say that?!)  what really ended up happening, was me stressing out so much about working for a company whose business model i detested, that I literally started having heart palpitations. Who knew at 25, I'd be diagnosed with having mitral valve prolapse with palpitations brought on by stress!!

i'll be 26 in a few weeks. i have no boyfriend. no dog. no huge responsibilities. my family and friends have done nothing but support and encourage me. so why am i still sitting on the idea of taking out a loan? it's clear that i can't work for others and its time to be my own boss. my uncle did it over 29 years ago when he co-founded boston acoustics. he is an example of big risk-big reward. stay tuned...i will make a decision about diving  in head first by my 26th birthday, May 20th.

::officially official::

it's official. just to reiterate my point that you do not need some overpriced lawyer, i received notice that my application for my trademark has been approved and will be published in the Official Gazette next week. see, you can do this yourself!!!

this is my proof of being a badass.

::what's in a name::

who knew there were so many steps to starting a business? wouldn't it be nice if you could just slap on a name, print out some cards and be on your way? unfortunately, it's not that simple and surprisingly picking out a name isn't as easy as it looks either.

::naming your business::

domain names//

legalities//

copyrights and trademarks//

here are some steps to get your started...

1. pick a name//this could be your own name, a name that has sentimental value or personal meaning, something that reflects your business identity and/or indicates the product your are selling. (for example: you wouldn't name a locksmith company something like Mike's Tutu Shop. Now if I heard Iron Clad Co I might be more apt to thinking I could purchase some sort of security device there.

2. domain names//if you are planning on having any sort of web presence, you will need to do a domain name search and see if your company name is available. these searches are free, easy and quick. sometimes if your name is already taken you can contact the owner and see if he/she would be willing to transfer the name over. do not purchase a domain name until you have reserved your name with the state. You never know, someone might already "own" the name you want but just doesn't have a website.

3.legal ease//once you have picked your name and done your domain name search, you must reserve your name with the county and state in which you will do business. this reservation "holds" the name you have selected for an extended amount of time until you make your business a legal entity (i.e sole proprietorship, llc, corporation, etc.)

4. trademarks/copyrights//these guys right here are a must. if you want to protect your company name, trademark phrases, ideas, designs etc. you will want a trademark or copyright. the trademark application process is a doosy but can be done WITHOUT a lawyer. if you can read and follow directions, there is no reason why you cannot fill out your own application and save yourself 1000 dollars. I believe my trademark application for the name "isabella dean" was $325. a little pricey but nothing compared to paying that on top of lawyer's fees. this is a time consuming application process as well as one that takes forever to be approved. a registered trademark (you know the little r inside a circle) offers more legal protection but is not necessary for everyone. Check out for all the 411. If you are an artist, designer, author you will want to copyright your sketches, works, etc. Again visit the website for more information.

::getting started is half the battle::

once you've decided to get moving, you will find the most time consuming element of starting a business is doing proper research. However, if you do enough of it, you will have an excellent foundation on which to lean. the small business administration, offered via the federal government, is an excellent resource. there you will find a plethora of information to answer all your questions. http://www.sba.gov

also, check out S.C.O.R.E for business advice. there is usually a local office where you can go in person to get all your questions answered. http://www.score.org/index.html

::willkommen::

welcome! i've decided to post all my experiences online about starting a business to share and hopefully, encourage others to throw caution to the wind and get moving! i am constantly amazed by the number of really fabulous ideas and dreams people have that inevitably take a backseat to mountains of excuses and/or some corporate gig they can't stand.  we only have one life, why aren't you living it with passion?

"nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion"-hegel