AuthorSharon Eden-Smith (@sharonedensmith) is the entrepreneur who established Eden-Smith Music. She will be posting blog articles about the business of...
There are 5 gates within Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Those 5 gates are in 3 different states (2 in Idaho, 2 in Wyoming, 1 in Montana). If you drive out the wrong gate and do not realize it until later, you can add hours to your destination. I did exactly that. By the time I realized my mistake, there was no point in turning around. I added 3 hours to our travel time. I did not think that I would ever live that down. I was sure that my companions were going to tease me for the rest of my life. To my surprise, the exact opposite occurred.
The Northeast exit of Yellowstone National Park connects with the Beartooth Highway (a section of US Route 212) in Montana. This highway does not go around the Beartooth Mountains. It goes up and over the top of the range. It is also only open from Mid-May to Mid-October, weather permitting. We were traveling the highway in late August. The views of the montane meadows were like nothing that I had ever seen before. The colours of the vegetation at that altitude, time of day, season of the year and weather conditions made me feel as if someone had placed a photographic colour-enhancement filter over my eyes. And yet, everything I saw was real, even the bears! We stopped at the peak, Beartooth Pass. Beartooth Pass is 10,947 ft. (3,337 m) above sea level. That is where we drank our last 2 soda pops. There was something uniquely special as we sat sharing our ice cold sarsaparilla and huckleberry pops, among 4 people. We were sharing the time. We were sharing the view. We were sharing the journey. It was at that moment that my 3 companions told me that I did not make a mistake in the exit that I chose. I made an adventure. I was also welcome to do it again. That response was not what I had expected. While navigating my business, I sometimes take Eden-Smith Music out the wrong exit at Yellowstone National Park. I add hours to what has to be done because of my error. Those hours always seem to bear fruit. Perhaps, it is because I realize that there is no going back. I am forced to see and experience something that I never would have, had I stayed the course. I also have to be more open, during those times, to multiple perspectives. That way, I can enjoy a sarsaparilla or huckleberry soda at the peak. Teachable moments pop up continually on those journeys, I become the teacher and the learner simultaneously. It is rarely an easy process, but it is always worthwhile. In the end, I become like my Beartooth Highway companions. I am grateful for the adventure. If you enjoyed this article, let me know. Post a comment! Like it! Tweet it! You may also want to read another article in this series:
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AuthorSharon Eden-Smith (@sharonedensmith) is the entrepreneur who established Eden-Smith Music. She will be posting blog articles about the business of...
I am a storyteller. I always have been. That was one of my trademarks in the classroom. Students would goad me into telling stories for an entire class period. They thought that they were manipulating me into wasting time, so they did not have to work. In truth, they would give me 3 weeks worth of work in the following 2 weeks, if I did not teach for an entire class.
Thus, when I was choosing a website builder, I knew that I wanted a blog for Eden-Smith Music. I wanted to tell the story of the business of Eden-Smith Music and of me, the entrepreneur, Sharon Eden-Smith. My website builder needed to provide me with a blog option. In January 2019, I launched the Eden-Smith Music blog with the blog article entitled...
That was the beginning of the Eden-Smith Music coffee break blog. I envisioned short articles that could be read on a 10 minute coffee break at work. That 1st article started the storytelling. It set the tone. It began the journey.
Since then, I have written more short articles that can be read, not only on a coffee break, but at lunchtime, while waiting for the start of a sporting event, at half-time, between periods or innings, or while waiting in a concession line-up. Basically, the Eden-Smith Music blog can be read during those awkward moments when you have a cell phone, internet access and you need something to read. If you enjoyed this article, let me know. Post a comment! Like it! Tweet it! You may also want to read another article in this series:
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AuthorSharon Eden-Smith (@sharonedensmith) is the entrepreneur who established Eden-Smith Music. She will be posting blog articles about the business of...
Eden-Smith Music began to focus on using social media websites in December 2018. I posted to the Eden-Smith Music and Sharon Eden-Smith accounts every day, at different times and multiple times a day. The posts to the platforms were basically identical. I did this to accelerate my learning on how to use each platform. I wanted to decrease my input variability across social media in order to observe the outputs. I also wanted to see how those outputs differed for a business account versus a personal one. That allowed me to compare algorithms, user bases, business models, investor demands, etc., across multiple social media websites. My data generation was linked to the Eden-Smith Music business goals.
Over the intervening months, I have decreased the post frequency and have begun to vary input. The process of data generation and analysis, along with post variation, is ongoing. This is so that the short-term, mid-range and long-term goals associated with Eden-Smith Music can be reached. If you enjoyed this article, let me know. Post a comment! Like it! Tweet it! You may also want to read another article in this series:
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AuthorSharon Eden-Smith (@sharonedensmith) is the entrepreneur who established Eden-Smith Music. She will be posting blog articles about the business of...
After 4 years, Eden-Smith Music needed a website for business validation. It needed a store front in the virtual world, a place where real worId people could encounter the business through the use of digital technology. In October 2018, I made a decision to create a website for my domain, edensmithmusic.com.
I knew that I would be my own webmaster. That dictated the type of environment I required, based on time limitations. I also knew what bells and whistles my website builder had to have. I spent a long time researching. I took the plunge one Sunday afternoon in October. That day, I began building the Eden-Smith Music website using the app on my phone. I quite, literally, started creating the website while sweeping & mopping my floors. I am the most creative when I write if I do a mundane task at the same time. That is why an app was a must for me from my website builder. The app allows me to make changes to my website anywhere & check website traffic on the fly. I continued to work on the Eden-Smith Music website on Monday & Tuesday, in between all my other responsibilities. By Wednesday of that week, www.edensmithmusic.com, was live! If you enjoyed this article, let me know. Post a comment! Like it! Tweet it! You may also want to read another article in this series:
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AuthorSharon Eden-Smith (@sharonedensmith) is the entrepreneur who established Eden-Smith Music. She will be posting blog articles about the business of...
Once I had gone downhill skiing, I knew that I needed a new long range goal for my ankle. I needed to keep strengthening it and I needed to stay in shape. I was inspired when I saw people wall climbing.
I used to wall climb in university. It was my extreme sport where I could forget everything and release stress. It was just the wall and me. The vertical ascent was exhilarating. Somehow, once I left university and started my classroom teaching, I forgot about climbing. I am not sure why, but I did. Standing at the base of a wall, watching others climb, and knowing that my formerly broken ankle could no longer sustain my entire weight for a climb, made me want to climb again. The question was... "How was I going to prepare the ankle for a climb?" I searched for an activity that would strengthen the ankle the fastest and would only require the load of my body, nothing more. I didn't want to over-tax the ankle, but I did want to push it. My answer was Zumba. Zumba increased the impact on the ankle that I needed. It also prepared my body for the agility and fluid motion that would be required on the wall. By doing Zumba once a week, my ankle grew in strength and agility. In fact, my whole body grew in strength and agility. Today, I approach my long range business goals in much the same way. Wherever possible, I find the singular activity or exercise that is the most efficient for accomplishing the goal that I have in mind. That does not mean that what I do does not require time and patience. It always does! This approach ensures that my business has all of the pillars in place before the long range goal is reached. That way, nothing comes crashing down. It took over 18 months, after downhill skiing, for my ankle and my body to be ready for my 1st wall climb. I organized a "Ladies X-Treme Morning" with friends at one of the local Calgary climbing facilities. We got on that wall. We climbed it. We mastered it! If you enjoyed this article, let me know. Post a comment! Like it! Tweet it! You may also want to read another article in this series:
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AuthorSharon Eden-Smith (@sharonedensmith) is the entrepreneur who established Eden-Smith Music. She will be posting blog articles about the business of...
As I stated in the previous blog article, entitled...
short-term goals lead to one singular long-term goal. This was true for my broken ankle and is true for my business. Even though the short-term goals form the backbone to accomplish the long-term goal, they do not provide the large stepping stones necessary to get to the long-term goal. Mid-range goals are those stepping stones. In the case of my broken ankle, I instituted mid-range goals that began as walks, up and down the hallway of my house. I extended those walks to walks down my street and around the block. I started on level surfaces, gradually changing the terrain. By May 2014, 5 months after breaking the ankle, I was hiking in Kananaskis Country and Banff National Park, both places near my home in Calgary NW, Alberta, Canada. I continued to extend those mid-range goals to longer and longer hikes that were more difficult. By the end of July 2014, I completed a 14.0 km hike, with switchbacks, up to one of the tea houses at Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, in Banff National Park. All the while, I continued with the short-term goals that my physiotherapist had implemented. I would heat the ankle, do the exercises she assigned, go on my hike and ice the ankle after. The short-term goals formed the backbone that allowed me to accomplish the mid-range goals. The mid-range goals strengthened my ankle and gave me the musculature to support my ankle when I put that ankle into a ski boot on January 1, 2015, and skied downhill. Each mid-range goal was important. Each signified a plateau of accomplishment. Halfway through a hike, I would eat my peanut butter sandwich and my frozen (or not so frozen) chocolate cake and drink my water. I would enjoy the beauty of the landscape and scan the horizon for possible hikes for the future. I do the same with my business. I take the time to stop at my mid-range goals. I enjoy the business landscape. I scan the horizon for the future. I allow my gaze to pierce the envelope of potential and possibilities. That is when I enjoy my peanut butter sandwich. I eat my chocolate cake. I take a long, satisfying, thirst quenching drink of water. Then, I get up and start making my way toward the next mid-range goal. Eventually, I have accomplished so many mid-range goals that the next mid-range goal becomes the one long-term goal that I had set months or years before. My mid-range goals, my stepping stones, along with the backbone of my short-term goals, have brought me to my final destination. That is when... I have arrived. That is when... I have mastered the one long-term goal! If you enjoyed this article, let me know. Post a comment! Like it! Tweet it! You may also want to read another article in this series:
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AuthorSharon Eden-Smith (@sharonedensmith) is the entrepreneur who established Eden-Smith Music. She will be posting blog articles about the business of...
I broke my right ankle just before Christmas in 2013, only 10 month before establishing Eden-Smith Music in October 2014. My weekly physiotherapy sessions began at Week 5, after the injury. I was still wearing the air boot at the time and would continue until Week 8. I wore an ankle brace for months after that. I knew that a proper recovery would take patience and perseverance.
The first question my physiotherapist asked me was... "What do you want to get out of his?" I told her that I was missing most of the 2013/2014 downhill ski season. My goal was to put my ankle into a ski boot by the next ski season and spend the day downhill skiing in Banff, Alberta, Canada. From that day forward, she implemented a set of short-term goals, that over time, would allow me to reach my one singular long-term goal of downhill skiing in the 2014/2015 season. Three times a day, 7 days a week, I had to heat my ankle and the surrounding muscles for 10-15 minutes, do a series of exercises, then ice the ankle for 10-15 minutes. She started me with 3-4 minutes of exercises and slowly increased my exercise time over the 2 1/2 months that I was with her. The entire procedure, each time I did it, took 25-35 minute at the beginning and eventually lasted for over an hour. I was under strict orders to not push the ankle or I would extend my recovery time. The limited exercise time was my short-term goal, complete with extended contemplation time before initiation (i.e. heating of the ankle) and extended reflection/analysis time after (i.e. icing of the ankle). I learned from my wise physiotherapist how very short-term goals can add up over time to long-term goal accomplishment. She encouraged me in my practice of patience and she was my biggest advocate for my ability to accomplish my goal of downhill skiing in the next ski season. I was excited to see her each week. I knew that her techniques would lessen the constant pain that I had, not only in the ankle, but in the surrounding muscle and tissue. I was strengthening the ankle and rebuilding the surrounding areas to support that ankle. It took a lot of hard work and, unfortunately, involved pain, as my body screamed at me during the process. I took the knowledge that my physiotherapist taught me and I applied it to my business when I started Eden-Smith Music. I contemplate before I set short-term business goals. I then make the short-term goals with one singular long-term business goal in mind. I track the progress of those short-term goals and make minor changes as necessary to navigate the business through space and time. This keeps me focused, but allows for flexibility, which is necessary in business decisions. I have found this technique to be invaluable. On January 1, 2015, just over 1 year after breaking my right ankle, I put that ankle into my ski boot and went downhill skiing. My physiotherapist's short-term goals had worked. I had accomplished my one singular long-term goal of downhill skiing. If you enjoyed this article, let me know. Post a comment! Like it! Tweet it! You may also want to read another article in this series:
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AuthorSharon Eden-Smith (@sharonedensmith) is the entrepreneur who established Eden-Smith Music. She will be posting blog articles about the business of...
I spent from September 2017 to September 2018 researching my market niche. I asked myself important questions. I knew that eventually I would need a website, but I could not get one up and running until I understood what place my music studio occupied in the music teaching industry of the Calgary Northwest. I needed to know why parents and students were choosing me. Why were they willing to wait for their place in "Paradise of Music Mastery"?
The more I researched, the more I saw that the answer resided in one simple concept or message. It was the same message that had pervaded my teaching when I was employed by the Calgary Catholic School Board (CCSD) for 12 years... "You are valued!" That was it, plain and simple. That message was and still is at the heart of my teaching and customer service. That is why the parents and students were willing to wait for me. They knew that I valued them. By waiting, they showed me that they valued me and what I had to offer, as well. That relationship was the reason that my business was successful. Once I understood that, I could move forward, effectively, and do what needed to be done. If you enjoyed this article, let me know. Post a comment! Like it! Tweet it! You may also want to read another article in this series:
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AuthorSharon Eden-Smith (@sharonedensmith) is the entrepreneur who established Eden-Smith Music. She will be posting blog articles about the business of...
At the end of August 2017, my studio, Eden-Smith Music, was full. I had gained all of my students through word of mouth referrals. By the end of September 2017, I had 3 students on a wait list. All of the parents of those children, literally, waited for me to have room in my studio. I offered to refer them to other teachers, but no one was interested. They were waiting for their place in "Paradise of Music Mastery!". I was dumbfounded.
I had never done any advertising in my community to get my students. I didn't even have a website! I had my Eden-Smith Music Facebook Page, but that was only there to provide an online point of contact for my parents and my adult students. Somehow, I had carved out a niche in my community for my business. What need did I fill? What void existed in the music education industry in the Calgary Northwest that my studio closed? What skill set, attribute or attitude did I have that made my studio and me unique? I had a lot of research and contemplating to do in order to answer those questions and more. Eden-Smith Music was successful so far, but my journey toward business mastery had only just begun. If you enjoyed this article, let me know. Post a comment! Like it! Tweet it! You may also want to read another article in this series:
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AuthorSharon Eden-Smith (@sharonedensmith) is the entrepreneur who established Eden-Smith Music. She will be posting blog articles about the business of...
The 1st few years of Eden-Smith Music saw very small growth. I had lots to learn about myself, as a music teacher, performer, musician and business woman. Working for a nearby studio was the perfect way to learn and start my journey. I had other music teachers as colleagues, the owners of the business as mentors, and the rest of the staff and even my students (and parents) teaching me in their own unique ways.
Toward the end of my 3rd year at the outside studio, I fell ill. I had a cough, a fever, lost my voice and had to stay home. All the other teachers, capable of teaching singing (voice) and piano lessons, were working that afternoon/evening as well. There was no substitute teacher to be found. My lessons were cancelled. I struggled for 6 weeks with that virus. It would not go away. It just kept hanging on. I still taught during that time of slow recovery. I also had to make up for the lessons that I had missed during my week of illness. Working out the times between my schedule, my students' schedules and practice room availability at the outside studio was tricky. It took almost 2 months before I could complete all of the make-up lessons. I was exhausted! Once I was well, I began looking at all areas of my life and my business. I asked the pertinent questions that needed answers. The sickness had provided me with a reality check and a pivot point for examination and reflection. By June 2017, I decided to move my teaching solely to my studio, Eden-Smith Music. Striking out on my own was part of the solution to the questions that I had answered. Would my life be more stable with what I was going to do? In some ways, yes. In other ways, no. I now had to fill Eden-Smith Music with enough students to generate the lost revenue. The question was... Could I do it? If you enjoyed this article, let me know. Post a comment! Like it! Tweet it! You may also want to read another article in this series:
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AuthorSharon Eden-Smith (@sharonedensmith) is the entrepreneur who established Eden-Smith Music. She will be posting blog articles about the business of... @edensmithmusic
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