Don’t forget to change your sales tax (if you have an account to charge GST / HST in Canada)!

Here are the changes you have to make today:  July 1, 2010

Ontario:  13% HST

British Columbia: 12% HST

Nova Scotia: 15% HST

GST is still 5%.

If you have questions on how to charge sales tax in Canada / Internationally, please call GST / HST Rulings at 1-800-959-8287.  They have sales tax information for your specific province / territory.

If you’re starting a new business in Canada, please visit the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) online.

Here’s a video about The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself; by the author, Chris Guillebeau.

This guide will help you learn how to start a small business and create personal freedom through self-employment!

Buy The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself!

If you don’t live in earthquake city and your art won’t get bumped by kids or drunk people…. then continue reading.

Push pins. That’s right. Push pins are your friends.

The original Japanese paintings that I sell on eBay are so lightweight that hanging the paintings can be as easy as having each canvas hang on two push pins! That’s how I personally hang unframed artwork in my home. Done, fini, easy peasy!

Here’s a video of me, Soniei, trying to explain the evolution and inspiration behind my Japanese paintings.

This video includes a brief explanation of how I left the 9-5 work world to live my dream as a full-time artist.

Yeah… I know… such a healthy way of being.

The past couple of months, I’ve really been working on not losing my mind over difficult people’s anger management issues.  When I get negative feedback, I’ll repeat to myself, “Their anger has nothing to do with me”.  This definitely helped me deal with angry people, but I have to admit that it didn’t fix my problem 100%.  I still needed something more.

I’m glad to report that last night I found something that helped me in dealing with difficult people.  I listened to the audio clip on Byron Katie’s blog called I Can’t Stand My Best Friend and it really gave me tips in dealing with angry, negative, difficult people.

If you’re not familiar with Byron Katie’s “The Work”, you can go visit thework.com for more information.  It might help you to understand the audio clip more fully. You can also download the Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet.

I really hope this will help you out too.

Here’s a video of me, Soniei, trying to explain the evolution and inspiration behind my Japanese art.

This video includes a brief explanation of how I left the 9-5 work world to live my dream as a full-time artist.

Kanpai!

If you visit Japan, you’ll no doubt see a group of people raising their beer or alcoholic beverages and hear them say, “Kanpai!”.   Kanpai is a popular Japanese expression that is equivalent to “Cheers!” and is used before you start drinking.

Please note that kanpai is commonly misspelled as kampai .  You can view my blog post on the Japanese alphabet to learn more about the letter n before a p.

Here’s a video of me, Soniei, trying to explain the evolution and inspiration behind my Japanese art.

This video includes a brief explanation of how I left the 9-5 work world to live my dream as a full-time artist.

Oishii
While eating great tasting food, oishii is one of the most popular ways to say delicious in Japanese.  Remember to stretch out the “i” sound.

Mā-mā
If the food you’re eating is not to your liking, a polite term to use is mā-mā.  This means so-so.  Remember to stretch out both “a” sounds.

To say oishii and mā-mā in a more polite and formal way, you would add desu at the end.  If you’re meeting close friends or family, you wouldn’t use desu as it sounds too formal.

Oishii desu

Mā-mā desu

Here’s a video of me, Soniei, trying to explain the evolution and  inspiration behind my Japanese art.

This video includes a brief explanation of how I left the 9-5 work world to live my dream as a full-time artist.

Itadakimasu!

Itadakimasu is a very popular expression in Japanese culture.  It’s very common to hear Japanese people say “Itadakimasu!” as a group before they eat.

Itadakimasu simply means “Let’s eat!” but can be translated as “I’m about to receive (something)”.

It’s very polite to say itadakimasu before eating a meal, no matter the time of day or night.

Here’s a video of me, Soniei, trying to explain the evolution and inspiration behind my Japanese art.

This video includes a brief explanation of how I left the 9-5 work world to live my dream as a full-time artist.

I wanted to start my own small business at home so that I could be my own boss, make the paintings I was inspired to create, be in charge of my own schedule and live a fulfilling life.

Sounds good. But…. now what?

After reading dozens and dozens of business books, I was still waiting for a book that would show me how to start a small registered business STEP BY STEP! I had no experience in starting a business of any kind… until, voila! I found Canadian Small Business Kit for Dummies by Margaret Kerr and JoAnn Kurtz*. No joke! This book made it possible for someone like me to start my own registered business within a few weeks. And, it was super easy!

So, no more excuses. Get the book and start reading.

The only other thing you might need to set up your registered business is software like Simply Accounting First Step 2010 (by Sage). If you don’t know anything about accounting, I was in your shoes. I’m still partly in your shoes, to be honest. I don’t know much about accounting, but Simply Accounting made it easy enough for me to do what I needed to do for my one-person business. I even got audited from 2006-2008 and I had no mistakes!

*They have an American version called Small Business Kit For Dummies.

If you’re interested in starting an eBay business, check out my other blog posts:

• New to eBay? Get Started with eBay Tutorials.
• 18 Tips on How to Sell Your Art on eBay
• Don’t Lose Your Mind Because of a Bad eBay Buyer

Here’s a video about The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself; by the author, Chris Guillebeau.

This guide will help you learn how to start a small business and create personal freedom through self-employment!

Buy The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself!

So, my journey of being an artist and owning a small business in these economic times comes to no surprise that it can push me over the edge with stress and anxiety.  The biggest fear I’ve had since September 2008 (when the economy collapse was heard all over the world) is, “How am I going to pay my rent?  My bills?  My student loans?”  I went from making $2000-$7000 a month from 2006-2008, to making only $9000 in 2009.  Yup!  $9000 in ONE WHOLE YEAR…  and with that comes the nagging fear of the future.

I’m writing this, not to complain, but to share with you what I do when anxiety creeps up on me.  I watch two specific videos (below) from Byron Katie to calm me down, and then I keep working.  When I start feeling anxiety again, I watch the videos again… and again and again.  It would be too easy to ease the anxiety with things like food or alcohol, but I’ve decided that these videos work for me and hopefully you can find some peace by watching them too.  It’s worth a try.

This interview is part of Laura’s Artist Series.  Listen to the interview to hear about my journey of how and why I became an artist.  I also talk about money (including how much money I used to make before and after the economic collapse) and how the economic crisis negatively and positively affected my art career… and my life.

Listen to the Artist Series interview!

Here’s a video about The Unconventional Guide to Art and Money; by one of the authors, Chris Guillebeau.

“If you have a friend that dreams of one day becoming a full-time artist, think about buying them this guide. It would be such a great gift! I mean really… what better gift than to give your loved ones inspiration and knowledge in how to pursue their dream job? Seriously, name me one gift better than that.” – Soniei, Full-Time Contemporary Artist

Buy The Unconventional Guide to Art and Money!

I care about my customers.  However, at times, I think I care TOO much.

Sometimes the customer’s disappointment is my fault, but I’ll do everything in my power to fix the situation.  Most times those customers will leave happy or return again for more business.  It makes me feel good to know that I’m trustworthy and I’m doing my best to satisfy my customers.

Other times, I get a customer whose problem I cannot fix.  The disappointment usually has to do with the post office delivery time.  I ship paintings within two days of receiving payment for the painting, and then the delivery is totally out of my control.  If a parcel is late, open communication is essential.  After I call the Post Office or US Customs, explain to the customer why the parcel is late, the customer is usually very patient.  However, every once in awhile the buyer will reply with a nasty email, usually with reasons as to why they will never buy paintings from me again.  Even though I know I can’t fix the problem and I had nothing to do with the slow delivery, I still feel horrible.

Again, I care TOO much.

There are those types of customers that you just cannot please, no matter what you say or do.  I have to learn how to deal with such customers, without getting knots in my stomach and losing my mind.  The illogical stress can’t be good for me.  So when I have to deal with these bad eBay buyers who are blaming me for things that are obviously out of my control, I’m going to start repeating to myself:

“Their anger has nothing to do with me.”

There’s a problem with the customer that’s much deeper than getting a late parcel in the mail.  My job is to make and sell art, not to fix people.

(You may also want to read How to be at Peace Around Negative People.)

Here’s a video about The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself; by the author, Chris Guillebeau.

This guide will help you learn how to start a small business and create personal freedom through self-employment!

Buy The Unconventional Guide to Working for Yourself!