Digiscrap Discrimiation

I had to speak out today about discrimination. I've received a couple of emails and a few private messages telling me that I was out of line. Let me tell you what happened.

There was a designer call asking specifically for Christian designers. The store owner wanted testimonies, church affiliations and alot of information that is highly inappropriate for a business. You must understand that there are different mindsets within the digiscrapping community. There are those that take this lightly, that are off and on. It's more of a hobby. Then there are those that want Digital Scrapbooking to be recognized and respected as a business. When I say that I work from home I want people to understand that the reason I have a sign on my door and posted hours of business is because I'm busy. I have set hours. I take lunch. I purchase trade magazines and keep up with business trends. I look at different marketing ideas. I treat my job here as a business. Many of us do.

I have written in the past about digital designing as a hobby versus a business. Apparently, it went unnoticed by those that needed to hear/see it most. So let's revisit this topic.

When you are operating a business, be it a virtual business on the internet or a brick and mortar establishment, there are rules that have to be followed. You keep track of taxes. If you have employees, even if they are independent contractors, there are management duties. You must keep records of payouts.

Now there are those that jump into this business (and yes it really is a business) thinking that they can make a quick buck, make massive amounts of cash and then retire to Fiji. That's the fantasy. The reality is that our market is so saturated that it is sometimes difficult for those who can make a decent living to actually make one. The recession has hit us all. People aren't buying like they used to. And unless you've been established for awhile, the likelihood of pulling in 4 or 5 hundred a month is slim.

But let me get back to the issue. When you work at a company, there are guidelines. The owners can't ask you if you're married, how many children you have, if you're gay, how old you are, do you hold down other jobs, what religion you are. Now they can NOT hire you for any reason, but if they give a reason, please GOD don't let it be one of those federally protected things. There are fines to pay. You could lose it all. And if you say these things to me: I'm not hiring Muslims, blacks, single women, people over 40 whatever... I will own you. It's called discrimination. Haven't we had enough of that nonsense in this country already?

Now there are those who would argue that there are companies that hire only Mormons or Black people or gays or whomever they choose. I am not an idiot and I know that they aren't either. And if I went to apply for a job at a Mormon bookstore in my full Islamic wear, they would be cordial and take my application and a few days later I would get the call that they had filled the position or I wasn't quite right for the job or something. But you can bet your hinnie that they wouldn't tell me that it was because I was a muslim.

This isn't the 50s or 60s when it was perfectly acceptable (though still incredibly wrong) to tell people that they couldn't be a receptionist because the company didn't want colored girls in the front lobby. Some of us have experienced this first hand and now when we see it still years, DECADES later, we have to speak out and let you know that it's wrong.

Now what you do with that information is between you and your God. But know that the God I believe in is all inclusive.


(Next time, I really will stick to the business versus hobby thing)

PEACE!
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It's Not Personal

Now why couldn't folks just leave well enough alone? Ah, that would have been too good and it would have made for a rather uneventful, a decidely boring holiday week. (Happy Rape Pillage and Steal from the Indians Day BTW).

So there I was with FINALLY nothing to do in the kitchen. This is a perk when there are no grandchildren around and your own children can read and follow instructions on most recipes. What does one do when there's nothing to do and your new computer is raring to go? Surf!

I decided to view some of the calls that other stores were putting out. Not that I wanted to ad another store. It's just nice to know what my potential options would be if I actually had an extra 15 minutes between sewing, gardening, designing, writing, blogging, cooking...well you get the idea. Which leads me to my rant.

Ladies, dear sweet wonderful colleagues of mine. Have you lost your damn minds? Let me rephrase because I'm sure that could be considered rude. HA! What is wrong with you people?

There are many wonderful designers who have expanded their businesses to include designer services --preview creation (for YOUR products), product descriptions (for YOUR products), advertising services (for YOUR products). Now I totally get it. Your time is valuable. Taking care of these tedious tasks, the business side of this business can make you want to pull your hair out. But how would you like to be paid for your kit with another kit? I'm not trying out for your creative team. I'm doing a job. One, I might add, that you will be paid for doing at some point.

I have bills too. Most of us do unless we are filthy, obscenely well-off. WalMart, the Electric Company, Gas, 7-11-- you get it--- won't take your kit to pay a bill. Most of them don't even know what it is.
So instead of trying pigeon-hole my services by bartering for something I don't need. How about you barter in good faith? Here's a suggestion: If your product costs $5, offer me $2.50 up front. I have an incentive to do an excellent job and you have a reasonable price for a service that you'd only need for that product once.

It's called a business relationship. Hmmm, I like the sound of that. A business relationship. We'd better be careful with this concept however. Before we realize it, we might actually start treating digital designing like a business. Who knows what could happen then?


PEACE
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