Can you believe we’re standing a full two feet and a week through 2013′s doorway?! How did this happen already!? BAH! Last year was an exciting blur and I suddenly have the feverish need to lasso the present before it gets away from me. I’m talking Thin Lizzy power ballad style….
AKA: Forget resolutions – it’s time to hustle. Hard…like a cowboy?
This June I’ll be speaking in Austin TX at the BlogHer Food Conference about how to turn a blog into a business. Which, I know, sounds like a lofty and slightly inconceivable goal from the solitary of our couches…but hear me out! Accomplishing any goal is no sweat once you hone in the right mind set, write down your game plan, tackle it with organization and the fierce confidence/professionalism you know is living in ya’.
A good power jacket, knock out booties or a knuckle intensive cocktail ring never hurt a gal (or guy) either – at least, I like to wear a little flash dance in a pitch meeting, or even just while emailing…don’t judge. Whatever works for you, think of it like your success coat of armor.
While planing to jump start this New Year / New Hustle Initiative, there was one person who immediately came to mind. Andrew Gibbs is the founder of the successful (ahem, #1) packaging design blog /turned national touring conference – The Dieline. If there is anyone who knows what it’s like to transform a hobby into a full time job, has intense passion and professionalism to do so and handles their business in the most graceful manor – it’s this fine young man.
He is a talent unafraid to share success with great openness and encouragement…sure he also happens to focus on an industry I was a slave to for over a decade. One I still have great enthusiasm and lust for: packaging design. But he is the REAL DEAL. One to keep an eye on as it were…
I got the chance to ask Andrew a few questions after the most recent Dieline Forum and I’m quite certain it’s useful advise worthy of any business/blog or new year endeavor you’re looking to break ground on this year.
2013 is going to be special – let’s ride!


3. What advise do you have for people who want to turn their passion into an online destination? Just start somewhere, and don’t be discouraged. Start with you passion, and find your voice. Don’t be a perfectionist. Nothing will ever be perfect. Present yourself as bigger than you really are. Make yourself look like, and sound like an authority in your area of expertise, and before you know it you will be.
4. When did you realize that The Dieline could be more than just a website? How did you get started with the event and educational side of your business? I think I realized that The Dieline was more than just a website when I saw a community begin to form, and really be passionate about package design. The first 2 years of The Dieline, it was essentially non-profit. It was never started to be a business, it was started to be a resource for other package designers like me.

6. Is there a particular designer or firm that stands out from the crowd in terms of innovative food packaging right now? How are they breaking the rules in the name of powerful design? Pearlfisher. They are doing some really innovative food packaging and rethinking how food is presented, and packaged.

_________________________________________________________________
1 comment
whitney @ thecurtiscasa says:
Jan 30, 2013
“good things happen to those who hustle”..love it!