I recently read article in an Art Jewelry Mag which discussed how to divide up the day ( or week) called the 3 Ms.... Making, Marketing and Managing.
We all wear many hats as business owners. As humans we also have to balance the other parts of our lives: family, volunteer work, church, sports, fitness, meditation time, cooking cleaning, having fun etc.
How can we balance that all? I personally spend too much time at one or two of those and it cuts into all parts of my life. Working from home makes it doubly hard because there is no quitting time, no boss expecting X by such and such time. Having said that , I dont know how yall do it working a regular job and doing this stuff at night!
As for the 3 Ms, the author ( whose name eludes me) stated that it should be:
4 hours creating ( making)
2 hours Managing ( book keeping, shopping for materials, inventory, picure taking, listing, emailing customers etc)
2 hours marketing: advertising, ( I suppose online and IRL ) tweeting, facebook, blogging, networking
I suppose somewhere in there we should sleep and eat.. but how can one person do it all? I am guilty of spending too much time online. I flip flop between listing and pics and marketing. I cannot remember the last time I sat at the bench with my metal and torch!
That is where networking has paid off for some of us in my opinion. I have built a following on twitter and facebook and LinkedIn for cctexan3. It took a year to get to that level though. My friends retweet or share what I post and I do the same for them. I am of the belief that this guild can do the same for the members.
Obviously some are more active than others, but that is ok. We can help one another, bank the Karma points and cover more areas. Some of the Guild members have HUGE followings, it works well to use them in collections, tweets, shares and so on.
But also we need to help the newcomers who do not understand how AF works. There will be more posts on this in the blog.
The new guilds will be out sometime in January and we will use that one. I will have new abilities as guild master to reach each of you via emails and links. in the meantime, use the following link to join the yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/texasartfire/
So how do you find balance? I am totally undisciplined and would love to hear how yall do it!
8 comments:
I applaud anyone who can find balance in their day. I too am very undisciplined, but then again I also have a full time job in addition to my business (web and graphic design) and store (Angelique Art Studios).
Most evenings I try to fit some kind of art in. Mornings are when I do blog posts and network. The rest of the day I get done what I can lol
I tell my BF he is lucky to get his meal out of the micro and oven, He doesnt think this is a job.. cus I stay at home. Lordy,
I am amazed you get so much done and have a full time job. I would like to make enough$ to hire a person to help with my move on the 20th.
We are using movers, but apparently my ob is to pack the house inbetween chiropracter and doc visits LOL! I m going to shut down for the least amount of time beads will be packed last and unloaded first. we can eat on paper plates heheh
Interesting breakdown of time and some really good points on figuring out the balance. Like most, I'm pretty undisciplined--I certainly don't have it figured out down the hour.
I suspect that much of it is going to depend on the kind of art a person creates. For some, working four hours on artwork a day will suffice. For others, they may need to schedule days around particular jobs instead of hours (for instance, 3 days in the studio, 1 day on marketing, 1 day on paperwork and admin).
I've read about some people who are so busy that they have a whole day devoted to shipping. I think it'll vary for everyone depending on their needs, of course.
Great stuff to consider, though. Seems to fall into the category of business plan--something we all should do and many of us "skip" so we can go straight to the creating part %P
I am a hopper! I start my day with a list of the items I have to get shipped. Then I work around that (making body butters or candles) until all is labeled with Click n Ship and ready to go.
My desk is close to my work table so when I get an idle moment I am online printing invoices, checking mail, paying bills, blogging etc.
I love to read and learn new things so I usually do that late afternoons or evenings. I keep a pen and pad next to my bed for all those ideas that come to me when I am suppose to be sleeping!
The hardest part is finding time to actually pursue making all projects I want to try!
Thanks, Cindy, for the post. Good stuff to consider when making your plans.
Right now I have a full time job and only get to create at night and on weekends. Very tight on time. My studio is small at this point, I am working on getting it filled out.
Time is at a premium for me because I work full time. Creative time is nights or weekends only. I am currently trying to get more items made and listed in my studio, working on a blog, and a website. I also lead a Girl Scout troop. I think I'm crazy.
I really appreciate the insights and recommendations made for balancing an 8 hour day. I've been retired for 2 years from a 40-50 hour a week job in marketing. There was never enough time to think let alone plan. I only recently started my jewelry business. I am still learning to be a craftsman so it makes sense to spend the 4 hours a day on that. However, I'm also looking for my first sale so I've spent more time on the marketing side. So making jewelry and honing my skills has suffered.
I think time management depends on where you are with your business and your skills. I will use the recommendations and see how it goes.
I'm not sure what I do is called balance, because I tend to lump tasks into marathon sessions...end up spending all day--or even several days--on one of the "M"s. But it works for me because I seem to do what I'm in the frame of mind for.
Unfortunately, it makes for sporadic, (rather than steady) marketing on social media, and popcorn for supper sometimes.
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