For me, part of it is the to-do list that's overly optimistic. Being an online shop owner, jewelry designer, marketer, promoter, craft show participant, wife, kitty mom and housekeeper ... deep breath ... and working full time is all about the delicate balance of time and life.
It boils down to priorities, shorter lists, and letting go of some projects until ... whenever. Generally, I'll admit that the delayed projects are housework and folding laundry. But, I digress.
Creation
I'm a jewelry designer because it's my passion, I love to create jewelry, candles, and some hand stamped greeting cards thrown in for good measure. Taking time to create product is crucial because I need inventory or samples so people can place custom orders.
Photography & Uploading Photos
Taking the time to photograph your handmade items, pricing them and writing descriptions and uploading them to your online shops and/or Websites goes hand in hand with creation, so that others can see your work When you're doing your photo shoot, take several pictures of the same item in different directions and lighting to see what works best for you. Often, the images look different on the computer screen than they do on the tiny digital camera screen.
Photo is from twitter.com.
Promotion
Promoting the items via Social Media, i.e., FaceBook, Twitter, Blogspot* is where one can get bogged down chatting with others and playing games. An Etsy teammate of mine uses an egg timer so she allows herself, say 15-20 minutes on Twitter and FaceBook every day or whatever. I haven't started any games on FaceBook and don't plan to. I've learned to limit my time too because my time to promote is usually late in the evenings and I might stay up too late chatting or tweeting. I'm a big fan of Twitter. Another time, I'll do a post about what I've learned about using it effectively.
Recordkeeping
As I was finishing my taxes this year, I realized that my recordkeeping had a few holes in it. There were some items that I didn't log in my spreadsheet until I did my taxes. It was hard to recreate a few items, so they were left unrecorded and claimed. Usually, I record supplies when I purchase them and sales and postage as I sell items. My suggestion is to do regular recordkeeping and stay up to date.
You Time
Last, as artisans, we know how hard we work whether we have a part- or full-time business. For me, beading is play time, but I know that sometimes, I just need to sit and watch a movie with my husband or play with the cats. Schedule time to do something for yourself, whether it's a hot bath, a walk, etc.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. My blog is http://linorstorecom.blogspot.com. I'm a guest blogger here and hope that as I learn, you learn.
*I am not being paid or receiving any compensation or any gifts or bonuses for mentioning these social media sites.
email@hand-craftedcreations.com for possible submission of your site in our blog. OR if you are a vendor who doesn't want your info posted - please email & it will be removed ASAP.
3 Comments - What do you think of this?:
This is a great subject, you did a wonderful job!
Michele
Great Post!
This is one of my biggest issues...
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