What? I have to be a businesswoman, too?
May 7, 2008
One of the most difficult aspects for me in being a jewelry designer is the business aspect. While marketing ideas come easily, and I enjoy this part, the nuts and bolts stuff doesn’t. As an artist, I have a more free-flowing mentality, so a really structured work day does not suit me. However, as a single mom, college student, businesswoman and etc., I have to have some structure in my life. And now that I got a part time job to help out with extra expenses that have been cropping up, getting better organized is absolutely imperative.
I”ve been reading more about getting organized ( again, LOVE the concept, but I’m really easily-distracted from the task!), marketing my website, improving my blog, social networking and in general just really overwhelming myself. Last night I went to bed thinking “Forget all the rest of this stuff…I just want to make jewelry!” But here the vicious circle comes in. In order to make more jewelry, I need to sell jewelry to afford to buy the beads I crave. I could not possibly wear all the jewelry that I want to make. There are people who want my jewelry and keep me making it. It seems foolish not to pursue something that I love that can also provide an income stream.
Creative time, or non-structured time, is some of my most productive. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s 10:00 p.m. Or 2:00 a.m. It can happen anytime of the day, and it’s not easily scheduled in. Sometimes when I have the mindset of “I have to make jewelry” I can sit at my table and nothing works. Nothing apeals to me. I start things and hate them. Or I break crimps, drop beads, and just mess things up. So this time tends to be a total waste.
So, can a creative, non-structure lover like me create a life where there is enough structure to keep all the balls in the air, yet provide enough creative time to just it happen? I can’t fit into a cookie cutter system someone else creates, but my old way of doing things just isn’t working as well as it needs to . So I will be attempting to re-arrange my life in a way that works better. Is it possible? Check back in to see how things progress..