I had every good intention of getting back into writing and uploading a new blog post each week...
However, here I am 3 months later writing the first post since since I had those beautifully naive intentions :))
I can make up many many excuses about why I haven't posted but you don't care about that and excuses get us nowhere, so I'll stop waffling and get on with it. Just before I sat down to write, I had a look at my social media stats for August this year as the last blog post I wrote dipped into that a little. The culture of comparing ourselves and our businesses and our progress in life can be so destructive if not handled in a healthy, positive or encouraging way. I find myself getting a tad caught up in this and I have made a real effort to be more mindful of the present, rather than wishing and wanting for things I don't currently have. Even if I can see others with that exact thing. Instead I need to focus my energy on comparing present me to past me. That is the real competition in life and the only one that you have full control over. For me, the most important thing at the moment is my business and the growth that only happens with time. Unfortunately, I cannot have everything all at once (bummer) so I have to learn patience and self-discipline, both very boring and very adult-y but necessary all the same.
Having your own business requires you to 'wear all the hats' as they say so being just one person (I know... how basic) I can only do one thing at a time. This means that I can get super hung up on the financial stats when I'm doing the accounting, or the social media stats when I'm posting content across all kinds of platforms and so on... and on.. and on. It can quite easily lead to a downward spiral in perspective if one area isn't performing as it should, but in reality there's so many other areas of the business it's incredibly (and I mean incredibly) difficult to have every one of them growing at the same rate. Hence the need for balance!
Putting all of the above into practice, I have started recording my business statistics which show me far more than just financial growth. Last month for example (Aug 2021), I had no Etsy sales at all. Not a single one. There are many reasons for this which I am addressing, like my product range, marketing and SEO but there is no quick fix that'll make me a millionaire overnight. It all takes time. To expand my product range I have to generate more work. My illustrations aren't a five minute job so this last month I have really been focused on creating the content for new products.
Not only do I need a wider range of products and designs, I also need an audience to market them to and this is where social media comes in. I have made a huge effort to post consistently on social media this last month - which is something I have really struggled with in the past. Working part-time has helped massively in my ability to create more content and this in turn helps with consistency. And we all know the algorithm loves a bit of consistency! So even though my sales in August were poor to say the least, my social media growth and my product range have expanded which will then feed into more sales in the future. It's like a big wheel going round and round and sometimes you're dancing on top of that wheel like they do in the circus, doing fancy tricks and loving life. But other times you're the hamster inside the wheel and it's hurtling down a mountain at 100mph so all you can do is hold on for dear life, try to gather your thoughts and buy a fancy planner so at least you can look as though you know what you're doing. On that thought, I'm going to go and design a fancy planner where you can record all the business stats I've been brain dumping on here and then I might actually create something useful :)
On a far more exciting note, I have news!!
For a while now I have been looking at organising some sort of studio space to help with work flow and my inability to find art supplies or a space to work when I really need them. After much discussion and even more procrastination, I have reached a decision. Anyone who knows me will understand that getting blood from a stone is easier than getting a decision from me, so this is big moment. I am fortunate enough that my grandparents have space in their garden for me to have a summer house studio and honestly I am buzzing!! The chosen spot has been dug out and stone laid down, then concrete will be delivered in a few days to finish the base. Once that is complete, the delivery of the summer house can be arranged and I can get insulating, decorating and organising to my little heart's content. I cannot explain how excited I am and of course I have filmed as much as I can along the way so there will be a delicious time-lapse-y process video coming soon :D
Here's a sneak peak of where we're up to so far...
In going through my camera roll to find that video above I found some other photographs that mark a pretty big occasion that I completely forgot to mention...
I finally graduated! Over a year after finishing my Graphic Design course and at least 18 months since being on campus and seeing the amazing staff and students at NTU - it was the best day making lots of lovely memories.