Welcome to my first blog post as Fay Designs. My goal here is to share my experience as an artist and content marketer in a way that will help you, fellow artist. I want to inspire you to write your artist story by sharing mine.
My Inspiration
This may sound a bit cliché, but stay with me for a turn you might not expect 🙃
My first inspiration for creating art is my mother. She was a graphic designer in Seattle in the late 80s and early 90s. She also passed away when I was a pre-teen. Know what that means? It means I have all her old-fashioned graphic design tools to play along with my computer graphic design tools. Since I can't talk to her in person anymore, I've used her tools and portfolio as a way to connect with her.
I feel closest to her when I practice calligraphy with her old lesson plans, practice sheets and tools. It helps me find my creative flow again when I feel stuck. She's the real reason I became most drawn to specialize in hand lettering. I couldn't let go of her art studio tools until I went through it. I'm so glad I gave myself the time I needed to go through them.
To balance the old with the new I found a more current Lettering Seminar online course and community with Martina Flor. It's really helped satisfy my typography nerd self and boost my skills with other talented like minds. It's been a great place to get the specific feedback I need. Family and friends can only share so much feedback.
I'm finding that the more I learn, the less I get stuck on what to do. The more I learn, the more style variety I'm able to bring to my designs. It's even worth getting up at 6am pacific time once a month to meet with the rest of the group live!
Another thing that helps keep me inspired is a weekly virtual networking group of Instagraphics community of creatives. I find the end of the week call time is helpful to keep me motivated to keep enjoying work through the end of the week.
Now, I don't want to completely ignore social media. I tend to limit my time scrolling, but I will peruse hashtags relating to the project or skill I need inspiration on. I also tend to get leads through direct messages on Instagram frequently, so I make sure to check those as well.
The final thing I'll mention that inspires me is a local Drink and Draw event. The size really varies each week, and I really appreciate the couple of consistent folks I've seen. As a person with social anxiety at times, it helps to have a place where silence is NOT awkward because we're all working on whatever we're drawing.
Now, how many artists can relate to that?
How I get in My Creative Flow
I'm sure I'm not the only artist that struggles with their creative flow. The plethora of content about overcoming creative blocks is enough proof to me!
That's why I thought I might as well share my unique perspective. If it gives one artist inspiration, it's a win for me AND the world!
Step 1 - Block out Creative Time
If you're like me, you might struggle with focusing long enough to get the content created in one sitting. Then, you end up with all these half finished ideas that lose relevance fast. To avoid this, I've started blocking out an hour in the afternoons specifically for a "creative work project" with a calendar event. For me, that basically encompasses anything I want to create for my business on the computer (i.e.website updates, blog posts, social media post creation and management, etc). Choose the time frame and parameters that work for YOU.
I also have an event on my calendar for drawing time as the last thing in my workday. It's a sure way to end my day with something I want to do, AND it's a fabulous transition into the evening. With it I can easily choose to keep going if I want to.
The point is to book your own time for the non-negotiable things you need in your day/week. Don't let your time unconsciously go towards everyone else all the time. Take the time you need. The world needs you to take care of yourself.
You can block these times whenever works for you and your life. That's the whole point. Choose a time where you feel most confident you'll be able to push through. You know your schedule and what works or doesn't work for you.
Time agility is "the ability to move quickly and easily"
Part of what time agility means to me is not getting too strict with myself on my schedule. Some days are harder than others. It's important to forgive myself for missing something so I can more quickly give my attention to new priorities that come up.
I'm still figuring out how to move quicker and easier through this entrepreneur journey (writing this helped). Please reach out if you can relate and/or have thoughts. No idea is too stupid to share. Please be nice to my friend (you).
Step 2 - Pick ONE thing to work on
My afternoon "creative work project" could be working on my website, writing a blog post, or writing a newsletter.
I keep my expectations to ONE manageable thing in that hour so if something comes up in the moment, I don't get hard on myself for getting behind.
If I do get behind, I take a moment to sit still, tune into how I'm feeling, and make a choice about how to proceed with the next hour. Do I keep going on the thing I got distracted by, go back to what I was trying to work on, or do I find a compromise between the two? For me, it's usually the last option but it really depends on what I learn from my quiet checkin with myself.
Step 3 - Find the Perfect Setting
Now that you have a time and a project to work on, it's time to set yourself up for success.
Lock yourself in your office (maybe with the dog) and put in your headphones. Does your office need tidying up first? Clutter can cause unnecessary distractions. Try not to get lost in the tidying so much that you don't get what you set out to get done. Maybe you need to make a compromise with yourself about how much to do now and later?
You could also go to a coffee shop, co-working space, a park with your hotspot, you're favorite bar, or even your couch. My only rule is avoiding working in bed, but hey, if that's what works for you there's no judgement here 😂
Some days are harder than others to get out of bed, I get that. I want to encourage you to take the rest time you need instead of trying to get work done anyway. I know it might not feel like you have the option to take a sick day (or partial day). However, if you can listen to your body when it needs the rest, it will likely make your work time more productive then you might imagine. We don't need to give into #hustleculture.
Step 4 - Choose Music
If you're a music enthusiast like me, this is a crucial step. And if you're not, how do I know you? Seriously, please reach out ☺️
There are tons of "focus work" options on YouTube. Whether you like the vast world of lofi, 'genius music' or other instrumental music, you'll find something that works.
If you don't know what you like or where to start, start with the links I shared!
Step 5 - Take Breaks When Needed (don't be hard on yourself)
We've all been there. You get all the steps in place and you start working only to find yourself unmotivated to keep going.
The most important thing for me is to not be hard on myself when this occurs.
Instead, I can use this time as an opportunity to reflect on how crucial this is for my business. Sometimes I realize it's something that I think I should have, and it doesn't actually match up with my 'why.'
It also might be something difficult where I might get stuck on what to do next.
Or maybe still it's something easy but time-consuming and I've been working pretty long at it.
I use this opportunity to take the dogs for a walk (or do some gardening) and re-align with MY business goals. Getting outside for a while really helps my anxiety come back to a manageable level. Sometimes all the doctor ordered is a hug from mama earth ❤️
Step 6 - Don't compare your work to others. Let it be shared in whatever state it's in
Seriously, don't.
Don't be hard on yourself about it either.
It's human nature to compare and judge other humans. Why?
I won't go into the technical why, since I'm not confident in my answer, but I will say this speaking from personal experience.
It's detrimental to your ability to keep moving forward in your business (and the rest of life).
It's draining and unproductive to compare yourself to someone you see on social media (or anywhere).
You don't know their whole story. Even the most active person on social media doesn't share every messy detail. Even your best friend or sibling doesn't have the time to share EVERYTHING with you.
So what are you comparing? Their end result that might have taken days/months/years that you might assume happened quicker?
Please don't feel pressure to do anything that doesn't feel right to you. Please check in with your own self before making any life/business decisions (even the small seeming ones).
Please spend your time creating your own art and brand story instead. There's only ONE of you and the world needs it 🫶
My Content Marketing Strategy
Finding my Target Audience
This is something I'm always thinking about. The struggle is real to make a decision on what kind of person to create for.
My solution is to post things for each audience I'm testing on the network their on most.
For my business, I post things for financial professionals mostly on LinkedIn and things for other artists trying to sell their art on Instagram. Facebook is a mix. YouTube is a mix.
I think having a couple channels to mix with helps my "always be testing" marketing mantra.
Using AI
This feels ironic to write about because this is something I could be using AI for, but I'm not. This subject felt more personal to me. I wanted to use my own words.
I am however using AI in my research and search engine optimization for this post.
My point is this.
Please don't let AI scare you. And definitely don't let it control you. Treat it (or her, him, their?) like an assistant ready to help with what YOU want to do. Treat it kindly and as a valuable team member that can be trained to believe in the same mission you believe in.
I really appreciate Adobe's use of AI. It seems to me like they try to keep the artist's best interest in mind with how they train it. (Please let me know your story if there's something I'm not seeing. I want to hear you.)
There's an AI bot in just about everything these days. Go explore the one that aligns with your values. You can leave what doesn't align for the rest of us 😉
Social Media Use
The goal is to build my list and show my artist journey. All of it.
I have a profile on X (twitter), YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Tik Tok, and Instagram. I'm only sharing 3 of those with you because those are the 3 most attuned to my brand at the moment.
My brand goes through changes like my life does so I try to update the social networks based on where new people I might be targeting are hanging out.
Starting a blog is harder than you think!
Let AI help where it can. I write that with my own 2 hands and it feels weird again.
I tend to use AI's writing help for short things like emails, bios, link share posts, and re-writing to fit different needs.
I consciously choose NOT to use AI to write this. I will likely use AI to write more in the future, but the first one felt good to go through alone. I think it'll make it easier to know where and how to use AI next time. There are endless AI tools and integrations now. You have to find some way to filter and decide what will help you best.
The downside of not wanting to use it to even come up with an outline for me this time is that it's taken me weeks to actually get it written. I comfort myself with the thought that the first one always takes the longest.
Making an artist autobiography
Focus on them
My plan is to post all parts of my process as it's happening. No more of this "it's not ready" nonsense. It's not helping our comparison trap problem. I'm just going to share my process and the struggles I go through.
I'll share how I'm getting through things and encourage your beautiful wisdom to come out in the comments and private messages.
Farewell for Now
I'm working on prioritizing the things I said I'd do today and moving tasks that I don't HAVE to do today to another day, where it will have the full attention it deserves. It's better than having to put off tasks that I've been needing to do for longer. Maybe I'll get more done that way. I'll let you know if you follow me on social media ☺️
I want to officially invite any and all artists (and people who may not see themself as an artist yet) that resonate with anything I share to play with me wherever you see this.
Share your art, share what you had a hard time with, share what made you laugh, share how your day was.
Share anything you want. I'm listening, artist.
Please be the artist YOU want to be. The world needs it 🙏🏻
Thank you for reading ❤️🔥
**Please don't be offended if I don't get back to you right away. I'm managing my time and energy giving other people like you the time and energy they deserve. Feel free to reach out via phone if you need to talk to me urgently.
Comments