Hello,
This week is a special week for my little business.
It marks the 5th anniversary of me
posting my very first blog post, which means it marks 5 years since the
official launch date of Artwork By Angie.
In the beginning, Artwork By Angie was the name I hid
behind, not fully confident to step forward in my own right as an
illustrator. As a name for my website
and online shops, I’m still OK with the Artwork By Angie name, it describes
what I do and what I’m essentially about i.e. creating artwork, specifically
for print, mostly digital artwork. Although a couple of years ago I finally began
to feel comfortable saying ‘I am an illustrator and designer’ and actually believing
it myself. So slowly but surely I’ve
been happily using my full name for a little while now - which to me, is a big indicator of how much I
have gained and grown since starting this blog.
The use of my full name may seem a small thing to many
people, but to me, thinking back to where I was 5 years ago, I would not have
felt comfortable with it at all. At that
time I was being brave and ‘having a go’ just starting a blog and a website. It all took a huge leap of faith for which I
had set a deadline in my head of about 12 months. If no green shoots had appeared by the end of
12 months, I was prepared to go back to the world of employment. I
couldn’t really see beyond the end of each week and each new blog post. Back then it was a case of building up my
portfolio, so really I was working from one ‘Illustration Friday’ submission on
my blog to the next to gain some new work in that way....
The turning point came with the launch of my facebook page
and Folksy shop a few months later. Slowly but surely, it
all gathered momentum and I have not looked back since. It’s been an amazing journey so far – with highs
and lows and opportunities to work on some amazing things with some wonderful
people, both globally and locally. I’ve
made true friends and genuinely feel part of a great, wide community of
creative souls – all of which make me feel very excited to set to work every
day.
To celebrate my 5th
year, I’d like to share 5 key things I’ve learnt along the way that are serving
me well now. These are mostly stuff I
wish I’d known from the start. I hope
that these 5 things may help others achieve their dreams too:
1.
Value Your Time – you ARE worth it,
regardless of how much of an ‘imposter’ you may feel. Your time is very precious and finite! If you are not covering it well in your
prices, or are missing out on important moments in your family and friends
lives because you are struggling to make things work/or are running out of time
to do things, then you need to stop and re-evaluate everything. Your business needs to serve you...
Set business hours, take breaks, work out
your budget and cover it with your pricing.
Be brave and say NO to things that don’t serve you well – they could be
the things that bring you crashing down....and I know this, because I’ve been
there and turned it around...and that is why I made this my number 1 tip!
2.
The Price Needs to be Right – it’s not just your
time that you need to cover. In the beginning you may not realise how much your
business is a hungry beast which has lots of costs in it’s day-to-day
running. The more you grow, the more
those costs grow with you. Be honest
with yourself about those costs, look at everything, all the fees, postage,
printer ink (over a year printer ink is an absolute shocker!!). When pricing your products
and services, make an allowance for all of that. Shop around, get the best deal, don’t be too
seduced into purchasing things your business doesn’t really need. At the same time, don’t be afraid to make
wise investments that serve you well in the long run (eg. the right piece of kit, or an
accountant to look over your books and free you up from stress, or a decent camera / photographer to shoot
some press worthy images). Creative businesses are still businesses and need to think profitably if they want to stay trading – I’m
just saying, keep a close eye on the figures.
3.
Your Customers are Everything – always place
them at the heart of what you do and create.
Get to know them well, listen to their feedback and create with them in
mind. I’ve often found those who are
attracted to my work, tend to be very like minded, which is a very beautiful & exciting thing! Some of my favourite designs have come about
because of something a customer has fed back to me and has inspired me. Which is why I try and give something back
for such loyalty, by ensuring subscribers to my newsletter frequently receive
exclusive offers ...and I will be
sending out another newsletter offer later this week.
4.
Don’t be shy, be a social butterfly...
Social media works, so get your work out
there to be seen, build your network and ensure you spread yourself around a
bit so you don’t depend on one app....
BUT, have a PLAN, don’t SPAM!
Think quality over quantity if you want to
convert 'likes' into sales – as that’s what seems to work best for me. By getting to know my followers, listening to
their comments and feedback and using my site stats, I’ve been able to tailor
things to try and deliver what they want, in a way they want to see it. In return I’ve noticed a steady flow of orders
from returning customers, which fills me with joy as that must mean I’ve finally
found my tribe!
In my experience, ‘like
ladders’ and ‘share for share’ strategies really are a complete and total waste of time. I did a little bit of this very early on when I began my facebook page. It got me a tiny bit of interest but not enough to justify the time and energy spent on it. If having lots of likes is that important to you,
you may as well open your wallet and buy a pile of equally disinterested ‘likes’ from any
company you find on Google and then go and put the kettle on and do something
more worthwhile with your day!
Better still, save yourself the money and time
and keep it real, as that will help you find your people and in turn they will
help you grow your business.
Also, there’s a big wide world out there,
it’s important to get out and about. Try
and take part in events and visit fairs to meet up with people. Or get involved locally, work with local
businesses, collaborate with others and generally build a support network with
other business owners –my goodness, you’ll need it and so will they!
5.
Love what you do!
If you don’t wake up feeling the love and
passion for what you’re doing, then surely you are doing the wrong thing. We mustn’t let fear become an obstacle,
because without wanting to sound bleak, the harsh truth is, we are all heading
to the same destination!... and as one of my favourite songs says ‘Enjoy
yourself whilst you’re still in the pink!’
So
with that in mind, if you have a dream - chase it, you’ll find a way to make it
work. If your dream no longer serves you
- change it, search your soul for what it is that makes your heart sing and
make that something you do for at least for a few moments every day.
I certainly don’t have all the answers - I only
have my own experiences.
I am happy to
share some of what those experiences have taught me, in the hope it will
resonate and help other creative people move onwards and upwards. The world is a far richer place when creative people
are found creating and loving what they create!
Finally, I’d like to say a huge THANK YOU
to everyone who has followed me on this 5 year journey so far. Especially to those of you who have ordered
and commissioned, designs, prints, cards, wrap and everything else from me, I
am so very grateful to you all as you are helping me live my dream!...
To properly celebrate my 5th
anniversary, I will be launching a giveaway later this week (I just need to decide what I am 'giving away'), so please keep an
eye out for that!
With very best wishes
