Timing is EVERYTHING!

And yet another thing we must all overcome.. When it rains it pours and the rest of the time is just one big hot dry spell! How to manage the ups and downs and craziness of your business.

So what can you do to try and balance all of your projects, marketing, life, etc.? First, set up those boundaries! You will not do what I do and end up working 24/7 and let your house get dirty and your kids forget to shower! Make a schedule now of the only times you are allowed to work and really, really, try to stick to it. Family and pets first I always say! Then I put the kids to bed and work all night on the computer! lol

Give yourself time for possible projects. If you take on a lot of projects at once, don't promise something you can't deliver. Always estimate extra time in case you get hit with a lot of work at once. For example, I freelance with 6 sites, (not including my Etsy shop:) and I submit bids to Craigslist listings and another search engine for graphic design jobs. Sometimes I even get hits from my portfolio. I never know when there will be a ton of work and how many people need it whenever and how many needed it yesterday. I've finally learned to give myself a little leeway and estimate my time accordingly. If everything is done for the day, I may take on a small project to pass the time. But otherwise I have to give anything that isn't ASAP a week. I used to tell everyone 1-3 days which was ridiculous!

If it takes you a bit longer to get things done or you have an actual life outside your work, you may just want to take entire days off from bidding or choose your projects accordingly.

As far as marketing and mingling goes, I try to fit it in while I'm sitting here. But maybe set aside a day or block of time so you can just concentrate on all the work that goes into signing up for sites and adding potential clients to your profiles. I don't do Facebook and Twitter because it's time consuming and not really important to my business. But LinkedIn and DeviantArt are probably a good place to start for you if you are in the Graphics business. And of course you will need a blog! lol

Thanks for reading, more soon..
T♥