Make Art Work: a podcast for creative small businesses

Building an online community is even more important these days. 

In today's episode, we are going to be talking about things to consider before you start to build your online community, where to build your community as well as some things you should keep in mind. 

Short answer? A resounding YES!!

Products, whether digital or physical, are a great way to add revenue streams to your business, but also give your customers more ways to access you and your expertise.

So you might be saying, okay, great, where the heck do I start?

Great question, let’s get into it!

In today's episode, we are taking our first question, and it's about how to get more clients! Who doesn't want to have more clients and more income?

You will learn several actionable steps to take this week to sign on more clients!

Have a question? Have a concern that you would like some insight on? I am all ears:

Hi there and welcome to the second season of the Make Art Work podcast - I am SO excited that you are here!

Let’s talk about the new structure of the podcast - after some consideration, I’ve realized that my voice shouldn’t be the only one featured. So moving forward I have started asking for fellow entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs to contribute their questions for me - and I welcome your questions, too. I am asking what, as a small business owner, keeps you up at night? Have a concern that you would like some insight on? I am all ears:

Ok, so I’ve messed up - have you heard the saying “poor planning leads to poor performance”? Well I have to come clean, I let my planning get away from me and let a week, 2 weeks go before posting a new podcast episode and fast forward to almost 2 months go by, YIKES. So with the end of 2021 just days away, I knew I needed to get my act together and figure out a plan for the Make Art Work podcast. And here is the plan: I’m going to split the year into two seasons of 12 episodes each. With Season 2 launching on Monday January 31st and Season 3 launching June 27th.

Today we are going to be talking about brand partnerships.

During my career I’ve had the pleasure of working with really great brands and it has been an exciting way to increase my reach and sharpen some skills.

Before we get started, let’s talk about what I mean when I say brand partnerships. Other business owners may have different things that they qualify as a brand partnership. How I qualify this is a relationship between a creative small business and a larger brand where you are able to bring your unique skills and viewpoint to serve a bigger brand. For me, this usually centers around illustrations, since that is my speciality. And this doesn’t always look the same for each brand I work with. Some of these opportunities came up because of the limited travel and shutdowns that came with the pandemic. So I’ll go over a couple of projects, how I got introduced to the brand, what the project consisted of and how you can replicate this in your own business.

My key takeaways from this episode:

1. be tenacious and be committed to the long game: you can’t give up if the first couple of ideas of a collaboration don't work out. 

2. brainstorm and figure out how best you can serve the brand

3. be crafty and do a little bit of detective work when it comes to getting a brand’s attention

4. showcase the work that you want to do on instagram or your website

5. try to stay top of mind - when you start a relationship with these brands, make sure to keep them on your radar

Task batching is the act of batching similar tasks together and doing them all at once, rather than addressing them sporadically throughout the day. By focusing solely on a single job, whether it’s replying to emails or filling out your expenses, you’re able to create a more concentrated workflow, minimize distractions and procrastination, and pay more attention to detail.

Task batching allows you to commit to one specific task without constant interruption.

What do you think of when I say email marketing? Do you feel stressed or excited? Unsure of where to start or planning the road ahead? Well, I hope by the end of this episode you’ll feel excited about the opportunity to connect with your subscribers as well as the content that you’re going to share.

I’m going to share my email marketing plan with you today, how I formed my content pillars, how I use my email marketing as the backbone for my social media efforts, as well as the software that I use to make all of that happen.

I’m sure if you listen to other podcasts, read small business content and books that you’ve heard the suggestion to build your email list. Before we dive into all of the particulars of today’s episode, I want to talk about why you should be building an email list of subscribers. Yes, it’s important to have direct contact with your audience, especially if you’re sharing a lot of content on social media. Because what if Instagram doesn’t exist tomorrow, or Facebook turns into a subscription based model and your fans drop off the platform. They might be able to track you down via your website, but what about your ability to contact them?

So, yes, building content on social media is risky - you’re building on borrowed land. But I think there are some other reasons that you want to build up your email list and improve your email marketing, and that is to build a community online. And the coolest part about that? Is that this is a community that you get to create and lead! How cool is that? It is a whole new way that you get to communicate with your audience.

Today we are going to be talking about all of the equipment and software that I use for video in my creative small business.

Today we are going to be starting a series on all things video: how to plan your video content along with some ideas to, how to capture video and how to share it.

I have to be honest with you - I’m not an expert on video, but I have learned some things the last couple of years, taught myself via youtube and asked my video savvy friends. But the silver lining of not being a full blown expert is that I still have a beginner’s mindset, and know that there are different ways to achieve great video results and everything I am going to share with you is not going to be super technical.

First, I wanted to go over the two main ways that I use video in my creative small business: social media and teaching platforms. And with Instagram’s recent announcement of moving away from being known as a photo sharing app, and  leaning into entertainment and video, more like competitors TikTok and YouTube.

I know that announcement has ruffled some feathers and instagram users are speaking out about their feelings (whether positive or negative). But the half glass full person I am, thinks it’s a great time to really dive into video.

So, back to how I use video: first social media. And when I talk about social media, I’m going to be talking about Instagram today: it’s the platform that I have the most experience with. I do have a TikTok account, but haven’t really been super active in putting content on that platform, and the same goes for YouTube.

But all of these strategies that I’ll share today, as well as the equipment I’ll link to can help you with video on all platforms.

So let’s start with planning and strategy, because all of the fancy tools and software won’t help you much if you don’t get started with it!

And you might be saying, Maizie, I don’t want to be on camera. And I get it, but I really think video is going to be a great way for your audience to get to know you. Once you start gaining new followers and subscribers, most likely, you’re not going to be able to introduce yourself in-peron, but video is a great substitute.

And it’s like a lot of new things, it gets easier the more you do it. So I’m urging you to have a good attitude and an open mind.

So let’s start brainstorming about ways you can use video on your social media; here are some great ways to start:

• What are your top 3-5 most asked questions that you get? Answer those, either facing the camera or pointing it towards your product or workspace.
  
• What is your favorite part of your business? Did you grow up baking cookies with your aunts and grandmother and that love of connecting people through baking inspired you to start your custom cookie business. Or maybe you were the layout pro on your high school yearbook committee and now you love helping brands layout their marketing material. Tell people about your story.
  
• What is your favorite project? OR What was your first project? Maybe it was the one that inspired you to start the business?
  
• Video is a great way to hear from your audience, maybe you’re a virtual assistant and you want to ask your followers what questions they have about starting their own VA business. It’s a great conversation starter, pretend you’re talking to your best friend on Facetime.
  

Questions? Be sure to email me at hello@maizie-clarke.com

Today kicks off a series about bringing on contractors and hiring out different jobs in your small business. Whether you’re just starting out, or several years into running our own business, this will always be something you’ll want to keep in mind. This episode will cover the people that you want to bring on early and develop a relationship as your business grows. For me - that was an accountant who took care of my taxes, and then my bookkeeping. I knew that the numbers side of my business was something that gave me lots of anxiety, especially when it came to taxes.

I went to pick up some supplies at my local art store and I picked up a new sketchbook for our summer trips, and that got me thinking about a sketchbook practice and how helpful it can be as a working creative. When I started graduate school at the end of 2012, I started buying a small moleskine book to take notes in and sketch things out in and I have about 9 of these books on a bookcase in the studio. They are a great history of old ideas, notes of things I’ve read and random doodles. Today I want to talk about all of the different benefits of keeping a sketchbook in your creative practice.

Records your progress as an artist. This is a great way to see how far you’ve come in your medium.

Makes you a faster sketcher - the faster you can draw out your ideas - the faster you can communicate them.

Sketching can be a really nice way to relax your brain.

Record and develop new ideas for larger works of art - when I’m lacking inspiration, I like to look back and see past notes and ideas that I’ve had - they might spur on some new ideas, today.

A sketchbook is a really great way to experiment with new ideas and mediums: if it’s in your sketchbook, it’s a lot less daunting for me: for me there is no pressure to be perfect if it’s in my sketchbook.

Sketching daily will sharpen your skills in drawing from life.

In today's episode, I'll be sharing an experience that I had recently with a client who was unsatisfied with their purchase. As much as I wish this never happened, I think it's an important thing to talk about because as a small business owner - this is most likely going to happen to you at some point. But never fear, and don't give up, because the way you respond and what you do with the information you learn is only going to improve your business in the long run. 

Today we are going to be talking about goal setting - I’ve always loved planning and setting goals, but it took me a little while to figure out how to plan out my goals to achieve them, as well as identifying the best kind of goals to set for my business to move it forward. 

If you’re familiar with goal setting, then I’m sure you have come across the acronym for SMART goals: Specific / Measurable / Attainable / Relevant / Time-Based. And this is great - you don’t want goals that don’t have a timeframe, those go on forever, and unattainable goals are just discouraging. I like combining the system of SMART goals on a quarterly goal setting sheet (if you sign up for my email list in the show notes, you’ll receive your own PDF template). And if you notice, there is only room for three goals - and this doesn’t mean that I only want to accomplish three things this quarter. It means that these are the three most important this quarter. 

I’m going to share with you another metric I use for setting goals for my business. It’s sort of a past / present / future way to look at goals, and I like to think about the following triggers: 

Pain point / product / Prospecting 

Pain point is a goal related to something that needs addressing, when I’m working on this, I’m wishing for a better way or I’m cursing past Maizie for not having the foresight to plan for this. But if a system or plan was in place, I would be more productive and profitable. 

Product - I’m a physical product kind of gal - I sell original paintings and products on ecommerce and I’m always looking for ways to improve this experience - and I think the extra touches are something that I think will move the needle to make someone a happy customer into a fan for life. 

Prospecting - there always needs to be a goal in the mix that is going to help you get new business - whether it’s a new marketing campaign or circling back on inquiries. It also might be a strategy on developing a new revenue stream or offering in your business. 

Thanks so much and here’s to a goal driven quarter!

In this episode, I'm walking you through an example of how we can build an audience around a value packed customer experience. It's not enough to identify and attract your ideal audience, you also want them to know that you are anticipating their needs, and creating an experience that they soon not forget. 

In today's episode, we'll be talking all about inspiration - how to find it when you're feeling, well, less than inspired! 

Last episode we went over some of my favorite apps, let’s talk about streamlining your Gmail inbox. Keeping up with email can be a huge time commitment in your business and being slow to email or unorganized can cause you to lose business. Let’s talk about some strategies to manage your email so that your clients are happy and you are stress free!

Vacation responders

Vacation responders are not only for vacations - you may have really busy times when an auto-responder makes the most sense for you and your clients. For me, October through December is incredibly busy, so I put on my out of office, so that anyone who emails me during that time gets an autoresponder that has links to FAQs, ordering deadlines. My goal here is to anticipate client’s questions and concerns during this time. Just like the email signature, use this strategy sparingly and wisely.

Email templates

Templates are a great way to save time by storing an email that is often duplicated. Also a great way to customize your signature for different client types, times of the year, etc.

Templates are essential if you want to use filters (trust me you, do 😊 )

Email filters and labels

In today’s episode, I’m talking workflows and automations as well as the apps that make this possible. 

Welcome back, on this episode, I want to talk about the one habit that I failed to develop when I was working in my creative small business and that is documentation.

I've never been a good journaler, even as a little kid, I never kept a diary for more than a day or two. I wish I had cultivated the habit of documenting. Looking back, I wish I had recorded how long it took me to complete certain tasks, how much things cost, everything and anything.

So if you take one thing away from this episode, please consider ways that you can start, or strengthen your habit of documenting things in your small business. I think this is going to help you out in the long run in many ways including: being able to identify ways to automate and streamline your business, maybe finding ways to hand these tasks off to an administrative assistant or a virtual assistant. Or, even if it's your best friend coming over to help you pack orders when you hit it big!

Hi! I’m Maizie, I’m an illustrator and designer and I’ve been self-employed since 2018 but my entrepreneurial story does not start there.

I started my first business when I was only in elementary school - at the encouragement of my sweet mom and some seed money - I started a small snack bar that I set up at my brothers' sporting events, I loved all of it, fast forward a couple of years to the last semester of high school - I was already accepted into college and spent the weeks leading into summer making jewelry and selling it to classmates. Again, I loved creating and selling. Once I started college as an art major the next fall, the jewelry business fell by the wayside but the idea of working for myself didn't ever really leave me - so that brings us to today - I'm a small business owner and illustrator. I love working and brainstorming with fellow small business owners and I hope that is what this podcast can be, too. A place for small business collaboration and entrepreneur encouragement.