a QUILTING business? WTF???
It seems that there's a lot of activity surrounding my quilting recently. And today, I am selling my first gift certificate to a local realtor for her to give to a client as a closing gift. I'm somewhat gobsmacked right now, and more than a little nervous about having the time to make things for people (and wondering if I'll EVER get that purple bed quilt done for our new bed - I've only had design for A YEAR (and I bought all the fabric for it in May of 2009!). I fear that I'm going to get to the point where I will have to walk away from my steady paycheck job for something that I really love to do but pays a whole lot less.
I'd feel much better about it if R had more work (or really any work).
All the "freelance business building" books and things I've been reading recently have said to focus on a small market segment and carve out your niche - if it's specific enough, you're not in direct competition with other freelancers (who can then recommend you because they aren't doing exactly the same thing), and it's easier to compose your "elevator speech" about what it is that you do do.
My problem has always been the Renaissance-woman thing - I can do a wide variety of things, many of them very well. So much so, that people who don't know me and my body of work simply don't believe that one person can possibly be good at all these various things, and they think I'm a flake. So I have to leave some bits off the rate sheet or whatever. This is much harder for me to figure out than you might think. It's been my major "issue" for my entire adult life - deciding "what I want to be when I grow up".
If income weren't the major issue, I would be a fiber artist in a heartbeat, and not look back for one second. I may want to add graphic design/illustration in there, but that's pretty much the same thing, just different media. I guess that I have to figure out how to support us doing art, and it's not going to be that easy...
Thinking back, the first time I put "designer" after my name was my first foray into independent business when I was 18 and in college. (I believe my second job title was "entrepeneuse" in another business that was just an excuse for designing more business cards)
i guess I have to rethink my branding and market segment. And redo my business cards for the big networking breakfast on May 4. I would rather have most of my money-making work come from the corporate sector, because they have the bucks to afford me. And I actually enjoy making glitzy presentations for executives (at least I enjoy it more than reworking technical manuals for years on end), and doing technical illustrations (not CAD drawings, but GUI mockups and product/scenario renderings and stuff like that).
Well, this discussion has been productive :) thanks for reading (if you got this far).
I'd feel much better about it if R had more work (or really any work).
All the "freelance business building" books and things I've been reading recently have said to focus on a small market segment and carve out your niche - if it's specific enough, you're not in direct competition with other freelancers (who can then recommend you because they aren't doing exactly the same thing), and it's easier to compose your "elevator speech" about what it is that you do do.
My problem has always been the Renaissance-woman thing - I can do a wide variety of things, many of them very well. So much so, that people who don't know me and my body of work simply don't believe that one person can possibly be good at all these various things, and they think I'm a flake. So I have to leave some bits off the rate sheet or whatever. This is much harder for me to figure out than you might think. It's been my major "issue" for my entire adult life - deciding "what I want to be when I grow up".
If income weren't the major issue, I would be a fiber artist in a heartbeat, and not look back for one second. I may want to add graphic design/illustration in there, but that's pretty much the same thing, just different media. I guess that I have to figure out how to support us doing art, and it's not going to be that easy...
Thinking back, the first time I put "designer" after my name was my first foray into independent business when I was 18 and in college. (I believe my second job title was "entrepeneuse" in another business that was just an excuse for designing more business cards)
i guess I have to rethink my branding and market segment. And redo my business cards for the big networking breakfast on May 4. I would rather have most of my money-making work come from the corporate sector, because they have the bucks to afford me. And I actually enjoy making glitzy presentations for executives (at least I enjoy it more than reworking technical manuals for years on end), and doing technical illustrations (not CAD drawings, but GUI mockups and product/scenario renderings and stuff like that).
Well, this discussion has been productive :) thanks for reading (if you got this far).