Hello Fellow Creative Souls,
This post is the first of a series called Creative Commentary. What I am trying to accomplish with these posts are discussions of being living a creative lifestyle and being a professional maker. This includes my topics of running your own business or taking on freelance or contract work, working full time as a creative professional, creating your own projects, staying motivated, and that everyday challenge of the work and life balance.
One of the things that I have struggled the most with as a creative freelancer is setting boundaries between myself and my work. When I first got started with my photography business after undergrad, I was also working a food service job as a manager full-time where I had odd, irregular hours. With this variable schedule, I worked my freelance work around the demands of my full-time position. I'd stay up late, wake up early, be off random weekdays but have to work weekends (which is a pain when most of your clients work the standard set hours of 9-5, Monday through Friday). My main source for clientele was Facebook, so I spent most of my time maintaining my social media presence. I was writing emails, blogging, and posting on my business page at weird hours, often far after midnight. This created a lot of problems.
The main problem I had even though I didn't have a set schedule I couldn't help, was that I didn't give myself any business hour restrictions with my clients. I'd come home from a closing shift and have emails from brides that I missed while I was at work and I'd answer them later that night, and they'd learn to expect that. What I should have done is waited until the next morning, as I feel it is completely reasonable to allow 24 hours between contacts. Sure, email your clients back as soon as you can and as often as you can, but it is okay to allow yourself to "clock out" for the day and just have time to yourself. Creating that separation is much better for your mental sanity, and it will help others respect your very valuable time. My goal right now is to have a social media and email correspondence cutoff of 9pm. Frankly, I'm working on an 8pm cutoff time.
Another restriction I've REALLY had to work on and didn't nip in the bud until recently is defining which forms of communication are for professional contact. So many forms of social media are right at our finger tips these days, and that practically puts no degree of separation between the creatives and the clients. Facebook messages are wonderfully convenient, but I've definitely been trying to go to bed for the night and have an anxious bride who is up late planning (ladies, I get it, if I have stuff I'm worried about on my mind....my anxiety is through the roof and I cannot sleep) message me asking me questions. I was always happy to answer, but embarrassingly enough I've fallen asleep or lost sleep through late-night conversations or their expecting an instant reply. I'm still guilty of corresponding through Facebook chat here and there, but I make every effort to move that correspondence to email as soon as I can. The upside to this is that email is a much more professional platform, and keeping record of business inquiries and correspondences can help keep track of information between you and your client better (and for legal reasons this is better too). I understand being laid-back and fun with your clients, but there are ways to balance that and still be professional.
Since I've started marketing myself as an independent artist rather than a boutique lifestyle and wedding photography business, I've brought a lot more of my personality to the branding. I feel more like myself and honest with my work. But can you be TOO personal in your business? OF COURSE! I use the dog as clickbait all the time (besides, he's adorable) You can have funny tweets and fun pictures from your life on your Instagram feed that your clients can relate to and get to know you better through. It's hard to think of one example of where you could cross the line, but when you have the question in your mind: Is it weird to post that? You probably shouldn't. Sharing aspects of your personal life is fine, and anyone has the right to share as much as they want, but keep in mind the consequences that could occur by putting something online for all to see. It's fine to post a photo of that gorgeously handcrafted, photogenic drink out on the patio for happy hour. A few drinks in, though, and you may want to think twice before going on Facebook. ;-)
Naturally, everyone's business is different and your rules will vary from mine. It's important to set rules and boundaries for yourself and your clients. This way, you can balance your work with "you time" as well as gain respect from your clients. In turn, you are giving them respect for respecting their time as you'd like them to respect theirs.
By conducting yourself like an adult and a professional online as much as possible, you will gain respect from your followers and friends and family. You will be taken more seriously as a creative and that will help the functionality, growth, and profit of your business.
Take this for what you will, we all have things to work on.
Cheers,
xx emily
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