What Do You Do for a Living?

WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING?

Seems to be a pretty straight-forward and simple question, right? 

WRONG!

This question has become one of the most dreaded questions I get asked lately. I always seem to have a different answer every time. 

Here are a handful of answers I've given:

1. I used to teach and now I work from home as a graphic designer.

2. I do a little bit of everything: illustration, graphic design, web/blog design, and teaching materials. 

3. I am a digital illustrator.

4. I'm an artist.

5. I create commercial use clipart on Teachers Pay Teachers.

6. Ignore the question and ask the same one back. 

And now, I will explain why all of these answers pose possible confusion or problems in a normal conversation...

1. This first answer is quite bad because it implies too many negatives. This answer could imply that teaching was bad, being a graphic designer is "HO HUM", and/or that I used to teach technology or something related to graphic design (which I did not).  This answer also makes it difficult for most people to understand what I actually do because most have no clue what a graphic designer actually does. 

2. This one is obvious.. as it applies that I am unfocused on any one thing in particular.

3. If I answer with this one people excitedly ask if I work for Disney... which I do not... and then I feel like I failed as an artist somehow when their excitement dissipates to a low-pitched, "oh". You know...the awkward and a bit disappointed that I'm a nobody, "oh". 

4. One of the most difficult sentences to leave my mouth... "I am an artist". Why? Because people immediately pay closer attention to my clothes, my hands and my BEHAVIOR... as though waiting for me to break out in song, stop to roll in the grass and sniff a flower (which I occasionally will do) or frame everything I see with my thumbs and index fingers  - as though looking for something aesthetically pleasing to re-create on canvas. The truth is that most people assume that I paint on canvas in a studio if I say I'm an artist. I do love painting, but I don't paint with tangible paints as often as I'd like to anymore. 

5. Most will respond with, "hmmm..??" But what they're thinking or what I believe they are thinking is...
"So... you create low quality cartoon art for people to make digital products to sell online"

In the art world, making clipart is often frowned upon because some believe it devalues the work and cost of contracted illustrators. The latest issue of The Graphic Artists Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines (link below), had this to say about artists choosing to sell clipart:

"Some illustrators fear that the release of many rights-free images at low fees will flood the market with low-priced images, discouraging art buyers from purchasing original work at more desirable rates" (p 112)

The opinion of clipart is that there is too much out there and far too many people calling themselves "artists" are copying or buying resale clipart to manipulate and sell in order to make a quick profit.

Chapter 5 goes on to state that art buyers choosing to work with or buy from graphic designers using resale art "lose the experience of working with a knowledgeable and creative illustrator who can create new artwork custom-made to specifically meet their needs" (p.112-13)

I am torn on my opinion about the statement above because I have to disagree in regards to my own art and the clipart I make available. I consider myself to be knowledgeable and creative and I ALWAYS create new and custom made graphics for the clipart I sell as well as in the custom design work I offer. I know there is more and more art being offered online now, which makes it difficult for buyers to trust the images and people they are buying form, but I can only speak for myself when I say that I truly enjoy creating clipart and seeing it used to create amazing resources, crafts, and teaching products. I get so excited whenever I see my clipart in a really great product or resource...

There have been times when I have given a quote for illustration work and every once in a while I get an email back with a reply like this one.... 

"Oh.. I had no idea.. I think I will have to wait a little longer or look for some clipart for now."

In the beginning, that type of answer would really get me down. Now... I just thank my lucky stars that I will not be working with someone who does not value my work. I often wonder whether or not creating custom graphics to use as clipart will ultimately harm me as an artist, but as a former teacher, I can't help but want to get my art used by teachers in classrooms to help students find joy in learning.  I struggle with this one quite a bit.  I could probably write an entire post about this issue, but I will refrain for now... you're welcome!

and lastly...

#6. I rarely get away with using avoidance, but it is nice when I do..haha

As a former teacher, I will always consider myself a teacher. Although I do not teach in a traditional sense, I continue to teach and share skills and knowledge I have learned. I love to learn and I will never stop "being a teacher". As an artist, I dabble in a lot of different things and I love doing and learning new things. How can I possibly pin-point any ONE of my skills and permanently label myself with that one thing as my profession?

I am an avid reader and I currently LOVE reading the 99U business series. They are small books filled with advice, information, quotes, and tips from a variety of professionals that help get me thinking about my own business and motivate me to do my very best. One bit of advice that inspired this dilemma stated that I should be able to sum up what I do into one sentence. ONE sentence, people!! ONE!

After doing a LOT of thinking and toying around with several ideas on how I will answer this in the future, I finally came up with what I will now use to answer this question that will both sum up what I do in one sentence until I can really figure out what it is that I do for a living...in one sentence...

Do any of you who have gone from teaching to a full-time online business, struggle answering this question as well? I would love to know how you choose to answer this and please feel free to use my poster if you wish to..haha

TpT Feature News, H-E-L-L-O Business Planner & a Giveaway!!!

Thank you to all of you who were as excited as I was this weekend about my TpT feature!! You all are amazing and I can't tell you how blessed I felt from all of your messages! I also want to thank my FB Wally group for helping me pic out a photo to use... This was was the winner and I am glad I used it. I seriously need to have professional photos taken, because getting just this one picture took me several hours!! I did not have time to edit the photo and chose to use it as is... blemishes and freckles in all. I figured I'd post what I actually look like. This way, if you ever see me in person, you aren't shocked.. haha!!

I love that we can all celebrate each other's successes and triumphs! Being featured was such a special treat and no one in my house could understand my excitement..haha  I was thankful to have you all to celebrate with me!!

That's ME (below)!! When I initially got the email I was asked to write a brief intro on the products I was featuring; however, I had no idea that would end up under my name.. I wish I had written something more clever about myself.. hahaha....

I believe I initially announced that I would be creating a business planner about 6 months ago....
This is how the project began... in my SMASH book and just a bunch of ideas coming together...

I did not give up and it is FINALLY here!! I already printed mine out and have been putting it to good use!

Let me just spend a little time showing you what I have included in this planner and how I put mine together...

What's Included:
Directions and Terms of Use
Five cover page styles to choose from
Section Divider Pages – Choose to organize your planner sections by month, by category or create your very own sections using the pre-made blank divider pages provided in your download.
Accounts & Password log in three styles
12 Month Calendar Spread pages
Wide Calendar Pages in three styles; including quarter sized printable pages
Birthday Calendar
Contact Pages
Goals
Monthly Blog Post Planner
Weekly Blog Post Planner
Single Blog Post Planner
Daily Schedule Pages in 3 styles
Time Tracker/ Hours Worked Log
14 Fun Note Pages
Product Listing Log
Product Planner: Teaching Resource Template
Product Planner: Clipart Set Template
Product Planner: Custom Blog Design Template
Sales & Promotions Log in 3 styles
Monthly/Weekly Blog Stats and Record Overview Sheets
Monthly Pinterest Board Stats
Google Adsense Stats and Earnings tracker
Shop Stats Tracker in 3 styles
Weekly Planning and Scheduling
Yearly Snapshot in two styles
Daily Ledger
Daily Sales Tracker
Income & Expense Tracker and Report
Monthly Bills
12 Month Profit Report
Recurring Business Expense Log
Weekly Income & Expense Report
And MORE!!!

Once you purchase the planner, you will download a zipped file containing over 200 custom pages to play with!!

Save your file and unzip or extract the files. Once you extract the files, your folders should look a little something like this...minus the background striped.

Spend some time looking through the folders and choosing the pages and page styles that will work best for you, then decide how you will want to organize those pages. For instance, if you click on the NOTES folder, you will see 12 separate PDF files. Each file is a separate note page style. Choose the one that fits your personality.. or print a few pages of each one..

That's what makes this planner so unique... you can choose the pages and styles that you like, organize and print them in any order and then assemble your planner to use!! It does take some time to organize and print the pages; however, I believe you will be just as happy as I am once you have it all prepared.

Here are a few pics of my Planner coming together...

I chose to use my handy dandy binding machine!! I have the Fellows Star 150, which I absolutely LOVE!! It does not include directions; however, it is pretty basic and you can always email me if you can't figure out how to use the binding machine.

I printed out my cover page and my dividers using bright white cardstock paper, which has worked out quite nicely. I also

I also used the Fellows clear binding covers as the first and last pages of each of my sections. I chose to bind my planner sections separately, so I can just use the section I need when I need it... and not have a giant binder with me at all times.

I am not using my Amazon affiliate link for these items. I am sharing them with you, so you can see exactly what I used to put my planner together.

If you will be using a 3-ring binder, Shoplet has some great label tabs dividers that would be great for this project. I recently got a couple of free packs to try out, but I used them for the kids for school because I chose to use the binding machine for this project. I opted out for the Fellows blank divider tabs that come without hole punches.

Here are the two from Shoplet that I had the honor of using for the kids for school. The stickers that come with the sets are super easy to use with the computer and easy to attach as well.

 

They also have a video to show you how to apply the tabs to the dividers. They have clear and colored tabs and both are great quality and super easy to use. This way, you can divide your sections using clean dividers and tabs with cute fonts!! ha!!


Here is pic of my mess planner coming together in the living room!! I am super picky and it took me a bit longer to figure out how I wanted to organize all of my pages in a way that would work best for everyday use. Some of the info on the pages is repetitive info in different sections, so I wanted to make sure I could record the stats and earnings in one section and then transfer that data to the other binder at the end of each week. This works best for my own situation and what I do because my income changes daily and I get new requests on a daily basis. I never have a way to truly set a budget for the month; however, that is one of my goals for this year... to get to a point in my business where I can plan out a monthly budget and start putting money in savings again. This has been one of my biggest challenges being self-employed... that and TAXES!!! I won't even get started on how terrible I am trying to organize my tax info.

When all of the pages were printed and bound, I ended up with 7 individual binders. I could have probably broken them easily into 10, but I was getting tired.... haha!!

The one with the cover photo is my business finances binder.. and the thickest binder of the bunch.
You could even choose to use the monthly dividers and organize a smaller binder for each month with enough prints to cover everything for one entire month. I think I might actually do this next time or maybe even for next month. I think having one binder per month will make it much easier for me to organize and find the information I need when I need it, but for now, this will do just fine!!

Here is an example of how I can use the monthly dividers to organize my information by month. I can choose to do it in two styles.. haha. Personally, I like the white with the colored text the best... although, the colored dividers with white text does print quite nicely. One thing you can count on from me is that I make sure to test print everything before offering it as a product. There was a lot of trial and error getting this planner just right!!

Here are the options by topic

I also included blank dividers in an editable PDF template...and in every color. I will be adding a PowerPoint version to make it easier for all of you to edit the text and add font styles that fit your own style and personality. 

Here is an example of how what I included for my daily schedule and how I printed and organized the pages to meet my needs.

Below is an image of the section divider. I placed my Daily Schedule pages within my Monthly Planner, which has worked out nicely so far. 

I sectioned out my daily schedule week by week for one month. At the beginning of each weekly section, I have the weekly planner page at the top. This way, I can set my own personal goals and plan for the week ahead. I used the Weekly planner with the titles pre-filled, but I did include a version without the pre-typed titles. This way, you can add whatever is important for you each week. 

Turn the page.... I placed my hours log on the left hand side and my Daily Schedule page on the right hand side. Next time, I will definitely switch this around. I am left handed and I prefer to work from left to right.. I think the more I use the planner, the better I can organize it to meet my needs... which is what makes this planner so awesome! I did a lot of research before and during the process of putting this planner together and one thing I really struggled with was figuring out how I was going to organize the pages within the file in a way that would work for everyone. The only solution to this was to create a separate PDF for each custom page and allow all of you to choose how to organize and print out your pages. 

Here is the Hours log page that you can see a glimpse of in the image above, but it is taken on the right side to make it easier for you to see up close...

One thing that has been very important to me while trying to improve my time management and raise my income level has been to keep track of my hours. This is SOOOO important to do. When I started keeping better track of my hours, I began to really sort through and wean out the things that wasted time. It also helps me to price my products effectively. I want to offer my products at an affordable price, but it is also my responsibility as a business owner to make sure that I am actually making a profit from the projects I invest my time in. I believe that this will continue to improve as I make staying organized a daily habit.

Now... I have a treat for ALL of you!! I am going to offer my Hello Planner for free to ONE lucky follower!! All you need to do to enter is to become a fan on Facebook and leave a comment below telling me why you desperately need to win the new planner!! The Raffle will close on Friday at midnight and the winner will be announced on Saturday.. right here and on my Facebook fanpage!!

I will keep the planner discounted until Wednesday at midnight for those of you who want to save 50% off now.

Thank you so much for your support, encouragement and your knowledge. I love that I can share my knowledge and learn form all of you as well!!

ALSO.... My monthly clipart freebie for August will be published next week.

Get your very own Hello Planner now for 50% off... Use the links below

My Website
Teachers Pay Teachers Shop



a Rafflecopter giveaway





Use Hashtag #helloplanner if you want to share how you put your planner together... I would love to see how you are all using it as well..

Future Additions to the planner (already in the works)...

* Making every page editable
* Adding lesson planning pages
*Adding tax info
*Adding resource tutorials for Designers

Just saw a post from Suzanne @

and she printed her planner out and placed it in a 3-ring binder!! Head on over to see how she is using her new planner! What a sweetheart!! She totally made my day!! Click HERE for the direct link to the post.