How to Write a Want Ad That Attracts the Perfect Assistant
Assistants can’t do a good job if they don’t know what’s expected of them. The onus is on you, the employer, to get super clear on the person you want and need to help your art career grow. You won’t get the right person until you’re certain what you want from them. Use this outline to write an ad that helps you attract the perfect assistant.
Who Could Help You in Your Business? (Curious Monday)
Artists tell me there is too much work to be the creative director, CEO, chief marketer, and social media manager of their businesses.
Soooooo …
If you could wave a magic wand and have help in your art business, who would you hire?
What would their responsibilities be?
Would they help you in the office or in your studio?
Is it a single person? Or multiple people?
Do they need to work in your space or can they work virtually?
Since you’ll never get help until you define the parameters of the job, let’s start with those questions.
Multiply Your Content by Repeating Yourself
You sweat over your bio and artist statement.
You make a heroic effort to create interesting content for social media.
You work tirelessly to craft a decent artist talk that will engage an audience.
You curse at the person who told you that it was easy to use iMovie as you grit your teeth through the process of producing your first video.
You meet your deadlines for newsletters and blog posts because, ahem, somebody said you should. (Okay, maybe you didn’t meet the deadlines, but they did go out. You get points for that.)
You Are a Word Collector
You didn’t know it, but if you’re doing even a few of the things I mentioned above, you are a word collector.
Don’t worry! Being a word collector doesn’t entail heavy responsibilities. Nor is it likely that your word collection will make it to the auction block one day.
But that doesn’t mean your collection isn’t valuable. It is! I wonder if you know just how valuable.
If you’re like a lot of artists, you have all of these words that are probably being used only one time.
That’s a shame.
There is so much more you can do with your collection of words.
Entrepreneurs R Us (Curious Monday)
The world loves labels. And, yet, many artists would walk a mile out of the way to avoid a label.
Just for fun, though, try on the label “entrepreneur.”
I am an entrepreneur.
I think you, too, are an entrepreneur, but I’m not sure what you think about that word. Let’s find out.
Are You An Entrepreneur?
Without getting into the official definition of the word, do you relate to the word “entrepreneur”?
What comes up for you if I called you an artist-entrepreneur?
Do you describe yourself as an entrepreneur?
What would it take for you to feel more like an entrepreneur? Is that desirable?
Do you buy products, classes, books, and programs for entrepreneurs?
Can’t wait to hear what you have to say. Just leave a comment below.
Your Weekly Work Rhythm (Curious Monday)
Some time ago, I learned to block out days for no scheduled calls or appointments.
These “free days” are rarely free, but they allow big chunks of time for tasks such as writing and planning. They are usually Mondays and Fridays, which means my Tuesday-Thursday calendar is pretty jam-packed.
I prefer afternoon client calls to morning client calls so that I can catch up with my team in the mornings.
I leave Monday mornings for recombobulating after the weekend, and Fridays for writing and art-viewing.
How about you?
How do you organize your week for maximum productivity and inspiration in the office and studio?
4 Steps for Saving Money on Your Artist Website
Ready for a new website?
Yes, you could do it yourself by using any of the template sites available. But when you take the step to have a site thoroughly customized to your branding and goals, there are things you can do to lower your monetary investment.
Designers can’t pull together a design from nothing. They need you to do your part.
When you do this, you will save money and have a more harmonious relationship with your designer. Here are four steps to get you started.
Step 1: Research
Look at other artist sites. When you find one you like, deconstruct it to figure out why you’re drawn to it.
When you’re on a site that you find attractive, is it because of …
– Colors?
– Font (styles and sizes)?
– Navigation?
– Layout of pages?
– Text/stories?
– Image sizes?
Also, know which features you want on your site. Do you want a blog? An eCommerce platform? Email sign-up?
You should also be researching your designer in this phase.
