Now is the time.

I know I’m sticking my neck out, but I believe now is the time to prepare for an upswing in our economy. 

The players that are proactive now, will win later.

Does this mean all the bad news is over? NO.  Are we at the absolute bottom?  I have no idea. 

But, I do know when the fear is greatest the bottom occurs.  Last week offered the greatest amount of fear our country and economy has seen in a long time.

Over the next three, six, eight months we will be hearing about the results of such fear. Such as rising unemployment rates.

But, the unknown will have been lifted and growth will occur.  Fast growth? Slow growth? We can only speculate.  But, the time to prepare is still now. 

How do you prepare?

First be smart.  Nothing will happen overnight, so, plan for the long term.  If you need to downsize your space to use or preserve capital, do it.

Advertise now.  Test and explore different advertising avenues.  Both traditional and new media are offering discounts.  If you do a little less than break even or better (you decide your threshold) than increase those areas of promotion and let go of what is not working.  Even if it has worked in the past.

Your competition is going to be conservative for a while. This is the opportunity to build your personal brand and gain market share or recognition.  This will pay dividends when the economy starts to grow again.

Increase your networking and build alliances that will strengthen your business for the short and long term.   Don’t hide.  Become even more involved in your community to help build greater name recognition.

Traditionally business people, including artists, become very conservative during downturns.  But, this is the time to be proactive.  Not foolish.  Smartly proactive.  You will not be disappointed a year from now. 

Rosh

I have a problem. It’s a problem many freelance people and artists have, consistent income.

Don’t get me wrong, I have lots of clients and good paying assignments. I am a “Prosperous Artist”. Unfortunately, I’m very inconsistent about invoicing my clients.

Many customers are invoiced as part of my workflow. This is especially true of my magazine clients, they are often emailed an invoice along with my assignments. That brings me to my next issue, I’m not always consistent in processing my images and completing orders quickly (unless a deadline requires it). I tent to batch my work.

After a few days of photography assignments I will then spend an evening processing my images. On another day I’ll complete the packaging and invoicing. Maybe one night I’ll just edit or work on my marketing. Again, batching activities.

As far as time management is concerned, this is a good thing. But, when it comes to consistent checks reaching my mailbox, it can be fest or famine. Most of my clients pay in about 30 days. So, if I’m very busy shooting, with little office time, it might take days before I get to the process of invoicing my clients and days again before the next round. The result, gaps. Days and even weeks without a check have occurred.

So, I’ve started a new program. An invoice a day. Every day, I must complete a project that will allow me to invoice a client. Every day, five days a week.

I’ve been on the program for about two weeks and I’m liking it. It forces me to finish projects that don’t have tight deadlines; so I can get an invoice out for that day. As a result, I’m serving my clients even better.

Again, I get very busy and many days, like today, I had three invoices, yesterday was one and the day before was two. I’m feeling good about this process. There are lots of side benefits. Everyone’s business is different. Maybe for you it would be five invoices a day, a painting a day, chapter a day or investing a dollar a day. The idea is to build some consistency in an inconsistent life that will help even out your business and cash flow.

Rosh