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Motion Hatch: Helping Motion Designers Do Better Business


Jul 7, 2020

Freelance life can go from feast to famine in an instant. As a Motion Designer, it can be easy to get discouraged when your business is down. Plus, even when you have a project, there’s no guarantee that you’ll have work waiting when it’s done. That’s why I love consistent clients.

In this solo episode, I want to talk to you about what it takes to land clients that keep coming back to you. To be successful in Motion Design you should regularly be engaging in client outreach. It may not be your favorite part of the job, but it’s critical to your long-term success and sanity. 

 

Maker Time vs Manager Time

In the episode, I talk about two distinct ways to structure your work time, “maker” time and “manager” time.

  • Maker Time - Large blocks of time (~4 Hours) used to focus on creative work. 
  • Manager Time - Smaller blocks of time (<1 Hour) dedicated to doing administrative tasks like accounting, client outreach, email, etc.

As artists, it can be easy to focus your full attention on ‘Maker Time’. After all, you didn’t get into Motion Design because you like accounting. However, by not engaging with potential clients at all times, you risk finding yourself without work. The ups and downs of freelance life can catch you in a cycle of instability. Creating a system to generate client leads will break you out of this cycle.

It’s important for you to identify tasks that involve creating and tasks that involve managing your business.

Mornings for Creative, Afternoons for Business

By separating “maker” tasks and “manager” tasks into distinct blocks of time, you can ensure that one won’t intrude on the other. Consequently, you’ll have more time to devote to client outreach that won’t disrupt your creative process. I personally like to keep my mornings open to maker time and my afternoons dedicated to manager time.

 

In This Episode:

  • How to Stay in Touch with Potential Clients Even When You’re Busy
  • How to Avoid Getting Stuck in a Cycle of Too Much and Not Enough Work
  • How to Do Client Outreach Even When You’re Busy
  • How to Organize Your Day Around “Manager” Tasks and Maker Tasks

 

Quotes

“We’ve become the motion designer, the marketer, the producer, the project manager, the creative director, and maybe even the accountant.”  [7:22]

“Have a regular block of time where you sit down and you put your manager hat on and do your manager tasks.” [8:34]

“Consistent effort leads to consistent results. That means consistent outreach will lead to consistent inquiries which will lead to consistent clients.” [10:25]

 

Links

Register for the free Motion Hatch online master class

“Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule” - by Paul Graham