Unemployment Diaries Pt II: Setting Goals!

It’s been one week since I updated you with the news that I’m no longer employed and am now fully reliant on the income I bring in with my art. I wish I could say that money is no longer a concern, but it still very much is. Today, I’d like to share some of the goals I’ve set and the plans I’m putting into place to keep myself afloat. (And who knows? In time, maybe this side hustle will finally take center stage!)

Goal Number One: Reach a new Patreon milestone

Patreon is what currently brings in the most revenue for me, so it makes for an obvious first goal. For starters, I need to play catch up on what I’m already offering. I   unfortunately been known to fall off on sending out physical rewards, and it is rare that I post anything besides early updates. That simply won’t do! So with my newfound time in the day, I’m going to get back on track with all of the offerings I’ve been promising.

But even when I’ve managed to be on top of my current rewards lineup, I haven’t broken a new record in years. Which was fine when Patreon acted as a supplemental income, but I unfortunately need more from her now. Good news though: I have more time to add more rewards to attract more patrons! And while things like monthly sketchbook PDFs will add a nice incentive to pledge an easy $2 a month, what I’m really banking on is weekly Thirsty Thursday updates for $10 a month. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 30+ years, it’s that sex sells and adding the acronym NSFW to any tier immediately boosts the number of pledges.

Goal Number Two: Create New Revenue Streams

I currently enjoy a pretty stable income from Patreon and the websites where I host my webcomic. (Ad revenue isn’t usually much, but I’ll never turn it down!) But it never hurts to diversify one’s portfolio. One: it increases your income. Big win! Two: if one revenue stream goes away, you don’t have to hit the panic button. (For example, I lost my biweekly paychecks, but not my entire income. This would have been a catastrophe if I wasn’t already freelancing.)

So here’s what I’ve done in the last week: I revamped my shop and came up with a bunch of new products to offer. I opened an Etsy shop. I carved my first block print and tested it out on an old shirt. (Sunkissed apparel line, anyone?) I’m filming most of what I do and getting lots of practice talking to the camera by posting daily reels to Instagram. I dusted off my Youtube account. I made a creator account on Spotify.

Now look, I don’t expect all of these projects to take off right away. I don’t even plan on all of them to succeed. (I know next to nothing about hosting a podcast and have no idea what I could possibly talk about for that long.) But you miss 100% of the opportunities you don’t take, so I’m shooting my shot! Who knows what I’ll have fun with or where I’ll find a good audience. I could surprise myself and become obsessed with podcasting. (But I probably won’t.)

The main reason I’m throwing as many darts as I am is simply because I have the time. Besides sending out some job applications or scheduling a few interviews, I’m very much available right now. It’s something I’m trying to take full advantage of.

Goal Number Three: Go Viral!

This is the silliest goal I’ve set for myself, especially when you consider the fact that virality on the internet does not equal having financial stability. Going viral is also usually a matter of dumb luck, so it’s probably more fair to say my goal is to grow my online audience. Because having more eyes on my work never hurts! To acheive this, I’ve been posting consistently, figuring out what people tend to like, and engaging with other artists. (It is a social network after all, and it really does help you to help others out when you can.) I’m not where I want to be yet, but I’m making progress!

Making It Happen

I can write about what I want to happen all I want, but that means nothing unless I actually do something about it. These last couple of weeks were really geared towards settling into a new routine and setting myself up for future success. Now it’s time to take action steps towards that success.

I did share some of the things I got started on, but these projects are still very much in the beginner stage. I still need to create and promote the new products, add items to my Etsy shop, post something on Youtube. The momentum is there though, and I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve done so far and how much I’ve already learned. It makes me really excited to touch base again with next week’s progress report!