Business Struggles & Navigating the Social Media Jungle
Backup your backups.
(then back it up again)
Not doing this cost me $600.
In December my external photography hard drive stopped working. It contains all of my photos (well most) and to be honest, my hard drive storage needs to be more organized. My external drives were once sorted by year. It was chaotic on the inside but each one was full of video, photos, and files from each year.
After this last failure, I believe I will be investing in an external drive system that stays plugged into my desktop. Something that does not travel but becomes “my cloud”. The scary aspect of that, what if that breaks? What if that fails? If you’ve experienced this, what system did you go with?
The biggest benefit of negatives, while not currently with me. Are safe. They can’t fail, they can however curl if not properly fixed or cared for. Mine have always remained in an archival quality folder and sleeves. They are tucked away at a friend's storage unit until I can get to LA again, pick it up, and bring it back to Ohio. I should just fly there, visit friends rent a car, and drive it all back. Hmm… That just may happen. I’ll wait however until the rainy season is over in LA. I need to go meet a new member of the world and hang with her parents.
This hard drive failure however panicked me. So many memories locked away with no access. I did everything that was recommended. Left if plugged in, because sometimes the drive has to rebuild the hierarchy. I tried disk utility, but the drive never showed up. Not even as an unclickable icon. Nothing. No sound of the internal system thinking/working. On the drive I have photos that back in 2004 were considered “large” and are now considered thumbnail-sized. Years of newspaper photographs I had captured. Vacations. Moments with friends — EVERYTHING. Thousands of photos, unedited, RAW, iPhone memories. Videos of Charlie, photos of my dad, my grandparents, and people that are and were important to me, could be lost.
I received an email from the company I used and they indicated everything could be saved. I’ll know when I get it back. While it was costly, I don’t think it mattered, I would have paid to get everything back. I did go with the less expensive option, which means it takes about 6 weeks to complete. Once it arrives back the unorganized mess will have to be dealt with in about 1 month when the new drive and files are shipped back to me.
The technology today is the equivalent of being handed a paper plane versus flying a commercial jet. It is vastly overwhelming and technology-driven. Many people are falling behind and quickly get lost and frustrated — ESPECIALLY when companies like Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Sony and more make updates to software and do not provide information on “how-to”.
This speed at which tech is changing is mind-blowing.
Are we moving too fast? Is tech advancing before the world or people are ready?
The struggle of art.
I’m finding myself in a situation, I’m unsure how to get out of. I know that to survive, I need to get craft shows booked 2x a month (minimum). I started this plan late last year. Taking my Etsy business into the world of craft fairs. Not the best time to start if you need to make money to pay bills. However, it’s a great time to see what people want (especially during the gifting season) and it allows you to fine-tune the items you craft, make, perfect, change, and widdle down the items that sell. It’s February and I don’t feel like I’ve done enough.
I also had to figure out my display setup at shows. I like white (blank) space. This is a term used by artists, newspaper designers, magazine editors, and anyone who needs to provide a visual representation of a product. Blank space or white space is needed. Overcrowding a 6-foot table, people will not engage, unless you are selling EXACTLY what they didn't know they wanted.
The show this weekend, I am sharing a space with my friend who is now also getting into crafting events. So we have a 12-foot space. She got a Cricut for Christmas and has been making items and learning the process. Since the bestie and I are now exploring this world, why not learn together?
My work days (which is Sunday through Sunday) days quickly slip away. I have a dog that adamantly lets me know at 5 pm, I need to be done working. I’m however never done working. I’ll have nights when I need a break, however for the most part, I am drawing, sketching, working on SEO, writing captions, researching, planning content, and shooting EVERYTHING. Getting orders made, packaged, and shipped. Burning the candle. I get burnout. I call it exhaustion.
My issue — my biggest issue. Socials.
I do love the creative process, I just wish that my content was actually seen by people who engage in content similar to mine, who like and comment. Who actively “double-tap”. I have a very small and dedicated fan base that I 1000% appreciate. If I were to believe Instagram, TT, and YouTube, the more you post, the more you are seen. No shit. That’s like telling someone, “can’t win the lottery if you don’t play”. However, when the algorithm does whatever it does and you look for hashtags that have under 10k, you produce a 7-second (or is it 5 seconds?) video that provides the attention span of a gnat-content that makes them somehow respond.
How does one handle that stress? How can one person, just succeed? There are only 24 hours in a day. The majority of it should be spent on creating but if I don’t share what I create, then I’m not seen. If I don’t make sure I spend hours doing keyword research, making sure I also include “b-roll”, and various angles, the must-have hero shot, oh and tell a story while also making sure I post it at the right time of day. There is a reason the majority of these that have success, are in their 20s. They have that kind of chaotic energy.
It’s exhausting. If I can’t even get my followers, people who said, yes I want to see what you are up to, to engage, how can I as an artist, succeed?
I’m also fed up with the idea that I as a person can not just have one social account. I tried eliminating the excess before. I closed accounts, changed the name, and started from scratch. I built a following based on travel, photography, and art. According to the big three, that needs to be separate accounts because, in their odd world, it’s 3 different things. It’s me however, I am one person who does all three. I am an artist, a photographer, and a traveler. These are all things that make up my life and I HATE the idea that I should keep them separate.
I think I’ve decided to cut off the excess for the last time. This means, combining everything. One place, where you find my art, my travels & my photography. I’m mentally banging my head on my desk.
Crap.
While my name is not that common, there is more than one Joy Newcomb in the world. My website, joynewcomb.com, will always be the main source of information, my portfolio of work, and where I focus my following, my social accounts can not have the same name. Despite the accounts are not even active! If only I knew what I know now.
I’ve been thinking about ways to make my life easier and I think this is it. This will prevent me from becoming so overwhelmed and stressed.
Now how do I do it?
Flip a switch? Can I merge my Instagram accounts? Man, that would be amazing. Just mash everyone into one place. I need to dig into this and figure out my best solution.
Here are my current socials:
Personal Page (limited to friends & family)
Wanderlust and Wit - Business Page
Seeking the Joy - Life Page
Seeking the Joy - life driven
Wanderlust and Wit - art business driven
Photography by Joy (pretty sure this needs to go)
TikTok
Seeking the Joy - life driven
Wanderlust and Wit - art-driven
YouTube
Seeking the Joy - currently posting shorts.
I have Pinterest, LinkedIn, and whatever Twitter now is, but I don’t really use them, not like the other platforms.
Welp…my brain hurts; off to research.
Have a great week and catch you next Tuesday.
