#15: Free Systems for Creatives: Work Smarter, Not Harder

In this exciting episode of "The Jeweler's View," host Courtney Gray dives into the topic of free systems for creatives, emphasizing the importance of working smarter, not harder. Courtney unpacks actionable strategies on how to simplify and streamline your creative business using free systems such as Google Calendar and Google Docs. She shares her personal experiences, discussing the transformative power of batching tasks and exploring the controversial yet powerful tool, ChatGPT, for creative efficiency. Tune in to learn how systems can save you time and energy, help you grow your creative business, and reignite your passion. Don't miss out on the challenge Courtney has for you at the end of the episode!

Transcript

Episode 15: Free Systems for Creatives: Work Smarter, Not Harder"

[00:00:00] Hey there, welcome back to the jeweler's view. I'm Courtney Gray. Today's topic is another juicy one. We're going to talk about free systems for creatives and how to work smarter, not harder, We've heard that saying, what the hell does it mean? Let's dive in today and see how we might implement systems that will help us and make things easier in the long run.

Because that's what it's all about, right? Ease, passion, joy. Let's try to get refocused on. Those key elements that keep us impassioned, So how do you simplify and streamline your creative business for ease and efficiency? Do you ever feel like you're constantly spinning your wheels, juggling orders, emails, social media?

But never feeling like you're getting ahead. I have been there. I am still there some days. The truth is creative businesses thrive on systems and the best part, many of the systems that we might need are free [00:01:00] and super simple to implement. Today, I'm going to walk you through the easiest, most effective systems you can use right now to streamline your workflow, free up time and actually start enjoying the creative process.

 And by the way, this is exactly the kind of strategy that I'm going to dive deeper with you in, inside my upcoming transformation course, how to transform your jewelry business, as well as a couple, many workshops that I'm putting together for you right now. So if you like today's episodes or any of my other episodes, I want you to stay tuned because I'm going to give you more ways to help simplify and scale without burning out.

 Today, what you'll learn is why systems are the foundation of a creative business. Simple, free systems that will save you time and energy, and how systems help you when you decide to hire, outsource, or grow your business. why do creatives need systems? Let me be honest with you.

Systems used to sound like a bad word to me. It felt [00:02:00] restrictive, like it would kill my creativity, my spontaneity. But the truth? Systems give you more freedom. Instead of scrambling to keep up all the time, you can actually spend more time in your zone of genius. Or your sweet spot, is how I like to learn it.

I didn't learn this alone. It took me years, and it took my first real team members, my amazing assistants, to drill this into me. I resisted at first, driving them absolutely nuts, I'm sure. But eventually, I realized that anything I do more than twice needs a system. ask yourself, do you rewrite the same email over and over, or at least portions of it are the same?

Do you spend too much time looking for files or links? Do you get overwhelmed trying to track orders or inquiries and keep track of all these things that come into our inbox? Let's fix this. so let's dig into a couple of things that I noticed a lot of creatives are not using yet. And these [00:03:00] are free.

They're simple, and you can use them today. You could start right now. The simplest one, and you may already be using this, so bear with me if you are, Google Calendar. If you're not using a calendar, or Microsoft, or one of the calendars that are out there and automated already for you to use, a lot of them coordinate with your email that you're already using, especially Google Calendar.

If you have a Gmail, you have a Google Calendar. So go to the little pancake, at the top right and hit and see, you'll have Google Photos, you have all these great things that are a part of your Gmail account, including Google Calendar. and task management. So why do we need this?

This keeps you on track and prevents you from forgetting important deadlines and goal lines that you've set for your business. How does this work? You block off specific time slots for creative work. Emails and admin tasks. So here's a little tip. Set alerts and recurring tasks for things that you do regularly.

So [00:04:00] if Tuesdays you have to post on social media or you need to follow up with your clients that you're working with, maybe some custom design processes need touching base on, pop those in and make them recurring weekly. You can customize the recurring portion of that calendar. number two, Google Docs.

I know this sounds simple, but if you're not using Google Docs for more than just maybe creative brainstorming or if you're not using them at all, again, it's free. It's right there in your Gmail account. I used to type the same responses to clients over and over. I do a lot of custom design work and many of the questions that come up are the same, right?

Think about it. You need to know what color metal they want, what type of gemstone they need, are they repurposing any materials. There's all these things that are recurring. why not go ahead and make a template for this type of email that you can use again and again. Of course, we're going to customize each one and make it personal.

Put any personal notes or personal comments that you'd like to add to build that relationship with each [00:05:00] customer. But a lot of that content can just be copied and pasted over and over again. It'll also help you not forget things that you need to ask, like what's your budget? Big one, right? We'll get into that in another episode.

So google docs, you can use this for common questions, pricing guides, order processes, processes. it's all documented in there for you to access anytime. And guess what? This is going to be useful later when you start hiring or outsourcing, which we'll get into in a minute. So keep for all of these things, client emails, pricing guides, processing steps.

Another system I want you to think about implementing slowly over time and think about this, batching content and production. I have to do this. I have a podcast. I have content I put out weekly for you, trying to keep you motivated.

And I want to be there every week for you consistently and for myself to keep moving forward. Batching saves a ton of creative energy. [00:06:00] Instead of jumping between tasks, focus deeply on one thing at a time. Here's some examples. Write a week of Instagram posts in one sitting. I know I talk a lot about social media because I'm trying to learn it too.

edit multiple product photos at once. Say you're trying to take photos of your work and instead of trying to jump back and forth between creating a tangible piece of jewelry and jumping back to photography and then over to email, think about batching these things that you do repetitively together.

Again, it's going to save a ton of your creative energy, help you get more done efficiently and follow through and get everything all the way to the finish point. editing multiple product photos, writing a week of Instagram posts, or just examples. Do all your polishing and finishing in one session instead of piece by piece, right?

Set up a batch day each week where you group similar tasks. So if you're new to this whole batching idea, you might think about this. Monday is [00:07:00] batching day, or perhaps it's Friday evening, wherever you want to fit it into your schedule. set aside things that you could put into groups or segment into categories, just to make life a little easier and again, more efficient.

We love that word easy. Here's another one for you. If you're not using it yet, I'm hate to be the one to tell you it's time to get with the times, but chat GPT is here there's a lot of conflict I know and. Controversy about how it could be stepping on the toes of many people and their jobs And I totally get that but I'm inviting you to stay open minded and take a look at how it could help you in your creative business say you're not ready to hire somebody to write copy or Describe pieces of your work or help you come up with keywords for marketing You ChatGPT is a trainable robot that you can sit down and work with over time to train how to help you execute some of these simple, tedious tasks that I know creatives don't love to [00:08:00] pull themselves from the bench to do.

Y'all, this is a tool. It's a gift. I use it to brainstorm ideas, refine podcast outlines, and even speed up writing emails or social posts. I don't take the core of what I'm trying to say out of it, but I definitely use it as an organizational tool. And I would invite you to just start there. You can start with some simple props.

I'm not going to get too into chat GPT. There's tons of information out on AI, how it's revolutionizing how people work. efficiency that it brings to the table and all the things. Start simple. There's a free version you can check out. I quickly went to the paid version for 20 a month and use it daily, honestly.

For example, instead of staring at a blank screen with maybe a couple of thoughts, use ChatGPT to draft an email or summarize a long post so you're not stuck in that overthinking place. You always want to go back and tweak it and make it your own.

Again, it's not an end all be all, nothing [00:09:00] is. We still need your creative. energy in all things that you do and put out there. Ask specific questions to get better results. Like, what's a compelling way to describe my jewelry in one sentence? I'm going to tell you, I've used it and it definitely helps get the ball rolling and gets things moving in a forward motion when you feel stuck.

back to systems. How systems help when you grow. Even if you're a one person show right now, trust me, you'll thank yourself later for setting up these systems. Whether you hire a virtual assistant, outsource some of your admin work or collaborate with maybe a spouse or another maker, having a system means you don't have to do it all alone.

Thinking of hiring some help, a system now lets them step in later without you explaining everything manually every time. let's take some action. We're going to start small. Here's your challenge. Pick one system to implement this week. Maybe it's just [00:10:00] organizing your links I mentioned in the last episode or setting up a calendar reminder.

or batching your content one step at a time. And again, you're going to see massive changes, not right away, but over time. You'll have these things to go back on. I mentioned having a document last episode to my professional links, my social media handles, my website. Any taglines I want to add in, I can simply go back to this Excel sheet, copy it into each place that I needed or want to post or share some information.

try simple things. Again, let's recap those things that you do more than twice. Repeatedly, with outreach or connecting with clients, et cetera. Let's use it there. Start simple. I know you can come up with one thing that needs a system. just pick one thing and implement it this week.

Organizing your links, setting up a calendar reminder, or batching your content. I want you to DM [00:11:00] me on Instagram at Courtney Gray Arts, and tell me which system you're starting with. if you're loving these strategies, I want you to stay tuned. I'll be teaching all of this and more.

We're going to really dig in inside my upcoming online course for jewelry business owners. I'm going to send more details on that soon. If you're not getting my weekly emails, you're missing a whole other half of this. I'm sending one inspirational email to go with each podcast episode that I publish.

So be sure to email me and just reach out straight to hi at courtneygrayarts. com. I'll get you on the VIP list, send you huge discounts on anything that I'm offering, and keep you motivated all the time. each week, as you listen along here on this podcast at the Jewelers View. Don't forget, I'm over on YouTube now at the Jewelers View, and I will see you next week where we're going to dig in even deeper.

Until then, onward and upward.

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