If you consider yourself a content creator, then you’re most likely multitasking between projects. Most content creators are creating for the web, but they alternate between the online world and the physical world. For you, that means you juggle some things in your brain and put your efforts toward a multi-world system.
What I mean by multi-world is that you are constantly working to get your content distributed in in the physical world and the online world.
Bringing those worlds together under your system, the process you work in, is crucial. I see friends who are creating comics, films, photography, writing, podcasting…all of these amazing people work independently. We all have to raise our content above the noise that is the world wide web (www), and it’s tough. Content creators, artists and filmmakers I personally know inspire me everyday.
There are three key things content creators juggle with on a daily basis.
First, creating content in multiple formats. Second, promoting that content. Third, leveraging success with popularity versus revenue. The latter being the hardest to achieve.
I have experience in video production and worked for years freelancing and managing my time with my work and my personal life. The pandemic was not a big shift for me. But it was when it came to what I did in the physical world. One example was our in-person film festival.
My own experience involves working on short and feature films, graphic design, writing and publication editor, communications coordinator, etc. When people talk about setting goals, we all have our perception of what that is. Marketing and sales people set goals. Businesses set goals, in sports and physical training, people set goals. But what about content creators?
For us, I believe we should not set “goals” in the traditional manner. We need to, instead, drive a stake into a reasonable place beyond right now and set deadlines, instead.
I know this is tough for some to wrap their heads around. I’m trying to say that setting goals and setting deadlines are connected, but in our every day efforts, they are two separate frames of mind.
We set a goal for what our ultimate success looks like. But we set deadlines that we learn to meet. If we don’t meet our deadline, we fail those who depended on us. Including failing ourselves.
Setting three goals should be the maximum, not the minimum, as we learned from many gurus of the past. First, is the goal you set long term. Second, are two venues to get there. Visualize the letter “Y” upside down.
For me, I set deadlines around my goals. My goals stay fixed on the horizon. But my deadlines are static and don’t shift. If I don’t reach my deadline, I miss an opportunity to reach my goal. It takes practice. You need to be realistic with what you can and cannot achieve within a specific time frame. That comes with experience. If you have been working on projects for a while, you already know your limits.
You begin by setting your deadlines without publicly announcing it. You tell yourself that reaching your deadline is crucial to achieve your goals. Because if you can’t meet deadlines you set, your goals begin to fade. I truly believe this.
Goals in the distance can be altered, and they should, as time and circumstances like a pandemic can change how things work. Altering your goal to meet the new demands of your industry is smart.
Once you meet your personal deadlines with your projects, you have to plunge into the real world and set deadlines outside of personal deadlines. When you work as a freelancer, you don’t tell your client, “I’ll try.” You tell your client, confidently, “I can do that.” Remember that in order to reach your goals, you are your own client.
What’s your strategy for meeting your goals and deadlines as a content creator?
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Do you set goals or deadlines?
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Setting goals is not feasible for content creators. Setting deadlines is.
If you consider yourself a content creator, then you’re most likely multitasking between projects. Most content creators are creating for the web, but they alternate between the online world and the physical world. For you, that means you juggle some things in your brain and put your efforts toward a multi-world system.
What I mean by multi-world is that you are constantly working to get your content distributed in in the physical world and the online world.
Bringing those worlds together under your system, the process you work in, is crucial. I see friends who are creating comics, films, photography, writing, podcasting…all of these amazing people work independently. We all have to raise our content above the noise that is the world wide web (www), and it’s tough. Content creators, artists and filmmakers I personally know inspire me everyday.
There are three key things content creators juggle with on a daily basis.
First, creating content in multiple formats. Second, promoting that content. Third, leveraging success with popularity versus revenue. The latter being the hardest to achieve.
I have experience in video production and worked for years freelancing and managing my time with my work and my personal life. The pandemic was not a big shift for me. But it was when it came to what I did in the physical world. One example was our in-person film festival.
My own experience involves working on short and feature films, graphic design, writing and publication editor, communications coordinator, etc. When people talk about setting goals, we all have our perception of what that is. Marketing and sales people set goals. Businesses set goals, in sports and physical training, people set goals. But what about content creators?
For us, I believe we should not set “goals” in the traditional manner. We need to, instead, drive a stake into a reasonable place beyond right now and set deadlines, instead.
I know this is tough for some to wrap their heads around. I’m trying to say that setting goals and setting deadlines are connected, but in our every day efforts, they are two separate frames of mind.
We set a goal for what our ultimate success looks like. But we set deadlines that we learn to meet. If we don’t meet our deadline, we fail those who depended on us. Including failing ourselves.
Setting three goals should be the maximum, not the minimum, as we learned from many gurus of the past. First, is the goal you set long term. Second, are two venues to get there. Visualize the letter “Y” upside down.
For me, I set deadlines around my goals. My goals stay fixed on the horizon. But my deadlines are static and don’t shift. If I don’t reach my deadline, I miss an opportunity to reach my goal. It takes practice. You need to be realistic with what you can and cannot achieve within a specific time frame. That comes with experience. If you have been working on projects for a while, you already know your limits.
You begin by setting your deadlines without publicly announcing it. You tell yourself that reaching your deadline is crucial to achieve your goals. Because if you can’t meet deadlines you set, your goals begin to fade. I truly believe this.
Goals in the distance can be altered, and they should, as time and circumstances like a pandemic can change how things work. Altering your goal to meet the new demands of your industry is smart.
Once you meet your personal deadlines with your projects, you have to plunge into the real world and set deadlines outside of personal deadlines. When you work as a freelancer, you don’t tell your client, “I’ll try.” You tell your client, confidently, “I can do that.” Remember that in order to reach your goals, you are your own client.
What’s your strategy for meeting your goals and deadlines as a content creator?
Thanks for reading Smartphone Filmmaking! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
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