Hi Emily,
I hear you! I've been an entrepreneur since I was little (I was always coming up with something to make or do and sell.) And naturally that followed me into my career choices as an adult. Most of my jobs have actually been helping others with their businesses. Someday I might make that a business of itself and not just a form of employment.
My businesses have always been on the side as hobbies, so I applaud you for making yours a means of income!
I definitely agree, the highs are high and the lows are low. The hardest part, I think, is that there is always something more you could be doing. Just like you probably do with your business, you may need to do with Steemit.
Plan your growth strategy.
How much time can you afford to spend on Steemit? Or to ask it differently... how much time do you need to spend on your business, and what is left for Steemit? Since you're in a creative industry, I realize this is tough because the time you've allotted to your design business may not always be when the idea strikes ;)
But that's where the beauty of working from home lies. When you realize you're not making the most of your "work hours" switch to Steemit. But give back those hours to your business later.
And set a goal for yourself. "Once I'm making $____ on Steemit or I reach this goal, then I can change the tradeoff." You can spend more time here and less on your business. Or you can hire an employee.
I'm inspired by your posts and the research you've done here! So please don't get discouraged! I don't have much time either. My goal is to focus on following noobs like us so we have better chances of success!
For the last month I wake up, spend all morning on Steemit reading, and commenting, and working on a blog post that takes forever since I dont know what I'm doing, then by 5 pm I start working on my business. Yeah, I have a lot of things to work on....:/ I hope the babies are good! :)Hey @helenoftroy - I tend to be an obsessive person, and I have a hard time allocating time towards everything I have to do.. I actually run a consignment business that sells designer clothing online (so if you have high end clothing you could bring it to me to sell for you, etc) I really do have to work on time management better, ugh!
I love the consignment clothing idea! I used to buy used all the time but they don't have much in the way of that here. I recently found a website though that two sisters started. They buy people's unwanted clothes and resell them. I'm going to have to try it out!
Sorry for my long comment above ... it led to a pretty cool idea though. So I just wrote you a blog post instead of writing another long comment. I used your handle, but apparently, you don't get notified anywhere (I also tagged my husband as a test lol). So here's the link: https://steemit.com/steem/@helenoftroy/how-noobs-can-start-using-steemit-as-a-skill-sharing-platform