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Video: Time Management for Creative People

by Mark McGuinness on December 13, 2011

Here’s a video interview I recorded about Time Management for Creative People at the Royal College of Art, just before I gave a talk on the subject at the college. (If you’re reading via email, click here to see the video.)

Topics covered in the video include:

  • Why time management matters to creative people (even if they don’t like to admit it!)
  • How to manage a portfolio creative career, juggling multiple creative projects at at time
  • Why I use a post-it note for my daily to-do list
  • How to avoid constantly checking email on your phone (without relying on willpower)
  • How to prioritize between creative ideas, deadlines and things that pay the bills
  • Where time management shades into big picture career decisions

The lighting wasn’t ideal, so I’m looking a little more sepulchral than usual, but I hope you find the ideas in the video useful.

If you haven’t see my ebook Time Management for Creative People you can download it for free here.

If you’d like me to run a workshop on the subject for your organisation, here are the details.

Thanks to the team at FuelRCA for inviting me to speak – they are doing a great job of providing CPD tailored to the needs of the arts and design students at the college. And they have a cool blog, click here for their notes on my talk.

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How to Write a Blog that Actually Brings in Business

by Mark McGuinness on November 18, 2011

Mark McGuinness speaking at FreshBusinessThinkingLIVE!

Photo by AAB Engage

How do you write a successful blog?

Can blogging really bring in business, and if so, how?

What should you write about to attract potential customers?

These are some of the questions I addressed earlier this week when I spoke about business blogging at Fresh Business Thinking LIVE! (as you can see from this rare aerial photo of me presenting).

As usual when I speak to an audience, I created a written version of the presentation for the audience – and you can download it here.

Read it to learn:

  • Why nobody reads most blogs
  • How a blog can bring you new business – even if your customers don’t read blogs
  • The critical element most business blogs are missing
  • How a blog can establish you as an authority in your industry
  • How to attract new readers – and keep them coming back
  • Deepening the relationship with your audience – from readers to customers
  • Using blogging to complement other forms of social media

Feel free to share the document with anyone who could do with a little help creating a popular and effective business blog.

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Free Ebook: 20 Creative Blocks (and How to Break Through Them)

September 29, 2011

Creative blocks are among the most frustrating obstacles encountered by creative people. Our creativity is so tied up with our sense of fulfilment and identity that we are just not ourselves when we are unable to create. And if we rely on our creative work to pay the bills, this only adds to the frustration [...]

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Free Audio Seminar: 5 Essential Money Skills for Creative People

July 29, 2011

If you’re a creative freelancer or small business owner, one of the biggest challenges you face is staying on top of the financial side of things – while at the same time carving out enough time and mental space to do your best creative work. So I’ve teamed up with Sarah Thelwall to record a [...]

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10 Ways the Workplace Crushes Creativity (and How to Fix Them)

June 24, 2011

I’m starting to think the word ‘workplace’ is a contradiction in terms. I’ve lost count of the number of people who have told me they do their best work in the early mornings and evenings, “because it’s impossible to get any real work done during working hours”. This is particularly common among creative employees, many [...]

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Free Ebook: Freedom, Money, Time – and the Key to Creative Success

January 19, 2011

Illustration by Joan Vincent Canto, licensed from istockphoto The most popular things I’ve ever written here on Wishful Thinking have been my free ebooks. So I’ve written you another one. It’s called Freedom, Money, Time – and the Key to Creative Success. Here’s the basic problem it addresses: A creative person needs three things to [...]

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Sign up for My FREE Course in How to Succeed as a Creative Professional

August 24, 2010

If you’d like to inject some inspiration and momentum into your creative career, feel free to enrol on my new course: The Creative Pathfinder. It’s a 25-week programme designed to equip you with the creative and professional skills you need to succeed in your chosen career path – whether you’re an employee, freelancer or creative [...]

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The Future of Wishful Thinking

August 11, 2010

Photo by PhillipC If you’ve seen the latest news from Lateral Action, then you’ll know I’ve just taken over the running of that site from my partners Brian Clark, Tony D. Clark and Sonia Simone. It’s been great working with them over the last two years, and I’m now excited at the prospect of running [...]

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Artists and Internet Marketing: a Conversation with Mark McGuinness and John T. Unger

August 4, 2010

Drawing by Hugh MacLeod My recent article Why Artists and Creatives Have an Unfair Advantage at Internet Marketing turned out to be one of the most popular things I’ve ever written at Wishful Thinking. So if it touched a chord with you then you might like to download the hour-long podcast interview I recorded with [...]

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Why Artists and Creatives Have an Unfair Advantage at Internet Marketing

June 7, 2010

Drawing by Hugh MacLeod If you’re an artist or creative person of any kind then ‘creating’ is a lot higher on your list of priorities than ‘selling’. One of the great joys of pursuing your creative passion is the sheer pleasure of writing, painting, making music, acting, taking pictures or whatever you do — without [...]

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