166: Your Big One: Weekly Planning for Creative Entrepreneurs

Hi my friends. Happy Tuesday. Welcome back to the Professional Creative Podcast. I have a shorty for you today. Just a thought that I've had that I wanted to share with you.

I'm Bonnie Christine and this is where all things creativity, design, business and marketing unite. I'm a mama living in a tiny town tucked right inside the Smoky Mountains, running a multi seven figure business, doing the most creative and impactful work of my life.

When I first set out to become

an entrepreneur, I was struggling to make ends meet and wrestling with how to accomplish my biggest dream of becoming a fabric designer. Fast forward to today. I'm not only licensing my artwork all over the world, but also teaching others how to design their creative life and experience the same success. I'm here to help you spend your life doing something that lights you up. I'll help you build a creative business that also creates an impact, changes people's lives, gives you all of the freedom you want, and is wildly profitable. Welcome to the Professional Creative Podcast.

You've likely heard me, or maybe someone else talk about time management, weekly planning, daily planning, and something that works really, really well. In addition to your to do list is a top three. So a top three tasks that if you accomplished in this day would mean you lay your head to bed tonight feeling accomplished. This is an incredible tool because I think human nature is to start with the easiest tasks on our to do list because we love cross things off, we love feeling accomplished, but everything on our to do list is not created equal. And so if we start with the easiest things, then it's quite possible that we will work all day and not feel accomplished at the end of it because we didn't actually do anything that truly moves the needle. So the concept is a top three. What are the top three things to accomplish today that actually move the needle in my business and then create time blocks around those three things and then do the smaller to do's in the margins of your three time blocks. Okay, so that was just an overview. If you're an artist or designer dreaming of seeing your work on products in the real world like fabric and wallpaper and greeting cards, but maybe you're struggling to break into the world of licensing. Listen up. The art licensing industry can feel like almost an exclusive club with gatekeepers and confusing entry points. But I've found a way to simplify everything. Imagine pouring your heart into your art, only to see it gather dust. That is not what we want. Maybe you've tried posting on social media, setting up an online store, sending out emails, but it feels like shouting into the void. The art world is confusing, and breaking into licensing isn't just about talent. It's also about finding the right partners that are the right fit. Now, I've been in the same boat. I've spent tireless hours researching, compiling lists, learning how to approach companies. Then one day I had tremendous success. So after so much trial and error, I signed my first licensing deal. Then another and another. Today, my artwork is licensed all over the world and I want to help you achieve the same success. So I've taken what I consider the most difficult part and well, I've done it for you. I've poured over a decade of experience in developing the Ultimate Licensing Handbook. This is a curated list of over 400 companies across 17 plus industries. So you don't have to this handbook is so much more than a list. It's a comprehensive resource that is going to help you eliminate the guesswork. It includes pitch templates that get results and step by step guidance on how to approach companies. If you've tried compiling this information on your own, you know how time consuming it is. It would take months. In fact, we've estimated that this handbook will save you over 463 hours of work and it gives you direct access to the company's that can take your career to the next level. So are you ready to take the Next step? Visit BonnieCristine.com Handbook to get your copy of the Ultimate Licensing Handbook and get instant access to all of these resources that we've poured so much into so that you don't have to remember there's room for you and I'd love to help you get started. The thought that I've really enjoyed lately is also a big one for the week. Now this kind of originated from a book that I read recently by Mike Michalowicz called All in and it's part of his team meeting process. So part of his team meeting process is that you ask everyone on your team what was your big one from last week and what is your big one for this week? Meaning what's the big one thing that you're accomplishing this week? So if I think about that, in a given week you'll have 15 big rocks, if you will, from your top three. But what of those top 15 are like the big thing that you really are excited about, that you accomplish, that you're setting out to accomplish this week? Meaning it could be a bunch of, let's say you have 15 big rocks in the week that you're accomplishing, but three or four of them are related to something even bigger. They're like smaller bits of a bigger piece. And so I love having that focus. In addition to the daily to do list, and The Daily Top 3 is your weekly one big thing. This is like, if you are reflecting on last week, what'd you walk away from that week really feeling accomplished about? And as you walk into this upcoming week, what are you really looking to accomplish? Just one big thing. And so I don't know what that is for you. For me, it's some product development right now. I mean, it changes all the time, which is why I love being a creative entrepreneur. But right now, I'm in a deep, deep dive of product development for something that we really haven't announced yet, but we're very excited about coming up soon. But it means that oftentimes my top three things are related to product development. But, like, my big one for the week is. Is getting, like, maybe the front end of a shop designed. You know what I mean? So I would love to hear what your big one for this week is. Come tell me over on Instagram. I'm onniecristine, and I'd love to hear from you. Just send me a DM that says My Big One and let me hear what you're up to. I love that my friends create the beauty that you want to see come alive in the world. And remember, there's room for you.