It’s time to tie a bow around 2022 and organize your systems for 2023.
The tasks below should take less than 1 hour, and they will bring peace of mind to your New Year.
1. Update copyright notices.
What's the date in the footer on your website? In your newsletter?
Nothing says “neglected” like a website with an old Copyright notice in the footer. You want your website and newsletter to look fresh.
Your hosting service or email marketing program might update the copyright automatically, but, if they don't, you need to take charge and do it yourself.
See that everything says ©2023 rather than 2022 or, gasp!, earlier.
Please note that I’m not talking about the Copyright Notice on individual images.
[ See Checklist for Crediting Your Art ]
I’m referring to the copyright statement on the site, which is typically located in the footer of your pages.
2. Make new folders.
Whether you organize something digitally or using paper, you're going to need new files for items you store by date.
In my business, it’s financial and tax records that are primarily organized by date. For paper versions, I clean out the old folders, archive them, and make nicely labeled folders for the New Year.
I keep as much as I can on the computer to eliminate the paper. I'll share two different ways I have done this in case they give you ideas for your own finances.
First, here's an old screen capture for how I organized financial records on my computer when I first wrote this article back in 2015.
Now I throw old years into an “Archives-Finances” folder, but not until after tax time. I know I'm going to need last year's records for the next few months. (image below left)
My filing system for e-receipts these days is much simpler.
I have the 2023 Finances folder, with a separate folder for each month. (image above right)
I do the same for my personal finances, always keeping business and personal separate.
I’m a fan of accordion folders for paper receipts, as evidenced by this old photo. Because I don't want to contribute to anymore plastic waste, I have been reusing these folders and archiving the older ones in manilla envelopes.)
3. Practice writing 2023.
Pull out your checkbooks (if you still use them!) and write 2023 on a bunch of new checks. They’ll have the correct year when you’re ready to use them.
4. Capture all of your projects.
Spend a couple of hours assessing all of the projects on your plate. This is time well used.
Projects are undertakings that require multiple steps to complete. For example: overhauling a website, creating a new body of work, moving, organizing an exhibition, and writing a book are all projects that can’t be completed in one sitting.
You probably have 10-15 projects at any one time, and you need to stay on top of all of them. Two or three of these are new or more involved and the rest (such as teaching or studio work) are ongoing.
Make a list of the projects and then start filling in the tasks required for completing each one.
5. Join me in the Art Biz Accelerator.
The Art Biz Accelerator is for ambitious artists who want a little extra feedback and support from me and interaction with others who are committed to their artist lives.
All new for 2023!
This post was first published January 1, 2015 and has been updated with original comments intact.
The post Prepare for 2023: 5 Things to Do Right Now appeared first on Art Biz Success.
