On Top of Your Day Job: Papercuts by Joe

You are in for such a treat with this month's On Top of Your Day Job!

Hi everyone! I'm Brenda and I once ran my own Etsy business on top of a much more than fulltime day job. On Top of Your Day Job celebrates the true heroines and heroes of Etsy: the "day" job employees who then run their indie biz, along with creating, marketing and everything else, in the week's remaining hours.

This month's artist has two twists… we have our first guy, and one who made the very hard decision to accept the day job of his dreams while continuing to run his business! And a super, multitalented guy at that, meet Joe of Papercuts by Joe! I think you'll be amazed to learn how Joe juggles it all, while turning out the most amazing paper cut art.

Joe Bagley

Papercuts by Joe on Etsy

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Tell us a bit about you: who are you, who do you want to be, what do you make, what makes you unique?
I’m an artist specializing in the art of papercutting. I hand-cut each of my designs from a sheet of black paper. What makes me unique, besides the medium, is my very intricate cutting and bold designs. I specialize in architecture and natural scenes, which I feel work best in this medium and match my interests well.

What do you think it is about you that makes your shop successful?
I think it simply is different. I stand out because of my medium, bold designs, gender, and choice of subject, all of which seem to be unique in the papercutting and art world. I try to keep track of trending ideas, which as a young person generally interested in such things, I wish to participate in personally, and bring my art along with me.

If you’re comfortable sharing, what is your fulltime job? Do you plan to continue working fulltime or is your goal to join the ranks of the Quit Your Day Job artisans?
Interestingly, I was a QYDJ-qualifier. I have a B.A. in Archaeology and have worked for five years as an Archaeologist, surveying land in the U.S. prior to construction/destruction to make sure there are no significant archaeological sites that could be threatened by ground disturbance. In August 2008, I lost my job and turned to my paper art fulltime. Shockingly, focusing on something 60 to 80 hours (a week) resulted in a genuinely successful art career. This May, I was offered a position in a local Archaeological firm, and after some soul searching decided to return to archaeology. At this point, I feel like I’m driving two cars, both heading down the highway at 90 mph, and waiting to see which one runs out of gas first. Hoping both are hybrids as I’m really enjoying doing both and hope to continue indefinitely.



Do you have partner(s), employee(s) or family members who help with your business? If so, what roles do they fill and how do they make your life easier?
My wife is amazing! She’s also a professional archaeologist and works for the State of Massachusetts running their archaeology lab. She has always said that if she didn’t go into science, she wanted to be a marketer, so yeah, that’s what she’s really good with. She always has amazing ideas on new design ideas, new advertising opportunities, and we have long conversations about target audience, market share, branding, etc. She’s also helps me mount and frame pieces when things get so busy I can’t leave the cutting board for a couple minutes. She’s awesome!

Which do you prefer: artist, artisan, crafter, maker or other?
I call myself a paper artist. I’m in a weird place because I make framed wall art, from a craft material, with roots in folk art. So yeah, I guess the closest I come to my art having meaning outside of “I thought it looked really awesome when I cut this” would be to make people question their personal definitions of art, craft, and folk art.

How did you learn your particular art/craft form?
I first did it when I was 10 in a summer art class. It wasn’t so much taught as there were pattern books with sharks and space ships that we could draw on black paper, then cut with dull knives. I really liked working with the knife as I felt like I was getting away with something bad. Back home my mom, who ran a daycare out of our home, had a book on paper crafts featuring amazing papercutters from around the world. I copied all the designs I liked and slowly began to realize what goes into a successful papercut design. I later experimented with Native American pottery designs and Maya art designs. Soon I began working on designs using photos I had took, attempting to do really complicated detailed designs that were unlike all other papercutters out there. That led me here. So, pretty much self taught.



When do you fit in working on your business?
I try to answer emails in the morning, then I do the same as soon as I get home from work. I cut from 6-11 p.m. most nights, and often work about 6-8 hours each on Saturday and Sunday.

Share with us your top two or three time management tips or tricks?
Buy supplies in bulk so you aren’t slowed down or completely disabled when supplies are low or non-existant. Then keep them always in stock. Do something you love so it doesn’t feel like work, and involve your significant others in the fun parts that they are interested in so that they don’t hate you for working all. The. Time.

If you sold last holiday season, how did you survive!? What was your biggest lesson learned?
Last holiday season, I was still doing art full time, so it was certainly busy but manageable. My biggest lesson learned was to be upfront about not having enough time to finish something, as it was not worth the added stress and expense of shipping things last second and then worrying about them getting held up. Also, if they need to be shipped faster, to not eat the cost, but rather ask the buyer to purchase upgraded shipping,



What stresses you out the most about your business?
That I may have to abandon either it or my archaeology career for the other. That or others thinking I do not take one or the other seriously enough since I’m doing both, then not giving me opportunities I’ve worked hard to achieve.

What gets you the most excited?
Working on my own designs and listing a new piece. Always liked thinking something was a good idea, and then getting positive feedback. I like a bunch of oohs and aaahs almost as much as selling a piece.

Tell us how you organize your workday and workplace?
Work day is to get the stressful stuff done first (emails, packaging, shipping) then doing the fun stuff (creating) after as a reward. I tend to put off the bad stuff otherwise. As for work place, I have a table for my computer, a table for cutting, and a table for storage/cutting large illustration boards/packaging. Really works well and I can keep them fairly clean except for really busy times.



How do you balance it all: life, work and business?
I think I’m a workaholoic. I think it’s because my father passed away when he was young and I fear I won’t have the time to get everything done so I need to do everything RIGHT NOW. That and I have an amazing wife that supports, understands, and encourages me, which is absolutely how I can handle it all.

Do you take actual vacations and holidays away from both jobs? Or do you use vacation time from your day job to work on your business?
Now that I do not have custom pieces, I can leave the business for a couple of days and not worry too much. I do ask for several days to cut/pack/ship pieces that sell mostly so incase I’m really busy one day I have a buffer to get things out the door.

What is your biggest challenge in finding time to do the things that have to happen during business hours?
Now it’s post office. Fortunately those automatic postal centers exist, which are very helpful, but for larger pieces, I pretty much only have a few hours Saturday morning to get pieces out. I have one now that missed the window and I’m pretty sure I’ll be shipping it from Rhode Island (where I meet for work) in the half-hour window between when the post office opens and I’m due at work.



How do you find time for marketing? Any tips or tricks to share?
First goal in my marketing is to make sure I have great key words and good SEO so that people looking for similar things find it without much work on my end. Then it’s just getting my name out through shows, facebook, and word of mouth.

Do you get enough sleep every night? If not, how do you compensate?
Nope. I get about six hours a night, which is definitely catching up on me. Coffee helps.

How do you prepare for busy/rush seasons, without forsaking updating your shop with new designs/items?
Actually, the first line of defence is not listing new items so I can get all my currently listed items ready to go on short notice. This holiday season will be interesting!



Share with us a few stress management tips/tricks?
You know you’re going to procrastinate, so just do whatever you want to do (trip to the mall, coffee run, checking the 15 websites you have bookmarked just to waste time), have fun, don’t spend too long, and then hurry back and get to work. Sometimes running to Starbucks for coffee, while cutting into valuable work time, keeps the stress level just high enough to make you focus harder and get everything done without 400 trips to the computer to check your email.

Share one of your personal guilty pleasures?
Coffee. Drink waaaaay too much of it, and spend waaaay to much money on it.

Do you shop handmade? If so, what was the last thing you purchased?
Yes! Jen purchased a pot holder for our new cast iron skillet, I purchased a planner, a tinysaur, and a couple of magnets, and a decorative egg from some of my favorites on Etsy.



What else would you like readers to know about you and about running an online creative business in addition to working fulltime and even having a personal and social life?
My biggest lesson from dropping the custom pieces is that doing what you love comes before money (I’m poor and can still say that with a straight face, so don’t go thinking “yeah, if you’re financially supported by your parents or independently wealthy”). Dropping the custom stuff made me feel so empowered and in control of my own work that I really think my production, quality, enjoyment, and quantity has dramatically increased from it.

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Thank you, Joe!

And thank you all for visiting. If you work at least halftime (20 hours/week) in addition to your indie business on Etsy, let me know! I'd love to talk with you about your own On Top of Your Day Job feature.

I'll see you again next month with a new On Top of Your Day Job artist spotlight! ~ Brenda