The Design Business Show

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Tepsii is an expert copywriter, and life/business coach who has been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and many renowned podcasts.

She regularly speaks live and online and has taught thousands of people how to grow successful businesses since 2015. Tepsii’s mission is to impact 1 million Africans within 5 years by empowering them to break generational patterns of poverty as they grow businesses with help/partnership from prominent business leaders, social activists, government leaders, and corporate entities.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Tepsii’s Start to Copywriting * We share how Tepsii and I officially met during a conference in 2016 * Tepsii shares the first time she saw my sales page design and how it influenced her to write her copy differently * I share that I used Tepsii's story of remembering my work years later in an email sequence to show how your work can leave a lasting impact * The drive to be an entrepreneur has always been there for Tepsii because she likes to do and is good at many things * Over time, Tepsii transitioned into a business coach and consultant working with entrepreneurs and dealing with higher-level strategy * Tepsii is from Vermont and South Africa and is the mom of 3 beautiful girls * Make friends with your designers as copywriters because collaboration is more important than competition * After college, Tepsii got her first job by reaching out to the president of a haircare product line that she liked and offering to help with their website and messaging * When Tepsii started helping with the haircare line, she had no idea what digital marketing or copywriting was, but she helped increase their sales by 600% * Tepsii was googling how to work from home and came across Marie Forleo's B school, which brought her to other connections and programs * Because Tepsii was spending money on these programs to get started, she decided she was going to take up space, be visible, and ask for what she needed * We chat about how, as women, we need to work on articulating our value so we can get paid our worth for the work we're doing

AI + Industry Trends * Even though AI is here to stay, Tepsii believes teaching copywriting will always be important because there are components that AI can't master * Tepsii is still teaching and writing for entrepreneurs but shares that she now uses a holistic approach to their strategy that includes traditional media * As part of her 360 communication strategy, Tepsii includes speaking training, sales training, and all things that go into becoming more confident in your words * Currently, Tepsii is consulting for the cannabis industry in Vermont and is working on a big project in South Africa designed to help creatives digitally transform * If Tepsii could tell her younger self one thing, it would be to guard her heart and open her eyes to see that the world is diverse * Tepsii shares all the tips she wishes someone had told her when she was starting * I believe the days of "My 7-step magic formula will solve your problem and change your life" are ending * I share current design trends, including text from the early 2000s and '90s. * The word of 2024 is authenticity - people are craving a real connection * Check out Tepsii's website to connect with her

Links mentioned:

Tepsii’s Website

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Mike Kelly is the CTO and Co-Founder of MemberVault, living in Olympia Washington with CEO Wife, 3 kids, and a giant dog.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

The Creation of MemberVault * Mike shares that he started writing code in the 5th grade and has been a developer his whole life - before MemberVault, he was a freelance developer * At one point, Mike and his wife Erin started a business where she would design websites, and he would build them, but shared that it was a disaster * Mike took time off to be a stay-at-home dad after having their first child, where he started building MemberVault as a side project that came as a need from one of Erin's clients * After getting enough interest in the platform, Mike and Erin created a beta, and it slowly started to gain momentum * In 2019, Erin reached a crossroads in her business and joined Mike at MemberVault full-time * Mike shares some mistakes he and Erin first made when they started MemberVault * Early on, Mike and Erin realized the demand was for more than courses; people wanted to sell digital ebooks, one-on-one service, etc, which made it hard to identify the platform at first * Leaning into what they were good at set them apart from other big platforms in the market * Mike explains the difficult decisions he and Erin had to make about their business model so they could scale but continue helping individual customers on a personal level * MemberVault is rolling out a new tiered system for membership that Mike explains * Mike is the only full-time developer but brings in people on contract to help - they also use a company that monitors their servers 24/7 * MemberVault has evolved from just selling digital products to having pages, navigation, blogs, comments, file uploads, questions, and so much more because they listen to their users and can implement their ideas quickly * As a freelance developer, companies push for the fastest and cheapest option, so Mike felt he couldn't do his best work and take care of the finished product, which bothered him * Mike talks about how it is to run a business from home and homeschool their 3 children

How To Use MemberVault + Updates * MemberVault wants to be your central hub for all your services and products so people can go to one place to find all your offerings * 88% of people who enter your MemberVault for a freebie will click around to see what else you offer * In MemberVault, you can see what people are clicking on so you can meet them where they're at and start a conversation instead of having a fixed automated funnel * A big thing MemberVault is working on right now is automated sales tax because Mike explains that the tech around it is a nightmare, and the solutions are expensive * With MemberVault's tighter integration with Stripe, you'll be able to manage your subscriptions in one place * Mike's tips for any platform are having a quality and consistent logo, readable brand colors, quality product images, linking up your socials, and showing your range of offers so people know how they can work with you * Check out MemberVault - when you sign up for a free trial, you'll get access to all their resources to help you and an invite to their Facebook community

Links mentioned:

MemberVault Website

MemberVault on Instagram

MemberVault on Facebook

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After struggling to find adequate support and resources during her own pregnancy and postpartum, Dominique Jackson made it her mission to improve access to maternal health education, support and community for other moms to be.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Creating Hatch + Nest * In the Summer, Dominique came to one of my workshops, where we worked on launch ideas for her, and I suggested she come on the podcast to talk about what she's doing * Dominique shares that her background is in health technology and public policy * After the birth of her first son, Dominique struggled to balance taking care of her newborn, herself, and going back to work, which inspired her to create Hatch + Nest * During pregnancy you are surrounded by support from friends, family, and doctors, but most of that goes away after you deliver * The first thing that helped Dominique bring Hatch + Nest to life was talking to other entrepreneurs because she had no experience with starting a business or figuring out her brand * Dominique explains how they expanded from just postpartum support to prenatal through parenthood support * Hatch + Nest is a maternal wellness platform that offers support through classes like breastfeeding, birth planning, infant CPR, and in-home support through doulas and relationship specialists * Mothers in central Ohio can take advantage of their in-home support services - Dominique shares the educational resources on their website and says they will have upcoming in-person and virtual events * Dominique explains that they can get grant funding to help mothers who can't afford their services and says they are always looking for sponsors * Hatch + Nest has some upcoming sponsored workshops that include lactation specialists, Doulas, and mental health consultants * How Dominique had to figure out what to prioritize in order to launch and generate revenue * Dominique shares that she had to shift her business model and audience to attract sponsors because that is how they primarily make money * Some sponsors support through educational events by providing the space, catering, or gifts, and others sponsor a portion or all of the in-home support after birth * Dominique explains her choice to keep messaging targeted towards mothers, but says they have plans to expand messaging to other audiences once they are more established * They are planning a program for later in 2024 for dads and adoptive parents * Check out the Hatch + Nest website and follow them on Instagram to learn more

Links mentioned:

Hatch + Nest Website

Hatch + Nest on Instagram

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Lindsay is a sought-after leadership coach, organization design expert, speaker, facilitator and podcast host who believes that every business, no matter the size, deserves three things - great leadership, an impactful people strategy, and a culture that inspires.

First, and foremost, Lindsay is passionate about guiding business leaders at all levels in creating a leadership style that is authentic and grounded in their own values and purpose.

Her powerful coaching style leverages her extensive background coaching senior leaders, executives and entrepreneurs as they develop and embrace their personal leadership practice.

Lindsay also utilizes her 15 years in strategic talent management to guide these incredible leaders in creating inclusive cultures and developing the people strategy that is often missing from their business plans. Knowing when amazing teams are connected by purpose, programs and processes that inspire, they create amazing results.

As an entrepreneur, working Mom, and first-time Grandmother, Lindsay knows

that the blend between work and life can be difficult to create. That’s why she loves to coach and guide leaders as they navigate their personal leadership journey and create the work & life blend they long for. Her focus on people strategy, team engagement, communication and leadership development all help her clients drive their business goals while creating work environments where everyone feels like they belong.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Organizational Design + Leading Yourself First * Lindsay White found her love for organizational design and development while working for an organization whose HR department disintegrated - she became the go-to person for questions from managers who needed support * Over the last 20 years, Lindsay has found a passion for helping leaders design and develop organizations that are meaningful and allow people to do quality work * Designing organizations is about creating structures that allow the work to flow and the people to do meaningful work that achieves business goals * If you don't have the right organizational design, the work isn't flowing, you lose momentum and ideas, plus people don't understand how they impact the customer or the next person in the process * Lindsay explains that leadership is an inside job; think about what's important to you personally and in your business, and lead yourself first * When Lindsay started her business, she focused on coaching leaders but quickly realized these leaders also needed organizational development to help their teams and businesses thrive * You can be the best leader in the world, but if you don't have the right processes and programs in your business, it won't work, and vice versa; if you have good processes but don't lead well, it won't work either * Processes can work for you and not against you - Lindsay explains that processes are really about defining the connection to understand how everyone's work fits together for the end result/customer experience * Lindsay breaks down performance management that creates inclusive and belonging spaces where people gain the confidence to be their best selves and do quality work

High Voltage Leadership

The name of Lindsay's business, High Voltage Leadership, comes from her life's purpose statement: to be the high voltage extension cord that connects people to their own inner brilliance
Lindsay works one-on-one, in groups, or in organizations with female entrepreneurs to help them bring what they care about most to their work, create a work-life blend that serves them, and teach them how to create organizations where everyone experiences that
When it comes to attracting clients, Lindsay shares that she spends a lot of time nurturing her clients, which gives her referrals, and she is active on social media, specifically LinkedIn
On LinkedIn, Lindsay posts consistently and focuses on what's happening in the leadership space, culture content, and providing value through information or questions she hears from her clients
Last year, Lindsay had to take a big step back after dealing with multiple personal and work things all at once - she also shares how she was able to overcome being close to burnout
Lindsay's podcast, Female Founder Friday, focuses on how successful business owners got to where they are today and the mistakes they made during their journey
Check out Melissa’s episode on the Female Founder Friday podcast
Reach out to Lindsay on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn, and check out her website

Links mentioned:

Female Founder Friday

Female Founder Friday - Time to Reinvent with Melissa Burkheimer

Connect with Lindsay on Instagram

Connect with Lindsay on Facebook

Connect with Lindsay on LinkedIn

High Voltage Leadership

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Ann Bennett is the founder of Renegade Branding and has spoken across the country and around the world. She is a Best Selling Author, Coach, and Brand Profit Builder. Ann has shared the stage with Thought Leaders like Les Brown, Jack Canfield, Sandra Yancey CEO of eWomen and You’re a Badass Author, Jen Sincero.

Ann uses her marketing and branding genius to help women entrepreneurs (and a few good men) build their STAND-OUT personal brands and boost their profits.

Ann works with purpose-driven entrepreneurs who do transformational work so they can liberate and ignite their unique genius, and authentic voice to build a profitable brand platform.

Ann has 25 years of experience in visual and graphic design and has brought her talents to many major magazines from Popular Mechanics to Vogue; “Where the Devil Really does wear Prada”.

Ann’s personal slogan and the cornerstone of all her programs is, “Liberate Your Rebel Spirit & Rake In The Revenue.”

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Ann’s Start in Design * When Ann Bennett started in design, they would cut out letters, paste them together, and take a picture for layouts. * How Ann learned all she knows about design "on the street" through doing hands-on work * Ann shares how she got her job at Vogue without fashion in her portfolio or knowing anyone in the company by taking their pages, redesigning them herself, and calling the design director each day for a week. * The biggest thing when it comes to getting work, Ann says, is your impression and the feeling you give people in your presence. * As designers, we discuss how important feedback is and how to listen to your clients. * Ann shares that she originally went to art school as a painter and went to New York for her painting career, and along the way, everyone worked in graphic design. * In New York, Ann witnessed the first plane hit the World Trade Center on 9/11 while working at Vogue and says it changed her life forever. * Shortly after, she moved out of New York and realized she wanted to support people in building their businesses.

Renegade Branding + Personal Storytelling * How Ann created the 4 Renegade Brand Archetypes: Nurturer, Disrupter, Innovator, or Geek, and from that, she can help develop your visual brand, messaging, programs, etc. * Liberating your rebel spirit is about allowing who you actually are to be at the forefront of what your brand is and what you do. * Ann explains and gives examples of each of her 4 Renegade Brand Archetypes and shares a quiz that you can take to help pinpoint which one you are * There are so many options and opportunities that it's difficult for people to make decisions, which is why branding is so important - so your brand stands out. * The whole point of a brand and a strong message is so people can see and understand your value. * We chat about AI, how we've tested it, and the uncharted territory we are going into as designers because it will use your online work and give it to others. * Ann explains that head-whipping hooks are strong statements that disrupt people's thinking, so you can bring the value of what you do to follow it. * Ann shares that a client of hers was in a car accident where her nose was severed from her face, which led her to the beauty industry - her head-whipping hook was "nobody wants to be stared at unless they're stunning." * Personal stories are powerful for branding and marketing because people want to connect with you. * How Ann gets each client to write a story from each decade of their life to help share who they are, what they do, and the value of it. * Ann works with clients through her programs, masterclass, and one-on-one work. * I share the results from my Renegade Brand Archetype Quiz and some details of the Innovator Archetype. * People come to Ann for work because they have an inner rebel who wants to become an outer rockstar, and she'll help them do it through development work. * Ann says it's not about being the best, it's about being different. * Take Ann's Renegade Brand Archetype Quiz and check out Ann’s website to learn more about her

Links mentioned:

Renegade Branding

Renegade Brand Archetype Quiz

Ann Bennett’s Website

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Nancy Giere is a course creation expert. She works with businesses of all sizes from solopreneurs to Fortune 100 companies turn their expertise into high profit courses. She creates engaging, fun, and interactive programs that get results.

Nancy Giere shares how she on accidentally fell into course creation while working for a bank and was asked to put together training for employees
Melissa shares how her background in launch strategy, funnel design, and instructional learning and teaching at her community college helped me understand the importance of what goes into a course
Nancy shares how it’s important to look at your entire business and look at how a digital course can fit into your business model and the best way to market it
One mistake that people make it they throw spaghetti at the wall, and Nancy uses a phased approach that takes people through a phased approach
Another mistake is that course creators aren’t considering the desired outcome and lacking a logical flow
Why the introduction and title should be the last thing you write
Why it’s important to make sure that your course is a great experience for your audience
One simple shift that creators can make is pausing to create a break within your course content to give people a minute to process the info
Breaking content into shorter, consumable chunks increases engagement
AI tools like Udley can provide basic feedback, but deeper level feedback requires personal interaction
Why online courses are effective for teaching certain skills, but some skills require feedback and practice
Online content allows for scalability and time efficiency in serving more people
Shorter content is trending on platforms like TikTok and YouTube and breaking course content into shorter, consumable chunks increases engagement
The concept of Minimum Viable Product (MVP) determines if a product is good enough to go to market
Nancy also suggests incorporating activities or personal reflections to keep viewers engaged
Planning and timing of audience engagement are essential in online presentations
Tools like Zoom and Prezi Video enhance the presentation experience without high costs and help you stay on brand
Nancy shares how she works with clients in both a done with you and done for you capacity
Nancy is turning their book "Bundle Your Brilliance" into an online course using Zoom, and shares how she plans to participants can complete modules, assignments, and receive coaching to give them a really great experience
Why Nancy is researching corporate training methods to incorporate into the course for entrepreneurs
Nancy shares the strategies she uses for getting clients, including JV partnerships, running her own launches and asking for referrals
Nancy shares the inspiration for writing her book, Bundle Your Brilliance and how it drives home a tip that she shared at the beginning of the episode of writing your intro after you create the course

Links mentioned:

Connect with Nancy on LinkedIn Nancy's book

Nancy’s Create a Training That Sells

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Kristen Noelle is a Copywriter and Online Sales Strategist who helps business owners soulfully sell their high-earning offers. She works with service-based entrepreneurs to transform how they run their business, from “scattered to systemized”. Her framework, Systemize Your Sales, empowers clients to consistently connect their message, attract high-revenue opportunities, and grow their business without all that overwhelm. She offers done-for-you written sales copy and 1-on-1 marketing coaching.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How I was introduced to Kristen through my former guest, Keshia White
Kristen shares how as a young girl, she had a big imagination and always wanted to own a business
She decided to go to school for marketing, and she started to learn how to craft stories and tell the story about a product and an experience
She spent a lot of time learning, and even studied the culture of design and life in Italy
Her first job was a government job, but everything about it was uninspiring for her
She ended up moving to Thailand, and decided to freelance, and catapulted her dream of helping put their dream out there
She tried a little bit of everything, including web design, SEO, influencer marketing, and from there she refined her craft to do what she enjoys
She found purpose in helping people put their story out there, and how she really loved the messaging piece of copywriting in addition to strategy

The Kristen explains her point of view on messaging * Messaging is the consistent conversation that you’re having with your audience and moves people to take action * How she helps people with strategy, systems and soul - and learning more about what your clients are dealing with to help them * Kristen shares her thoughts about AI, and why she’s happy for its’ presence, and doesn’t think it will ever replace copywriters * Why Chat GPT is a helpful tool, but it needs a human element * Why AI is imperfect, it’s just a tool that helps us * Why you should clearly and concisely communicate in a way that resonates, and an easy way to do this is by coming up with your own framework * Kristen’s process for market research, and why it makes your job a lot easier * If you’re a business owner and does your own content marketing; and when you get close to your market to find out more * Why you can put market research inside your own framework within your copy and messaging * Why it’s important for service providers to have experience working with clients so you can get to know what their actual problems are, and that way you can solve their problems

The breakdown of Kristen’s offers and what they look like now * For solopreneurs, Kristen offers done-for-you copywriting and marketing strategy and coaching * Why she loves helping her clients train VA’s and their team to help save them time * Why it’s important to assess where your clients are at when working with clients * Why Kristen thinks it’s important to focus a lot on relationships, consistent conversations, and stop doing what isn’t working for you * Kristen flips the switch on me and asks me what my why was, and I share where I’m at now in my business

Links mentioned:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-noelle/

www.kristennoelle.com

https://instagram.com/getkrissed

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Hillary Weiss is a creative director, positioning coach, and founder of Statement Piece Studio @ hillaryweiss.com. She’s also the former co-host of the cult-favorite YouTube marketing talk show Hillary and Margo Yell at Websites (#HAMYAW), and has had her work featured on Business Insider, The Next Web, The Observer, and more. Since 2011, she’s helped thousands of brands all over the world get seen and heard (and make serious cash) through her 1-1 client work, writing, coaching, and videos. Nowadays, she’s on a mission to help more small businesses define their “statement piece”, a.k.a. the bold point of view that makes them radically relevant to their perfect people.

Wanna know more? Catch her riffs on all of the above on her blog, or say whaddaaap! to her on Instagram @hcweiss.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

We first met Hillary Weiss and how she went from copywriter to creative director on episode 128
Why I invited her to come back on the show because I like how she tastefully shares her success stories and what she’s doing now as a creative director
How Hillary was first on the show in 2020, she officially retired her copywriting business and was making the transition to creative director
She worked on projects for 10 years of the copywriting space before copywriting courses existed
How copywriting puts you on the engine room of lots of businesses to see how people do things, and she had to fill in the blanks of launch strategies, offer design, positioning, execution
She realized that she loved strategy + creative direction and started to seek mentorship and moved slowly to the space because it felt selfish because it felt easy to her, but she wasn’t feeling the satisfaction it used to give her
How she made a 52-point turn from copywriter to creative director for 3 years
Why Melissa relates so much to Hillary’s story when she was working with clients and offering the entire kitchen sink but charging for the faucet

The scoop on how Hillary booked $500K in revenue by June of 2023 * The details behind the post that Hillary shared on social media that prompted me to invite her back on the show * Hillary breaks down how 50% of her business is coaching + mentorships and 50% done for you services * She shares how she launched an offer every quarter because she knew she was going to build new brand equity * She shared how she hired a CMO and team to help her with social media so she could focus on sales * By doing that, she filled her programs and gave people a heads up about what she was selling, how it worked, and she became an evangelist of your own work * By being consistent on social media helped her build that new brand equity and sales

The breakdown of Hillary’s offers and what they look like now * Thunder, which is on ice now, her group program of 15 people where she did business coaching * The breakdown of her creative direction services, where she offers positioning, photoshoots, oversees website design and web development for some clients * Power Positioning, her group program, the framework, the offer suite, messaging and all of it * Hillary shares how positioning can help your business between your audience, offers, differentiators and your unique selling proposition * Hillary shares an examples of positioning with clients * Hillary shares how she first charged $3000 for her first creative direction clients, and photoshoots now start at $15K * Hillary started out charging $5000 for positioning clients, and stayed at $6500 for a long time, and finally listened to her coach Susan Hyatt who told her it was a $10K offer * She charges $6500 for VIP Days, and $1800 for a 90-minute session * Hillary shares her thoughts on whether you should list pricing on your website (or not) and shared her experience of listing and not listing prices on your site * Melissa shares her strategy for approach to pricing her new services in new industries

How Hillary balances her mental health, spiritual health, and doing all the things she’s doing now * Hillary shares how she had a panic attack in a restaurant when her sister was visiting; and before that, all the things she was doing to help her mental health were not working anymore * Hillary shares what she did to help her anxiety, because her anxiety door was still open, and wasn’t mentally stabbing herself on her leg, and got her energy back and deepened her spiritual practice * Melissa shares how her mental health has improved since starting medication * How Hillary balanced her workload by limiting the amount of clients she worked with and shortened the time frame * When it comes to her team, she decided what she wanted to do, and what she didn’t want to do anymore * And how she has a schedule director + OBM, and shares what they all do inside her business * How she only does calls on Tuesday, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s, and does her content on the fly

Links mentioned:

Connect with Hillary on Instagram

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Noémi Beres is the Co-Owner of Podcast Connections. She helps entrepreneurs and business owners share their knowledge and connect them to quality podcast shows. In addition, Noemi is dedicated to helping experts grow their businesses with interviews.

She started to work in the online marketing field back in 2007. Noemi has a Master’s Degree in Danish Literature and Language; she is a linguist, content creator, and “master organizer.” Noemi is also a collage artist. She makes hand-sewn collages on canvas made from old photos, postcards, colorful yarn, and textiles.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

We learn how I connected with Noemi as her agency has pitched several guests for my show
We learn how Noemi had a travel company and started Podcast Connections with her husband after the pandemic
We learned some of the things that Noemi and her husband did to make it easy to run her business, including digital marketing, great communication and networking
We learn how Noemi gets her clients; and how it’s important to try to put yourself out there to get the clients you want do attract
When it’s time to pitch yourself for podcasts, it’s important to have your bio and topics ready, do your research and listen to podcasts so you have an idea what a podcast hosts
Why it’s important to personalize your pitches, and how you can add value to the host and the listeners
Why some experts treat a podcast interview as an advertisement, and instead, it's about what you can share and how you can help others as the podcast audience wants to learn something.
Noemi shares the process she uses to work with her guests to research and understand their expertise, and to choose their podcasts
Noemi shares that she does do all of the pitching for her clients, and she shares how she follows up, and tells her clients when they get a “no”
Melissa shares her desire to have a conversation with guests, and how she navigates those episodes
Noemi shares her process for being a good guest on a podcast. First, you should listen to the episode, and why it’s important to have both good sound and lighting
You should also prepare your talking points + topics ahead of time to make sure the interview resonates with the audience
Why it’s important to relax, be in a good headspace, and a quiet place before your podcast interview
Why the theme for Noemi’s services is simplicity, and the process for every client is the same
Noemi share’s her onboarding process includes a discovery call, bio creation, topic ideas, social sharing links for guests and interview prep
Why Noemi thinks it’s important to continue a relationship with your podcast host, because an interview is just the beginning of the relationship
Why it’s important to share your podcast interview on different platforms, create audio grams, video grams because the interviews create a ton of content

Links mentioned:

Visit Noemi’s website

Connect with Noemi on LinkedIn

Connect with Noemi on Twitter

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Karla is an award-winning designer, branding expert, and mentor based out of San Antonio, Texas. She has designed for brands such as HGTV, Food Network, Facebook, in addition to several other amazing companies. Her focus is on building branding that tells a story and reflects the core values of a company. Her motto is to "be the person you needed when you were younger." She created "The Brand Design Academy" to share the knowledge and experience she has learned over her 15 years working with corporate brands and small businesses.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Originally from Mexico, Karla’s parents sent her and her siblings to school in El Paso, where she graduated with a degree in Graphic Design
A month before graduating, a woman from an agency visited her college and Karla asked her for internship opportunities (and she got it because she was the only one who asked for one)
After graduating, she followed up with that agency to see if they had a job opening for her; and they said yes.
Karla had a successful design career, and she says she always knew she was meant for more
She started her business in 2020 after being laid off for the second time; and she decided to quarantine with her parents during the start of the pandemic
Karla lost her dad to COVID a few months after moving to Mexico and she was grateful to have time with her mom while they grieved
Inspired by her father’s legacy as a teacher she decided to take the leap and create a course that taught both brand design and entrepreneurship
Around the same time, she and her then husband decided to separate, and she ended up moving to San Antonio and decided to go all in on her busines

Karla’s Entrepreneurial Journey * Karla actually started her business when she was still working full-time and made $5000 in her first year * During her second year, she was able to 4X her business revenue and earn $20,000 * Karla had a coach who encouraged them to aim for their first $100,000 in revenue without providing a specific strategy, and she made it happen * Surrounding herself with people who were doing the same thing, and people who believed in her helped her make it happen * Karla decided to niche down their business to offer logo design and web design services, even though she had imposter syndrome about designing websites * Karla discovered that you actually don’t need to go to school to specialize in brand design and learned about Affinity software as an alternative to Adobe, as cost is sometimes a factor * Karla teaches a course, Brand Design Academy, on their design method, which starts with exploration and getting to know the brand

Karla’s tips for a strong brand identity * The first part of the process involves research, understanding the client's target market, and the messaging they want to convey * Visual research is also important in determining the brand's visual direction * Brainstorming and sketching ideas on paper is the next step before transferring them to the computer for the design process * Karla acknowledges that while the logo is not the most important part of a brand's identity, it is usually what people encounter first * The overall brand look and feel, including the use of fonts and colors, are vital in conveying the right story for the brand * Karla shares why it’s important to ask for opportunities to get more doors opened for your business

Links mentioned:

Connect with Karla on Instagram

Karla's Brand Quiz

50 Adjectives 50+ Adjectives to Map Out Your Brand Identity

Karla's Brand Design Audit

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Andrea Jenson is the Founder of The Cash Flow CFO - the 7-Figure Entrepreneur’s Solution to Scaling a PROFITABLE business, and the creator of the Predictable Profits Accelerator - a five (5) step holistic approach to creating predictable business profits.

The Cash Flow CFO team provides fractional CFO Services, Fully Outsourced Accounting Teams and Financial Training Programs. Andrea's modern, boutique approach provides well thought-out, practical solutions, designed to help entrepreneurs run and scale their business faster & easier.

As an investor and entrepreneur, Andrea understands first-hand what business owners need most to grow & scale. Prior to opening her firm, Andrea ran Corporate Accounting Departments for both Public and Private Organizations. Her work experience includes Starwood Hotels, Venture Capital and Multi-Million dollar Online & Offline Businesses.

Today Andrea’s goal is simple: to empower business owners to confidently OWN their finances and their future and use their business as a vehicle to create personal, legacy wealth. In addition to sitting on the Board for several Non-Profits in her community, Andrea is a wife, mother, soccer player, and passionate volunteer who spends her free time helping kids with cancer thrive, and shelter dogs find their forever homes.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Andrea is a fourth generation entrepreneur and while she was in college on a soccer scholarship, she had to choose a major and chose accounting
As Warren Buffet says, accounting is the center of business, and she kept learning how business models play out and then she graduated with a business degree
After graduating, she got a job at a venture capital firm and there she was able to compare what she did there with what she knew in the restaurant industry
She noticed the big disconnect between the industries, what small businesses do compared to the big businesses and that’s how her business was born
While Andrea understood accounting, she didn’t have a ton of background in business tasks like sales and marketing
When she first started out, it was a lot of trial and error for the first couple of years, tried to do it on her own, and now has a team of 30 people working for her

A closer look at how Andrea’s Company operates * Andrea’s company offers fractional CFO services and by focusing on implementing systems, she was able to grow the business and hire more people * Andrea explains the role of a CFO and benefits for businesses using the metaphor of driving a car to explain the difference between a CFO and other financial professionals * A CFO is described as the person looking out of the front windshield, providing future forecasts and strategic planning * Every month, they look at budget and actuals; so by having a monthly look at that they’re able to prevent money leaks in the business and increase finances * Why a forward looking process can better help you use your resources * They help business owners make more money by using historical data to forecast the future and strategically deploy cash * Strategic financial planning includes decisions like investing in hiring more staff, purchasing equipment, or expanding office space * Right now, Andea’s company offers done-for-you services, and they plan to offer workshops + courses to be able to serve more people * Why her company focuses on using financial anchors such as budgets, forecasts, and job costing help businesses stay on track and adapt when needed * These anchors provide a big game plan while allowing for adaptation and adjustment * How Andrea’s team meets for a “Workshop Wednesday” to close gaps in their current processes as they work with teams

The benefits of having a CFO inside your business * Andrea highlights the constant stress and juggling that business owners experience, and how having a CFO can alleviate this stress by allowing the business owner to focus on sales, marketing, and fulfillment * Working with a CFO can fine-tune the business model and make it more profitable through incremental adjustments * Not all business owners have the financial skills to make these adjustments, which is where a CFO can provide a return on investment * Having a CFO not only benefits the business owner by reducing stress but also makes the business more profitable and efficient

The approach Andrea took when it came to branding her business * Andrea's brand aims to create a comfortable and safe space for business owners unsure about financial matters * How a lot of her clients made her clients feel bad about their past moves; and her brand uses the approach of understanding that it’s okay, we just move on from here * Their logos, company values, colors and marketing they share the same message * They want businesses to feel comfortable working with them; and the approach of not making people feel bad about their situation * They are exploring areas such as benefits, insurance, and staffing to serve their clients in different capacities * How there’s currently a shortage of accountants drives the need for strategic partnerships to attract quality accountants * Their primary focus is on providing excellent customer service and continuously improving their offerings * Timing is crucial in business, and some factors can be controlled while others cannot * COVID made it difficult to find good team members, emphasizing the need for strategic hiring and planning * A staff utilization schedule helps determine revenue generation based on the existing team * Budgeting should consider the time period before new hires can generate revenue and align with sales activity * Andrea's company aims to serve their clients as it grows and evolves, exploring various avenues such as partnerships and joint ventures * How you can connect with Andrea on her website and you can also check out her YouTube channel

Links mentioned:
The Cashflow CEO Website

Connect with Andrea on LinkedIn

Andrea Jensen's YouTube Channel

Andrea's FB Page

Connect with Andrea on Instagram

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Keyaira Miller, Lead Business Partner at Target, brings a broad set of Retail experiences and expertise spanning over 16 years within the areas of Buying, Sourcing, Product Development and Brand Management. Keyaira is a Lead Business Partner on the Merchandising Vendor Development Team at Target Headquarters. In her current role, she is responsible for sourcing, connecting, growing and amplifying emerging diverse and/or women owned brands to support Target’s merchandising strategies and drive inclusive assortment for Target’s diverse guests. Her notable and most recent work includes helping curate Target’s Black History Month Assortments, Tabitha Brown’s Limited Time Apparel and Food launches and Target’s Activation booths and programming at Essence Fest in New Orleans. Keyaira has a passion for retaining and growing brands, allowing them to reach their fullest potential by empowering them with the right foundational tools, partners and resources in hopes that it creates a space to fuel generational wealth and drive economic vitality and equity. Prior to Target, Keyaira was at Amazon Fashion, leading the Women’s Product Development team within Private Brands. Much of what Keyaira loves is involved with collaboration and connection. Assembling a team with gifts different than mine, who shine in ways I don’t have, has been both inspiring and crucial to my success. Keyaira is a 2002 Graduate of West High school in Waterloo, IA and has degrees from The University of Northern Iowa and The Academy of Arts University. Keyaira currently resides in Waterloo with her loving husband and 10-year-old old son.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How I met Keyaira when she was speaking at a panel at The Black and Brown Summit, a local event I attended in earlier this year, and I wondered how a girl from Iowa got to work with brands at Target
Keyaira shares that at an early age she was always was interested in fashion, and was fascinated by how fashion worked
She knew that the University of UNI had a great fashion and textiles program and the program showed her the familiarity she needed to know to get the opportunities she wanted
Initially, she was interested in the buying part of fashion and she got her first opportunities by networking and cold calling, as this was before the opportunity
By building up her network, working in retail in high school, she got her first opportunity in the field at Target in Minneapolis
Melissa and Keyaira shared the same experience of not having an awareness of big fashion brands like Louis Vuitton or Manolo Blahnik growing up in Iowa until we saw Sex and the City
Keyaira used her experience working at Victoria’s Secret when she was younger and worked as an intern for Von Maur
How she got laid off from Target after a few months during the recession, but they called her back shortly after

Knowing Yourself, Knowing Your Wealth, and Knowing the Shelf * Why it’s important for Keyaira to equip the brand she works with to be successful at any retailer that they chose, showing them how to know themselves, know their wealth and know the shelf * Know yourself: do you know yourself and do you have the capacity + capability to really scale in retail? * Being “retail ready” means you must be ready to get a retailer a shipment of 20,000 units in less than 2 weeks when they’re ready to give you a PO, your answer should be yes * Know your wealth: You really have to be truthful and honest with yourself that you’re in the right place to be in retail, as it could put you out of business if you’re not ready * Know the shelf: you must understand your competition and understand the retailer where you want to be. Where do you want your product to be placed? Go there and take a picture to see if it fits there. * Melissa shared how she learned through her own desire to start a mascara line, but she decided to put that on hold * Keyaira shares that she currently works within food and beverage, but may crossover in apparel, beauty and more * Why Melissa is excited to learn more about what Keyaira does because it helps her and her audience learn how the retail sourcing process works

The ins and outs of how Keyaira’s team at Target works * How Keyaira’s team works with retail-ready brands, and learns more about them, like what their costs are, what retailers they’re already in, and making sure that they’re aligning brands that match the merchant strategies * Each merchant or buyer has a strategy they want to follow, for example, bringing in more diverse brands for rice and beans * Keyaira shares how she finds out about up and coming brands events, online and has a collaborative conversation with her merchant and buyer, who have the final say on who makes the final decision * If they’re interested in a brand, then Keyaira helps them get ready for a line review, and making a great impression and staying in touch with your buyer to continue the conversation * Why Keyaira recommends brands have patience in the retail process; buyers change hands all the time, timing is everything and next year it could fit right into the new strategy * How over the years of talking to vendors and understanding why it’s so important to know yourself before you start a business, even though in this day and age anyone can start a business * Keyaira shares an example of a luxury brand who was already on the shelf at Saks, and how they were adamant about being on the shelf at Target, but it wasn’t really a fit for the brand * Why having the awareness that as your business scales, your team must scale as well, or knowing when you need to bring in a distributor, and being able to re-evaluate your business on a consistent basis

Keyaira’s perspective on partnerships * Keyaira shares an example of a how they did a small activation with Coca-Cola and to amplify black-owned brands like Ghetto Gastro with food demos, and created a moment with guests to have a connection and wanted to have a Coke * The goal now is to drive guest discoverability with classic, iconic brands to drive awareness to brands like Ghetto Gastro * How Target works with organizations like WBENC, and why those partnerships are crucial to the success because it’s another layer that helps creates success and inclusivity * Melissa shares that her experience at Dress for Success Worldwide opened her eyes to different brand activations and partnerships that were out there and happening in the real world * How a lot of what Keyaira does is organic and fluid; but how her role and the area of business and the human centric approach matters, and why that’s missing from a lot of brands * Why Keyaira loves meeting new brands and learning more about them

Why inclusive design matters * How inclusive design has been around for a long time, but now it’s getting recognition it deserves * Why there’s power in leaning into inclusive design, and why it’s a huge misconception, for example, that all black-owned brands are only designed for black people * A lot of times, the brand is only serving products for everyone * Why Keyaira recommends that brands celebrate heritage, and how data shows that buyers wanna support brands that have that messaging that celebrate heritage * Why brands are now putting the logos of the causes they support and the certifications you have on your packaging * Buyers are looking to bring cultures together; and how Target is seeing data that backs it up * Why it’s important for brand to have inclusive brands, inclusive products and as it relates to design and branding, it’s not going away * Why more retailers are going to lean into it more, and why brands should lean to it, be authentic to it, showcase it and not hide it * Sometimes when brands get ready to be inside of a retailer, they want to change their mission statement but there’s beauty in who you are, and stay authentic to your brand and yourself * How you can connect with Keyaira on Instagram or send her a message at keyaira.k.miller@gmail.com

Links mentioned:

Connect with Keyaira on Instagram

Learn more about Keyaira’s role at Target

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Steph Tuss is the CEO of multimillion-dollar global consulting company Life Is Now, Inc., and frequent stand-in cohost of Business Daily News’ top-ranked podcast - The Successful Mind.

Steph discovered her love for teaching at a young age, beginning her career as an educator. It was during this time that her firstborn child was facing health difficulties, and she decided to completely overhaul their diets to figure out the root cause. She went back to school to pursue a Master’s Degree in Holistic Nutrition and went on to open a practice to help families who faced similar challenges.

Fast forward a few years, Steph hired David Neagle and his team at Life Is Now, Inc., as her health practice's business coach. As she continued to scale her business, her love for entrepreneurship and growing businesses shined through. She sold her business at the age of 33 and joined Life Is Now, Inc. as the Director of Sales in 2009 before taking on the CEO role less than a decade later in 2016.

In her six years at the helm of the company, Steph has become the primary driver behind all of Life Is Now's marketing, business development and brilliant team culture. As a recent empty-nester, she lives in Charlotte, NC with her husband and cattle dog, Jack. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling the country in her Airstream.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Steph Became a Leader * As a child, Steph was always told to quit being bossy, which caused her to fly under the radar in grade school, but when she went to college, she became a teacher because it was an acceptable way to be a leader * In 2001, Steph had her first child, who had a lot of health issues - after extensive research, Steph discovered she was suffering from food sensitivities and wanted to teach and share what she discovered with other people * Steph went back to school and got her master's degree in holistic nutrition, and began to build her business which grew very quickly * The business started to plateau, so Steph hired David as a business coach, who is now her business partner - though his coaching Steph fell more in love with business building and mindset work than with nutrition * After 3 years, Steph sold her business to work with David at Life is Now, where she started in sales and is now the CEO * Steph talks about what led her to seek out a business coach to help her see what she needed to change to grow her business * How Steph said yes to every opportunity within Life is Now so she could learn all parts of the business and become a part of the leadership * After the current CEO left, Steph took on the responsibilities of the CEO without her role changing - one day, she walked into David's office and told him he needed to make her the CEO, and he did * Now, Steph isn't just the CEO; she is also a partner in Life is Now

Establishing Good Culture + Team Synergy * One of the first big changes Steph made as CEO was establishing psychological safety because of the previous CEO, people were scared to share their opinions * As a CEO, you have to model what you want to see other people do; that means being transparent about what you're learning, telling them when you don't feel confident, sharing when you make mistakes, and celebrating the good * Steph would host workshops on how to give to receive feedback to get people comfortable with conflict because businesses are here to solve problems, and you need people to share their ideas to come up with solutions * If you want to know more about psychological safety, which is the most important when it comes to developing culture, Steph recommends the book, The Fearless Organization by Amy Edmondson * Next, Steph shares that they established a clear vision by taking the team through a vision process that's outlined in Cameron Herold's book, Vivid Vision * When you follow this vision process, Steph says you'll usually hit your vision goals within one or two years because it creates focus synergy for your team * Big lessons Steph has learned are that mistakes are required and to not take results personally * By creating a visionary leadership assessment, Steph was able to see that there are 4 different types of leaders: Catalyst, Charismatic, Limitless, and Legacy Leaders * Go to lifeisnowinc.com, and you can find their visionary leadership assessment * Steph talks about the rebrand they recently went through that switched the company from being about a person to being about their ideal client * How a lot of business owners get stuck doing tasks that shouldn't be on their plate because they aren't good at delegating * Check out the Life is Now Website and connect with Steph on Instagram for lots of free industry and business resources

Links mentioned:

Life Is Now Inc. Website

The Fearless Organization by Amy Edmondson

Vivid Vision by Cameron Herold

Visionary Leadership Assessment

Connect with Steph on Instagram

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Olivia Dreizen Howell is the co-founder and CEO of Fresh Starts Registry, the first and only platform for everything you need to begin again, including divorce or breakup, moving, career changes, stepping into your truth, or starting again after grief. Her background is in social media marketing, and she is also the founder and CEO of March Lion Media. She's a single mom of two amazing boys on Long Island (born and bred!), and in her spare time, she loves to watercolor, make handmade cards, read about generational trauma, listen to 90s music, and collect crystals I know nothing about, but love the way they feel.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Fresh Starts Registry Started + How it Works * How I came across Olivia on Twitter when she was doing a challenge involving reaching out to people in business that you normally wouldn't shoot your shot with * Olivia says that everything she's done in life, she hasn't had a background in - if you want to do something, go for it * The story of how Olivia got into teaching and then left after 8 years to run local businesses' Facebook pages which grew into a global agency that her sister eventually joined * Olivia's marriage ended in 2019, and after her husband moved out of their house, she wondered why there wasn't a registry for divorce, breakups, job loss, moving - any of the hard moments in life * How Olivia and her sister created Fresh Starts Registry, which is the first and only platform for everything you need to start again * Olivia explains how to use the registry builder on their site and shares that they have over 60 experts in all different categories to use as resources * When you become an expert, you get all these amazing resources and benefits like workshops, seminars, and public relations * Usually, Olivia charges $100 - $200 an hour to work with them one-on-one, but when you're an expert, you pay $37 a month and can come in to get help as many times as you want * How Olivia got 5 clients before she had a website when she was starting, all because she talked to people * If you're starting a business; you need to be able to vocalize what you do, be confident, and network within your industry * The reason why Olivia didn't want to niche down to just divorces was in order to celebrate all brave life decisions * It was important when Olivia and her sister started building Fresh Starts that it was a safe place for people on the internet, which is why they don't collect user data of the people going through life changes

Olivia’s Talent for Connecting Others + Teaching * One challenge they had at the start was keeping experts, but once they started supporting them, giving them resources, and teaching them all the marketing tools they knew to help them grow their businesses, the experts were multiplying * Olivia explains that Fresh Starts is in start-up mode and that revenue comes from the expert memberships * How female founders make up 40% of founders but get less than 2% of the capital deployed by venture capitalists a year - Olivia shares this because it can be a very sexist world to be in, and there needs to be a change * Fresh Starts is very picky about who they work with because they aren't in it for the money; they're in it to change the narrative around brave life changes * One thing Olivia realized early on in life is that she has a passion for connecting people with jobs and connecting people with people, which is why she has her personal brand, Digital Yenta, and one thing she does is update a job board (Yenta List) each day with jobs in the marketing world * This year Fresh Starts wants to add vendors like copywriters, designers, SEO specialists, etc., to come into the community as well * Olivia shares how it is working with her sister when they have different personalities but says it makes for a beautiful partnership where they can grow together * Connect with Olivia on Twitter, Instagram and check out Fresh Starts Registry

Links mentioned:

Fresh Starts Registry

March Lion Media

Yenta List

Fresh Starts Registry on Instagram

Fresh Starts Registry on Facebook

Fresh Starts Registry on Twitter

Fresh Starts on LinkedIn

Connect with Olivia on Twitter

Connect with Olivia on Instagram

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Daniel Adoff is the Principal and Chief Strategist at Dyno Creative. He is a creative problem solver focused on building and evolving brands. He leads teams on a broad range of projects that include illustration, web design, and brand development. Some of his clients include Netflix, Discovery+, Sambazon, Taco Bell, and Hyperice. As a lifelong learner, Daniel is passionate about mentoring emerging talent in the practice of design and illustration. In his personal life, Daniel is a coach of Muay Thai Kickboxing. He holds a BFA in Illustration from LCAD and teaches courses within the Graphic Design and Illustration departments, including Professional Practices and Adobe Illustrator. Daniel is an active member of AIGA.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Daniels Young Start to Art + Building Relationships * Daniel shares a childhood story of how his friend showed him that experimenting is what art is all about, which made him rethink his creative process * How Daniel's father owned a screen printing shop where he learned how to make t-shirts at a young age * Daniel graduated from college with his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration, but as he started working, he got more graphic design work * In 2008, during the economic crash, Daniel had all his clients disappear, but at the time coached water polo and decided to make it the best-looking team as a case study * The first extensive branding project Daniel did was for his water polo team, which helped them expand from 10 to 175 athletes * The story of how Daniel helped one of his past water polo athletes build his brand from the ground up

Helping people is part of Daniel's core values, and he says that Dyno Creative shares that - they're here to solve problems, build partnerships and help people grow into their greatest self
Daniel likes to start building relationships by asking people how he can help them; In the business, that equates to asking someone what their biggest pain point is
Instead of trying to sell yourself and your services, Daniel says it's more valuable to ask people what they are struggling with and what's challenging them
If you make friends, Daniel says, then there is bound to be someone who wants to help and support you in the same way you want to help and support them
Why it's important to get connected with people who are outside of your circle and industry to find out how they got where they are
As creatives, we struggle to apply our skills to ourselves
Daniel and I both talk about what we want to achieve in our businesses moving forward

Getting Projects You Want * Daniel and his team created a bunch of mock projects that they have on their website to show off the type of work they want to be doing * At Dyno Creative, they do a lot of cold outreach, and Daniel shares how it works for them * Daniel explains it's important that if they aren't the expert in what a client is asking for, they connect them with someone they know who is an expert * How Daniel and his team can send 1,000 cold emails each month through PersistIQ that helps with generating an email list of people who might need their services * Social media is like a billboard; Daniel asks how many times you have driven past a billboard and called the number on it - it's great for awareness, which is how Daniel uses it, but he likes other strategies like email and building genuine relationships best * In emails, Daniel likes to include results they've had for other clients and a clear CTA (call to action) so people can see how they could help them solve their problems too * Daniel shares the details of working on the artwork for the Tracy Morgan: Staying Alive film * On streaming platforms, you might notice different key art pieces for different shows because they are testing which ones get the most clicks - this is how Daniel's illustration ended up being used for Tracy Morgan: Staying Alive * No matter what you're trying to improve in your business, it won't work unless you have a clear core message - the easiest way to find this, Daniel says, is to take away your product and see what your brand would be * Check out the Dyno Creative website and connect with them on Instagram, Dribble, or Pinterest

Links mentioned:

Dyno Creative Website

Dyno Creative on Instagram

Dyno Creative on Dribble

Dyno Creative on Pinterest

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Anastasia Lipske knows what it takes to book speakers and podcast guests. As the founder of Access Speakers, a full-service speaker, and podcast booking agency, she has booked more than 1,500 engagements for her clients.

Anastasia speaks the language of speaker chairs, event planners, and podcast hosts who seek great speakers and podcast guests for their meetings and shows. Additionally, her unique skills help business owners brand themselves as speakers, spread their message, and attract clients.

As a co-author of the book, Business Success with Ease, Anastasia emphasizes how to use speaker branding to generate influence, awareness, and clients! Her readers learn strategies of public speaking and podcast guesting as effective marketing tools.

Anastasia motivates audiences with her energetic personality and passion for the speaking and podcast guesting industry. She inspires business owners to use one of the most powerful tools in existence...the voice!

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Anastasia Got Started as a Speaker Agent * Anastasia's speaker agency, Access Speakers, focuses on platform and marketing speakers - people who speak for free to grow their business * Before getting into the speaker world, Anastasia worked in luxury tourism, which involved event planning, PR marketing, and sales that gave her a lot of the tools she needed when deciding to become a speaker agent * In 2008, when the economy took a turn, tourism was down, and Anastasia dabbled in social media, which led her to get connected with a sustainable farmer whose business coach said she should be speaking to grow her business and asked Anastasia to help * Anastasia shares the different speaking engagements she booked for the sustainable farmer that helped her get clients - speaking became her number one marketing tool * In 2020, everything Anastasia had booked for clients went away due to covid-19, which is when she decided to pivot and dive into podcast bookings for her speakers * Anastasia explains how traditional speaker agents will usually not represent a speaker who is not commanding fees of at least 5k per talk * The difference for Anastasia is her people aren't speaking because they want to get paid; they're using it as a marketing tool to grow their business * What's nice about podcasting is its digital footprint, which is much deeper and evergreen

Start Booking Podcasts * When starting podcasting, Anastasia says it's important to have clarity of who you want to get in front of - find out what podcasts they're listening to, and put it out there to everyone that you are looking to be a guest * Anastasia explains why it's important to review the podcast before you propose to be on the show * Every single proposal is handled individually at Anastasia's agency so they can be certain that they are offering the host something of value that is aligned with them and their show * Anastasia walks us through the process of booking a podcast at her agency * When it comes to finding podcasts, the agency has a book of past podcasts they've worked with; some clients have their own list of podcasts, and they use Listen Notes as a podcast directory * If you are looking for a different representation than what Anastasia offers, she suggests checking out Tom Schwab and Interview Valet * Apple is not putting weight into ratings and reviews as it used to because there are so many bots leaving fake ratings and reviews * Anastasia explains how Listen Notes works and says if you are just starting, you want to stick to shows that have a 5-10% rating in their industry because that's where you will have the most likelihood of success * When you start getting on more and more podcasts, people will recognize your name, and it will give you more credibility * It's important to think about how you can add value for the host of the podcast - one thing you can do is be visible and share the episode in multiple ways * One thing Anastasia suggests all podcast guests do is to have one place for people to go to connect with you * Visit accessspeakers.biz/thankyou to connect with Anastasia, register for her ebook, and get a 15-20 min consultation

Links mentioned:

Access Speakers Website

Listen Notes

Interview Valet

Connect with Anastasia

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Renee Hughes serves the clinical aromatherapy community. She partners with them to advance in their businesses. She does this by helping them to create authentic captivating messages, and speaking skills. Renee herself is a Certified Professional Aromatherapist and a Natural Health Consultant. She understands the clinical and emotional factors involved in being a clinical holistic practitioner.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Renee’s Background + Start to Holistic Health * Renee started in marketing and VA support but always craved the holistic world and shares she wanted to be a clinical practitioner but thought she was too old to go back to school * How Renee ended up going back to school to get her certification to be a natural health consultant and went on to specialize in aromatherapy and psycho aromatherapy * After going back to school, Renee created a program where she helps other practitioners boost their mood - this has molded into the speaker training they do now * Renee's health problems from a young age contributed to her curiosity about holistic health, and she shares that a mentor of hers taught her a lot, and once she started making small changes, it completely shifted her health * How Renee tested her program on women with chronic illness and used aromatherapy to reduce pain and inflammation, which went well, but she discovered the emotional piece was so much more impactful, which is why she got into psycho aromatherapy * While running her practice, Renee realized there were a lot of creatives in her world who wanted to do what she was doing, so she decided she wanted to have a business that trains people like her to be successful at it * Deciding to focus on messaging is what sets Renee apart from others because people can connect with their audience through what they say and how they say it * Incorporating psycho aromatherapy was an easy decision because so much of being successful in the creative and holistic space involves getting rid of fears, being confident, learning your zone of genius, and getting comfortable in it

Creating Strong Relationships + Getting Clear on Messaging

What has worked for Renee when it comes to getting clients has been learning to create real connections with the audience she has
Everyone needs a clear, powerful message as to what they do, why they do it, and how they do it - Renee says one way you'll know if you have great messaging is based on how many referrals you get because people know exactly what you do and will refer you
If your clients are constantly asking you for things you don't offer, that's a good indicator that your messaging is not clear
When you're pivoting your business, you want to make sure you're clear and honest with your audience and make sure there is a need for it
If Renee is thinking about changing or adding something to her business, she likes to ask her audience what they think because it's powerful to bring them into the creative process
I talk about the new Be Nice to My Brand workshops I'm doing to help people discover if they're nice to their brand, if they are nice in the way they talk to themselves as the founder, if their team is on board with the brand, and vision, are how you're creating ways to get people excited about your brand
People don't crave working with you until you have hit their emotions, connected with them in some way, and understood the transformation you can provide
Renee says there are a lot of different systems that can work for your business, but none of it works if your messaging isn't clear or if you're talking to the wrong people
The approach Renee likes to use when creating relationships is similar to one that you would use to create a genuine friendship
Don't be afraid to get to know yourself, find what you're looking for, and continue to ask yourself if you are clear on what you do
When I was doing sales page design, I would also help with people's brands but only charge for the sales page design, so now I want to help people build their brand from start to finish
How I'm giving myself a couple of years to be a consultant so I can get into the space I want, which is the beauty industry
Renee invites everyone to come to their next event, Bold and Booked, where you'll learn about their company and what they do, plus there will be a live training on speaking

Links mentioned:

The Aroma Specialist Website

Bold and Booked

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Susan Hamilton Meier is a branding expert and career coach who helps women find the through-line of their work history, write a focused, memorable elevator pitch, and design a vision and action plan for the next phase of their journey.

An alum of Harvard Business School, the Boston Consulting Group, and 20 years as a Fortune 500 brand strategist, Susan is now on a mission to empower other women to own their stories and unlock their promise.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Susan’s Background + The Zig-Zag Path * In college, Susan was an art major but shared the story of how she took a leap of faith to join a management consulting firm * Susan left management consulting to run a nonprofit theater for a couple of years, then went back to business school and worked for Boston Consulting Group when she discovered branding, which she found fascinating * 12 years ago, Susan started her own company, and about 3 years ago, she started coaching to help people share their brand’s story * When Susan was working for different agencies, she typically worked in strategy roles, which she liked but missed the visual communication component * Strategy is really about vision - being able to close your eyes and envision where you are today, look at yourself honestly, and think about where you would like to be * We talk about how important it is to integrate strategy and design, which is one of the reasons Susan wanted to start her own company * In Susan’s coaching work, she has a wide variety of clients because her coaching is focused on personal brands * On the corporate side of Susan’s business, she went from working with consumer goods to healthcare technology * The zig-zag path Susan describes is the ever-winding road life leads you down and how more people in the working world are discovering that you can have multiple interests instead of sticking to one specialization and moving in a straight line * The benefit of the zig-zag path is that you meet more people, you have more ideas, and you encounter more things, which will make you more innovative * When it comes to making better decisions for what you want to do in the future, Susan’s process starts with self-reflection about who you are and what your values are, then they dive into who your audience is, next you write your story, and then you can decide what’s next * Susan likes to ask her clients what they got out of working with her, and a lot of them say confidence, which you need to make decisions and get rid of your fears

What to Include in Your Story * Deciding what goes into your story when you’ve done a lot of different things is based on a little science and a little art - Susan shares that she has a template people start with and how they then ask different questions to dive deeper and get their story * You don’t want to tell your whole story in your elevator pitch, but you want to share just enough and hint at what makes you interesting and unique so people ask you questions - Susan says it’s also important to be super clear with what you’re doing and asking for * There is scientific research that shows that humans take in information first through their eyes * Susan built the tools of her course to be very visual to help people use that side of their brain and says that it has been fun to watch people discover things about themselves through visuals * If people are ready to dive deeper into designing their website or other deliverables, Susan helps them with a style guide * You can work with Susan one on one or in a group, but the 5-week course is where everyone starts * Susan says that she became a Fortune 500 brand strategist by working at big consulting companies and building her network * Check out Susan’s website to learn more and get some free resources and connect with her on Instagram

Links mentioned:

Susan Meier Studio Website

Susan’s Free Resources

Connect with Susan on Instagram

Connect with Susan on LinkedIn

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Abagail and Emylee are the business fairy godmothers behind Boss Project and the hosts of the chart-topping podcast, The Strategy Hour. They’re internet-famous for their program, Trello for Business, which breaks down boring and complicated systems into bite-size chunks. They have helped over 10k creative small business owners create simplicity and ease in reaching their goals. After getting their start in 2015 serving clients in the marketing and branding space, they now help other service based business owners reignite their offer, create systems for client experience, and get more of their time back inside their program, The Incubator. The team at Boss Project is truly revitalizing the service based industry through strategies that don’t require flashy marketing, a huge audience or full-time hours.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

The Start of Boss Project + Offers * Abagail shares that their brand was originally Think Creative Collective and rebranded to Boss Project about 5 years ago * You can join their Boss Project Facebook Community that has over 30k entrepreneurs - it's a great spot to find jobs and get support * The Boss Project started in 2015 when Abagail was recently laid off and started her own branding and marketing company - she was able to replace her salary in the first 30 days * Shortly after starting her business, Abagail met Emylee, her business partner, who at the time was running her own photography business * How Abagail and Emylee's partnership started as them working on projects together - soon they began marketing themselves as a package and started the Think Creative Collective * On top of running the agency, Abagail and Emylee were teaching everything they were learning, from how to get clients to sales strategy and more, on their blog * When it was just the two of them, they leaned more into the education side of their business, but now that they have a team, they can offer a wide variety of services * Abagail believes the reason they grew was because of the community they offered and says it wouldn't have been possible without the community of women interested in learning and growing together * One of Abagail's favorite offers is website design because of their unique approach to design, messaging, and strategy to create an SEO-rich website that speaks to prospects for their clients * Abagail and Emylee have 7 core full-time employees, but several additional contractors come in for specialized areas * One of the first things Abagail and Emylee do with clients is dig into the numbers because the only way to scale is to truly understand where you are at - they like to see what has served you well so you can do more of it and see if you are pricing yourself correctly * Abagail shares a client story of a social media strategist who needed to realign her pricing and contracts with clients * Instead of sending an email that outlined the new pricing for this social media strategist, Abagail, and Emylee coached her on how to have individual conversations with her clients based on her relationship with each client, and it was extremely successful * In 6 weeks, the social media strategist had 6 new contracts and an additional 60k in revenue, and by continuing to ensure her pricing was in alignment, in 3 months, she doubled her business with fewer clients than when she started with * So many people put themselves out of business because they are not appropriately getting paid enough for it to be worth all the effort they're putting in

The Power of Relationships + Prioritizing Your Life * Abagail says that most people assume trends are marketing because it's what's working at the moment for the loudest people in the room, but marketing, in the most basic sense, is sharing what you do with the world * What business owners need to be focused on is relationships - marketing is only as good as who you know and how much they know about what you can do for them * Abagail focuses so much on relationships because she has seen people be one connection away from being booked out for years to come - when you and your client are in alignment, they'll want to recommend you * When Abagail first started her branding and marketing company, she had a referral partnership with another designer and shared that you would be shocked by what one solid relationship can do for a business * Reawaken a relationship, even if it's been years between talking is as easy as sending a message and setting up a meeting * Abagail says that you should go into interactions with an open mind about trying to understand the person and their needs and not be so focused on selling your services because not every interaction is going to produce a sale or client, and that's okay * In 2016, Abagail was in a car accident that left her with a brain injury, and at the time, she was running her business full-time - luckily, they had some systems in place, but they weren't expecting such a random event as a car accident * After the car accident, Abagail and Emylee started running their business with the focus that their lives will always be far more important than the work they do at their job * Abagail shares that it takes time to prioritize your life first, and it takes the proper systems and support behind the scenes to make it work when life throws you curve balls that you aren't sure how to handle * Having solid boundaries are important, and Abagail shares some of theirs * Building a business can be isolating, and Boss Project is a safe community for you to get the support you need because it's okay not to know everything as a business owner * If you want to talk about your business numbers, send Abagail a message, or if you're interested in working with the Boss Project, book a consult to talk with Abagail personally * Connect with Abagail on Instagram

Links mentioned:

Boss Project Website

The Strategy Hour Podcast

The Incubator Program

Boss Project Facebook Community

Boss Project Consult

Connect with Abagail on Instagram

Boss Project YouTube Channel

Boss Project on Pinterest

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Jaye is a creative professional with a passion for creative design, AI, and driving positive change. When she is not immersed in the world of technology, you can find her outside in the garden, cultivating nourishment from the earth, and spending quality time with her children. She believes in the power of technology to make a difference and is dedicated to using her knowledge of AI, web and graphic design, and Salesforce administration to help businesses and individuals thrive while making technology more accessible to all. She believes in the power of AI to help level the playing field. Jaye actively seeks to serve marginalized, and under-recognized communities by bridging the digital divide and creating equal opportunities for all.

As an experienced public speaker, Jaye shares her insights on the transformative impact of AI and design while advocating for accessibility, inclusivity, and diversity in the tech industry. Jaye is driven by her heart for serving others and making a meaningful difference in the world.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Jaye’s Background + How AI Works * How we are going to talk about AI (artificial intelligence) on today's episode * Jaye explains how she got a full-ride scholarship playing field hockey while studying broadcast journalism * After graduating college, Jaye worked for a nonprofit where she did leadership training, graphic design, web design, videography, and more, which helped her develop her toolbox * When the pandemic hit, Jaye decided to homeschool her kids for a year and a half and then transitioned into tech after they enrolled back in school * How I started the show almost 5 years ago because I felt that I wasn't good enough in this field, I didn't know the opportunities were available to me, and because I wanted to learn from others * Jaye shares that she has an agricultural business that will be relaunching sometime that teaches people how to garden and grow their own food and herbal medicine on any budget and in any space * I know a little about AI, and I understand that AI is becoming a driving force in my field and can be an asset in business * Jaye says once people find practical uses for AI, their opinion on it usually shifts * We talk about some of the trends in AI, and Jaye explains how the content from AI is originated * AI software takes all of the prompts you give it and turns them into a number first, and then it spits out words and images for us * Jaye says she has been able to recognize the patterns in AI; for example, AI used a lot of passive words in its writing

AI’s Impact on the Creative World+ Jaye’s Business * Learning to prompt well is the key to getting what you want from AI - Jay starts by giving it a role, then telling it its task by specifying dos and don'ts, and lastly, giving it a format to respond * Personally, Jaye doesn't believe that AI will take everyone's jobs; some roles may be phased out as it evolves, and companies may believe they can get rid of positions because of it, but she believes they will be at a loss * In a few years, Jaye thinks companies that still offer a human touch will be the niche market, and that will differentiate them from other companies * As designers, we are inspired by others all the time, so we should look at AI as a shortcut and not fear it - you want to be the person who understands how to use the technology * Jaye shares how she had been looking for Salesforce administrative jobs but found generative art at the end of January, which led her to AI * How Jaye created her own tech consulting company, which merges visual strategy and design with AI * Jaye's goal is to teach people how to use AI to enhance their lives * If you want to learn more about AI or how to work with Jaye, visit her website Jayecreates.com * Connect with Jaye on LinkedIn or Twitter * Jaye is creating a blog to go along with her website so people can learn more about their AI services * The Melanated AI Network is for people of color and allies who want to learn about the tech and discuss it in a safe place * With AI, there is a different trend every week, and Jaye shares her current favorites in the space * Although AI technology is amazing, Jaye thinks the ethical issues need to be addressed

Links mentioned:

Jaye Creates Website

Connect with Jaye on LinkedIn

Connect with Jaye on Twitter

The Melanated AI Network

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Susan Harrow is a media trainer, marketing strategist, martial artist + author of Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul® (HarperCollins), the first and only book on promoting yourself without using jargon, sales, sex, war, or aggressive language. She specializes in working with women leaders, entrepreneurs + innovators solving the world's most pressing problems. For the past 33 years she’s trained thousands of people for TV, radio, panel, podcast + print interviews to be highly desirable, repeat guests who shine in the media spotlight™.

She's prepped her clients and course participants to appear on Oprah, 60 Minutes, Larry King Live, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Fresh Air, Marketplace, Bloomberg, MSNBC, NPR, CNN, FOX, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Wired, Forbes, Inc., O, Parade, Vanity Fair etc. as well as stage to screen.

You may know her as the "Go To Girl" for getting on Oprah. What you might not know about her is that she has a black belt in Aikido, she rafted down the Zambezi River in class 5 rapids + was almost gored to death by an elephant.

Join us as we learn how to let go of imposter syndrome or if we lack or have lost confidence so we can keep our originality and quirks and be true to ourselves in every moment.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Susan’s Start in PR + Imposter Syndrome * How Susan used to be known as the go-to-girl for getting on Oprah when she was a publicist for authors, speakers, and entrepreneurs * Women with products have a great opportunity to get into O Magazine, which can have one of the most powerful effects on your business * As a publicist, Susan was curious why some people weren’t as effective as others in media, and she discovered it was often what they were saying or how they were being, so she started doing media training * Susan wanted to help promote women in a way where they didn’t feel like they had to brag, beg or whore themselves * Self-doubt and imposter syndrome are natural when moving to the next level of our expertise, and we need to accept that it exists but not stay in it * When imposter syndrome comes up, Susan teaches us how to micromanage our minds so we can make sure our thoughts are serving the person we want to be and shares an example of when she was experiencing imposter syndrome the other day and what she did to help herself * Imposter syndrome comes from within, which is why we need to shift our mindset around it – you can make a million dollars, have a great life and family, and still experience it * Susan shares that she’s always thinking about the next thing and moves towards what makes her curious and what’s going to light her up * Susan had been working on a course for women on how to handle sexual harassment but also be able to speak their minds, stand their ground and express themselves in the world, which is the area she's moving into * Role-playing is important to developing internal personal power so you can speak up and stay safe in any situation, especially in the media spotlight * Susan teaches facial language, body language, verbal language, and the embodiment of showing who you are in any circumstance so you’re not pushed around

Media Strategy * To move forward in media today, Susan says you need to have a story or a connection with something going on in the culture today that’s important to other people and then match that to the correct audience, publication, or show * Susan works hand-in-hand with publicity firms where they do the booking, and she does the media training * The first 3 questions Susan asks clients are what’s your deepest intention/how do you want to serve? What do you want for yourself professionally, personally, spiritually, financially, and physically? What do you want your audience to do? Then they build their messaging around those answers * When choosing the best media method for clients, Susan says they start small to develop their chops and test what resonates with their audience; they look at what comes naturally to them and choose the medium based on where their clients are * Susan shares the strategy she used to help a client build her credibility through print media * In a world of quick videos and pictures, Susan shares why it’s important to pick something long and lasting, like a podcast, but says if there is a quick pop of something in media for you, you need to monetize it quickly and work it into your PR plan * Susan is always looking at what’s unique or special about a person and how they can connect it to the world and culture today * Check out PR Secrets.com for freebies, Susan’s blog and free report to help you create the specific story you’ll need for any media, interview, presentation, etc. * Susan would like women to expand their vision and being into all the areas of capability and curiosity that they’ve been longing for

Links mentioned:

Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul®

PR Secrets Website

Free Report: How to Create Your Story

Connect with Susan on Facebook

Connect with Susan on Instagram

Connect with Susan on LinkedIn

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Cinthia Pacheco is the owner and founder of Digital Bloom IQ, a Digital Marketing Agency specializing in helping female business owners and brands grow their businesses and change the world. She and her team are incredibly passionate about assisting female founders in making an impact and partnering with their clients to reach more people who are already searching for them online. After five years of corporate working with companies like Avon, Sears, and Hyundai, she transitioned into the small business world, focusing on creating a digital marketing agency that specializes in SEO and Google Analytics services. She is on a mission to inspire Health and Wellness businesses to be more intentional about their SEO marketing and share more of their healing talents.

When she’s not working, you can find her playing with her daughter, chilling with her boyfriend, or watching Gilmore Girls on her couch.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How to Get Started with SEO * We first met Cinthia on episode 52 of The Design Business Show, where we talked about her background and attracting more clients using SEO * Last year, Cinthia became a mom, which has been a crazy lifestyle change but has inspired her to dream bigger in her business, help more people, and be more transparent * How parenting has changed Cinthia’s mindset about how she utilizes her time because she doesn’t have as much of it anymore * Cinthia does a lot of journaling and tapping to help with her mindset and shares some exercises she uses * I share a project I’m working on for an e-commerce brand where we are to the point of putting SEO terms on the page * The first thing Cinthia suggests doing is SEO research to create a keyword strategy for everything inside your brand; that way, you can look at what someone would search if they were ready to buy or if they weren’t ready to buy * Cinthia explains how your SEO keywords play a part in your messaging and content strategy but also says that not every page on your site needs to have keywords and be SEO infused * An SEO expert isn’t someone who comes in and tells you where to put keywords; they’re telling you what people are searching and giving you opinions on your customer personas * When you are just starting, Cinthia feels that you don’t need to spend money because you can search Google to see what people are searching and says to scroll down after you search to other suggested topics because those are also keywords * Keywords Everywhere is a paid tool integrated into Chrome that works off credits – as you search on Google, it will give you keyword suggestions, tell you how many times that keyword is being used per month, and how competitive it is * Other places to start keyword hunting are Quora and Reddit to see what people are asking * When looking at your SEO data, Cinthia recommends starting with the Search Console over Google Analytics because Google Analytics isn’t just SEO specific and could be more overwhelming * Cinthia gives examples of how to use different keywords throughout the customer journey for products and service providers to diversify your keyword strategy

SEO For Product Launches + Blogging * A mistake Cinthia sees many product owners make is not blogging – they are so focused on the product page, which is important, but they are missing an opportunity to answer customer questions, create a product guide, or how-to videos * When Cinthia tells her clients to blog about their competition, they get nervous but share how this has helped one of her clients rank on the first page * It’s okay if your product doesn’t align with keywords; they don’t need to live on your product page * Cinthia feels virtual products are a little easier because you can talk a lot more and utilize SEO in many ways than physical products – you can use keywords on your sales page, blog, testimonials page, etc. * If you have a product that is competing with Amazon in the search results, Cinthia explains that you need a strategy that differentiates yourself * If you want to work with Cinthia, they have a done-for-you retainer option because SEO can take a bit of time, or they have a done-with-you audit for businesses and people not ready to dive into a month-to-month retainer * Not only do they send you an in-depth audit of your business in the done-with-you option, but they also send you what to do next with the data you receive so then you can decide if you want to hire the SEO agency or take it upon yourself * Cinthia has an SEO course for those who have a team or any business owners who want to know how to do SEO for themselves * Listen to Cinthia’s Digitally Overwhelmed podcast episode, How to Hire an SEO Expert, where she talks about how to know if you are hiring the right person * Blogging is not dead, but Cinthia says that Google is pickier than ever about what it ranks, which isn’t a problem, but it is something to consider because you have to write useful content * All platforms have their pros and cons, but choosing not to have a website is a very personal choice – Cinthia explains that you don’t know what could happen to some of these platforms if you decide to only use Instagram or Facebook, for example * Check out the Digital Bloom IQ Website, where you can find Cinthia’s services, blog, podcast, and webinar series called the 90-Day SEO Plan, which is a great starting point for people

Links mentioned:

Digital Bloom IQ Website

Episode 52 of The Design Business Show

Keywords Everywhere

Digitally Overwhelmed podcast: How to Hire an SEO Expert

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As the Founder & CEO of Factory45, Shannon Lohr works with idea-stage entrepreneurs to launch fashion brands that are sustainably and ethically made.

Shannon got her start in 2010 when she co-founded {r}evolution apparel, a sustainable clothing company for female travelers and minimalists that was featured in The New York Times, Forbes.com and Yahoo! News.

Through her online business school, Factory45, Shannon has worked with over 500 entrepreneurs in the sustainable fashion space, many of whom have gone on to launch some of the most transparent supply chains in the fashion industry.

Shannon has worked as a consultant for crowdfunding projects that have surpassed their goal amounts by as much as 300%, and has worked closely with startup apparel companies from all over the world to create ethically-made products with a focus on environmentally-friendly materials.

Shannon is a strong advocate for increasing supply chain transparency through sourcing, localization and storytelling. She’s been named a thought leader for the future of fashion and was nominated as a "Woman of Note" by the Wall Street Journal.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Creating a Sustainable Fashion Brand + Visibility * How Shannon started a sustainable fashion brand in 2010 that led her to open Factory45, an online business school that takes sustainable fashion brands from idea to launch * It took Shannon nearly 2 years to launch her fashion brand, and she shares how hard it was to launch a physical brand that was sustainable, which is why she is passionate about helping others easily launch their brands * Shannon shares how her first business became the highest-funded fashion project on Kickstarter in 2011 through preordering and raising money before they went into production – this is the strategy she now teaches * The breakdown of fast fashion and how the fashion industry is one of the top 5 industries contributing to environmental damage and human rights issues * When it comes to attracting your ideal customer for fashion or physical brands, Shannon says that photography and copywriting are the most important * Shannon says as an independent startup, the founder is the one making most of the decisions, so if copywriting, photography, or graphic design, for example, aren’t your strengths, outsource them * One mistake Shannon sees a lot of people make when launching a new business is not taking the time to build an audience before they launch because otherwise, you’ll be launching to crickets * Shannon explains why it’s important to validate your idea, test, and make sure there is a market for what you want to sell – with all of the platforms available to us to build an audience, there is no reason to launch a business blindly * Once you have enough data behind your brand, Shannon says you can presell your product/service, which allows you to have that money upfront, validate your idea and market your idea * Something Shannon tells her entrepreneurs is that visibility is so important when you’re first starting, but it’s not something that gets less important as you continue to grow * Shannon breaks down the difference between content and visibility * One of the best things Shannon did when starting Factory45 was focus on visibility by doing guest blog posts, interviews, and getting in front of other people’s audiences * Visibility today for Shannon looks like being a guest on podcasts, hosting a live show on Instagram every week, and focusing on their YouTube channel

How Factory45 Sets Themselves Apart

Factory45 does 1 – 2 big launches each year, and in between, they do book a call enrollment to learn more about the program and an evergreen workshop that focuses on raising money for your fashion brand through preselling
80% of people in Factory45 just have an idea, the other 20% have started their fashion brand but haven’t gotten to a sustainable launch or where they want to be, and there is a small percentage who are actively selling but want to be surrounded by a community of mentorship and coaching
Every person who comes through Factory45 is matched with a mentor who has been through the program before, in addition to Shannon’s coaching and consulting
We talk about having diverse streams of revenue and creating merchandise just for the sake of creating merchandise without thinking about doing it sustainably or where it will end up
Shannon shares that she is proud of how far the sustainable fashion movement has come because the brands that have launched from Factory45 and other independent sustainable fashion brands are having those conversations and educating consumers
We talk about consumer culture and how consumers have the power to drive brands to become more sustainable, which was not always the case
Factory45 is getting ready to launch a sustainable fashion mastermind called Founder, which you can join after you launch your brand; it will focus on growing sales and revenue in a sustainable and mindful way
The personal coaching and consulting program called CEO Hour that Shannon is launching will focus on people who are running online businesses that want to scale to multiple six figures
Shannon tells us who is on her team at Factory45 and says that getting a team is how you create a sustainable business
Factory45 is a lifetime program, which sets them apart – it used to be a 6-month program, but Shannon realized it wasn’t enough time to go from idea to launch
If you are interested in starting any fashion or accessory product brand, you can go to Factory45.co/apply and book a free discovery call
Check out Factory45 and the Start Your Sustainable Fashion Brand Podcast

Links mentioned:

Factory45 Website

Book a Free Discovery Call with Factory45

Start Your Sustainable Fashion Brand Podcast with Shannon Lohr

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From solopreneur to startup marketer. Jaclyn Mullen is currently the Head of Marketing for TheLoops AI. Much of her ability to help startups with their digital marketing success comes from her past experience as a solopreneur and founder of Jaclyn Mullen Media. When she isn't online building genuine connections or upleveling her marketing game, you can find her enjoying her family--son, fur baby and husband--and finding her next foodie spot.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Jaclyn Mullen Media + Digital World Changes * Jaclyn and I met in 2013/14 and have seen each of our businesses and lives change throughout the years * When Jaclyn and I first met, she had an organic social media agency where she would post on Facebook and Twitter for people – this was before Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok * Jaclyn previously worked as a solopreneur in digital marketing and now works in the start-up world as a head of marketing * How the rise of digital and websites kept popping up, so in 2006, Jaclyn quit her job and decided she was going to work for herself doing consulting * Jaclyn tells us how Jaclyn Mullen Media was created and how she was able to participate in the Tory Burch Goldman Sachs Foundation Program that helps female entrepreneurs scale their businesses and get to the next level, which gave her the foundation for where she is today * When you go through a challenging situation where you have to split your time, Jaclyn says you discover skills you didn’t know you had, like making quick decisions, a willingness to put yourself out there, and figuring out how to leverage what you’re doing now to help yourself in the future * Two important things Jaclyn suggests you do in this growing digital world are connecting with people and being quick to use new digital tools and resources * Jaclyn explains how start-ups work and what she does in her current role as head of marketing * The gist of marketing is making sure you’re connecting with your customers and focusing on growing your brand * What’s become newer, especially in B2B (business to business) marketing, is that the marketing team is tied to a revenue goal * Jaclyn explains why there’s not much difference between marketing for a tech brand vs. a digital brand or physical brand

Visual Design + Making Relationships * The importance of visual design and how it is integrated everywhere - Jaclyn explains that growing up, they had a lot of textual information, but now it’s all about capturing attention on these smaller devices where text is not as aesthetically pleasing * Every single marketing leader needs to understand that every brand needs to have a graphic designer or brand manager as part of their team and learn how to communicate their vision to the designer to identify their own look and feel * Jaclyn says that tying how visual design is going to impact revenue is important, especially if you are a freelance graphic designer * When you work in tech, you are going to have rapid product updates, so Jaclyn explains how to break out your marketing matrix and gives examples of micro-campaigns during tech launches * On the coaching and product side, you’re looking at launching quarterly or semi-annually, but Jaclyn explains that tech moves a lot faster because the buying cycle is longer * Jaclyn shares the self-doubt she experienced before stepping into her new role as head of marketing and also shares how grateful she is for her current CEO's support * When it comes to making and maintaining relationships, Jaclyn says you get what you put into it * Life is very short, and you aren’t guaranteed time, which is why Jaclyn says that even in this busy day in age, it’s important to let those who have had meaning in our life know * The last 3 jobs Jaclyn has had were due to LinkedIn, so she suggests having a presence on LinkedIn and using it for more than just a copy of your resume or portfolio * Jaclyn shares some things to post, like your unique way of doing things, tips and tricks you’ve learned, and what you’ve been working on * Connect with Jaclyn on LinkedIn

Links mentioned:

Connect with Jaclyn on LinkedIn

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Tara Newman is the Founder and CEO of The Bold Profit Academy, where she teaches service-based business owners how to sell premium services and programs without the emotional stress of launching, worrying about ads, overwhelming social strategies or complex funnels.

Tara hosts a weekly podcast called The Bold Money Revolution and has been featured in publications like Money Magazine, Yahoo Finance, and Huffington Post as well as other publications and podcasts.

She earned her Master’s in Organizational Psychology from Hofstra University, has over 20 years of experience, is a certified Profit First Professional and holds an advanced level Reiki Certification. Everything she teaches incorporates Energy, Mindset and Strategy as a framework for resiliency and results.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Businesses Transparancy * We touch on how weird the world of digital selling is right now and about having open conversations around it * Tara says she was a high school failure because of undiagnosed ADHD but thrived in college because she found something she was passionate about, which was psychology - she went into industrial organizational psychology, which is the study of human behavior at work * In 2005, Tara and her husband started their first business but went bankrupt in 2010, shortly after the recession * Tara started her third business in 2014, which is something she felt she could never do because she was coming into her business at such a disadvantage financially and physically but had to figure out how to make 6-figures independent of an employer * When she started her business in 2014, Tara was 38 years old and shared that she had never been responsible for her own finances, which was another disadvantage * How we often forget that many people are necessity entrepreneurs, and most people leave their jobs out of necessity because of illness, stress, wanting flexibility, and wanting to replace their income * Tara first had to figure out how to pay herself $100,000 because she was making more than that in her corporate career and shared that it took her years to get to that point – she had to learn how to sell, communicate the value of her work, position herself, understand her target audience, etc. * After the first year, Tara realized she had a viable business but says she had the embarrassing realization that $100,000 in revenue is not the same as $100,000 in her paycheck * It wasn’t until year 3 in Tara’s business that she was able to pay herself significantly, and she is transparent in saying that her pay has gone up and down over the years * Just because someone says they have made $100,000 in a month or a year doesn’t mean that’s what they’re profiting or paying themselves * The framework Tara uses is the Profit First Framework – they provide a free revenue goal calculator that reverse engineers your revenue goal to make sure you can pay yourself what you need to meet your personal financial goals and expenses * Tara explains it is possible to pay yourself $100,000 on $200,000 - $250,000 a year in revenue, but it depends on your business expenses * 91% of Tara’s Instagram community believes that social media over-glamourizes what’s happening in small businesses and shares that in 2018, 88% of women small business owners earned less than $100,000 in revenue a year – only 1% are making over 1 million dollars * We bust the myth that one-on-one work drains you and isn’t as profitable because, personally, I’ve discovered that’s how I work best

Profit First Framework * Profit First is a book by Mike Michalowicz, and it’s a cash flow management system; it’s not accounting – Profit First helps you make intentional money decisions, gives you clarity and a language to talk about money * Normally, profit = sales – expenses, but Mike said no, that’s not the right formula and said we need to use sales – profit = expenses * In Profit First, you pay yourself first, then set money aside for taxes, and then what’s left over in your business is what you use to pay your expenses * The first thing you want to do with your profit is pay off any debt you may have, then put 50% of your profit away as a cushion in your business until you feel comfortable and then once you’ve done that, you can take your profit as a reward for all your hard work, and then the next step is putting aside money for taxes and paying your everyday lifestyle expenses * Tara explains how to use their free revenue calculator and shares that when you work with a Profit First professional, it could take 18 months to get you from where you are to where you want to be – you have to be patient and know it doesn’t happen overnight * When it comes to working with clients, Tara works with those who are just starting, making zero, and says there is never a better time to create a cash-flow management system, but she also works with large businesses that are bringing in 60 million dollars in revenue * How Tara has been able to create her offers to meet the right size business at the right point – her one-on-one work is typically for larger businesses, and she says she’s mindful of what she’s charging at what point in their business because she wants them to keep more of their money * The Bold Profit Academy is a learning container because Tara has found that there are just a few knowledge and skill gaps in getting people to the revenue they desire * Use the free revenue goal calculator, check out Tara’s free podcast, The Bold Money Revolution, and feel free to reach out to her

Links mentioned:

Free Revenue Goal Calculator

The Bold Money Revolution

The Bold Profit Academy

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Eric Melchor is the Partnerships and Personalization Ambassador at OptiMonk. He previously served as a Marketing and CX Director for publicly traded companies based in Houston and is currently building an ecommerce business from scratch.

He’s also the host of the Innovators Can Laugh podcast interviewing over 70 entrepreneurs from all over Europe.

He claims he is a mediocre tennis player and currently provides guidance on how to personalize online shopping experiences for small and mid-size businesses.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Eric’s Background + Ideas for Personalization * Eric shares that his experience is in digital marketing and only recently started thinking more and more about personalization when working with a startup called Bonjoro that sends personalized videos at the right moment during their customer journey * OptiMonk specializes in giving marketers the tools to personalize an experience in real-time on their website – They’re focused on giving small to mid-sized businesses the superhuman power that big players have, like Netflix and Amazon * Before working with Bonjoro and OptiMonk, Eric worked in the retail energy space specializing in partnerships, managing PPC agencies, copywriters, and social media strategists * Eric had wondered if he was as good as he thought and said the only way to prove that he was good at what he did was to work for a startup because, at a startup, every customer counts * Over the past year, Eric says he has talked to more customers than he ever did in all his years working for large companies * An important part of making a good experience is having the right messaging on your website – customers won't care about most of the jargon on your website; they care that you have a solution that solves their problem * Eric walks us through an example of a customer in need of an engagement ring that is on a jeweler’s website and says you wouldn’t want a message to pop up that says, you could win a designer necklace; you want one that says, here’s 10% off our top wedding rings * One thing you can do is micro engagement, where if someone has been on your site for a while but hasn’t clicked on anything to tell you what they’re looking for, you can send them a message and ask what they’re interested in – it’s like holding their hand and showing them to the right part of your website, just like you would in a physical store * OptiMonk specializes in helping SMBs (Small to Mid Businesses) where accounts fall between $500,000 – 1 million annually and specialize in e-commerce but says there are some B2B (business to business) companies that are starting to use them * Every website visitor is important, so we should try to customize their journey as much as possible * Eric shares that Winc, a subscription wine website, does a really good job gamifying its website so it’s interactive and interesting for visitors * When OptiMonk started, they focused on popups but now have transitioned into a personalization platform and have integrations with over 100 different platforms * When thinking about personalizing your customer experience, Eric says to put yourself in their shoes and think about where you can make the experience more pleasurable and says to get rid of the annoying stuff, like an automatic popup that happens in the first 10 seconds * If a quarter of your website traffic is international, Eric says to give those international visitors a personalized message * Eric says if you get a lot of sales during the holidays, you could present a nice message that asks if they are shopping for themself or somebody else and take them where they need to go based on their response * If you are running Facebook ads or Google paid ads, Eric highly suggests automatically changing the headings on your landing page based on the messaging that you are using in your ads

All About OptiMonk * When Eric moved to Europe a couple of years ago, he wanted to make friends, and because he worked at a startup thought it would be interesting to interview other startup founders, which is how he started his podcast, Innovators Can Laugh, and what led to his role with OptiMonk * In OptiMonk, Eric delivers their personalization boot camps that happen every 2 weeks – if you want to learn more about personalization, you can come to their free boot camp, where Eric walks you through their process * OptiMonk just launched E-commerce Revolution, the first e-commerce business reality show – over 3 months, they’re going to help brands by implementing best practices when it comes to personalization * Eric shares that OptiMonk is also launching The Art of Personalization podcast * When you sign up for OptiMonk, Eric says you’ll be able to see your results in your dashboard and can implement different features like A/B testing * You can sign up for different plans when using OptiMonk; Eric says there is a free plan where you can get started and then walks us through their different plans, what they include, and pricing for each * Eric explains how easy it is to use and customize their templates, and when you set the template up, any other campaign you create in OptiMonk will be aligned with your brand * We talk about inclusivity and trends in the personalization space, and Eric shares that he saw a fashion tool where instead of putting in your size, you select a model that has a similar body type to you, and then anything you pick in the store, can be seen on that model * Try OptiMonk’s free plan, check out their free personalization boot camp, and reach out to Eric if you have any questions

Links mentioned:

OptiMonk Website

Innovators Can Laugh Podcast

Free Personalization Boot Camp

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Mickie Kennedy founded eReleases 24 years ago to help small businesses, authors, and startups increase their visibility and credibility through press release marketing. He lives in the Baltimore area.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Goals of a Press Release * There are many different types of strategic press releases, and one of them, Mickie says, is researching your industry for blind spots; otherwise, you have a press release that doesn’t result in anything * How Mickie and his team helped a client issue a press release on a blind spot, and how they were able to issue 6 additional press releases on that same blind spot - each had articles written about them, which is the goal of a press release * The articles written by media based on your press release convert very well because it’s like a third-party endorsement for your company * Mickie explains that these articles are a useful tool when working with leads and getting them to commit to working with you * 26 years ago, Mickie graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing with an emphasis in poetry and knew he’d be waiting tables for the rest of his life, which he did for a bit but ended up being picked up by a telecom research start-up where he wrote press releases * Mickie explains why you want to craft whatever press release you’re doing into a story so a journalist sees the story and can create an article from it * How PR firms tailor each pitch directly to key media outlets, which works but is very labor intensive - eReleases works with PR firms that send over their press releases, and then eReleases sends it through PR Newswire, the oldest and largest newswire of press releases which is available to journalists * Mickie recommends doing both personal pitches and using a press release platform – many of their clients build relationships over time with different media outlets and email them directly and pitch as specifically as possible * If you have a good quote, Mickie says to include it in the pitch because most journalists can craft a story around a really great quote * Mickie says 95% of press releases that pay to go through his service don’t generate any media attention because they aren’t writing meaningful releases * Many start-ups do well with eReleases because they understand their unique selling proposition and tell a story – being a small company is not an obstacle; it’s something that makes you more likely to get media attention

Crafting a Press Release + Finding Blind Spots * When eReleases started, Mickie had an email list of about 10,000 journalists who agreed to receive press releases from him as long as it was in their niche of reporting, so Mickie would have clients come in and match them with the right editors on his list * With the wire, it’s an electronic distribution where journalists have a login and can look at press releases based on different filters they set * Mickie explains that it’s $1,200 to send a 500-word press release through the wire nationally, and all of the releases that go out through eReleases, which are substantially cheaper, also go out nationally through PR Newswire who offered to work with Mickie over 10 years ago * A winning press release often isn’t based on how it was written but what it’s writing about – knowing that journalists are gatekeepers means you should reverse engineer what you want to announce * One of the easiest ways for someone to get media attention is to produce their own data by doing a survey or study in their industry with specific and relative questions * Narrowing down the data you focus on in a press release is important, but Mickie says you should build a page on your website that includes all the questions and responses because journalists will go there to see if there’s a different angle to write about, and will link to your resource page * Mickie says to send people to your website after they take your survey because it’s a great way to get in front of more people in your industry * To find blind spots, Mickie says it’s good to do audits and bring in other people from your industry and ask them what gaps they feel trade publications or media don’t cover well and use that as material to build out from * Take Mickie’s free Masterclass to walk away with strategic ideas on press releases for your business * Local media is some of the easiest media coverage to get – research who covers your industry, then email them a pitch that could be about a trend in your industry and share what you’re doing as a local business based on that trend and make sure to include an amazing quote * Visit the eReleases website to reach out and find out more about them

Links mentioned:

eReleases Website

Free Masterclass: How to Build a PR Campaign Designed to Get Massive Media Coverage

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Jenn Robbins is the Funnel Stylist. She saves online entrepreneurs from one-size-fits all funnels with her Flexible Funnel Framework. With more than a decade of experience, Jenn offers funnel strategy and copywriting services to 1:1 clients, as well as training and support through workshops, programs, and her membership, the Flexible Funnel Society! Because a good funnel is like the perfect little black dress: versatile, classic, and best when tailored to fit YOU.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Jenn Got Her Start + Why Funnels Matter * How Jenn and I connected through our mutual friend and met in person around 2018/19 at a couple of different events when our businesses looked different than they do now * Before starting her business in 2011, Jenn was a tax accountant because although she always loved to write while growing up, she was told you couldn’t make money as a writer – Jenn ended up being miserable at her job and volunteered to run social media and do blogs at her firm, which she enjoyed * After Jenn quit her job, she moved back to Oklahoma, opened a WordPress site, and started taking clients and how it slowly evolved into what she does now, which is funnel strategy * Jenn says she made the switch from mostly copy to strategy because she noticed many people were lacking in that department, and good copy and design couldn’t convert unless there were a good strategy behind it * How you can’t create the same funnel someone else does for their business because it won’t work for you the same way * Jenn defines a funnel as an automated way to build a relationship that she breaks down into 3 different categories: list-building funnels, launch funnels, and evergreen funnels * In Jenn’s business, her goal is to get the audience off other platforms like Instagram and TikTok and into an email list because your email list is something that you own, and it will be the longest lasting * People are tired of the over-promising; they want more personality, authenticity, and results * Jenn shares a client story of a PR specialist who had a membership offer, but after going viral on TikTok, realized she didn’t have anything set up for that, so they had to rework her funnel to get her audience off TikTok and to her offer * A lot of people have been going viral on different platforms, which is great, but Jenn is helping these experts with what’s next and how to get their audience off the platform to purchase an offer from them

Flexible Funnel Society + Instagram Trend Opinions * Jenn doesn’t see funnels as separate steps; she sees all the funnels as a whole ecosystem that work together, so you’re constantly doing leads and nurturing, and when you’re launching, you might not give as much attention to those funnels but they are still there working * Why it’s important to build a relationship before you try to sell to someone right after they join your list * We talk about my sales page Trello board, which is a great lead magnet and converts well, but doesn't have a sales sequence, and how I could set up a sales funnel for it * Jenn talks about her membership, Flexible Funnel Society, which helps you understand the foundations of the funnels – there are basic courses that you can access at any time, she does 2 coaching calls a month with anybody in the membership, and she brings in 2 guest experts every month * How there are different kinds of memberships, and you don’t have to have one that creates new content every single month – it has to be something that works for you * Jenn’s favorite part about her membership is the monthly calls and getting to know her members on a more personal level * When it comes to funnels, some common mistakes Jenn sees are people not having a funnel, overthinking their perfectionism, saying they don’t need an email list, and relying on only one content platform * Jenn is excited to start experimenting with posting on TikTok and working with content creators who are experts in their field on TikTok * How Jenn can feel something shifting in her business and uses Taylor Swift as an example with the different eras she uses to brand herself and how we all have those different seasons of life but don’t brand them in the same way * We talk about our opinion on the trend of deleting your feed off Instagram and how many brands are doing that when they make a shift in their business * Check out Jenn’s Website, where you can find her Funnels 101 Mini Course and Flexible Funnel Society Membership * Connect with Jenn on Instagram and TikTok

Links mentioned:

Flexible Funnel Society Membership

Funnels 101 Mini Course

Connect with Jenn on Instagram

Connect with Jenn on TikTok

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Megan helps business owners work less, but make more money & impact through simple operational systems. Yes, this sounds SUPER boring, however Megan brings a bubbly personality that makes understanding such a boring topic exciting & empowering for the business owner(s) who may be facing burnout.

Her goal is to share as much helpful information so your audience can take massive action and thanks you for bringing them the missing part that saves their mental health & their business!

Megan has helped multiple 6+ figure service based CEOs remove themselves from their day-to-day so that they can operate in their zone of genius and fully step into their role as the visionary in their empire.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Megan Discovered Systems After Experiencing Burn Out * Megan shares how she quickly hit burnout from working her 9 – 5 job and running a drop shipping store by herself * How Megan got rid of her drop shipping business and started learning how systems could work in a business – she practiced building systems inside her family’s company and realized she really liked it, so she started her own business working for friends and agencies * The story of how Megan got her first client, Tiffany Tolliver, who is still a client today, from a high-performance weekend event where she gave a horrible pitch for a package she didn’t even have yet * Megan shares her stressful experience of going up onstage and pitching her idea and how the other women in the room were able to help by telling her what they need as high-performing CEOs * It took a while for Megan to realize that her biggest weakness was that she loved to talk to the CEOs about their vision and create systems for solutions to their problems but didn’t want to have to tell them to change some setting in a software (the small details) * After a few months, Megan was able to find her COO (chief operating officer), who loves the small details to balance her out in the business * Megan shares that they build everything custom for each CEO based on their vision, so each client uses different platforms and software * For recurring clients, Megan does a business map each quarter to make sure their vision stays aligned * Megan and her team focus on the systems; they are on call for launches, community calls, etc., so if there are any tech issues, they are handled, and the CEO can focus on being the talent * Behind the scenes, Megan and her team are focused on making sure the CEO’s team is engaged, which isn’t something she realized she did until a few clients pointed it out to her

Creating Boundaries + Megan’s Business Systems * A lot of times, CEOs have great ideas, but the implementation can be messy, and then it’s the team’s job to fix it, so if Megan’s CEOs have an idea, they talk to her so she can then communicate it, and make sure it matches their systems * We talk about setting boundaries with clients, and both share experiences when boundaries were crossed, so we didn’t continue working with those people * How Megan goes about helping clients realize the root of their problems – she can fix something in their business, but if they don’t follow it and get to the root of their problem, it won’t really be fixed in the long run * Part of Megan’s business map is based on the personal life of the CEO, like if they are exercising, eating healthy, and what their balance is because all of that impacts whether or not they’ll be able to perform well in their business * Megan breaks down her business map that they revisit each quarter where they go over different the pillars of business - personal, finances, operations, marketing, sales, implementation, and vision * When it comes to systems in her business, Megan says she is a big fan of ClickUp; she has her own CEO Braindump Board where she gets to dump any of her ideas and tasks – it helps her delegate tasks quickly * How they are working to put everything in one spot so they don’t have a ton of courses and communities all over the place, and Megan shares they are down to two software platforms, Mighty Networks and ActiveCampaign * Megan shares that she has a COO, an HR person, two virtual assistants who help build systems and do project management, and someone who writes all the standard operating procedures for the business and their clients * Connect with Megan on Instagram and, shoot her a DM, and check out her website to learn more about her, what she does, and take the quizzes on her site to figure out where you are wasting time in your business and what kind of CEO you are

Links mentioned:

Connect with Megan on Instagram

Megan Galane Website

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Adrienne Johnston is a presentation designer who specializes in helping clients visualize their content in PowerPoint for the purpose of landing new clients, educating existing internal or external clients, or securing investment capital. Adrienne's current clients include Meta, Microsoft, Samsung, and Marriott.

Additionally, Adrienne advocates for presentation design to be recognized as a design profession and coaches other presentation designers on building their successful presentation design businesses.

Adrienne currently resides in Seattle, Washington, with her husband, daughter, and two cats.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Adrienne Landed on Presentation Design * Adrienne shares that she majored in chemistry, where she spent more time making her lab report presentations look pretty than on the actual data, and after college, she realized the lab environment wasn’t for her * How Adrienne was hired for a startup in the healthcare space where she self-taught herself on nights and weekends to help with design * In 2017, Adrienne wanted more flexibility and wanted to work for herself, so she got on Upwork and started doing any general design work people wanted but realized after a few months that she needed a better and more sustainable way to do her business * Adrienne used her background in science to help create a process and look at what work came naturally to her, took the least amount of time, and wasn’t as competitive, which is how she landed on presentations * People get caught up in the plans and ideas, but Adrienne says it benefitted her to start and take action without having all the knowledge because then she was able to find where she fits in – she tells people to just get started instead of thinking it has to be something fancy * In the first few months of her business, Adrienne realized people would pay her for her skills, she wasn’t efficient enough to scale and make the revenue and lifestyle she wanted, and she had a customer acquisition problem * As a freelancer, Adrienne says she doesn’t have to serve every client; she needs to find a way to make her business work for her, and if she doesn’t have boundaries, no one else is going to * Executives at big companies do senior leadership meetings or present to the board, and they know they can’t take cruddy-looking slides into those meetings, but they can’t compete for those resources on the marketing team, so they find their own people to hire

Building an Aligned Business + Adrienne’s Course * After doing some research, Adrienne optimized her website for SEO, and within 3 months, she was ranking for the term freelance presentation designer and started getting a flow of big-name clients, like Samsung * When it comes to using templates and guides for clients and herself in the business, Adrienne says it depends on where the client is and explains that for pitch decks, they might have a logo and some colors, but they don’t have an established brand style or guide * On Adrienne’s website, it says she can do presentations within 48 hours, but she says that no one asks for that service, but having that on her website has doubled her conversion rate * Adrienne explains why building an agency wouldn’t work for how she wants to run her business * To help yourself find clarity in what you want, ask yourself if there were no limits, what you would want - write it down and commit to it * Adrienne gives many ideas on how to think about long-term goals and break them down into smaller chunks to achieve them so you can build a business that is better aligned with you * When creating your goals, you have to acknowledge that you might backslide – Adrienne shares that in 2020, she said that she wasn’t working Fridays anymore, but at some point, she went back to working Fridays * After optimizing her website for SEO, Adrienne had people reach out asking her to help them become presentation designers, so she started having informal one-on-one coaching calls and realized she needed to take all her knowledge about business and design and institutionalize it * In 2020, Adrienne launched her course, Six-Figure Presentation Designer, which is all about helping people specifically focused on presentation design to reach and surpass that six-figure mark * Reach out and get access to Adrienne’s resources at designerandthriving.com

Links mentioned:

Designing and Thriving Resources

Adrienne Johnston’s Website

Six-Figure Presentation Designer

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Tiffany Tolliver is the founder and CEO of The EmmaRose Agency®, based in Washington, D.C.

Tiffany has a deep passion for helping women of color see their true value and not compromising the true vision they have for themselves while scaling their brands to 6 & 7 figures. She believes that revenue is just a resource to help others in need and that by putting your brand in a category of one, through strategic branding - you can serve your community WITH LESS stress knowing that your digital presence is working for (and not against) you!

Tiffany believes that the key to creating an eye-catching and intentional brand is recognizing that your company cannot flourish solely based on your logo; there must be an experience cultivated that organically taps into the pain points of your target audience - ushering them into a digital home created solely with them top of mind.

Through her dynamic designs and out of the box messaging and sales strategies, Tiffany is creating her own lane in graphic and web design. With her mission rooted in income-generating service offerings, she has worked with brands in creating unique and innovative websites that have allowed her clients to see $350k+ launches.

Showing up is serving and Tiffany commits herself to being present and future minded in order to help her client realize their true greatness and build brands that stand the test of time and create bigger profit.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Tiffany Used Her Talents to Create a Business * Tiffany used to work as a communication director at a hair salon, and after yielding 10 - 15k from a Black Friday sale based on their email list and in salon sales, she realized she was doing something right and had a gift given by God * Everything in Tiffany's life aligned to where she was able to quit the salon but, at the time, had no clients or income * In the beginning, Tiffany was only offering logos and got her first client through her then mentor, whose husband was a chef and needed a logo and media kit * The Emma Rose Agency, Tiffany's company name, is a combination of middle names Tiffany and her daughter both got from their great grandmothers * Tiffany shares that in the beginning, she started saying she could do things, like creating websites, before she even knew how and would teach herself - she still does this today but with more confidence * How Tiffany grew very quickly because she realized the gap she wanted to fill, which is helping women of color stand out online so they can fulfill their passions and help the people they want to * We talk about being overlooked in the design industry based on experience, and Tiffany shares that she is thoughtfully transparent with clients if it is her first time doing something but works her hardest to get the client what they want * One of Tiffany's goals was to be sought out for her aesthetic while creating a unique design that fits each unique client's style * At the end of 2022, Tiffany had a mental breakdown due to doing too much in her business and realized she needed to pay more attention to her greater vision * Now she revisits her greater vision every week to keep it top of mind so she can focus on the things in her business that truly align with it and says that defining her core values has also helped a lot when she's questioning anything in her business * Tiffany is thankful for her breakdown because she realized her business wasn't working for her, it was working against her, and it led her to her vision

Using the Marketing Ecosystem for Branding + Marketing Tips * The clients Tiffany serves are established business owners who have a professional service-based brand - they are tired of how they look online and how they are running their business and want to build a personal brand * Even in the beginning, Tiffany understood that strategy needed to come before the design * Tiffany prefers to work with her clients long-term in their rebranding process because one thing she's tired of in the industry is people having to hand their brand off to multiple people and having it be inconsistent * The way Tiffany is situating her agency to grow is by not only helping with strategy but also developing and executing the vision for the brand through marketing and branding * Tiffany explains how she looks at the bigger picture for clients because when you look at their marketing ecosystem, it's not just the website, so in her proposal process, she outlines what a partnership service (retainer) would look like * How having a mindset of collaboration is important to Tiffany because her clients have teams that she will be working with * Tiffany shares some marketing trends such as developing a community, looking at the marketing ecosystem as a whole, and making sure you have consistent evergreen content and not relying solely on social media * When developing a personal brand from a professional brand, Tiffany says it's important to establish a clear and authentic perspective first, then decide if you want the two brands to complement each other or be different * For strategy and design, Tiffany likes to identify what unique story her clients are telling and then create a focus plan, 6 months at a time, looking at what she can do and what the client needs to do to make the partnership and brand work * Tiffany realized during her breakdown that she was putting the profit of her business over her purpose and was carrying herself differently because of it, which was not aligned with who she truly is * The people you surround yourself with are important because they can distract you from your passion and purpose if you aren't careful * There is no shame in taking a break to recover from burnout, but you don't want to repeat those same patterns * Connect with Tiffany on Instagram

Links mentioned:

The Emma Rose Agency

Connect with Tiffany on Instagram

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Shannon Mattern is the founder of the Web Designer Academy, where she helps web designers work less and make more money.

She’s also the host of the Profitable Web Designer Podcast and the Simply Profitable Designer Summit, where she shares strategies and advice to help web designers create freedom, flexibility, and financial independence.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Shannon’s Background + The Web Designer Academy * Shannon got her start by solving business problems for the nonprofit she worked at, where she did marketing and tech work – she was self-taught when it came to building and running their website * How a vendor of the nonprofit hired Shannon to do some website work for him on the side, which is how she got her first client and then kept getting clients through word of mouth and says she felt bad charging people even $25/hour because she didn’t understand the value of what she was doing * After listening to a podcast episode, Shannon learned she could earn a commission through affiliate marketing by helping people set up their blogs through WordPress * Even though Shannon was teaching people WordPress for free, people were still asking Shannon to do the work for them, so she got her pricing, systems, mindset, and boundaries in place so she could work with these clients and quit her day job * How Shannon created the Web Designer Academy in 2016, where she teaches new web designers everything she knows * Shannon explains how she got people to sign up for her free DIY WordPress Training with their email, which grew her email list, and shares that she used affiliate links to keep the training free * To go all in on the Web Designer Academy, Shannon retired her free DIY WordPress Training last year * How Shannon got the opportunity to do a speaking engagement where she offered to teach others what she was doing, which is how the Web Designer Academy was born * Shannon shares how rewarding and fun it was to help others through the Web Designer Academy, which is why she decided to go all in on it in 2020 to empower women web designers and teach them how to run their business

The Simply Profitable Designer Summit + Intellectual Property * If you’ve been around for a while on Episode 26 and Episode 132 of The Design Business Show, I interviewed Krista Miller, a web developer who started the Simply Profitable Designer Summit, but now Shannon is the host of it * The Simply Profitable Designer Summit is coming up on March 21st – 23rd, 2023 * Shannon explains how she and Krista met through Shannon’s 5-Day Website Challenge and how Krista invited Shannon to speak at the Simply Profitable Designer Summit * Krista created her Summit in a Box offer, which was doing well, so she wanted to step away from one-on-one client work, and the summit * Because The Simply Profitable Designer Summit was so pivotal for Shannon to get in front of her ideal clients and build relationships, she told Krista she would run the summit for her, and they eventually worked out a deal for Shannon to take over the summit * If you want to hear the details of Shannon and Krista’s deal, listen to episode 182 of Krista’s Summit Host Hangout Podcast * When it comes to your value and pricing, Shannon says to take yourself out of the equation and look at your client, what is going to be possible for them, what they are going to create in their business, and the long-term value of your offer * Some people want to do it themselves and will never hire you, but some people don’t want to do it themselves, and they can’t wait to find you, and those are your people. * Shannon explains that in the Web Designer Academy, they talk about investment-minded clients and expense-minded clients, and they teach having package-based pricing based on those clients * You get to pick your price and then go out and sell the value of it instead of letting someone else tell you the value of it * Shannon’s Profitable Pricing Framework Training for designers that talks about her pricing philosophy * How the value of your entire system and process that you do for clients is your intellectual property and can also be packaged up and sold separately * If you have a process or something that feels easy to you and you love, go all in on it because that’s what makes business easy * Here is my affiliate link to The Simply Profitable Designer Summit – get your free ticket for full access to the presentations through the end of the day on March 23rd and upgrade to an all-access pass for lifetime access to presentations or the power pack to get speaker bonuses and courses * Check out the Web Designer Academy website and connect with Shannon on Instagram

Links mentioned:

Web Designer Academy

Profitable Web Designer Podcast

Simply Profitable Designer Summit

Episode 26 of The Design Business Show with Krista Miller

Episode 132 of The Design Business Show with Krista Miller

Episode 182 - Summit Host Hangout Podcast with Shannon Mattern

Profitable Pricing Framework Training

Connect with Shannon on Instagram

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Hunter Lowder is co-owner of Tortoise & The Bear, a business strategy, operations, and mindset coaching company that supports visionaries in bringing their wild and crazy dreams to life. Coupling her past business experience as CEO of a multi-million dollar company with mindful coaching approaches, Hunter helps service-based business owners create and prioritize a strategic plan to grow their impact and move their business forward in a sustainable way.

After suffering severe burnout as a CEO, Hunter is passionate about building a business in alignment with her values. When she’s not helping clients fine tune their operations, she’s likely dancing and singing karaoke with her husband, feeding her son’s football team, or hanging out at the beach with her fur babies.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Experiencing Burnout + How to Cope

Hunter shares that she ran a luxury wedding venue in southern California, but towards the end of her career, she was having a lot of physical problems and realized she wasn’t taking care of herself because of her mindset
There were two options for Hunter, she could leave her career to heal or have a heart attack at age 35, so she decided to leave
When Hunter left her career, she didn’t know who she was anymore because her career became her identity, so she started working with a career life coach and dove into personality assessments
It took Hunter 6 months to a year to realize that she needed to be kinder to her body and try her hardest every single day, but also forgive herself if she didn’t hit her goals, unlike her overachiever, type A old self would have
For the first couple of years after Hunter’s burnout, it took a lot of practice to figure out what intuition was: what was her body saying yes or no to versus what was just fear
We talk about reverse engineering your business, where you look at the big picture of where you want to go and break it down into smaller chunks that feel doable
Hunter helps her clients close the gap between today and their goal by creating SMART(Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based) goals and breaking them down into each year, quarter, month, week, and day
You need to permit yourself to work in the way that works best for you, and as women, Hunter says we need to consider our cycles when figuring out what works best for us and not plan anything stressful during that week if it affects you in a certain way

Tortoise & The Bear + VIP Days * After Hunter’s burnout, she knew she wanted to help women like herself: Type A overachievers and those recovering from burnout, so she got a ton of coaching certificates but realized she wasn’t meant to be a coach * Hunter got a job as an executive operations assistant to help dip her toes back into the workforce, and got promoted to operations manager after 3 months and is still with them today * While working with this company, Hunter decided she would still take on clients and ended up working 50-hour weeks, which isn’t what she wanted to be doing * How Hunter was able to pivot into strategy instead of being the implementor and got her director of operations certification to help translate brick-and-mortar business strategy to online business strategy * Now, Hunter offers VIP Days for small business owners who are looking to have a sales and visibility strategy based on their personality * Hunter learned that she was a manifesting generator which made so much sense to her because she loves being interviewed, answering questions, and talking to people, but where she struggles is creating the content when no one is interacting with her, like on a blog or social media post * One of Hunter’s main forms of content is podcasting, and she shares that she’s creating her own podcast * Something Hunter recommends to all her clients is content repurposing – find what you love to do and repurpose it on all platforms * A goal of Hunter’s after her son graduates is to have a nomadic life where she can live from anywhere and work from anywhere * Hunter typically works with creative solopreneurs who are struggling with consistency, usually a lot of women who are on their 2nd career * How Hunter’s VIP Days help set clients up for the next steps in their business, which usually includes hiring a virtual assistant, scaling the business, doing group programs, etc. * One of the biggest lessons in business and in life that Hunter has learned is that the only thing she has control over is how she reacts to things * Hunter feels that TikTok and reels on Instagram are refreshing because they are raw and real * At tortoiseandthebear.com/podcast, you can find a free customer journey audit from Hunter, where she will give you suggestions and ideas to implement to help make your leads, sales, and marketing efforts easier and more consistent * Connect with Hunter on Instagram

Links mentioned:

Tortoise & The Bear Website

Customer Journey Audit

Connect with Hunter on Instagram

Connect with Hunter on TikTok

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Sherwanna Livingston is a brand strategist, digital entrepreneur, mother, speaker and influential leader who brings a fresh approach to bringing brand visions to life. Known as "The Vision Catcher", Sherwanna provides innovative branding and business consulting solutions through her enterprise Live Love Your Passion LLC . Over the course of five years, Sherwanna has been blessed to consult over 100 small businesses nationwide and serve thousands of entrepreneurs in her online community. She's been featured in Digital Journal, FOX, Shoutout DFW, Voyage Dallas, and has also been the guest on several podcasts and live radio shows.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Sherwanna Get Started + Elevating Self-Image

Sherwanna shares that she worked in corporate America as a corporate trainer and was laid off while 5 months pregnant
The story behind when Sherwanna launched her YouTube Channel in 2018 called, Live Love Your Passion about mindset, personal development, and helping others go after their passion
Sherwanna did everything from the graphics to editing for her channel, and soon people began to ask her to help with their brands
2018/2019 was a time when people wanted their Instagram feed to be aesthetically pleasing, so Sherwanna started by doing Instagram makeovers - there wasn’t much strategy behind it because people just wanted it to look good
Soon, Sherwanna realized her picture-perfect feed and the feeds she was creating for clients didn’t reflect their true selves, which is why she doesn’t fully believe in doing that anymore
Sherwanna likes to dig deep with all clients but especially ones who only care about something looking good - she usually finds that there’s a self-image issue
Why Sherwanna is going to launch a self-image program that will help people elevate their internal image, show up 100% confidently in themselves, and help bridge the gap between whom they envision themselves being and who they are now
Your business and personal brands need to tie together because the vision you have for your business came from you – it starts as a personal vision
Sherwanna shares why it’s so important for people to know who they are in relation to the thing they are creating
We are in a time where you can't just have a logo and a company and no one showing up, interacting as a person for your company

What Sherwanna’s Business Looks Like + Following Your Visions * Sherwanna explains that now her business looks like helping nonprofits/socially responsible organizations and shares how she was able to help Urban Specialists, a local Dallas, TX nonprofit, and UTOPIA Washington, an international nonprofit * On the personal side, Sherwanna helps coach small businesses to secure corporate contracts, and she helps coach people on personal branding, which will be her main focus this year * How Sherwanna realized there’s a big branding gap for most nonprofits because for-profit companies normally have the branding together or even have an internal team to handle it, but nonprofits usually don’t, which is why she wants to help them * Sherwanna is S/WMBE certified (small business, women-owned business, and minority business enterprise certified) and explains what advantages it has for her business and how it creates stability * Government entities and corporations have contracts put aside to work with small businesses, minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses, etc. * Sherwanna’s Road to Certified Program helps you certify your business to qualify for grants, corporate, and government contracts * One thing Sherwanna wants to step into is UGC (user-generated content) - she shares how she would do that and that she’s stepped into the TikTok space * With Sherwanna’s personal brand, she wants to become more of who she really is – she loves beauty and cooking and wants to show more of that * Sherwanna’s advice is to not be afraid to do that one thing that you feel called to do – go after your visions and ideas * Check out the LLYP Studios Website and connect with her on Instagram or Facebook

Links mentioned:

LLYP Studios Website

LLYP Academy - Road To Certified

Connect with Sherwanna on Instagram

Connect with Sherwanna on Facebook

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Hi. My name is Melissa. If you’re new here - hey!! I’m so glad you’re here today. If you’re not new, heeey! I’m grateful that I get the privilege of being in your ears and eyes. I say ears for those who listen and eyes for those who prefer to read the show notes on our website at https://thedesignbusinessshow.com. Sometimes I prefer to skim show notes instead of listening to a podcast.

So, typically the podcast format we follow over here is an interview style, but as I mentioned in episode 210 sometimes, I’m going to do solo episodes, when I’m into it. And that’s record and publish a few solo episodes in addition to our weekly interviews where I talk about things I’m obsessed with related to business, design, product launches, branding and life. Think current brand + design trends meets my real (business) life.

On episode 210 I shared 3 things I love about the brand, OUAI. And in this episode, I’m going to share Legendary lessons we can learn from Rihanna's SuperBowl performance (inspired by her song lyrics).

Some people watch the SuperBowl for the football. Or the commercials.

I only watched Rihanna's concert. :)

I've been a fan of her brand and her music for years. So of course, like the rest of the world, I've been obsessed with the buzz around her SuperBowl performance and all the glass ceilings she's breaking with her brand.

And I wasn't gonna talk about it in this week's email, but then she dropped this legendary British Vogue cover about her being Reborn, while ASAP Rocky holds their baby and she's leading them on a walk on the beach, and my brain has so many things to say.

So here we are. I love lists, so I'm calling it Legendary Lessons We Can Learn from Rihanna's SuperBowl performance, inspired by her song lyrics, and the results it landed her.

She told us she was a savage in her song, Needed Me. Here's why that's true:

:: More people watched her performance (118.7 million) than the game (113.05 million).

:: The streams of her songs went from 12.4 million on 2/11 (the day before), to 20.4 million on 2/12 (the day of), and 38.5 million on 2/13 the day after).

She can do things her own way darling, in her song, Consideration featuring SZA. Here's what she did:

:: All her dancers wore custom Savage x Fenty (Rihanna's lingerie line) sports bras and boxers in white.

:: She touched up her make up using one of Fenty Beauty's Invisimatte, in the middle of a song. Google Searches increased by 833 percent when she did that.

:: Her make up artist told us exactly what products RiRi wore during the performance.

:: Custom NFL x Fenty Beauty products launched and her team did several brand activations in honor of this.

She shined bright like a diamond, like in her song, Diamond. Here's why:

:: In the finale to her performance, she sang her hit song, Diamond, while the audience held up the flash lights on their cell phones for a super cool visual effect.

:: She showed up as herself, performing some of her best hits, with 80+ dancers and no other artists because she knew she was enough. And she knew it.

:: She nonchalantly announced her second pregnancy during the performance, and when you look at the physicality of doing everything she did - like sitting down when she needed to and dancing up on a stage in the middle of the sky, on a stage, it's nothing but enough.

:: There's a viral video of ASAP Rocky, her boyfriend, cheering her on.

Chasing the American Dream, as she sings in American Oxygen. In case you didn't see the adorable video that was created with Apple Music, the NFL, and RocNation that features her song Run This Town with footage of a little girl walking down the street in Barbados to fly kites at the cemetery, where she dreamed her big dreams. You must watch it. The story telling brings literal tears to my eyes.

I loved this work of art especially, because it hits kinda close to home. She's from Barbados, and her mom is Guyanese. My dad was born in Guyana, and was a big believer in the American Dream.

I joke with my family that we could be cousins. I have no proof of that, but a girl can dream, right?

Okay, I'm going to reapply my Fenty Glow lip gloss and make a Reel about this. Maybe. :)

Talk soon!

Melissa

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Sandy Vukovic is best known for spearheading development for Marc Jacobs Beauty, Kat Von D, bareMinerals and Buxom Cosmetics, Sandy Vukovic has created and grown some of the most recognizable and eponymous beauty brands for women today. Realizing that femtech products, including personal lubricants, still lacked the innovation and superior ingredient utilization that can greatly improve a woman’s sexual health, Sandy is excited to parlay her deep product development expertise into game-changing products for modern day woman. Her ultimate passion is to develop Playground into the leading female sexual wellness brand—because every woman deserves to feel great in their body.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Sandy’s Experience in Product Development

From a young age, Sandy was obsessed with beauty and personal care products for their transformative properties and how they made women feel
How Sandy started her career at Estée Lauder and then moved to one of their hair care product brands called Aveda
In the mid-2000s, Sandy received an opportunity to move to San Francisco and work for the brand bareMinerals
After working for bareMinerals for 7 years, Sandy moved to Sephora, where she got to work on their beauty brand incubator, KENDO
At KENDO, Sandy got to help create brands that had never existed, create formulas that had never been done, and utilize ingredients that were new and cutting edge
As a product developer, Sandy was in charge of formulations, which involved identifying the trends, ingredients, and safety testing
Sandy talks about helping to create the Buxom brand when she was at bareMinerals and how they were able to address a younger demographic and create one of the first lip polish formulas
Two and a half years ago, Sandy left KENDO due to burnout and started consulting for small, independent brands
How Sandy’s co-founder, Catherine Magee, approached her about an amazing business idea involving a category for women that needed desperate transformation and innovation – sexual wellness
Despite the sexual wellness industry growing, the products being offered were boring, so Sandy and Catherine were able to enter the category with more modern formulations, better-for-you formulations, and better-for-you ingredients

Creating Playground + Formulating Products * How Sandy and Catherine were able to find a female chemist who came from the female lubricant industry to help them create the best personal lubricant possible * Sandy explains the lengthy process they went through to create the lubricant formula to make sure others loved it just as much as they did * During the research process, they discovered that women didn’t feel comfortable purchasing lubricant because it made them feel gross or like something was wrong with them * In addition to creating a formula that felt great, it was important to Sandy and Catherine to brand their products properly – to speak to women in a way that made them excited about using the products * Sandy shares the different scents they offer and the science behind them and explains that they aren’t strong, just enough to give you a little scent * As women, we spend so much time, effort, and money into what we put on our face, hair, or body, but we aren’t giving the same love or attention to our vaginal care routine, which is one of the most important parts of the female body * There are so many different things that can disrupt your pH balance, which is why it was important to Sandy and Catherine to use ingredients that are safe and help with vaginal health * Sandy explains the different ingredients they use in their products and all the benefits they have * It was important to Sandy and Catherine that their products looked like anything else that you would find on a nightstand or bathroom shelf - it wasn’t something you had to hide, and they were able to find a design agency that understood their mission * Sandy’s job right now in the business is to formulate the next generation of sexual wellness products – she shares that they have many new products in development that they will be launching over the next 2 - 3 years * Because the FDA regulates personal lubricants, brands have to conduct a series of very intensive tests that prove the formula is safe, which is also a big part of Sandy’s job * How they were able to bring on Dr. Emily Morse, who has the #1 sexual wellness podcast as an authority figure, which has been a great asset for digital marketing * If you want to develop a product, Sandy says to immerse yourself into the industry you want to create a product in and look at what’s missing * Check out and reach out to Sandy and Catherine directly through the Playground Website and connect with them on Instagram

Links mentioned:

Playground Website

Connect with Sandy on Instagram

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Rich Watson is a strong force in Augmented Reality Marketing. He has spoken all over the world about the future of eCommerce and how it will be brought into Web 3.0. Rich has over 8 years of Facebook ad media buying experience, and he is an avid believer in the potential of Non-Fungible Tokens and the metaverse.

When he's not working or speaking, Rich enjoys spending time with his wife in the coastal city of Da Nang in the center of Vietnam.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

What is Augmented Reality?

Before stepping into the Web 3.0 world, Rich worked in paid marketing for Facebook, Instagram where he worked with primarily eCommerce clients
Augmented Hype is Rich’s business that helps online business leverage augmented reality for their marketing
One of the biggest things people need to start doing when it comes to Web 3.0 is building a community
Rich shares that the difference between virtual reality and augmented reality is that with virtual reality, you’re stepping into a virtual environment, but with augmented reality, you’re augmenting your immediate surroundings, yourself, your room, etc., with something digital
To Rich, the Metaverse is this world with no boundaries, a chance to be anything you want and be able to connect with anyone you want at any time you want – it’s a digitally rendered amplified version of the world
An example of augmented reality is when sites let you see what something would look like in your actual home before you buy it, like what a specific rug or wall color would look like, so you can make a more informed purchase decision
Rich explains how you can use augmented reality for all parts of your sales funnel
When it comes to using new technology, look at what’s already working within your industry and think about how it can become a more immersive experience
A simple example Rich gives is with beauty products; augmented reality allows you to try different products on to see how they’d look on you before purchasing, something you can’t necessarily do at a store – this also means consumers might try something they wouldn’t have in the store

How to Use Augmented Reality in Your Business * One case study of Rich's shows how they were able to help a client increase their average order value by 50% because they gave people a chance to try the top 6 – 8 selling lipsticks through augmented reality * By allowing people to have the most realistic experience with your products, you can lower your return rate and customer service inquiries * Rich explains that the barrier to entry for augmented reality is the lowest it’s ever been because there are many ways to do it without having an app - there’s social and web augmented reality, for example * Web 3.0 is the new internet infrastructure that’s coming – the idea is for you to own the data through your communities * Augmented reality can set you apart from your competition, and it can help lower the returns that your competitors might have * Rich shares a Squid Game example; a creator from Singapore created a Squid Game augmented reality that reached 500 million people organically * You can go into different galleries (Lens for Snapchat and Spark for Meta) and scroll around to see different creators and what they’ve made * Augmented Hype started working with agencies where they were their augmented reality specialist and helped achieve specific objectives for different campaigns * Shopify did a study that showed using augmented reality to visualize products increased conversion rates by up to 200% * How Rich created a Slack Community called Augmented Marketers to help people add this service to their agencies * Rich helps people implement augmented reality into their business and works with them for 2 months so they can continuously optimize and change things when needed, which is not something a lot of augmented reality services do * Go to the Augmented Hype website to see examples, download freebies, and join their community * The biggest thing with augmented reality, Rich says, is making it as clear as possible – keep it simple, especially when starting out * Rich says that even implementing the most complex augmented reality into your campaign strategy wouldn’t take longer than 2 working weeks * When it comes to what’s next for Rich’s business, he says they’ll be focusing on educating and showing people how you can use augmented reality * Rich gives an example where Disney+ used augmented reality for a short film called, Remembering where you downloaded the app, and during the movie, your phone would ring, and when you opened it, the movie spilled out into your room * Augmented Reality glasses are the future, Rich believes, and within the next 3 – 5 years, he believes they’ll replace phones * Check out the Augmented Hype Website to learn more, and connect with Rich on Instagram and LinkedIn

Links mentioned:

Augmented Hype Website

Connect with Rich on Instagram

Connect with Rich on LinkedIn

7 AR ad strategies for Facebook ads

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Liz Nead is an adventure speaker, traveling the world and taking on challenges to find lessons of leadership, communication diversity, and inclusion. A diversity speaker and researcher for over a decade, she specializes in common language and daily communication around race and cultural differences in the workplace. Liz uses a direct, humorous, and vivid style from the stage to create opportunities for communication around differences. Liz has also served as an executive coach and consultant for DEI challenges for companies like Paypal, News Corp, National Guard, and YWCA.

Liz is a television host and author, writing several Amazon best sellers, most recently “The 1440 Principle.” She also won a regional Emmy for her television show, “Life Dare.” Liz balances her passionate work with a thriving family of seven and husband of 20 years, a retired army major.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Liz Became a Speaker + Created Her Own TV Show

How Liz and I met, why I was drawn to her, and how we’ve stayed in contact for around 15 years
Liz is putting a podcast together that I’ve been helping her with a little bit
Check out Liz’s website to see all the different topics she speaks about
Because Liz believes in inspiring and helping people in the different ways they need, she has many different mediums for people – if you like to read, she has a book; if you watch TV, she filmed a show; she did radio, and does coaching
The story of how Liz was speaking to her stuffed animals as a child and thanking them for coming to her events and feels that she had speaking inside her from a very young age
Being laid off pushed Liz into entrepreneurship and into speaking
How Oprah helped shape how Liz views the world and how It was always a goal of hers to have a TV show
Liz shares how she was able to start her TV show, Life Dare, with the help of someone in her Rotary Club and how she bought a 30-minute slot on FOX to do it
If you see yourself doing something, you build a structure to make yourself believe it – then you can do anything
Liz gets most of her speaking engagements through word of mouth but also spends a lot of time cold calling
At the end of 2021, Liz was put in the hospital due to a heart condition, which hurt her business because she went 7 months without promoting herself
Liz went to the hospital expecting to be checked in and out the same day but did not end up checking out for another 7 weeks and had to have open heart surgery right away
Liz was in a coma for a week, and her amazing kids helped while she was in that condition, moving her schedule around for clients, posting to her social media, staying by her side, etc.
Being superwoman is tiring, Liz shares, but at the same time, it fuels her fire – which is relatable for many people
Part of why Liz is so transparent is because she needs support, though most people’s instinct is to act like everything is fine and they don’t need support

The Importance of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion * In 2020, Liz says that DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) blew up, which was good for her because she had been speaking about it for years * How Liz created 10 training videos on DEI for Prositions, a company that sells training videos to companies – creating those videos helped her nail down her messaging * Many racially charged events over the last couple of years have shown us how much work we need to do when it comes to DEI and how conscious we need to become * Liz explains that many people were not taught anything about diversity growing up, which has contributed to the lack of knowledge when it comes to DEI * The reason why Liz talks about DEI in a very non-confrontational way * We discuss how different times are now compared to when we were growing up or when our parents were growing up – our kids know so much more about mental health and sexual identity, for example * As creators in 2023 and beyond, we have to learn to educate employers on why it’s important to be conscious of DEI, and Liz gives an example of how to do this when giving a proposal * Liz says it’s not enough to put brown people into pictures; you have to truly understand why representation is important and be sensitive about it * How Liz couldn’t find brown hands on Canva even though they have hundreds of thousands of images * It’s hard to notice when others aren’t being included when you are always included – we need to make room for everyone, and to do that, it may feel like you’re being disregarded, but you aren’t * Liz explains that we will always have to be conscious of DEI – it is a constant self-evaluation * Human resources and connections are the money – if you get the chance to talk to someone and they share what they think, and they’re giving their thoughts and opinions on what you are passionate about, that’s really important * Check out Liz’s website, and if you put your name in the dropdown box at the top of the website, she’ll reach out to you * Liz is creating a diversity workbook that ties in the concepts she speaks about, which will be available hopefully within the next month on her website

Links mentioned:

The 1440 Principle

Liz Nead’s Website

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Laurie Rosenwald is an author, designer, painter, and educator whose impressive body of work encapsulates her vivacious, outspoken, and colorful personality. Her most recent book, How to Make Mistakes on Purpose, which was the subject of her TEDx Talk and is accompanied by a touring workshop of the same name, gives readers and audiences insight into the beautiful world of creating through intentional acts of randomness - a way of working that helps individuals get unstuck and discover new skill sets. The workshop has been conducted for major businesses and brands like Google, Starbucks, Scholastic, Buzzfeed, and Johnson & Johnson, to name a few.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Laurie Got Her Creative Start * Laurie describes her childhood and shares that she has been drawing since 3 years old and has never stopped * The mindset Laurie has always had of what mattered was art and creativity - she has never focused on business or making money which has allowed her to be freer than others * The first paid project Laurie had was an illustration for a small editorial in the back of the New York Times * Most people choose to do one thing and stick with it, but Laurie shares that she’s always done graphic design, illustration, painting, and writing because she gets bored easily when she sticks to just one thing * Laurie always did freelance illustration but also worked with many different magazines and newspapers doing layout design, graphic design, and editorial design * The story of how Laurie got the job at the New York Times Magazine by lying about her skills, but because they liked her, they taught her how to do her job * After working for the New York Times Magazine, Laurie worked for Condé Nast, where she worked on the first issues of Self Magazine and Vanity Fair Magazine, plus so many other projects * One of Laurie’s favorite projects was working on a Bloomingdale’s shopping bag in 1981, which they, unfortunately took her name off of because she wasn’t famous * Laurie has lived off and on in Sweden for many years and shares that she worked on products for the Swedish post office * In the late 80s, Laurie worked on an album cover for Joe Jackson * More recently, the most exciting things for Laurie to do are her own books because she gets to express herself and have the freedom to do whatever she wants * The story of how Laurie created her own typeface called, Loupot, which is based on a logo she has always loved * Laurie started dabbling in animation while working with Nickelodeon and ended up doing an animated app with David Sedaris called David’s Diary * When it comes to awards, Laurie believes they don’t really matter because there are so many awards, and no one ever asks to see them – she believes it shouldn’t be what you focus on

Making Mistakes on Purpose * How, in the digital world, we’ve lost a bit of personalization, which Laurie believes is super important * Laurie explains that her workshop, How to Make Mistakes on Purpose, is more about helping people do things they normally wouldn’t and discover new things by sabotage because if you do the same thing over and over again because you’ve mastered a skill, you never discover anything new * The point of Laurie’s workshop is also to take the focus off doing one good thing and instead focus on creating as much as possible * Laurie wants to combine what digital programs are good at and what human beings are good at and combine them * Laurie shares a personal story about her life and how looking back, sometimes you think things are mistakes, but they aren’t * Because Laurie has done so many different things, her clients and projects are very diverse * The most important thing to Laurie is to keep creating, and if people find her, that’s great, but she’s not making it a priority for her work to be known * All of Laurie’s books are a combination of humor and design because she wants to entertain people * How Laurie feels that her books, How to Make Mistakes on Purpose and All the Wrong People Have Self-esteem are misunderstood as self-help books * Laurie is excited about a memoir she’s working on called, Memwah and is currently looking for the right agent, editor, and publisher and explains why she doesn’t want to self-publish * One thing Laurie wants to continue to do is bigger and better workshops – she shares that she’s done them for brands like Google and Starbucks * A goal of Laurie’s is to find great companies and venues to experience How to Make Mistakes on Purpose * The more digital the world gets, the more perfect the world gets, but Laurie says there’s a problem with that, and we need to bring back the random and chaos to get somewhere new * Reach out and connect with Laurie on Instagram, Twitter and check out her website to learn more about her

Links mentioned:

How to Make Mistakes on Purpose Book

How to Make Mistakes on Purpose Workshop

Laurie's 2019 Invisible Talk: How to Make Mistakes on Purpose

Connect with Laurie on Instagram

Connect with Laurie on Twitter

Visit Laurie’s Website

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I’m going to do something a little bit different on the show this year, for a moment, while I’m into it. And that’s record and publish a few solo episodes in addition to our weekly interviews where I talk about things I’m obsessed with related to business, design, product launches, branding and life. Think current brand + design trends meets my real (business) life.

And today, I’m doing something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, talk to you about all the things I love about Jen Atkin’s brand, OUAI. From both the lens of a consumer and a designer. Quick disclaimer: I’m not an affiliate for this brand. I’m not a hair influencer. I just love it and I think there’s a lot we can learn from it.

About Jen Atkin and her brand, OUAI I first heard about her when I saw her traveling with Chrissy Tiegen and quickly learned she was her hairstylist. And if you’ve seen an episode on Keeping up with the Kardashians, you might’ve seen her doing Khloe or Kendall’s hair.

Long story short, she’s someone I aspire to be like when I grow up. She’s a talented hairstylist who’s worked with celebrities. She has an educational site for hair stylists she founded called Mane Addicts, which is the authoritative and educational destination with a “cool modern voice” for all things hair, according to their website.

She also has a book I’ve read, twice, called Blowing My Way to the Top, (in reference to blow drying hair). I even bought the suitcase she helped create as a collab with CALPAK. And then there’s her hair product line, OUAI.

Reason #1: The Products Are So Awesome I Spend OUAI too much money on them I’ve tried 16 of the products. The ones I use the most frequently are the Medium Hair Shampoo and Conditioner, Leave-in Conditioner, Scalp Serum, Dry Shampoo and the Scalp and Body Scrub. And the Wave Spray.

They smell amazing. They helped me eliminate the eczema on my scalp, and my hair is the healthiest it’s ever been. My Indian hair is one of my better features, but it’s fine and thin; and now it’s thicker, a little wavier and I repeat, it’s the healthiest it’s ever been. The products are a little on the pricier side, but I don’t spend a lot of money on stuff, so I consider this one of my treats. And they’re so good I don’t even like to get my hair washed at a salon.

Takeaway: Create high quality products that solve your clients’ problems and they’ll try over 16 products and spend OUAI too much money with you.

Reason #2: The puns If you read my headline; it says I’m "OUAI" obsessed with this brand, because OUAI pronounced “way” and means yes, in that casual, Parisian way. And in all of their marketing, there are puns.

Right now, for example, they recently launched their anti-dandruff shampoo and they use clever copy like “Stop Flaking On Your Plans” on their website and “Do More than Drugstore” on their display graphic at Sephora. The press box for this product had a glittery snowflake with a gift tag with the words “Let it Snow” with the word Snow crossed out. So fun.

And they even have a “Paw-some” product called Fur Bébé (spelled bebe but pronounce dBaybay) I bought for my dog. It smells amazing. After we wash my Benji with it he actually smells good instead of a wet dog. And Jen is a huge advocate for adopting shelter dogs, and her Insta bio used to read dog mom. We’ve adopted both of the dogs we had, and I refuse to do it any other way.

There are a ton more puns, you’ll just have to follow them on social media and try some of their products to see their brilliant product descriptions + marketing copy in action.

Takeaway: Clever copy, genius puns and a clean brand and product design will make your nerdy customers who love puns create an entire podcast episode about them.

Reason #3: Their product landing pages are the BEST As someone whose specialty is conversion design, I love Ouai’s branding. It’s simple. Clean.

And their product sales pages make me drool. Let’s break down the formula they use for the Fur Bébé shampoo landing page.

They use tons of cute photos of dogs. Anyone who is a dog lover will be drawn in.
They use copy that reads WASH THIS OUAI, WASH THIS OUAI. In reference to the Aerosmith song, Walk this Way. Now every time I hear that song I’ll think about the doggy shampoo.
The add-to-cart button is right at the top of the page, making it easy for me to purchase, with options for payment plans via Klarna. 4. If I’m not sure I want to purchase, I can read the product descriptions, check out the ingredients, read the instructions on how to use it, and/or read reviews. I really love how beauty brands are showing you how to use their products.
Then I can look at cute photos of dogs with the “before” and “after” shots. They go from cute and wet to cute and fluffy.
An entire section that highlights the scent of the shampoo; and I love most of their scents.
Then, they show me related products. One thing I’d love to see in each section or at least a couple times on the page is another buy button.

I’m not exactly sure who their full design team is, but I know they have an in-house team, and I believe they work with CASE Agency. Jen has shared Zoom meetings they’ve been on on her Insta Stories and tagged Tony Yumul, one of the agency founders. I think they’re old friends, but don’t quote me on that.

The takeaway: Use branding, imagery and clear copy on your landing page that’s specific to your products and speaks to the user. They don’t use a ton of copy. They show me how to use the product. They show me the ingredients, the details, the benefits I need to know.

And they show me cute dogs. As my kids have gotten older, I’ve become a dog person. I might just buy some more even though we haven’t gone through it all yet!

Bonus reason: They don’t use manipulative language For my friends in the online space, I want to point out that OUAI’s brand voice is pop-culture-y fun. There is no misleading language or language that says if the user doesn’t invest in their dog shampoo that the dog will continue to stink and have bad fur.

The tactic of telling someone they will “fail” if they don’t invest has been a trend in the online space for years, and now I know better.

Recap: Takeaway #1: Create high quality products that solve your clients’ problems and they’ll try over 16 products and spend OUAI too much money with you.

Takeaway #2: Clever copy, genius puns and a clean brand and product design will make your nerdy customers who love puns create an entire podcast episode about them.

Takeaway #3: Use branding, imagery and clear copy on your landing page that’s specific to your products and speaks to the user. They don’t use a ton of copy. They show me how to use the product. They show me the ingredients, the details, the benefits I need to use.

And don’t be manipulative or try to make people feel bad if they’re not ready to invest.

That’s it! And one thing I’d love to know from you (directly), is do you like these kinds of episodes? Send me a message and tell me! If you go to Melissaburkheimer.com there’s a red button that says “Send Melissa a DM” and you can message me on Instagram, LinkedIn or you can email me. No one will see your message but me! Talk to you soon and thanks for tuning in!

Links mentioned:

LIVE WORKSHOP: Be Nice to My Brand

OUAI

Mane Addicts

Anti-Dandruff Shampoo

Fur Bébé

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Brittany Hodak is an award-winning entrepreneur, author, and customer experience speaker who has delivered keynotes across the globe to organizations, including American Express and the United Nations. She has worked with some of the world’s biggest brands and entertainers, including Walmart, Disney, Katy Perry, and Dolly Parton.

She founded and scaled an entertainment startup to eight figures before exiting, and she is the former Chief Experience Officer of Experience.com. Her debut book, Creating Superfans, will be in stores on January 10, 2023.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Brittany’s First Company, ZinePak * Brittany grew up watching her father work in customer service, but she had always wanted to work in the entertainment industry * After making her dreams come true, Brittany realized there was a huge overlap between customer experience and the entertainment industry * Brittany decided to go back to school, where she got her master’s degree in consumer behavior in marketing – she was curious if the same principles that would lead someone to create fans as an entertainer were the same for brands * Brittany shares how she started working in the entertainment industry at a radio station when she was 16 years old and got the chance to interview rockstars * After graduating, Brittany moved to New York based on a coin flip and started working for Sony Music * Brittany had always had this idea since college of a fan package for album releases and making CDs something people want to purchase by making them a collectible * Everyone dismissed Brittany’s idea, so she decided to go out on her own and create her product using the connections she had made in the industry and her connection at Walmart, who had agreed to buy her product * How Brittany launched ZinePak (short for magazine pack) and started taking the skills she developed and started creating these immersive fan packages for album releases – within the first year and a half, they had worked with stars like Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber * Brittany started reaching out to companies to buy ad space in her packages in exchange for a branded display in the store featuring their brand * Brittany ran her agency for about 8 years and one day got a call from a producer who asked if they would like to be on the show Shark Tank – to which they agreed to * The story of how Brittany and her co-founder went on the show Shark Tank and got offers from a couple of the Sharks, which they agreed to but ended up not doing the deal in real life * Because of the visibility of the show, Brittany got a lot of invitations to speak outside of retail with very fan-driven industries that weren’t related to retail or musicians going on tour * Brittany continued to run her agency while doing speaking gigs, but it became hard to juggle, so at the end of 2019, she sold the majority of her equity in the business she had founded, which allowed her to do more speaking, researching, and writing

Creating Superfans * Brittany’s book Creating Superfans is a customer experience book that talks about the principles that anyone can do to connect more deeply with their customers to create superfans * The power of creating superfans, what a superfan is, why they are important to brands, and how they create positive outcomes for your business * Brittany shares how influential her dad was in creating her business * Your brand is more than the products; it’s based on the experiences people have with your employees * Brittany shares a story from her book of an artist who understood that the brand wasn’t just him; it was everyone his fans came in contact with, whether it was the merch booth employee, the security guard, or the guitar tech that contributed to the overall experience. * When starting her business, Brittany had a unique take on being told no – she thought about those no’s as relationship building because although they had said no to her, those people had no idea who she was before, and now they do * One thing to keep in mind is that your customer experience will never be better than your employee experience – if you don’t treat your employees well, you can’t expect them to treat customers well * Brittany explains the SUPER Model framework she uses and teaches in her book and says that her book is to help managers, business leaders, and employees have a shared understanding and framework of customer experience * You can purchase Brittany’s book anywhere – it's also offered as an eBook and audiobook * The design process Brittany went through when creating her book and how she knew she wanted to use color in it, which many people do not do * Brittany walks us through the key questions you should ask yourself to design your brand * One goal of Brittany’s in 2023 is to no longer do consulting work so she can focus on speaking * With consulting, Brittany had a hard time saying no – if something outside the scope of their agreement came up and her client asked her about it, she would take care of it because she didn’t set clear boundaries * Now Brittany offers Intentional Experience Design Days, where somebody can hire her for a day to help architect the intentional experience they want their customers to feel throughout the whole customer journey * Connect with Brittany through her website, and make sure to check out her book

Links mentioned:

Creating Superfans by Brittany Hodak

Brittany Kodak Website

Connect with Brittany on Instagram

Connect with Brittany on Twitter

Connect with Brittany on LinkedIn

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Monica is an eCommerce brand mentor & consultant, a purpose-driven (digital) brand, marketing & strategy professional with 17 years of global experience building brands. She’s worked across diverse sectors and companies from Fortune500 to scale- & start-ups.

It all started with an MSc. Business Administration, major in Marketing.

She’s worked with Fortune500 companies across brand management, strategy consulting & global marketing. In addition, she has been hired by Google to coach their premium partners - 7-figure scale-ups, Tech, and SaaS & agencies who work with eCommerce businesses.

Monica offers high-touch coaching & mentorship to small business, conscious, eCommerce & product, and retail entrepreneurs.

She is Dutch by birth and Indian by heritage. Global by choice & education.⁠⁠⁠ A creative thinker.⁠ A dancer.⁠ A chai fanatic.⁠ A mom of 2 girls.⁠⁠

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Business With Monica + ECommerce Strategy * We talk about how the eCommerce space is growing * Monica worked in the corporate world for 10 years but decided she wanted to go out on her own and continue the work she was doing, but for small businesses where she could feel the impact she was having * In the corporate world, Monica worked in brand management for a wide range of brands for a magazine * Monica then moved into strategy consulting, where she got to take brands from position to action plan to marketing structure * Right after leaving the corporate world, Monica had a store selling home accessories but quickly realized that wasn’t what she wanted to be doing * The clients Monica works with have usually been in business for 1 – 3 years and have made 6 figures or close to it * Monica has noticed that most people don’t think about doing the brand work, customer work, or strategy work before they start * The first thing Monica makes sure clients do is to get to know their customers where they do research and in-depth customer and audience interviews – you cannot run a business when you don’t know whom you’re speaking to * Monica uses a technique called customer story probing, where you invite customers to tell you stories so you can dive deeper into their emotions, needs, wants, and desires * The 4Ds or the desire over demographic framework Monica uses outlines the 4 question categories you need to ask your customers – demographics, desires, do, and delight * How you should base your marketing communication on your customers and where they live, but Monica shares some evergreen communication, such as email marketing * Monica shares that many people forget about the post-purchase and says you must be nurturing your customers after they have purchased from you * It’s important to move away from a strategy that focuses on just the features of your product to one that evokes emotion * Monica uses what she calls the customer benefit ladder to get different messaging pieces out – think about the functional benefits, the emotional benefits, the transformational benefits, and the societal benefits of your product * As an example, Monica talks about Starbucks and how they were focused on creating a “third place” between home and work where you could go and hang out and get great coffee – they combine functional and emotional benefits * There are many ways to get customer feedback, but Monica says nothing beats doing customer interviews because you can dive deeper into their motivations * Because Monica dives in deep with her clients, she works one on one with them, and right now, she currently offers a 6-week or 6-month mentorship * Most of Monica’s clients are referral based * Monica shares that her strategy is the same across her different clients, but the implementation is what’s different for each client * How Monica works with the client’s team (if they have one), instead of just with the CEO, for example – this makes sure there is cocreation, and there’s not just one person making a plan * Monica’s expertise is in brand strategy, which is different from brand design and copywriting * For marketing her own business, Monica does a lot on Instagram and LinkedIn but says she’s been trying to do a lot more podcast interviews and collaborations with other people and shares that she will be adding a blog to her website soon * Another way Monica markets herself is through her email lists that she emails consistently * The keys to your business to create sustainable growth and impact are understanding why you’re doing what you’re doing, your customers, and your numbers – if you can combine your findings, you will see the answers * Connect with Monica on Instagram or LinkedIn, and visit her website and get access to her 4D Download so you can take action and get to know your customers

Links mentioned:

Business With Monica

Connect with Monica on Instagram

Connect with Monica on LinkedIn

4D - Desires over Demographics Download

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Nadine Nethery is the Founder of CAN DO! Content and a strategic website and email copywriter for female founders who want to intentionally attract, delight, and retain their dream customers.

Her strategic take on audience research and copy turns every brand touchpoint into genuine connections that drive sales, celebrate loyalty, and surround you with keen brand advocates who happily do the word-spreading for you.

Over the years, Nadine has given global e-commerce success stories, game-changing startups, and industry-disrupting service providers the words to shine and the strategies to build a sustainable business long-term.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Nadine Found Content Marketing + Copywriting * How Nadine filled out the pitch form on the design business show.com * Nadine’s specialty is Audience retention, research, and discovery * Nadine has always loved language and worked as a translator, then after moving to London, Nadine worked in customer service * After Nadine met her Australian husband, she moved to Australia and worked for the Volkswagen PR team for about 10 years * Then Nadine had a few babies and lost the job she loved to do * How Nadine went to work at Australia’s largest retailer, which didn’t fulfill her but gave her selling skills * In the search for what Nadine wanted to do, she discovered content marketing and copywriting, which intrigued her because she has always loved writing and language * The story of how Nadine found a couple of clients through social media and wrote any copy they threw her way * Nadine discovered it took a lot more to write copy than she originally thought, so she took many copywriting courses, which has changed her copywriting approach into a more strategic one * In late 2020, Nadine quit her corporate job to go full-time in her business, where she works with female founders to help with website and email copy that supports their audience * Nadine talks about having more of an impact in her own business than she did in the corporate world

Audience Research * Everything Nadine does is based on audience research – many clients believe they know their audience when they come to Nadine, but it’s usually very surface level * On Nadine’s website, she has a DIY Toolkit that gives templates and strategies for audience research * A good starting point is sending out a survey if you have an existing audience – starting with where they were at when they started working with you, what it was like working with you, any objections they had when working with you, and then you finish with tangible outcomes they had so that you can use that in your copy * Nadine says you should ask very strategic and open-ended questions so clients can explain their experience in their own words, which is gold for your copy * How Nadine works with eCommerce brands and service providers that are in different stages of their business * Nadine focuses on nurturing the audience to look at the bigger picture * Customers come to Nadine for her strategic insights, so she is currently doing everything herself without a team * In her business, Nadine will give design suggestions because she knows how important it is for copy and design to work together * Clients can find Nadine through her website or Instagram * Nadine talks about how to know if your audience is still aligned when you are making a pivot in your business by giving people a choice to opt in or opt-out * How you should clean your email list and social media regularly so you can make sure you are talking to the right people and getting better engagement * Mapping your customer journey is important so you can show up exactly where your audience needs * Nadine gives an example where one of her clients anticipates her customer needs by using past purchases to suggest different products * There are many lessons Nadine has learned along the way, but one big one is staying in your lane – everyone does things differently and shows up differently * Nadine is a big fan of automation and using Dubsado to automate processes in her business and audience research * Check out Nadine’s website and connect with her on Instagram * If you want to see what Nadine does, you can sign up to see Nadine’s Over The Shoulder Tutorial where she takes a project through client research to website copy

Links mentioned:

CAN DO! Website

Pitch Form - The Design Business Show

DIY Audience Toolkit

Connect with Nadine on Instagram

Nadine’s Over The Shoulder Tutorial

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Staci Hauschild is a director of operations and ClickUp consultant. She helps feminist entrepreneurs smash the patriarchy one deadline at a time via strategic planning and business management so CEOs can create positive change in the world, increase their profits, and take real (business-free) vacations.

Staci has lived all over the world and now calls Oaxaca, Mexico, home, where she lives with her two rescue pups and a collection of rescue kittens. She enjoys hiking, collecting rare tropical plants and cacti, and believes that every day should start with a strong cup of coffee and a good book.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

What Strategic Planning Is + Looks Like * Staci shares what kind of coffee she drinks to help start her day * The story of how Staci came to Oaxaca, Mexico, on what was supposed to be a 3-month holiday but ended up staying because it felt like home * Staci decided she could be an English teacher, or she could take her skills and put them online * When Staci started, she was a virtual assistant, but even as a virtual assistant, she was a strategic partner in her client’s businesses, but she didn’t know that was a thing * As Staci learned more, she stepped into more of a management role, and a couple of years ago, she became certified as director of operations * When Staci graduated from Ops Authority Program, she fell in love with strategic planning * Without CEOs and visionaries, Staci says she would not have a business – most operators are not great at creating visions for their futures, but they are great at helping other people with theirs * Staci describes herself as the back-end best friend who doesn’t get the credit, nor does she want it * Strategic Planning, defined by Staci, is a process that creates clarity, direction, and a plan - in the corporate world, it is creating business strategies, implementing them, evaluating them, and making sure they’re aligned with our revenue goals and vision for the future * When Staci talks about vision, she’s not just talking about the vision for your business, but the vision for your lifestyle * Your business foundation is the most important, Staci says, and it includes your business mission, vision, core values, diversity, equality, and inclusion statement, and your revenue goals * After building your foundation, Staci moves to build strategic objectives or the pillars of business, which are money and finance, service and sales, operational efficiencies, team and human capital, and visibility * After looking at the pillars of business, Staci takes all the ideas of her clients and categorizes them by the pillars, and then they look at which strategic pillar they should be currently spending the most time on depending on their goals, needs, and visions * Next, Staci will break client projects down into quarters and then into each month * Each project has an owner, whether it’s the CEO, a team member, or a third-party contractor * Staci says the strategic plan can work for any level of business, and she helps with who’s going to do it and when they’re going to do it * One of Staci’s favorite things is visions – she sees client breakthroughs when her clients talk about their vision * When someone says they want to travel more, for example, Staci helps them nail down the specifics like how often, what they look like, whether they are international or stay-home, etc. So they can get clarity around that * With visions comes revenue goals, and Staci talks about being taught good, better, and best revenue goals

ClickUp + Staci’s Offers * Staci says she does the entire strategic planning in ClickUp, from planning to communication to creating the plan, and works with long-term clients who use ClickUp as their main platform * Operational people usually fall into two categories, those who take the managerial, leadership, and people route or the systems and tech route * If Staci gets a client who wants to work in another platform besides ClickUp, she will refer them to someone else in her circle because she wants to be more efficient and have lean systems in her business * It’s much easier to educate people and share how you can help them when you hone in on your skills and expertise instead of speaking very broadly and wanting to help everyone * One service Staci offers is an Operational Consulting Day that takes place over Voxer or WhatsApp – it works as if you’re messaging your best friend throughout the day, but instead, Staci is coming it from an operational standpoint * The Operational Consulting Day is to overcome one specific challenge you may have – for example; people may be working on a job description for a role they want to hire * The two other services Staci offers are strategic planning and long-term Operational Business Manager (OBM) or Director of Operations (DOO), where she comes in as an integrator to the visionary, where she manages the business entirely so the CEO can step into their zone and do the things only they can do * Most people don’t get into business to manage a business, but that’s what Staci got into business to do * People are at different stages in their businesses where they have different needs and budgets, which is why Staci offers 3 different service levels in her business * In her business, Staci can only take on a certain amount of retainer clients and a certain number of strategic planning clients, so she sees the Operational Consulting Day as a great way to help other people along those services * How Staci and her team think no more than 6 months ahead and how this quarter, they are focused on creating a quiz/operational assessment for Staci’s community to help determine what area of business they need to focus on and how to do it * Your strategic plan isn’t a to-do list; it’s about the strategy and the goal behind it * Staci didn’t realize how intensive it would be to create a quiz, come up with the questions and the results, and come up with the email education sequence for each of those results * Another thing Staci is working on in her business is creating a strategic planning refresh as a group program because sometimes things don’t go according to plan, so she wants to help existing clients be able to refresh their plans if needed

Staci’s Love For Rescuing Animals * Staci says she’s always been a cat person, but because she was living all over the world, she never wanted to adopt an animal because she didn’t want to put it through the stress of moving every 2 years * Once Staci was stable in Oaxaca, Mexico, she adopted her first kitten, but during that time, she and her neighbor rescued and adopted out around 40 kittens * When some of Staci’s neighbors moved; they left behind a Siamese cat that Staci tried to adopt out, but no one wanted her because she was fully grown, so Staci took her * Staci explains that while on YouTube trying to find ways to entertain her Siamese cat, she started to learn more about dogs and says she used to be afraid of dogs her entire life * Living in countries where there’s a high level of animal abuse and lack of resources, there are some scary dogs on the street, but Staci never knew why they were scared – she started to learn that they’re scared and barking because they had been abused * How a dog showed up at Staci’s house that she fed, how he’s never left and is now the love of her life * Staci adopted her second puppy after finding her near death on the side of the road and says that she could adopt a new animal every week – sometimes she has to walk away, call a rescue organization, and says she then donates to the organization * Kittens are less work than dogs because they are independent and so if she sees a kitten, she will pick it up and has reduced 4 cats in the last week * One of Staci’s visions in her business is to be able to donate a percentage of her profits to organizations in Oaxaca, Mexico – Staci donates to big organizations but realizes there is an opportunity within her community * Staci loves working with people who want to donate their money to organizations or political campaigns because she believes we vote with our dollars and we can create change by earning more in our businesses and doing something good with it * Learn more by going to Staci’s website and connecting with Staci on LinkedIn * Get a $250 discount on a full strategic planning session with Staci that sets you up with clarity, direction, a plan, your goals, and projects for 6 months with a high-level view of the following 6 months

Links mentioned:

All listeners receive $250 off a full strategic business planning service with Staci.

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Jen Szpigiel has created a multi-million dollar global iconic brand for legendary leadership, life and business. As the owner and founder of Becoming Iconic®️, Jen is infusing years of wisdom, pure-clean energy and proven strategies for the visionaries, legends and entrepreneurs who want to break expired paradigms and shift the narrative within their businesses, relationships and lives.

As an industry leader, top mentor and podcast host, be ready for Jen to expand you into your full potential as the most epic, vision centric leader for yourself and your legacy.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Jen Became Iconic * Jen is a mom of 4, has been an entrepreneur for 16 years, and has been in marketing and sales for even longer * When Jen was younger, she had a corporate job that she loved, but after the birth of her first baby, she decided to stay home to be with her daughter * While being a stay-at-home mom, Jen felt like she lost herself, so entrepreneurship seemed like the answer to her prayer because she didn’t want to set the example for her daughter that you had to either choose your career or your family – she wants to help be an example that you can have it all * In 2019, after growing in entrepreneurship and helping people all over the world, Jen felt called to build more of a company and brand * How Jen kept hearing the word 'iconic,' but she was worried about what people would think or turning people off until she heard the word 'becoming,' and as soon as she put those words together, Becoming Iconic, her soul lit up * Becoming Iconic will mean different things to different people, but we can all relate to it at some level because we share the purpose of wanting to become all that we can be * The Spark of Becoming Iconic was from Jen wanting to eradicate the narrative that we have to choose and have a sacrificial life – Jen was living a harmonious life and still has a gorgeous family life and booming business, so she wanted to translate that to others * Now Becoming Iconic has grown into a personal journey – in February of 2021, Jen’s Instagram and Facebook were hacked and disabled, and she never got them back * When Jen’s accounts got hacked, she had tens of thousands of followers and was looked at as an influencer; Jen was leaning on social media to grow her business, it was her main way of communicating with her community, and in a matter of minutes, it was gone. * How Jen decided to look at her accounts being hacked as a real-life example of becoming iconic – so many people came in during her success and hadn’t watched her grow, so Jen thought this would be a great opportunity for people to get to know her and her grit, work ethic, love, passion and see her lead * Becoming Iconic is now a movement that’s growing exponentially, and since losing her social media, Jen shares that they’ve created their first seven figures in less than six months * Jen reflects on how she is doing the same things to grow her business now that she was doing 10-15 years ago * Many people like to blame social media or use it to justify, but Jen says the truth is if you are wasting time scrolling, you’re comparing, or it brings you down, that should be a point of reference for you to lead yourself better, it has nothing to do with social media * Why Jen loves social media is because it opens opportunities to find incredible connections and relationships that you would have never been able to make 10 years ago * When it comes to social media, Jen says consistency and discipline are the most important * A lesson Jen learned as a people pleaser who lived for outward validation was to be full of herself, which most people need to learn – as an entrepreneur and leader who wants to grow a business, Jen says you are going to have people who don’t agree with you or don’t tell you you’re doing a great job even when they think you are so, you have to look inward for validation * Jen explains that she has a team and support, but she has built a business on ethics and integrity, which she feels strongly about – so when you come into her DMs, it’s not someone pretending to be her; it’s actually her * It’s a contradiction in your life and business to want to be a seven-figure business owner but want to do as little as you can in a day and want to rest – they can exist together, but it’s this harmonious living and working hard, and feeling like you had a productive day that Jen thinks people are losing * Part of the reason people don’t want to work as hard is that they grew up in hustle culture, but Jen shares some great things about hustle culture, too, like having a work ethic, following through, and being dedicated * You can work hard and get rest – when you work hard in your business, Jen says, that’s when it starts to thrive * Becoming Iconic is mainly mentorships; Jen does a lot of private, deep, relational mentorships, which is what she thrives on * Jen also has a podcast that is part of the brand - it is rated top in business and lifestyle across the globe * Another part of Becoming Iconic is Jen’s magazine and boutique agency * How Jen describes Becoming Iconic as an umbrella company that supports entrepreneurs, whether service or product based, to build multiple, six or seven, eight-figure businesses * Jen focuses on leadership, who are you being in your life and business because she will not grow a business that hurts your family or breaks relationships, nor will she let her clients lean in on that as an excuse to not fulfill your dream and destiny within your business

Jen’s Rebrand + Magazine * The story of how Jen and her business partner decided to part ways so Jen could stand on her own two feet and the things that came to light because of it * Most of Jen’s time in business was dictated by what people told her she could and couldn’t do until she started doing it her way and began pioneering the coaching industry * Jen shares that she went to school for fashion and has always loved style – when she went on her own, she decided to explore that in her business and did more fashion and branding photoshoots, which she loves * How Jen was finally able to fall into herself and follow her intuition in her business and create her Becoming Iconic Magazine, which has been a dream of hers since she was 20 years old, even after so many told her it wasn’t a good idea * Jen wanted her magazine to be a place for entrepreneurs to get sound business advice but also be inspired by beautiful things, lifestyle, places to visit, and things to eat – so she created it, and it has been one of the most successful things she’s done * What holds many people back is wanting to do something perfectly the first time, so Jen shares some of the errors inside her first issue of the magazine and how she used them as an opportunity to be better * Jen walks through the different features and columns within her magazine and how some are more business based while others are more life based * You can have the digital copy of the magazine complimentary on Jen’s website, or you can subscribe to get the beautiful glossy pages delivered to your doorstep * The two other people Jen has on her team to help with the magazine are her designer and her operational business manager – Jen does all the copy and even handwrites the addresses on envelopes because it means so much to her that people would subscribe

The Becoming Iconic Podcast + Offers * Jen created The Becoming Iconic Podcast to explore conversations, meet new people, and help those who aren’t ready to come into her world to be mentored by her * How Jen’s intention for her magazine and podcast was not to make money - they are passion projects of hers, but they do bring in income * In Jen’s offers, it’s a lot of intimate setting work because she loves relationships and partnerships * In 2023, the main ways to work with Jen are through private coaching or her mastermind called Icons which is about teaching women that they do not have to wait for success to feel like the women they want to become * Jen feels that 2023 will be a year of deepening the experiences she offers to make them the best they can be * If Jen wakes up tomorrow and wants to try something, she can because she’s not attached to the outcome; she’s attached to creating an exceptional experience which gives allows her to do things in a playful, curious way

Creative Direction in Photoshoots * Jen says she found a great photographer and videographer who work together and says she wanted to create a fashion influencer vibe under a coaching umbrella * The inspiration behind Jen’s photoshoot came from a fashion influencer in Germany, and she shares that she wanted to create photos that were mysterious, inspiring, professional, and edgy-elegant all that the same time * Jen does her hair and makeup for her photoshoots because it’s more about the feeling than how she looks * Why Jen believes putting on clothes and being presentable is part of what makes her feel good because after Jen had her first daughter, she lost herself and became the sweatpants mom after having gone to school for fashion, so it makes her feel better to get up, put a little makeup on and get dressed * Jen talks about how we’re told to build our email lists so if we lose our social media, we’ll still have access to everybody, which is true, but Jen doesn’t believe the outcome is as solid as we’re teaching – not all the people on your email list will refollow you on your new social media * How Jen communicates through email but is not consistent with it because, to her, there are so many other ways that are more elevated to connect and communicate with her audience * Jen’s 3 favorite places to communicate with her audience are through her magazine, podcast, or Instagram * Many of us spend too much time in the ‘waiting’ – we’re waiting to feel ready, confident, for the right time, for somebody to give us to go ahead, etc., and what Jen knows is that these things don’t lead us into decisions, what does is our heart, soul, and trust * You don’t have to wait to do what you want and chase your dreams – Jen says there will never be a right moment, so create the perfect moment for yourself * Check out Jen’s website, Becoming Iconic, listen to her podcast, view her magazine, and connect with her on Instagram

Links mentioned:

Becoming Iconic Website

Becoming Iconic Magazine

The Becoming Iconic Podcast

Work With Jen

Connect with Jen on Instagram

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Amanda Walker is a certified master coach who inspires coaches to become better coaches. Amanda is passionate about helping coaches and online service-based business owners get their clients massive results in order to grow a profitable coaching practice. She is the host of the Best Damn Coach Podcast and runs the premier coaching program for coaches, Best Damn Coach.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Amanda’s Start to Coaching * How Amanda had sent me a pitch over the summer to come on the show and talk about high-touch marketing strategies that you can use to grow your business organically * Amanda’s perspective is that everyone is a coach in some way – if you’re a parent, you’re a coach; if you’re a spouse, you’re a coach; if you run a business, you’re talking to clients that you’re coaching in some element * This first coaching job Amanda had was coaching boy’s pee-wee basketball at age 15 – it was that job that made her realize she had a passion and a gift for helping people create results * Amanda wore a lot of different coaching hats and was a teacher, but the year after her son was born, she decided she didn’t want to continue teaching; Amanda took a year of sabbatical in case she wanted to come back but ended up falling into entrepreneurship * How Amanda opened how her own coaching practice in the health and fitness industry, which she did for about 6 years - she had success in organically attracting many coaches and aspiring coaches * Many coaches attracted to Amanda’s work wanted her to help them in their business, which is how she decided to move in that direction with her business * Amanda wanted to help coaches scale to 6 figures and beyond practitioners but, more importantly, work on the art and mastery of coaching because she believes there are a lot of outside resources, but the one thing that will trump when it comes to growing your business organically is, results that you create with your clients * After Amanda had children, she went through a personal weight loss journey, and her first clients were her fellow gym-goers who saw her transformation and wanted help doing the same thing * As business owners, we’re all serving people, and the most important thing we will do is create results because our people become walking billboard advertisements for us * The first few years of Amanda’s coaching business were done through email because she was afraid of live coaching, and for the first client she had, she charged $50 for the month because she was scared to ask for money * The online coaching industry is predicted to be a 20-billion-dollar industry globally by the end of 2022 * Because there are so many online coaches, Amanda’s mission is to help her clients stand out, and her perspective is that you don’t do that from fancy Facebook ads or templates – what makes them stand out is who they are as people and how they connect with others

Amanda’s Offerings + High-Touch Strategies * Amanda’s signature program, Best Damn Coach, is a 6-month to year-long experience - Amanda believes it doesn’t do service to entrepreneurs to have a course, step-by-step mission – Amanda believes in real-life support from real-life people holding space for us to be accountable * The Business Accelerator is another one of Amanda’s offerings that aim to take coaches, consultants, and mentors to the 6-figure mark * Amanda’s high-level mastermind called the Inner Circle for those who are already succeeding and looking for intimate upleveling strategies – they have live events and retreats that coincide with this mastermind * Why Amanda keeps one-to-one clients because she believes that to teach coaching, she needs to be involved in it * When you’re growing organically, the first thing you need to do, Amanda says, is shut out the rest of the noise and get back to the basics of human connection * How you can grow to a 6-figure business without a large email list through intentional connections with your small audience * At the core level, we are meant to be part of a tribe; when we think about that, we have more opportunities to make our clients feel connected to us, safe, and trusted. * Amanda is a practitioner of NLP, and something she teaches her clients right away is understanding what rapport is – there’s verbal rapport and unconscious rapport * When you hear someone’s voice or when you hear your name, you automatically build a deeper level of unconscious rapport, which is why Amanda teaches clients to take communication out of text messages and take them into audio or video * Amanda shares that she communicates with her email list twice a week – One is a call to action to listen to that week’s episode of the Best Damn Coach Podcast, and the other is a message dedicated to celebrating clients * When Amanda showcases the results clients are having, it builds trust – she usually takes a screenshot of a result a client shared with her and writes about it * High-touch strategies to Amanda is going above and beyond in the most personal way to cultivate a feeling * Amanda leverages audio and video in email marketing by sending a video in the first email after someone signs up for one of her programs so they can see her and hear her voice * Another high-touch strategy Amanda does is calling each person who signs up for one of her programs * When Amanda has a warm connection, she will reach out with a personal audio message * Amanda is constantly looking to nurture the person versus taking a blanket approach to marketing * The story of Amanda’s client who hosted a workshop and how she sent a personalized audio message to those who attended and those who signed up but didn’t attend to see if they had any questions – she got great results from this high-touch strategy that led to a purchase of the workshop * Another client of Amanda’s sends audio messages back in response to the direct messages she receives on Instagram and asks to hop on a call with them to help answer their question further, which has yielded great results * Inside Amanda’s Best Damn Coach program, they focus on the 4 Ss of coaching: Sales, Service, Strategy, and Self-Coaching * In the Business Accelerator program, they dive deeper into creating frameworks by looking at the common steps clients take when they see success * Within Amanda’s teaching, there are many frameworks she uses; one, for example, is the BEST model is one Amanda teaches to create flow and results inside a coaching session * In the Best Damn Coach Podcast, Amanda explains that they focus on 3 things – 1) helping listeners be better coaches, mentors, and guides, 2) helping listeners coach themselves, 3) helping listeners grow a thriving business * Two things in Amanda’s business that she has stuck to are communicating with her email list every week and posting consistently with her podcast because she says it’s important to show up when people are expecting you to * Amanda says entrepreneurship was the greatest journey of personal development she never knew she needed because it brings up insecurities and weaknesses that are exposed for a growth opportunity * How personal development is tied directly to your profit – Amanda says if you are not nurturing yourself, there is no way to handle the mindset drama that happens inside a business * Personal practices that Amanda uses are journaling and using her personal certifications to visualize where she dreams of taking her business

What Makes a Good Coach? * When someone says yes to you, Amanda says you have to understand that clients go through a moment of buyer's remorse, so immediately you want to instill belief in them and reconfirm that their success is inevitable, which is a step many people miss because they’re more focused on the details like booking a call with them or having them fill out a form * One thing that makes a great coach is your ability to create results – Amanda says if your clients are putting in the work and they don’t see results, it’s time to reevaluate your coaching, and just because you get a certification, it does not mean that you are ready, able or confident enough to cultivate that * Another piece that Amanda believes makes a great coach is your ability to do the work yourself – Amanda says she only takes her clients as far as she’s willing to go herself * A couple of reasons coaches don’t make money is because of fear, they don’t have a clear offer, or because they have money drama – in the beginning, people want to be accessible to everyone, but you might not always be the best fit for someone to come in and invest in you * In the past couple of years, Amanda thinks the global pandemic positively impacted the online coaching world through many opportunities because coaching becomes more powerful as more people are exposed to it * Amanda also believes coaching rivals therapy because there are things coaches can do that therapists are limited to – it’s the reason she works with so many therapists that are transitioning into coaching because they see the value in both * During the pandemic, Amanda also learned that there are a lot of disappointing things happening in the coaching world around integrity * There is no barrier to entry in the coaching world, so anyone can decide to be a coach for whatever they want, and no one is checking in on them; there’s no certification required * Amanda created the Best Damn Coach program because they believe you don't need a certification to be an amazing coach, but you do need to have a heart for integrity, hone your craft, and be able to learn from other people * Listen to the Best Damn Coach Podcast – on Tuesdays, they release content-driven episodes, and on Fridays, they release behind-the-scenes episodes where you get to hear Amanda live coach somebody * Connect with Amanda on Instagram, where she has many free resources

Links mentioned:

Best Damn Coach Podcast

Best Damn Coach Program

The Business Accelerator

Inner Circle

Connect with Amanda on Instagram

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Nhat is the Director of Bridge Creations, he established the business in 2021 through a background of emotional trauma with discrimination, abuse, and workplace toxicity, but contrary built potent health with a desire for sports. The two fields led to opposing outcomes of good and bad health, valuing the need for adequate well-being with picturing a deduction of health implications. He combines his health background with his graphic design experience to envision visual collateral to aid, encourage and empower healthy living.

Nhat graduated from the University of Canberra in 2021 with a Master of Design Strategies; he also holds a Bachelor’s and an Honours degree in graphic design, specializing in visual communication, branding, design-led innovation, and information graphics.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

The Why Behind Bridge Creations * The story of Nhat’s university assignment, which made him realize the impact graphic design has on health, and the article he wrote with his colleagues called Service Design Thinking For Social Good * Nhat has had many health issues since he was around 12 years old, dealing with racism, school-yard bullying, and cyberbullying, and for the last 4 years, was a victim of a toxic workplace * Why Nhat is passionate about improving health with graphic design so hopefully, in the future, health issues can be reduced * How graphic design can communicate facts and health information more effectively – covid is a great example because when you scroll on social media, you see posts about daily numbers or graphics on how to stop the spread * Nhat’s assignment combined two areas, health and graphic design – the assignment was a brochure on how to prevent childhood obesity that communicated strategies, was persuasive, informative, and engaging * Current clients of Nhat’s come from networking events in Canberra, Australia, which is one of the most innovative cities in the world and Australia * Each month, Nhat attends a networking group called the Canberra Innovation Network, which includes many different entrepreneurs and investors, which is how he has gotten his current clients * Even if a company has nothing to do with health, Nhat is good at finding some small components – for example, one of his recent clients has a company that uses nursery rhymes to help school kids with vocabulary learning, and Nhat was able to find some health-related elements like mental and social health to help improve their wellbeing and learning * At this stage in his business, Nhat is trying to build evidence through the clients he has so that in the future, he can have more proof behind his process and send proposals out to health-related entrepreneurs * Nhat shares another client example where they changed their logo to help improve awareness of their business and significantly improved their marketing content * A lot of Nhat’s current clients are entrepreneurs because they can lack the graphic design skills needed to effectively communicate their message, which is how Nhat helps * Nhat is most passionate about physical health in the industry, and before his university project on childhood obesity, he did a hypothetical promotion on health for university students to improve exercise, which helped him shape his business niche * Because of Nhat’s sports background, he has much experience with the physical, mental, and social benefits that physical health has * In the future of his business, Nhat hopes to see people applying more visual collateral because, while in school, he realized how underestimated and underappreciated graphic design is

The Future of Bridge Creations + Design Tips * Many people think graphic design is the cherry on top, but Nhat believes it’s the opposite because when you look at marketing, people tend to focus more on images and videos, which is why it’s so important to implement * In the future, Nhat would like to assist clients with anything from their marketing content to their branding to their website and would like to see health service providers better improve the usage of graphic design because he would love to see a reduction of health issues * Nhat focuses on static images and photos but can consult and identify strategies for video content as well and, most recently, has worked on logos for clients, along with other promotional materials * In the future, Nhat would be interested in doing public speaking to share his passion for graphic design and health, along with sharing his own story * Nhat likes to include the why behind his business on his website and in the pitches he gives because his personal experience played such an important part in shaping his business * Evidence building is one of the most important things Nhat has learned since starting his business – it’s not enough to just say how great your service is; you need to be able to show the impact it has had for past clients * One of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to health and design is designing something just because they think it’s right; you need to make sure you’re inclusive and make sure you understand your audience so you can pinpoint their pain points in the promotional content * The name of Nhat’s business, Bridge Creations, came from his thinking about bridging the gap between health and graphic design * Check out Nhat’s website and connect with Nhat on LinkedIn

Links mentioned:

Bridge Creations

Service Design Thinking For Social Good

Connect with Nhat on LinkedIn

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Cristina Robinson is the founder and designer behind The Lovely Geek, a web design studio aimed at elevating women in their online presence.

Her passion for the web started in high school and led to an internship with Intel, followed by several years of freelancing. Armed with her Bachelor of Science degree in Web Design & Interactive Media, she spent nearly a decade working for local Sacramento agencies before ultimately becoming her own boss.

Her experience from the big agencies inspired her to help small businesses, and now she works almost exclusively with female solopreneurs making their brands shine.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Cristina Got Her Start in Web Design * How I met Cristina through Paty Ventura, who was on episode 193 of the podcast * Cristina was inspired to create her own website after meeting a friend at summer camp who had a website on Yahoo Geocities and an online journal * If you wanted to customize any text or put in any images, you had to learn HTML, so Cristina started teaching herself a lot of the basics * In high school, Cristina took a beginning HTML class, and the teacher saw she was passionate and showed a lot of promise, so he asked her to be his teacher’s assistant for her senior year * While being a teacher’s assistant, Cristina got the chance to redesign and maintain the school’s website * Other school staff members noticed Cristina’s work, and then she found out about an internship for high school students with Intel, which her teachers encouraged her to apply for * During her Intel internship, Cristina met a lot of other students, got a great learning experience, and it gave her insight into the corporate world * Unfortunately, most colleges at the time didn’t offer a web design degree, the closest they had was majoring in communications or computer science, but that wasn’t the route Cristina wanted to go * Cristina started looking at more specialized schools, like The Art Institute, where she was able to find a web design and interactive media major * How Cristina’s first freelance client was the traditional nightmare client who made her question if she actually wanted to freelance * While in college, Cristina was able to get her first paid internship with a local agency, and after she graduated, it turned into a full-time role * Most of the people at the agency Cristina had gone to school with, so she knew their work ethic, and they were able to collaborate well together * This agency is where Cristina met Paty because they both went to The Art Institute and worked at this agency together * The agency was big into tourism, so Cristina got to work on a few projects for Yosemite, the state fair, and a lot of local businesses in the Sacramento area * Cristina says she had a lot of great learning experiences and met a lot of people from working at the agency * Because Cristina grew up 45 mins away from Sacramento, she didn’t really know her major city until she started working at the agency, which made her appreciate it * After working at this agency for a few years, Cristina got a job at another agency where she was able to focus on design - she got to do website design, interface design, print design, and dabble in app design * When Cristina got pregnant with her daughter, she decided to stay home and went back to freelancing, which is how she ended up where she is today * All of Cristina’s clients have been referral based and have been people that she’s worked with already in some capacity * Most of Cristina’s freelance work has been with small business owners, usually solopreneurs, and she shares she only started working with companies when at the agencies * Cristina has done enough work to realize her sweet spot is working one-on-one with women - women much like herself who want to be their own boss, and Cristina comes in to help with the online portion * How Cristina started branding this year because she found that the people coming to her either had a brand they created but weren’t happy with or they had nothing * Branding isn’t Cristina’s preferred offering, she can do it, but she would rather partner with someone so she could send clients to that person for the branding experience and then have clients come back to her to take care of their website * Cristina shared she just found someone she would like to partner with who does branding

Staying Organized + Keeping Clients for Life * For project management, Cristina uses Dubsado because it has a great client portal option, but she also uses Notion and has found it very handy for her retainer clients - with Notion, Cristina creates content and calendars, tracks hours, tracks projects, and says you can create whatever you want * How Cristina recommended Notion to her husband, who is a Twitch streamer and content creator, and now he uses it to organize all his YouTube videos and TikToks and even writes his scripts in it * In Notion, Cristina will create a content calendar, and within that calendar, she has different templates for each content type - blogs, emails, Instagram posts, Reels or TikToks, etc. * For example, Cristina will look at her calendar and see that on Tuesday, she wants to do a blog post, so she’ll select her blog post template, which already has all the fields she needs in it * Within the database in Notion, Cristina can see a list of all of her content, and as she’s brainstorming, she can put all her ideas in one place so when it comes time to map out her content, it’s very easy to do and well organized * Cristina says she’s always been a blogger and likes to create that content when she has time * One tool people should be utilizing the power of LinkedIn because their algorithm can get you a lot of exposure - Cristina recommends using LinkedIn’s section where you can write articles * One thing Cristina likes to do is create an article on LinkedIn that’s similar to a blog post she already has, so if someone wants to read more, they can click over to her website to read the blog post, so she's still driving traffic to her website * Cristina offers a retainer service after she’s worked with a client on their project because she finds that people end up wanting to be very hands-off and want someone to help maintain - Cristina says it’s really up to the client what they want her to do * A lot of times, Cristina’s retainer clients will write up blog posts by throwing their content in a word document, and then she’s responsible for scheduling it, putting together the graphics, and making sure it goes on all the right platforms * Cristina always designs her websites with the intention of the client saying, thanks, I’ve got it from here, but a lot of times, the clients want her to continue to help maintain * In Notion, Cristina has a client-facing content planner for her clients to see what content is scheduled - then they can make decisions on adjustments or adding on * Clients have appreciated seeing their content scheduled out so they can see where they’re at and what they need to provide * Cristina has found that most clients have worked with another website designer who worked with them one time and then disappeared, which makes Cristina sad because then the clients don’t have the tools they need to maintain * It’s important to Cristina that she emphasizes no matter what, even if it’s been days, months, or years since she’s worked on a client project, they are a client for life, so they can always reach out to her * There was a time while working at the agencies when Cristina was not taking on freelance work, but she still took care of and helped her current clients * When people feel taken care of, they’re going to have nice things about you * The biggest tip Cristina has is to build a routine based on what works for you and know what time you have blocked off for certain tasks * It’s important for Cristina to balance work while being a mom - her kids are up from as early as 6:00 am and take a nap around 1:00 pm, so she knows that the tasks she’s working on during those hours need to be ones where it’s okay if she’s interrupted or ones where she’s not being paid hourly * Knowing which tasks require your full, entire attention vs. which tasks can be interrupted a little bit is important * Check out Cristina’s website, The Lovely Geek.com, and connect with her on Instagram

Links mentioned:

The Lovely Geek Website

Episode 193 with Paty Ventura

Connect with Cristina on Instagram

Connect with Cristina on Pinterest

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We are Jessia Gleim (rhymes with slime) and Amy Christie (yes, she has two first names). Together, we founded Flairst, which is grounded in our love of creative thinking, enthusiasm, and problem-solving. Our passion is empowering ambitious women-led DTC eCommerce brands. Consider us your strategy and growth partner - we’ll scale your business through personalized, data-driven omnichannel social media advertising and help you make shit loads of money! We don’t just focus on the now. Instead, we help bulletproof the future of your business by creating sustainable, profitable revenue. At Flairst, we’re all about putting money in the hands of women. Nothing makes us happier or more fulfilled than seeing our clients win BIG!

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Jessica + Amy Got Started * How Jessica and Amy sent me a message about being on the show and why I think the story of their business is important * Jessica and Amy both have fine art degrees and had separate businesses before creating Flairst together * Jessica shares that she loves paper products and was designing a series with Shutterfly but had some health problems and needed a way to do her own thing, which is why she started her freelance design business in 2014 * After doing some design, someone asked Jessica if she could help with marketing, so she had her own marketing business going on for a while; then, around 2015, someone asked if Jessica could help with Facebook Ads, which is how she got into ads * In 2016, Jessica had her first child and quickly realized she could not be a one-woman show; Jessica dreamed of having a partner but never thought she would because she needed someone who could do it all and understood being a parent * Both Jessica and Amy had been going to a conference called Alt Summit for 10 years and had previously met there, but they didn’t remember meeting until they randomly got paired as roommates * After sitting down with each other at the conference to get to know each other, Jessica asked Amy to join her business * While at home with her oldest, Amy decided she needed something that fed her soul, so she learned everything about blogging, and within a year of blogging, she was also creating content for other people * Amy shares that she got to see the launch of many social platforms and got to figure out how they worked for creators and how they’ve changed to have advertising * As Amy’s kids got older and more involved, she found content creation exhausting and needed something where she could leverage the skills she already had – Amy could build a website, create graphics, write copy, and build ads, but she didn’t know how to do all of that and get clients * How Amy will be attending Alt Summit in New York this fall, but Jessica will not because she is 9 months pregnant and will be having her second child soon * We talk about the Alt Summit conference, which Jessica and Amy recommend for anyone in the creative space - the information is good, it’s aesthetically pleasing, and the community is great

Blessing of a Business Partnership + Flairst * When Jessica and Amy are interviewed on podcasts, the host always says they are the first duo they’ve ever talked to, which always surprises Jessica and Amy because so many people wished they had a partner * How motherhood, living during a pandemic, and entrepreneurship can all be very isolating – there are very few people who understand it, even if your friends and family support you in it * Jessica and Amy didn’t go into their business to only work with women; it just naturally happened that way – their mission is to put money back into the pockets of women and families * It’s hard to be a parent, a primary caregiver, and a businesswoman at the same time, which is why Jessica and Amy believe it takes a village – not just with your children or yourself but also within your business * Jessica shares that having a partner to be with her and help grow their team has been so impactful not just for the business but for her mental health * Although Jessica and Amy have similar backgrounds and learning abilities, they are opposites - Jessica says she is unorganized, has her head in the clouds, and has to focus on the next step in front of her, while Amy is organized, grounded, and looks at the end goal * How being opposites has been beneficial for their business, their mental health, and just life * Jessica says being a parent and having a business mesh together well because it gives you the flexibility you need * Amy says the jobs they worked before creating Flairst were partly out of necessity because of the lifestyle they were living at the time and how their current work also compliments their current lifestyle, where if they need to drop what they’re doing for their kids, they can do that * Jessica and Amy’s business is rooted in social media advertising, and Jessica shares that social media has been a blessing because so many women have been able to create businesses, substantial income, and influence from their phones on their own time - they know it can be hard to get back into the workforce after having children or taking a gap between working * Amy wishes the type of partnership she has with Jessica on every woman because even though they don’t live in the same place, the mental and emotional support that comes with being a partner and sharing the responsibility of growing a business together is something Amy wishes everyone could have * Even contractors and other members of your team that aren’t as fully invested in your business have a different take on the business – Jessica and Amy are equally attached to the business * Because there are two of them, Jessica and Amy have been able to lean into what they are really good at because they don’t have to do absolutely everything by themselves * Amy shares the conversation she and Jessica had at Alt Summit when they decided to work together after barely knowing each other * When Amy came in, she brought the business mindset because, at the time, Jessica didn’t have a website or brand name, just an LLC, a bookkeeper, and clients for them to work with * Jessica and Amy had much trust for not knowing each other well but had made a pact early on to always tell each other the truth no matter what * In 2019, Jessica and Amy went back to Alt Summit and gave a presentation about ads which is when they decided ad strategy for direct-to-consumer, women-led, eCommerce businesses would be their only offer * One of the best things Jessica and Amy have done for their business is working with a business coach whom they work with individually and together * Before narrowing down their offer, Jessica and Amy did everything under the sun for clients but found they could best serve clients by just offering ad strategy, which they are really good at * The advertising education Jessica and Amy have has come from the free resources they’ve found on the internet * How Jessica and Amy have always been obsessed with the psychology behind why people make purchase decisions and the emotional relationship that goes into advertising * Jessica and Amy say to think of advertising like online dating – all these steps need to happen before you ask someone to marry you * Typically, Jessica and Amy get clients through fostering relationships and networking by going to conferences, usually with women, because women like to create relationships before making a business decision * Amy shares that they work with direct-to-consumer eCommerce businesses that own their data * If you're a business on Amazon or Etsy, that platform owns your business data * When Jessica and Amy work with clients, it’s less about the product the client sells and more about what stage they are at in their business * Because of the changes in the iOS update, pandemic changes, and the growth of digital advertising, the market has changed – when Amy was first starting, all of the social media platforms worked for the creator, but now the algorithm has changed to benefit the platform so they can run ads * Ad costs have gone up, making it more complicated for small businesses * The businesses that Jessica and Amy work with are usually well-established, mature businesses that are in the 2.5 – 3-million-dollar range because that allows them to have an ad spend range of $20,000 – $25,000 a month to be able to pay to play on social media platforms * It can be frustrating for small businesses that can’t afford to pay to play, but Jessica and Amy highly suggest growing your organic marketing by building your email list, social media, community, and influence until you are to a point where you can scale

Creating a Direct-To-Consumer Brand + Data Driven Ads * Direct-to-consumer brands that have created products that hit an emotional pain point or solution with their consumers will be successful * Jessica and Amy don’t see success with direct-to-consumer brands who create a product and then go try to find their target market, but if you create an audience and community and then sell to them based on what they are asking you and what they need, that’s where you will find success * Amy says brand and product positioning is about your customers remembering that you have served them well and will continue to engage with them – you need to have your product proven organically by a community of people * There are a lot of different ways to run an ad strategy, but Amy says the first step is to pick your objectives * In ad strategy, there are a lot of levels because you are working with many different people at different stages in the buying cycle * You want to bring in new people to grow your community, make sure you’re managing and supporting your current customers, and grow the lifetime value – which is where the organic marketing portion comes in with Jessica and Amy’s ad strategy * Jessica gives an example to show how it’s not just one advertisement: it’s a whole strategy cycle to get someone who has never heard of you to become a repeat customer * Amy says that their strategy and all strategies should be built on data which is why businesses today need to be thinking about building their data portfolio * Before the iOS update, Amy explained that data on the internet was like one of those big communities where the backyard of all the homes is shared; each of the homes would be a different social media platform, and they all shared the same third-party data – it was inexpensive and free for anyone to use * After the iOS privacy update, it’s like all the backyards were fenced in, so now you only have access to your backyard, which is why it should be your top priority to build your data portfolio because that’s what’s necessary to build efficient, functional, profitable ads * We talk about the mascara line I want to create, the story behind it, and how to create a community first to then launch my product * Connect with Jessica and Amy on Instagram, TikTok, or visit the Flairst website – feel free to ask them questions because they want to know what other business owners are curious about and want to know

Links mentioned:

Flairst Website

Connect with Jessica + Amy on Instagram

Connect with Jessica + Amy on TikTok

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Hi. My name is Melissa. If you’re new here - hey!! I’m so glad you’re here today. If you’re not new, heeey! I’m grateful that I get the privilege of being in your ears and eyes. I say ears for those who listen and eyes for those who prefer to read the show notes on our website. Sometimes I prefer to skim show notes instead of listening to a podcast. I’m a fast reader and easily distracted; plus I wanna make sure the show is accessible to them in whatever ways they want to digest the info.

Anyways - here we are, several weeks after I “should’ve” recorded and published this episode; but I just could not bring myself to do it. Not for any reason other than I didn’t really know what to say beyond the cheesy “I can’t believe it’s been 200 episodes” sentiment. I wanted it to be extra special. Then I put a lot of pressure on myself (which I then resisted) and then I wonder if what I have to say is still relevant.

I’ve recorded at least a dozen solo episodes and haven’t felt this kind of anxiety about publishing an episode before. So I didn’t force it; I gave myself lots of grace until it’s like okay girl - time to move forward. Last night I watched The Redeem Team on Netflix with my youngest son; and I believe it was Dwyane Wade who said (I’m paraphrasing here) that you’re not moving because you’re afraid of success. As long as you move, it’s good, so here I am, moving.

I’ve got some very unrealistic, but fun goals for this podcast in the future; so first and foremost I want to say thank you to everyone for listening, sharing, connecting, and just giving me the privilege of helping you. And, this is very important, a thank you to Cora and Grace, who help me publish the show every week. If there’s ever a week we don’t publish; it’s always on me and I’m so grateful for their support. I started out the show doing everything myself and realized quickly I couldn’t keep doing it all on my own.

The podcast origin story + future plans for the show I launched the show in October 2018, so just over 4 years ago. My friend Kira Hug, who is the co-founder and co-host of The Copywriter Club podcast, interviewed me for the first episode and for episode 100. Kira was really the first one to tell me to host a podcast and didn’t really listen to me when I gave her all the reasons why I shouldn’t have one.

I recorded the first episode and sat on it for 6 months; published 4 episodes; and then didn’t really take it seriously until January 2019. At that time in my business I was running paid mentorship programs for designers and this one messaged me to tell me that she loved my show and listened to it at the gym; and it really motivated me to take it a little more seriously.

At 200 episodes in, we’ve interviewed 150+ diverse experts and received over 120,000 downloads. We’ve been ranked a top podcast for entrepreneurship in Sweden, New Zealand, Japan, India, Great Britain, Germany, Colombia, Brazil and Australia, and a top podcast in business in Belgium, Czeck Republic, Egypt, Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa, South Africa, and United Arab Emirates, and a top podcast for all podcasts in both Cyprus and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

In 2019 we won “Best Podcast” at the Social Media Club Hashie Awards, and I almost didn’t submit the podcast for the award. My friend Caroline Jones gave me the nudge, and I still can’t believe I won. So apparently my questioning the podcast relevance is normal, but not necessary.

A lot of podcasts get more downloads + rankings and awards, and some get less. I’m very content with where I’m at, and don’t stress about that stuff.

I really like how we tell the stories of the guests on the show - and the nitty gritty details that help me understand how they got to where they are; so I can see what’s possible for me. In college I don’t really feel like it was explained very well what opportunities were available to me, so that’s one of the reasons I love this show.

And, I get to talk about what I don’t think is mentioned enough in this industry; how design, copy, marketing, strategy, UX, tech, systems and all the creative elements have to work together to create successful brand campaigns + product launches. It’s becoming more and more clear to me that understanding those things is one of my super powers.

As I learn to embody this super power, and my business shifts and evolves into doing more creative launch direction for B2C brands; I’m really excited to tell more stories behind-the-scenes of your favorite product launches + brand campaigns from designers, founders, creators and to understand like we did with the McDonald’s rebrand in episode 116 with Tyler Brooks and the Jill Brand Launch with Meagan Carboney in episode 184.

So, if you’re someone who has a product launch or brand campaign behind-the-scenes story you want to share on the show; go to the “Be a Guest” in the footer of our website to submit your pitch. I’m much more interested in the nitty gritty details than your 3-step formula.

And while you’re on the website; you can sign up for email updates to be the first to know when episodes go live. I’m excited to incorporate the emails in our weekly production process so I can share a few personal insights about every episode as it goes live.

The behind-the-scenes of my new podcast art If you’re on the website or have visited it or you listen on any podcast platform; you may have noticed we’re slowly making some much-needed design changes. When I launched the show, I kept the same podcast art with a photo of me in a blush suit jacket with my hair pinned back and very curly. As both the show and my personal brand have evolved; I knew it was time for new podcast art.

It’s one of those things I tried doing on my own after putting it off for months and months. And then I decided to hire a designer to help me.

One thing I’m very clear about right now in this phase of my life is that I don’t want to put my face all over the internet right now. Maybe in 2023. Not now, though.

So, I knew for the new podcast art, I didn’t want to use my photo. I really like the podcast episode graphic we use to share on social media and the logo; I just wanted new art.

So, I hired Taylor Weaver, and she nailed the concept in the first try. Score! Thank you, Taylor!

In the next phases of the rebrand; we’ll be making some updates to the UX of the podcast website. Most likely in 2023.

A thank you note to my younger self On a little bit of a personal note; last month I was driving to one of my son’s football games that was 3 hours away; and on the way I listened to Kendall Jenner’s interview on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast.

There was a video clip that went viral of Kendall talking about being kind to her inner child and that anytime you’re mean to yourself, you’re being mean to your younger self. So, she has a photo of herself as a little girl on her bathroom mirror “so that every morning, every night, every day when you walk into your bathroom and look and the mirror your looking at her and remembering that if there’s anything negative that you're saying about yourself, or ever being mean to yourself, you’re talking about her.”

This really resonated with me, not because I’m doing any inner child work; but because I think it’s important to be kind to yourself and to pay attention to the things you say about yourself.

I hesitated to record + publish this solo episode and one reason was because I wondered if anything I had to was relevant without another guest on the show. I even question it when I have guests on the show.

If you saw the title graphic for this episode on social media; and the graphic actually features an image of me from when I was a kid. I was probably 11 in the image and it was from a photoshoot my sister and I had done as kids to promote our singing business. My mom made our costumes, my dad was our manager and we were living our parents dream. My mom had the calendar made in 1997; and kept it on her wall until at least 2005 when she sold her house.

Unfortunately for my parents, I killed their dream of my sister and I becoming pop stars because I didn’t like all the practice that went along with it. Sorry mom & dad!

Now I get to use my voice in a different way; by talking to the creators, designers, and founders behind your favorite product launches and brand campaigns to uncover why they do what they do in the way that they do it. Because to me, graphic design is not just what a website or logo looks like. It’s about strategically using beauty and language to construct a path that connects your ideal customers to your products and services.

A final thank you and an ask I can’t believe that we’re at episode 200. It’s been four years since I launched this show. Four years and 200 episodes is wild to me.

The fact that people listen to a show I created simply because I wanted to know what opportunities were available to me is wild. And the fact that people still engage; and want to be a guest on the show blows my mind. I’m just a regular chick from the midwest who became a mom super young whose kids are pretty self sufficient; and I’m excited to explore the new opportunities out there for me and spread the word even more.

And I have a short ask: leave us a review. You can do it on any platform - we’re on iTunes, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher and Spotify.

I have one more ask: Send me a message and tell me if any episodes have inspired you and/or you have anyone you think I should interview. If you go to Melissaburkheimer.com there’s a red button that says “Send Melissa a DM” and you can message me on Instagram, LinkedIn or you can email me.

I’ll be sharing more soon about what I’ve been working on in my business; it’s not quite ready yet; or maybe I’m not ready yet (I published this episode - a big to-do off my list!).

Remember to be nice to your younger self and be nice to my friend.

Talk to you soon!

Links mentioned:

Episode 1

Episode 100

Episode 118

Episode 184

Be a Guest on the Show

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Kate Ahl is the owner and founder of Simple Pin Media, a Pinterest management and marketing company. Through their work with over 700 Pinterest accounts, they take a data-driven approach to crafting a Pinterest strategy that aims to help their clients and students find their perfect person on Pinterest. Kate teaches thousands of people about Pinterest marketing through various speaking engagements and her podcast, the Simple Pin Podcast.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Kate’s Journey to Pinterest * I share how Kate and I got connected and how she’s here to talk about how to use Pinterest in your business * Kate tells us that her degree is in political science and always planned on being a teacher but ended up getting married, moving, and having 3 kids right away, so she was at home with her kids * In 2009, right before Kate’s son was born, her husband lost his job suddenly, and they were struggling to make ends meet * During this time, Kate’s friend had just started a frugal coupon deal blog and asked Kate to help with Facebook marketing - Kate loved it, and although she wasn’t making much, it was what she could handle while having little kids at home * A couple of years later, Kate and her family were still struggling, so her same friend suggested she help with affiliate marketing - Her friend taught her WordPress while Kate self-taught herself code * In 2013, her friend suggested managing people’s Pinterest accounts because, at that point, Facebook had turned off all business page reach since they had introduced ads * Bloggers were trying to find a place to get traffic which is when Pinterest popped up on the radar * Kate shares that she thought managing Pinterest accounts sounded like the worst idea because she was sure that no one would pay her to do that * For the rest of 2013, Kate learned everything she could about Pinterest, and in 2014, she bought the domain Simple Pin Media and started with a few beta clients * After 3 months, her clients gave her very positive feedback, so she added a few more clients and then had to decide to make it a legitimate business * Kate decided to throw herself into it and hired a business coach, now 8 years later, Kate has a team of 35 people, and they work with hundreds of clients * Pinterest’s intent has always been to put the pinner first, which they still do, but it has changed from chronological to smart feed, which is dictated by your engagement and ads * How Pinterest is a search and discovery platform that is also merging into a shopping platform * When people go to Pinterest, they aren’t looking for a specific brand or person; they are looking for something to solve their problem or dream and inspire * Kate explains that Pinterest users tend to be cold while Instagram users tend to be warm * Pinterest intends to shorten the time between idea and purchase - Kate says traditionally, it’s about 3 - 6 months * Kate likes Pinterest because the elements you have on other platforms, like having to write certain things or post at specific times, don’t exist on Pinterest

Simple Pin Media + Where to Start With Pinterest * In Kate’s business, they primarily serve clients through their done-for-you services because what they’ve found is when it comes to Pinterest, people don’t understand it; people think they can repurpose content in the same way for different platforms * Some of Kate’s clients feel anxiety around Pinterest because it is pretty picture based, so they give Kate and her team full control * Kate says that some of their clients still want to control the design of their pins, so they will continue to do that portion of it * Some middle-ground clients like using Pinterest but would like some guidance - Kate shares that there is a whole education side of the business for those who want to do it themselves * 8 months into the business, Kate’s daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, and she realized she didn’t have anyone who could keep the business going if something happened, so Kate asked a friend if she could teach her * After Kate hired her friend, she realized she could teach more women who are at home who have little kids to do what she was doing * The strategic choice Kate made was to hire locals, so they could meet together and have a community * Kate figured out that she loves teams; she loves empowering women to recognize their gifts and creativity * The breakdown of leadership and roles within Simple Pin Media and how most of these women have been with Kate for 6 or 7 years * How Kate aligns Pinterest with Google and YouTube - the first step is to search on Pinterest for what you think people are asking and see if people are even talking about what it is you provide * By searching your service or product, it helps you see what’s already out there, what people are searching and asking for surrounding your business * Kate explains that at Simple Pin, they believe pinners go through 3 main stages: inspire, inform and decide * In the inspire stage on Pinterest, people are just asking questions, the people who click on pin images or videos have decided they want to learn more and are the ones that will potentially go to your website, and when they’re on your website, they’re going to decide to either buy something or join your email list * For most marketing professionals, Kate says it’s best to get pinners on your email list so so you can warm them up and nurture them * Once you decide why you’re going to use Pinterest, Kate tells people to commit to it for 6-9 months because Pinterest is a long game * Start by building your profile, then building your boards, then your pin images * When it comes to what you are pinning, Kate says content is number one - think about the questions people ask you in your business and build your pins around that * 2 things you need to knock out of the park whenever it comes to your Pinterest strategy are your keywords and images * Keywords fuel the algorithm on Pinterest by telling Pinterest where to show your content * Kate explains that pinners are readers and investigators, which is why it’s important to start by searching what people are asking around your business so you can craft blog posts answering their questions * Going straight to a sales page never converts, Kate says, because pinners aren’t warmed up to you yet - they’ve tried it on multiple accounts, including their own * The first place to consider keywords is at the search bar because Pinterest has search prediction - they also have another tool called Trends, where you can look up any keyword and see at what time of year it has the highest volume of searches * The second place to consider keywords is your image that displays what it is you’re talking about - it needs to have text on it because Pinterest reads the text on images * Kate loves that Pinterest is not time-based because she could search for something and find a pin someone made 6 months ago * If you aren’t blogging, Kate says you should send them somewhere that they can join your email list * Kate explains that the boards you’ve created are where you’re pinning to, and you should think of them as silos, and each board should have its own title * For example, one board could be titled sales page tactics, and another could be copywriting techniques, so Pinterest will see these silos and know that everything in it is about sales pages and the other one is about copywriting * Kate shares that if you don’t blog, you can still create 10 different images that all lead to one page where they can learn more or join your email list because Pinterest will see these images as new content * Why it’s important to have short, poppy copy that catches people’s attention on Pinterest * You could buy templates for your images if you aren’t a graphic designer or don’t have access to one

B2C Vs. B2B on Pinterest + Top Mistakes * Kate shares that to sell their services, their strategy is to market the pathway to get people to a discovery call or on their email list to warm them up instead of marketing the actual service * When using Pinterest for services, Kate says to think about what people are asking or what you’re hearing on discovery calls that you could take and turn into something you can address on Pinterest * If you have a podcast that you are posting about on Pinterest, and your goal is to get people to sign up for your services, Kate says to put the link to sign up in every post because you want people to take that one action * Kate shares that the difference between B2B and B2C is the traffic; someone in the food or fashion industry is going to see way more traffic than someone in the marketing space * One of the biggest mistakes people make is hearing about how someone in B2C is doing and expecting those same results in B2B * Another mistake Kate shares are that people do not give Pinterest enough time to work; some clients stop working with them after a couple of months because they don’t think it’s working, only to come back 6-9 months later saying they’re getting a bunch of traffic from the things we pinned while working with them * Kate shares that she has a pin from 2017 that still drives monthly traffic * Why you can’t take your square image from Instagram and directly repurpose it for Pinterest * How you need to embrace new features on Pinterest - in 2020, Pinterest introduced idea pins which live forever and are short, storyboard stories like Instagram stories that are about the idea or concept and less about the person * The 4 formats of pins on Pinterest are standard pins, idea pins, video pins, and pin ads * People on Pinterest aren’t there to be entertained, which is why your Instagram reel of you dancing won’t perform well on Pinterest - they are there to be delighted and surprised by your ideas * Kate says you can repurpose your TikTok content on Pinterest as long as you remove the watermark * Pinterest wants to help physical and digital products, which is unique compared to Facebook or Instagram, where you can’t have a shop for digital products * In Kate’s business, they created a new package and way they serve done-for-you clients because they want to take all clients through their accelerator, which goes through 6 key elements for Pinterest marketing success * After clients go through the accelerator, they can decide if they want to go into monthly management or if they want to pass it off to a team member, which is easy to do because they are fully equipped with the strategy to do that * Pinterest ads have been clunky in the past, but Kate assures us they are getting better and what should excite people about them is that you don’t need to have a long runway with your organic strategy - you can set up your profile and dive right into ads * Simple Pin Ad Society, which is Kate's low-cost membership that teaches people and helps troubleshoot * Give yourself enough time to learn Pinterest ads; Kate says about 6-8 weeks to learn and then 4-6 weeks for your Pinterest ads to optimize * If Kate could go back and tell herself one thing, it would be to not worry about getting it right because everyone is trying to figure it out, the online space shifts and changes so much, and not everyone’s method is the same * Connect with Kate on Simple pin media.com or find them at Simple Pin Media on all channels * Kate suggests going to their Pinterest profile to see what they are doing and how they are positioning their B2B content or what they’re doing with idea pins

Links mentioned:

Simple Pin Media

Pinterest Trends

Simple Pin Ad Society

Simple Pin Media on Pinterest

Simple Pin Media on Instagram

Simple Pin Media on Facebook

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Shanice Miller is a business productivity consultant, specializing in project management, who helps clients ranging from small startups to multi-million dollar businesses save hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars. Her passion for identifying and solving inefficiencies began when she sold her first business, an educational consultancy that had been recognized in Forbes and BET, at a less than premium price point because she didn’t have her systems and processes streamlined and documented. Over the last 10 years, Shanice has used her ability to identify operational inefficiencies and create solutions to not only help save her clients’ businesses (and hairlines), but to also fall in love with them again.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Shanice Started Her First Business, but Decided to Sell it After Burning Out * How I met Shanice through a connection from The Podwise Group * How Shanice helps her clients automate their processes, which gives them more time and a higher price point for their sales * How Shanice started off as an educational consultant, but quickly became overworked and overwhelmed because she was doing everything * Instead of closing her business, she decided to list it on an online marketplace, and got an offer * Shanice’s realization of the importance of documenting processes during the selling of her first business (and how she could have earned a larger payout) * After selling her business, Shanice did some soul searching and went back to corporate to work in project management * The advice her mom gave her about your first house being turn-key; and how she could apply that advice to her next business

A Peek at What Her Business, TasklyGroup, Looks Like Today * Why Shanice likes working with a small team * How she saved one design client 20+ hours a week by automating the review process using a project management tool * Why using the tool made it easier for her client to manage and saved her money because she was going to hire a virtual assistant to do it * The way she works with clients, through her VIP Days that show her clients how to break up tasks, put them into a project management tool and how to automate everything * Why she focuses on different departments like marketing, sales, customer onboarding * Mapping out tasks, hiring someone to do them for you, and creating a dashboard so you can see what tasks are in progress, overdue or when someone is stuck * Why she wants her systems to create a calming feeling for her clients when handing over projects + tasks to your team * Why Shanice’s favorite project management system is ClickUp and some of her favorite features that mean you don’t have to use multiple tools * How Shanice works with clients on their systems + preferred project tools, and the workarounds she uses; like creating automations using Zapier * Why Shanice wishes she would’ve done the systems early on; and why she wishes she had a better financial strategy * A peek behind-the-scenes of what the client session looks like * Shanice walks be through creating new client onboarding processes + as I create a new services page for my website * Shanice shares some of her big picture goals for her business, like only working 5-10 hours a week while overseeing tasks

Links mentioned:

https://tasklygroup.com/tdbs

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanicemiller/

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Asha is the CEO of CheerNotes, an inclusive stationery brand that focuses in diverse representation of creatives, designs, and messaging. A creative at heart and engineer by training, Asha seeks to build CheerNotes into a company that not only produces stationery, but also addresses common challenges for consumers and creatives who want to connect authentically. CheerNotes currently curates designs from over 30 artists, creates their own line of cards, and creates custom cards for small and large businesses. You can also find CheerNotes at over 40 retailers across the US and in Marshall's and Winners in multiple provinces in Canada.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

The Unmet Need Asha Saw + Inspiration Behind CheerNotes * How I asked my friend Shannon, who has been on the show before for some diverse guests, and she connected me with Asha, who is here to talk about her diverse stationery brand * In junior high, Asha created her first products; skin and hair products for African Americans - this was the first time she desired to fill unmet needs * Asha had been feeling something missing in the greeting card aisle for a long time, and although she's not a designer, Asha was trying to figure out how she could amplify the work she could find on the internet * CheerNotes started as a curator for diverse designs - Asha would find designers all over the internet and bring them all to one place, making it easier for people to discover them and buy from them * Asha would become a customer of these designers by buying from them wholesale * The inspiration behind CheerNotes happened when someone was trying to buy sobriety anniversary cards for their friend but ended up saying nothing because they couldn’t find a card to help them express themselves * This inspiration made Asha think about other moments and helping people connect, so they started making their cards in collaboration with other communities so they could really understand what people wanted to receive and give * Asha says she struggled with marketing in the beginning because their business caters to a lot of different niches and identities * One of the biggest ways they’ve been able to market is through word-of-mouth and building their community on Instagram * Because Asha is not a designer, she’s been trying to find ways to share her reality on Instagram, which is finding artists and working with artists through her sketches to bring them to live * How Asha’s background has nothing to do with retail or design, yet she’s building a creative company - Asha was a chemical engineer for 7 years * In the future, Asha would like CheerNotes to not only be a gifting mechanism but also be a way for people to find products to help them connect with themselves, like journals * Asha started the company while in her MBA program, and in her first year, she was working on a completely different idea, knowing she wanted to do entrepreneurship but decided it wasn’t a feasible idea * Over the next summer, Asha was thinking about an idea she had worked on in the past on her own time, which was this greeting card company * So often, we think about reaching out to people but never follow all the way through, which is why Asha was not only thinking about diversity but also thinking about convenience * At first, Asha was trying to make a complicated tech-based idea because she felt that for her idea to be good, it needed to be tech-based, which is something she had to get over mentally * Asha started a Shopify site, reached out to different designers, and told them her vision - they ended up starting with 4 designers * Asha ended up taking down the Shopify service; she wanted to know if it was enough for them to just be a curator of diverse cards - was it enough for someone to come to them when they could buy cards anywhere else * CheerNotes started in 2020, and by the end of the year, Asha paused the sign and send service, and they were 100% a curator of diverse and inclusive cards * How Ahsa is a customer of the designers - they buy the cards wholesale, and they hold inventory, which is currently located in Pennsylvania, where Asha is from * Asha just moved out of her parent's basement, where she had been working on the business for the last 2 years - CheerNotes headquarters is still in the basement * How they hold inventory and ship it, whether it’s going to wholesale retailers or going directly to a customer - they do not hold inventory for custom cards because they are made on demand

Finding Diverse Creatives + Tips for Your Wholesale Journey * Faire is a growing wholesale broker that connects small businesses with other small businesses, which makes it a lot easier for other brands or shops to discover them and buy from them * At the time, Asha didn’t know that designers had their products in multiple online shops - Asha believed that the designers wouldn’t want her to take away from their possible sales * After the summer of 2020, Faire, along with other greeting card entities, had a lot of initiatives to help black-owned brands get into wholesale, so there was an explosion of black-owned brands on Faire, which made it easy for Asha to discover brands to have on the site * How Asha has a wide variety of people that she buys from, mainly from Faire because that’s where almost all her suppliers are * Asha says she pays a lot of attention to different hashtags that are related to the people they are trying to help serve or feel unseen in the greeting card aisle * If people are interested in having Asha buy their cards wholesale, they can email her at asha@cheernotes.com - introduce yourself and share your work and get on Asha’s list so you know when they’ll be buying again * Asha explains they only buy at certain times because they are trying to get website volume up and because she wants to be a good customer who’s able to make repeat orders * We discuss the different categories and communities on CheerNotes.com: African American, Hispanic, South Asian, LGBTQ+, pet lovers, pop culture, sobriety, wellness, self-care, etc. * If Asha designs one of the cards, she explains that it might be more text-based than illustrated, and for all the other cards, she does creative direction where she sketches or makes a creative brief, then explains what she wants so the designers can help bring it to life * How Asha created a creative direction process because she wanted her line of cards to be more cohesive and recognizable even though she has multiple artists * Asha uses Canva to do a mock layout of the card structure; the designers take that, make a sketch, then do a review, and it goes into the final design stage * The custom cards offer came about when Asha was in school, but due to covid, they couldn't come back to campus, so the school reached out and asked if they could make a card to send out to students and remind them of the community they’re apart of * Custom cards are one of the main ways that they can keep funding the business * How Asha has been able to work with Target for a few projects in their accelerator program * If someone is interested in a custom card order, they can email Asha at asha@cheernotes.com, but they also have an area on their website for custom cards as well * To clarify, Asha’s work with Target was for custom cards; they aren’t on shelves - Target doesn’t usually take on card brands because they have a relationship with one of the major brands * When it came to Marshalls, someone from their team reached out to Asha after discovering CheerNotes on Instagram and checking out their site and wanted to know more about the company * The relationship between CheerNotes and Marshalls seems to be atypical where the retailer is buying the goods upfront - you don’t always have the opportunity for a large retailer to buy upfront and promise not to return everything * CheerNotes' biggest wholesale presence is with smaller shops around the country - Asha believes the best place to start a wholesale journey is in your backyard * The first place Asha pitched was a coffee shop/bookstore in her hometown; the second place Asha pitched was a coffee shop/bookstore she came across while traveling in New Orleans - she congratulated them on opening by sending samples of the cards, which went over very well * Asha says a good place to start when creating an inclusive brand is by intentionally seeking out diverse creatives outside of campaigns because often, these creatives are only sought out when a certain month or celebration comes around when they should be sought out all year round * Diverse designers create work that appeals to everyone, which Asha has realized in her own business - when you purchase a card, you might not identify the same as the designer(s) who created it * In terms of what’s next for CheerNotes, Asha wants to focus on expanding what they offer - Asha would like to offer more items that people can find for personal use * Asha always envisioned CheerNotes being a connection company, not a holiday company, so it’s important for Asha to create connections with others but also with the designers that they find and to have self-connection * They have found that small and medium-sized businesses are attracted to the custom work CheerNotes has and like the ability to offer something to their clients that is personal * Connect with Asha on Instagram, get on their email list through their website because they are working on more ways to give tips and learn more about the creatives they work with, or reach out to Asha through email at asha@cheernotes.com

Links mentioned:

CheerNotes Website

Connect with Asha on Instagram

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What also contributes to Jessica’s ability to do websites quickly is having a good niche and a very specific package outline - that’s not to say she can’t customize a package if a client needs more than 8 pages
Jessica shares that she does service-based websites and typically doesn’t do membership or e-commerce websites
The two platforms Jessica builds websites out of are WordPress and Squarespace
Jessica does not call herself a developer, but she does know enough code to customize a few small things and has developers she reaches out to when she needs help
For websites, Jessica takes care of the hosting setup, design, SEO, and connects any special plug-ins the client needs but does not do copy
Sometimes clients write their copy, have a copywriter they know, or Jessica has a couple of different copywriters she partners with

Tips For Maintaining Your Website + Automating Your Processes * The number one tip Jessica has for maintaining your website is keeping up with plug-in updates - it’s the biggest thing people forget about * Jessica explains website plug-ins are like apps on our phones - sometimes the plug-in updates are the developers realizing there was a security issue, or if there’s a WordPress update, they’re making sure the plug-in works with the newest version, which is why you need to keep it up to date * Another thing people forget to do is update their websites when dates for events or deadlines change, or they no longer offer a certain service, which is frustrating to your clients - you want to make it as easy as possible for people to buy from you * Jessica says you should do plug-in updates ideally once a week, at the minimum every month, and once a quarter click through your website and make sure everything is still displaying correctly * One thing Jessica likes to tell people is the client experience starts on your website before people even inquire or start working with you * Jessica's not sure how she’s able to do everything like her YouTube channel, blog, podcast, etc., but she utilizes good work boundaries so she can * Jessica says one reason she’s able to do so many things is because of her client onboarding process; she’s always used a CRM - right now, she uses HoneyBook, which automates the onboarding process * It’s helpful for Jessica to have some educational pieces automated because she doesn’t have to go back and forth so much with clients at the beginning of the process * How Jessica’s onboarding and automation process has changed many times over the years * As a side hobby, Jessica has 2 Etsy Shops that are automated, where she designs and sells t-shirts; she uses Printify and connects it to Etsy, so after she designs a shirt and uploads it to Etsy, Printify does the printing and shipping * Jessica explains why she uses HoneyBook in her business and the different capabilities it has, like creating email templates and sending them out according to your workflow * Know that you don’t have to choose the tools that everyone else is using or talking about - there are so many different options, and it all comes down to what is going to work best for your business * Content marketing is the number one way Jessica gets clients because she’s found that her educational content helps build trust and credibility * Jessica has a blog, a YouTube channel, and a podcast but says those 3 things are really the same because her YouTube video gets re-purposed as audio on her podcast, and then both of those plus the transcript are added to her blog * Jessica's main social media platform is InstagraJessica Freeman is an Atlanta-based, award-winning web designer who has been in business for ten years. Jess helps nutrition and fitness business owners build authority and get more clients through their websites and online presence. When she’s not working with clients, you can find her teaching on her YouTube channel and podcast.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Jessica Started In Design + Her Strategy * Jessica knew she wanted to be a designer at 15 years old, which is what she went to college for - during college, she started doing freelance design for her friends that were in various student activities * Right out of college, Jessica was able to get a couple of design jobs, and two years after she graduated, she took her business, Jess Creatives, full-time * When Jessica first started, she would do a lot of one-off projects and says that one of her first clients after college was a guy who had her design the side of box trucks * One of the joys about having your own business is being able to change it when you change your mind or as you grow * Jessica’s strategy has always been about empowering her clients to do what is best for them and teaching them how to manage and update their websites * How Jessica does a lot of education through her website and social media but also one-on-one with clients - she knows her clients appreciate that about her because they can come back to her for updates, but they also know how to do them themselves * The first website Jessica worked on from start to finish was for one of her long-term clients - she says it was a good learning experience and that she believes she only charged 500 dollars for that project * Over the years, Jessica has had many different packages and says she changes her packages based on the market, what people what, and what they’re interested in * Jessica says she typically just handles the website, but if people want to add on branding or anything extra, she can do that as well; it just doesn’t happen very often * When changing her packages, Jessica pays attention to those who didn’t end up booking with her to see if there’s something she isn’t offering that they want * A couple of years ago, Jessica started doing websites in one or two days as an offer but has recently decided to stop doing this because she needs more flexibility in her schedule because of her daughter * Before Jessica started doing websites in one or two days, she had a two-week timeline for websites, which is what she is going back to * Jessica’s two-week timeline is typically for an 8-page website, including SEO. * Part of what makes it so easy for Jessica to do websites so quickly is her clear processes, doing education with clients, and not having to wait long for content or feedback from clients * m, where she does a lot of educational content, along with YouTube, on ways to use your website, best practices, quick tips, client experience, etc. * What’s working well for Jessica on Instagram: Carousel posts, breakdown of SEO strategy pieces, and posting different ideas like what fonts to use or how to apply your color palette * Instagram Reels do pretty well, but Jessica explains that she gets a lot of random likes from people, which is cool because it reaches so many people but doesn’t really get her in front of the people she wants to be * Jessica thinks there are so many ways people could productize their services to create other opportunities in their businesses, like creating customizable templates or offering a VIP day * I explain how I can’t design a sales page in a day, but I can get with a sales page client and map out their launch strategy in two half days - what works for us might not work for you, and that’s okay because you should offer your packages and services in a way that works well for you * Connect with Jessica on Instagram and check out her website

Links mentioned:

Jess Creatives Website

Connect with Jessica on Instagram

Connect with Jessica on YouTube

Jess Creatives Content Library - Blog + Podcast

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Meet Renée Serrant-Layne, an online marketing and launch strategist, marketing systems expert, and avid track and field fan. Armed with her FCE Framework, Renée works with online entrepreneurs to design and build their custom marketing ecosystems that take care of their audience on their entire journey to a purchase. And to do so in a way that feels fun, fulfilling, and aligned with the way they want to show up, serve and sell to their audience. Renée is able to break down the marketing process into easy-to-follow steps, through her signature foundation, communication, and expansion process. Renée has proven through her work with clients that having a profitable business doesn’t mean that you have to lose that personal touch or spend hours of your life doing activities that frustrate you and steal your joy.

With 10 years of business development and online marketing experience, Renée brings a wealth of knowledge to the table for her clients, spanning social media strategy, funnel design, and marketing tech, as well as development of multiple income streams.

Renée has been part of numerous marketing tech and business development panels, including the RAW Summit, the Innovate Barbados International conference, and many others. Renée's signature direct yet approachable style always makes clients feel understood and appreciated. Clients love Renée because of her thoroughness, responsiveness, sincere desire to see their businesses succeed, and unshakeable commitment to helping experts show up, market, and sell their products and services through genuine connections with their audience

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Renée Got Started With Funnels + Showing Up Best * How Renée and I met through Sage Polaris, who recommended Renée to be on the podcast * Renée shares that she was working as a hairdresser in Barbados when she had her son but wanted a better way to leverage her skills and create a more flexible lifestyle, which is how she stumbled into consulting and the online space * When Renée first started, she had a mentor who was from Barbados that had created a virtual agency, which showed Renée what could be possible for her * To start, Renée was a general administration virtual assistant but quickly realized that wasn’t what she wanted to do * A client asked Renée about using the Katra platform to build funnels and systems - after tinkering around with it, Renée found it very fun, which is how she got started with funnels and became familiar with automation * Because Renée is a strategic thinker, she wasn’t just happy setting up automation and doing design, so strategy became a big part of what she did and still does * Renée believes being able to see the bigger picture and piecing smaller things together is an important skill to have when it comes to funnels because it takes a lot of little things to create your outcome * The first project Renée worked on was one where she had to design and set up a lead magnet - it was a downloadable PDF where she designed the page, set up the automation, and created a nurture sequence * In Renée’s business, they focus on offering design, tech set-up, and copywriting for funnels * Renée says it’s important to know yourself and your brand so you can weave it into everything you do - it’s not just about your brand colors; it’s about the entire look and feel of a page, the language you use inside email sequences and the type of lead magnets you use to get people to join your email list or buy from you * For example, If you are more of a writer and are good at using language to get people in your funnels, you’re probably not going to use a lot of videos or a podcast; you might use blog posts instead because writing is the best medium for you to communicate your value to your audience * When it comes to funnels, Renée says it’s not about what the latest tools are or what’s trending; it’s about thinking about who you are, what your brand stands for, how you feel most comfortable, and what the most effective way is for you to show up and communicate with your audience

Client Sucess Story + Funnel Strategy * Renée shares the story of a client who wanted a funnel built and explains that the best way this client shows up is through speaking engagements, so at the end of the client's speaking sessions, she had a specific call to action which resulted in the client having an 80% email open rate, a 45% - 60% open rate for her nurture sequence and making over $100,000 on this one offer * Renée’s bread crumb sequence that they integrate into pretty much all nurture sequences is a way to drop information in bits to keep people engaged and wanting more until they get to the main offer * How mapping out the funnels is one of Renée’s favorite parts of the process because people don’t understand how strategic you have to be when creating a funnel - it's the whole process of someone learning about you to guiding them to buy your product or service * Renée finds that most people take the standard blueprint when it comes to funnels and apply it to their business without thinking about if it’s in alignment with how they want to run their business or how they want to show up to communicate and sell * We are too ridged in the way we think about getting someone into our space and onto our email list - we need to realize there are so many different ways to get someone into your funnel * Some things that are trending and working well, Renée says, are audio summits and podcasts * Webinars are not dead, but Renée says they are very dependent on the type of business you have, your business model, and who your audience is - the content of your webinar is very important and needs to be strategic * Renée uses her Facebook group and her personal Facebook page to market for her business but says referral partnerships have been the biggest driver for her business * In the last few years, Renée has learned that being able to pivot is essential to businesses because the market is everchanging, so you have to pivot to best serve or communicate with your audience * Another thing Renée has learned about herself is that she prefers relationships - she thinks it’s very important to focus on developing relationships because not everyone will become a client, but they could become a referral partner or ambassador for your brand * Focus on connecting with people, being genuine, and authentic with people instead of just selling, selling, selling * Also, know that it’s okay to do things differently than other people - you can take their advice and decide not to use it or adjust it and do it your own way - Renée shares that her approach to funnels has changed significantly over the last four years * Renée thinks we need to be way more strategic when it comes to funnels because we have approached funnels in an incorrect way for so long * The intensive Renée did that changed her approach - she says you need to be more focused on the quality of clients you attract at the top of your funnel and then filter people out based on whether they are ready to work with you or not ready to work with you right now * What we tend to do is market to everybody and get anyone we can in our funnel, but what that does is dilutes the quality of clients because it’s not speaking to a specific person who needs your information * How you should focus on attracting a very specific person that you know has been thinking about that problem at that particular point in time and then filter (instead of funneling) them into two segments - those who are ready to pay and looking for a solution and those who still need more information * When you address your funnels with Renée’s mindset, you will see that your buy-in time is shorter and your sales sequence is shorter because you’ve filtered people at the beginning vs. the end * If you’re funneling, it can feel forced or pressure-focused, but filtering will help you have a much easier time developing and mapping out your funnels and presenting information in alignment with where the person is at in terms of the buyer's journey * Connect with Renée on Facebook, join her Simple, Sustainable Marketing Facebook Group or visit her website to learn more

Links mentioned:

Connect with Renée on Facebook

Simple, Sustainable Marketing Facebook Group

Renée-Nichole Website

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Jessica Kupferman is the co-host and co-founder of the She Podcasts brand, which currently supports over 21,000 female podcasters and has a digital marketing reach of over 55,000 content creators. Her sweet spot is helping podcasters set up systems for growth and training them on how to obtain sponsorship. She also is an internet “Bat Girl” with an odd amount of experience in way too many software services.

When she's not planning the next She Podcasts LIVE, you can find her offering education to independent podcasters on marketing, growth, and sponsorship.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Why + How Jessica Started a Podcast * How Jessica and I met in 2012 when we were both in Elizabeth DiAlto’s coaching group and how I’ve been on Jessica’s podcast, Lady Business Radio * Jessica explains that she is formally trained in marketing and sales but fell into podcasting - Jessica does more of the marketing and branding, whereas Elsie, her partner, does more of the voices and audio technology * Before starting a podcast, Jessica was a social media and website designer but started a podcast because that wasn’t going as fast as she would have liked * I talk about how Lady Business Radio was a big inspiration for my show * Jessica felt that a lot of other talk shows were men interviewing men, which annoyed her - so she thought about all the fascinating women she knew and decided she’d interview them and get into more than just their rise to the top story * The reason Jessica stopped Lady Business Radio was because she got pregnant, and by then, Jessica was also doing She Podcasts Podcast; when she came back from maternity leave, the Lady Business group she had created was stagnant, but the She Podcasts group was bursting which is why she dove hard into that business * When Jessica started Lady Business Radio, she was a blogger and would write emails to her list, but never really had comments on her blog posts or emails, but when Jessica started the podcast, she shared that suddenly she had feedback, mentions, comments, etc. from an audience that she had never met * Jessica believes that having a podcast gives people an insight into you that they would not normally get, which elevates the relationship between you and your audience * People say the market is saturated with podcasts, but there’s only one person that sounds like you with your experience and knowledge * Lady Business Radio was a way for Jessica to build her business, and she used the platform to do that * I love that Jessica asked the questions everyone is wondering on her show * When Jessica was a designer and coach, she had to maintain two brands because the She Podcasts had to be a brand, and Jessica Kupferman was a separate brand * Jessica shares that she rebranded her personal brand 6 times but says now she focuses mostly on the She Podcasts brand because that’s how she makes money and because the two brands are honestly tied together in many ways

Starting a Business From a Podcast + She Podcasts LIVE * How Jessica enjoys the clientele of podcasters more and that they were asking her for things like a directory, a membership, or a conference - so they delivered by turning She Podcasts into a business and conference * Jessica has changed the look of the She Podcasts site multiple times because she believes you can change your logo colors, put your logo on top of any pattern, and it will still be recognizable * As long as you keep the font and logo the same, you can change out the design elements - Jessica says it’s like changing clothes on your brand * Elsie and Jessica have tried many ways to make money over the years, but in 2019, the conference made them the most money - due to the pandemic, they created a virtual membership because they wanted to support women podcasters but also still make money * The hotel they had booked for their conference told them they had to do their conference by the end of 2021, which didn’t really create revenue because they had to hire and pay so many people to help * This year, the conference and membership are making revenue, but Jessica says it has been tricky because of the pandemic * Right now, Jessica says they are making money through sponsorships for their conference, podcast, social media, and membership - Jessica shares the other sources of revenue they are considering * Elsie is who helped Jessica start the podcast - Elsie reached out about doing a show with Jessica, and within 3 days, they had a brand, website, and logo * How Elsie has a full-time job working as the community manager for Libsyn, a podcast hosting company * When it comes to the business, Elsie helps with the content, membership, Facebook group, answers questions; and Jessica says Elsie is the one with the podcast skills and is the people’s person * Elsie works her full-time job and helps with the business on the side - Jessica has another employee, Melissa, who is an operational manager * The She Podcasts Conference is October 11 - 14 in Washington, D.C. - find out more at shepodcastslive.com * Going forward, Jessica says she is going to focus on selling as many tickets as possible, and then after the conference is over, they will look for another hotel for their next conference and figure out their next project, which might be a directory or network of podcasts * Jessica shares that she finds the process of coaching and being coached difficult but enjoys being a content creator and marketer * By going to conferences, saying yes to interviews, and coaching people, Jessica has been able to build her reputation and relationships with big companies and other podcasters in the industry * I share that I don’t necessarily want to leave the online space, but I do want to work on more mainstream projects and campaigns * If we want to stay as experts in the digital space, Jessica says we need to figure out the Web3 and metaverse, so we can learn it for ourselves to then help others when they ask * How deciding what you want to do is hard - it’s okay to change what you do or rework it, so it supports what you want to do moving forward * Part of the reason Jessica stopped doing Lady Business Radio is that it turned into her asking people she admired to be on the show to other people asking her to be on the show, which made Jessica feel like she had to decide who was worthy of being on the show * I realized after years of saying I’m not good at branding that I am - I share that if I’m going to be interviewed on a podcast, I want to talk about building a brand that’s specific to the products and services you build because that’s what I’m obsessed with * Jessica wants you to know that your business is your design - if something is not fun anymore, you stop, but if you miss the money, you restart and do it in a way that’s easier for you or less soul-sucking * If you want to start a podcast, the best place to go is shepodcastlive.com - the speakers at the conference are all podcasters; it’s inspirational, educational, supportive, and fun * How being in the same room with people who are doing the same thing as you helps you feel like you’re a part of something and reassures you of what you’re building

Links mentioned:

She Podcasts

She Podcasts LIVE

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Paty Ventura is a creative mind with a business brain. She believes in helping businesses conquer their market, launching successful branding, websites & marketing campaigns through her DiamondBase platform.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Paty’s Creative Journey * How I found Paty on Twitter through Ari Hale, a guest on Episode 186 of The Design Business Show who shared her episode on Twitter * Paty shares that she has always been creative and fell in love with the creative industry as a profession when her parents bought her a camera at 15 years old * Through photography, Paty self-taught herself Photoshop and editing and found graphic design - she knew at 16 that she wanted to be a graphic designer * Paty went to school for design and received a bachelor's degree in front-end design and visual development * How Paty still does photography today and incorporates it into everything she does * When Paty started doing freelance, she would take on photography and design projects but soon realized she was acting as a mini agency and started taking herself more seriously as a business owner * What sets Paty apart from other creatives is she tries to set her clients up the right way through her DiamondBase methodology * Paty shares that her 4 types of services are websites, branding, marketing, and photography campaigns * Last month, Paty hired her first official team member that helps her with copywriting, digital marketing, design, etc.; and says she is considering hiring another person because she realized she needs more help * Paty shares that she has been in business on and off for 7 years * The primary projects Paty works on are web design projects - anything from e-commerce sites to fully custom solution sites * Typically, the clients Paty works with are luxury/minority-owned, and she says at the start, she thought she could work with everyone, but through her rebrand realized that she does have a niche

How Paty Uses Social Media + Her Mission * Patty shares some of the wonderful luxury/minority-owned brands she works with * Through using Twitter threads, Paty saw her business skyrocket and has been able to connect with her ideal clients and get the projects she wanted * Patty says that people don’t take advantage of Pinterest enough, especially those in the creative space - she shares that a pin she uploaded to Pinterest 2 years ago is still driving traffic to her website * What works for Paty is repurposing content on Pinterest in Twitter in different ways * When Paty works with clients, she gives them presentation-worthy deliverables, which she will resize and put on Pinterest - Paty says she’s able to create 10 - 20 pieces of content on Pinterest that link back to her website from one client project * For Twitter, Patty uses the questions she gets from clients, and after answering them personally, she talks about the topic in-depth on a Twitter thread * Paty felt that her brand was all over the place, which is why she did a rebrand recently to nail down what she’s doing and who she is * On Patty’s social media platforms, she has been talking about what makes her, her, which has to do a lot with her Mexican culture - In her new brand, she incorporates the beauty of Mexico that she sees and wishes others would see * Paty’s brand is on a mission to redefine Mexican elegance * By revisiting Ari’s Allergic to Hourly program, Paty realized she needed to restructure her business because she had outgrown it - feeling burnt out, that doesn’t mean you’re a bad business owner; you just need to restructure your business and shift your strategy * Paty realized she was never going to be able to grow her business if she was doing everything herself, 16 hours a day which is when she decided to get serious about hiring * Before, Patty saw hiring someone as a burden, but once she got out of that mindset and thought about where she wanted her business to go, she realized she needed a team * Paty is building her business, Casa Ventura, to have a world-class reputation as the go-to creative studio for luxury, minority-owner brands, and products * Paty is passionate about helping luxury minority brands and celebrates their wins because they deserve to be on the top shelf, next to CHANEL and DIOR she says * While growing her brand in the future, Paty will focus on helping minorities and redefining the elegance of Mexican culture * Connect with Paty on Twitter, Instagram, or her website

Links mentioned:

Connect with Paty on Twitter

Connect with Paty on Instagram

Casa Ventura Website

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Illiah (ill•e•ahh) is a brand designer to visionary business owners, mentor to ambitious graphic designers, and mom to two gorgeous muses, C&V. Her business exists to help entrepreneurs find + use their voice through their visuals so they can clearly + effortlessly communicate their own big mission — and do it with more elegance + style than her closet currently holds, which is saying something! 💃🏻

Through her signature offers, Creative Director on Demand and Your Revolutionary Rebrand, she closely collaborates with entrepreneurs from Baltimore to Amsterdam to create timeless brand identities, scroll-stopping social media graphics, and drool-worthy workbooks, which means she knows a thing or two about creating a consistent brand across any medium. There’s only one thing she won’t design: websites. Ask her why!

Alongside that, she mentors graphic designers on 🔥 to advance their online business skills, hone their design expertise, and reach their growth goals faster. In 2019, she was a Rising Tide Society and Honeybook “20 on the Rise” winner.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

The Timeline of Brand Evolution * How we first met Illiah on Episode 40 of The Design Business Show in 2019 * We chat about the evolution of Illiah’s brand - she believes in brand evolution because branding isn’t done when you receive your perfectly polished logo; it continues * Illiah explains that in 2019 she was dedicated to being a brand designer but started to hear her clients say they didn’t know what to do with everything she gave them * Clients would want to hire Illiah to help them with everything, which led to her retainer service, and while doing that, she realized branding is not a complete, perfect thing you can check off your list; it continues * Illiah’s retainer clients are now her Creative Director on Demand clients, where they continue building their brand over a long period, so when new opportunities present themselves in their business, they always have a designer on hand * The timeline of brand evolution - Illiah says when you first start, you have a bare minimum brand, and as you experiment and explore, you move into the discovery phase; as your brand progresses, you become an industry leader, and from there, you become universally recognized * Why Illiah doesn’t design websites is because she believes in focusing on what you’re really good at - she doesn’t want to be good at designing websites; the technology moves way too fast for her liking * Illiah went to school for design in the early 2000s when web technology was brand new, so she also does not have a background in websites because it wasn’t taught in her curriculum * I like how Illiah positions rebranding as an evolution because there is so much pressure for businesses and brands to be perfectly polished when they might not have the budget or capacity for that * Illiah’s presentation slides on, Why a Perfectly Polished Brand is a Waste of Time (for now) - Illiah believes that a brand is always evolving * A bare minimum brand is super new to the business, it’s scrappy, and it’s when you’re exploring who you are as a brand - Illiah says she believes there is no need to design here because your brand is so much more than just your logo * The next stage is the discovery phase where you’ve been in business for a couple of years, you know who your clients are and what you want to offer, but you’re still discovering who your brand is - this is where you can invest in design, with an understanding that it will evolve in the future * An industry-leading brand has grown more established, and you’re more clear on who you are, who your clients are, and your offers are set - at this point, most industry-leading brands will have invested in full, professional branding * Illiah says to think about Starbucks when you think of a universal known brand - they’ve invested in multi-layer branding, and they have the understanding that they will continue to refine it as their audience and offerings grow * Another point Illiah would like to make is even when you’re at the end of this timeline with a beautiful, polished brand, that doesn’t mean the work or your investment ends; it should continue * Illiah walks through the evolution of Starbucks, and why we all feel good about the brand experience they provide to us as customers * In a bare minimum stage, Illiah says business cards, an easy-to-update website template, and choosing 1-2 of your favorite social media platforms to be on are great starting points * When you’re in the discovery brand stage, Illiah recommends a professional brand identity, revisiting your website, and says you can add in more layers like email marketing, opt-ins, and lead magnets * At the industry leader stage, Illiah suggests community graphics if you have a community, course materials if you have a course, having a stronger focus on social media, webinar slide templates, different deliverables, etc. * Illiah shares the story of a client who has been with her since 2012 and walks us through his brand evolution - she shares that they’ve gone through their businesses together and that it has been interesting because she’s been able to witness each stage in the brand evolution timeline

Illiah’s Mentorship Program * When Illiah sells her Creative Director on Demand service to people who have never met her, she tells them she is their creative and strategic partner * Illiah explains the mentorship program she is experimenting with for young designers because she’s always felt there needed to be a bridge between whatever education you have as a designer to becoming a business owner or professional * In school, you may think you’re just becoming an artist, but the strategy is such a big piece of design which is something Illiah shares she didn’t learn in school but through experience, which is why she created Elevate & Cultivate, which is a big community now but doesn’t serve the exact purpose * The design mentorship Illiah is experimenting with was brought to life because while at a retreat, another designer mentioned having an apprentice, so they partnered together, and when they got back home, they spent 4 hours on a call outlining the entire program and application * Fast forward a couple of months, Illiah reconnected with a designer she had helped at the retreat, and now Illiah has an amazing apprentice - Illiah’s goal for her apprentice is to harness her creativity, business skills and get the freedom and flexibility we all want as design owners * Illiah explains that the mentorship is a 7-step program where steps 4-7 are dedicated to coaching * Honeybook and Rising Tide Society hosted a community recognition program called “20 on the Rise” - someone nominated Illiah, and she won after filling out a questionnaire, sending over what she was currently working on, and sharing her future plans * The biggest thing Illiah has learned over the last few years of her brand evolution is that her brand will never be perfect and that she should accept it for what it is today and know tomorrow, it will grow, change and evolve * Illiah shares some brands that she currently loves, which include, Making Good with Lauren Tilden and her sister’s lash studio, Miami Volume, Nicole Yang Design, and more * I share people I admire in the online space like Jordan Gill, Ari Hale, my mentor, Erika Lyremark, and bigger brands I love right now are OUAI, which I believe is doing a lot of revolutionary marketing, and The Kardashians from a business sense * When you feel that it’s time for a change, you have to follow that and take baby steps to achieve what you want, which is what I’ve had to do recently * To find out more, connect with Illiah on Instagram and check out the C&V Creative Website

Links mentioned:

Episode 40 of The Design Business Show with Illiah Manger

Creative Director on Demand

Your Revolutionary Rebrand

Why a Perfectly Polished Brand is a Waste of Time (for now)

Elevate & Cultivate

Connect with Illiah on Instagram

C&V Creative Website

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Adam Pearce is the co-founder and CEO of Blend Commerce, the eCommerce Customer Experience Agency. Adam and his team have worked with over 200 Shopify retailers to help them provide memorable customer experiences that drive growth in revenue and profit.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Adam’s Start With Shopify * I share how Adam and I met and that he’s on the show to talk about designing sign-up experiences that sell and add value to customers and brands * Adam shares what he thought life would be like after college and the different types of jobs he had * While working for an education app company, Adam’s brother-in-law approached him about a new Canadian app called Shopify that he was going to start developing on * Because Adam had experience marketing for app companies, his brother-in-law thought maybe they could do something together * Adam admits that he didn’t think Shopify would work out but has never been happier to be wrong * 5 years ago, Adam, his business partner, and his brother-in-law started an agency that started doing eCommerce sites for small companies * The importance of customer experience has been amplified, and companies realize that it will drive profit for them * Adam talks about moving from consulting to teaching and says after a few years of teaching; he realized how difficult it was * Adam shares that running a company is easier than teaching was and what you should think about when deciding to switch careers or companies * The beginning of their agency was crazy, and they realized they needed to niche down * How Shopify was a completely different company from when they started to what it is now - as Shopify has changed, they’ve had to adapt * When looking at eCommerce sites, Shopify is only 2nd to Amazon * The initial challenge of the agency Adam shares was picking a niche that was going to be enjoyable and is something that the market and industry wanted * A typical client profile for their agency would be someone who has been doing business for 2-3 years, 3 million dollars a year in revenue, and uses Shopify as their main channel for driving revenue. * A few years ago, Shopify was about getting someone to make an initial purchase – now, it’s more about the customer and thinking about how we can get them to come back

Tracking Customer Lifetime Value + Creating a Unique Customer Experience * For Adam, the concept of just having a website to sell is going away because so many different social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook offer eCommerce for customers to purchase on their app * Business owners and companies need to know that consumers will want to interact and buy from you on multiple different channels, in multiple different ways – so only having one way for consumers to buy isn’t ideal * When clients come to Adam with a problem, he first looks at the data to identify if that is the true problem they are having or if it’s actually something else * Adam and his team focus on CLV (Customer Lifetime Value) and look at metrics like average revenue per customer, average order value, and doing calculations to determine the real CLV and the projected CLV * Instead of just looking at conversion rates, you need to consider how profitable each customer for your company is based on what they’re going to buy, how much it costs to provide what they’re going to buy, and how much it costs to acquire them * When it comes to a good conversion rate, Adam says it depends on the industry, product, and quality – he gives an example of two clients who sell similar products but have very different conversion rates because they have different price points and target demographics * Some companies offer industry data and benchmark tracking reports like Klaviyo, which gives you a better idea of what your conversion rate should be so you can change things in your business if needed * Adam feels most agencies do not do a great job with customer experience because everyone involved, the designer, copywriter, developer, etc., are working for themselves and not together for the user to create an excellent customer experience * I love that Adam focuses on the customer experience because I feel another thing that has been lost is the onboarding and offboarding processes * When you get a client committed to a contract or get paid at a physical store, Adam explains that as business owners, that’s a winning point, but for the customer, that winning point hasn’t started yet – your job is to make them feel great about their purchase

Blend Commerce Offerings + New Ecommerce Trends/Apps * Adam explains the 2 ways clients work with their agency 1) through their Customer Value Optimization Program and 2) on their email marketing through Klaviyo * What’s different about their agency Adam says, is that they understand at times, you will need to dip more into the design side or the marketing side than others * Before a customer even comes across your brand until they make their last purchase – they look at all the interaction points that aren’t great for your brand so far or don’t exist so they can increase the customer lifetime value * Adam shares that they have been partnered with Klaviyo for the last 4 ½ years – and when they work with clients in that capacity, they look at where money is being left on the table through their email marketing and help clients increase revenue * The agency focuses on website design, development, and Klaviyo email marketing – Adam says when it comes to social media, paid, or SEO, they have a couple of partner agencies who they refer their clients to * What has been working for eCommerce product and service brands is using onsite quizzes – Adam gives a client example where they have a button on their site that people can click if they aren’t sure where to start, and it walks them through a couple of questions and asks them about their taste to better recommend products and create a personalized experience * Adam says that quizzes have good conversion rates, but even if a person doesn’t convert from your onsite quiz, you have now captured a lot of information about that person – all that data can be used in Klaviyo for your email marketing to personalize responses * If you search for eCommerce quizzes, you will be flooded with information because it does work as a sign-up and conversion tool * In Adam's opinion, pop-ups that still work are ones for products with low average pay for the brand, but because everyone uses pop-ups in the same places, it can be overwhelming to consumers if they are jumping from brand to brand * When you’re offering pop-ups for large discounts, you have to ask yourself if that is attracting customers that will keep coming back – Adam suggests being smarter with pop-ups by asking one simple question instead and gives an example of how this would benefit you as a brand * Adam says when they ask questions in their pop-ups, they like to build anticipation and then ask for the consumer's email at the end to share their results * If Adam could go back 5 years ago, he would tell himself not to judge a book by its cover and what he means by that is, as an agency, they used to judge the way a potential client approached them and their initial site – but you can never know how good or bad a business is without talking to the business owner * Adam shares some apps that are unique and work well from a customer experience point of view – one is VideoEyes which crawls YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc. for videos that mention your products that you might not know about and bring them back to your Shopify store – it also allows you to grab any video you’ve made and create a call to action so people can buy and checkout from the video * Another app Adam recommends is Penny Black which allows you to personalize your packaging based on data from a customer * To learn more about Adam's agency, you can go to the Blend Commerce Website, and you can connect with Adam on LinkedIn

Links mentioned:

Blend Commerce

Shopify

Klaviyo

Penny Black

Connect with Adam on LinkedIn

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Kris Ward is creating a movement where your business supports your life instead of consuming it. Kris is the founder of the Win The Hour, Win the Day philosophy.

After the loss of her husband, Kris returned full-time to her work as a marketing strategist. She was relieved that her business had not only survived her absence but was growing. Now, Kris has completely changed the landscape for entrepreneurs by sharing the successful practices that allowed her absence.

Kris has shared the stage with Jack Canfield - Chicken Soup For The Soul, Kevin Harrington original Shark from Shark Tank, James Malinchak -ABC’s Secret Millionaire, Sharon Lechter - Rich Dad Poor Dad Co Author and

Joe Theismann - NFL All star and commentator to name a few. Kris has also featured on award winning podcasts, radio and TV shows.

Kris is an acclaimed podcaster. You can hear Kris on her own podcast - Win The Hour, Win The Day, where she has engaging conversations with dynamic guests covering a variety of business topics so you can get to your next win now!

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Win The Hour, Win The Day + Creating Systems * I share that Kris and I connected because she had sent me a pitch - I was impressed with her pitch and could relate to her story, which is why I was excited to have her on the podcast * Kris shares that when she first started her business, 12+ years ago, she was working crazy hours the first 2 years * By the end of her first 2 years, Kris was told that she was losing her charm, so she went from working 16 hours a day to 6 hours a day - which didn’t happen overnight * A couple of years later, Kris’s husband was diagnosed with colon cancer, which resulted in her taking a step back for a couple of years * When Kris returned to the business after her husband’s passing, her existing clients had no idea of her absence * Clients started to approach Kris about helping them with time management, productivity, team building, etc. because they didn’t notice her absence; they thought she could help them step back a little to free up their time from their business as well * Kris believes that your business should support your life, not consume it, and is passionate about helping other entrepreneurs achieve that * Kris realized that many entrepreneurs looked good on paper but were working way more hours than people thought they would be in their small business journey, so she had to reach those people, which is why she wrote her book, Win The Hour, Win The Day * 20% of Kris’s work is still marketing strategy, and the other 80% is her passion for creating a movement where your business supports your life instead of consuming it * In Kris’s book, she heavily leans into your team, your time, and your toolkits * What Kris means when she says win the hour, win the day is that if you break your day into bite-size pieces by the hour, you can win the hour, you can win the day, you can win the week, you can win the month and so on * Running a business off a to-do list is never going to work; Kris says it adds stress and is a rotating list of emergencies - what you want is systems and processes in place, like our super toolkit that allow you to get ideas to execution * How creatives are not favorable to systems because they probably had a job where procedures and systems were in place that the end-user did not create - but having them in your own business is a game-changer because it allows you freedom * Kris shares how one of her clients was able to implement systems into her business to help manage her time, deliver superior service, and set up boundaries * Most clients get 25 hours a week within the first month of working with Kris and her team

Building a Team + Kris’s Current Offers * Kris believes that your team should manage you - you should not be parenting them * When hiring a team, you need to have the infrastructure to support their talents in place before or be in that process while they’re coming on; otherwise, you’ll be throwing work at them, stressing them out, and it will fall apart * You can have a fantastic team with 1 or 2 people - Kris shares that she has 4 people on her team but works with many large, successful people from all different levels * Why you shouldn’t use email to keep your systems and how it’s important to keep your systems in one place - Kris and her team use Basecamp * Kris believes that you can’t do a whole lot without a team because you’re limited to your capacity and talents * How Kris realized that she could have her team take courses for her * The subject of Kris’s podcast is general business; she shares it could be anything from social media to sales * Kris’s book Win the hour, win the day is offered on Amazon, and her coaching program, Winners Circle, which she’s super passionate about because it allows her to help more small business owners and entrepreneurs * You can have dreams, and it shouldn’t cost you your health, family time, or lifestyle, and business should be fun; otherwise, why did you leave your last job * Kris believes that a book is a very polished business card that gives you authority, which can lead to other opportunities * How Kris’s podcast tends to be a lead generator of connections and how some guests on the show end up working with Kris * You always want to be moving to the next thing - you may be fantastic at what you do, but if your competitors get their ideas executed faster and more consistently than you, they win the game * Kris says you want to have a lean team and says that you can get crazy talented people from around the world for affordable prices * For the Winners Circle, they do find, hire and train people for people in the program * Why design is super important in your business because it helps you present the quality of your brand - it’s not talked about enough, and the impact it has on the consumer to make decisions * The pandemic changed a lot of things for small business owners and entrepreneurs, but those who had the infrastructure in place were able to pivot and change easily * If you’re saying, “once I get caught up, I can..” that should be a red flag, Kris says, because the point is to bring in more business, so you should be busier, and if you can’t keep up now, you never will - which again is why systems are important * Kris says she’s surprised at how useful she finds TikTok - she’s learned more about LinkedIn off TikTok, and it’s changed the content she produces because she realized it had to be quicker, cleaner, less polished sometimes, and heavy on tangible takeaways * How TikTok is big on whatever you did today, you’ll be better tomorrow - it’s more about posting 3 or 4 times, and it’s very forgiving, Kris says * Connect with Kris on TikTok or LinkedIn and go on over to free gift from kris .com to get some gifts from Kris - some are free, and some they still charge for

Links mentioned:

Win The Hour, Win The Day Podcast

Kris’s Book - Win The Hour, Win The Day

Winners Circle Program

Connect with Kris on TikTok

Connect with Kris on LinkedIn

Free Gift From Kris

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Time Management for Small Business: A 4-Week Productivity Plan to Go from Overwhelmed to Highly Effecient and Reclaim Your Life (Win The Hour, Win The Day) (Volume 1)

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Hey friends! Melissa here. If you’re new or if you’ve been engaging with the podcast for a while, as always, I’m grateful for you!

I’m recording this podcast at the end of June 2022, and I’m excited to see you take the tips from this short and sweet episode and apply them to your launches this year.

Fun fact: I’m recording this episode in my office, which is a sunroom at my house with all windows, and my air conditioning is broken. It’s about 90 degrees outside, so the inside of my house is about 81, and this room feels like 100, even with a fan on.

But as they say, the show must go on!

Before we get to the content I wanted to let you know that I'm booking Launch Strategy VIP Days for July and August. During your VIP Launch Strategy Day with me, we build the launch system + sales strategy (your way!) that can generate results and ease you’re craving.

To help you see if a Launch Strategy VIP Day with me is a good fit for you, I'm offering complimentary consult calls next week to give you some preliminary ideas on how to make your launch more simple, and add more revenue, of course.

This is NOT a sales call - just a chance for you to get some quick tips and see if you like my style. You can take my ideas, run with them and even book a VIP Day with me if it feels aligned. Or run far away from them. It's your call. :)

The word "launch" has a lot of different meanings in the online space.

I like to define a product launch as a digital campaign where you create an experience that gets your potential customers excited about the solution your product or service creates for them.

That experience could be a number of things:

a live or pre-recorded masterclass
a 7-day challenge
a virtual conference or summit
a private podcast feed
a video series
a live video extravaganza
a series of free 1:1 sessions
a live event
an influencer campaign

It's a lot like trying a sample at the grocery store or going to a wine tasting. No one wants to eat or drink anything they don't like, and the same goes for your products and services. (It's totally why I'm offering free consults next week!).

When you launch, you grow your audience, show off your expertise, and hopefully, your customer base and bottom line. And the visibility that comes with a launch can help you attract podcast interviews, speaking opportunities, and even new clients. :)

Here are 3 ways to add more revenue to your next launch:

Add a VIP option (or another tier) to your product or service. When you buy an airplane ticket - you can fly private, first class, or economy. Buyers love options. Make it easy for them to choose the one that's best for them. My favorite brand, Ouai, just launched a new hair serum + supplement exclusive bundle, and I bought it immediately. I was drooling over the sales page. Here's what this could look like:
If you sell premium web design services, add a VIP Brand Strategy day to your normal package, or a collateral package.
If you sell a coaching program or mastermind or even a course, offer VIP support via 1:1 Voxer access, a private consult once a month or an online community for VIP members.
If you sell a consumable product, create a campaign featuring influencers talking about the benefits of purchasing your high end bundle.
Pay attention to user behavior during your live launches.

Where are they clicking?

What questions are they asking?

Where are you getting the most sales? (live webinars? email campaigns? influencer campaigns?)

What kind of bonuses can you offer to incentivize people to buy?

How can you give them 1000% confidence in what you’re selling?

Can you get on the phone with potential clients?

Can you offer a payment plan?

The possibilities are endless, but it's up to you to make it happen.

The last time I launched my mastermind for designers, I noticed I didn’t have as many applications as my previous launches.

So, I changed my sales strategy. I changed the text on my button from “Apply Now” to “Book a Call” and increased conversions by 50%. An application is a little bit more intimidating than a call. In this case, I changed the call-to-action on my sales page mid-launch and got way better results.

Book a Launch Strategy VIP Day with me this summer!

For real. I’ve been in the weeds with my own launches for 4+ years, helped launch a course that generated $2+ million in sales, and designed sales pages for all kinds of digital offers. And, once you create the system + strategy for your launch, you can use it over and over again, making it better every time.

I’m here to help you transform your launches into a record-breaking blockbuster when you book a VIP Launch Strategy Day with me this summer. If you sell a premium web design service, a digital course, or even a coaching program, I can help with your launch system + sales strategy. Each day is custom for each online service provider + creator I work with.

The investment for summer VIP Days is $4,000 and I have space available for these in July and August. If you’re interested or wanna learn more, you can email me at design (at) melissaburkheimer.com and say and say "sign me up for a VIP Launch Strategy Day" and I'll be in touch within 24 hours. ;)

To help you see if a Launch Strategy VIP Day with me is a good fit for you, you can book a complimentary consult call next week to give you some preliminary ideas on how to make your launch more simple, and add more revenue, of course.

Get some quick tips and see if you like my style. You can take my ideas, run with them and even book a VIP Day with me if it feels aligned. Or run far away from them. It's your call. :)

Cheers to selling out your next launch and doing it with ease, your way, of course.

Thanks for reading / listening. I hope all your dreams come true.

Links mentioned:

Book a Complimentary Consult Call this month

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Katie is a Creative Director focusing on Brand and Marketing Design. She helps her clients translate their voice and vision into strategic visual concepts that communicate clearly and inspire their audiences so they can hit all their business goals. She brings a background designing for Prevention, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Organic Gardening,

Organic Style and Runner's World Magazines. She also runs a household of 2 amazing kids with her husband while trying to figure out how to drastically cut the to-do list so they can eat dinner together every night, finally take that family vacation to Yosemite, and hang out by the pool, and sometimes the beach, as much as possible.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Katie’s Start in Design + Pursuing a Company She Believed In * How Katie and I met during a mastermind I used to do called, From Designer to Director - we worked together for a year and have stayed in touch ever since * I explain that Katie has the experience in the agency side that I’ve been craving the last few years and that it’s been fun watching her evolve from an independent designer to a virtual agency owner * Katie is here to share her traditional and nontraditional art/creative director experience and share how people can approach their marketing and design from a creative director's point of view to drive results * The first job Katie had in design was as a desktop publisher at a boutique agency that she worked at for 7 years - after that, she moved into publishing * How Katie originally received a BA in history but then went back to school for art * Katie shares that at the boutique agency, they did a lot of catalogs for pharmaceutical companies and that she was able to learn the entire process because she saw each part of the project through * When Katie decided to move on from the boutique agency, her goal was to only do design work * After the boutique agency, Katie worked for a publisher that had a book and magazine division - some of the biggest magazines at that point were Prevention and Men’s Health - then eventually, Women’s Health and Runner’s World came out * The first project Katie worked on at the publisher was for Backpacker Magazine, and she says that the work was so beautiful that she thought she wanted to work there for the rest of her life * How Katie had originally applied for a job at the publisher but didn’t get it, so they called her a couple of weeks later to hire her as an onsite freelancer for 2 weeks to do one job, but she ended up staying there for 8 years * Katie shares that she had been trying to work for this publishing company for years before working there, and because she kept following up, they eventually hired her * The whole goal for Katie was to work for a company she believed in, like the health and wellness publisher, while becoming a better designer * Katie shares that she got to do stuff for Betty Crocker, Al Gore’s book, Flat Belly Diet - there was so much variety that really helped Katie learn all the different directions she could go * When looking for jobs, Katie believes if you are the right fit and it’s the right time, it will work out, and if not, that’s not the right place for you at that moment - understand that people are busy, it might have nothing to do with you; they’re doing what they need to move in the direction that’s right for them * Katie shares that she wanted to work at this publisher for at least 10 years before she started working there

Starting a Branding + Marketing Business * After having her 2nd son, Katie didn’t know if she could do it all or if it made financial sense to be working at the publishing company, so she decided to leave and stay home with her kids for about 10 years * How Katie always knew she wanted to start her own business; she didn’t know when, but in 2017/18, her kids were getting older, so she decided to play around with it and figure out what she wanted to do, which is when we met, while Katie was trying to figure it out * The first thing Katie did was figure out her own stuff, like creating a website, figuring out what she wanted to say and what she wanted to offer * When Katie first started her business, she started doing branding work for small clients to feel out if it made sense for her if she could help these people, and if her process was working - after that, she did some sales pages * Because Katie has so much experience, she started by looking at the things that frustrated her, and that was people designing things, but it has no cohesion with anything else they’re putting out * Katie explains that although she loves doing lots of different things, she decided to do branding first because when people aren’t focused on the overarching umbrella of their direction, what they’re trying to say, do and how they want people to feel in every piece of their marketing, they miss something * Anything you give to a customer or use to try to sell your service, product, or business should have cohesion - this means your social media posts, website, deliverables, etc. * The concepts behind Katie’s traditional editorial design and brand strategy are the same; she explains that everything has just moved digital now, but it’s the same idea as with print * Katie explains that now, she works with mostly female entrepreneurs but will take on other clients if she feels they are a good fit and works on their branding and marketing * In Katie’s business, they start by figuring out their branding, if they need it - Katie shares that one client had perfectly good branding but didn’t know what to do with it to gain traction * Some of Katie’s favorite things about having her own business are having control over her own time, who she works with, and being home and spending time with her family * Katie explains how she and her family had to navigate the pandemic with school and that it caused her to press pause on her business for a bit - now she feels like she’s able to put herself out there again because things are a little more consistent with her kids * Now that her kids are older, Katie says she has more time than ever to work

Approaching Marketing Like a Creative Director + Katie’s Offers * Katie wants people who are running their business by themselves to understand that they are doing at least 5 jobs right now * A creative director is usually looking over the big picture; they’re looking over copy and design - they aren’t specifically doing it but are helping by giving direction on it * In the corporate world, you have an art director, copywriter, creative director, and other people who are looking at it from their point of view, so when you’re running a business by yourself, Katie says to give yourself grace because it’s a lot * Sometimes clients will come to Katie, and sometimes she will reach out to potential clients because she believes in what they are doing - sometimes they want to work with her, and sometimes they don’t, which is completely fine * If clients come to Katie with a brand they are happy with, she is more than happy to work with them on using that brand and designing marketing pieces for them * Other clients come to Katie because their brand is no longer working for them due to changes, so their brand needs to change to show what they’re really doing now * Katie shares that she usually doesn’t work with someone until they are 3 years in because it doesn’t make sense for them to make that investment until they truly know what they’re offering and what they want to put out there * If a client comes to Katie needing a rebrand, she will do the brand identity for them and says that her package has a couple of pieces of marketing * Katie starts by sending clients a lot of questions, then has a long conversation to go over all those questions because people change their minds and because she needs to fully understand what they’re telling her, so she doesn’t misinterpret it * When Katie is on the same page as her clients, there aren’t as many issues moving forwards, and if there are, they fix them * After the brand identity, they work on the marketing pieces because some people don’t know what to do when you hand them all the elements of the brand - the layout needs to be done well because if it’s not, no one will read your stuff * Katie gets clients through relationship building as much as she can - she also reaches out to a lot of people and is finally getting her Instagram running again * People want to work with people that they like, which is why Katie says relationship building is so important * While listening to a podcast, Katie heard a great quote, so she designed something with the quote and sent them an email of it, and posted it to their Facebook group - a few days later, Katie had a meeting set up with the person she had emailed for some opportunities to work with them and ended up designing a landing page for them * Connect with Katie through her website or on Instagram

Links mentioned:

Katie Seitzer Design

Connect with Katie on Instagram

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Charlotte Isaac is a Business Operations Consultant who gave up her role as a corporate ops manager inside of a creative agency so that she could serve small business owners who love their people just as much as she does hers. Through her signature program, Ease Seekers Society, and her DIY Dubsado shop, Charlotte helps overwhelmed and overworked entrepreneurs build customized solutions so they can serve their clients better, automate busywork, and feel confident in their business. Blessed with a travel bug herself, Charlotte leads by example, having designed her own business in a way that allows plenty of space to enjoy life with her husband, both in their hometown of Sydney, Australia, and around the world.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Charlotte Became the Dubsado Queen * Charlotte talks about how she liked her corporate job but felt she wanted more freedom and flexibility in her life and knew she could help others achieve the same * How Charlotte worked with the same creative agency her whole corporate career, starting on the account management team, moving to communications, and into an operation and systems role which surprised her because that’s never where she thought she’d be * The purpose of today’s episode is for Charlotte to talk to us about Dubsado, which I’ve heard many people rave about * Charlotte shares that Dubsado is there every step, from when someone inquires about working with you through your website through your onboarding and offboarding – it helps make the process super simple * I have heard that Dubsado can be complicated on the backend, but once you get it set up, it works magic – Charlotte agrees this is a fair assessment; it makes your life easier, but for most people, it is not super intuitive, which is why some stop playing around with it * Charlotte shares how she first found out about Dubsado; the creative agency she worked for was setting up an office in Singapore where she was looking into CRMs and stumbled across Dubsado, which was still pretty new at the time but says she could tell it was special at the time * Unfortunately, at the time, Dubsado was not big enough to support a large team, but Charlotte knew it was something she wanted to play around with, so when she started her business, she had it from day one * How Charlotte kept telling and helping her clients about Dubsado but never intended to become the Dubsado person, but she knew it could help so many people – a lot of her clients and students call her the Dubsado Queen * Charlotte has been helping people get set up on Dubsado for many years and after a while, realized there is a pattern to coming up with a well-streamlined process * These days, Charlotte helps people set up Dubsado through her group program, Ease Seekers Society * Charlotte shares that most service-based businesses have 3 workflows 1) leads workflow, which is managing people coming in through your website & having a discovery call with them 2) proposal & onboarding workflow 3) offboarding * One of the hardest thing for Charlotte was owning that she is an expert, but she says that’s also why she likes helping people because it makes her own her expertise

Charlotte’s Group Program + How to Use Automated Processes * In Charlotte’s group program, Ease Seekers Society, they set up Dubsado over a 6-week timeframe; they also have live group calls a couple of times a week, have access to different trainings and all of Charlotte’s best tools and resources * In the program, you start by planning out workflows, and before getting into Dubsado, you dive deep into how you serve your clients, what’s unique about your process, and what you want to automate, and then they move into the nitty-gritty of setting up Dubsado * The series of unfortunate events that happened to Charlotte and her husband after buying their first home, but Charlotte explains why she loves Dubsado and having so many systems in her business is because everything was able to keep going without her * How a lot of people put off using systems because they don’t know where to start - Charlotte says the best thing you can do is take a step back and think about how you want your client processes to run * Charlotte walks through an example of a leads workflow for when someone fills out the contact form on your website - she suggests writing out your whole process, thinking about what you already do, so you can then think about automating those steps in your process through Dubsado * Using my very organic process for getting clients a launch system as an example, Charlotte walks through how I could use Dubsado in my business process * I talk about my process for most clients and how I like to map out their calendar, so we know where everything fits; from there, we look at where they’re at and what’s worked in the past to make a system that works for them based on how their business is set up vs. how they want their launch to look * My process is done over two half days; this allows me and my clients to ask follow-up questions - I share that during the second half-day, we focus on their creative assets * Charlotte suggests having a nice wrap-up email in my process to let clients know what it looks like going forward and recap all the stuff we went through, and Charlotte also recommends having an offboarding sequence * How having nurturing sequences for your existing clients is important because Charlotte shares you can ask them how their launch went or ask for testimonials through that sequence * In Dubsado, there is a checkbox you can check that says, 'requires approval,' which means when it’s time for an email to go out, Dubsado will check with you first - Charlotte says this is a great way to be able to personalize messages, push back messages or change the phrasing of a message depending on the client * I use many different applications in my business to help in different areas, but Charlotte says in Dubsado, you can do everything you might need to with a client - send out one-on-one emailing, questionnaires, proposals, contracts, invoices, you can do scheduling, etc. * Charlotte shares that Dubsado also has a client portal which is great for people who work with clients for a long time, on bigger projects, or on multiple projects * Charlotte says to not be scared of Dubsado; even though it is a big tool, there’s so much it can do, and there are so many resources to help you get started, like on Charlotte’s website * Most people end up saving around 4 hours a week when they implement Dubsado - think about what you could do with that time * Connect with Charlotte through her website and check out her free mini-course called 7 Steps to Automation which walks you through all the things you could automate to help streamline your client process

Links mentioned:

Ease Seekers Society

Charlotte’s DIY Dubsado shop

Business Resources on Charlotte’s Website

7 Steps to Automation

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Ari Hale is a mom, business + marketing coach, and a systems + automation genius. She helps freelancers stop trying to be everything to everybody so that they can focus and think like a CEO. In her programs, she helps give the mindset, systems, and templates you need to grow your business. She helps clients increase their revenue, and make more of an impact while working less hours.

Ari is not another business coach who’s never had a business. She’s been in your shoes and every single thing she teaches is something she has used successfully in her businesses and her coaching clients businesses.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Ari Has Transitioned Her Business * How I have known Ari from the industry for 8 years now - we met while working together on a project for a mutual client and through the years have worked together, and I’ve hired her to do some coaching for me * Ari is a business and mindset coach; right now, she works with business owners who are driven, ambitious, and high performers but are at a point where they’ve realized this isn’t what they want and are questioning how to walk away or transition away from something they’ve worked so hard to build but currently isn’t in alignment with them * How we were both launch managers and are good at the systems, organizational, and project management skills, but the context in which we used them were on completely different sides of the launches * How Ari started as a virtual assistant in 2014 and shifted into exclusively launch and project management * Building a business launching back to back wasn’t sustainable for Ari; she needed downtime to rest, so, around 2018, she decided to transition away, and then in 2020, she officially stopped all client work in that manner and launched a project management course, membership, coaching and her group program which she ran for almost 2 years * Now Ari is transitioning again in her business and says she is getting closer and closer to alignment for the present moment and where she’s at now * It’s hard to create a brand for something and then decide you want to transition out of it– a lot of the people we helped with launches spent all of their time, investments, and assets on teams and stuff for their launches, not necessarily for their brand * How Ari and I believe you should test your service before doing everything that goes into launching it and building your brand * A mistake Ari has made and has seen past clients make is rushing to build an entire business and brand around an offer that validates and does well without giving it time and space to breathe or before seeing if you enjoy everything that goes into it like the operations, delivery and clients you’re bringing in * There’s always this rush to make more instead of taking a pause and checking in with yourself – there’s no conversation or strategy around making sure what you’re doing is really in alignment with you * One thing Ari realized this year is that she has been doing things that are out of alignment with why she decided she wanted to have a business

Our Real Experiences + What We Learned * I talk about how I realized I didn’t want to do launch management anymore, and Ari adds that we would help these businesses get up and running, sacrifice a lot of time and energy, and then when it came time to scale and grow, the processes, compensation, and consideration from human to human weren’t equitable or fair * When these businesses want to grow and scale, they want to hire someone younger who will do it for cheaper, but these people don’t have the experience and don’t know what to look out for in the industry * We talk about how to keep contractors who helped you build your business and how to not burn contractor bridges by treating people poorly * I share the story of how I worked for someone and couldn’t get away from my computer, not even to move, which we were doing at the time because we were launching * Ari shares the story of a client who hired someone to come in and clean up operations - she was asked to speak to this person and was very transparent in her feedback with things she thought were going well and areas where she thought there could be an improvement * When Ari shared her feedback, the client was furious that she was so honest about their business - they were verbally abusive and fired her that day but realized they needed her and asked her to come back * Ari thinks when people reach a certain level in their business, it’s like they lose touch with reality; they get a weird complex around speaking to their team, and they forget we're all human - she never wants to create experiences like that in her business or for her team * When you treat people poorly, all that energy leaks through everything – the company that treated Ari poorly had lower audience engagement, emails opened, and their launches stopped working * I share a similar story where I was yelled at because the web developer wanted to be paid * How the campaign I just worked on was fun, but there were a lot of issues on the back end – like it was extremely hard to send out an email broadcast and how I wanted to help them with that * There are two other stories I share - one about having to let a client go after 2 weeks and one about letting a client go after not getting compensated per our agreement * What Ari has learned as a leader is that her business runs much differently than what she’s experienced and how she’s been super intentional about not letting her business stress her out - if it's causing her displeasure or stress, she’s not doing it because she’s seen what kind of monsters people can turn into because of stress * Ari talks about how she runs her business with her team - she doesn’t launch anything and expect them to help unless she’s had a meeting and planning call with them; Ari doesn’t have their numbers unless they’ve texted her first and because things are so simplified they don’t even have a weekly team call anymore * Mistakes are encouraged on Ari's team because she doesn’t want them to be afraid to make mistakes - this way, they can see where things can be improved * The freedom Ari gives her employees makes them happy because it allows them to get in their flow, create their process and just be deadline-based * I talk about my process for the podcast, the journal I want to create, and even the virtual summit I’ve been thinking about for creators to learn about all the ways they can make money online

Ari’s Current Business Pivot + Creating Alignment in Your Business * How Ari launched Allergic To Hourly™ in 2020, which was the most financially successful thing she’s done but says she wasn’t prepared to grow and scale it; she didn’t have a good mindset or financial strategy, which created a lot of pressure for her and diminished her creative flow * When Ari first started building her audience, she posted and created what she wanted, but when the program became successful, she started posting for conversions instead of using her creative flow, which made her miserable * For the last 4 - 6 months, Ari has been doing a lot of internal work to tap back into what she wants and what she will make it mean about herself if she transitions again * How there is no course or streamlined strategy for pivots in your business because it’s very specific to the individual - Ari shares that she’s gaining clarity and feels like she wants to create, engage and invite new people in again * Ari speaks about the grieving process she had to go through to let go of the things she had recently built and invested in because she was not happy with it * It’s not about the clients Ari was working with, and she shares that she’s been very transparent with them about her journey because a lot of people don’t want to talk about it, and many of them are going through the same thing * If you are a go with the flow type of person and never take time to decide what you want and create a vision for yourself, you’re going to flow into things you don’t want * How the operations of Ari’s business were never in alignment because she never stopped to give herself space to think about what she wanted and how she wanted things to look and feel * By ignoring herself and the feelings she was having, Ari created situations where she had to make a change, and it mostly manifested in her mental health and her ability to create * To make this shift in her business, Ari switched Allergic To Hourly™ to self-study, because she was unclear on what she wanted the program to look like, so Ari paused enrollment and marketing while figuring out how her business could support how she wanted to feel * How it can be scary to push pause, but Ari says she needed to create as much space physically with her time and mentally so she could figure out what she wants * You are going to be a completely different person than who you were when you first started, from 5 years ago, from last year, which is why it’s okay to shift and change to create alignment for yourself in all seasons of life * Both of Ari’s programs are self-study right now, and something she’s been experimenting with is mindset coaching because she realized clients were coming to her for what they thought were strategy issues, but when they dug deeper, they were really mindset issues * Ari shares that it’s been fun to dig deep and help give clients the tools they need to self-coach themselves, so they don’t feel like they are stuck between their calls * In the past, Ari went off advice from other people about what her business should look like * Ari has discovered that many clients start their business out of necessity or because they fell into it, so when she works with them, they first figure out how they feel, and she guides them into trusting themselves, the things they are feeling, and navigating the times it doesn’t feel great * How Ari was able to get her mind to a place where she felt like she wasn’t spiraling and how she then got her body on board by moving and using supplements/food to make sure her body felt right and good * This year, Ari worked with Chrissy Papetti, who helped her learn about nervous system regulation through human design and gene keys, which Ari has found extremely helpful in keeping herself grounded * Right now, Ari is into tapping (EFT), automatic writing and shares that she recently started working with Susan Ferraro again for mindset work * Different things I’ve learned about myself through the years like how to eat and allow myself to rest - something I want to learn more about is navigating mindset work vs. anxiety and depression * Ari talks about leveraging how your brain naturally processes information instead of forcing yourself to be or think like other people, which is something she struggled with in the past * A lot of what Ari has experienced in the last year with her business has been an opportunity to better understand, accept and love herself, which is the energy she wants to build her business around * How Ari has been able to navigate and move forward in her business while having a little boy at home * Ari shares that it’s okay to have low moments as long as you can pull yourself out and says that she’s learned that feeling the highs and the lows is part of her process * Part of Ari’s purpose of being here isn’t just to help clients grow a business so they can amplify what they want out of life; it’s to hold space for people who are experiencing the things that she’s experienced and navigated * So many people are rushing to an end goal without thinking about what they want, what it means when they get there or what happens after they do get there * People get on this hamster wheel of achievement, and it feels empty because they don’t know what they’re doing it for at a certain point * If you don’t want to deal with yourself and get to know all sides of yourself, Ari does not recommend getting into business because it will bring all those things up * How I’m giving myself as much space and grace as possible because I need it and how it’s okay to give yourself permission to not have it all figured out and to just let it be a mess for a bit * Trust yourself and know that you will land where you are intended to land and know that with every experience, there is something to learn * Conect with Ari through her website, Instagram, Twitter or TikTok

Links mentioned:

Allergic To Hourly™

Ari’s Website

Connect with Ari on Instagram

Connect with Ari on Twitter

Connect with Ari on TikTok

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Lisa Simone Richards is a PR & Visibility Strategist for online coaches who want to get seen everywhere.

Through her free workshops, masterclasses and mentorship program, she gives you the insider secrets on how to get exposure and reach more people without spinning on social media or wasting more money on Facebook ads.

Her clients learn the lather-rinse-repeat formula for more visibility which makes them more sales. They go from invisible to in-demand getting interviewed on top podcasts, partnering with big names in their industry and building their authority expert status getting featured on major media like FOX, NBC, Forbes, Inc., and more.

On weekends you can find her playing in the kitchen with her husband, petting ALL the dogs in the park, and watching way too many fashion styling videos on YouTube.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Lisa Got Started in Public Relations + Starting Her Own Business * Today Lisa is here to talk about public relations and press, which is a topic we haven’t really covered on the show yet * When Lisa first learned about public relations, it was 2002, and she was in her first year of college – she became interested because Samantha Jones on Sex and the City made PR look super fun * Right after college, Lisa worked for a beauty company; she also interned at Fashion Magazine and worked at a few fashion agencies where she would be behind the scenes at various shows or working designer suites during film festivals * Eventually, Lisa moved into the agency world, where she had more corporate clients like Staples, Crayola, and Virgin Mobile * In 2009, Lisa got a taste of working with small businesses and entrepreneurs and fell in love with how much influence and impact she could have versus being a cog in the wheel at an agency * Lisa shares that she was able to help one company she worked at for four years grow from 30 locations in Ontario to over 100 across Canada and help take the company’s revenues from $400k to over 4 million a year * Now in 2022, Lisa loves teaching creatives and online service-based business owners how to get earned media opportunities, how to get interviewed on people’s television shows, podcasts, newspapers, magazines, and websites * Your ideal client is hanging out somewhere; Lisa helps show people how they can get access to that place, figure out who they need to know, come up with a creative message and get free access to their ideal clients while getting an endorsement at the same time * When Lisa started her business as a side hustle in 2015, she was running a PR agency called Vitality PR & Communications – what she saw in the market was people wanted to work with PR agencies, but their prices were set very high, and that wasn’t realistic for up and coming, new business owners * Through Vitality, Lisa offered 3-month PR packages at a fraction of that cost – so clients could get access to exposure, get up and running, and then they could choose if they wanted to re-sign or not * Lisa wanted to have more impact, scale, and leverage, so she moved from the agency model into doing one-on-one coaching, group mentorship programs, and having courses – and shares that she still has all those things today, but what is fun is now she’s starting to revisit the agency model * The differentiator before for Lisa was having shorter retainer plans, and now they have a 6-month model where they also train an in-house team – Lisa says it’s like the publicists showing you the secrets that other publicists don’t want you to know

Tips for Showing up Like a Pro + ABCs of Visibility * Lisa recommends that if you don’t have a full media kit on your website, at least have a shareable Dropbox or Google folder with certain assets in there like, high-resolution images and headshots, and your bio * Before you start going out for outreach, Lisa says you’ll want to get really clear on your messaging – what is that lather-rinse-repeat message that you can use over and over again * Lisa shares that she likes to work with clients on the messaging – she gets to work with a lot of very talented people who come to her with complex ideas and messaging, and then she gets to help deliver it in a way that will be consumer-friendly * The story of when Lisa worked with identical twin chiropractors in 2015, and they wanted to do a piece on what happens to your elbow and wrist alignment when you take a selfie and how Lisa worked with them on making that message interesting for consumers * How Kim Kardashian was in the UK and took 1,500 selfies that week, so all of a sudden, they were able to change it into a story about what happens to your elbow and wrists when you take 1,500 selfies like Kim Kardashian – that’s when it got picked up by national news, local radio and a magazine * Lisa wants to understand what a person’s business goals are, so where she starts with that is what she calls the ABCs of visibility; are you looking to build A) awareness, B) Buzz, C) Credibility – understanding which one of these you are trying to achieve will determine the types of places that make sense for you to be seen * Another thing Lisa likes to check in on is who are her clients and what are they comfortable with – someone who is introverted may not want to speak live at a conference or be on national television – so really understanding a person and where they are going to shine helps Lisa decide where they should get started as well * Lisa shares that it’s easy to have relationships in the industry, but they are not necessary - if you want to be on Good Morning America, for example, figure out who the segment producer that covers the topic is, send them an email with a good idea – it doesn’t need to be harder than that

Easy Ways to Achieve Visibility + Lisa’s Offers * Why you should have a healthy media mix for your audience when it comes to reading content, listening to content, or watching content * When it comes to written media, instead of writing on your website or doing a blog post, Lisa says you could do a guest blog post on someone else’s site or go to Google and search write for us + your industry, and you will get websites that are looking for people to write on that topic, so you can put your content out where people are actually looking for it * For audio content, Lisa says you could be interviewed on podcasts, radio, or co-host rooms on Clubhouse * Moving to visual content, you could be interviewed on a local morning television show, go live in someone else’s Facebook group or Instagram, you could do a guest training in someone’s mastermind, or speak on live or virtual stages * How imposter syndrome happens to everyone no matter what stage they are at in their business and how Lisa encourages her clients to write a not so humble brag sheet to help build confidence – grab a pen and paper; write down how much time and money you’ve invested in your specialty, and think about the results you’ve achieved * Lisa talks about the transition she went through in her business and says if you are going through a transition in your business, an easy thing to do is to take control of the platforms you own – update your profiles, and send an email to your list sharing your transition into your new niche * When you are transitioning in your business, Lisa shares that you might have to start from scratch and build your brand according to your new niche – think about the new podcasts, stages, and websites it makes sense to be seen on and start positioning yourself for those opportunities so you can get in front of the right people * Lisa’s super deluxe package is for service owners who want to done-for-you PR services who don’t want to be paying the agency endlessly on retainer – a 6-month package where Lisa does their PR and also trains someone on their team to be able to bring it in-house * Where Lisa tends to work with most of her clients is inside her 6-month mentorship program, where she teaches everything she’s learned in her 20 years of experience * How Lisa has a few entry-level courses on podcasting or getting on television where people can go through automated modules and teach themselves how to get publicity * Lisa shares that she used to offer a 30-day program but realized that doing it all for people to a certain degree keeps her up at night, so she doesn’t offer that anymore – she’s learned that she can come up with an amazing PR strategy and hand it off to someone on her team to execute * Although it’s great we can now own our social media platforms, Lisa cautions us that our social media content is where we are nurturing our existing audience - It’s not the same as visibility, which is why it’s so important to get on other people’s platforms to increase visibility and get lead generation * A line Lisa learned and loves is “don’t change your talk, change your audience” – get clear and consistent with your message and put it in front of new people over and over again because for those people, it’s going to be the first time that they hear it and if they think about working with you, they will research and Google you, and a consistent message will instill trust * I talk about my business transition and the 3 things I want to offer, and Lisa comments on how I could package my 3 steps and position my message or how I could break down step 1 in-depth and help clients get little wins so when they want to keep going, they come back to me for step 2 and 3 * How sometimes simplifying your process is better than overloading your audience with a bunch of content * After listening to this episode, Lisa encourages everyone to write down one thing they took away from the episode that makes sense for them and put it into practice * If you head over to Lisasimonerichards.com/quiz, there is a quiz called ‘How should I get visibility as an online Coach’ – based on your answers, Lisa will share 1 of 5 ways to start getting visibility and send a training video so you can get started

Links mentioned:

Lisa Simone Richards Website

Get Clients From Podcasting Course

How Should You Get Visibility Online as a Coach?

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Meagan Carboney is an avid face shaver known for her live tutorials highlighting this little-known beauty technique. As a self-made makeup artist, she discovered how face shaving completely transformed her skincare and makeup routine-and wanted to share it with women everywhere. After tossing out razor after razor, Meagan knew there had

to be a better way. With a degree in product development and 20+ years in the fashion and beauty industries, Meagan's background helped her launch Jill: the world's first razor designed for female face shaving. Jill has perfected the art of the exfoli-shave with a patent-pending design shaped for a woman's face. It's a convenient, subscription-based, eco-conscious way to get your glow on, with guidance from Meagan on how to shave the right way. Jill's on a mission to normalize female face

shaving so women around the world can proudly say #weshavetoo. Learn more at tryjill.com.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Meagan’s Background + Pivot * How Meagan and I met in 2012 at yoga class when I was doing freelance graphic design, and how we’ve both been able to watch and be part of each other’s journey * When Meagan was younger, she had the dream to move out of Iowa and move to California to pursue fashion, which is what she did after high school * After graduating from a fashion institute in California, Meagan landed her dream job on Rodeo Drive working for BCBGMAXAZRIA * Meagan stayed in LA for 10 years, where she climbed the corporate ladder and had the job she truly wanted in marketing, where she still got to be creative - she worked directly under the owners of the company, which gave her a start-up experience that has helped her launch her brand * How Meagan met her husband at the same company in LA, and when they talked about raising a family, they decided to move back to Iowa * When moving back to Iowa, Meagan had to pivot her business because the fashion part of what she was passionate about wasn’t there, so she ended up building her personal brand online and landed in the beauty space * In the online beauty space, Meagan would share tutorials, tips and would share about face shaving * Meagan talks about the multiple businesses she and her husband have had, one of them being her husband’s videography business, which they still have today and have grown to do photography too * How Meagan saw her husband working full-time with a videography business on the side and decided she could make an income in addition to her full-time job, which is how she got into the social selling world and started earning commission through her social media * The unique story of how Meagan’s partners for Jill found her through one of her face shaving videos on YouTube after deciding they wanted to create a sustainable face razor for women * When the world was shut down due to the pandemic, that’s when Meagan and her partners were on zoom building the Jill brand - they launched in February 2021 * Meagan shares that all 3 of them are co-founders of the brand and her gratitude for pivoting in her business that led her to where she is today

Jill’s Benefits + Mission for Sustainability

Right now, Jill is an at-home dermaplaning (face shaving) solution for women - they have a starter kit that customers can buy, and they have a subscription for the blades
Women have more sensitive skin, which is why they cannot use the same razors or techniques as men - Meagan’s 3 Cs to dermaplaning at home, which means having a clean face, clean hands, and clean blades for shaving
Not only does dermaplaning remove the facial hair, but Meagan explains that it also exfoliates the skin, so your makeup goes on much smoother instead of sitting on top of peach fuzz and dead skin cells
Meagan shares that the motion of dermaplaning stimulates skin cells, helping to produce more collagen, and also has long-term benefits such as smoothing out fine lines and wrinkles and lightening dark spots
One thing I like about Jill is that they offer a smaller razor for your eyebrows
The story behind the name Jill, which comes from the nursery rhyme Jack & Jill - Meagan likes to say, move aside Jack; it’s Jill’s turn because Jack got so much attention in face shaving for years
How a lot of Jill’s competitors are afterthoughts of big companies that don’t have much of a brand, mission, or education behind the product, which is why it was so important to Meagan and her partners to create a beautiful product, but one that also had the full on brand experience that brought education and their mission
Because they wanted their product to be feminine, they picked the color pink for their brand, and when it came to the design, they knew they wanted it to be soft, airy, pretty, and unlike anything else that was on the market
Meagan shares that they have been improving their product since launching it and are already working on a rebrand which will make it even better
How they wanted their product to be sustainable - Meagan explains that when designing the wand, which holds the blades, they knew they didn’t want to use a lot of plastic, wanted to use recycled plastic, and also knew they wanted the blades to be recyclable as well
Meagan shares that they worked with their manufacturer to create a tab that removes the medal from the plastic because the guidelines are set that if there is metal in plastic, it cannot be recycled, which is why our landfills are full of razors

Launch Strategy

With their marketing strategy, they had to go the organic route and were built on TikTok Meagan shares - they put all their marketing funds into hiring creators who were good at creating content with their product
A month before their launch, they started building out their TikTok and started creating viral content with a waitlist for their product - the waitlist was 5,000 people
At the time, they didn’t have the funds to do a paid media strategy as they do now, which ended up helping them because 70% of their sales still come from organic reach
How they tapped into the education and science behind their product while tackling the myths behind shaving your face on TikTok
Meagan talks about how they found and reached out to creators to help them - she shares they would pay the creators and send them concepts that they ran with
In the beginning, Meagan would do a lot of the content creation herself - she still does today and has launched her own TikTok, where she’s been posting 6 times a day
Where Meagan came in strong for content creation was the hand content, like shaving fruit, which is one of the reasons they went viral
When they first launched, they predicted that 20% of their business would be membership and 80% would be one-time purchasers, but in their launch, they had a 60% subscription rate
Within 2 weeks, they sold out of their memberships which was a bummer, Meagan says, because they misprojected, and the memberships were out of stock for 4 months
Creating a community through membership has been huge for the Jill brand and is something Meagan wants to focus more on so she can connect with these women and dive more into their mission
One thing they’ve learned is that everyone has a different hair growth rate, so they are working towards being able to offer more razors at a time so those who need to shave more often can do so
Looking back, Meagan shares that she wishes she would have known more about the fundraising side of business and shares that direct to consumer is not favored in the venture funding space right now
Meagan explains why they need to be able to grow in both ways, direct to consumer and retail
How Meagan is starting a podcast called, The Skinclusive, where she is going to have guests on, and they will shave together
Meagan shares that moving forward she will be focusing on building her TikTok, which she loves
Connect with Meagan on Instagram and follow Jill on Instagram

Links mentioned:

Try Jill

Connect with Meagan on Instagram

Jill on Instagram

Jill on TikTok

Connect with Meagan on TikTok

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Hey friends! Melissa here. If you’re new or if you’ve been engaging with the podcast for

It’s the first week of May 2022, also my birthday week, and if you’re like me, you’re looking to produce some game-changing results in your business or professional career.

For me, this means bringing new offers, a brand refresh and strategic visibility to life. And to stop dragging my feet. How’s that for real life accountability? (That’s me making fun of myself!)

While I’m not designing sales pages anymore, I still sell my $37 course, Sales Page Superstar and will continue to use the principles + strategies I teach inside the course as I build my new brand.

Last week I sent an email to my list with the subject line: “3 design elements to add to your sales page hero section for higher conversions (samples inside)” and it got a 42.4% open rate, which I thought was pretty impressive. :)

So, I thought I’d repurpose that content here for a short, fun episode this week.

When I was designing sales pages, I spent the MOST time designing the hero section of my clients’ sales page.

The “hero section” is the part of your sales page on a desktop you see before you scroll down.

You have about 8 seconds to get people’s attention, so the hero section has to wow them. When you map out your sales page hero section, there are 3 must-have elements you to include: 1. A headline that highlights your offer promise. 2. A branded identity like a photo, logo or sales video so people know who they’re buying from. 3. A distinctly-designed button, so the user knows what the call-to-action is.

Do NOT include: A photo of you and your Lambo.

A link to your YouTube channel.

Any language or messaging that tells the user they will fail unless they buy from you. This is a big no-no.

We don’t want to confuse or mislead anyone. We want them to be excited about what you have to offer.

Sample #1: The sales page hero section for my mini sales page course, Sales Page Superstar. You see my photo, my logo, and my brand colors, with a distinct headline and subhead that describes my course, and two buttons.

Sample #2: In this sales page example we have a strong headline, brightly colored button, a logo, the brand photo, and directional cues pointing towards the call-to-action.

Sample #3: In this example, we have a sales page hero section I designed for Successful Ads Club that includes the program logo, a photo of the founder, a simple headline, a supporting paragraph about the program, and a button that says “Join the Club.”

A sophisticated sales page design is a great way to position yourself as an authority in your industry. You can create the best product or service in the world - but if the hero section doesn’t connect with your visitors, no one will scroll, so let’s make it easy for them to buy from you! MMkay?

If you like this episode, you can find more strategic tips + more inside my $37 sales page course, Sales Page Superstar. Visit https://salespagesuperstar.com to see if it’s right for you.

Thanks for reading / listening. I hope all your dreams come true.

Links mentioned:

Episode 169 of The Design Business Show

Sales Page Superstar

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Terrence Thames is the CEO of Advanced Media Production Firm, LLC dba Cocoa Creative Agency. Terrence Thames is a man of faith, husband, father, and entrepreneur. Terrence has a passion for seeing others succeed in business and in life – especially people of color. Having grown up on the South Side of Chicago, Terrence was raised by his college-aged cousin in Iowa City at the age of 9 where he was exposed to a better life and more opportunities. At that time, Terrence became heavily involved in church, video production, journalism, and music.

Working professionally since the age of 17, Terrence launched his own creative agency in 2011 – Advanced Media Production Firm, LLC dba Cocoa Creative Agency.

Terrence is currently focused on family, faith, and wealth-building among minorities and their communities.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Terrence’s Young Start to Video Editing * How I’m currently in a business accelerator at Drake University in Des Moines, IA, for a new business I was to start, and how Terrence is a business advisor within the program, which is how we met * Terrence shares that he learned to edit videos at the age of 12 from a family friend and then started volunteering to edit videos for their church program at the time * When Terrence got older, he started doing more creative editing using Premiere and Final Cut, which really made things take off for him * After high school, Terrence started working at the University of Iowa in the athletics video department, where he was able to combine his love for sports, video production, and design * There are many approaches to production, but Terrence’s approach to editing has been taking standard video production from live events, cutting them up on a computer on a timeline, and then putting together a narrative with music to help convey a message * Terrence got to practice his skills through sporting events at the University of Iowa and even helped on some TV sports shows for coaches * When Terrence was volunteering for his church, their TV program was on the local public access station, where people could make anything for any purpose, so Terrence grew up around people who were creating art and things for community programs * You can use video editing and production to create so many different things, and we see more and more people get into editing or content creation because of the accessibility we have through social media and our phones * How a lot of people may not know they are editors even though they are engaging with content all the time and changing it into something else * Terrence explains that many games were covered by ABC, ESPN, or Fox Sports, but if someone didn’t show up to work, they would call the person for video production for the school and ask if they had any students to do different tasks for them, like running a camera so Terrence would take many of those opportunities * Terrence says its a really special thing when you’re able to combine your passions as he has with sports and editing video production * By freelancing and taking those opportunities, Terrence was able to build his resume with many bigger brands early on through proximity, and because he lived in a smaller town, he was able to get to anyone, which opened up even more opportunities

Creating His Business + Getting Experience * In his heart, Terrence always knew he wanted to have a business, but he says he really wanted to have something on paper for tax purposes, so he was thinking about names and came up with Advanced Media Production Firm * Before making his business an LLC, he had it as a sole proprietorship with his local county and was working full-time while doing his business on the side * How Terrence moved to Des Moines and 2010 and in 2011 had his business filed as an LLC, which is when the business officially started - he didn’t have a business plan or very many clients but knew that if he was going to be freelancing or doing work for people he wanted to have it separated on paper as an entity * When building his brand, Terrence says it was a lot of manifestation, God opening up opportunities and using his personal experiences with brands as part of his business portfolio * Terrence made a website early on, and people started to call - sometimes, the small projects were for big brands, which he leveraged * Growing up, Terrence’s church did fundraisers by working concessions at the University of Iowa games - during the 4th quarter, they shut down the concessions, and Terrence was able to watch the last quarter of the football games on the jumbotron - he told himself one day he was going to work for that video board team * The family friend that taught Terrence how to edit videos also did freelance camera on the sidelines for the University of Iowa, and so when Terrence got older, he asked her who she used to work for, but she only remembered the person's first name * Terrence made a resume right out of high school and started calling the athletics department of Iowa University asking for this person until he finally got connected with them - he wanted the opportunity to work for them as a student even though he was going to community college * They agreed Terrence would be hired on as a miscellaneous professional - they taught him how to use their special cameras and had him come in a few hours a week to edit and film the Iowa women’s basketball team, which he did part-time while going to community college * Eventually, in 2012, Terrence started working at Drake University, where one of the things he oversaw was video production for athletics; in that position, he was looking for students to help with production, which gave them a lot of experience * Terrence says there is always an opportunity if you look for one to get experience * Content creation and editing were Terrence’s specialty, but he says he was always big on visuals and led with visuals by using video or photography as a primary part of the layout for design * How Terrence was able to easily navigate templates which helped him when he started doing more motion graphic design * In your professional space, Terrence says, there is a certain time where video production is key, there’s a certain time with graphic design and layout is key, and then there’s a time to integrate all those things

Understanding Your Business to Build a Team + Price Model * How being a creative helped but only got Terrence so far; when he started doing more work, he didn’t have time to do everything - to grow, he needed to hire people who were better than him in certain spaces * Terrence shares that he loves to work on teams that do well and lift each other up * As an agency, they lead with video production; virtual productions, virtual events, live events, and filming other things with a narrative for storytelling * Secondarily, the agency does social media marketing campaigns, web development, and brand strategy * When Terrence first started, he was charging $500 for an early Wix website, $100 for graphic design because he had another job to rely on at the time, so he wasn’t charging in a way that would let him grow his business * Terrence has an office downtown, they have clients locally, regionally, and a couple nationally - his pricing model is better but could be improved because he realized they were charging under 150% in some areas compared to their counterparts * Now, if they do a small virtual event, they are charging a minimum of $3,500 - Terrence shares that the price is similar for a smaller hybrid or in-person event * Video production rates for onsite productions can range anywhere from a half-day, around $1,400+ if it’s a virtual production for a conference they are producing, it would be a minimum of $11,000 and could get up to $40,000 - $80,000 depending on all the elements going into it * For bigger projects, if some of the client elements reach beyond the agency’s capacity, Terrence says they partner with people who can help bring something alive for a client * Terrence explains that they try to hover around $125 - $175 / hr, and if it’s a long-term project, they do an assessment to determine what the pricing will be based on the number of hours estimated to go into the work * How the agency now has 7 - 8 full-time and part-time staff who are W-2 employees and 4 - 5 freelance that work for them regularly * A main theme for the agency Terrence says has been building out infrastructure, putting in standard operating procedures, and then doing the things that make them an actual viable business as opposed to ‘Terrence and the freelancers’ - they offer benefits because people have needs and concerns * How you need to keep reassessing your business to make sure everything is working in all areas - you have to think about your growth and what you should start, stop and continue * There are a lot of creatives out there who don’t think about what they need to do to become profitable, bring on investors or partners, or even sell their business - Terrence says you need to have an open mind and make sure you’re handling your pricing model correctly * A lot is going on in the creative space right now, there are a lot more people exercising their entrepreneurial mindset, and while Terrence thinks it’s important to be around other creatives, he says you need to make sure you understand the business side first * If you have an idea of how you want to grow your creative business, Terrence believes you have to go after what’s in your heart - there’s no one way to do anything; you can learn along the way * Making sure your business is in order first is important because you don’t want to be a struggling creative; you want to be flourishing and adding value to areas that you see you can solve a problem in as a creative * Terrence encourages people to expand their minds about how the business works, ask a lot of questions and be unafraid to live in your purpose * Connect with Terrence on Instagram or LinkedIn

Links mentioned:

Advanced Media Production Firm, LLC dba Cocoa Creative Agency

Connect with Terrence on Instagram

Connect with Terrence on LinkedIn

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Best selling Author, International Speaker, and host of both the Award-winning eCommerce MasterPlan Podcast and the brand new Keep Optimising Podcast.

Chloë is one of the Top 30 eCommerce Influencers 2021 (Scurri), and her podcasts are regularly included in lists of the top eCommerce & marketing podcasts in the world.

Chloë Thomas has been in eCommerce since 2003; she’s worked client-side, agency-side, and adviser-side. Working with a wide variety of retailers from high street omnichannel operations to fresh online-only start-ups, covering international launches, subscription, B2B, and even dabbling in marketplaces.

Chloë’s specialty is solving eCommerce Marketing Problems, from how to increase new customer acquisition to improving the performance of email marketing newsletters or finding the right new website provider.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Chloë’s Start to eCommerce + Running a Marketing Agency * How Chloë worked for a big bank, which she hated, so she started applying to any marketing job she could find * Chloë shares that she started in eCommerce back in early 2000 at a retailer in the UK, where she took on their catalog marketing - she got addicted to the stats and watching the money roll in * We talk about how sometimes the best thing you can do is leave where you are, even if you aren’t entirely sure where you’re going * Within a year of working at the retailer, Chloë became the direct communications manager, which meant she was in charge of anything they put through the post * Chloë was responsible for their in-store loyalty program, catalog, mailings, was heavily involved in email marketing and anything else that she could get her hands on that involved eCommerce, which drove the web manager mad * When Chloë set up her marketing agency, the same web manager that she drove mad came to work for her * The retailer Chloë worked at sold gifts, and she says she worked there for two Christmases, but the second Christmas, they went under * Chloë was 24 or 25 when the retailer went under, but she had made enough of an impression in the industry that she got calls from some interesting people to see if she wanted to work for them * How Chloë sat down with 3 of those people, and one offered her the head of eCommerce role for their group of mail-order businesses - which was about 6 different businesses, all not doing much online but that had big customer bases * If this business worked out, they planned to turn it into a marketing agency * In her new role, Chloë had a wonderful time building websites, sending the first email campaign, doing the first Google Ads, SEO, affiliate marketing, etc. * A year after Chloë started the head eCommerce job, they turned it into an agency - Chloë ran the marketing agency for 10 years and sold it in 2017 * On day one of the marketing agency, they took the marketing activity they had been doing for the mail-order brands and rolled that into the agency - they were an outsourced online marketing team for those businesses doing everything that modern eCommerce and digital marketing teams would do * Over the next 10 years, they worked out different areas of their business model because parts weren’t as financially sustainable as the industry evolved, so they ended up narrowing it down to primarily Google and Facebook Ads with a little bit of email marketing * Chloë shares some stories of mistakes she made in the past, like not having contracts and not chasing invoices to get paid, and how they were able to overcome the mistakes * How Chloë implemented contracts and brought a bookkeeper on to chase all the invoices for them, and they started invoicing at the beginning of the month with a 14-day payment term instead of at the end of the month, so if they did have to stop working for a client because they weren’t paying it would all happen in the same month, limiting their liability * 5 years into running the agency, Chloë realized it was the wrong business model for her to be running because she took a talent dynamics test and read a book that gave her a lightbulb moment of realizing she was an introvert * How managing the team, the clients, and the new business process was too much for Chloë to handle, so she delegated some management to other people within the agency but says she never found a good way of delegating the new business, which is why Chloë decided to exit and sell the agency * Chloë tried various ways to sell the agency and, in the end, had an awesome team member who still runs the business now buy it from her

Chloë’s Podcasts + Changes in the Industry * These days, Chloë is a podcaster and speaker who runs the occasional virtual summit * When Chloë left the agency, she had one of her podcasts and shares she did a certain amount of coaching and consulting - she had to see if her other business could make money because it had always been funded by what she made at the agency * Chloë realized that she could make money, but her next question was, could it make money in a way that gave her back as much energy as possible - that meant getting out of coaching and consulting, and the only way to do that was to launch a second podcast * How running the podcasts can be a little exhausting, but Chloë says it’s fun work, she can outsource a majority of it, and it has been very lucrative * Chloë shares that she monetizes the podcasts entirely by sponsorships because she hasn’t had success making money on the backend * Chloë says she’s lucky to be in the eCommerce business because there is currently a lot of growth; there are a lot of software and service businesses and others who are desperate to get in front of other eCommerce people and want to sponsor podcasts * Along with finding a viable business, Chloë says you need to find a business that suits you - there is nothing wrong with wanting to make money and wanting to be happy * Chloë explains that she is lucky to be able to monetize her 20 years of experience, brand awareness, and growth in this industry and is currently riding a very nice scenario where there are lots of people wanting to sponsor eCommerce podcasts * How Chloë also knows that the podcast industry is going through many changes at the moment and that it is heavily dependent on the Apple platform and the Spotify platform, which doesn’t make it the strongest, and although it’s going well now, she is considering what comes next, which she admits she hasn’t worked out yet * One idea they have been playing around with is sponsored emails to their list, and Chloë shares they have a couple of options that they could do involving their virtual summits

Creating Long-Term Success * When it comes to creating long-term success, Chloë says as you reach the point of solid profitability for whatever you’re currently doing, that’s the point to start testing the next idea because you’ve got the cash to do it, and you should be able to find the time to do it and then hopefully one of the ideas your testing will also peak * Don't sit smugly on the crest of your wave; always be looking for what the next thing is going to be * This is the first time that Chloë has been keenly aware of finding the next thing she’s going to do and has been actively exploring it * Chloë has had her fair share of failures and says that her marketing agency went under twice due to various misdirections, which showed her why it’s so important to constantly be innovating and testing * We talk about the elements that come with running your own business, like freedom but all the responsibility that also comes with it * If Chloë could tell her past self one thing, it would be, be you and be you sooner because she had to learn that she was an introvert to build a business that suited her and gave her energy back * Another thing Chloë would tell her past self is to say no more often, which Chloë struggled with for a long time * Going back to Chloë’s why for everything has been, she hates waste; she cannot stand wasted opportunities and businesses not doing things that they should be doing to get them great results because they don’t know they exist or are scared of them * Everything Chloë has done has been about helping eCommerce business owners and eCommerce marketers make better decisions within their business to help them run better marketing * In terms of building her brand, Chloë has played to her strengths, and although she is an introvert, she is also very good at taking complex things and making them make sense, Chloë's good at standing on a stage and involving an audience to teach them something, which she has leveraged in every stage of business

How Creatives Can Help eCommerce Businesses * Because of the pandemic, many people started buying online and will continue to buy online, but in the eCommerce industry, a lot of businesses started selling online, so the competition levels have gone up a lot * How consumer behaviors have changed, they are more interested in ethics and sustainability and also want more of a connection with the companies they buy from * Chloë talks about the cookie issues that have happened with the Apple updates on the iPhone, which are going to happen on Google later this year, which impacts some of the gains you can make in your advertising and marketing through the algorithmic side of things * With all these changes in the eCommerce industry, if an eCommerce business wants to do well with selling products in 2022, they need to invest in stronger creative - you need to have the ad creative, the email creative, the PR creative, etc. * Chloë says all these creative elements need to be great copywriting, graphics, and videography that tell a story that aligns your brand to key missions and movements that embrace your customer content and bring them to your business * To step up your game as a creative, Chloë says to look into storytelling; founder story, product story; these things are really big for consumers - also, look at how to pull together user-generated content to a video format * A lot of eCommerce brands only have written testimonials and reviews on their products, but Chloë shares what’s working well in content is video content - so turning those written reviews into great graphics or videos is a good idea * Chloë shares that a big opportunity in the eCommerce industry is for creatives to help businesses create better product pages, homepages, email content, about us pages, etc. * How this year, Chloë thinks we will see a lot of eCommerce brands looking to hire in-house creative skills, freelancers, or agencies to help them test ideas * As we get into July - September, Chloë thinks we may potentially reach a point where there is more demand for creative services than there is supply * If you don’t currently have something on your page about helping eCommerce businesses with these things, Chloë says now might be the time to be building those up * If you want to understand more of what is happening in the eCommerce space, check out Chloë’s eCommerce MasterPlan Podcast, which is an interview with a different retailer each week where they are currently focusing on growth as much as sustainability and going carbon-neutral * On Chloë’s Keep Optimising Podcast, they focus each month on a different marketing method, which has a lot of creative input

Links mentioned:

Keep Optimising Podcast

eCommerce MasterPlan Podcast

Like what you heard?

Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board

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Show notes: Melissa is the Founder and Creative Director behind Branch Creative Co.

Design has been a passion of hers for years—from her early days (before even turning double digits) when she would put together the “family newsletter” using Microsoft Paint, to her first real job as a designer at a large print shop...she has always loved this industry!

She started her company back in 2009 as a side hustle while working full time as the Creative and Communications Manager at the Sioux Falls Convention & Visitor’s Bureau. As her family grew, she was blessed to be able to grow that side hustle into a full-blown design studio!

Since then, she’s built a team of contracted design associates to help her manage the day-to-day client work, allowing her to focus on what she loves the most—working with businesses one-on-one to bring their passion and purpose to life through a strategic branding and design process.

Her home studio is located in Brandon, SD where she and her husband have two daughters and one cute little pup named Finn. Fun fact: she is also Co-Owner and Director of Marketing for Severance Brewing Co. located in beautiful downtown Sioux Falls, SD!

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Melissa’s Passion for Design + Starting Her Freelance Side Hustle * How we met through Michelle, who told me that melissa would be a great guest for the podcast * Melissa shares that she went to school for design and has always had a passion for it — after graduating, she worked at a print shop and then moved into the creative and communications manager position for their local visitors bureau * While working full-time, Melissa started doing freelance design on the side, and by the time she had her second daughter about 8 years ago, she was able to go full-time into freelance and build her own company * At the print shop, Melissa worked as a production designer and shares that she learned a lot about the print industry and how to prep different files * Melissa missed working with clients on projects, so she applied for the creative and communications manager position at the visitors bureau, where she got to do different event promotions and design advertisements — this is where she met a lot of her first clients as a freelancer * How Melissa was focused on her full-time job and building relationships through it so one day she could branch off and do freelance * How Melissa wasn’t ready to go full-time into freelance yet, so she worked part-time as a designer at a digital marketing agency for a couple of years and shared what was great about the agency was that they didn’t offer print services, so they were able to refer clients to her * The story of how Melissa was able to lean on the relationships she already had to get the opportunity to leave full-time work, go part-time while starting to build her freelance business

Melissa’s Transition to Full-Time Freelance + Building Her Business * Melissa says to lean into the relationships you do have, don’t be afraid to call the people you know or meet up with them, and says, even if you don’t get the job or opportunity right away, you are planting the seeds and nurturing those relationships * How Melissa was open about her goals and intentions to eventually go full-time into freelance with the digital agency and how her services and the digital agency’s services aligned really well, so there was never a lot of competition * Before going full-time on her own, Melissa had a new client who was going to replace her income from her part-time job * Melissa shares that she used to charge $50 - $60/ hr for freelancing and was doing it about 15 - 20 hrs a week * How Melissa was naive in thinking that it would be 100% blissful joy working from home as a mom of a 3-year-old and a newborn and says that the transition was harder than she thought it would be * The biggest thing Melissa learned during her transition to working from home full-time was that she needed help with her kids so she could focus, serve her clients to the best of her ability and build her business the way she wanted to * To show people she was successful, Melissa thought she needed to build a team and have a brick and mortar store for people to see her studio — up until November 2020, that was still her goal, and she had hired additional designers and a business development manager

The Shift in Melissa’s Business + Implementing The Brand Process * In December 2020, Melissa’s grandfather unexpectedly passed away from covid, which hit her hard and left her feeling very unmotivated for a few months * In the first quarter of 2021, Melissa lost two of her biggest clients due to them hiring her position full-time, in-house, her business development manager had found a full-time opportunity, and one of her designers decided to take a full-time position with an agency and her other designer was going on maternity leave soon * How this shift in Melissa’s business helped her reenvision how she saw the growth of her company and through a string of events, Melissa came across a new coach, Lydia Kerr, who had started a program called, The Brand Process * Melissa shares that she’s been working with Lydia through her coaching program for about a year and that it has completely transformed her business — Melissa learned that she could offer a very solid brand process and charge premium pricing for it * Melissa feels that she can now approach brand strategy as a designer and as a business owner because she’s owned her own business for 12 years and now has the brewery * Now that Melissa has The Brand Process, her vision for her studio is not a brick and mortar; it’s not a big team, but she shares that she still has an associate designer who helps her with the day to day, hourly design work for her clients * Melissa’s focus is on all the brand and web clients and says that she only takes 1 - 2 a month because it is very hands-on and intense — they spend several weeks talking about their brand strategy before jumping into design * Melissa shares the deep dive into brand strategy she does with clients and shares that the work being produced with this new process is so much better and intentional, which her clients appreciate * Helping other business owners is Melissa’s passion because she is one herself and says that she loves diving deep into their brand strategy and being able to help them with the design after * Before The Brand Process, Melissa was doing logos, web design and says that the majority of her work is what she calls ‘hourly work’ — she wasn’t sending proposals or quotes for each little project her clients had; they would email her whenever they had design needs, and she’d bill them hourly * Melissa’s business name, Branch Creative Co., comes from being an extension of her clients’ team * Since making the shift in implementing The Brand Process, now Melissa still takes care of clients through hourly work, but she’s not out seeking more hourly clients anymore and is a lot more strategic and picky with who she works with for small hourly projects * Melissa walks through how her process works now; she starts with brand strategy, moves into the logo design, and after the logo is approved, they work on any marketing collateral they might need and finally move into web design * Implementing The Brand Process has given Melissa so much more freedom because everything is scheduled out on the calendar, and she knows what to expect; It’s also given her more control because once her slots are filled up, she’s telling people that she is booked out until a certain date, which she’s never been able to say before * Last year, Melissa’s goal was to get her process dialed in, which she did; her goal this year is to automate parts of her process, like client onboarding, and says she is working with a Dubsado specialist * Melissa shares that clients work directly with her for the most part during the process, but her assistant designer will jump in and help with initial logo concepts and will then build out all the logo files once the logo is ready * Another system Melissa has heard about and is thinking about implementing into her business is the Logo Package Extension for Illustrator that will name out and save different logo files for you * 2021 was a year of transformation for Melissa’s business, so this year, she will be focusing primarily on personal things and trying to implement automated systems into her process

Pricing Approaches - Then vs. Now * Before having The Brand Process, Melissa thought in terms of hourly rates for her logo design package and shared that she was charging around $100/hr * After implementing The Brand Process, she increased her prices by 200% but realized after talking to her coach and other designers that it is so much more than just an hourly * Hourly rates are the easiest way to charge clients, but the flawed aspect of it is the more experience you get, the more efficient you get, and the less you’re going to get paid * Another form of charging for design work is by value pricing, which Melissa explains is basing your price based on how much value it will bring to the client — but that could be different for each client, so Melissa doesn’t think it is the most transparent or fair way to charge * Through The Design Process, Lydia taught Melissa a blended approach where you take into consideration your hourly rate, the value it’s going to offer the clients, and your experience as a designer * Now, Melissa has a base price for brand strategy, a base price for brand strategy + logo design, and a base price for web design and says she can add additional collateral pieces to each package if the client needs * For Melissa’s life-long clients, she still charges hourly but, going forward, she will use the blended pricing approach for her brand and web design projects * How Melissa doesn’t see herself as a freelancer anymore but as a studio owner and creative director instead * The story of how Melissa named her business Branch Creative Co. because she wanted to take her name out of it and because she sees herself as an extension of her clients’ teams * Melissa shares that she doesn’t do all the marketing for clients when it comes to ad buys or marketing plans; they are the branding and design branch when it comes to the overall marketing efforts * The biggest thing Melissa has learned in the last 10 - 15 years is to trust herself; she used to compare herself to others, but through working with more designers and executive-level businesses, she realized that she actually does have a lot of experience and knowledge * To any creatives out there, Melissa says, don’t be afraid to lean into what you have and what your talents are and to live fearlessly with that because you can take your business further than you probably ever thought you could * Connect with Melissa on her website, branch creative co.com

Links mentioned:

Branch Creative Co Website

The Brand Process

Connect with Melissa on Instagram

Connect with Melissa on Facebook

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Nancy Badillo has been in the digital space for 12 years, helping small business owners build and scale their businesses by leveraging the power of online marketing. With a focus on e-commerce coaching as well content creation, she is able to provide her clients with valuable expertise from start-ups all through growth stages - making sure they're equipped with everything needed so that success can thrive. If you're serious about creating a full-time income with your passion, so you can spend more time with the people you love and enjoy the freedom of being an entrepreneur can offer, Nancy can help! Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Nancy’s Start to Digital Marketing * Nancy shares that she started working in digital marketing 13 years ago out of necessity * In 2007, Nancy purchased a home, was a full-time student, and also worked full-time — which was too much to take on all at once * When the recession hit in 2009, the company Nancy was working for went through bankruptcy, and Nancy went from making 6 figures to barely making 15k/yr. * Nancy says she was looking for ways to save her home and Googled how to make money online, which is how she got into digital marketing * In the beginning, Nancy did not make a lot of money, which resulted in her working 3 jobs, losing her home, filing bankruptcy, and not being able to continue school * How Nancy ended up working at a call center for 7 years and pursued digital marketing as a side hustle but did not make much money from it for many years * When Nancy started in the digital space, she started a blog and was making money through SEO, affiliate marketing, and Google AdSense, so she decided to start a blog all about SEO * One mistake Nancy feels she made when first starting out is being all over the place and trying to do it all — one minute she was a blogger teaching about digital marketing, the next she was creating a blog, flipping it and selling it, she tried freelance, eBay, and many other things * Even though Nancy was all over the place, doing all those different things helped her get to where she is now — but she also believes niching down and growing her authority in one area would have led to her success quicker * Nancy was making money in digital marketing but wasn’t making enough to quit her full-time job * How Nancy decided she was going back to school to get a master’s degree in business and a minor in marketing because she loves digital marketing and thought if she couldn’t make money online, she could always work in a digital marketing agency, which she did for 5 years to have the experience

Digital Products + Becoming an Etsy Coach * In 2014, Nancy got engaged and was told by a friend to purchase her wedding items from Etsy; she did and ended up purchasing digital files, and many other items for her wedding * When Nancy downloaded the digital files from Etsy, she thought about what a great idea it was and decided to do a case study for her blog * Nancy took on another thing and opened an Etsy shop without really understanding it or without ever doing e-commerce; because of all her experience in the digital space, Nancy made 21k in her first year, which is how her Etsy Coach began and how she was able to niche down and grow her business * Nancy explains that her blog was about SEO, how to make money online, growing your social media, etc. * When Nancy started her Etsy store, she didn’t know how to do anything crafty, so she researched digital products and saw that a lot of people were selling quotes, which is what she started with * Nancy shares her biggest mistake was seeing everyone else in this market selling quotes and thinking it was okay to do too — she, unfortunately, was hit with infringement notices from Etsy * Again, Nancy had to start all over and started learning more about intellectual property and clip art and learned that you don’t need to be a graphic designer to buy premade clip art that people sell to you with a license that you can use to create something then sell * How digital products didn’t start as a passion for Nancy but has since turned into a huge passion of hers * Because Nancy had just gotten married and was in the wedding mindset, she started creating digital products for weddings, and after she had multiple products that matched, she started creating lookbooks to get upsells, which led her to triple her income the second year * Nancy shares that she was always working or going to school while pursuing her side hustle; she would get home from work and work on digital marketing until 1:00 am; she would sacrifice weekends, time with family and friends — 2020 was the first year that Nancy stopped working and took her business full-time * Because Nancy had consistent success with Etsy, she thought becoming an Etsy coach to teach people how to sell digital products would be a good niche because she noticed there were not a lot of Etsy coaches * Nancy started offering free critics of people’s Etsy stores on her YouTube channel, which is how she was able to build trust, credibility, and her email list * For the first year and a half, Nancy did not show herself in her videos because, as an introvert, it was hard for her, but she says once she started, it was the best thing she’s done for her business * All critiques on Nancy’s YouTube were free, but she shared that she started a smaller store with tutorials and sharing how to do Etsy related things where she put a listing for $100 private critiques that were more in-depth than her free, public ones

Balancing Multiple Platforms + Staying Available to Audiences * Even though Nancy had a lot of digital marketing experience, she still struggled with imposter syndrome * Nancy’s first store was very public, which created some problems because people would copy and steal her work, so she created a second store where she makes money and is much more private * In 2019, Nancy created a course for printables and gave it out for free because she thought no one would buy it — the following year, she redid the course and shared that in the last 10 months, she’s made $400k from it * Because Nancy’s audience has grown to be so large, she now has an assistant who helps her manage them * Nancy shares one of the best things she has done for her business has been implementing funnels — they have helped her understand nurturing her email list and have helped her get more sales consistently * How Nancy suggests getting an assistant if you can and how her assistant helps with her social media and email * In Nancy’s course, she has a pinned thread at the top of the group, so anytime people get stuck, they can ask questions in the thread and get a response directly from Nancy within 24 hours * The reason Nancy tries to make herself available to her audiences is that she doesn’t want to be another course creator where you buy from them and never talk to or see them again — she admits this can be a challenge since so many of her platforms have large audiences * Setting boundaries has been an important tool for Nancy because she tends to be a people pleaser

Blogging, YouTube, Pinterest + Nancy’s Etsy Course * If you’re just getting started or want to start a side hustle or business, Nancy says it’s important to niche down to something you are passionate about or something where you are passionate about the outcome * The second tip Nancy has for getting started is making sure you get yourself out there on videos and your platforms — if you are overwhelmed with being on every social media platform, make sure you have a blog, podcast, YouTube channel, or some main platform that is always driving your traffic * Nancy shares that the great thing about YouTube is, yes, she makes money, but her content is always being viewed * Why blogging is so important and how Nancy has a blog about health where she is averaging $37k/mo through affiliate marketing * Nancy says blogging is the best thing because people are always looking for content, so you can put out whatever you are going to sell, and then you can add other things to it like affiliate marketing to start generating money * How Nancy loves Instagram and TikTok, but she knows they aren’t going to give her the same results as YouTube or a blog * How Pinterest is Nancy’s #1 platform even though it has the least amount of followers because it is a search engine and drives the most traffic * Nancy shares that when it comes to starting, make sure you niche down, build your credibility and choose evergreen platforms like YouTube, blogging, and Pinterest that always drive your traffic because to get more sales, you need a high volume of traffic * Email marketing is also a powerful tool, Nancy explains, because if you plan on building a sustainable business, that’s how you’re going to be able to promote your products and services * If you’re not ready to put your face out there for your brand, Nancy says you can build your business without doing that and shares that she doesn’t show herself much on her health blog but still makes money through affiliate marketing * In Nancy’s course, you learn how to start, manage and scale your Etsy business, and she shares that it’s good for anyone who is a seasoned seller or for people who are starting out * What makes her Etsy course different is that in addition to the 5 module course, you get 8 additional bonus courses, including how to grow your Facebook group for your Etsy store, How to use Instagram, How to grow on Pinterest, etc. * Nancy stresses the importance of being intentional on social media — don’t try to tackle all the platforms at once and become just another user because you aren’t using them correctly; master one, and then move on to another one * If you go to Nancy’s website, you will find everything from her course, her YouTube channel, free resources to paid content, as well as everything you need to know about her

Links mentioned

Nancy’s Etsy Mastery Course

Nancy Badillo Website

Connect with Nancy on Etsy

Connect with Nancy on Instagram

Connect with Nancy on YouTube

Connect with Nancy on Pinterest

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Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board

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Hey friends! Melissa here. If you’re new or if you’ve been engaging with the podcast for a while, as always, I’m grateful you’re here. I want to try and produce a few more solo shows than normal this year - because I’m in the midst of a big transformation in my business and career and I can actually articulate a few things to share that may or may not be helpful for you.

I do have a quick ask first. If you like the show or have learned something from it, leave us a review on whatever platform you listen and/or engage? It helps share our message far and wide, and I would so appreciate it!

I also wanted to let you know that I’m speaking again at the Simply Profitable Designer Summit, hosted by Krista Miller, and it starts this week! This week is March 21, and my presentation goes live March 22, and is accessible for free for 48 hours.

The Simply Profitable Designer Summit is a free event all about streamlining and improving what you’re already doing so you can be more efficient, profitable, and stress-free.

My presentation for this year’s summit is brand new, and the official title is: “Produce a Blockbuster Design Offer That Attracts Dream Clients Who Can’t Wait to Work With You”

It’s the first place I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes look at my process for creating my new business model.

My presentation goes live on Tuesday, March 22 at 10 am CDT on day 2, which is all about simplifying your marketing. You can visit thedesignbusinessshow.com/178 and sign up via the links in the show notes.

As I mentioned in episode 169, in 2022, I was really craving something different for my business.

The thing I was craving?

New design projects, in new industries, that didn't include the words "sales page design."

Quick backstory: I built a tiny brand around sales page design. After 7 years of sales page design-ing for my awesome clients, I decided it was time for something new.

I'm still in the thick of making the things I want happen - but thought I could share 3 things that worked to help me land a few new projects in new fields, with specifics on how it's worked for me, so you have inspiration on how it can apply to your business / career.

Aligned connections lead to the best opportunities. Funnels, emails, and social media are great for building your brand, sharing your ideas and selling your products. Building and nurturing 1:1 relationships, sending referrals, giving testimonials, and connecting with other collaborators you work with can lead to the best opportunities.

I recently finished a branding + web design project for a new social impact brand who's mission is to empower AAPI women. I got the opportunity as a referral from a friend who owns a web development agency, and now I'm having conversations with them to work with the brand doing more strategic projects.

Get really clear about what you want. And tell your connections about it. There's a whole big world out there. I was so entrenched in sales-page-design-land I never stopped to think about the bigger things that I wanted to do. So, dream big. Write it down. Think bigger. And then test out the thing to see if you like it.

One of my current dreams? Work with global beauty brands on their big brand campaigns. Right now I'm working with a global nonprofit who partners with a wide variety of beauty and fashion brands. One step closer to where I want to be!

Show up and do your best in every project, even if it isn't the dream. When you're hired for a specific thing, let's pretend it's sales page design, make sure you provide as much value, along with the deliverable as you can. Get things done on time. Let your expertise shine. And communicate the project details often with your client.

Doing that was how I landed design projects with the clients I was buying courses from early on in my business.

I had an offer that delivered what they needed: a sales page that converted, and more clients and sales. That created lots of referrals. That lead to launch strategy and launch management clients. And now I'm managing a campaign for the global nonprofit I mentioned above. I got that project through an aligned connection, too!

These 3 things are timeless business strategies that helped me get to where I want to be. The key here is not worrying about it being perfect, but instead making it happen and being consistent.

Everyone starts somewhere. Nothing happened for me overnight. And not all of it was pretty or perfect. There's no secret strategy. I'm not exactly where I want to be yet, but I'm excited for what's coming my way!

In episode 169 I shared my “Branding Advice That Goes Against the Norm” - which in a nutshell is, testing my offers first to see if I like them. And after that, investing the time and money in the sales page + branding for them.

One way that I got here, and here is not exactly where I want to be yet, was doing a lot of thinking and observing what has worked and not worked FOR ME in the past.

Here’s a really Easy Way To Move The Needle Towards The Thing You Dream About

And It involves doing one of my favorite things: Making a list!!

Create a success list that documents all the things you’ve accomplished.
Do a quick check in with where you’re at right now. What’s working? What’s not?
Circle all the good things from both lists you’d like to keep.
Then, make a list of the big picture things you want to do.
Make a decision on the next best step for your dream - that will get you where you want to be 5 years from now.

Everyone starts somewhere. Make a list. Go for it. See what you like. Get rid of what you don’t. It’s that simple.

There’s one more thing I want to say about moving toward the place you want to be.

It requires owning your expertise in pursuit of your dreams. Owning your expertise can be tricky when you’re not looking at your business from a 360 degree view.

I've said for years that "I'm not good at branding."

I stayed in my little sales page design lane.

I told everyone who came to me wanting brand design and/or web design projects "thanks, but no thanks."

When I stepped back and looked all the value I was giving (but only charging for the sales page design as a deliverable, not the strategy) that's when I realized I was, um, wrong

The next time you tell yourself you're not good at something, I want you to do me a favor and pause.

Is this really true?

Or did you just tell yourself this?

Are you being nice to my friend?

Signed, your friend who said they were "not good" at something for years. :)

And remember, be nice to my friend. :)

Thanks for reading / listening. I hope all your dreams come true.

Links mentioned:

Episode 169 of The Design Business Show

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Gio Marcus is copywriting mentor who teaches high-converting copy to entrepreneurs who want to reach millions and make millions. Gio’s copywriting clients are guests of Oprah, Marie Forleo & Sir Richard Branson; regularly featured on major TV shows and magazines, stars of their own Netflix documentaries, and winners of Oscars nominations. Between them, Gio’s clients have written over 35 New York Times bestselling books, translated into 190 languages. She lives in Berkeley, California.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Copywriting + Design Work Together * How Gio and I met in 2020 working on a landing page for a client together and how we’ve stayed in touch ever since * We talk about the process of working together and how you should connect with other creators during projects because you never know what kind of relationships might be born or what you could learn about their craft that goes hand in hand with yours * Gio shares that she really wanted to write for a living and decided to write websites in 2008 but didn’t know what copywriting was and felt like she was making it up as she went along * How Gio fell in love with marketing and discovered digital marketing where she realized she couldn’t just write copy, she had to think about how the words would look on the page * Gio has a huge love and respect for designers because the design can change the whole meaning of the copy, and she loves to see how those two work together on a page * How some creators, whether on the design or copy side, think that their part is more important than the other, and I love that Gio is a creator that wants to mesh the copy and design together well * Gio believes that you can’t have design or copy without the other and because people rely on visuals, the design is so important, and the copy help supports it

UX Design in Copywriting + Working with Clients

Gio explains that UX design is about making the text really easy for people to read and consume by having headlines, boldface copy, or breaking up the text into smaller chunks which are all things she learned very early in copywriting
UX design has become more important, Gio says, because people are quickly scrolling on their phones, you need to know how to give the information to the scanners who just want the main ideas and how to give it to the people who want a little more information
I share that when I write copy for my sales pages, I always give it to a copywriter to look through because sometimes it can be a lot to look at the same page constantly during a project
When working with clients, Gio first likes to get all the background information - that might be through doing research on her own or having her clients answer questions
Gio says one pitfall to being super close to your business is that you might think, for example, that the pain point is a certain thing, but it turns out people aren’t willing to pay money for that to be solved, so it helps to have someone as an outsider to the business come in and give clear feedback
Overtime Gio has learned to ask bold questions and be more daring, which is important for copywriters, but she also says it is important for designers

Copywriting Tips for Sales Pages + When to Build a Sales Page * When it comes to writing copy for your sales page, Gio suggests using a template or going off someone’s copy that you love and respect, but be mindful that what works for someone else might not work for you * Gio suggests working with a messaging expert because what works for a larger company vs. a smaller company/brand is not going to be the same and gives us an example to show that * It can be good to look at other copy and sales pages for inspiration, but Gio says to make sure you aren’t copying what someone else is going through - it’s really important to go through the process yourself to come up with those creative ideas * Writing your first draft of copy and then getting feedback from a copywriter can be super helpful because sometimes when you’re so close to it, it’s hard to bring that outside perspective * Another suggestion Gio has is to do some kind of inner work, whether it’s through meditation or affirmations, whatever works for you that will help you through creative blocks * Gio explains that for most people, it makes sense to have a professional sales page designer come in when they have a solid offer that they’ve tested * Because it can take a while to build a sales page, you don’t want to put it off Gio says * I touch on how I think it’s important for people to build a sales page after they have sold and proven their offer * Gio says that if you’re doing a version of an offer that you’ve done before and you want to have something to show to people, creating even a simple sales asset like a Google Doc is beneficial * The purpose of a sales page is to make sure it’s easy for our customers to buy from us by making sure the offer is clear, the messaging speaks to them, the copy outlines the offer, and that the interactive process is also smooth * Gio shares that she likes circling back with people after having an initial call with them so they can have a few days to decide if they’re going to move forward * How having something simple is better than having nothing at all when it comes to copy assets

Gio’s Copywriting Mentoring Business + Building Credibility * Many years ago, one of Gio’s clients introduced her to some other people which contributed to her landing some big clients, along with the strong reputation she had built over the years * Gio explains that she put in a lot of work into learning and studying everything about copywriting and marketing - people started to notice that she really cared and wrote copy that converted * How Gio was able to build her business on referrals and how that works for design too, because you become known as someone who puts out quality work * Gio says there is no shame in asking for referrals and that there’s always room to go after your dream client that could help catapult your business and give you credibility * Sometimes money is not the most important thing, sometimes it’s about building and using your credibility - Gio shares an example of how she did extra work on a project for the credibility * For a long time, Gio didn’t flaunt her credibility, which held her business back, but once she started owning the caliber of clients she was working with, it allowed her to raise her prices so she was able to do the best quality work for clients * As a business owner, you have to learn how to take care of your clients and yourself * Gio’s Revenue & Reach Mentorship is for online business owners who need their copy written for a lot of different business assets - the program takes them through each asset and helps them apply what they’re learning about copywriting to these assets * Whenever you’re more visible, your copy pops, you get more direct responses to your copy, and you apply UX copy design techniques, your business will completely transform * As creatives and business owners, Gio says we have a chance to impact so many people, and being able to write copy is the key to unlocking that * How Gio weaves UX design into what she teaches for copywriting because it’s so important to understand what your audience wants and how they like to consume information * Go to Gio’s website to connect with her and check out her blog - she encourages everyone to look at her copy for inspiration and to see what’s working right now in the world of copywriting and marketing * How it’s important to connect with people who are in a similar field to you because you can get inspiration, understand how your fields complement each other, and then you can refer each other

Links mentioned

Gio Marcus Website

Gio Marcus Blog

O.M.G.! 5 Copy Lessons For a High Converting Sales Page

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Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board

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Larissa Bodniowycz is a traveling attorney with over a decade of diverse legal experience. She is the founder of Bold City Legal, a digital law firm that provides DIY and custom legal services to small businesses. Larissa prides herself and the firm on providing professional legal representation in a casual atmosphere. She’s passionate about helping teach small businesses how to use the law to grow and protect what they’ve worked so hard to build.

On weekends, you can find Larissa in the woods – hiking, camping, and taking photos. She attributes her ability to juggle a lot at once to the time she spent in the circus while in college. (Yes, you read that right.)

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Larissa’s Start to Law + Starting Her Own Business * When Larissa was at orientation for Florida State University, she saw a brochure for circus classes and decided to take a class, where she got to perform in some circus shows at the end of the year and then spent a summer with a circus in Georgia * Larissa graduated law school in 2009 and struggled to find a job but eventually found one at a more traditional, corporate type law firm where she was doing insurance defense but shares that she hated it and it wasn’t what she thought it would be * After moving to California and while studying for the California Bar Exam, Larissa was doing freelance legal research for other attorneys and realized about a year and a half in that she was running a business, so she formed a business entity instead of operating at a sole proprietor * Larissa shares that she went through many ups and downs as a small business owner and has gone through a lot of trial and error that taught her many things * How Larissa was underpricing herself at $35/hr when she started but has learned a lot about pricing since then * We talk about the competitive feel that traditional design and legal environments have, and Larissa shares that as she’s done more in business, she’s been lucky enough to find people who want to collaborate and help, which has been encouraging

Finding an Attorney + Types of Agreements * As a starting point, Larissa’s advice for most small businesses when looking to hire an attorney is to hire someone that focuses on freelance or small business work and someone who is typically local in your area * Larissa suggests searching keywords like freelance or small business + attorney + your area across Google, Facebook, and Instagram to see what comes up for attorneys, doing some research on your own, and then asking friends and family for referrals * When we have a legal need, we can feel very rushed to pick the first person we come across, but Larissa doesn’t recommend that or only considering the attorney your friend referred * In a design business, most of the time, you’ll have a little flexibility in the drafting of the contract, so Larissa says to take your time and do your research and form the questions you want to ask when looking for the right attorney for you * Larissa explains that you want an agreement with whomever you’re working for and says if you’re working for an agency and they give you a contract agreement, make sure you read it before signing and don’t be afraid to ask for changes * You also want to make sure you have agreements with people who are doing work for you, whether they’re contractors or employees, and Larissa says talking to an attorney about this can be helpful because you don’t want to misclassify anyone or use the wrong agreements * When you are in any creative field, Larissa says it’s important to think about intellectual property, which should be on both agreements; whether you’re working for an agency or someone is working for you, you need to outline what you own and what they own * I give an example of a work for hire agreement, and Larissa explains that a work for hire agreement means you hired someone and you’re going to own the work that they are producing for you, which is important to protect the copyright of the person contracting out the work * Larissa suggests having a master contract that has some of the major key terms that don’t change from project to project and then having a statement of work, which are smaller, one-page documents that lay out the specifics for a certain project, like deadlines or payment schedule, or a certain process you need used * Larissa explains some of the standard terms that attorneys include in all contracts

Terms + Agreements for Launching * When creating an agreement for an offer such as a VIP day, Larissa says to think of it more as brainstorming or a consulting session and spell out what the expectations are and are not and be clear about what you are going to do for them and what you are not going to do for them * If you have someone like a project manager or a brand strategy contractor who is providing more of a service than a deliverable, Larissa says you might only have a general paragraph outlining what service they’re providing since the relationship and service will continue to evolve * How distinguishing a contractor relationship from an employee relationship is important * Larissa explains that when you’re launching a new course, many times you’re using a third-party platform that already has some terms built-in, and it allows you to add additional terms * Larissa adds that any agreement is just a different language for contract * For launches, it’s important to have your master contract, terms of use for your website (which is different from the terms of your service or deliverable), and your privacy policy * Another thing you need to think about is being aware of the promises you are making and making sure that you are not using any tactics that could be arguably be considered deceptive * How Larissa believes it’s important to be upfront about your contracts and not try to hide them and to have a check box during check out so people can confirm that they agree to your terms of service * We talk about how true testimonials are not deceiving people because it is a fact but if it feels borderline, talk to an attorney - Larissa also adds to have in your agreement that results are not guaranteed * When it comes to using marketing or messaging that promises a financial gain, Larissa says it’s generally low-risk as long as they’re taking other approaches with it, such as presenting the truthful statistics but also stating that results are not guaranteed * A great goal for most small businesses is to have an existing relationship with your attorney so they already know you and can answer you quickly when you can ask questions or need advice * Larissa encourages people to have an initial consultation with a small business attorney before needing their services so you can check in and get some answers to your general questions and says to think of it as an investment in your business * Sign up for Larissa’s monthly law firm newsletter at the bottom of the Bold City Legal website, and connect with her on Instagram

Links mentioned

Bold City Legal

Connect with Larissa on Instagram

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Shar Biggers is the creative director and founder of Provoke Design, a branding studio. A native of Atlanta, by way of St. Louis, she holds an MBA in business management and is a graduate of Miami Ad School's Portfolio Center of Design. In her extensive experience, she has worked with Fortune 500 companies, led design for Amazon rebrands like Amazon Fashion and Amazon Diversity, and helped more than 10 million Americans say "I'm with her" for Hillary Clinton. Here’s what we covered on the episode: Underrepresented Populations + Provoke Design * How we originally met Shar on Episode 170 of The design Business Show and why I invited her back on to discuss how a lack of investment in banding can create limitations for underrepresented populations * Shar’s created her agency, Provoke Design, to provide branding for all different types of businesses – specifically, businesses led by color, businesses led by women, and businesses led by people who may come from backgrounds who may not have the funds necessary to succeed in their business * Just because you come from one of these three groups doesn’t mean you don’t have a good business concept, idea, product or service, or leadership * Shar expresses how much of a struggle it can be to see these businesses come in but not have the resources or funding available to get them to where they need to go, and not have the awareness needed to have a strong brand and marketing presence that they need to succeed * Too often throughout Shar’s experiences, she would see those businesses not be able to approach the agencies she knew of or were so well known, which created a massive gap that Shar saw needed to be filled because she could see how it affected the economy and diversity in business * How there are so many examples of where representation for these 3 groups does not exist * Many people who do not fall into these groups usually get money from friends and family for their first investments when starting a business, which is the first stumbling block when it comes to underrepresented people because they don’t usually have people they can turn to * When you come from an underrepresented group and are starting a business, Shar says you are probably the breadwinner - the reason they are trying to launch a business is to try to help the family and leave a legacy * Shar says she is thankful to have gone to school for an MBA because being educated in psychology and business first and design second has helped shape the type of way she wants to do business * Once Shar sees those businesses that have a need, she tends to consult them on business overall - product design, product name, digital presence and asks questions like, what’s customer service like, do people like your company, is your product/service actually strong and solving a problem, or do you need to pivot * Sometimes when people come to Provoke, they don’t have an idea at all, or they have a failing idea and need help figuring out an idea that will do better – they are coming at different phases, Shar says, some need a rebrand, and some need help with their overall brand to make it stronger

Using Design to Help Solve World Problems * Shar explains there are some things in place that make it really hard for these underrepresented groups to qualify or get approved; that's why she created a business where some of their biggest blocks can be solved through the branding and design work they do * Why Shar believes design thinking is the way of the future and the way businesses should be led - she believes if the world’s biggest problems were in the hands of designers, they would be solved * Shar’s advice for designers is to think about the things you are passionate about and would like to see solved and think about how you can help solve that thing in a beautiful way * Another great suggestion Shar has for designers is to think about including a certain number of pro bono projects or discounted projects per year for underrepresented groups so they can have more accessibility * Sometimes designers don’t think their work is that serious when it comes to branding, but Shar explains that it can help determine how great of a legacy these underrepresented groups can leave their families, which impacts the nation and is why were need to be more thoughtful and empathetic towards finding a solution to this problem * If you don’t see anyone solving the issue that you feel needs to be solved, you should think about how you can solve it * Even if you aren’t an expert in something, that doesn’t mean you can’t make a difference in that area with the skillset and knowledge you do have * How the majority of people don’t realize how social, economic, or racial problems aren’t just limited to health care or housing, but how it stretches into business * Shar wants to make sure people are aware, so they can begin to think of solutions and little things they can do in their personal lives to help solve this problem in branding * As designers and problem solvers, we can help figure out ways through what we’re passionate about to help solve these world problems * We hope this conversation ignites inspiration - make sure you check out Shar’s agency website and connect with her on Instagram

Links mentioned

Provoke Design Website

Episode 170 of The Design Business Show

Connect with Shar on Instagram

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Shayla Boyd-Gill (Maryland, US) juggles being an entrepreneur with being a wife of 24 years and mom of six homeschooled children. She went from bankruptcy to a multiple six-figure business. Now Shayla is a Family Freedom and Affluence Mentor and creator of the Luxe Your BusinessTM Sales System and a sales strategist who shows women entrepreneurs how to have it all – family, freedom, and affluence – while doing what they love.

She teaches her clients - service-based businesses - to restructure their businesses and lives by boosting their high-ticket sales so they can make more money in less time without a heavy client load.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Shayla’s Journey to Coaching * In 2003, Shayla left corporate America as a project manager in construction engineering to homeschool her son * Shayla needed to make an income, so she and her husband had a conversation about what she’s good at, which was having babies * When Shayla started speaking to friends and women in her community, she realized they had bad birthing experiences and that her experience was good because it had been different - she had a doula, a midwife, and had taken natural birthing classes * Shayla became a childbirth educator and a doula and built her first multiple six-figure business but became burnt out because she wanted to help everyone and didn’t know how to say no * What Shayla discovered was that her peers in the birthing industry struggled because they didn’t understand how to do business so, she decided to help women run their businesses which is how she got into coaching * Shayla first started by supporting her birthing clients who didn’t want to go back to work - she would help them start businesses from home, and she would coach other doulas and childbirth educators until she was able to niche down and find out who she wanted to work with * How Shayla started working with clients one on one but says, as a giver that easily exhausted her, so she started incorporating intimate groups * Shayla describes her business as a boutique-style because she likes intimacy and says she never wanted a group of thousands of people, which is why her business morphed into a high-ticket model because it doesn’t require her to have a lot of people but rather just the right people

Shayla’s Clients + Qualifying Leads

When Shayla first entered the online space, she used the ascension model but realized quickly it wasn’t a good fit - Shayla found it more effective and a better fit for her to do speaking
Shayla would speak on other people’s stages or host events where she would get people into discovery calls or sell them into a workshop to eventually move them into her higher-ticket offer
What Shayla has realized about her customers is that they don’t have the patience to crawl up the ladder - her customers know what they want; all they have to do is decide if it’s something they want to stick with long-term or if an intensive would fit them better
Shayla tends to attract women who have made 75k - 250k in revenue - most of the women Shayla works with have made their first hundred thousand but get caught in a loop of consistently being at that level and struggle to scale without wearing themselves out
Shayla’s clients typically come from speaking, referrals, or possibly a lead magnet, but Shayla explains that they are very strategic with filtering out people and says they may use a quiz to segment what kind of emails are going where
How Shayla only focuses on having discovery calls with highly qualified clients and says you could use an application process to qualify your clients
To help qualify leads, Shayla says you want to go deeper than identifying questions and suggests asking if the applicant has ever invested in coaching and how much because it helps you understand the conversation you might have to have with them
Shayla also evaluates investment readiness in her applications by asking how ready applicants are to invest and also filters people out by asking about their current revenue
You can put questions on your application that will identify the people that you really want to work with
If someone fills out an application that is not a good fit, Shayla says it’s okay to send them an email thanking them for their application and explain that you were not able to approve it - make sure to include other resources that would be helpful or refer them to someone else
Shayla explains that you can embed your links throughout your social media platforms but stresses the importance of knowing where your audience lives online - being where your clients are is super important
The platforms Shayla likes to use are Facebook and Instagram but shares that she’s been doing more on LinkedIn

Tips for Creating a High-Ticket Offer * For a high-ticket offer, Shayla says you want to focus on one area you’re good at and work from that basic framework - where people make mistakes is having multiple frameworks and too many offers * You can use your framework for an expansive, long-term, or short-term program – like a mastermind or an 8 – 12 week course * Build your framework on your knowledge base and what you are good at, in Shayla’s community, they call it their Luxe Spot * What you can’t teach is bullshit Shayla says, because people will not buy BS - it needs to be something that works * How adding value does not mean stacking bonuses - Shayla’s belief is when you start stacking bonuses on top of your offer, you’re trying to justify a price point or trying to make it seem like it’s worth more than it really is – the offer itself should be yummy enough that people want it * Shayla explains that typically, high-ticket entry-level offers will be anywhere from 5k - 20k and a higher level offer could be 20k - 100k+ * Shayla’s 7 Luxe Touchpoints are points they make sure to hit when creating offers with clients so they create something they can be proud of and that works * One myth about high-ticket offers is that it’s going to take much more of your time because you're charging more, but Shayla says it’s the complete opposite- when you have a high-ticket offer that does what you say it’s going to do, you attract qualified clients who are looking to solve their problems quickly – they don’t typically associate time with money * When you’re moving from a lower ticket model to a higher ticket model, Shayla explains it’s all about completely restructuring your business and letting your audience know * Shayla suggests segmenting your audience on your email list if you’re going to offer high and low-ticket offers so you aren’t confusing them * If you’re already doing high-ticket offers and what to do something different, you need to ask yourself, are you looking to scale and go higher, are you trying to take yourself out of parts of the puzzle, or do you want to bring in a team * How if you’re eventually looking to sell your business, Shayla says to make sure it’s a sellable model, you’re creating systems and creating assets by trademarking your way of doing business

Myths About High-Ticket Offers + Shayla’s Current Offers

One myth Shayla shares about high-ticket offers is that people believe it will take too much time to nurture a high-ticket lead - the truth is if you nurture properly, no matter if you’re offering high or low-ticket offers, the people who are ready to say yes will say yes
Another myth is thinking people won’t want to pay for high-ticket offers - Shayla says people will pay for what they value, and if your offer speaks to their problem, they will pay
People thinking they need to be an authority figure to charge for high-ticket offers is another myth - Shayla says you already have the authority, but you also need to make sure your offer is proven and make sure your pricing makes sense
Shayla shares that it’s important to her to not be left at the bottom when it comes to her business and life - it’s important to create the freedom she needs to care for herself and her family while rising with her business
When you figure out what’s important to you, Shayla explains that the next step is making sure you honor that and shares an example of a client who wanted happiness by having more time, so she decided to track her ‘me time’ to make sure she was honoring that
How partnerships are working well in Shayla’s business today and how she likes finding other women who have messages and audiences that she aligns with and doing business with those women
Shayla’s current offers include an entry-level Luxe Business Workshop to help create your high ticket offer, the Luxe Sales System Accelerator, which is a 12-week group program, and the Luxe CEO Inner Circle, which is a high-level 12-month program
When it comes to design, Shayla has a team member who supports her in bringing her creative ideas to life
Shayla’s team includes an administrator and shares that she has contractors for graphics/design, accounting services, event planning, and marketing
If you know what you want to do, Shayla suggests just going for it and figuring it out while you’re doing it because if you wait until it’s perfect, it will never happen
Connect with Shayla on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, or check out her website

Links mentioned

Luxe Your Business Website

Luxe Sales System Accelerator

Luxe CEO Inner Circle

Connect with Shayla on Facebook

Connect with Shayla on Instagram

Connect with Shayla on LinkedIn

Connect with Shayla on YouTube

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Hunter Niland Welling is a professional organizer turned luxury marketing expert and the founder of The AgenShe. For the past 6 years, she's created exceptional marketing strategies for high-end service providers who want to scale without losing their "special touch." Her private coaching and membership community help you turn the business you have into the business you want. A cat mom + plant mom + dog mom + human mom, she lives in a tiny bungalow in Fort Worth, Texas. Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Hunter’s Background in Marketing * How Hunter and I first connected in Erika Lyremark’s Mark’d Women Mastermind, now called Marketing Crush, when I posted in our Facebook group that I was looking for some accountability partners * Hunter shares that she worked for a trend forecasting firm in high school, where she got to do a lot of marketing and copywriting, and says she leveraged that job into other marketing positions * After graduating college, Hunter was offered a lot of head of communication or marketing positions but felt burnt out from college due to personal circumstances and needed a breather * To reset, Hunter decided she needed to do something with her hands and body instead of sitting in front of a computer screen, so she started a professional organizing business that she loved * Hunter decided to go back to her zone of genius - she started making connections and started mentoring and doing marketing for luxury home organizers, which has expanded to other industries over the years * How Hunter got her job at the trend forecasting firm and how saying yes to that opportunity gave her the confidence she needed to leverage that job at college, where she started freelancing, blogging for the university career services, and started figuring out the online world * Working at the trend forecasting firm gave Hunter hands-on business experience and says she was teaching herself how to run QuickBooks, what tax filings were due, and what you had to do to stay in compliance, all of which made ownership seem less scary and like something she could do for herself * After graduating in 2010, Hunter started joining some online Facebook groups, which are where she found this whole world of people who were building online businesses * The first thing Hunter did when she started her marketing business was manage social media because she realized a lot of her business owner friends would ask her advice about social media, and she was giving that information away for free * The first social media management job Hunter had was for a friend who was a fine art photographer - her job was to help sell his fine art book through social media, and she ended up helping him build a thriving online community of tens of thousands of people * Hunter gained confidence after successfully helping her friend, so she reached out to a high-end professional organizer and said she wanted to get to know them and collaborate, and that relationship led to Hunter mentoring hundreds of professional organizers

Changing Business Models + Personal Needs in Business * For the last two years, Hunter shares that she’s been primarily working with her clients through recurring intensives * In 2019 Hunter burnt out again after running her business for 3 years and shares she was doing traditional marketing on retainers where she felt that she was on call for clients all the time - after being put on bedrest, Hunter knew she couldn’t keep running her business the same way * Hunter shares she was selling strategy and consulting sessions, but when she started offering VIP days, her clients loved it, and it helped Hunter feel like she wasn’t on call so much * Hunter realized the sales cycle for selling VIP days to earn the revenue she needed was as exhausting as the retainers, so she talked to our mutual friend, Erika, who suggested keeping VIP days but signing clients up to come back every month * Next, Hunter created her service, The Exceptionelle CMO, where she would meet with clients once a month to work on their marketing strategy, map out their plan, and then spend the rest of the day working in an intensive format, building out their social media or copywriting, whatever they needed to move the strategy forward * How Hunter got her first round of clients by sending an invitation to her top 5 favorite clients, most of which took her up on it * Each month, Hunter works with anywhere from 3 - 6 clients but says right now, she’s setting herself up to take a sabbatical in her business to refresh herself but will pick back up in 2022 * How Hunter has had to learn to work with her own energy needs and chronic illness because she knows she is susceptible to burnout and speaks about ways to avoid it for people on their journeys * When it comes to planning her sabbatical, Hunter says she’s been able to save up the cash reserve she needs, hire another team member, and has planned for the upcoming year and plans to take about a month off * Women tend to think they need to do it all, but Hunter shares that she has always leaned on teams for support, a housekeeper, and a stay at home partner to help her as well because she knows she can’t do it all * By implementing recurring intensive, Hunter was able to focus on her business with the extra time she had instead of solely focusing on her clients business * The most important thing business owners can do is ask themselves how they want to do work, what they want it to feel like, what they want to be doing with their time, and then get creative and experiment with business models to fit that * We talk about how it can be good to expand where you’re getting your information and inspiration from

Adapting Your Business for Your Future * Hunter shares that she has had a hunger for creativity and mentions that she loves Martha Stewart and the lifestyle magazine style, so she and her team are working on ways to prioritize that * The magazine has been brought to life through Hunter’s membership called, The AgenShe Club, and it includes weekly emails, best practices, strategies, ideas, and questions you can use to make your business a little kinder to your body and turn the business you have into the business you want * I discuss how and why I will be shutting down my sales page service - no one will be able to hire me for a sales page project alone, but there will be other services that could be bundled into the new offer that I’m working on * How it’s scary to be getting rid of my sales page offer, but it makes sense with the direction I want to go * I share that some of my dream jobs include creative directing photoshoots for SNL or working with The Kardashians on a photoshoot, along with so many other things * Hunter shares that they’ve been reimagining what it will look like and the way she will work with clients when she comes back from her sabbatical * How you can go on over to the AgenShe on Instagram, where you will find a link to join The AgenShe Club, and if you use the code: design, you can join for your first year for free * Hunter talks about her workshop called the Recurring Intensive Workshop, where she teaches you everything she knows about running a business and selling * Connect with Hunter on Instagram or check out her website

Links mentioned

The AgenShe

The AgenShe Club

Connect with Hunter on Instagram

Recurring Intensive Workshop

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Adrian is the Creative Director of Dragonfruit Media

Dragonfruit Media's mission statement is to make the absolute best content in the world to make the world a better place

He worked with the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic for 2 years and lived in Botswana for 6 months.

He loves theater & acting, especially musicals.

He loves basketball & he’s a Blazers fan.

His favorite books are Setting Free the Bears by John Irving & Banjo by Claude Mckay.

His role models are John Cassavetes, John Coltrane, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

He believes that human behavior is deeply impacted by fear of the unknown.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

The Creation of Dragonfruit Media + YouTube Benefits * How Adrian sent me a creative pitch and is here to talk about video is the future of content and how design plays a role in that * Adrian shares that he came back to the United States because of the pandemic after being in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic and always knew he wanted to do something in video production or visual storytelling * After returning to The United States, Adrian began working with a friend from college making YouTube videos for businesses or other creators * When they started seeing a lot of content about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), they thought about all the business surrounding outsourcing blog optimization and articles to build an organic audience and realized they could do that on YouTube * The idea behind their agency was to use the organic promotion algorithm on YouTube to help businesses, brands, and creators really grow powerful, organic audiences on the YouTube platform through optimized video content * There are many benefits to YouTube; Adrian shares that it is the second most used social media platform, and there are so many people on it that you can niche down and repurpose your YouTube content across all other platforms * Adrian explains how organic promotion and discoverability is built into YouTube’s algorithm, which means the supercomputer behind Google and Youtube is more powerful than other platforms and actively takes your content and puts it in front of potentially millions of people and is trying out to see if people will engage with it * If you are a small business owner, you have a brand or are trying to become an influencer or online creator, Adrian says YouTube is one of the best places you can go to get in front of people as quickly as possible * One of the biggest benefits to YouTube is the brand value it has by creating an archive of content that communicates your brand position, unique value proposition, brand identity, and the voice of your business in a way that Adrian believes other mediums can’t

Content Creation + Retention * Dragonfruit Media thinks of YouTube content in 3 different levels; discoverable-focused content, community-focused content, and conversion-focused content * When you’re growing a YouTube channel, you want to start with the discoverable content, trying to reach as many people as possible, and as you move down the funnel, focusing more on speaking directly to your subscribers and then eventually showing features or tutorials of your offer * If you are feeling overwhelmed by the video production process, Adrian says to start by systemizing your content creation as much as possible so it can be efficient as scalable * One way to make content creation easier is by batching - Adrian explains this is where you block off 2-3 hours of your time and record multiple videos, so you have content to push out for the whole month instead of feeling like you have to record a new video each week * At Dragonfruit media, they work with clients to identify their ideal target audience, leading into their value proposition which is where you think about how you want to help your audience, leading into content buckets and breaking up your valuable content into categories, and finally leading into video concepts * Design in video content is super important for retention - you can use design in videos through B-roll footage, transitions, text effects, animations, stock footage, etc. * Adrian shares one easy way to optimize for retention that anyone can do is through faster cutting or jump cuts, where you throw your video into any basic video editing system and cut out all the pauses as you’re talking

Dragonfruit Media Offers + Using Videos in Sales Funnels * How Dragonfruit Media breaks its services up into two categories: production and analytics * Adrian explains for their full production clients, they start with the initial ideation of video concepts, build out a long-term strategy and content plan, create titles and thumbnails, write the scripts, help with recording and production design and handle all the post-production like editing, sound design, color grading and finally manage the publication and monitor the analytics * The analytic side of Dragonfruit Media is for people who are already producing and editing their videos but want someone to deep dive into their data and take a look at what’s working, what’s not and suggest adjustments * When you’re starting to use videos for your business and sales funnel, Adrian says step 1 is to build your organic audience on YouTube and focus on discoverable content that delivers free value * Once you have built your organic audience, Adrian says step 2 is where you can start directing people off-platform and start promoting your newsletter, for example, or you can create more community-oriented videos about what you do and tie it back to the discoverable videos you’ve been making * Step 3 is to create conversion-focused content where you break down exactly what your offer is to really convey your service or product in a way that is more compelling, colorful, and convincing than a normal landing page or blog post * Adrian gives an example of a client who wasn’t necessarily trying to make sales on YouTube but saw they could build authority and become a thought leader in their niche on YouTube through video content to convey their brand value

Creating Brand Value * Dragonfruit Media is all about longevity when it comes to YouTube and focuses on building the right audience and building brand value * Adrian explains that revenue is important, but it also can be hard to track how on YouTube, so he says your mindset when investing in your YouTube channel should be more focused on getting in front of more people, increasing the value of your brand, and growing your business * If you are investing in your YouTube channel for six months and your profits are stalling, maybe it’s not the best time to be investing in a channel, Adrian says, but if you have the cash flow to put towards your channel, you’re receiving a positive response and your business is growing, you know you’re doing something right * The best way to see your immediate ROI is to look at the comment section, see how many likes you’re getting, see if people are sharing your videos, and look at the overall feedback * When you’re thinking about what kind of videos to create, Adrian says it comes down to what your ideal audience wants to see, how much time you have, and the resources you have to put into it * Adrian reiterates the fact that YouTube doesn’t have to be scary, and says with just a couple extra hours a week, pretty much anyone can build a trusting, significant subscriber base on YouTube who will have the highest probability of investing in you * Go check out the landing page Dragonfruit Media created for The Design Business Show listeners at dragonfruitmedia.co/melissa to get some freebies, including a YouTube guide and an optimized checklist of video best practices

Links mentioned

Dragonfruit Media

The Design Business Show Freebies

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Danielle Hayden is a reformed corporate CFO (chief financial officer) who is on a mission to help rule-breaking female entrepreneurs understand their numbers so they can gain the confidence needed to create sustainable profits. After spending 10+ years in the boardroom as a corporate finance officer, Danielle is now in her sweet spot as the co-owner of Kickstart Accounting, Inc. where she helps business owners with bookkeeping, financial analysis, and education, and as the author of the Profit Planner book series. When Danielle isn’t crunching numbers on her clients’ behalf or crafting the next iteration of the Profit Planner, you can find her hanging with her two kids as she inspires them to lead their fullest lives or doing any, and almost every fitness-related activity ranging from Spartan races to pilates.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Danielle’s Background + Career Pivot * How our mutual friend, Angie connected us and why I wanted to invite Danielle on the show to talk numbers because her expertise is one we’ve never really talked about before * Danielle shares that she went to school to be a hairdresser and was working in a salon but taking classes so she could someday own her own salon - she realized she loved the numbers behind the salon that had to do with data and goal setting, which was accounting * The pivot from hairdresser to accounting and how Danielle received her master’s degree in accounting and financial management * The story of how Danielle started working in the global department for Ernst & Young, where she analyzed accounting software and worked her way up to being on the executive team where they were looking at the numbers to figure out how to make better business decisions overall * How accounting and bookkeeping roles are important because if the data is not entered correctly, you can’t use it to accurately analyze the business or make business decisions * Danielle shares that she worked at a few midsized companies as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), where she was able to work with teams that had the goal of building the business and then sell it to a private equity firm or set of investors, which taught her a lot about maximizing growth as fast as possible with an exit strategy * As entrepreneurs, we should be thinking about how we can grow our business and how it can still operate without us if we ever want to sell it or if something were to happen to us * Danielle did volunteer work at a local entrepreneurship hub in Cleveland, Ohio, where she would hear business owners say they didn’t understand the numbers and felt frustrated because they didn’t know where to go for help or how to put a bookkeeping system into place * After hearing so many business owners’ struggles, Danielle was motivated to find a way to help them and make an impact because she understood that they couldn’t make solid business decisions without the data needed to grow the business * How Danielle went on a mission to help small business owners get bookkeeping in place, get organized, help them understand the numbers, and never put the bookkeeping back on them because it’s usually the last thing creative entrepreneurs want to do * What’s important to find in a bookkeeper is not someone who just puts in the numbers, but someone who will have a conversation with you about what’s going on in your business and wants to help hold you accountable Danielle explains * Danielle explains that her favorite way she and her team are making numbers sexy again is by giving their clients beautiful charts and a dashboard with their financials that are easy to read rather than their clients having to dig into every number and every excel spreadsheet * Kickstart Accounting’s goal is to create a safe place where clients don’t feel judged on their financials and can ask the questions that they’ve been embarrassed to ask in the past

Business Systems + Business Planning * Danielle’s advice for entrepreneurs is to separate business and personal finances, have a tracking system like QuickBooks, and then make sure all your transactions are in your system and categorized correctly * When it comes to reports, Danielle suggests starting by reviewing your numbers each quarter; this includes looking at the profit and loss, the balance sheet, and Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that matter for your business - some KPI examples are revenue retention, number of leads, closed leads, revenue, profit, or net income * Not all bookkeepers are created equal, so it’s important to find a firm that has the background and resources to give you all the information you need or have a conversation with your current bookkeeper and ask if you want to see your financial statements monthly and review with them if that would be included in your fee * When clients want to make a pivot in their business, Danielle will have a planning session or a budget session with them which can be in a group session or one-on-one. * During planning sessions, they look at the last 12 - 24 months of the business with clients focusing on where revenue is coming from, where expenses are, and see what worked and what they learned - the next step is to plan for the next 12 months * When planning for your next 12 months, Danielle says you need to think about where you need to invest and who you need, when you need them, or how much money you need to save to make this pivot in your business * Danielle advises her clients to use the 48-hour rule when they see something they’d like to invest in - she says wait for 48-hours to give yourself enough time and space to consider the investment; after you’ve waited for 48-hours, Danielle says to email your bookkeeper and ask them how it would impact your financials and goals for the year * If you’re new to starting a business, Danielle says the first thing you need to do is create a business and financial plan because any bank or investor is going to want to see your business plan - in it say why your business is unique, how you plan on growing the business, layout the cash you need and why and explain when and how you’ll make that cash back * Once you have your business plan in place, Danielle explains again that you need to separate your business and personal finance and have a tracking system because how can anyone invest in your business if you can’t track where you’re going to spend that money * Danielle shares different options you can use for funding, such as banks, debt financing companies, and even suggests going to local small business groups and hubs because they usually have several resources that can help line you up with investors who might be willing to invest in your business * If you’re starting a business and don’t see a profit within the first year, Danielle says to give yourself a break because she doesn’t see very many of their clients start their business and are profitable for those first 1-3 years - go easy on yourself, you’re investing and growing a business

Creating a Sellable Business * We mention a book we’ve both read called, Built to Sell by John Warrillow that transformed our businesses - the book is about a marketing agency that was offering everything under the sun then met with a consultant who said become really good at one thing so you can build your business and sell it * Danielle explains that in order to have a sellable business, have the standard operating procedures in place, know how your company does it and ask yourself if every piece needs to touch you * Think about how you could create systems and processes so that when you hire your first contractor or employee, they can come on and be effective and do it with the same level of care as you do * Anyone who wants to invest or buy your business is going to want to see how you’re making money and where you’re making it, which is why Danielle says it’s so important to have those accounting systems in place * Danielle says to start small if you need, you can take one thing you learned from today’s episode, implement it and then build on it - remember to go easy on yourself and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need help * Visit their website and check out their resources or connect with Danielle on Instagram

Links mentioned

Kickstart Accounting, Inc.

Profit Planner

Built to Sell by John Warrillow

Connect with Danielle on Instagram

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Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Shar’s Background + Design School * How Shar initially reached out to me on Instagram and how we’ve stayed in contact ever since * As a child, Shar was creative but ended up going to school for neuroscience, where she received her bachelor’s degree in psychology - she started her PhD program but quickly realized it wasn’t what she wanted to be doing even though the work itself was valuable. * Shar explains that she changed paths to pursue an MBA instead and tried to get into marketing and advertising agencies for about a year with no success and says she felt very discouraged * Finally, an agency that Shar had sent her resume to reached out and asked her to do an internship with them - she accepted and worked in SEO and SEM but says that she was fascinated with the graphic design department there and realized that’s what she wanted to be doing * Shar Shares that she went to Portfolio Center of Design and did a 2-year program and after moved to New York, where she began working in an ideation firm * We talk about how in high school, we didn’t know there was this creative world that you could be part of where you didn’t have to be considered a starving artist and how our country has been more accepting of creativity * Shar recommends a TED Talk called, Do schools kill creativity? given by Ken Robinson

Getting Into the Design Industry * How Shar found such strong differences between working in design houses vs. working in advertising and says she learned a lot from working in marketing and advertising but felt more comfortable working in design * Shar explains that it took her a couple of years to figure out her design identity and says she tried working in print, advertising, branding, packaging, etc. * How Shar was able to get into agencies to work in things like media buying, SEO, or social media but couldn’t get into graphic design right away because she didn’t have a portfolio even though the agencies agreed she had raw talent * Shar shares why she thinks it’s hard to break into graphic design work at agencies as a self-taught designer because they typically think that if this is your job, you should go to school to study your craft, and they want to rest assured that you have the training and knowledge needed to design because they take it seriously * Why we need to bridge the gap between people who took the traditional design route and the people who are self-taught designers or who just graduated from school * When thinking about building a portfolio, Shar says it’s important to figure out what you love doing first because you want your portfolio to be relevant to the work you want to be doing * How you should focus on specializing to a certain extent instead of being a jack of all trades because once you master a certain area, if you want to pivot, people will believe in it, and you because you showed them you mastered something already * Shar thinks people should perfect the craft they want to be good at and think about what kind of designer they want to be because everything takes a different route and gives the example of her best friend who also went to school at the same time as her, but took a different route into advertising * The story of how Shar worked very hard at school, which even meant sleeping there most nights because she lived an hour away - she shares that she was eating, sleeping, and breathing design to prove that her work was just as good as anyone else * Shar’s advice to those listening is to think about what you want, how badly you want it, and where you want to go - and if people are not seeing it, you have to take a step back and say, is everyone picking on me or am I missing something? * The story of how Shar wasn’t able to pay for her last year of school and had to move back home with her mom had no money to her name but launched an online store on Etsy store selling pop culture-focused phone cases that went viral and helped pay for her last year of school

Creating Your Portfolio + Provoke Design * If you want to build your portfolio, study your craft, and take on free projects if you need to - Shar shares that she took on some very low paying projects so she could master her craft * Shar says as a new designer; you shouldn’t be so eager for money because you still need to understand the industry and learn but says, if you master your craft, you can charge whatever you want * When you’re trying to learn, Shar recommends finding a small, local agency that puts out better work than your own and saying, hey, I want to learn, and if you have the capacity to teach me, great * Another piece of advice Shar gives is, be willing to intern for free so you can learn the skills you need, especially if you are self-taught; that way, they can be your teacher, and they can help you master your craft * Shar created Provoke Design because she saw an unmet need of the market - after working at a lot of different places, she noticed one consistent thing was that she was usually the only person of color and one of the only women, and also noticed the clients she worked with or the products they would put out lacked diversity * When Shar worked for Hillary Clinton, Hillary was an advocate for change, and if you didn’t see the change you wanted, she encouraged to do it yourself, so that’s what Shar did - Shar didn’t start Provoke Design because she wanted a design firm, she did it to start changing the design industry * Shar says she works with all types of businesses but works to keep her business accessible to brands that can’t afford to go to the best branding houses * For the first couple of years, Shar was the only full-time person, and she worked with other partners from writers and strategists to art directors and producers based on project budgets * Shar is currently working on the logistics of building an in-house team with the primary focus of staying accessible * Shar wants to remind you that regardless of your situation or circumstances, you can make a path for yourself - do what it takes to get there and don’t be afraid to do the things that may be seen as unconventional * Connect with Shar through the Provoke website or follow them on Instagram

Links mentioned:

Provoke Design Website

TED Talk - Do schools kill creativity?

Connect with Shar on Instagram

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Hey friends! Melissa here. If you’re new here or if you’ve been listening for a while, as always, I’m grateful you’re here.

It’s been a minute since I’ve done a solo episode and this time of year a lot of people are taking time off, getting ready for the new year, and may not even know what day it is, so I thought it would be fun to do something different.

Speaking of different - I’m curious…. What could we do better / differently with this show? We’re in the almost-final stages of our rebrand and I want to know…

Do you want me to interview someone you admire?
Talk more about a specific topic?
Do more solo shows?
Talk more about sales pages?
Talk more about my business?
I’m open to any and all feedback.

You can email it directly to me at design@melissaburkheimer.com or DM me on Instagram @Melissaburkheimer.

When it comes to business, my dreams and goals look much different today than they did even a year ago. Can you relate?

One thing I’ve learned after 10 years in business is that my approach to branding is different. I’ve even said on the show that I didn’t think I was good at branding, and I’m going to say for the record, that I was wrong.

I’ve spent the last 7 years really mastering the art of sales page design, and what that really meant was using design to brand my clients’ offers.

Sometimes the design is similar to their business brand. Or we go totally off brand.

I remember the time I designed a sales page for a client who was hosting an event in the same room as the Golden Globe awards. It had a very Kendall Jenner’s 2021 Met Gala dress vibe. Silver and sparkly. Elegant.

It was really fun to design that page. :)

It’s probably why I designed sales pages for so long. It’s fun. Different. Most designers I know don’t like doing them. Early in the new year I’ll be retiring my sales page design offer, and I’ve been thinking a lot about my own brand and what I want to do next.

I’ve launched + sold dozens of different offers since I’ve been in business, and the way I’ve built my brand goes against normal branding advice.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with normal branding advice. It’s just that my approach is different, and I think it works well if you have a freelance business, sell digital offers, and/or are building your own brand online. If you’re selling a physical product, I don’t think it would work as well.

I like to test my offers first to see if I like them, and then invest the time and money in the sales page + branding for them.

Here’s why: Deciding what your offers are going to be BEFORE you’ve tested them could be a mistake. Because what if you have an idea for something you want to do, and then you do it, and don’t like it?

It’s soooo important to really love and be excited about your offers and really understand the difference you’re making in your industry, BEFORE you build a brand around them.

Ideas for new offers are great. But you won’t know if you love them, until you try & test things.

And this is what I’ll be doing now that I’ve decided to retire my sales page design service. Testing new offers in new industries to get new experience. And then decide if I want to keep doing it.

Here's a couple examples of what this looks like:

Example #1:

One of my clients and friends, Edie, is a talented designer. She wanted to update her website with new offers, and had an idea for people to hire her in a new way.

What did she do? She went out and sold her "beta" offer to 5 new clients without a working sales page or fancy funnel within a few weeks.

Again, there's no magic formula here. It was her idea to work with clients in a new way. She told people who expressed interest in working with her about her offer. And then followed through to get the sale.

And guess what? She loves it! And she got paid to test out her new service before adding it to her suite of design offers.

Example #2:

One of my friends is a lawyer who works full-time and is building her business on the side (with 3 small kids at home!). She runs a 6-week branding bootcamp, and wanted to launch a membership.

She wanted to launch a membership, to create a follow up offer for the graduates of her 6-week program.

A membership is great. But it’s a long commitment, and when you’re limited on time (3 kids, a FT job, and a business!) it may not be the best long-term option.

My recommendation? Instead of launching a membership, offer a 3-month beta accelerator or mastermind for her bootcamp members.

She loved this idea for a ton of reasons. The main one: she can test it out to see if she likes it.

When I started designing sales pages in 2013, my clients didn't have fancy websites or brands. They were following this exact process of testing their offers through launching. And when they refined their offers, that's when they rebranded.

So clearly, it works!

When you don’t want to do something anymore, it’s okay to quit. Or pause. Or pivot.

Most of this year I spent pressing pause on a lot of things I'd normally do to decide where I want to press play.

While I was pressing pause I spent time doing another thing I love: decluttering.

I find it ridiculously satisfying to clear out + organize a space in my house.

I repeatedly walk by the newly organized space to admire my work. Again and again. Seriously so satisfying. I know. I'm weird.

My digital space, um, well, still needs a lot of work.

So far, I've deleted 3000+ emails, 3500 photos, and a bazillion files off my old computer. And I'm not done yet.

In a closet, decluttering creates space for a new summer dress or new pair of boots.

In a business, decluttering creates space for new design + launch strategy offers for new clients. <---- A peak at what I'm working on for the new and improved version of Melissa Burkheimer Studio. :)

Typically in this part of a podcast the we've been taught is to give you a 3-step process to test + brand your new offer. Or a how-to guide for decluttering your business.

Decluttering might help you. Or it might not.

I will share this: Decluttering is one of my favorite business strategies because it MAKES me to create space and energy for the things I want. I know for me, if I don't declutter, I probably won't get the guts to go after my bigger dreams.

I apply this strategy to my business, my closet, and even in my designs. Seriously. How annoying is it to navigate a website that's messy and cluttered?

The Melissa Burkheimer Studio as you know it (if you've been here a while!) is getting a major re-invention. I'll be sharing more soon, of course, after I test my new ideas.

If you have questions - you can totally ask them. Just DM me on Instagram.

For today - I don't have a business or design tip. Just sharing my branding advice that goes against the norm. And confessing about my obsession with decluttering.

Thanks for reading / listening!

Links mentioned:

Sales Page Superstar

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Craig Cannings is the co-founder of Freelance University with his wife, Kelly. Craig has had the privilege of helping over 20,000 students in 75 countries realize their dreams of launching a portable, freelance business (and lifestyle). He has enjoyed the great freedom of working from home and traveling abroad while raising 5 wonderful daughters.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

The Launch of Freelance University * Craig’s background is in psychology and he was a counselor for a few years before making a pivot and joining his brother in-law who started a software company in 2003 * In 24 months the business onboarded 40 people - Craig shares that his job was to train every new freelancer and person working with their remote software company * How craig realized his talent and enjoyment for training/teaching people which led him and his wife, Kelly to launch Freelance University in 2008 * Freelance University was launched to train freelancers in multiple different skill areas so they could start their own portable, flexible business * The story of how Craig and Kelly were able to onboard their first 7 students into their course by running a small Google Ad and hosting a free teleseminar * When they first launched Freelance University, they had 1 course, now they offer 80 courses and have multiple tracks and instructors * Craig explains how slow the onboarding process was back in 2003 while working remotely * When Craig was freelancing his niche was called web based marketing (now digital marketing) and was doing affiliate marketing, paid advertising, SEO and business development * As Craig moved into the University, he got more involved and was freelancing in course design and curation for clients in addition to creating his own * Craig says, because there are so many different opportunities in freelancing, where you start is not necessarily going to be where you end up

Offerings at Freelance University * Running a business from home while raising kids and homeschooling them requires a lot of thought and strategy, Craig says but explains that he and Kelly were very disciplined with the free time they had and built effective systems over time * At the University, they do a lot of the business startup training such as setting up your virtual office, figuring out what your website will look like, your niche, what service you’ll offer, etc. * Once people finish up the startup training at the University, they go into 1 of their 8 core tracks like, social media management, digital marketing, copywriting, web design, etc. where the University then gives them the technical skills they need to provide these services * Once someone has been certified, the next step is joining the job directory at the University to get plugged in with potential clients * On their website, you can find people by searching for what service you need, for example if you need someone to help you with social media management, or you can send a job posting to the board * When the University first started, they were offering a la carte courses but about 5 years ago they made the decision to put everything under one hood and turn it into an education based membership, where people can buy annually or monthly and get access to all 80 courses, all 8 tracks, mentorship, the job board and community * How Freelance University created, Eight Ways to Thrive While Working at Home as a Freelancer because they saw an increase of remote working after the Covid-19 pandemic - Craig says working from home is skill that can be learned if you want to make it work

Adding Structure + Tools to Your Remote Working Lifestyle * Freelancing can make it seem like you’re free from a boss, dress codes, and a work commute but Craig says you still need to have some form of structure * Craig explains the importance of building a work schedule to keep yourself on track, having rituals in your day so your work and personal lives don’t become too mixed, and guarding your technology so you’re not constantly on it during your personal time * One important tool Craig suggests using when working remotely is a PM app (Project Management App) he shares different PM apps like, Trello, Asana, and ClickUp and says they are great for laying out your schedule * If you’re in the freelance space, Craig highly encourages you to get a client management app to create a seamless onboarding process and touches on all the built-in tools they offer for your convenience * You might also want to consider using a time management app to help you track your time, or a password management tool that allow you to never forget a password

Popular Niches in Freelancing + Tips for Building Your Business * When picking a niche, Craig says to look at what's going on in the marketplace because you never want to train in an area that no one is hiring in * Some popular niches in freelancing are currently, digital marketing, social media management, ad management, copywriting, virtual and digital media space management, virtual assistants, or any technical skill like graphic design. * On the Freelance University website they have a free guide, Discover 21 In-Demand Freelance Services to Offer in 2021 to help you find a niche that might be a good fit for you * Craig explains that it’s important to understand that you’re not going to build a thriving, full-time business overnight, you will probably have a full-time or part-time job while you’re side hustling, then through babysteps your side hustle will eventually become your full-time business * When things aren’t working out in your business, like not hitting your expenses for example, Craig says it’s important to evaluate your business and see if you can reduce your expenses temporarily or see if there’s a free app you can use instead of the paid app you might be subscribing to * Craig shares that it’s important to block off time for marketing each week, whether that’s reaching out to potential clients or networking because it’s going to make you more visible which will lead to more potential clients * At Freelance University, they have an area called The Client Training Center which includes 9 courses that teach students how to network, make digital cold calls, set up a client-friendly website, etc. * If you are someone who is interested in working for yourself, Craig encourages you to pursue freelancing because the industry is blowing up - don’t miss the opportunity * Go to the Freelance University website to learn more and check out the FreeU Blog or Freelance Podclass

Links mentioned

Freelance University

Eight Ways to Thrive While Working at Home as a Freelancer

Discover 21 In-Demand Freelance Services to Offer in 2021

FreeU Blog

Freelance Podclass

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Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board

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Amisha Shrimanker is a conversion copywriter and founder of The Copy Crew - a boutique copywriting agency. She specializes in writing launch copy for digital course creators, coaches, experts, and membership site launchers.

Amisha is also known as the person who gives a damn about her clients' digital launches. Sometimes even more than they do.

She's the creator of The ROI Sales Page, The CEO Essential Email Scripts and soon to be launched The Audit Superstar.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

The Start to Amisha’s Copywriting Career * How Amisha was introduced to my work at The Copywriter Underground where I did a guest training on design and how we met again at group coaching program and how we’ve been able to stay connected through the online space * Amisha shares that she was copywriting well before she ever called herself a copywriter and in 2018 decided to start her copywriting business which has been full of many experiences over the last 3 years * Through a Facebook group, Amisha was able to get her first client who needed a lead generation funnel - Amisha shares that it was a 5k project * Before starting her copywriting business, Amisha was working on building passive income through digital products and shares that it was not going well * Amisha heard a business coach say, the best way to make money if you want to get started in the online space is to offer a service because once you get really good at offering that service it’s easier to transition into coaching * After hearing that great piece of advice, Amisha decided to start offering copywriting as a service and would then think about coaching/mentoring as a next step in her career

Offers in Amisha’s Business + Her Business Pivot * How Amisha took time to think about what else she could do to create assets in her business and says she launched her digital shop this year * Amisha released The CEO Essential Email Scripts, which are 50 email scripts that help service providers frame their ask and help them with communication in different scenarios * Another offer Amisha has in business is her sales page copywriting mini course called, The ROI Sales Page, which is her take on how to write sales copy * Amisha is excited to share that she launched a group coaching offer, a 4-week bootcamp called, The Audit Superstar that teaches copywriters and digital marketers how to perform sales page audits * Amisha explains how taxing launches can be and says she realized the need for a better work-life balance so she looked at her services and thought about what she could teach to her clients that she was currently offering as a service - the first thing she thought of was teaching other copywriters how to perform sales page audits * Amisha’s take on VIP days and how audits are different * The pivot in Amisha’s business wasn’t really a big one she explains, it was more about thinking through what she had already been doing as a service provider and how she could teach that to other people and create other assets out of existing services * When most people hear about copywriters they think that they get paid to write and Amisha’s bold take on it is that she gets paid to think first, then she gets paid to write

Adding Personality in Your Writing + Amisha’s Team * Amisha explains that your professional emails don't need to be boring and dry - you should be adding your values and personality because that's what will make you memorable, she gives us an example of this by reading the first 3 sentences of one of her emails * With the power of technology and social media, your customers will look you up and they want to see that you carry the same personality across each platform, whether that’s on Instagram or through your emails * Amisha’s favorite emails to write are to her email list - she has 2 types of emails that go out to them, of course the normal tips + case studies and then she also has a series called, My Copy Couch, which goes out 1-2 times a month and is a behind the scenes look at her business * A look into Amisha’s boutique agency and her team which includes, Amisha as the chief strategist and writer, another copywriter who conducts all the market research, a professional copy editor and a tech VA who helps with funnel design and the tech setup * How Amisha isn’t ready to hire a junior copywriter yet because she’s not ready to give up that role in her business but has started identifying the parts of copy she might want to outsource when she’s ready * Amisha shares that she wants to explore the coaching side of the business more * Check out Amisha’s website to learn more about her and her business

Links mentioned:

The Copy Crew Website

The ROI Sales Page

The CEO Essential Email Scripts

The Audit Superstar

Like what you heard?

Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

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Nora Zimerman is a Designer and Creative Director offering Soul Branding and Website Design.

She creates branded website experiences that capture the true essence of a business whilst honouring their Soul’s Mission. She has a talent for fully reflecting the Soul of a business onto the online space.

Her clients are Teachers, Leadership coaches, Multidimensional Healers, Lightworkers and organisations delivering and supporting deep transformation and consciousness for the benefit of all.

Her unique Soul Brand Alignment Method supports clients in birthing a truly aligned branded look and feel for their websites.

Her extensive experience in corporations and Design agencies combined with her spiritual path and embodied feminine practices provides a potent combination of Design, Strategy and Spirituality to the Branding and Website process.

She is an avid swimmer, loves singing, dancing and walking in the Surrey hills. She is also a Women’s Temple facilitator and from time to time creates awesome party playlists. She is originally from Argentina and has lived in the UK for over 30 years. She lives in Surrey, UK and is a mum to two adult children.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Nora’s Background in Design * How Nora and I were introduced by Lacy Boggs who was on Episode 92 of The Design Business Show * From a young age Nora knew she wanted to be a graphic designer, but there was no graphic design degree in Argentina so she settled for architecture because it was the closest thing and she had grown up around that field because her father was an architect * Nora completed three years of architecture school and then began to look for other opportunities and says she did some advertising work * One summer Nora’s mom told her they were planning to offer a graphic design degree at The University of Buenos Aires and suggested Nora to come back to pursue it, and she did * Nora talks about being part of the new graphic design program at the university and what her experience was like * One day Nora caught a ride with 2 other men on campus and they decided to create their own studio together * Their studio was called The Reform, and Nora shares that they did a lot of well-known work for different brands and touches on the government changes Argentina was going through at the time which opened up many opportunities for them * Nora shares that the dad of one of her partners acted as their account manager and would bringing clients to them; through word of mouth people heard about their studio and started commissioning them to do work * At the studio, Nora was a designer and says they were doing point of sale, packaging, logo design, really anything they could really since they were just starting out * Nora shares that she had a job designing a rock and roll magazine and talks about how fun it was seeing all the musicians come for photoshoots and watching them play live * The studio came to an end when Nora and her partners were finishing up university * While traveling, Nora met her ex-husband who was british and ended up coming to the UK knowing very little english * To learn english, Nora enrolled in a master’s degree at Chelsea College of Arts because she thought it would be more beneficial to learn and talk to people about what she loves versus taking english lessons at night * Nora applied for an in-house design studio job at Procter & Gamble in the UK and worked for them nearly 15 years * One benefit to working at Procter & Gamble Nora says is that she was able to see all the marketing being done for big brands and saw how they were operating instead of just being isolated to design * Nora tells us what kind of work she did at Procter & Gamble and shares that she would write guidelines for use for many different brands which she loved doing * Towards the end of her time at Procter & Gamble, Nora felt misaligned with the products they were selling

From Freelancing to Running a Business * What moved Nora to start freelancing was her busy, unsustainable lifestyle as a single mom of 2 kids who was out working and commuting each day * About 6 years ago, Nora decided to take her design work a little more seriously and now runs her own business * Nora shares that marketing her own business was challenging at first because she explains that design work is very behind the scenes and it wasn’t really in her nature to promote it * Something Nora tells her clients is, no one else is going to be offering what you offer in the same exact way you do, so don’t listen to all of the self doubt you may be having - remember to have a clear voice and make sure you’re aligned with what you are saying * Nora realized she wanted to really collaborate with clients instead of just being an implementer of their ideas or her ideas only * When collaborating with clients, Nora really likes to fully understand the brand, understand why people are attracted to them and allow the clients to drop in and connect to the essence of their offer * Because Nora trained in women’s temple facilities and ran women’s circles, she began to use some of her practices for women to drop inside and really feel what if felt like to be with clients * Nora explains that what they’re doing is translating the in-person experience to the online space * What women’s temple training is — Nora explains that it is focused on becoming very present and attuned to what’s aligned in the moment so people can become attuned to their gifts, their service and what they are here to do

Nora’s Design Process * How Nora’s process for her program starts with 4-6 weeks of a discovery and inquiry phase where her clients go through some video meditation and answer questionnaires — Nora shares that she got the method she uses from her mentor Michelle * Nora explains that she uses a combination of the practices she’s learned to create her own in-depth process for working with clients and designing websites * How Nora works with established businesses who are upgrading, it may be through their website or through a new vision they’ve had or because they had a spiritual awakening and want a change * After Nora’s clients go through the discovery and inquiry phase, they then prepare for the photoshoot and dive deep into what they want to communicate with the photos * Once Nora has all the material, she designs the website — Nora explains that some people want to know how to use their website so she creates tutorials for them and some people don’t want to know, so she sets them up with a developer who will be supporting them and their business * Nora shares that her website design process takes a minimum of 3 months but her group program takes only 10 weeks and says her group program uses the same methodology

Tips for Creating a Successful Website * As the year comes to an end, Nora shares that she’s excited to launch some of her group program client websites and she’s also excited for the launch of her own website * When you’re thinking about your website, Nora says to remember that it’s there to create a connection, it needs to be easy to navigate, understand and the person landing on your website needs to understand why they would be a good customer or not * Nora shares three things she thinks a website needs to have for it to be successful: connection, clarity and alignment with the business * Another offer Nora has is one on one strategy sessions to help people get through the blocks they may be experiencing * If you are on any social media platform, Nora urges you to treat that platform like a website and says if you’re looking to create your own website, pick existing websites you like and think about why you feel connected to them * Nora says don’t be too worried about using your own words or your tone of voice because your website must be aligned with who you are * Check out Nora’s website, where she offers a free masterclass which is all about aligning your soul’s brand to your mission or service

Links mentioned

The Design Business Show 092 with Lacy Boggs

Nora’s Website

Nora’s Free Masterclass

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Anne is a product leader, a startup advisor, and subject matter expert in AI, blockchain, tech ethics and inclusivity. She is the owner of Griffin Product & Growth, a product consulting and advising firm. Her workshop Human First, Product Second teaches organizations and professionals how to think about building more human, inclusive, and ethical tech products. She has lectured at prestigious universities across North America such as Columbia University, West Point, the University of Montreal, and Morgan State University, spoken at major events such as SXSW, and created courses for O’Reilly Media. You can also listen to her takes on AI, blockchain, and other technologies on the YouTube Original series, RetroTech, with Marquees Brownlee, and podcasts such as Blockchain Won’t Save the World, Dream Nation Love, and Let’s Chat Ethics.

She has built her career in tech over the last decade working with organizations such as Priceline, Microsoft, Comcast, Mercedes-Benz, and ConsenSys, the premiere blockchain software technology company on the Ethereum blockchain. Anne continues to work with and research the practical human aspects of technology and building products with emerging and disruptive technologies. Outside of her work, Anne is a voracious learner, frequent traveler, beach enthusiast, and seriously committed to self-care, workouts, and barbecuing.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Anne’s Background as a Product Manager * How Anne and I met through our friend Shontavia Johnson and how Anne is here to talk about job search tips in the tech and online space * Anne tells us that she is a product manager for a travel e-commerce company and has been in technology for 12+ years * Through 12 years in tech, Anne has looked for jobs multiple times and has gotten good at getting companies to come to her - she has a long list of companies, like Twitter, Google, Amazon, etc. who have reach out to her within the last year when she didn’t even apply * Why Anne started her small group coaching program and how it’s all about getting jobs to come to you, how to increase your chance of hearing back from them, interview prep and negotiating * What product management and design have in common is that they both care a lot about the customer and about what the company is trying to drive their customer to do * Anne shares how she worked at a blockchain startup before the travel e-commerce company and shares what she loves about her current job is she gets to help people find good deals on travel

The Importance of LinkedIn

One of the most important things when you’re job searching or trying to get jobs to reach out to you is having an updated LinkedIn profile Anne says
Anne suggests finding 10 jobs that you would love to have, whether you’re qualified or not and write down all the words that repeat in those job listings and says as long as those words apply to you, you should then rewrite your LinkedIn and resume to include those important words
It’s important to include keywords, like those that repeat in job listings on your LinkedIn because of LinkedIn’s algorithm and for when recruiters are searching keywords to find potential candidates
Another important tip Anne shares is to be active on LinkedIn, she says you don’t need to write silly posts but even sharing an article you read with 2 sentences about it boosts your relevance
The story of how was contacted by a company when she had no experience because her LinkedIn was the second profile to pop up when they searched the keywords, Product Manager + Machine Learning + New York - she didn’t lie about her experience but expressed her interest on her profile and used keywords that ranked her high in their search
How it’s important to include keywords but Anne also says it’s important to include things you’re passionate about towards the bottom of your bio even if they aren’t directly related to your work

Strategy for Cover Letters + Resumes * When it comes to getting your dream job, Anne also stresses the importance of networking, whether that’s in-person or through online groups and shares how she got her current job through networking in online groups * One of the biggest things Anne’s students have to overcome is the fear of reaching out to people because many people are scared to say they’re looking for a job or are looking for help when in reality, most people will want to help you * Anne shares that some places don’t care if you have a cover letter or not but she’s also had recruiters admit that they don’t have time to go through all the resumes that are sent so they will filter out the ones that didn’t include a cover letter and not even read them * If you’re applying to a large company who probably receives a lot of resumes, Anne suggests including a cover letter * The typical formula Anne has people follow for cover letters is to introduce yourself, then talk about why you’re specifically interested in the company/role, next go into why they should be interested in you, aka your experience/accomplishments, and lastly wrap it up and keep it relevant * When it comes to your resume, Anne says you’ll want to use keywords just like on your LinkedIn and says if you have extensive years of experience your resume can be 2 pages long, but if you just graduated college you should keep it to 1 page

Imposter Syndrome * Anne says one of the biggest killers of LinkedIn and resumes is imposter syndrome, where people undersell their accomplishments and gives an example of a student who was underselling the things she had done * Don’t decide for the company that your experience is not relevant, Anne says to make sure you tie your experience back to the company even if it may not be the traditional experience they’re looking for * When you are looking for jobs, connect with people at the company - Anne says make sure you introduce yourself and explain very specifically why you’re connecting with them * Some advice Anne has for imposter syndrome is to write down all your accomplishments and read through it regularly because you might be surprised by the things you forgot or by the things you don’t give yourself credit for * Imposter syndrome also stems from failure so Anne touches on how no one is perfect at anything which more people need to realize and says if you’re at a place of work that demands perfection, it might be a toxic work environment * How Sara Blakely’s (Spanx founder) dad used to tell her, if you’re not failing, you’re not trying - Anne agrees with that because if you’re not making mistakes in some way, you’re not living and says we tend to put people on pedestals without realizing that everyone makes mistakes

Preparing for Interviews + Negotiating * When preparing for interview, do your research and make sure you know what they do - Anne also suggests clicking the news tab on Google when you search the company because that gives you a lot of good information too * Make sure you prepare yourself for common interview questions like, when was a time you had to convince someone of something, or when was a time you had to work with someone difficult * If you are a naturally nervous person, Anne suggests doing mock interviews or recording your interview questions, that way you can get a lot of your nerves out before your actual interview * Anne says you should think about what you want to get paid and then go up a little from there when employers ask about the range you want to be paid * If you’re in an interview and they ask you about your pay range, Anne says she always flips it back on them and asks, “what is your range for this role?” * To find salaries for tech and design jobs, Anne mentions using Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, or Blind * The biggest mistake people make when negotiating is not taking non-salary things into consideration and Anne gives examples of this concerning relocation costs and health insurance * Any time Anne changes jobs, she has a spreadsheet that compares each aspect of the job side by side so she can fully understand how much each item is actually worth * Anne says be gentle with yourself because job searches are hard even when you have a lot of experience, there will be rejection but you need to go easy on yourself because the company may have liked you but it might have been one tiny thing that put another candidate ahead of you * Take care of your mental health first because Anne says you cannot show up confidently in interviews or combat your imposter syndrome if you are beating yourself up all the time * Connect with Anne on her Pivot Grow Hustle Website or on Twitter * Remember to be yourself so the right people can find you

Links mentioned

Levels.fyi

Glassdoor

Blind

Pivot Grow Hustle Website

Connect with Anne on Twitter

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Lauren Schwartz from California is a thought leader in creating profitable creative strategies for e-commerce brands. Design professional with over 15 years of experience. Over the last 8 years working in digital marketing.

Lauren's passions lie in creating top-performing ad creatives. She has personally led the creative strategy for top brands such as Love Wellness, APL, Colourpop, Our Place, and Leaf Shave.

She is obsessed with design and creative strategy, and in her downtime, she enjoys teaching others her profitable creative methodology and focusing on DTC Advertising, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and Pinterest.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Lauren’s Background + E-commerce Changes * Lauren says she’s always loved art and the digital side of things, more specifically figuring out shopping behaviors - as paid media became bigger she fell in love with that as well which is how she got into e-commerce space * One of Lauren’s first digital jobs was working at a company where they made point of sale (POS) systems for restaurants * When Lauren first started in the e-commerce space, it was all about figuring out the design of websites and email marketing, and now she says it has changed drastically into a social media digital space where everything is very focus on e-commerce and being on your phone * How the design landscape changed from a desktop computer to a tiny little phone screen that you hold all day, so Lauren says how she used to design is way different than how she designs digital advertisements today * Lauren explains that she doesn’t manage the digital ads, she does the design, creative strategy, and works with paid media buyers to deliver the ads for clients * Lauren shares that she doesn’t have a specific niche, she works with e-commerce in general who are product based * How Lauren has to stay up to date on all the trends happening on each social media platform, which is hard to do and she explains how she has to test a lot of things, and sometimes they don’t always work out * Lauren has set packages she offers and works off retainers because it’s important to her that the works with her clients for a long time so she can really understand their brand and help them grow, while giving them the full support they need * Within the last year, Lauren has been able to grow and bring some more people onto her team — she has 3 designers she was able to bring on, as well as her project manager * Through the pandemic, a lot of businesses realized they couldn’t rely on retail and that they needed to invest in their online space — Lauren says e-commerce is just as important as retail * With all the iOS and privacy updates, Lauren explains that people in e-commerce realized that they need to focus their creative because it’s really important when you’re on the social media platforms

Creating User-Generated Content * Lauren suggests that her clients give their creators a script because 9/10 times when you give them some talking points, you’re going to get back better user-generated content * Another important thing to think about Lauren says is getting testimonials because people tend to gravitate towards authentic testimonials vs influencers who are “selling your product” * Lauren explains that to her, user-generated content is real people showcasing your product in an authentic way and explains when people are scrolling through their feed they don’t want to be served ads so you have to use user-generated content in a way that looks very native to each specific platform * How Lauren creates custom thumbnails for user-generated content because that converts better than a random image — she also explains that they give a lot of guidance to their creators when it comes to talking about and shooting the product so it looks native * Some brands that Lauren thinks are doing a great job when it comes to being in the online space is Ritual, a vitamin company and Magic Spoon, which is a keto cereal company * Connect with Lauren on her website, the loft 325.com or on Instagram and shoot her a DM, she is always willing to answer questions

Links mentioned

The Loft 325

Connect with Lauren on Instagram

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Quiana is the founder of The Write Choice, a launch copywriting agency where they help coaches & service providers who sell high ticket offers launch and rebrand with authentic conversion copy.

When she initially launched her writing business, she simply wanted to quit her teaching job and work from home while homeschooling her daughter. But, she quickly discovered that she didn't just enjoy writing, she'd actually found her zone of genius.

Her amazing clients have been featured in Entrepreneur, Essence, TIME, Business Insider and even included on the NYT Best Selling Author's list.

When she's not leading her team at The Write Choice, she loves talking all things copy, homeschooling her daughter, going on date nights with her boyfriend and spending time with family.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Quiana’s Start to Copywriting * In 2017, Quiana knew she wanted to get out of her teaching job because her daughter was approaching kindergarten and she wanted to homeschool her, so Quiana started testing multiple jobs so see what would allow her to stay home while making enough money * Quiana started as a general virtual assistant in 2018 and realized early on that she loved all of the writing projects, so she then became a content marketing writer and wrote for many different clients * Through content writing, clients would ask Quiana if she could write sales page copy or webpage copy, which she was a little unsure about but she would take on the projects and the clients would love them so Quiana kept study copy more and more * How it took Quiana until 2021 to primarily focus on copywriting and how she specifically focuses on launch copy * How the fast pace life of being a teacher has helped Quiana as a business owner because she is used to doing a lot of different things and switching back and forth between projects

Tips for Writing Copy That Converts * One tip Quiana gives on writing copy that converts is to share the transformation you are providing to your audience * Another element of copywriting is speaking to the audience’s emotions Quiana says because their desire to invest is linked to an emotional desire * Quiana explains why speaking to the benefits of your offer and not just the features is so important * Quiana recommends her clients do market research before they work with her so they can come in with their market pain points, know why people are coming to them, and know what makes them unique so their copy can be the most valuable to their audience * How incorporating storytelling also helps elevate your copy because people respond well to copy that is more personal and feels like it’s sharing something * Quiana says your copy should remind your audience what the problem is and what the solution is because they might not understand what their pain point is or know they’re struggling and that you’re the answer * Why addressing objections in your copy is important because Quiana says when people are looking to invest, they’re also going to come up with reasons why they shouldn’t * Quiana talks about when you should write your own copy and when you should outsource your copy * When it comes to creating your offer or copy first, Quiana recommends creating your offer first and then doing a dive deep into every part and detail of your offer so you can create the most valuable copy * When creating a sales page, Quiana says should you introduce the offer after you introduce the problem and paint a picture of how their life could be different

The Write Choice Agency * One offer they have at the agency is their Launch Copy VIP Day, where you buy the time of one of their writers — they can personalize your day based on your copywriting needs * At the agency they also offer a Complete Launch Copy Package where you get the salespage, the email sequence and the landing page for your launch and Quiana says the clients can then add on things like social media copy as well * They have another offer for people who need website copy, they offer a 5 page website with SEO and optimized copy * Quiana shares that she gets a lot of clients for referrals, facebook groups, and Instagram * A lesson Quiana had to learn was asking all of the detailed questions upfront because she realized in the process she originally created, they were having to ask a lot of follow up questions with clients * Quiana stresses the value of copy and explains that you can have a great website design for example, but if you’re copy isn’t creating value, telling a story, highlighting the benefits or speaking to your audience, that website will fall flat * How copy is not going to solve all your problems if you have other business problems and how you should look at your business as a big picture and realize copy is just one part of it * Connect with Quiana over on Instagram

Links mentioned

The Write Choice

Launch Copy VIP Day

Complete Launch Copy Package

Connect with Quiana on Instagram

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Erika showed early entrepreneurial skills when she let her brother throw a pie in her face for $5, she wheeled and dealed her way through high-school, earned degrees in Apparel Design and Women Studies (with an emphasis on China Studies), spent 9 years swinging around a dancer pole, went on to co-create a multi-eight-figure dollar commercial real estate investment company (of which she’s still a partner), wrote a best-selling book, Think A Stripper: Business Lessons To Up Your Confidence, Attract More Clients & Rule Your Market. And in 2009 launched The Daily Whip where she's helped thousands of entrepreneurs grow their businesses through BOLD marketing & sales.

For over 15 years, Nicole has helped artists and entrepreneurs build their audiences through PR, creative direction, marketing campaigns and paid media. She’s also coached over 800 entrepreneurs on how to do their own paid advertising and build their sales funnels. From opt-in to sales page to launch, she’s helped build multiple 6 and 7-figure businesses from the ground up, as well as help scale sales for NY Times Best-Selling Authors, well-known influencers, course creators, and creative entrepreneurs from all over the world. Her clients call her the Swiss Army Knife of marketing. Her friends call her addictive.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Forming the Marketing Crush Partnership * We first met Nicole on episode 78 and Erika on episode 47 of The Design Business Show * How I have known Erika and Nicole for the last few years, have worked closely with them and how in the last year they have created a partnership together which they’ll talk about today along with some bold marketing trends they think people should know about * Erika tells the story of how she and Nicole met through me and how they formed their partnership * Nicole took Erika’s TripleXpert Program, her Mastermind and then became a private client – the more Erika got to know Nicole, the more she realized she wanted to work with her * How Erika hired Nicole to do Facebook ads for her triple expert program that she launched last year and says Nicole was the first person that made Facebook ads fun and exciting * Erika approached Nicole about doing Marketing Crush and she said absolutely, so they launched Marketing Crush in March to a super small list * When they first started Marketing Crush it was about creating content and creating a content plan, but as they developed it more, they realized people were not set up for success in their sales funnel, so they changed the business to focus on that and Erika says Nicole is very skilled when it comes to anything involving sales funnels * When people sign up for Marketing Crush, they get Erika as their content coach, marketing strategist, creative director, and says on Tuesdays she works with clients on their content plans, and on Thursdays, Nicole is helping people with everything sales funnel related * Erika talks about how the online space has changed throughout the years and how it can be really hard to keep up which is why marketing is so important * One of the things they always tell their clients is, when you’re creating content that is beautifully aligned with what you do, what you’re doing is creating a marketing asset that you can reuse again and again * Nicole talks about how she took my Conversion Design School program which is where a lot of her ideas and inspiration comes from * The biggest challenge Erika and Nicole have had with Marketing Crush is creating an Instagram page for it and Erika explains why that is, so they’ve decided that this point in their venture, they are not going to create a Marketing Crush Instagram page but instead use it as a billboard space

Bold Marketing Trends * A lot of Nicole’s inspiration comes from social justice and politics, while Erika’s inspiration comes from the Kardashians, and we talk about how the Kardashians have established their businesses, marketing, social media, and brands * Nicole shares something she’s always thought was important, but even more so now is creating an experience with your brand and thinking about how it makes your audience feel * For Nicole, the biggest trend she thinks is coming and has already slowly started is creating a user experience that is interactive and engaging and says this can be done through mindful design, scrollytelling, using narrative visualization, animations, typography, illustrations, 3D, etc. * Nicole gives examples of a few brands that are already creating a unique interactive experience for their audiences * How Erika personally uses Instagram as a search engine when looking for people, as do many people and says Instagram will be doing more of that when moving forward, so it will become more like a mini Google within Instagram * One thing Erika has seen changing on Instagram is there’s no longer a need to have these super glossy photos like you used to need, and she says a lot of brands don’t have highly produced photoshoots anymore * A big challenge most people have is creating high-quality, well-designed content and being consistent with it, which is why it’s important to produce different content for different platforms * Nicole talks about native visuals like, text message reminders, alerts, the things you see pop up daily on your phone and says she doesn’t think they’ll be going away in the future because they feel very organic and relevant to people * Erika talks about text accounts on Instagram where your content is just text images only and says you can be successful by doing typography, but you want to make sure that they are visually and beautifully aligned to catch attention * If you’re posting to feed on Instagram, Erika says people should immediately get that you’re an expert at what you do and that you truly live your message and believe in it * How vulnerability is important, but it shouldn’t look like dumping everything out for your audience to see, it should look like taking scary actions and risks * Erika says she struggles with posting “normal life things” because she is an idea machine she says and that excites her more than posting a family picture * Erika explains how a viewpoint is different than an opinion because it comes from your areas of expertise and experiences and talks about how to share what you stand behind in a way that truly reflects your business * Why everyone has to have a sales funnel, no matter what you’re selling and how the customer experience needs to be seamless * Based on Nicole’s experiences, email is where most sales take place so there needs to be an intimacy of the inbox that you want to capture, that’s why opt-ins that create value are still important * Erika and Nicole talk about removing content clutter, which is throwaway content that doesn’t reflect your level of expertise or add to the experience * Nicole explains what bro marketing is and says it creates a false sense of urgency, it’s overpromising and underdelivering, and can also be non-inclusive * Connect with Erika on her website at dailywhip.com, or shoot her a DM on Instagram and connect with Nicole on Instagram – make sure you also check them out on the Marketing Crush Website

Links mentioned:

Episode 78 of The Design Business Show

Episode 47 of The Design Business Show

Erika’s TripleXpert Program

Marketing Crush

Conversion Design School

The Daily Whip Website

Connect with Erika on Instagram

Connect with Nicole on Instagram

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Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board

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Sonaya Williams (pronounced: so-ni-yah), founder of The CEO Partner®, a systems-driven, profits-obsessed, Digital Implementation agency that helps smart CEOs grow their business and meet their goals.

Sonaya started her Digital Implementation Agency in November of 2011 while still working full-time as a Senior Financial Systems Analyst at TD Ameritrade. Since then, she has built a multi six-figure consulting agency and learned a ton of good and bad lessons along the way.

The CEO Partner solves the problems she knew so many business owners faced. Her message is clear - When we create systems + gather support, we build incredible, successful businesses AND happy Lives – for ourselves and the people we love.

Sonaya lives to help CEOs create an operational master plan for themselves and their teams, teaching efficient and effective systems and tools during the process.

She was featured in Forbes, Foundr and on the EonFire podcast.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Sonaya’s Journey to Entrepreneurship * How Sonaya and I met through a mutual friend and how she’s here to talk about creating a process to reach your goals without losing yourself in the process * Sonaya shares that her background is in IT and before starting her business, she fell into her dream job of business process management in the banking industry, where she got to take the banks old spreadsheet processes and create new logical, efficient processes to help save the teams time * When Sonaya decided she wanted to have kids and stay home with them, she used her childhood as a driving force to create something different for herself and fell into entrepreneurship where she didn’t have to work a traditional 9-5 job * How Sonaya didn’t know where to start with her business, so she went to networking events and ended up doing the same thing she did at work, helping people get the processes that are in their heads onto paper * The story of Sonaya’s first client who sold office supplies to schools in Manhattan and whose biggest frustration was his salespeople having to make multiple trips to close a deal, but once Sonaya helped them with the process of documenting things, they were able to close deals in 1, maybe 2 visits which resulted in efficiency and more money * Sonaya worked full-time and did her business part-time until she replace her salary with her business income in 9 months, then she did her business full-time and worked part-time until she was able to get her systems in place to know she could run her business consistently

The Business of Referrals + Sonaya’s Quarterly Magazine * A year after starting her business, Sonaya left her job and hired her first virtual assistant and says she got her first 10 clients from finding 2 people who had really big lists of clients she wanted to work with — Sonaya started working with those 2 people, so they could promote a webinar she did to their list * Sonaya shares that her first webinar only had 2 people, but says the more webinars she did, the better she got, and soon she was able to generate leads and close them, which really helped her business grow * How Sonaya’s business has grown off referrals and how she started doing quarterly client success panels which is how she continuously got clients every quarter and explains she now has a magazine she sends out each quarter * At the start of her business, Sonaya didn’t take the design of everything as seriously but says now after having the magazine and her brand, she realizes how important design is, especially when it comes to having a higher-end brand * Sonaya explains the thought behind sending out a magazine and says she wanted a way to get in front of her agency clients who weren’t on her newsletter and didn’t listen to her podcast * Sonaya says her magazine is a playbook that has a different theme each quarter and offers her audience case studies, articles, tips, and plenty of resources — the theme for this quarter is how you can to still reach your year-end goals * How boundaries have been the most important thing for Sonaya in terms of being able to grow her business and still be sane for her kids and family

Agency Services + Membership Lab * Sonaya shares her team is made up of 5 women, some who are in the US and some who are in the UK, and shares that 60% of their clients are from the US, and the other 40% are from across Europe * On the agency side, Sonaya and her team work with a lot of service-based entrepreneurs who are trying to figure out out how to make new revenue online — Sonaya gives us an example of a current client * Sonaya’s membership called Work Smarter Lab works with solopreneurs to put systems and strategies in place to create new revenue online * Because the agency has systems in place, creates consistent income, and delivers a solid service, it allows Sonaya to mostly lead and do sales on that side while the team is managing all of it * Sonaya says this is their second time launching the membership, and says that they provide members with two calls a week, new content in the lab every month, and team support and explains the team roles involved within the membership * As the end of the year comes, Sonaya is looking forward to taking 3 weeks off in December and says their goals include planning for a solid 2022 and looking to hire another project manager * The system Sonaya and her team follow called, Entrepreneur Operating System (EOS) helps them plan goals weekly and quarterly and she shares they have an annual retreat for goal setting as well * While running a business at home with kids can be challenging at times, it gives Sonaya the flexibility she has always dreamt of * How the launch of the membership came about accidentally when Sonaya spoke at an event where she had to change her talk to accommodate the audience and create a lower-end offer, which ended up being the membership lab * Sonaya tells us about the event where she had to pivot her offer quickly and says she’s learned that you have to go with the flow, otherwise opportunities might pass you by * Sonaya congratulates anyone who is in entrepreneurship because she knows it’s hard work and says to just create your systems and boundaries and keep going * Go to becomeanonlineceo.com to get what Sonaya calls a get paid guide, which is a resource that will allow you to start generating leads online

Links mentioned

The CEO Partner®

Become an Online CEO

Connect with Sonaya on Instagram

Connect with Sonaya on Facebook

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Angela Henderson is an international award winning business coach for women, international keynote speaker and podcaster who helps women in business get all the pieces in place to have consistent 5 figure months and then onto 6/7 figure years without burning out in the process.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Angela’s Start to Multiple Streams of Revenue * How Angela and I connected and have collaborated on many things together, I’ve been on her podcast and even helped her with a sales page for her new program called Every day Payday™ * Angela explains her background as a mental health clinician and says that her background, along with her 9-month-old son at the time helped inspire her first business, Finley & Me, which was all about creating childhood memories through play, love, and travel * When Angela started Finley & Me, they had zero products, zero followers, and no website but when they finished, they had 1,400 different educational products that helped with fine and gross motor skills and imaginary play * How Angela saw a disconnect in mothers and started blogging about the loneliness and depression in motherhood, which is how she became one of Australia’s leading parenting influencers and worked with many big brands * Having a business and adding her blog was when Angela realized the importance of multiple streams of revenue * Angela explains that she would go on coffee dates where people would pick her brain and says after the 14th one she realized she could start a consulting business, which is how Angela Henderson Consulting came about * How Angela works with amazing women all around the world because she’s passionate about getting wealth into the hands of women because they are more likely than men to give that back to society

Building Connections + Strong Foundations * Angela works one on one with women in her Mastermind, and her group coaching program, Every day Payday™ * Angela tells the story of how she started working with Netflix, Hilton, and other brands through connections and says she would also reach out to brands and companies when she would travel * Your network equals your net worth, which is why Angela cannot stress building connections enough and says never be afraid to ask because the worst thing they can do is say no, but that doesn’t mean it’s a no forever * There are 3 main ways that Angela says you can become visible: organically, partnerships, or paid and she explains the unique ways she was able to grow her email list and audience * One thing that’s really important to Angela is building her own real estate on her own land because so often she sees businesses come to her saying how great they’re doing on social media platforms but her question to them is what if something changes with those platforms, because if you’re relying on someone else’s real estate what happens to you * Angela always suggests people build a really strong foundation for their business and says it might take longer and cost more, but when you do this, it doesn’t matter what happens, you’ll be able to bounce back without it destroying your business completely

The Services Angela Offers + Nurturing Relationships * Angela works one on one with clients, has a Mastermind, called Action Takers Mastermind, a 12-month accelerator program called, Profit Pillars and her 4-week accelerator, Every Day Payday, and says she has grown these all pretty much organically * How Facebook ads aren’t working in Angela’s favor and how she sees multiple people in the same boat who are freaking out because they’ve built their business on someone else’s land * Angela shares some of her strategy which was figuring out how to build connections with people and how to add value to people’s lives * How a lot of people will tell you not to run your free Facebook group and spend your time and money elsewhere, but Angela says her free Facebook community, Women in Business Collaborative is one of her number one generating income streams and explains it’s because they nurture relationships and provide value every single day to their audience * Angela says her organic growth is directly tied to her mission and shares that her mission over the next 5 years is to ensure she works with an additional 2,500 women to get the tools, community, and resources they need * How it’s important for Angela to show up and give back, she does this through her Facebook community, through her podcast, The Business & Life Conversations Podcast, or through other peoples summits and says there are so many ways to give back, lead with value, and in addition make money * Angela talks about Bob Burg’s book, The Go-Giver where he talks about the 5 laws of stratospheric success and says those laws have played a role in her leading with value from an organic place * We talk about trying to sell without building relationships first, which doesn’t work and Angela says we need to treat people like humans and nurture the connections we make * Angela is big on building strong foundations in your business but says you also need to build your audience, nurture your audience and sell to your audience

Angela’s Strategy to Business * Angela goes in-depth about the first part of her 3S framework which has to do with where and how are you showing up in your business and says you need to use data in order to see where your audience is and how they’re interacting with you * The second thing Angela likes to look at in her 3S framework is the strategy because people can be on the right platform but not be using the right strategy, so she says you need to look at your content pillars to make sure you’re posting relevant and valuable content * Another thing to look at with strategy is something Angela calls your promotional rhythm, which is all about weaving promotional strategy into your value-driven content and gives an example of how to do this * The last part, which is crucial to Angela’s 3S framework is to ask for the sale - so often women are scared to ask for the sale when in reality it is your job to sell every single day and when you do that, you’re going to make every day a payday * What showing up to sell every single day looks like for Angela and how if you infuse your promotional rhythm and ask for the sale, you will be more likely to turn every day into a payday * No one, in Angela’s 11 years in business has ever told her that she sells too much, and it’s because she’s strategically asking for the sale while leading with value * By not serving your audience every single day, aka selling every single day, Angela says you’re doing a disservice to those people who need you in their world to make their life better * Angela reminds us that our business is our responsibility and we can choose to sell or not sell, to be profitable, or go back to our 9-5 job * Angela’s 2-hour on-demand Strategy & Goal Planning Workshop where she helps you create strategic goals for your business * Check out Angela’s website and from there you can choose how to consume content from her, whether that’s Instagram, her Podcast, or her services * Keep an eye out for Angela’s 4-week accelerator, Every Day Payday that will be launching again later this year if you want to get more leads and more sales

Links mentioned:

Every day Payday™

Angela Henderson Consulting

Action Takers Mastermind

Profit Pillars

Women in Business Collaborative

The Business & Life Conversations Podcast

The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann

Strategy & Goal Planning Workshop

Connect with Angela on Instagram

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Dr. Nadia holds a doctoral degree in Organizational Leadership and is passionate about helping women become more authentic, confident leaders who take charge of their careers.

She is a sales strategist, consultant, trainer, and founder of The Doyenne Agency. A sales agency that works with business owners, companies, and corporations to multiply revenue and awaken the consistent closer within your sales team using the Consistent Sales Method™. Nadia helps women learn to play the career game in business to advance their careers and professions.

When it comes to sales, women come to her timid and shaky about going after the money – they leave her strategic, strong, emboldened and most importantly, paid.

Nadia brings over fifteen years of leadership experience, powerful conversations, achieving goals, and respect for people to develop a comprehensive sales process to increase closing rates and satisfied client retention. As a result, Nadia’s clients have seen tremendous results, such as raising their rates, decreasing their refund requests, and doubling or tripling their annual revenues, including helping clients increase their yearly revenue by 800%.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Dr. Nadia’s Journey + The Doyenne Agency * How Dr. Nadia and I were connected by our mutual friend, Niomi who helps connect people with podcast hosts * Dr. Nadia shares that she started out in a corporate IT job where she did client support, training, projects management, but not sales * When Dr. Nadia started her own business, she wasn’t focused on sales which took a toll on her business but then shares she became committed to learning how to do the sales part of the business so she wouldn’t be in tough situations anymore * 4 years ago, they launched the sales agency with the vision of helping other service providers avoid the situations Dr. Nadia found herself in when first starting out and she tells us, you can sell in a way that feels good and makes money * Originally, Dr. Nadia felt a lot of shame before they launched the agency because she was helping women and promoting girl power, but behind the scenes, she felt like a hot mess; she realized she needed to practice what she was preaching * After Dr. Nadia had that tough conversation with herself, she actually went and got a job which allowed her to pay for obligations and gave her time to do sales training so she could figure out the best way to do sales for her * Dr. Nadia shares the meaning behind the name of her agency, The Doyenne Agency * In the past, Dr. Nadia explains that they acted as their clients’ sales department and were having those sales conversations for them, but after last year they took a step back from that and focused on back of room sales and sales training

How to Approach Relationship-Driven Sales * The most common mistakes Dr. Nadia sees is people not having a sales process or not qualifying their leads along the way * How onboarding plays a big role in your sales process and how Dr. Nadia has seen sales fall apart because of the onboarding process * The #1 secret to relationship-driven sales Dr. Nadia says is to actually focus on building relationships and to create a sales process that works for you * A book that helped Dr. Nadia grasp the need for relationships in sales is, “The Referal of a Lifetime” by Tim Templeton * Some things Dr. Nadia does to make sure relationship building is present in her business is sending regular newsletter communication, sending items through the mail, and scheduling in her calendar to have one on one time to build or maintain a relationship * If you have extended the sales opportunity and for whatever reason, that person doesn’t move forward, you have to have an open conversation and ask if it’s the right time for them, if there’s a better way for you to work together, and ask how they’d like to keep in contact with you * A great way to stay connected with people is to send a quick message, a tool I utilize is Voxer, which is a voice messaging app - Dr. Nadia likes emails for making connections and says to make sure you put in your schedule times to reach out * We talk about connecting with others in a way that honors your boundaries and is genuine

Then & Now in Dr. Nadia’s Business + The Convert Lab * When Dr. Nadia first launched the sales agency, their primary offer was sales support on a monthly retainer of only $500 with a higher commission rate, now a monthly retainer would be about $1,500 with a lower commission rate * Dr. Nadia explains what the Convert Lab is, the steps involved with each phase of the lab, and says they’ve started offering 4 months of post-lab support * When people hire the agency for sales support it’s typically for an event, where they’re doing back of room service or it’s ongoing and Nadia says those people are usually at the 6-figure mark in their business and no longer have the capacity * People who come to the labs are those who want to do the sales themselves and make sure their sales process is solid * Dr. Nadia further explains that the lab is a $7,500 group that you get for at least 4 months and says they try to run it every other month * Dr. Nadia’s team includes, operations support, social media support, a sales team, and admin support * How having a solid sales system to support you and maintain consistent revenue in your business will go a long way * Check out The Doyenne Agency website, and take their new quiz called, Discover Your Sales Blindspot

Links mentioned

The Doyenne Agency Website

The Referal of a Lifetime by Tim Templeton

The Convert Lab

Discover Your Sales Blindspot Quiz

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Ellen is a corporate escapee turned 6-figure social media strategist and coach. In 2019, Ellen started a side hustle helping local businesses run their Instagram pages. $30k and 10 months later, Ellen quit her job as a journalist to launch her own business, Dishing Up Digital. Now 25-years-old, Ellen has worked with almost 100 different businesses and individuals from across the world teaching them how to revolutionize their business through the power of social media.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Ellen Started Her Social Media Management Business * How Ellen’s team reached out about her being on the podcast because she works with a past guest and how she’s here to talk about something that seems like it’s changing all the time, social media * Ellen explains how she started off as a blogger in high school with the dream of becoming a magazine editor, so everything she did was to work towards that goal, which she ended up getting * Not even 6 months into her dream job Ellen realized she didn’t like it and found social media management; she spent a year applying for in-house marketing jobs in New Zealand and didn’t get a single job interview, so she started her own business almost 2 years ago * How Ellen used to call herself a serial side hustler because she always had something going on, she had her blog, her YouTube channel, she tried influencing, she worked for a lot of big brands, she tried wedding videography and even had a jewelry shop at one point * When Ellen started social media management, she thought it was just going to be another side hustle but it was the first side hustle she made a lot of money with and says she made $1,000 her first month * While Ellen was in college, she and her sister started an influencer YouTube channel, which they still run today where they talk about fashion, beauty, etc. and explains that being an influencer today is much different than it was when they started * Ellen and her sister also had a jewelry store and flipped vintage clothing online, but explains that having a product-based business in New Zealand is challenging * How Ellen loves working with people all over the world in her business now and loves that she isn’t limited by location * In Ellen’s business, she offers social media management, which is mainly on Instagram because it is her specialty, a coaching program for other social media managers, a self-study course on Instagram marketing, a membership group, and a couple of e-books * Ever since Ellen was a kid, she always wanted to be liked but says one thing she had to learn about the internet is not everyone is going to like you and not everyone is going to be your person and that’s okay * Another learning curve Ellen had was learning to split her time and her mind between her multiple streams of revenue

Shifts in Instagram + Showing up on Video & SM * Ellen shares her thoughts on social media and says it’s changed the way you can connect with your audience and build relationships with them compared to traditional marketing and ties it back to her days working on a magazine * When the news came out about Instagram being a video platform, Ellen was excited and says any shift like that is a good shift and explains that other platforms died out because they didn’t evolve * Ellen understands that showing up on videos can be scary but it is the best way to connect with your customers and build relationships, so she tells her clients to set a goal of one video, or reel a week and see how that goes * When looking at statistics for Instagram, Ellen says reels reach a bunch of new people, while feed posts reach your existing audience and stresses the importance of nurturing relationships with your existing audience * Make sure to keep your Instagram app updated and Ellen suggests having a business or a creator account so you have access to all the tools Instagram offers * Ellen shares that she only has 4,000 followers on Instagram and still has a successful 6-figure business, and says you don’t need to have a huge audience to be successful * How Ellen thinks social media breaks are good for you and believes in quality or quantity * Ellen shares that she posts on social media 2 - 3 times a week, sometimes it can be more depending on if she is launching something * If you’re posting every day, just to post and get sales, Ellen says you will find almost the opposite happening because you’re going to be overwhelming your audience and you’re not going to be able to put out genuine, quality content * How Ellen gets the most conversions when she focuses on personal content that connects with her audience because it leads to really great conversations in the comments and in her DMs * Another feature Ellen loves using is Instagram stories, she gives an example of how she uses stories and says it’s a great tool if you’re looking for conversions

The Importance of Design Elements on Instagram * Instagram has always been a visual app and Ellen doesn’t think that will change, she says you can still bring all of your design elements into creating videos by having a good color palette, having a cohesive brand, creating reel covers, and knowing how to balance text in your videos * Ellen believes having a cohesive and beautiful feed layout for that first look at your profile is so important because that’s your first impression to people * How Ellen is redeveloping her Dishing Up Digital School, which is her signature group coaching program, and is in the middle of figuring out how to turn it into a self-study course * Earlier this year, Ellen took a course on how to create courses before she launched Get The Gram, which is her Instagram marketing course and the whole point behind the course she took was that you have to charge $1,000 for your online course, which didn’t sit right with her * Ellen’s favorite social media platform is Instagram, with TikTok being second, and says on Facebook you don’t get the organic engagement anymore, but Facebook groups are still great * For anyone who is interested in reels, go check out Ellen’s Instagram page because she’s sharing a lot of free information and tip and says she’s passionate about teaching people how to do it themselves * Connect with Ellen on Instagram, check out her Dishing Up Digital Instagram page, her Dishing Up Digital podcast, or her website

Links mentioned

The Dishing Up Digital School

Get The Gram

Connect with Ellen on Instagram

Dishing Up Digital Instagram

Dishing Up Digital Podcast

Ellen Mackenzie Website

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N.Chloé Nwangwu is a brand scientist, digital diplomacy advisor, and behavioral strategist. Most recently, she advised the first refugee delegation to the UN.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Chloé’s Start in Tech & Design * How Chloé and I connected through Hunter Niland Welling * Chloé shares that building her own computer at 8-years-old started her relationship with tech and that design entered her life when her job required her to create brochures about computer needs for students and when she learned how to code in order to create her own blog * How Chloé didn’t go to school for design or tech, she was doing international affairs and psychology but started using design professionally in grad school to help pay her rent * When Chloé worked for Time Out Magazine she was helping with layouts, copy editing, and copywriting which was the first time she used design professionally * The story of how Chloé’s first magazine job in Nigeria landed her the gig for Time Out in Israel while in grad school * Chloé shares a time she was challenged by a project in grad school but was able to build a website and offer a solution to help a local municipality * How Chloé helped many organizations on a volunteer basis by designing collateral for them and helping with anything social media / tech-related * When Chloé got a job at a big nonprofit, she would help them during the day, and at night she would be supporting all the nonprofits she had picked up along the way with their design needs, which was when design really started being a part of what she did each day

NobiWorks + Chloé’s Brand Perspective * Eventually, Chloé left her nonprofit job and started NobiWorks, which is her firm that she started about 5 years ago * How NobiWorks started out as a website design and development company and expanded into branding, brand design, and visual identity design * How Chloé wanted to integrate all the things she had learned from when she was doing equity work, anti-bias work, international relations, and conflict mediation into NobiWorks, which took a lot of time to figure out she admits * Chloé’s explains her mission is to support folks who she considers historically overlooked leaders and she explains what that means to her * How Chloé created a research-based brand development framework that helps historically overlooked leaders emerge from the margins in a way that avoids the overwhelm that these leaders might face if they were to do everything by themselves * How Chloé’s background in social psychology, behavioral science, and neuroscience help set her apart from other brand strategists and she explains why she calls herself a brand scientist because everything they do is based on data or insights they have about how the brain works * Why the typical definition of a brand is not useful for Chloé as a brand scientist, and how she describes a brand as a system of ideas that influences people and influences their behavior * The most important thing as a brand scientist is that the visual and verbal communication of your brand can capture attention and get past the filtering mechanism of the brain * Chloé explains the type of people she works with and explains what connects them all is the fact that they’re using their business or organization to shift the status quo to something that is less poisonous than what we currently have and gives an example of how they’re doing this * When Chloé realized she wanted to mesh the tech/design and international relations/conflict mediation parts of her life, she started reaching out to people she knew in that sector * How every country has a brand that determines how that country is treated and how other countries act in relation to that country, so because of that Chloé says, every country needs brand development, brand building, strategic direction, etc. * How company and organization branding needs are similar to the branding needs of countries

Including Historically Overlooked Leaders in the Design Space * How one of Chloé’s fellowships where she practiced a lot of digital diplomacy in the field helped informed her on how to do all of this work and how a lot of the connections she made through that fellowship led to consulting work * Chloé explains that BIPOC stands for, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, or Person of Color * If we truly cared about Black people and other people with non-dominate identities in the brand and design space, Chloé believes that our practices would look different and she explains what she means by that and gives an example * How Chloé doesn’t just build the ideal customer avatar, she has an avatar of a gatekeeper because a lot of these historically overlooked leaders face extra barriers that come in many forms * We need to be analyzing social dynamics that surround historically overlooked leaders, we need to be aware of the power dynamics that may be keeping them where they are, or blocking them off from certain opportunities, and all of these factors need to be input into the design choices that we make and in the strategy we deliver * If you’re feeling overwhelmed, Chloé suggests looking at your visuals to start and thinking about who you’re inviting in with those visuals * Chloé knows that all the injustice in the world can feel like too much to handle but shares what someone once told her which was, you just have to focus on your part of the wall * Check out NobiWorks, Connect with Chloé on Instagram and LinkedIn, and if you’re interested in hearing more about any of this stuff, go to NobiWorks.com to sign up for Chloé’s private podcast called, Midweek Lab Note

Links mentioned

NobiWorks

Connect with Chloéon Instagram

Connect with Chloé on LinkedIn

Midweek Lab Note

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Over the last decade, Kelsey has helped hundreds of online business owners like you build their brands and online presences as the Founder and Creative Director of Pinegate Road - personal branding and web design agency.

She has her MFA in Graphic Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and is a life and business coach. In 2016, she successfully made the transition from working in Corporate America while pursuing a side hustle, to the CEO of her own online design agency and education business.

She deeply believes that everyone has the potential to make their dreams a reality, and Pinegate Road helps people do just that.

Fast forward to today, Kelsey leads a 6-figure+ virtual design agency, and is at the point where she has complete freedom to create her own schedule (aka: currently working about 10h work weeks so she can be home with her little fam most of the time). She wants this freedom for you too! She has a passion for supporting online service providers, coaches, and educators to help them lead businesses and live lives that are fulfilling and profitable.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Heading From Corporate America to Running a Design Studio * In high school, Kelsey was artsy and knew she wanted to do something with that but also make money, so she decided to become a graphic designer and that’s what she went to school for * How Kelsey started a lifestyle blog which turned into people asking her how to design their own websites which grew into a studio that she always had on the side * After Kelsey graduated she went to work in Corporate America where she was designing stationery for Target, Walmart, and other national campaigns as a hand lettering artist * In 2016, Kelsey’s business grew enough to where took her design studio full-time * There are only two companies in the country that hire hand lettering artists on salary, Hallmark and American Greetings; Kelsey interviewed with both while in grad school and went with American Greetings, which is why she moved and currently lives in Cleaveland, Ohio * While in grad school, Kelsey needed a creative outlet which is why she started her lifestyle blog where she was talking about boyfriends, design trends, and color palettes and shares she accidentally grew her business by putting her color palettes and designs on Pinterest * How Kelsey’s blog business turned into her editing peoples blog headers, then it became full-on brands and websites and by the time she graduated grad school it had turned into a legit design studio where they had packages offering branding, full logo suites, building out the brands on people’s collateral and then the website * Kelsey shares that she has endometriosis and knew it was time to make the switch to full-time with her design studio when she was laid up in bed for several weeks at a time due to her health and says she was fully prepared to make the switch, she had savings, was making more money with it than her salary job and working fewer hours * How Kelsey’s team reached out to share her story with me and asked about her being on the podcast, which was great because she was actually on my list of people to invite to have on the podcast

Productizing Services + Team Support * One of the biggest things that helped Kelsey get her business where she wanted it to be financially was productizing their services and having a very solid process for each of the things their clients would be going through * How Kelsey was hiring out team members to support those processes while she was working full-time because she didn’t want her personal schedule and availability to dictate how fast the business could grow — this allowed her to grow and scale the business to where she was making more money than at her salary job * Kelsey shares that the first logo she sold was $300, and then when she started running her design studio, their logo package was $1,500 and the website was also $1,500, and shares she would also take hand lettering projects on the side * How people were finding Kelsey on Pinterest for her hand lettering work and how she had ad agencies reach out to her about doing hand lettering for different national ad campaigns * When it comes to hiring your team, Kelseys says you should design your picture-perfect experience without you in the process, that way you know what roles are needed and if you have the time and want to take on all of those roles, that’s fine, but you might not want to * The first person Kelsey hired was a developer because it was the most time-consuming thing that felt the least creative, the next task she handed off was project management so she could be the one doing the strategy, brand design, and web design while the build-out and client communication was being handled by her team * As her business started to scale, Kelsey started to hire brand designers and web designers to come into the projects * How Kelsey got the entire agency to function without her in preparation for having her son in 2019 — she didn’t want to step back into the design business after her pregnancy but loves being able to talk with clients, do the strategy and creative directing while having a team to support the doing

Kelsey’s Future Plans + Coaching Business * Since Kelsey set her agency up to run without her time and doing, she started growing her education and coaching business because she is very passionate about supporting people and teaching other business providers how to scale in a sustainable way that uniquely works for their business * Kelsey explains that the agency gains clients from word of mouth, past clients who tell their friends, Pinterest, and site credits at the bottom of a website * For the last two years, Kelsey wasn’t focused on growing the design business and instead was working to grow her coaching business but says this year she will be focusing on growing the design business * One thing Kelsey says is, there’s no such thing as a website emergency, so in their contracts with clients they have firm processes and boundaries outlining what they are available for and what they are not available for going forward * For websites, the agency offers 30 days of post-launch support but does not provide ongoing maintenance, instead, they tell clients how they can go do that, who they can go to, where they can find that * Kelsey explains the agency team’s three then me rule, which means if anyone has a problem they have to look for 3 different solutions to the question or problem before they go to Jannet, Kelsey’s project manager, and if Jannet needs help, then she can ask Kelsey * What growth means for the design studio this year, who Kelsey is hiring, and the templates they will be selling * The story of Kelsey’s horrific first year going full-time in her design business * Kelsey tells us about The Aligned Business™ Academy, her coaching business that helps people create sustainable six-figure years that they can have for the rest of their business lives while having freedom in their life, and The Aligned Business™ Mastermind for people wanting to scale to seven-figures * How Kelsey developed and scaled her coaching business from the start to what it is today * Kelsey talks about emotional boundaries she’s had to set in her business how she is always trying to find ways to optimize and live a more aligned life * Check out Kelsey’s Freebie, 25 profitable offerings for service-based businesses

To find out more, head over to Pinegate Road.com, and connect with Kelsey on Instagram

Links mentioned:

Pinegate Road

The Aligned Business™ Academy

The Aligned Business™ Mastermind

25 Profitable Offerings for Service-Based Businesses

Connect with Kelsey on Instagram

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Nita Scruggs is a Brand and Marketing Strategist who partners with CEOs, executives, and solopreneurs to grow their personal and professional brands.

With 7 years of experience in design and marketing for established brands and startups, Nita knows what truly drives conversions and sold-out launches.

Nita has landed coverage in print, acquired in-person business presentations, and has solidified her knowledge in brand design by working with established online business professionals. In addition to her extensive design and marketing experience, she is also a trained Set up for success online business consultant and a certified law of attraction coach.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Mindset Work Helped Nita * How we originally met Nita on episode 121 of The Design Business Show — listen or read the show notes to learn all about building brand foundations in your business & Nita’s story * Nita explains that when we last connected she had transitioned into coaching/consulting in addition with her graphic design and web development and says she’s still on a similar path * The focus Nita has put into understanding the power of mindset, your beliefs, and the things that help you maintain a business when it comes to the solution she provides * Nita shares a common theme she was seeing with the women she was attracting and how deep within there is always something that needs fixed; she explains that you cannot heal yourself with a business, you have to go through a tough process that’s not going to be pretty * How Nita decided to be more accountable for transparency in her business, she doesn’t try to show up perfect, or show up pretending life doesn’t impact her — it doesn't mean she makes excuses but she wants the women she’s working with to know what she’s going through * Nita shares how the mindset work she had been doing really helped her through a difficult time last year when her husband was diagnosed with cancer and tells us how they navigated the pandemic with that news * Instead of beating yourself up when things aren’t getting done, Nita suggests making a list of what needs to be done first and says to give yourself grace when you don’t get certain things done * Why Nita allows herself to have bad days and sit in those feelings is so she can figure out why she’s feeling that way and so it doesn’t come back later; she teaches her clients to do the same thing, to just be * You have to be truly authentic and genuine in how you handle yourself every day, not just when people are watching, but what do you do when no one can see, how are you treating yourself, how are you stopping to acknowledge your wins, are you rushing your progress — ask yourself these questions * Nita reminds us that we can’t change anything but ourselves, and how asking all these questions really forced her to release control and unrealistic expectations * How Nita changed her business model to make sure she had some breathing room because she didn’t want to squeeze her life into her business, she wanted her business to compliment her life

New Offers in Nita’s Business * Nita started offering more digital products, like different templates because her hands were full doing other things, like homeschooling her children during the pandemic; she would coach people, then refer them to the templates she designed * Nita shares that she’s never had a digital product to sell before, so once she did, she realized how good it felt to have something done and not have to touch it again * What Nita created were digital designs, like Canva templates, Shopify templates and talks about the idea of selling business ideas * To find what Nita sells, go to mockupsandmoscato.com, she also recently launched topdropshipstore.com, which is for people who want to have a business in a box where you can start a drop shipping store * How Nita’s templates are DIY, which don’t offer support, but how she’s also been able to funnel some of those people up into her main offer which is full branding * Last year taught Nita so much about operating from a space that makes you feel whole, not just what makes everyone else happy * Nita’s 5 year goal is to have her private clients talk about mindset, help them elevate their personal goals, think more clear, and oversee all of her digital businesses and sip some wine on a yacht * How you have to understand what you need before you get the support you need and how Nita made a list of what she needed and made sure to put a thing or person in that place to help give her the support she needs * Nita shares the different people who give her support in her business and personal life * Find Nita on her website, head on over to Mockups and Moscato for templates, and connect with her on Instagram, or her new Instagram page called, Deliberate Creator, where she’ll be talking about all the mindset pieces

Links mentioned:

The Design Business Show - Episode 121

Mockups and Moscato Website

Top DropShip Store Website

Nita Scruggs Website

Connect with Nita on Instagram

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Eternally committed and passionate about dreamers who aren’t afraid to become doers, Katell believes in strategically developing and designing purpose-infused brands and websites epiphanies. As a French expat, freshly landed in the U.S., she launched in 2014 her own business dream, Reverielane, a creative studio specializing in developing brand epiphanies through design - delivering a compelling story aimed to fascinate the people who need to hear your message the most. With her husband Jon (now a co-owner of Reverielane as well) they are working together and living on their own terms, raising their two kids in Southern California. "After nearly ten years in the branding industry, I am more certain than ever that strategic design provides creative solutions to business decisions.” ~ Katell

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

What Katell’s Business Looks Like Today * How we originally met Katell on episode 97 of The Design Business Show where we talked about building purpose-infused brands and web design — I invited her back to give us an update on her business * Katell has been doing branding for 10+ years and started her own design business 7 years ago, she shares that 2 years ago her husband, Jon joined as a co-owner which caused a big shift in the business * Even with a change in their business, Katell says that last year was their best year and this year, 2021 is on track to be an even better year, she also shares her personal and business success metrics * Why Katell focuses on strategy so much in her business, especially on Instagram is because she wants people to understand it and when she does that, the people who come to them are hungry for that strategy * Because Katell was going, going, going she felt that she wasn’t taking care of her own brand the way she needed to so she had to sit down and put her own brand through the process

Expectations + Core Values When Working With Clients * Katell was part of a summit where she talked about expectations, not just client expectations but about your own expectations, she says to think about what you want out of the relationship, how you want to work, how you work best, etc. and present that to the client * When Katell jumps on calls with potential clients, she lays it all out there and shares her expectations to see their reaction because she says that can help point out red flags * Katell shares some red flags or misalignments she can see from the first call and tells us how she handles them, she also shares that there is some wiggle room when it comes to taking on certain clients * One big source for clients in their business is referrals and the other one comes from the teaching Katell has been doing about focusing less on the pretty stuff and more on the core stuff, like the quality, purpose and strategy which has brought clients who resonate with that * If you’re trying to get clients from social media, Katell says to think about the primary thing they’re asking themselves and answer that before they email you, DM you or anything — you need to proactively answer the main thing that’s on their mind * When it comes to growing and scaling their business, Katell says her and her husband have conversations about what they want their business to be and do * One thing that has always felt suffocating to Katell was the concept that you have to have a niche or a very specific design style or industry to work in and how they have stuck to their values especially within the last year * Being clear on what success looks like for you, what your core values are and how you can better express that, which are all things Katell does in her business can help you grow and scale your own business

Saying No in Order to Say Yes * Switching the modes between business partners and husband and wife can be difficult for Katell sometimes but they are getting better and she hopes they continue to * Katell’s tip for bringing a partner into your already existing business is to set clear boundaries between life and work and understand that it is going to be difficult * Katell walks us through who is on their team and what they do * When Jon joined the business, he took over all the admin tasks that Katell hated and she tells us about the fears she had surrounding not doing all the work herself * Katell shares that they are launching a new fragrance business and how that means saying no to some things in order to say yes to this business * Even though it can be scary to bring other people on in your business, Katell reminds us that when you do, you then have room to say yes to other things you want to do * Katell touches on a couple things they are launching this year, one will be about their philosophy on branding because Katell has been talking about it so much and wants to a create one spot where it can all live so they can help people add value to their business * The second thing Katell wants to launch is a deep dive on brand positioning because she gets a lot of questions about it — she wants people to be able to go back to it and use it as a resource each time they launch something, whether it’s their personal brand, a product or service * Connect with Katell on Instagram, Facebook or on their website

Links mentioned:

Reverielane

Episode 97 of The Design Business Show

Connect with Katell on Instagram

Connect with Katell on Facebook

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Tina Forsyth works with visionaries and business leaders to align their business with their calling, and to help them hire and lead top performers to take their business to the next level.

For over twenty years, she has worked with 6 and 7 figure business owners to shift them out of burnout so they can shine.

Tina is a pioneer in the world of online business, having founded and built the organization that is home for the Certified OBM® Training. In the 12+ years since its inception, the Online Business Manager industry has become established as a key role on the team of fast-growing online based businesses.

Through the International Association of Online Business Managers, she is an industry champion, connecting business owners with OBMs who can help them thrive.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

What an OBM Is + What They Do * How Tina’s team reached out about having her on the podcast to talk about hiring an OBM (Online Business Manager) and outsourcing * Tina shares that she originally trained to be a coach and got the opportunity to work with a big coach training organization, working on the back-end and managing their events — she discovered that’s where she wanted to be * In 2003, Tina started working with various coaching organizations and companies working as an online business manager for them * The book Tina wrote titled, Becoming an Online Business Manager which sparked their OBM Association and their certified OBM training program * Tina describes an OBM as someone who specializes in working with businesses that are usually in the early 6 figure range and that have hit a limit of what they can keep doing on their own * An OBM will step in to help these businesses by asking, what’s the big picture of the business? What’s the vision? What are the big goals of the company? And how are we going to get there? They lay out a plan to get people, systems, and resources in place so they can keep moving forward * Tina describes the different stages of business and the different support you might need, like from a VA early on in your discovery phase or an OBM if you are in the early 6 figure range and are clear on your offers but need help

How to Outsource Work + Business Growth * How an agency style business needs a different team and support than what a product based business needs * Tina shares the difference between hiring for a role vs hiring for results and says you need to look at your business through a lens to figure out what you really need * When looking to outsource work, Tina says you should look at all your tasks and think about what you’d like to get off your plate, maybe there are tasks you don’t enjoy, or tasks that aren’t growth or delivery focused * Lisa stresses the importance of building your team around values instead of just hiring people for transactional purposes and gives an example on values that they talk about in their OBM community * When you’re looking to hire be very clear in the job post about what you need, your values and that you’re looking to hire someone that is aligned with the same values of who you are and what you do as a business and in the interview ask a question about how or why they feel aligned with your values and vision * The story of how Tina went from a control freak to a team leader and explains that for the first 10 years of her business she did everything herself, but when she changed her business model in 2008, she had to start building her team * A common concern Tina hears from people when it comes to letting go of work is, what if they do it wrong, or they don't do it as well as I do and her response to that is, that will be true as long as you keep how to do it in your head * The first layer of letting go is usually around the functional aspects of the work, and the other thing that comes with letting go is letting go of decision making, which Tina says is harder to do and shares a personal example from when she hired her first OBM * Tina shares what a mentor of hers said years ago which was, every new stage of growth means letting go of more; Tina says if you aren’t willing to let go, you will get stuck somewhere * We get to decide want kind of growth we want, Tina says if you don’t want to let go, that’s fine but you have to make that decision for yourself and your business because it will look different than if you were to hire multiple people on your team and keep growing * Tina doesn’t think it’s about you having to know how to do all the technical things in your business but says you should have clear, documented processes because people on your team might leave at some point * On the online business management side of Tina’s business, they offer an OBM certification training and then those certified become part of their OBM Association * On the personal side of the business, Tina does a lot of work and coaching with people around leadership and does different trainings, to learn more about those check out her website * Tina says sometimes it’s about giving yourself permission to be able to get the help you want or need so you can build the business you want * Connect with Tina on her website, Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn and check out Tina’s interview script/guide freebie for when you’re looking to hire

Links mentioned:

Certified OBM® Training

Tina’s Book - Becoming an Online Business Manager

Tina’s Website

Connect with Tina on Instagram

Connect with Tina on Facebook

Connect with Tina on LinkedIn

Tina’s Interview Freebie

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Suzzanne Gamboa is the Co-Founder & Creative Director at Siembra Studios, a studio for changemakers and social impact brands. She helps small business owners build sustainable brands focusing on leadership, community & planet preservation.

Prior to becoming a business owner, Suzzanne worked in the government and nonprofit sector. She focused on environmental and sustainability education in communities ranging from the Texas-Mexico Border to Chengdu, China.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Suzzanne’s Start to Sustainability and Branding * How Suzzanne and I met a few month ago inside a Marketing Crash led by Erika Lyremark and Nicole Edwards and how we had a conversation about sustainable design, which is why I asked Suzzanne to come on the show * When Suzzanne was working for the office of sustainability in local government to fulfill an internship requirement for her graduate program in environmental management, she was tasked to create a flyer, which led to a team training on how to use Illustrator, typography and colors that were within the government organization * Suzzanne was inspired by the way the community responded to good design and says it felt like a really powerful way to get a message across which left her wanting to pursue similar work * Between the time that Suzzanne’s internship ended and the time she decided to take the leap as an entrepreneur, she didn’t find anything creatively fulfilling, but had graphic design as a skill and had connections in the wedding industry so she started as a wedding stationer * How Suzzanne quickly realized being a wedding stationer wasn’t the fulfilling career she wanted, and how she saw another designer teaching about branding, so she took her course which is how she landed on branding * For Suzzanne’s first clients, she did calligraphy on place cards for a friend’s wedding, then she designed her sister-in-law’s wedding invitations * When Suzzanne started branding, her first client came from the wedding industry and after that she closed the stationery side of her business and continued with branding until she opened up her studio, Siembra Studios with her co-founder, who is a copywriter

Siembra Studios + Where to Start With Sustainability * Early into Suzzanne’s branding career, she noticed a lot of clients wanting copy done in conjunction with the branding, so she and her now co-founder of Siembra Studios started a partnership which developed further into creating the studio * Suzzanne explains how they have a 50/50 partnership and explains that her partner is involved in anything communications related and that on the other side she does the creative direction, strategy and design * The story of how Suzzanne and her partner officially started their studio last year, right before the pandemic * How Suzzanne and her partner also do work outside of the studio and what kind of clients come through the studio * The different services Suzzanne offers through the studio and the process they go through with clients * If you’re a designer who wants to add sustainability to their brand cores but doesn't know where to get started, Suzzanne suggests a group called Climate Designers as a good resource * One thing that is unique about Siembra Studios is that they integrate the planet piece into their work and Suzzanne explains how they do that, for example they’ll look at how a product impacts the environment * Suzzanne tell us that they try to offer better solutions to clients when it comes to environmental impact and says it’s important to be transparent in the way that you’re marketing your product * Suzzanne explains that greenwashing is marketing something as sustainable when it’s really not and she gives an example * How Suzzanne never knew is was a possibility to mix her two skill sets, branding and knowledge about environmental sustainability but is so happy she gets to in her business and she explains where she got the idea to combine the two * When it comes to what’s next, Suzzanne says for her personal brand she will be focusing more on the strategy and implementation of things and says she also offers VIP design days which will also be part of her future more * Suzzanne walks us through the process she goes through with clients and gives examples of how she thinks about environmental sustainability with different clients * Discover more about Siembra Studios at www. siembra studios.eco, on Instagram or LinkedIn and connect with Suzzane at suzzane gamboa.com

Links mentioned:

Siembra Studios

Climate Designers

Siembra Studios on Instagram

Siembra Studios on LinkedIn

Suzzanne’s Website

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Lisa Princic is a trained business strategist and the host of the Scaling Deep Podcast. Lisa's clients turn to her for help with business growth when they are worn out from chasing the next mass marketing trick, but know they need to go beyond word of mouth. She is a results-oriented, deep thinker who has an innate instinct for “seeing” the value of a business and turning that into a pipeline of ideal clients. A staunch believer in business simplicity and intention, Lisa helps her clients accomplish their goals by focusing on what to do AND what to ignore.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Lisa’s Journey to Becoming a Business Strategist * How Lisa’s team reached out to me about having her on the podcast to talk about starting and launching a membership and how it applies to a creative business owner * In 2008 Lisa decided she needed to get out of her day job and because she had a great experience with a life coach at that job, she decided to take life coaching * Within a year of life coaching, Lisa realized she loved working with small business owners and entrepreneurs * Lisa explains business coaching can get tricky because you can be a trained coach but not have business experience, or vice versa and says coaching is about empowering people to make their own decisions * In 2015, Lisa came across Tara McMullin who was running a business strategy training program, she took it and became a business strategist * Around 2018, Lisa decided she needed to go in fully and had a great experience getting on the networking outreach plan where she started connecting with people, which helped her feel more validated about what her true value was, and what her skill sets were * Shortly after, Lisa started her podcast which continued her networking and shares that from the beginning of 2019 to now, her business has really started to grow

The Membership Niche + Membership Models * Last fall, Lisa figured out that the membership niche was one she could dive into even further to help make herself more clear, easily referred and understood * One area Lisa focuses on is helping people design their ideal membership and grow it along with helping her non-membership business owners * Lisa’s unique positioning even within the membership market is that she doesn’t care about tactics and says you should focus on your best skill set or asset to focus your membership around * The fears that surround memberships and how knowing your superpower can help combat those fears * Lisa explains the 3 main focuses of models when you’re in the service business; the education and training model, the community model and the coaching model, which is the one she leans towards as a strategist * The first membership Lisa started was a membership for past clients and says they do 3 calls a month, which is easy for her and suggests sticking to one core thing, then adding onto it once it becomes more natural for you to help take the overwhelm out of it * How you should really pay attention to the customer journey/transformation and look at your membership like a program * Lisa says choosing your technology and platform should be based on the kind of model you pick for your membership and says there is no perfect solution so you should focus on the one platform that will fit you best * Don’t forget, you aren’t locked in just because you have a month to month membership, Lisa says you can learn and change things as you go and know that it probably won’t be perfect right from the start and doesn’t need to be * Lisa explains that a warm-up group/model is a group that might have a lower price range and says they're the first group you bring in to learn about you and sell to

What Lisa Offers in Her Business * How Lisa’s uses a coaching model, where she works with people in business design intensives, helps sort out their business model so they know what they need to do and all they need to do is implement — she keeps people on track and offers follow-up support * What Lisa loves offering in her business is VIP design days so she can help clients sort out their business model, she also offers her follow-up membership, and just launched her Profitable Membership Program for women led membership business owners * Lisa shares good retention strategies that you can use for memberships, like different payment options, interviewing your members and getting clear on your customer client transformation * How to set up boundaries within your membership and how Lisa is going to run her Profitable Membership a little like a course in terms of people getting hands on support and having a roadmap to work through * When entering into a membership it can be confusing where to start, which is why Lisa reminds us that people need guidance and that you need to have some intention for them because if people don’t know what to do, they won’t stay * Connect with Lisa on Instagram, check out her podcast, send her an email at lisa@scalingdeep.com and if you’re into memberships, get her free training on her website * Lisa’s podcast is called Scaling Deep and is all about helping online business owners learn how to grow; they go behind the scenes on what it really takes instead of following all the mass marketing tactics

Links mentioned:

Scaling Deep Podcast

Profitable Membership Program

Lisa’s Website - Scaling Deep

Connect with Lisa on Instagram

Lisa’s Free Membership Training

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First off, I want to say thank you to everyone who has been a guest on the podcast and to everyone who listens or reads the show notes. I am shocked that we have 150 episodes. I started this podcast because I felt like I didn’t have a voice as a designer and wanted to share other’s stories and experiences, no matter their expertise. And we do just that! But I wouldn’t be here without you, so thank you.

For this episode I decided to bring in my close friend, Jordan Gill to chat with me about 5 things I’ve learned in the design world since starting my podcast.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

You Bring Something to the Table That No One Else Does * How Jordan and I met through working on a launch for an affiliate program together, ran in the same online space and ended up bonding over a not so good client experience
Jordan’s take on me as a designer and what I bring to the table that is different from other designers
Lesson number 1 that I’ve learned and want to share about the design world is that you are different and bring something to the table that someone else doesn’t bring
The key to your identity is understanding who you are, what you want out of a job or business and understanding that you are different
How I’ve never thought of myself as good when it comes to branding but that’s not true, and how I am good when it comes to branding digital offers — you might have a skill that you don’t consider your best, but that doesn’t mean you’re bad at it
I touch on the branding work I’m doing for the podcast and how I think it’s important to try different things before solidifying your brand
The story of my client, Edie, who came to me wanting to do VIP Days and how I told her to go test it out first instead of building a whole brand around it because she might decide she didn’t like it or it didn’t work for her
Connecting with others in Your Industry Will Help You Go Far * Thing number 2 I’ve learned about the design world is to always be connecting with others because you don’t know where a connection could
At the beginning of each episode, I share how I connected with each of my guests to reiterate how important building relationships are in your industry, especially with people who have complimentary skills to your own
My favorite story to tell is how I got my first sales page project by investing in online courses and connecting on Facebook with someone I didn’t even know who posted about needing a graphic designer
How reaching out and raising my hand helped me get my first sales page project, and led me to getting referrals to all the all-stars in the online space back in 2013/2014
We discuss how people underutilize the relationships they have because they don’t want to bother people or seem like they’re needing too much, when in reality you should utilize the relationships you’ve built
When you start connecting with people, you have to go in knowing that it could lead to a great relationship, or it could lead to sales — don’t go into it with expectations of it going a certain way, because it might not
You ARE Good Enough * The third thing I’ve learned in the design world is that most of us, especially in the beginning or when we’re going through a transition, think that we’re not good enough which is not true at all
We think we aren’t good enough because somewhere along the way we were told to look at everyone from the competition and there wasn’t/isn’t enough Design Industry 101 training that teaches you about the different rules, the different projects, how marketing goes with design, etc.
I share that I recorded my first episode for the podcast in April 2019 but didn’t post it until October 2019 because I was scared and didn’t think I was good enough
If you don’t think you’re good enough, go out and get projects
Your Work Creates a Bigger Impact Than You Think it Does * The fourth thing I’ve learned in the design world is that you don’t realize how big of an impact your work actually has when your head is down and you’re doing the work
I share one example of how I got to see the impact of my work after creating a sales page for Kimra Luna which helped increased her sales, connected me with another client and how I heard from multiple people at events that they bought Kimra’s program because of my sales page design
How you should update your portfolio with 3 or 4 projects you can tell stories about and include projects that feature the kind of work you want to get
I want to take my conversion design skills to the beauty and skin care industry, so if you live it that world, send me a DM
It’s Okay to Love What You Do and Get Super Rich Doing It (And Don’t Give Up!)
The fifth thing I’ve learned and want you all to know is that it’s okay to love what you do, and get super rich doing it and that you should never give up
You are talented and the talent you have in the world matters, no matter what your experience is and if you don’t have the experience you want, go get it
We recap my 5 main points during this episode which were to truly understand yourself and not be afraid to test things, always be connecting with those in your life and industry, know that you are good enough, realize that the work you do has an impact and know that it’s okay to love what you do and get rich doing it
Even if you are in a season of life that is difficult or changing, just keep going — working a little bit each day is better than giving up on the impact that you could be giving people
It’s important to acknowledge that I haven't been feeling like myself for a while so I can remember to be patient with myself instead of feeling sorry for myself — it’s okay not to feel okay sometimes
I talk about how I’ve kept the podcast going this long and through my recent life events because I want to practice what I preach and I understand that sharing the message and stories of other creators is important and has a bigger impact
If you have any questions, comments or feedback, I love DMs on Instagram so send me a message — share this episode on your story and tag me or Jordan’s Instagram so we know you listened to this episode or read the show notes

Links mentioned:

The Design Business Show - Episode 61

The Design Business Show - Episode 131

Connect with me on Instagram

Connect with Jordan on Instagram

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Born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, Laura Stewart recognized her love for drawing and painting at an early age. A high school art class assignment to write and illustrate a children’s book inspired her dream to make a “real” book. Luckily, she had many wonderful art teachers and professors who helped shape her into the successful design professional she is today. Eyelash Wishes is her first published book; she plans to create more, as her sons provide her with daily inspiration.

When not spending her free time creating art and designs, she is a full-time Assistant Art Director by day and juggling a busy baseball schedule for both sons, by night.

In May 2020, Laura and her husband Josh became grandparents to their first grandson. “Grandma and Grandpa” have been replaced by “Lolli and Pop” which served as the inspiration for Laura’s publishing business name, LolliPop Stories.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Laura Got Started in Design + Jobs She’s Had Along the Way () * How Laura and I have known each other since high school, went to college together and how or families have been involved in the same activities * Laura shares that she has always been into art and tells us that in high school during a career fair, she met Denny Kaven, who was leading the graphic design program at Grand View University which inspired her to do graphic design as a major * When Laura started at Grand View University she double majored in graphic design and secondary art education, but later dropped her second major to focus on graphic design * When Laura was in college she met and became close with a girl who was a year older, and when her friend graduated, she went and worked for an agricultural publication, which is where Laura also ended up working after she graduated * While working for the agricultural publication, Laura had been getting ads from other ad agencies to be in their magazine and she saw one agency was hiring so she applied and got the job, she started working from home and learned a lot more skills * About two years into the job, Laura thought she didn’t want to work from home anymore, so she took a chance and applied at Two Rivers, a local marketing agency and spent the last 9 years there, and says she gained most of her experience there * In January, Laura stopped working at Two Rivers because of covid, but says she took it as an opportunity to take a break and decided to make her book, that has been on the back burner for years, a reality * Laura explains the processes for getting each of her jobs and explains for the agricultural publication, she didn’t have to do much, for her second one she had to send in some of the ad work she had been doing and for Two Rivers, she did multiple interviews and shares she didn’t have an online portfolio but brought in samples of her other projects to present * Why networking in this industry is so important — Laura says that’s how she’s been able to get her foot in the door with all of the companies she’s worked at * After Laura lost her job, she spent two straight weeks rewriting her resume and creating an online portfolio and then put out on LinkedIn that she had lost her job and was looking for one — that post was seen by 1,000 people * How someone saw her post and shared it with a guy who used to work with Laura at Two Rivers, he reached out to her and said they were looking to create a position at Mittera, a local advertising agency and they could use someone at her level, so she started working for them * Laura talks about how she created Mary Kay websites for consultants and says they were bright and bold, but says it was nice to have something outside of cattle * Laura explains her role at Mittera, which she says is different for her because at Two Rivers she was a very hands on art director, and at Mittera she leads a group of 3 designers, says she gets to draw more, and help out with different in-house projects that are different than anything else she’s done

Making Her Dream Book a Reality () * How Laura used her sons as inspiration for her book and in 2017 she got the idea for Eyelash Wishes from her son Ryne, and says the book is all about kid wishes that were made from wishing on eyelashes * When Laura started her book, she didn’t tell anyone about it until around Christmas, where she shared it with 5 other people who told her she should finish it — she convinced herself to just do it and has sold over 200 copies on Amazon, where you can still get it today * How Eyelash Wishes has sparked a fire in Laura to write other books and made her realize how many stories are all around her that she could use as inspiration * Laura shares that she illustrated all of Eyelash Wishes on her own by taking pictures of Ryne and then drawing them, she says that her drawing skills and graphic design skills helped her create this book all on her own * If anyone has a passion project they’ve been wanting to do, Laura says just do it, because it’s really cool to say you did it in the end and if you want to write a children’s book but have questions, reach out to Laura * Laura explains a lot of the little things you need to know when creating a book and says she found most of the information she needed online, so you can too * The best piece of advice Laura wants to give is to purchase multiple ISBN numbers because they can be kind of expensive, but you get a discount if you buy multiple and adds, once you get one book under your belt, you’ll probably want to do another * How Laura found the original book she wrote in high school that inspired her to write a children’s book and how she might revive that book and publish it * In the future, Laura might have her son Ryne illustrate a book because he has that artistic ability and thinks it would be fun to collaborate with him * Buy Eyelash Wishes on Amazon, check out her website, Lollipop stories.com or connect with Laura on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter * Laura talks about how she did weigh the option of doing freelance full-time and says it’s not out of the question for the future, but she has always just stuck to doing side projects while working her full-time jobs for security

Links mentioned:

Eyelash Wishes on Amazon

LolliPop Stories Publishing

Connect with Laura on Instagram

Connect with Laura on Facebook

Connect with Laura on Twitter

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Ahfeeyah is a Serial Entrepreneur, Published Author + Business Strategist for Higher. If you're ready to scale to seven figures with ease, hire, elevate, automate, and delegate with authority she is your gal.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Build. Brand. Design. + Programs * How Ahfeeyah got started in design by helping clients with strategy, then discovering that many people didn’t know what to do after their coaching session because they didn't have an online presence, so she started helping them with that so they could be packaged better * Ahfeeyah’s clients then started referring her for not only strategy and coaching, but also for design — so they added it onto the business, and that was the first of her company, Build. Brand. Design. * Build. Brand. Design. Is a team of 5 who help women CEOs build brands, design their dream business, and have conversations about scaling their passion to profit * Ahfeeyah explains what scaling is and what it might look like to a designer * How Ahfeeyah’s business is in a pivot; she is refocusing on coaching programs, and says they are taking the design aspect and creating templates instead of working with one on one clients to help serve design clients they’ve worked with before * The Scale Strategy Lab which is Ahfeeyah’s group coaching, 12 week accelerator for women CEOs who are looking to take their business to the next level, looking to hire their dream team, and scale up * Once women complete The Scale Strategy Lab, they are pushed into Ahfeeyah’s mastermind called, Delegation Nation, which is a 6 month retainer that allows the CEO to take what they learned in the accelerator to the next level * Ahfeeyah explains the qualifications needed for her programs and what they teach in the program when it comes to hiring a team, which is hire for your next, not your now

What is Scaling? * How Ahfeeyah describes scaling is when you’ve gotten to a place of capacity, and when that happens she says you have to figure out what operations looks like, who you need to bring in, and what you need to do in order to take it to the next level — when you’re in that place, it’s time to scale your business * Typically, Ahfeeyah’s clients consist of coaches, creatives and experts who are normally service based providers * Ahfeeyah shares that designing templates for clients has given her the chance to increase her impact and influence to people and has given her an outlet in her business * Clients that come to Ahfeeyah usually already make 6 figures, have a signature offer and have had success but are wondering how to take it to the next level

Ahfeeyah’s Background + Stepping Into Her Purpose * What inspired Ahfeeyah while working at Harvard to do more and how she decided to leave Harvard to start her own business * Sometimes stepping into your purpose requires you to get out from what you’re hiding behind, which is often the work you’re doing * Ahfeeyah says that each season and lesson has taught her a set of skills and provided her with a lot of power to help her continue to step into her purpose * The business that Ahfeeyah scaled before she was 25 was her coaching firm — she explains how she grew and scaled that business, and also shares that she experienced burnout * When Ahfeeyah was at Harvard, she worked in HR which is where she got to see a lot of passion from different people * Ahfeeyah explains the back and forth she went through between corporate and running her own business and says looking back on it now, it makes sense because everything she did was preparing her for this moment and stepping into her purpose * How Ahfeeyah and I connected through a mutual friend, Sage Polaris * Ahfeeyah shares what her business looks like right now and adds even though they are pivoting out of design, she does provide creative direction for clients on certain projects and explains what that looks like * For anyone interested in The Scale Strategy Lab, you can get more information at www. the scale strategy lab.com, you can also visit build brand design.co and hit the programs tab * If you want to connect with Ahfeeyah one on one, you can go to www. ahfeeyah thomas.com or follow her on any social media platform by searching her name * Before leaving, Ahfeeyah wants to encourage everyone to walk in their own purpose and just know that how it started is not how it has to end — you can design your dream business

Links mentioned:

Build. Brand. Design.

The Scale Strategy Lab

Delegation Nation

Ahfeeyah Thomas Website

Connect with Ahfeeyah on Instagram

Connect with Ahfeeyah on Facebook

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Emily Reagan is a mom of four, Air Force wife, digital marketing consultant and founder of vacrashcourse.com. As a scrappy military wife who moves every two years, Emily has worked in various jobs related to public relations, marketing, sports media relations, journalism and video production. Finally her random skill set paid off as a freelancer digital media “VA” (virtual assistant). Now she helps creative entrepreneurs take their talents online, grow their social media presence and build their sales funnels. She quickly booked out and didn’t like turning down clients, so she trained her smart military spouse and mom friends to learn digital media tech skills and take on clients as their own. She calls her Digital Media VA Crash Course graduates “unicorn VAs” because they have all the resourceful qualities, online insight and implementation skills that online business owners are looking to hire first... aka that total magical package.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Emily’s Background () * How emily and I met over a year ago, before the pandemic at dinner through Sage Polaris at the TCC IRL event * The story of how Emily had her dream job, found out she was pregnant, moved again, became a stay at home mom, had a couple more kids, and moved a couple more times * A friend of Emily’s saw that a blogger needed help with a media kit and asked Emily if she would be interested; Emily said yes and explains that she googled what a media kit was because at that time social media was changing so much and she had been out of the workforce for a 4-5 years * Emily explains how doing this blogger’s media kit opened one door after another and introduced her to Google Analytics

What’s a Unicorn VA? * Why Emily doesn’t like the term VA because to her, she was never just a virtual assistant, she had so many responsibilities and did so many tasks that had a direct impact on her clients and their business * What Emily teaches virtual assistants in her course is, get in, get your feet wet, learn the skills, figure out very quickly what you like, what you’re good at, what you don’t like and immediately start promoting yourself * Promote yourself as a VA by taking on projects because so many businesses will hire in-house or hire overseas * When Emily talks about unicorn VAs, she’s talking about that first person you hire when you need help with everything, someone who can help with the administrative tasks, but can also help with the tasks that bog you down weekly * When deciding what you should or shouldn't take on as a VA, Emily says know what your zone of genius is and start handing off the things you aren't good at * Emily shares that when you have a skill that’s marketable, you just need to learn the online way of doing that business and shares a real example of someone in her course * When Emily first started, she kept her head down, said yes to the projects, had no vision but ended up booking out so quickly that she realized she needed to teach her other mom friends what she was doing because there was such a high demand for implementers * How training 8 women to take on and subcontract client work validated for Emily that she could teach people and realized she needed to scale it

How Emily’s Business has Changed * The story of how Emily helped a client with a million dollar launch, where she stayed up until 1am rebuilding the client’s tech library and realized she didn’t want to be doing that anymore * Emily started to scale her course and put herself out there * How quiz funnels were a great way for Emily to keep her hand in the pot, but get out of hourly rates * When Emily pitched her first press kit, she charged $300 and shares she had some experience but didn’t really know how to design, so ended up hiring it out * Emily started doing Pinterest for $10/hr and says she loved it because it was stress free * Now, Emily charges $100/hr and her day rates are $1,000 a day

Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late * If you are in need of a VA, you can go to hire a unicorn.com and fill out a form that they’ll post in their student Facebook group * Emily’s advice is to not wait until it’s too late to hire someone to help you; she also says don’t get stuck on 1 tech skill you need because someone will be able to learn it * Even if a job listing has job requirements you don’t meet, like needing 5 year of experience, Emily says put your name in the hat anyways * Why Emily tells all her students who are new to talk to their friends because they probably know a business owner who you can get work from * Emily tells us about the 4 women on her team and explains each of their roles, and shares that she does her own social media * Connect with Emily on Instagram or listen to her Podcast, Unicorns Unite or fill out a form at hire a unicorn.com if you are in need of a VA

Links mentioned:

Emily’s VA Crash Course

Hire a Unicorn

Connect with Emily on Instagram

Listen to Emily’s Podcast - Unicorns Unite

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Salma Sheriff is an award-winning Brand Strategist, Web Designer and Launch Director. She works with impact-driven creative entrepreneurs, coaches and course creators to build captivating brands, high-converting websites, and automated sales funnels to generate consistent leads and clients. She has worked with six and seven-figure entrepreneurs with tech and launch support for their high-end programs to generate successful five-figure launches. Salma also provides coaching programs and courses for service-based providers to launch and scale their business and become financially independent.

Her work has been featured in Rising Tide Society, Thrive Global, Better Homes & Gardens, Homepreneur and many more. She has worked with industry leaders and experts like Shay M. Lawson, Tiyana Robinson, Brad Bizjack, Prerna Malik, and dozens more. Her mission is to help aspiring and established women entrepreneurs become the go-to experts in their niche and to provide resources & support to scale their business.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Salma’s Start to Business * How Salma and I connected online through a mutual friend * Salma shares that her degree is in computer science & engineering, and while she has a love for tech she is also passionate about crafting DIY creations, crochet products, etc, so during her post-graduation she decided to start a blog to showcase the designs she had done during school * To create her blog, Salma used BlogSpot and started posting pictures and writing about her designs; she slowly created a brand behind the blog and turned it into a profitable business where she sold her DIY and crochet products * Another love of Salma’s is planning and organizing, so when she saw a trend in home & organizing planners, she started designing digital planners and sold them on Etsy * Salma’s DIY & crochet business plus her blog went on for about 3 years, and during that time she launched many things including branding, how to grow your business and social media marketing * After running her business for about 3 years, Salma came to the realization that it was time to help people who are where she was was 3 years ago with the experience she had gained

Salma Sheriff Designs + Getting Clients * In December 2016, Salma Sheriff Designs was born and Salma started offering branding and website designs with the mission of helping other aspiring women entrepreneurs to launch their brand and online business so they can create a digital footprint to share their expertise and sell their own products online * How Salma still crochets for friends and family that ask, but doesn’t do it as a business anymore * In October 2016, Salma was transitioning her business from a product based business to a service based business and found it difficult for the first few months to know what steps to take to pivot her business and get her first client * The story of how Salma got her first client by connecting through a Facebook group and how this client is still a client today and one of her closest friends in the business industry * When Salma replied to her first clients post on their Facebook group about needing a designer/developer she didn’t have a website or portfolio so she created a PDF of what she had and created some designs for them because she didn’t want to give up; they were impressed and hired her for their project * When Salma first started her business, her plan was to only do graphic design services, but it slowly changed into designing websites * Now what Salma offers is a complete brand identity package, which includes design and strategy, she offers complete website design & development services, and says along with that she’s started offering launch services * Salma’s Ready-Set-Launch service is a complete A-Z of setting up the design and tech for anyone who is launching a high-end program, course, or digital project * Why Salma offers the tech implementation along with design services is because she really wanted to blend her two passions of design and tech into one

Taking Advantage of Opportunities + Social Media Marketing * When Salma sees an opportunity online to nominate your work or have an article featured somewhere, she jumps on it and explains the processes she had to go through to be picked and featured in Rising Tide Society and Better Homes & Gardens * Locally, Salma was awarded the best brand strategist in the Homepreneur Awards, where they had around 6,000 applicants and explains the process she had to go through for that award * If you’re listening and have the opportunity to nominate yourself for something similar, Salma says just take the step and do it because when you trust yourself and your work, there’s nothing stopping you * Salma shares what’s coming next in her business and shares that has always envisioned building her coaching program to help aspiring designers; she currently has courses for entrepreneurs but wants to help aspiring or established entrepreneurs in the design industry to help them grow their business * When Salma first started, she never reached out to others by DM about her services because she believes in making true, genuine relationships/friendships and then talking about business from there * At first, Salma utilized social media marketing, specifically Facebook because that’s where most of her target audience lived and what she would do was comment on posts that talked about needing a service she offered and shared her portfolio with them * Salma has people reach out to her based on her content that she writes herself – she creates value based posts that make people realize she is the expert in that area * Right now, the business Salma gets is through content marketing, referrals and email marketing * Salma explains how she started using Instagram as a platform to share her content as well and says she likes to try different things and see what works best for her, like the use of stories and reels * How it took Salma a lot of courage to do reels on Instagram and gained her confidence from showing up on Instagram stories * One thing that helped Salma with Instagram reels is joining a challenge where she had to post a story each day, which resulted in her doing reels, which were very information & value based and not about herself to start * For those who are nervous about doing reels, Salma suggests doing them for yourself first and saving the video until you’re confident enough to post it or says you can record your screen or what you’re writing so you don’t have to show your face * How you should show up consistently online, trust yourself, and trust your work – Salma says if you’re holding yourself back, just think about what it could do for others and put it out into the world * Connect with Salma on Facebook, Instagram or check out her website – If you have any questions make sure to reach out because she would love to connect with you

Links mentioned:

Salma Sheriff Designs Website

Salma’s Ready-Set-Launch Service

Connect with Salma on Facebook

Connect with Salma on Instagram

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Michelle Martello is an award-winning designer, digital strategist and founder of Minima Designs.

With over two decades of e-learning and interactive design experience, she's been around since the start of the digital education revolution. Michelle has worked with a wide variety of diverse clients including MTV, the National Park Service and Elena Brower creating hundreds of sites, courses and products and mentoring thousands of students.

These days Michelle helps entrepreneurs leverage their online platforms to share (and sell) their knowledge to the world. And she's devoted to helping designers build their own sustainable businesses doing work that matters. She regularly shares her real-world insights around design, strategy and building a business that loves you back through speaking, mentoring and group training programs.

Michelle lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband Zane. In her down time, she’s a Peloton fanatic and she's obsessed with her new spring loaded dance floors.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Michelle’s Current Business Model + Implementing SEO * We originally met Michelle in episode 32 of The Design Business Show * Michelle shares that 2020 for her was all about getting more clear and focused, which made it her highest revenue generating year * Now, Michelle is staying focused and trying to get clear on the next journey and says it’s not about building a ton of websites because she’s honestly only building one this year, but maintaining and doing stuff with clients * Michelle has been doing a lot of what she calls rescue work where people have hired designers but need a fresh perspective from someone and shares that she helps give them direction which they can then pass on to their designer * Michelle explains that a third of her business is affiliate business and that she’s been focusing on her newsletter, which is very story-driven and explains that she makes sure she’s selling within it and not just writing for the sake of writing * How Michelle has been focused on working smarter and explains some of the things she’s implemented in her business to do that * When Michelle first started her business, there were a lot of things she avoided like e-commerce and SEO but says now when she blogs it is very SEO intentional and she helps teach her audiences how to use SEO to help them stand out * Michelle suggests getting some knowledge on SEO and testing it out on your stuff first as a designer, because it is important and can help you be more effective, and says you should use multiple different channels for SEO * During the year Michelle offers mentorships with designers and shares she really enjoys helping people build personal brands and has started to develop a program for how to build a memorable brand online * If designers can focus on specialties, having certain aesthetics and learn the systems people use, along with some of the back-end work, Michelle says those designers will become so flexible and be able to charge premium rates

Michelle’s Journey * When Michelle first started her business she met with a business coach who gave her the first 6 clients she worked with and says she would hand code 3 website designs for them to pick from and said she was only charging around $1,800 for the whole process * How Michelle taught herself WordPress around 2008 and started doing WordPress websites for the yoga community—with each project she would bump up her price $100-200 and slowly she got around $3,500 and shares she really started to burnout in 2010/11 * Michelle shares that she started to phase out the web design work she was doing because she was also working with a company that would pay her $5,000 - $10,000 to create comps of maps for universities * Why Michelle has never been able to rely on one source of revenue and why you shouldn’t either, because if they go away, you’re screwed * In 2011, Michelle took Marie Forleo’s B-School, where she learned about marketing and all the things she had been avoiding and says Marie noticed her in the comments and put her in a video, which led to 70 people calling Michelle in one day * After B-School, Michelle went to Marie’s live event and was in her mastermind group where Marie told her that she could consult and that she should triple her rates, which she did eventually * Michelle wants other designers to know that you have to make your own name for yourself whether that’s through publicity, your credit line, co-teaching with your clients, because all of those things will help give you confidence which will help you on your sales calls, it will help you close deals, etc

Working With Clients + Networking * Michelle explains how she knows if a client will be a good fit for her, red flags she looks for and how she keeps her prices pretty solid so she doesn’t get taken advantage of and shares a story of someone who tried to get services for free because they were a celebrity * The majority of people Michelle works with have an expertise, they just might not have it in an online capacity or they might not know how to package it up to sell, but they know what they’re talking about * If a project is not going well, make sure you have a plan to get out as soon as you can; get paid upfront and make incentives for you to show up and for your client to show up * We talk about having strict guidelines to help ourselves out with clients and share stories of times our work has been taken by someone else * One thing Michelle wishes she would have not given so much time to is caring what other people thought about her * How building your network is so important, so talk to other designers who you can collaborate with and who can send you clients * Michelle’s advice is to spend time where it matters by connecting with other designers, groups, people working in different industries that can share you with others and don’t compare yourself to other people you see online because there’s a lot of stuff they aren’t showing * Connect with Michelle on her website, where she has a lot of different free opt-ins, check out her design mentorship program and get on her email list to hear more updates about her personal branding courses

Links mentioned:

Michelle’s Website - Minima Designs

The Design Business Show - Episode 32

Marie Forleo’s B-School

Michelle’s Free Opt-ins

Michelle’s Design Mentorship Program

Join Michelle’s List

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Co-founder of Content Bistro, creator of Ready-to-Sell ™, and co-creator of Profits on Tap ®, Prerna has worked with over 450 clients worldwide including some of the biggest and best names in the industry, such as Pat Flynn, Vanessa Lau, Kerwin Rae, Amy Porterfield, Carrie Wilkerson, Alli Worthington, and others!

She is a Copyhackers-certified conversion copywriter and uses her proprietary Connection-Conversion™ framework and Conversion Brew ® process for writing engaging copy that balances persuasion and personality with the precision of conversion science ensuring you get the ROI your business deserves.

If you need her after work hours, you can find her introverting with her nose in a book, baking up a storm in the kitchen, or traveling the world.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Prerna Got Started in the Online World + Copywriting () * How I’ve known who Prerna was for 3+ years and how I really got to know her work through The Copywriter Club and how we met in person last year * Prerna sent me a pdf of all her services, which is brilliant so I asked her to come on the podcast to get into the nitty gritty of that because it’s such an underrated thing people can be doing to make it easier for people to hire them * How connecting with others in your industry is important and you should be intentional about it * The story of how Prerna got started online as a mom blogger, from there her and her husband decided to go into business together, they started with business blogging and social media management—at that point copywriting was not in the picture * About 6 years ago clients started asking if they would write sales pages for them, or since they had done all their blogs they asked them to write their emails, so Prerna said yes but she needed to learn how * Prerna tells us how she started learning from the Copyhackers with Joanna Wiebe, read all the books, and took The Copywriter Mastermind, that had a certification attached to it, which was hard to earn but very worth it she says

Building Relationships Through Social Media () * How Prerna loves copywriting because she can see the direct impact it has and because there are so many opportunities within copywriting * The reason Prerna loves social media is because she feels like it’s her own social circle even though she doesn't live in the same country as most of the markets she’s working in—she loves making relationships through social media * When Prerna gets on Facebook, she pictures herself walking into a cafe where everyone knows your name and takes the time to have a conversation with you * Prerna says her husbands approach to social media is very business based, which is okay and says if that’s your style; do social media in a way that works for you—don’t try to fit yourself into a mold that’s not you * If you are on social media for your business, Prerna says it’s important for you to show up consistently, show up authentically, be transparent, and not be afraid to voice your opinion, which she admits took her a while to get used to

Content Bistro’s Unique Process for Bettering Customer Experience () * They have a menu of services for their business, Content Bistro, and Prerna shares that they have a whole copywriting team that works on the copy and marketing but says they have a food angle as well with all their services * The idea behind their menu of services pdf and branding of their business was to add another layer when filtering for prospects—by sending prospects a menu of their services it makes it easier for both sides to tell if they will be a good fit * Prerna shares that their pdf of services includes their packages, their process, client testimonials, mini case studies, etc * How Content Bistro serves two different audiences, those who need copywriting and service providers and how they created separate pdfs for each audience so each only gets the information they need * If you’re a designer, Prerna recommends creating a pdf of services because it helps you streamline your process and makes for a better client experience * Prerna compares her service pdf to a website sales page, but more concise because it tells the prospect what the package is, who it’s for, what you get, why you need it, an estimated timeline, testimonials, pricing and more * When Prerna and her husband were brainstorming ideas for their business name, they wanted to blend their love for food and their passion for writing, which is how they landed on Content Bistro and now all their services have a food connection * Prerna shares that coming up with names for their services is one of her favorite things to do, and says she has a document with different categories of foodie themed words and marketing words to help her come up with the names * Prerna says that it’s important for service providers set themselves apart and says you can do this by making your processes easy for you to show up, serve and by making it easy for people to work for you * Connect with Prerna on Instagram or on their website

Links mentioned:

Content Bistro Website

Ready to Sell

Copyhacker Website

Copywriting Services for Course Creators

Connect with Prerna on Instagram

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Licia Morelli is an award-winning and best selling author of The Lemonade Hurricane: A Story of Mindfulness and Meditation and I Am Darn Tough (Tilbury House Publishers).

Her writing has been featured in Vanity Fair, Maine Media Workshops, John’s Hopkins University Press, elephant journal, The Huffington Post, and more.

Licia is also a copywriter and online marketing consultant who writes for some of the industry's best-known product and service personal brands.

She thinks more people should trust their intuition and eat chocolate chip cookies, both of which she credits good writing.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Heading () * How Licia and I connected a couple years ago when we were working together and were always in the same circle but never really talked, but we started to on instagram and I knew I had to have her on the podcast to talk about her process for writing and publishing her books * Licia shares that she got her start in the online marketing world through writing jokes on Twitter for fun with a group of writers, which got her really good at writing headlines and landed her in a book called Twitter Wit, which was a collection of tweets they had wrote * In 2011 Licia thought she should start her own business and says that she’s always been a writer, so she wrote copy to start a business called Two Cups Tarot, which no longer exists * Through Licia’s first sale in her tarot reading business she realized there was a way to sell, through the written word online to get people to buy what she was selling * How Licia knew she was writing for selling, but wasn’t calling herself a copywriter and how over time she gained more experience in the online world * While running her Two Cups Tarot business, Licia became frustrated because she was trying to figure out a process and didn’t understand where she wasn’t connecting so finally she decided to do B-School * When Licia decided to do B-School, she learned about the online marketing world, went all in and shifted her business to a full on Licia Morelli business where she was booking clients and it became a full psychic business * The story of how Licia left a sad copy story where she talked about not being able to connect on the B-School comment area and how Laura Belgray, from Talking Shrimp replied back an amazing answer that launched Licia into understanding copy in new ways * How that moment with Laura was where Licia realized copy is the vehicle in which she can make any business go and says that when it’s paired with good design, it’s unstoppable * Licia’s problem was that she was trying to sound like everyone else and Laura told her she should start talking to her audience how she would talk to her best friend and start talking to one person and gave her advice on being clear versus clever * Licia shares that the psychic business came to a close and what she found most fun was the copywriting for the business so she decided to go into copywriting * When Licia decided to go all in with copywriting, she wrote for startups, online personality brands, and then she was hired by Colette Baron-Reid, and Kate Northrup, who she worked very well and strategically with, so they hired her full-time to run the company * Running Kate Northrup’s company for 3 years was a great learning experience for Licia on strategy, what worked, testing, using data with the copy and refining the marketing strategy as well as copy * Today in Licia’s business, she works with one-on-one clients, has entry level products to help people like templates for testimonials, products that help with onboarding sequences, reengagement campaigns, and more * In the future, Licia is planning a group program for mid-level copywriters who want to establish their business in a bigger way and not burnout while they’re doing it * Licia’s two freebies include her Online Copywriters Pricing Guide, and her Fool-Proof (And Time-saving) Testimonials Template, her mini product is called, Copy That Makes You Cash: Close Every Sale Swipe File * How most people focus too much on the pricing and the look, and forget about the customer, but when the customer feels appreciated and heard they’re going to outlast customers who buy one thing and don’t feel appreciated or heard * Both of Licia’s books are traditionally published and says that experience is so different than the online world * Licia walks us through how she had to go about pitching her idea to her publisher and says she had to consider each word carefully when writing a children’s book because you don’t get a lot of words in them * After turning in a manuscript, it goes through several rounds of edits, and in the meantime Licia says you choose an illustrator with the publisher who you then get paired up with to go through what the book needs for illustration based on the words * Licia shares that there’s a lot of different levels when it comes to design for a children’s book, and says that the jacket design for the book is done by a book jacket designer * The story of how Licia won an award in the 4th grade for a nonfiction essay she wrote and from how that day on she thought she should be a writer * How Licia treated writing like she treats anything else and considered the steps needed to actually achieve what she wants to do and says if you want to write a book, reach out to others who have been published and ask questions * Licia hopes to write another book and shares there are seasons for everything and right now she is very copywriting heavy and is waiting until she gets some creative writing inspiration before she can write or say what her next book is going to be * You get an advance for books but Licia says when you have a small or medium size publisher, that advance is not going to carry you, it’s just a nice thing to have, then if you self published you're going to make money on your book because you aren’t publishing traditionally * When you’re published traditionally, the publisher takes care of distribution, so you can buy Licia’s book, I Am Darn Tough or The Lemonade Hurricane wherever you get books * When Licia had her psychic business, she self published a book called, Goosebump Factor and shares that it was nice because it was all cash and says there’s something to be said if you think of a book that’s helpful as a product * The number one lesson Licia tells is be easy to work with, because then you’ll get to write more books and says you can have a couple things that you aren’t willing to change and gives examples with both of her books * Licia shares that right now she wakes up at 5am so she can meditate and have some reflection time because it sets the tone for her day and shares that the moon controls the tide and because we’re made up of so much water, we have to understand that it kind of controls us too * Licia learned a lot about what the moon phases do and how to apply them from Kate Northrup and then she realized creativity wise she could see changes in herself based on the moon phases * Connect with Licia through her email list, on Instagram or YouTube, where she teaches a lot of free content

Links mentioned:

The Lemonade Hurricane: A Story of Mindfulness and Meditation

I Am Darn Tough

Twitter Wit: Brilliance in 140 Characters or Less

Marie Forleo’s B-School

The Online Copywriter’s Pricing Guide

Fool-Proof (And Time-Saving) Testimonial Template

Copy That Makes You Cash: Close Every Sale Swipe File

Join Licia’s Email List

Connect with Licia on Instagram

Licia’s Youtube Channel

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Big Ears Creative is a digital design studio that specializes in branding and website design for small businesses who are ready to elevate their brands with thoughtful design.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

MJ’s Switch From Accounting to Design () * How MJ and I connected through Instagram and how I asked her to be on the podcast to share her story and discuss what design means to her * Before getting into design, MJ worked as an accountant for 5 years in a retail design agency, which was in the design environment, so she was familiar with how the work was done * During her five years as an accountant, MJ was working towards her CPA designation, so she read a lot of business books, went to a lot of seminars, took classes and exams - she shares that her specialty was performance management * MJ shares that her work in accounting was fun, but that she never felt fulfillment, so she looked inward to discover who she was and what she wanted to do * While MJ was figuring out what she wanted to do, she tried many things, including dog walking, she then tried graphic design, which she taught herself how to do and illustration * Last year MJ decided to take graphic design courses at a local college and says it has been very helpful and because of what she’s learned, she started her own business this year * MJ explains how her accounting journey and skills have helped her in her design business today * How MJ started taking on projects last year before she had a legitimate website and says she finally built up her brand design website this year * When deciding if you should teach yourself graphic design or go back to school to learn it, MJ’s advice is to see who you are and think about what way is best for you to learn * The story of how MJ found her first client on Craigslist; she was a singer/songwriter in NYC who wanted to use her talent to send songs, covers or originals to those affected by Covid-19, so she needed a person to build her brand and website * We discuss the courage it took to start a business, in a new field during a global pandemic * While MJ was teaching herself graphic design, she explains that she was still employed by the retail design agency where she was working as an accountant and says that it took a lot of work to do both * MJ says her original plan was to leave her job in April of 2020 and go all in with her design business but when covid hit she thought she might have more time to prepare herself for her career change, so she kept her job and started exploring how to build her design business while working from home

Imposter Syndrome + Mental Health () * How MJ struggled with imposter syndrome after being an accountant and then switching to design, which held her back * MJ shares that she was in an abusive relationship in her early 20’s and says that before the relationship she was very into the artistic world but after the relationship ended she didn’t want to be creative anymore and didn’t know how to build relationships with others * How that relationship impacted MJ’s decision to do accounting and shares that it took her a long time to come out of her shell again and wants to share with people going through similar situations that she received a lot of help from her personal therapist * When MJ started coming out of that negative relationship she realized there was a lot of potential with what she wanted to do and says her mental health played an important part in her being able to get out of her comfort zone * MJ shares that her goal is to help female entrepreneurs or anyone else who has gone through a negative experience feel better and help them connect with others and says people can do that through design

MJ’s Approach Through Thoughtful Design () * Growing up, MJ was very thoughtful and says she has always cared about how others feel, which was her inspiration for what she calls, Thoughtful Design * MJ’s Thoughtful Design process represents who MJ is and says she can use being thoughtful in helping clients build brands by taking the time to really get to know them personally and also getting to know how they want to be known * Currently, MJ offers brand identity packages and a web design packages, and says her primary focus is on female entrepreneurs, small business owners who want to elevate their branding through her personal Thoughtful Design * How MJ wants all her clients to feel comfortable with her and shares some of the fun ways she gets to know her clients * Many people suffer from imposter syndrome no matter where they are in their journey so MJ shares a book that helped her a lot called, Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon * Connect with MJ on Instagram, or take a look at her website * MJ shares the meaning behind her business name, Big Ears Creative

Links mentioned:

Big Ears Creative

Steal Like an Artist

Connect with MJ on Instagram

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Mara is a Creativity Coach who guides artists, the creatively curious, and adults who have forgotten how to play to use art as a way to reignite their creative passionate selves so they can live a more expressed life.

She believes everyone is creative, and has the capacity to make powerful, meaningful art. YES, even YOU!

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Mara’s Journey With Design ()

How Mara and I met about a year ago through a mutual copywriter friend
Mara shares that she’s been a designer since 1998, it was her first job in high school, then she studied it in college and became a designer, now she’s also working as a creative awakening coach
A creative awakening coach guides the creatively curious to step out of their comfort zone and find the courage to make imperfect art so that they can live the pure, juicy expression of their truest self
As a child, Mara loved being creative which is where her love of design stemmed, in high school she did year book, from there she worked for a graphic designer and shares she’s always loved putting together designs
In the last few years, Mara has worked solely with entrepreneurs, mostly females, coaches of all kinds, and a lot of people in the natural health and hormone balancing world
Mara does a lot of digital launches, individual and group programs, telesummits and campaigns where she does anything from design/development to strategy and editing copy for voice and direction
Through working with clients and teaching workshops for 7 years, Mara has been able to hone in on the stories that people tell themselves that are holding them back from being their most authentic self — she works with people on letting their expression out in their business

Creative Practices ()

Mara says the most important thing is committing to a creative practice because it’s a muscle that we have to flex and Mara says we have to be willing to flex it imperfectly as well and explains why
How it’s easy for people to follow what they’re good because there’s a lot of vulnerability in expressing yourself imperfectly, so what mara looks at when helping people maintain their creativity is their willingness to have imperfect expression
Creation should come from a place of intuition, not from being worried about creating the end result — this way we can learn to trust ourselves through the creative process to create our most authentic work
Mara shares that many clients don’t know what they want their website to look like, so she walks them through a special branding process and has a number of different ways for them to pull images and every time they go through the process the clients create their vision board themselves
Mara emphasises that the best designs come when we have fun, play and when the clients have been playing in their original branding inquiry process — this creates the most aligned websites
If a client isn’t willing to play, tap into their creativity or are struggling to, Mara has found that they never get to something that they truly love until they work through that piece
Some of Mara’s creative practices are drawing, using watercolor, acrylic painting, going out into nature, hiking, communicating with trees and explains the deeper she can feel connected to nature, the deeper it connects her into her creative process
How Mara doesn’t plan anything out in advance when working on her creative practices because it’s exciting to let it naturally emerge and says she always feels inspired by what she creates in that space
Mara loves exploring different crafting projects and lists some she’s tried like, screen printing, taking ceramic classes, sewing, making paper flowers from scratch, etc
The goal for Mara is to keep coming back to her creative practice even if she goes through phases where she doesn’t do it consistently but says she tries to do it each day
When it comes to creative practice, Mara says accountability is important and working with a creativity coach or working in a program can be helpful
Allowing flexibility when it comes to your creative flow is important says Mara because there are going to be times when you aren’t feeling as creative
When Mara isn’t feeling as creative as normal, she’ll scroll through Pinterest, other websites, or go to an art museum for some inspiration
Last year, Mara experienced some burnout so she listened to her energy, gave herself time away from working, and eventually a clear path emerged but says if she wouldn’t have given herself that time, she doesn’t think she would have had that breakthrough
Mara shares that it took a lot of courage to step away from her design business and says she currently works with clients as a creative awakening coach and gives an example of how she puts creative practices to work in her coaching
Remember that everyone has creativity and the ability to be creative inside of them, so trust yourself and make space for your creativity to come out because that’s when the magic happens
Connect with Mara on Instagram, on her Facebook group or on her website

Links mentioned:

Connect with Mara on Instagram

Connect in Mara’s Facebook Group

Mara’s Website

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An expert in digital brand building, intellectual property law and entrepreneurship, Shontavia Johnson is a recognized leader and influencer throughout the country.

Twice named one of the top young lawyers in America, Shontavia’s unique background makes her the perfect coach for professional women who want to start businesses that leverage their ideas, expertise and intellectual property. She is a recovering patent lawyer who loves, but doesn’t actively practice, IP law.

Shontavia is the founder of the Brand and Business Academy, a program that teaches working professional women how to create their businesses in six weeks or less. She also serves as Clemson University’s associate vice president for entrepreneurship and innovation, where she connects students, corporate partners, startups and other universities.

As a speaker, Shontavia has given the closing talk at TEDxAtlanta, spoken at SXSW multiple times, and taught law and innovation principles in Europe, Asia, and across North America. She has appeared in TIME, the Washington Post, the LA Times, and on NPR. She was named one of 200 black women in tech to follow on Twitter in both 2018 and 2021.

Shontavia loves books, Meg Thee Stallion, and adventure sports. The craziest thing she’s ever done is bungee jump from the highest commercial bungee on the planet.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Shontavia’s Journey Through Intellectual Property Law () * How Shontavia was on episode 136 of the podcast where we talked about her story and she shared tips on how we can help protect ourselves as entrepreneurs; she’s back again to discuss other legal things you need in order to protect your business * Shontavia shares the story of how she decided to go to law school because of a boy and says she didn’t know anything about law when she started and picked intellectual property law because of her degree in bioengineering and the high paying salary * In 2006, Shontavia graduated from law school and took a job as an intellectual property lawyer and shares that the work was interesting but she felt unfulfilled and unconnected at the firm * After a year and a half at the firm, Shontavia quit her job and went to South Africa for 3 months and while she was there she had the opportunity to study comparative constitutional law, which is comparing the Constitution to different countries around the world * The person who taught her law course in Africa was a Justice on the South African Constitutional Court; he was a young civil rights lawyer in the middle of this movement to dismantle apartheid years ago and his stories inspired Shontavia to figure out how she was going to help people * How Shontavia started writing to get her message out there because she knew not a lot of people understand intellectual property; she kept writing which resulted in some of her pieces being in TIME and The Washington Post

Using Relevant Topics in Your Business () * While teaching at Drake University, Shontavia wrote an academic article on memes, which many other law professors criticized her for but many other people liked, so she wrote a public article regarding memes that landed her the chance to speak at TEDxAtlanta * How Shontavia started writing was by taking relevant topics and writing about the controversial position on it and gives examples, and suggests if you are writing to bring a different viewpoint on topics to help you stand out * Shontavia’s pop culture class, which is where she takes something that is happening in pop culture and teaches people lessons about it relating to intellectual property or entrepreneurship and explains her recent Cardi B lesson * How to use what others are doing and relate it back to your business, and other examples of how Shontavia has done this in her business and how you can too * We discuss how your personal brand and corporate brand can be the same, or they can be separate but you have to make the choice for yourself, and give examples of people who have their personal brand and corporate brand all in one * Shontavia shares what she wanted when she started writing, which was for people to know her for pop culture and how it relates to law and wanted to be the person people thought of when there was a question about law within pop culture, and shares how she was very intentional in this * The switch Shontavia made from writing to video content over these topics, which helped her become more comfortable with speaking, which in turn helped more people find the videos and led to people reaching out to her

Leveraging Your Business Through Licensing + Landing Opportunities () * One step to get to licensing Shontavia shares is building up enough social proof and enough content where people trust whatever piece of intellectual property you have is something that if they deliver it to their audience, it will be of high value * Once you create what you’re delivering or selling, Shontavia says there are 4 options to leverage and scale your business through licensing, assignments, white labeling, or affiliate deals — she describes each type and how you can use them in your business * Shontavia shares an Instagram page called, Influencer Pay Gap, that helps people understand the influencer industry and where people can anonymously submit the pay they are getting for influencer deals * How to go from being offered smaller deals to getting bigger deals Shontavia says is about building your social proof and how she’s seen the social proof work in her business * In the last couple of years, Shontavia shares that she has gotten an agent and has found it to be very helpful because they bring opportunities to her that she might not know about otherwise and there's the benefit of not having to do the back and forth of reaching out * For people who want to start a career in speaking or use speaking to leverage other opportunities Shontavia suggests the book, “The Breakthrough Speaker” by Smiley Poswolsky * If you put in the work, the rest will fall into place, and Shontavia shares that she did around 90 speaking engagements before she ever got an agent * Connect with Shontavia on Instagram, Twitter, Youtube or join her email list at shontavia.email

Links mentioned:

Brand and Business Academy

Episode 136 of The Design Business Show

Influencer Pay Gap Instagram Page

Connect with Shontavia on Instagram

Connect with Shontavia on Twitter

Shontavia’s YouTube Channel

Join Shontavia’s Email List

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Shannon Claire wants to live in a world where women don’t feel shame for wanting more! As a multi-passionate entrepreneur, she is a sought-after international brand photographer for million dollar brands, mentor, and coach for women entrepreneurs who are in transition to their next level of success.

She is a Mom to 4, Fiance to 1, beach lover, conversation starter, and eternal optimist.

Learn more about Shannon, and check out her latest projects at www.TheShannonClaire.com

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Shannon’s Background in Photography (2:00) * How Shannon and I met through a mutual friend in 2016 and why she’s on the podcast to discuss branding photography and talk about how she’s been able to pivot her business through the pandemic * Shannon has been an entrepreneur for over 15 years and has always loved photography — in high school she wanted to travel the world taking photos for National Geographic * When Shannon was first starting out she used film and was inspired by coffee table baby books, which made her want to get into taking maternity and newborn photoshoots * The story of how Shannon started her successful photography business in her local town, taking any shoot that came her way, and then struggled to get clients and shoot the weddings she wanted once she moved to where she lives currently * When Shannon was struggling, she learned all about building a personal brand * Before, Shannon was relying on people seeing her photos and wanting to book her off those — she realized she needed to differentiate herself because there are so many photographers * Shannon shares that she learned about niching down and started focusing on weddings, she then went even further down into what types for brides she wanted to work with, what types for weddings and where she wanted to shoot, etc * Right when Shannon was getting to the height of her wedding photography career, she decided she didn’t want to do weddings anymore, which resulted in her pivoting her business once again

Transitioning Into Brand Photography + Coaching (6:35) * Shannon explains that she went through a phase where she thought she didn’t want to do photography anymore but realized that wasn’t the case, she just wanted to be more fulfilled by it and wanted to help other women * How Shannon decided to take her love of helping women grow their businesses and her love of photography and put them together into brand photography * In 2015 Shannon started doing brand photography, which grew very quickly for her and by 2017 she was getting paid to travel and do photoshoots * Shannon shares that her photography business has been built from word of mouth and referrals * Why Shannon would strategically shoot live events for clients she was generally already working for because it was a great way to be seen, to meet people and book clients off the live event she was shooting * Shannon’s advice to anyone listening is to show up whenever you can as a leader for events because it can be a good way to book clients * When you want to upgrade your brand photography, Shannon says you have to consider where you are in your business, see how much you can invest and highly recommends hiring a brand photographer if you are serious about building a brand * Shannon shares that brand photography is an entirely different approach to photography from when she used to shoot portraits and weddings and explains the thought and strategy that goes into brand photography * If you are not at a point in your business where you can afford to pay a brand photographer for a brand shoot, Shannon suggests starting with where you’re at and getting some kind of lifestyle shots because those are useful too * How lifestyle shots show personality and are more warm and inviting than your standard headshot, which is going to draw people in * Why it’s very important to choose a photographer who will know how to pose you and make you feel comfortable * Shannon tells the story of a current client who had a terrible photoshoot with another photographer and claimed she never wanted to get in front of a camera again, but has been working with shannon to help her overcome that * Don’t feel like you have to hire the first photographer you talk to; talk to multiple and get recommendations from friends says Shannnon * When Shannon started coaching people on brand strategy, she explains that it came from her own experience because she had to develop her own personal brand, saw that it worked and created her own system she was taking people through called, “Your Unforgettable Brand” * How her personal brand coaching worked hand in hand with her brand photography and how she would end up using the brand coaching framework with her photography clients as well * The struggles Shannon faced as a coach and a photographer because she didn’t want to confuse people and lose business on the photography side because they were seeing her as a coach * What Shannon has learned through all of this is that her personal brand is what has carried through everything and explains how she caterers to her audience who need both her coaching and photography * Shannon explains that it comes down to knowing who your audiences are, knowing who you’re selling to and being able to cater each post, each message, and each ad service to those people who need it

Photography Through the Pandemic (19:18) * The twists and turns Shannon’s life went through between 2017 up until the pandemic and how she had set some things up in her business towards the end of 2019 that carried her through the pandemic * Shannon explains that she sort of started a profit first model, nothing official but she did have a savings account for future paychecks, a savings account for taxes, and has her clients on payment plans, so that way she had money coming in during the beginning of the year * A couple months into the pandemic, she started focusing more on coaching and started doing virtual photoshoots, which didn’t replace the income of normal brand photoshoots but helped her stay fresh and relevant through the pandemic * How doing a virtual photoshoot had never crossed her mind until a friend suggested she do it after seeing a virtual maternity photoshoot * The first few virtual photoshoots came with a learning curve, but now Shannon has a method that works each time she does it * Shannon explains that virtual photoshoots feel a lot like in-person photoshoots because she is still directing, posing people, taking the photos on her end, editing them and getting them back to the client within one business day * How Shannon will now offer virtual photoshoots as a service indefinitely because with every new iphone that comes out, the quality gets better * The virtual photoshoots have grown very organically and Shannon says that she puts availability out for virtual shoots on her platforms if she doesn’t have a lot going on some weeks

Growth in Coaching (24:22) * In 2013, Shannon took her first coaching training but explains that it took her years to be able to call herself a coach and add that as part of her identity even though she was more than qualified to be a coach * Shannon shares that she’s the type of person who once she gets inspired she has to take action right away and that’s exactly what she did last fall when she decided to do her mastermind * How Shannon ran her mastermind for the second time on April 1st of this year with a new group of women and shares she loves learning new techniques and skills for her coaching toolbox * Shannon treats her audience like she would treat her email list, which is very conversational, raw and authentic * Audience growth for Shannon has happened through paid programs she’s in and making those connections and explains why she tries to do a lot of guest appearances to help grow her audiences as well * Why Shannon asks for connections and describes herself as a natural connector, which isn’t always as warmly received online because she’s noticed online marketers and coaches have never run a local business before, so it’s a different type of networking * Shannon thinks people are missing the mark by not taking that local business mentality and using it in their online business * Connect with Shannon on her website or Instagram

Links mentioned:

Shannon’s Website

Connect with Shannon on Instagram

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Sun Yi is the Founder & Principal of Night Owls, an award-winning digital branding agency in NYC. With over 20 years of experience working in digital branding, Sun has helped build growth-stage startups to Global Fortune 500 companies to personal and global brands, improving their combined revenues from virtually zero to over $1 billion. Clients of the firm include household names (Seiko, American Red Cross, Spotify, Swell Bottle). Sun has a passion for personal brands and has worked with bestselling authors as well as world-renowned public speakers and entrepreneurs, such as Jay Shetty, Mel Robbins, Gabby Bernstein. He also loves to teach and create educational content for personal brands on Instagram. In his personal time, Sun enjoys yoga, audiobooks, youtube, and motorcycles. Visit instagram.com/sun.yi to see his content.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Sun’s Journey Through Web Design (1:41)

How Sun and I were introduced by our mutual friend Licia Morelli
Sun had an HTML book lying around so he started to practice making websites by using Notepad and Microsoft Paint when he was 19 years old
Making websites started out as a hobby for Sun which led him to get a job at an agency where the art director there taught him everything he knew
How Sun was fed up with his job so he decided to quit and at the time one of his coworkers was starting a baby clothing line, so he made a website for her
Sun explains that the year after he quit, he made a few websites that he didn’t make any money on, and says he went from a $100,000 salary to making no money
The websites Sun made but didn’t make any money off of launched people contacting him because they liked them so much, which eventually turned into Night Owls
About 5 years ago, Sun started working with Gabby Bernstein, which is when he fell into the personal branding space and shares that he was working with mostly corporate brands before that
The story of how Sun joined his friend’s agency after freelancing for two years and how he learned what not to do in a business there because he realized they were more focused on making a profit than producing a quality product
How Sun ended up leaving the agency 10 years ago and started Night Owls, which was built on the principles that they were going to do everything opposite of the company he just left
Why the agency is named Night Owls, and how they didn’t have the name until a month into starting the company
The development of Sun’s freelancing, which started out with him doing a 9 month project for $1,700 and led him to getting $10,000 for one month of work, which resulted in Dial 7, a big car service company in NY contacting him — from there he kept raising his prices
Sun says that referrals is how they kept getting larger clients like, American Red Cross and Seiko and also says they put their link at the bottom of websites they do which is how most people find them, like Gabby Bernstein

Personal Branding + Storytelling (12:05)

One thing Sun has found is that your agency or freelance business will grow faster if you focus on one thing, that’s why they stuck with web design for certain industries like health care and nonprofits
When Gabby came in, Sun was fascinated by her story and enjoyed working with her which started his interest in personal branding
Why Sun believes personal brands are the future for all brands because consumers trust the people behind brands, which is why he started developing his own personal brand on Instagram
On Sun’s Instagram he talks a lot about building personal brands and storytelling because he’s found that storytelling is the best way to sell whether you’re selling yourself or a product
Sun explains one thing he sees people not doing well when it comes to storytelling and personal branding is being truly authentic and explains how some people believe they are being authentic when they are not
Another thing Sun sees people not doing well is simplifying their messages — he explains that people tend to overcomplicate their content and messages when all they need to do is keep it simple
Sun’s podcast, Authentic As F*ck that he started with his friend Elizabeth, where they talk about the things they’ve learned through building personal brands
How Sun doesn’t currently have a product he is selling but is working on a course about storytelling for personal brands and how he has been in contact with some course publishers that want him to create a course for them

Night Owls Agency (26:09)

Why copywriting is a big part of their service and how Sun had a client who quadrupled their revenue after hiring a copywriter, which sparked him to learn copywriting and eventually he was able to tie storytelling, copywriting and design together
Sun explains that Night Owls is his 9-5 job and his personal brand is more of his side hustle, which he will continue to grow
Sun keeps it authentic by sharing his personal story about Night Owls and says that his goal is for his personal brand to eventually be his main job
We talk about real stories of how we each started our businesses, and what we wish we would have known when starting out
Why charging in 3 payments has worked well for Sun because then there’s not as big of gap between cash flow versus doing half up front and half at the end of the project
Sun shares that they are strictly a website agency, where they do copywriting and help with photography/videos if needed but they don’t do marketing, Facebook, or branding
Connect with Sun on Instagram

Links mentioned:

Night Owls Website

Authentic As F*ck Podcast

Connect with Sun on Instagram

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Alyssa “Twist” Light is a professional speaker who helps businesses grow by utilizing the power of storytelling in every aspect of their operations, especially marketing.

She does it on the spot. Right there. With business owners and sales people she’s never met before, Twist asks a few questions and like magic comes up with marketing design, hashtags, positioning, value props, and branding. Her most recent success outside of her speaking work is Social Innovation Monthly, an offline subscription of social media “recipe cards” that help businesses engage in more powerful and consistent storytelling.

Twist has spoken at Landscape Ontario’s Congress, Ontario Irrigation Conference, CreativFestival, Halton Police Service, Go Camp Pro, Social Tenacity, HortEast, and the Ontario Camp Association among others. A self proclaimed lover of conferences, Twist’s mission is to make event planners look like superheroes and delegates feel like rockstars.

She has also been a guest on dozens of podcasts, including The 6 Figure Events Podcast, Authentic Influencer, Service Business Mastery, and Podcast Domination.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Why Client Love Is Important + How It Can Help Your Business (1:07)

We originally met Twist on episode 122 of podcast, which was all about telling better stories ― today’s follow up episode is about the client love journey
Twist says loving on your clients all the way through their journey is a huge part of the story
If you have a small offer, maybe it’s a workshop, Twist suggests getting addresses of those who attended and sending a card in the mail that says, “So glad you joined us” because little things like that build relationships
Twist shares an example of when she spoke for an organization called Landscape Ontario over a webinar where they couldn’t see her and she couldn’t see them, but they were all chatting about the things had sent them in the mail
How Twist gave an in-person speech for the same organization a few years earlier where she collected business cards with mailing addresses and when she traveled to England that year she sent all those people she had collected business cards from a postcard
By sending postcards, it deepened Twist’s relationship with them and also deepened their story with her and Landscape Ontario, who had her speak
When we appreciate clients in a way that matters to them, they start talking and that love turns into marketing
You should be sending cards, experiences or something to your clients regardless of your offer is a small or big
The time Twist received an experience gift for helping out at her friends mastermind retreat, which was not planned so her friend sent her an escape room game and she shares she’ll never forget the experience of playing that game with her family
Why you should pay close attention to what your clients like to do, what’s important to them and who’s important to them because if you know these things, you’ll be able to send them something meaningful

What Twist’s Doing In Her Business + Examples of Client Love (11:13)

Twist is currently doing virtual gigs and shares she just started with one of the best speaking agents in the business so she’ll be doing more online speaking in the coming months
On the last episode, Twist talked about how her business created course enhancing assets but says now what they’re doing is complete course builds for people and businesses that have an idea but don’t have the people or time to make a finished product they can sell
How they build the entire framework for the course in 24 hours, come back to the client ask for their input and then they create the whole course for them ― they do everything, right down to putting it into their software system
Twist clarifies that they are not selling the course for clients, they will do the messaging, marketing, positioning, start building out their social and design sales pages, etc. but the client needs to be the front piece when it comes to selling
Twist shares that everything they’ve done up until this point has been from referrals or rebooking and shares she doesn’t put out any organic content, but that may change because they’re working on putting out some great workshops
One of the biggest things we need to consider is how people want to be treated and we can answer that by thinking about how we want to be treated, this goes for your clients and team because how you treat your team is how they’re going to treat your clients
Why Twist starts her weekly team meetings by asking her team what their win of the week was
There is a lot of simple ways to love up on people that cost no money, like sending an email when something great happens for them, when someone has a milestone in their family, if someone had a baby, or someone passed away ― doing something small to let them know you’re thinking about them goes a long way
Twist shares an example of when she purchased a magazine for the Landscape Ontario’s event planner’s kid based on a conversation they had about a topic her kid liked and says she was touched by the gift ― when Twist later asked her to be a reference for another speaking inquiry she was more than happy to tell them how Twist treated her and everyone else
Why Twist keeps in touch with participants from events she’s spoken at because when they are thinking about bringing in a speaker, they’ll most likely want the one who cares about their people and are more likely to refer her to other people
How Twist doesn’t do these things to get referrals, she does them because it’s the right thing to do because that’s how she shows people she cares, which is what they remember about and then she gets referrals and rebooked
If you give someone something that matters to you and not them, it means it’s not about them, it’s about you and it should never be about you
Connect with Twist on Facebook

Links mentioned:

Social Innovation Monthly

The Design Business Show - Episode 122

Connect with Twist on Facebook

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An expert in digital brand building, intellectual property law and entrepreneurship, Shontavia Johnson is a recognized leader and influencer throughout the country.

Shontavia loves books, Meg Thee Stallion, and adventure sports. The craziest thing she’s ever done is bungee jump from the highest commercial bungee on the planet.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How We Met + Shontavia’s Background in Law & Entrepreneurship (1:58)

How I found Shontavia through B-school in the membership directory because I was looking for people in Iowa who I could connect with and because I needed a good contract, so she was the lawyer I hired
When Shontavia registered for B-school she was teaching at Drake University Law School but thought entrepreneurship was something she wanted to explore and shares she had never invested in an online program before, so she thought she’d learn about it and figure it out later
In 2012 when Hurricane Sandy hit, Shontavia had to evacuate Manhattan, NY and says while leaving New York she thought about all the days of work she was going to miss which inspired her to take entrepreneurship more seriously
The business Shontavia started upon returning to Iowa after Hurricane Sandy was a flat fee law firm because she wanted to help people and shares that she's been an intellectual property lawyer for about 15 years now
Shontavia shares that her first business did okay but the problem was that she didn't know how to be an entrepreneur — She thought she should take whatever came through the door which resulted in her taking on way too much
How Shontavia and her family move around frequently and because of that she wanted to create something that could be of service to many people and feels strongly that basic entrepreneurship principles and basic intellectual property principles should be accessible to a lot of people
When they moved to South Carolina — where they currently live, Shontavia shares that they didn't know a lot of people professionally so the first thing she wanted to do was get plugged into the entrepreneurship ecosystem there
Shontavia shares that Clemson University aligned with her personal and professional interests and when she first moved to South Carolina, Clemson was growing in the entrepreneur space and because she was a lawyer and they don’t have a law school, they asked where she might be able to fit in and connect some dots, which is what she gets to do at the university each day
The University gives Shontavia an opportunity to connect entrepreneurship around the state of South Carolina

Shontavia’s Business Today + Legal Advice for Building a Solid Foundation as an Entrepreneur (14:38)

Shontavia’s business called, Leverage that helps women leverage their knowledge and expertise in their intellectual property to help them become entrepreneurs
Shontavia helps women start and grow their business while working full-time, and leads by example —she believes you don’t have to quit your job to become an entrepreneur
How Shontavia is not practicing law anymore but what she does is teach people how to identify their intellectual property and how to engage with intellectual property lawyers when it's time
The story of Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx who could not find a woman patent lawyer in Georgia and had a difficult time finding a man who would help her— Shontavia shares this story because she wants to use her knowledge about intellectual property and entrepreneurship to teach people how to go into those situations from a position of power
As a lawyer there was only so many clients Shontavia could take on, but as a coach and consultant she can give people the formula for how to engage with lawyers so they can go out and create their ideas
Why Shontavia’s number one legal advice for entrepreneurs is to choose a business name that won't get you sued — you spend a lot of time and money on your name, if you are using the same name as someone else and they find out you will have to start over again
Shontavia explains her second piece of legal advice, which is to make sure you register the right business organizational structure because it is more complicated than you might think.
The third most important thing Shontavia says is to make sure you do not commingle your funds; this means don’t have your personal account and your business account looking like the same thing

4 Types of Intellectual Property + Protecting Your Genius (29:17)

When it comes to intellectual property, Shontavia's fundamental rule is that you should protect your genius, which means you should protect the things that come out of your head, the things that you have created
In the United States, there are 4 basic categories when it comes to intellectual property — patents, trademarks, copyright and trade secrets
Shontavia explains the four categories and says patents are what protect your inventions, trademarks protect the way you connect with customers, copyright protects your original creative works, and trade secrets protect things that have some type of value
If you take the steps to protect your genius, the foundation you set will get even stronger and will make all the difference in your business especially when you start bundling that intellectual property into contacts
Shontavia talks about the start of Oprah Winfrey’s business and how her approach to business and entrepreneurship was to consider her company an intellectual property company and why Shontavia encourages anyone who’s an entrepreneur to do the same in order to protect your genius
How it’s okay if you haven’t done all or any of the things Shontavia has mentioned needing to do as an entrepreneur, you can still do them no matter where you are in your business
Shontavia has created something called, The Intellectual Property Checklist, that walks you through the different types of intellectual property and where you can get started when it comes to intellectual property — you can get the checklist at the IP checklist.com
How your goal should be to create an intellectual property strategy, and once you have that plan, you can find someone — probably an intellectual property lawyer to help you execute your plan and take those next steps
Shontavia shares that she provides a link in The Intellectual Property Checklist where you can get free intellectual property assistance
If you want to work with Shontavia, get on the waitlist for her Brand and Business Academy, which is a 6-week program she created to help women start and grow their businesses in 6 weeks or less — just fill out the application at the brand and business academy.com and if you want to learn more from her, you can join her email list at shontavia.email
Check out Shontavia’s live video she posted on her YouTube channel at Shontavia.TV — the video is about how to start your business when you have no extra time, she talks how she does it and her rule of one strategy

Links mentioned:

Brand and Business Academy

Marie Forleo’s B-School

The IP Checklist

Join Shontavia’s Email List

Shontavia’s YouTube Channel

How to Find Time to Start a Business YouTube Video

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Hey friends! Melissa Burkheimer here. I’m your host and as always, I’m grateful that you’re here. I’m back with a quick solo episode today to talk to you about one of my favorite things, and the main bread and butter to my business: sales page design.

I talk a lot about sales page design on this podcast and on Instagram, but after doing a connection call last week with a friend who works in the beauty industry, she had no idea what a sales page was.

And the last time I ran my free sales page beta course, one of the questions asked by one of the participants was “how do I use a sales page.”

So I thought it would be fun to get back to sales page basics here in this episode.

I’ve covered more about sales pages in episodes 55, 103, 106, 127 and more, so you can definitely check those out, too!

What is a sales page? (1:23) A sales page is a long-form web page created with the intention of selling something. Another name for sales page you may have heard is landing page.
A sales page and landing page design terms can be used interchangeably. You could even throw opt-in page in there.

A landing page is terminology used to describe a website where the focus is getting the user to take action. The action could be opting in, booking a call, buying, applying, or anything your sales strategy determines it to be.

A sales page helps sell offers. A landing page / opt in page gets people to opt in, and that’s the sole purpose.

Your website is more of a tool to help people get to know you, with the same intention and strategy, but there’s a lot more options and directions you, as the user could take.

In episode 127, I get really specific with sales page navigation do’s and don’ts, so check that out if you want to learn what to do and what not to do!

My Experience with Sales Page Design (03:36) I started investing in courses in late 2012 and 2013 to learn how to grow my business + serve clients online. All those courses were sold via a sales page, and I found myself fascinated with them.

By connecting with people inside those courses online, I landed my first sales page gig in late 2013. It changed my entire business. I ended up working behind-the-scenes for a ton of really well-known influencers (at the time there weren’t that many) on sales page design, launch management and more.

To date, my clients have collectively earned millions of dollars using my designs. They’ve also expanded their audience, customer list, team, and more. I still design sales pages for a very select amount of clients, and I’m doubling my rates next month for the first time in 6 years. So if you’ve wanted to work with me, but never made it happen, send me an email at design @ melissaburkheimer.com and let’s talk about it! You can book your project date via a deposit, still get my new rates and start when you’re ready.

I’m different then most designers, because I make sure the offer is clear, copy is written to convert, and the user experience is top-notch.

So please know that when I talk about sales page design, I’m not just teaching content I read in a book. I have legit experience designing them.

Do you need a sales page? (05:32) That’s a question I get a lot. And while can’t answer for you, here’s what I tell my clients: If you have a proven offer, meaning you’ve sold it again and again without really trying, you get referrals, and every time you sell the offer it gets better, maybe it’s time to create one.

If you have a very loyal audience who is excited to buy every thing you create, and you are creating a new offer, maybe yes.

If you launch + sell digital offers online, and you have a giant waitlist of people who want to buy your product. Maybe, yes.

If you’re a service provider, and you want to take your sales strategy to the next level, then maybe yes.

If you want to automate your digital sales strategy and give your potential customers the trust factor they’re looking for.

And make it easy for people to buy from you, then yes.

No, if you’re new to business, or your offer is very new. Save yourself the headache + time, because you could end up changing your mind about your offer.

Again, this is your call, not mine. If you’re not sure, you can DM me and we can talk about it.

How can I use my sales page to help make me money? (07:13) That’s easy. You need to integrate the sales page as a part of your sales strategy.

And you need a clear offer.

And a way to promote, launch and sell your offer.

In the sales strategy, we have 4 phases. Nurture, free experience, offer, and sale. Or no sale.

I don’t believe in doing unethical things or using high-pressure sales tactics to close a sale. Chose what works for you, and then do that.

The sales page is a place to send people who are interested in learning more about your offer.

Once they’re on the sales page, they can take action. You determine the action as a part of your sales strategy.

The action could be booking a sales call, linking to a check out page, filling out an application, or signing up for an info session.

As the boss, you get to determine the sales strategy.

You’ll know if it’s working based on how many sales you get. Or don’t get.

From there, you remove what didn’t work, repeat what worked and felt good, and tweak what you can to improve your results.

Here’s a couple sales strategy ideas you can implement in your business - with or without a sales page. (08:27)

Example 1, will be my sales page service. Here’s how it normally goes.

First, someone is interested in working with me. Most of those clients come via referral, sometimes via social media. I always say thank you, first and foremost. When someone has a small interest in working with me, I’m always grateful and I physically feel that, even if they don’t work with me.

Second, I usually direct them to my sales page for sales page design. These days, I’m actually trying something new, and that’s having conversations about projects in Instagram DM’s. This is very new and I haven’t technically closed a client this way. I’m not looking to close clients this way. I’m hoping to build more of a connection before the sales call.

But this is the strategy. Here, the working sales page for my service really outlines all the details for the people like me who need the details. Some people don’t care, they just want the service done because they are busy.

If they’re interested, I direct them to the inquiry form at the bottom to my page. Then, we do a sales call. If they’re interested, I send a proposal, then a contract. Most of the time I have to curate the team, so it takes a minute to get the project details set. I’m adding the Insta DM convo to help nurture. In this case, my sales page is the thing that helps explain the benefits of my offer, shares my design work, and testimonials from who I work with. But, I also make myself accessible to answer questions.

You can decide if your sales process includes accessibility to you, or not.

Example number 2, is if you are launching a digital offer. It could be a course, group program, mastermind, or even a membership community.

What the offer is and how you want to close clients will be again up to you! You can offer a free masterclass, free challenge, or anything else to give people a taste of your awesome.

When it’s time to pitch the offer, you can send them directly to your sales page, or if it’s a new offer, come up with a PDF describing the offer.

From your sales page, you can give them a link to a check out page, or a link to an application (maybe for a mastermind or high-end coaching program) and even a sales call.

The last time I launched my mastermind for designers, almost 2 years ago my sales process was FB ads, free design masterclass, sales page, apply, book a call, and then decide if you want to join.

I had launched this offer twice before, so I knew it would convert. However, I didn’t have as many applications as previous launches, and my list was bigger. So, I changed the button text / on my sales page from “apply now” to “book a call.”

I increased conversions by 50% by changing one part of my sales strategy.

I could’ve given up. That would’ve been easy. Instead, I put myself in my potential clients’ shoes, and thought about what they would want.

How could I make this easier for them? Less intimidating? More inclusive?

The answer was easy. Removing a part of the process.

I might be relaunching this offer this summer for the first time in 2 years, too. So get on the waitlist if you’re interested at https://melissaburkheimer.com/director .

Remember, a sales page is a part of your sales strategy. You can sell with one. You can sell without one. A sales page can definitely help you automate the sales process, show off a level of professionalism that you want to communicate to the world, and take your sales to the next level. If you’re interested in learning more about sales pages, my brand new $37 course, Sales Page Superstar is available now. Sales Page Superstar is a digital course that teaches conversion design principles, how to write your sales page copy, design your page and produce blockbuster results without wanting to throw your laptop out the window.

I’ve beta tested this course with over 500 students, and they’re loving the content. It’s less than 2 hours, and you even get a sales page PSD (the same one I use to sell this course), two sales page copy templates, a process map and more.

Visit https://salespagesuperstar.com to see if it’s right for you! Have questions about your sales page? My Insta DM’s are open - just message me there @melissaburkheimer or send me an email at design@melissaburkheimer.com

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening + reading, and I’ll talk to you soon!

Links mentioned:

Sales Page Superstar

My Sales Page Design Sales Page

Episode 55

Episode 103

Episode 106

Episode 127

My Designer Mastermind Waitlist

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Maggie Patterson is the editorial director at Scoop Studios and the creator of Small Business Boss. With two decades of experience, Maggie has spent her entire career in client services and has been a successful entrepreneur for 15 years. Today, she works with freelancers and agency owners to help them implement smart strategies for business growth using proven marketing, sales, and client experience tactics. She’s the host of the BS-Free Service Business podcast, has been on stage at events such as New Media Expo, Podcast Movement, and the Conquer Summit, and her work has been featured in leading publications such as Entrepreneur.com, Fast Company and Virgin.com.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How We Met + Maggie’s Journey (1:10)

How we connected through Jessica Kupferman’s podcast and Facebook group
Maggie shares that she worked at an agency, became pregnant in 2003 and with everything going on in her life decided not to return after her maternity leave
The business plan Maggie wrote when she first started, which said she had four months to make 4,000 CAD ($3,186.32 USD)/month, which seemed unreachable at the time — she reached it in 6 weeks
Why Maggie was able to reach her goal in 6 weeks was because she had the extra business skills needed to run a business that most people don’t have
Maggie spent time freelancing, doing PR work, then got into content marketing but realized around 2013/14 she wasn’t happy with the clients she was working on, which led her to the online business world where she went from freelancing, to having a team, to building an agency
Through her agency journey, Maggie realized she didn’t want to work for online celebrity entrepreneurs anymore so she went back to working with tech and professional services companies
Maggie explains that she had a safety net when she started her business, because of her husband and living in Canada which gave them support; and says not a lot of people have that starting out
How Maggie had three clients right out of the gate, which helped her surpass her 4,000 CAD/month goal and explains that her hourly rate was 100 CAD ($79. 62 USD)/hour, which was a fraction of the cost compared to when she left the agency, where they were charging her out at 250 CAD ($199.06 USD)/hour
Maggie shares her personal benefits from the online business world, like learning a lot, approaching a different style of content marketing, and most importantly building connections and friendships
How Maggie now mentors other business owners and how she likes helping them create their own path
We describe what the online space is, where experts of all sorts take their business online and how Maggie exposes some of the marketing tactics being used in the space today — check out Maggie’s Instagram for more context
Maggie explains that there are a lot of good people who may be using tactics that are problematic or questionable because that’s what they’ve been taught and how she’s not saying she’s never done anything she now considers problematic, but explains she’s done the work to unpack that

Approaching Referrals: How to Ask + Keeping Track of Them (17:34)

How most of us approach referrals is by waiting for someone to come to us instead of thinking about what we can do on an ongoing basis to let people know we want their business; Maggie explains we need to make the switch from passive to proactive when it comes to referrals
As business owners, we make a lot of relationships and connections but we don’t nourish them, which causes people to forget about us down the road
Maggie shares a story of how she was able to stay top of mind for a client she had way back in 2003 by putting consistent content out about the recent service they needed, so she thought of Maggie and hired her
How we tend to think it’s a bad thing to let people know we need clients, but Maggie explains that people aren’t going to refer clients to you if you act like you’re booked and everything is fine; you don’t need to say you’re struggling, just be clear that you have openings for clients
One way Maggie asks for referrals is by letting people she’s already made relationships with know that she has a spot open and by asking them if they know anyone to fill that spot
Why it’s important to create an offboarding process where you have the opportunity to ask for referrals and why Maggie would rather ask for a referral over a testimonial in the offboarding process
Maggie stresses the importance of being transparent about when your next opening will be if you’re currently fully booked and shares an example of a client who started doing this and was able to book out months in advance without having to shut people down by just saying, I’m booked, sorry!
Why Maggie keeps track of referrals she gets, the referrals she gives, and tracks leads because the more information she has, the easier it is to see what’s working and what’s not in her business
With everything going on in the world today, it can be hard to know if it’s the right time to ask for referrals — Maggie suggests engaging in a back and forth conversation that allows you to read the room instead of jumping right to it
How Maggie has her lead generation data on her dashboard so when she’s looking at revenue, she can also see the lead generation trends and see what kind of action she needs to take in order to get more clients, which is usually through referrals

Shifting the Type of Clients You Work With (34:35)

When creating an email list for B2E (business to entrepreneur), Maggie says to think about who your target audience is, think about if they’ll be interested in getting emails, and if they’re the type of people who are going to buy from emails
In Maggie’s experience her B2B (business to business) clients are way less likely to download a lead magnet so she stresses knowing your market, knowing if they’re going to engage in your emails and if they aren’t, figuring out an effective tactic to get in front of them
Maggie shares that shifting the kind of clients they were working with was a slow process but if you want to make that shift, you have to figure out where these people are hanging out in the online space, see what podcasts are they listening to and make an effort to meet them where they’re already at
How cold outreach can be an overlooked tactic but if you move into the B2B world it’s acceptable — Maggie shares that the majority of her new client revenue in 2019 came from cold outreach
The bulk of Maggie’s content marketing agency is focusing on content production for clients, and acting as an extension of the client’s team to help them with strategy, write their blog posts, create their case studies, create their white pages, etc.
Maggie says one thing that holds us back is thinking we have to know everything about an industry and thinking it has to be perfect when really it’s okay to experiment
If you want to transition out of the online space, Maggie’s advice it to take some time to experiment working with other types of clients because it’s really easy to pick a niche, but it’s much harder to truly embrace it and work in it all the time
Connect with Maggie on smallbusinessboss.co, Instagram, or if you’re a service provider who needs help with pricing, packaging, leads, etc. go to smallbusinessboss.co/vault for resources that can help you

Links mentioned:

Connect with Maggie on Instagram

Small Business Boss

Small Business Boss Vault

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Nadine N. Bone lives, loves, and works in Paris, France. She is a "by-referral-only" web designer & "by-application-only" brand consultant who facilitates the breakthroughs her clients need to create the visuals that represent their brand. Most of these clients want to show up as leaders and thought leaders in their community. They come to Nadine because their web designer is about to fire them!

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How I knew who Nadine was because she worked with Rachel Luna, and how I’ve been a fan of Nadine’s work since we connected back in 2012
Nadine talks about how male dominated the design field was when she first started in 2011 and how it was all about databases, WordPress, code and the back end of things, so she wanted to bring a more feminine side to what they were already doing and add visuals
When Nadine decided she wanted to make a statement and help improve people’s lives with design she turned to technology and shares there were a few courses you could take at the time to help you level up your design skills and that’s when she started integrating that expertise into her practice
Because Nadine does a wide variety of services in her business, she says it’s important to think about a website as a product that makes your business tangible on something that is intangible, which is the internet
How people are going to decide in a split second whether or not they like something, so the design needs to be more about storytelling than just fonts and colors
When Nadine designs a website and starts off with the HTML, code or core parts of the website she likes to add the storytelling layer with the strategy, thinking about why people are on the website, where are they going next, etc. to help build a foundation where they keep coming back
Nadine shares that when she first got started, Rachel Luna was the first person who gave her a shot; Nadine saw that she was launching a book and asked to get together because she had some ideas for it and talks about how she was able to help Rachel reach her goals
After helping Rachel with her book, Nadine was on other’s radar who wanted the same experience for themselves and in their business
How Rachel introduced Nadine to a lot of influential people and how she ended up working with a 6 figure entrepreneurs and most recently worked with Miss Universe 2019
Nadine knows no two clients are the same, so when getting to know them she has her clients share why they do what they do, what their next challenge is, etc. and if there is consistency between what they are saying and what they are capable of doing, it’s probably a good fit
When working with a client, Nadine says it’s your responsibility to help them decipher their priorities because sometimes as entrepreneurs we tend to take on more than we can handle
Nadine shares that she always does custom proposals for clients because each project is different and because she takes clients by application only, so it’s a lot of returning clients and clients that come from referrals
Because Nadine does the design, development, SEO, etc. she likes to really understand her clients so she can personalize every single item on the list for them
Why it never worked for Nadine to charge for calls before the proposal is because she likes to build a rapport and have a free-flowing conversation to see if they would make a good fit for each other first
Nadine explains that our biggest strength as entrepreneurs is that we can fire our clients, that’s why it’s important we are clear on boundaries, how fast response times are and to ask them what their experience was like working with other designers so we can get a better understanding
Because Nadine is more established, she likes to take time with her calls and shares she does close to an hour for sales calls because she treats them like an easy coffee conversation, where they can get to know each other
Even though Nadine has a relaxed approach, she still pays attention to red flags that can come from bad attitudes, or from someone talking negatively about people they worked with on a recent project
To keep things on track during a call, Nadine likes to have the clients assets available, like their website or brochures so she can go through a critique with them
Nadine gives an example of a critique she did for her current clients, who are in real estate and says their brochure was using stock images of homes, so she suggested adding a more human dimension to the brochures, which they loved
How Nadine used to take on up to 12 clients at a time, doing a wide range of projects but has since scaled down to taking on 2 or 3 because she just got engaged and is starting to plan the wedding
When you first start as an entrepreneur or creative Nadine says the number of clients is important, but when you’re more established having seasoned clients is more important and shares that she works with clients anywhere from 2 months to 3 years, depending on what they need
Nadine explains that the creative process is not linear and that people get inspired in different ways — she gets inspired by music, TV shows, video games
To stay current on what’s going on Nadine shares that she’s subscribed to the bigger websites like, Fast Company, and award design blogs
Nadine wants to remind people that even though we are in a world crisis, it’s important to stay in touch with your why and ask yourself the same questions you ask your clients — why did you start this business, why do you keep taking on challenges, etc.
How as designers we think that the only important work we do is going to happen during our peak years but Nadine reminds us that we are creating something beyond that, we are building a legacy
Nadine designed a eulogy exercise as a way to be more appreciative of everything you’ve accomplished and everything you’ve survived and shares that sometimes we get so caught up in moving forward in life and business that we forget about the kind of mark we want to make and leave behind
How during these times it’s especially important to sit down and think clearly about the difference you are trying to make in the world
Connect with Nadine on nadinenbone.com, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest — email her and reach out to say hello

Links mentioned:

Nadine’s Website

Fast Company

Connect with Nadine on Facebook

Connect with Nadine on Instagram

Connect with Nadine on Pinterest

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Krista is a WordPress developer, co-host of the Get Back To Design Podcast, and creator of the Simply Profitable Designer Summit. She specializes in collaborating with passionate designers to craft websites that directly support their clients' goals, while helping them simplify their businesses to spend more time doing what they love - design.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

01:25
Listen to episode 26 and episode 83 of The Design Business Show to hear Krista talk about her story, her development days, and starting her summit business.

01:42
We met in 2017 and I share how Krista is a whiz when it comes to making the development look like the PSD and how we’ve worked together on several sales pages over the last few years, I’ve spoken at her summit, and she’s been on my podcast multiple times.

2:20
Over the last few years Krista’s business has dramatically changed, and she shares the biggest change that happened in the last year was launching her Summit in a Box program in April 2020.

03:40
Krista’s Summit in a Box business is her her main focus but shares she occasionally does Development Days as well.

05:28
We touch on our process for collaborating and share that I will get a lead, ask the client for dates and how long the copy is, then give the information the Krista and she’ll say if she can do it and how long it will take her and then she develops it, and it works out perfectly.

06:45
How Krista is able to tell how long a project will take with designers she’s worked with before because she knows their style and times herself when she does projects and how if she’s working with a new designer she asks for examples of projects similar to the one they want developed because it does depend a lot on the complexity of the design.

10:01
Krista talks about her Simply Profitable Designer Summit, which was the inspiration for her Summit in a Box business and says that the first year of the summit was in April 2018 and that her systems oriented brain really helped here through the process.

11:21
The goal of the Simply Profitable Designer Summit is help designers run more efficient and profitable businesses — Krista shares that they’re coming up on their 5th year and the topics for this years summit.

14:25
Krista shares the reasons she’s on the fence each year about bringing the Simply Profitable Designer Summit back, one is because the Summit in a Box business is doing so well.

17:56
The main offer and goal in Krista’s business is to get everyone in their Summit in a Box program because it’s the product that’s going to help people the most it’s full of 1,000+ resources, including trainings, templates, etc. to help people in every stage of launching a summit.

18:39
The Summit in the Box program is a $2,000 offer and Krista explains how they offer smaller stepping stones to help people get ready for like, a $27 offer that’s just the promotional resources.

20:31
Before the Summit in a Box program, Krista had a membership that’s purpose was to build up to the program they have now, where she would make new resources and add them to the vault each month and when that was done they re-released it as Summit in a Box.

22:12
How Krista has tired all kinds of freebie offers but has never had much success at Facebook Ads paying off, or people consistently converting from a freebie to a $2,000 program which is why she decided to try the $27 tiny offer, which has worked well in her business.

25:06
When Krista first started running ads she was spending $5 and wasn’t seeing results, but when she started with her tiny offer she was doing $20 a day, even though her product was $27 but started seeing results so she kept doubling the budget, which has gotten her to $15,000 a month in Facebook Ads and shares she invested in a Facebook Ads Coach.

26:43
We talk more about the tiny offer strategy and Krista shares that the $27 buyer tends to be more needy than the $2,000 buyer, so they have set boundaries because of that and says they’re quick to give refunds as well.

28:57
How Krista ran her first summit for her Summit in a Box business in September 2020, and says she was terrified because she couldn’t host a summit for everyone in her audience, which is online business owners who want to grow their business, so she had to niche down her summit, but saw great results.

30:02
Krista shares that the overall strategy behind her summit for her Summit in a Box business and Simply Profitable Designer Summit wasn’t that different, except she knew where the money was coming from was going to be different and explains where the money was coming from in both.

32:04
How there will be another summit for Summit in a Box, but Krista decided she’s not going to co-host again because she likes control, so although her co-host was amazing, they have parted ways and she got to keep the brand since Krista decided to leave, so now Krista has to figure out how she’s going to do something different from what she’s doing.

32:33
How I’m a speaker at the Simply Profitable Designer Summit this year, and I’m going to be talking about how to get hired to work on launches using your expertise, even if it’s not design.

33:25
For Krista’s first summit, she didn’t have a lot of help, but says she has had a designer forever who helped her, and she hired a VA to help 5-10 hrs. total on her first summit but with how it’s grown, she does have a lot of help now and has a full-time employee who helps with all the easy trainable tasks and says she outsources anything repeatable when it comes to summits or launches.

35:01
Krista has always seen a benefit in not trying to figure out how to do something that someone else has already figured out, which is why she has Summit in a Box as well because she doesn’t want someone to guess how to launch and promote a summit when she knows how and could just tell them.

36:20
I talk about my experience with launches and touch on some of the topics I’ll be discussing at the summit.

38:38
How Krista is pregnant with baby number two and explains that she feels way less stressed than when she had her first daughter and feels good about how things are going to look — she also shares that she has nothing on her schedule for the rest of the year after her due date because she’s just going to go with the flow and come back to work when she’s ready.

41:26
Go to summitinabox.co where you will find all the information and some freebies, connect with Krista on Instagram, and designers go signup for the Simply Profitable Design Summit.

Links mentioned:

Get Back To Design Podcast

Episode 26 of The Design Business Show

Episode 83 of The Design Business Show

Simply Profitable Designer Summit

Summit in a Box

Connect with Krista on Instagram

Like what you heard?

Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board

Let’s connect on Instagram!

PS - The Simply Profitable Designer Summit is free. If you decide to upgrade to the All Access Pass or Power Pack using my link, I’ll get a referral fee.

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Jordan Gill, operations consultant and founder of Systems Saved Me, helps overworked one-woman shows become streamlined solopreneurs. Her jam is creating a cohesive operating system for managing your tasks, files and inbox. She’s been on podcasts like What Works and CEO Vibes sharing her love of replacing monthly retainers with one day virtual intensives. She currently lives in Dallas, TX with her cavapoo Vivienne and collection of 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzles.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Jordan was on episode 61 of the podcast and how we met 5 years ago on a launch that wasn’t the best experience for us, bonded over the situation, and became friends
In 2016 Jordan went full-time into entrepreneurship and ended up getting connected with some business owners where she was doing monthly retainers, which is the only business model she knew from a service perspective
Jordan talks about how she had 4 clients at the time and says that about 5 months in, 3 out of the 4 clients were launching and shares that it was very stressful, which is how she figured out monthly retainers were not the way she shows up best
When Jordan started looking into other ways of doing business, she hired a sales coach who was doing 3 hour VIP Days in her business, so Jordan asked if she could do that in her business but with systems
How Jordan decided she wanted to charge $3000 for her intensives but had some struggles, thinking no one would pay that because she’s too young but says she benefited from being young and naive because she did it anyways
The majority of Jordan’s business revenue came from VIP Days and weekends, and how that really allowed her to experience entrepreneurial freedom, which is why she teaches this business model now
Sign up for Jordan’s Done in a Day Virtual Conference to figure out how VIP Days would work in your business
Jordan shares the 3 types of VIP Day structures, backstage, blended and book-end and also shares that she has a quiz you can take to know which structure would be best for you
The backstage structure is when you aren’t really getting on a call with your clients at all, they just reserve your day, examples of this are website design or copywriting — it’s more of a service type VIP Day
How Jordan does the blended structure, where she’s on a call the entire time and is building the process at the same time, while the client watches her so they can become more familiar with the tool along the way
When you think of a bookshelf you can sometimes have one book-end or two on either side of the shelf, and in the book-end structure, wherever you place the book-ends, those are your actual calls with your clients
Jordan tells us about the most unique VIP Day she’s been approached with and how the woman wrote songs to help heal people of trauma, so Jordan went to a friend who was excited about the idea and ended up getting the woman a referral partner
Jordan talks about how we’re both similar in the way that our best energy comes from when people invite us into a space to speak, because of this Jordan doesn’t go live on Instagram much, instead she builds relationships with people and the invitations for her to come speak just happen from there
How Jordan knew she was going to do a rebrand and told her content manager that she wanted to only hire VIP Days which was interesting because VIP Days are a newer concept so it got a little tricky when finding people she wanted to work with in the VIP Day format
The story of how Jordan hired a branding agency in Dallas, TX had them come into her home so they could truly get a feel for her and then when she got her results back, they created a pineapple illustration that looked like SpongeBob SquarePants house for her logo, which made her feel so misunderstood
When Jordan did her rebrand she hired a brand strategist who actually helped style her for her photoshoot too, she also hired a copywriter to go over all of the copy she had written, a photographer who really understood her, and a website designer— all were VIP Days
Jordan says it was such a relief to do this rebrand and shares one of her favorite areas is the directory on her website, where she gets to showcase clients who have gone through their program so you can go hire them for their VIP Days
The decision to move from Kajabi to Showit Jordan says was because of Kajabi’s limitations on how you can organize the back end of your website, so she decided to switch when they were rebranding
How Jordan’s team was very involved in the switch because it’s their mission too, it’s not just the Jordan show — her ops coordinator moved all the courses, her graphic designer helped with the logo, patterns, prints and icons for the website, and her content manager had a lot of input on the social elements they needed
Jordan explains that if you work in the rebrand space it’s okay for your clients to not necessarily be overly jazzed about the branding process and just because they have doubts and fears doesn’t mean you aren’t doing your job well, it just means they are out of their comfort zone and you have to reassure them
Sign up for the Done in a Day Virtual Conference, it’s on March 8th and 9th, 2021 and you will get live virtual events in a fun, active and supportive environment

Links mentioned:

Systems Saved Me

The Design Business Show - Episode 61

Done in a Day Virtual Conference

Which Type of VIP Day Should You Create Quiz

VIP Day Directory

Like what you heard?

Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board

Let’s connect on Instagram!

The links to Jordan Gill's Done in a Day Virtual Conference are affiliate links. If you decide to sign up using my link, I'll get a referral fee!

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Kristen Westcott is a business growth strategist and founder of Kristen Westcott Media (www.kristenwestcottmedia.com ) who has spent the last decade in the legal and education fields supporting leaders and students in the areas of goal setting, productivity and project management. After recognizing her true passion, that lies in serving entrepreneurs, she honed her skills as a Director of Operations. She quickly noticed that what was holding many business owners back wasn’t a lack of drive or ability, but a lack of foundational systems that could support the day-to-day operations of scaling their business. These days, she spends her time helping online coaches, copywriters and course creators scale without the frustration that massive growth can bring you.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Kristen and I met at Sage and Tarzan’s Legendary Life Event in 2019 and how she reached out about coming onto the podcast
Kristen shares that she majored in sociology, which had nothing to do with business, management, or systems but was drawn to the legal side of the sociological studies she did
After school, Kristen became a law clerk and worked in a law office for 7 years doing commercial litigation, which included a ton of project management, so she honed in on the project management side of things
Kristen explains a lot of times in commercial litigation you work for the lenders of the banks — the big companies who are calling in loans on small businesses and shares she worked there during the 2008 recession and really struggled with the process she had to do everyday
How Kristen decided to leave that job and got into the education field which she loved because she was helping students with goal setting, time management, and helping them learn a new set of skills
While Kristen was teaching she got into coaching, which is where she stumbled onto the online world and got certified as a health coach and a life coach, which she did for a couple of years but realized she spent more time helping other coaches market their business than on marketing her own
Kristen explains she didn’t need to market her business because she was getting referrals and explains that as a business integrator, you work so deep with clients in the back end of their business that you aren’t in and out in a month, you work with them long-term so you can’t, and don’t need to take on as many clients
Because Kristen’s business was full as an integrator, she was looking for a way to help people that weren’t ready for an integrator but who were past the startup phase and in a growth phase, where they want to level up and need support but can’t afford the support
How kristen is having to market her business more now in order to help people who might be interested in a membership or consulting model
Kristen shares that a virtual assistant can help support you through administrative tasks, tech tasks, invoicing, graphics, or social media, etc. and how she likes to train her VAs to be outcome driven versus task driven and what that looks like
What an online business manager is and how some are certified and how some people just call themselves an OBM because what their doing is a more than the tasks a VA does
Kristen explains that an OBM might manage the projects and give tasks to a VA or members of the team, they might write or execute project plans and help manage the team as they go through that project plan and also explains that some might do implementation on the back end of things
Kristen walks us through a corporate business structure versus an online business structure and explains that there are different things we need and don’t need in an online structure depending on where you are in your business
One mistake Kristen sees entrepreneurs make when trying to fill roles is hiring too abundantly before they’re ready because what happens is they hire someone but don’t have any systems in place to give them consistent work so then they think they need to hire an integrator to manage all these people when really they just need to clearly define roles
Another mistake Kristen sees entrepreneurs make is being leery of hiring because they don’t want to let go of any control over tasks in their business and will wait too long to hire which means they are overworked and stressed because they haven’t brought someone in to support them in any shape
When you want to set up the basic systems for your business, Kristen suggests tracking your time, regardless if you plan out your week because sometimes it doesn’t go according to your plan — this way you can see where your time is actually spent
After you track your time, Kristen says you will be able to see the smaller tasks taking up your time that you could offload to somebody else; then you can categorize the tasks into administrative, social media, back end processes, etc. and see what the best hire for your business would be
Kristen shares that the next step after time tracking is to document what you’re doing as you’re doing it and shares that Loom is a great Chrome extension, where you can screen record what you’re doing, narrate it, then save those recordings so when you bring someone into your business they can use those videos as references
When finishing a creative project, Kristen shares that an important step people miss is having an offboarding process because a lot of creatives pour their heart and soul into a deliverable and by the time they’re done, they email it to the client and that’s it, rather than having a nice offboarding process to wrap things up
Kristen explains the offboarding process, what it might look like and how you can include a folder that has links to all the copy, or content you created in one convenient place for the client, and how this can also be a great spot to ask for testimonials or referrals
One thing Kristen loves to do in her offboarding process is create videos on how to go in and make a change to something she’s done, which is great for web designers because you don’t want people coming back to you if they’re only changing one small thing on their website for example
Kirsten offers project management in an agency model, where clients work with a member of her team and helps them manage long-term or short-term projects
Kirsten’s two VIP Day offerings where she sits down with a client for 6 hours and they power through a couple things — one offer is a strategic planning VIP Day, where they map out their plan for business growth and the other offer is a hiring process VIP Day, where they look at what kind of support they actually need
In August, Kristen is launching a membership for people to work through those two VIP Days over a longer time frame, which is great for people who might not have a lot of time in their week, but want to start getting those back end, foundational systems in place
If you have a question about business and systems, don’t hesitate to message Kristen on Instagram because she loves talking about this stuff and wants to help you
Connect with Kristen on Instagram, Facebook, or on her website and look for the freedom track link, that helps you get started on setting up those processes so you can offload them to someone else

Links mentioned:

Kristen Westcott Media

Loom Chrome Extension

Connect with Kristen on Instagram

Connect with Kristen on Facebook

Freedom Track

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Eman Zabi is the founder of The Scribesmith - a launch copywriting agency that specializes in research-based strategy and conversion copy for digital products. As a part of The Scribesmith’s umbrella, she created The Conversion Kits, brainstorming decks to help entrepreneurs raise conversion, and Terrain, a curated course marketplace for entrepreneurs.

Eman graduated with a degree in International Politics from Georgetown University (which explains her love for the nerdy stuff) and has been writing for as long as she can remember.

When not working, she can be found drinking copious amounts of tea, playing with her cat, Cat, and cooking up new ideas for the Scribesmith team to take on.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Eman and I both knew of each other but had never spoke and how I heard her speak on The Copywriters Club Podcast about Terrain, which I thought was interesting because there are so many courses but no one really checking them to say whether or not they’re good
When Eman posted on Facebook and asked if anyone had a web design course, a couple people tagged me, so I applied to be part of Terrain
Eman tells the story of being an unemployed grad who was trying to make money online, who had never heard of copywriting until someone sent her a link to Rob and Kira’s podcast, The Copywriter Club—she binged all the episodes in a couple weeks and decided copywriting was what she wanted to do
Shortly after Eman was introduced to the podcast in 2017, Rob and Kira started their Accelerator Program, so she took the opportunity to be part of that and things really took off from there
Before Eman started her business in 2017, she graduated from University in mid 2016, and did blogging here and there, making $20-$30 for work and then got a full-time job that she ended up leaving when she moved to Canada, which is when she went full-time with her business
Eman shares that she was doing a lot of outdoor copy when she first went full-time and shares that she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2015, so she used that as a distinguishing factor, that all her branding was outdoor themed and she was writing for the outdoor niche
How Eman’s first paid gig was writing about training for Mount Kilimanjaro
While in the Accelerator program, Kira, who is in the personality driven launch space subcontracted some work for Eman, which is when she realized how much she liked the launch side of things
When Kira was sending clients Eman’s way, she still had the outdoor branding but was taking on launch clients by early 2018
Eman shares that 2018 was a weird year for her business due to her mom being hospitalized and shares that she signed her first big client at the time and everything she made from that client was paid to a VA she hired in order to keep the business afloat
2019 was the first year Eman felt she could take her business seriously, grow and invest and says she hired another person, making it a team of 3 and launched the Conversion Kits that November
The story of how Eman decided a week before Black Friday that she wanted to launch the Conversion Kits after only having the 3 cards that were going to be on the landing page, so they put together a landing page and presold 100 which paid for the manufacturing and production
Once they started getting the decks out, they started getting a lot more clients and since then the team has grown to 11 people, plus some contractors here and there
Erman got the idea for Terrain a few weeks after coming back from TCC IRL but sat on it for a while because she didn’t have any background in it and she knew hiring a developer would be a significant investment
The story of how 3 weeks after speaking to developers and putting a deposit down, things went crazy with covid and the developers got furloughed and had a non-compete, so Eman couldn’t hire them as freelancers
Because Eman had already announced Terrain to the world, they decided to build it themselves after losing the developers and the deposit
Eman explains on the agency side, she usually adds a person to the team for every 1 or 2 retainers that they take on and explains why she hires fresh grad students and trains them to where they essentially take ownership of these projects and run with them
How Terrain was a byproduct of frustrations in this industry for Eman because personally she takes a lot of courses and has spent 20k on bad courses from well-known business owners with glowing testimonials on their sales pages
After realizing that this industry had a big problem with quality control, Eman wanted to initially create a vetting service for courses but says then it exploded because she realized the problem went deeper than quality control and wanted to create something that tackled all the problems at once
Eman shares that she and her friend, who’s an UX designer built the platform for Terrain where she was doing a lot of the back end workflows and he was doing the front end design work and shares they used a platform called Bubble, which is an interesting hybrid between coding and a no-code platform
When looking for courses that were good versus ones that needed a little more work, Eman and her team created a rubric that looked at depth, clarity, video/audio quality, if it was up to date because things change quickly in this industry, relevance to the audience, etc.
The idea, Eman shares is that they would look for courses that would help entrepreneurs level up in some way, so they have included courses on mindset and leadership skills, diversity and inclusion, courses on email marketing, specific sales courses, plus way more
Many of the courses have come from ones Eman has taken personally, and have been great or from people in the industry who are well known and confident enough in their courses to put them through the vetting process
Eman shares that 200+ people applied and they have put up 45 courses
How a lot of what went into Terrain was created because Eman isn’t a great course taker herself, and how this platform is great for people who normally struggle to finish courses because they built it as a very focused learning tool
A week leading up to the Terrain launch, Eman shares that everything that could have possibly went wrong, went wrong and shares some of the stressful things they had to deal with, but says once they officially launched, everything was fine and they haven’t had any major problems since
Eman tells us their goal was to acquire as many users as possible until the end of the year and then aggressively market Terrain at the start of the new year
How they have started onboarding the next round of course creators and their plan for making the process more efficient so they can upload more courses
Where people can go to sign up to be a user for Terrain is, know the terrain.io just click the purple sign-up button to join for free—Eman also says they will be offering some free courses starting in January
Eman explains what Peak Points are for Terrain, which are completion points for purchases because they want you to actually finish the courses—then you can trade Peak Points in for discounts at their store, the conversion kit.com or donate them to Kiva, a Women’s Entrepreneurship Fund
Two things Eman learned is that she could have built the platform more efficiently if they built the front end first instead of building the back end first and understanding that everyone wouldn’t use the platform the way she intended them to, and think about all the ways people might use it while building
The name for Terrain came to Eman while she was taking a walk in the woods with her parents and says she likes the idea of knowing the terrain because the landscape can be challenging but once you know it, you’ve got a handle on it
Terrain’s logo is a mountain that has an arrow in it, which Eman’s UX designer came up with and shares that they voted on the color palette
Connect with Eman on Twitter or Instagram

Links mentioned:

The Scribesmith

The Conversion Kit

Terrain

The Copywriters Club Podcast

The Copywriters Club-Accelerator Program

Bubble

Kiva- Women’s Entrepreneurship Fund

Connect with Eman on Twitter

Connect with Eman on Instagram

Like what you heard?

Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board

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Hey friends, Melissa Burkheimer here and I'm so excited that you're here for Episode 127 of The Design Business Show. Today's episode will be pretty short and sweet, but I wanted to let you know two things before we get started.

First, starting today, Friday, January 22, 2021, and you can get free access to my free sales page course between now and February 1, 2021. Just go to https://melissaburkheimer.com/salespagecourse and I will show you sales page design principles, copy lessons, my process map, and even a surprise PSD that you're welcome to take in use however you want. So there's that.

And then the second thing is that Launch Celebrity is still open I'm taking applications for between now and February 1 to become a founding member. If you want to produce a blockbuster launch, I'd love to have you inside the program. It doesn't cost you anything to apply it's just a really great way to let me know that you're interested, and for us to continue the conversation to see if you're a good fit or not, see if it's for you or not, go to https://melissaburkheimer.com/launchcelebrity.

Okay, so what I want to talk to you today about really quickly is sales page navigation. Specifically what to do and what not to do.

So, a sales page, if you don't know, is the thing that I design. I've done some websites, but most of my clients come to me for sales pages, and I actually design more sales pages than I do websites, even in my own business because I own a business that runs digital product launches.

So, a sales page has one goal and that's usually to make a sale. Another name for sales pages is a landing page. So, the intention there also is to get a goal, get the conversion. It could be someone opting into text alerts, it could be someone you know signing up for your emails, it could be someone applying to join a program or it could be just someone coming to buy one of your products or services.

And what we want to do is keep people interested and engaged, and the sales page's job is to inform them about what it's like to work with you to help get their questions answered, and just really paint the picture for what it could be like after they buy your product or service, and one mistake that people often make on their sales pages is within the navigation. So, again, the intention is to keep people on the page to get them to read and scroll and interact and eventually take action. Now, we all know that not everyone's going to buy from us that's kind of just the reality of business, and we don't want to distract people.

So in today's world, we know that people are really distracted. And we want to keep them on the page we don't want to direct them elsewhere.

When it comes to your sales page navigation, the only links that belong on your page are links that will help your buyer or your potential buyer make an informed decision to buy and keep them on the page, or send them to the checkout process. And so many people make this mistake. They'll link their about page, their YouTube channel their Instagram page, or whatever it is and they'll use regular website navigation on their sales page.

And that to me is a big no no because if I click your YouTube link, I'm going to get distracted by dance choreography because that's what I like to pay attention to on YouTube.

And I'm going to forget all about your offer and that's not what we want people to do. We want them to stay engaged, so we don't want to include any links that will distract our buyers. We want to include links that will keep them on the page so good sales page navigation would be a link to buy or apply or whatever the call to action is a good link could also be a section on the sales page where you're talking about success stories.

Another idea could be if you're hosting like a virtual event or a live event when we can have events, again after the pandemic. Like "the schedule" or "who the speakers are" so that people can know what to expect and like when because it's a live event like you want to the dates and times if you're going to sign up so that you can actually participate.

Let's say you're selling a digital course - you can say "here's what's included."

Let's say you are selling a clothing line, you can include a link to the size chart so people know what size to buy based on like their measurements or like their normal size when like they're gonna buy let's say a bra, or a pair of jeans. (I'm just using examples of things I've recently bought online.) And you can include other links where, you know, it just takes you to the call to action.

For example, on my Launch Celebrity sales page, all of the "Apply Now" links, and there are a lot of them, take you straight to the application which is embedded directly on the sales page at the bottom. So I'm very I was very strategic with that and I'm kind of excited to look at the data after this first, you know, after a month of promotion that I've been doing on the down low. Not really.

I want to see what worked and what didn't where people were clicking and like how much traffic I got and like all the things I'm really excited to kind of nerd out on that. Even though data is not not really my favorite thing but I can see like what buttons people are pushing what they're doing and what the behavior is.

And so, instead of including a link to your about page on your website, include an about you section.

Instead of having a link to your media page you can feature media logos of where you've been featured or where your clients have been featured.

So just remember the intention is to keep people on the page to get them to take an action, and not to get distracted on someone who's very easily distracted just ask them I am literally looking out the window right now as I'm, like, recording this episode right now.

And we want people to take action we want you to get more sales we want you to get a bigger audience we want you to just build momentum with whatever it is that you're selling or doing, and a great design. Great copy and great navigation on your sales page can help you make that happen. So if you want to learn more about sales pages and sales page design and how the copy and design work together and the whole nine, go to https://melissaburkheimer.com/salespagecourse and sign up now, you'll have free access between now and February 1. And, if you like the experience you can work with me further inside of Launch Celebrity.

All right, that's it for today's quick episode we will be back next week with guest interviews and I'm so thankful that you're here, thankful that you listen and hope you have a great weekend night morning or whatever it is, whatever time of day it is that you're listening. Alright, bye.

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Hillary Weiss is a brand consultant, speaker, copywriter, and founder of Statement Piece Studio @ hillaryweiss.com. She’s also the co-host of the cult-favorite Youtube marketing talk show Hillary and Margo Yell at Websites (#HAMYAW), and has had her work featured on Business Insider, The Next Web, The Observer, and more. Since 2011, she’s helped thousands of brands all over the world get seen and heard (and make serious cash) through her 1-1 client work, writing, coaching, and videos. Nowadays, she’s on a mission to help more small businesses define their “statement piece”, a.k.a. the bold point of view that makes them radically relevant to their perfect people.

Wanna know more? Catch her riffs on all of the above on her blog, or say whaddaaap! to her on Twitter @hcweiss.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Hillary and I met in 2019 because we were both guest mentors at Sage and Tarzan’s Legendary Life Event
Hillary shares that she was a copywriter for about 10 years, but realized a few years ago that her passion was actually more on the strategy side of things and that the switch took her about 3 years
The idea for Statement Piece Studio happened around late 2017/ early 2018 and Hillary tells us that the statement piece is rebranding in Hillary Weiss style of the big idea
Hillary does creative direction for brands who are ready for a rebrand, who are in the 6 or 7 figure zone and are also ready for a big umbrella brand that brings all the different elements of what they do together
How Hillary also does positioning coaching, where she works with creative business owners to develop the core of their brand by finding their position of power in the market, which is identifying their specialties, the unique framework, approach, and the content and offers
In 2016, Hillary tested out coaching by offering 10, 60 minute slots for $99 each and shares that the price gradually moved up once she started getting more experience and giving it structure
For Hillary’s start with creative direction and brand strategy she worked with her mentor, Sarah Ashman for 10 months in a training program around creative direction just to make sure she wasn’t missing anything
Why Hillary loves what she does in both areas of her business is because she gets to help creatives learn how to show up as themselves; she also shares that she enjoys the creative challenge of brand strategy and creative direction and making all the elements fit together in a logical way
How Hillary realized she was doing a lot of the strategy work in her copywriting for free and how she was interested in the opportunities that creative direction and brand strategy would open up to her, beyond copywriting
Why Hillary accidentally ended up doing strategy for free while copywriting is because she would ask clients basic questions about their market, about the big promise, etc and they wouldn’t know how to answer
The reason Hillary started doing messaging strategy is because there were a lot of gaps around that– when the client isn’t secure on all those touchpoints of the brand experience and the brand conversation, they have no confidence going forward so it makes it hard for them to measure what’s working and what’s not
Hillary shares that her strong start in copywriting had to do with her style; she can mimic voice very well and is a good writer, but when it came to sales and brand strategy, it was a guessing game for her
As she learned and gained more experience, Hillary got better at figuring out what worked, what didn’t, and what clients needed and found herself developing these strategies as they went, often doing correction work
Hillary explains what was talking a lot of energy was being able to map out the whole process with the client and helping them see the big picture, so when they got the deliverables they would understand what plugged in where to the strategy
Now Hillary sits down with clients and does all the identity work, like who’s the target market, what’s your unique benefit, what’s the problems and solutions, what are the objections, what are the beliefs that need to shift within the customer, etc and explains these things separate strategy from words on a page
Hillary talks about pricing for her services and says that a 90-minute call discussing and tightening brand strategy without deliverables starts at $1500, her power positioning coaching, for 6 sessions is $6500, creative direction also starts at $6500, and messaging strategy starts at $3000
What Hillary loves most is creative direction because it involves every piece of the puzzle and positioning coaching because she gets great joy from seeing creative business owners transform and become more confident
How Hillary got business for copywriting was through referrals and shares that’s how she gets most of her business for creative direction as well and that her email list and social media, specifically Instagram is more for her power positioning clients
Part of Hillary’s strategy right now, along with talking on social media and to her email list is she’s about to start pitching some workshops around creative direction to clients with larger communities of clients that fit the bill
One of the biggest mistakes Hillary sees is people not taking the time to reverse engineer their thinking and take note of how we approach things; people focus on keeping up with the ‘strategic Joneses’ and look to what’s going on around us in our business for information and direction when we need to go within
If your small goals aren’t tied to a bigger piece of the puzzle and rooted in something, in terms of strategy, identity or where you want to be going, Hillary says, you won't finish because you can’t hit a target you can’t see
Hillary’s opt-in offer, Statement Piece Framework that helps you look at 3 major sources of inspirations for content– conversations with your clients, conversations you have with your colleagues, and conversations you have with yourself
How Hillary uses social media as a space to show up, have fun, have conversations and test out ideas and wants her audience to view her space as a safe place and somewhere they can also have fun
Hillary talks about what’s next for her which includes running ads and continuing to grow and find fun ways to do so
Hillary’s hot seat community called, The Thunder Collective, which is an accountability group where they meet twice a month, set a goals, bring what they’re working on and receive feedback, while having fun
A program Hillary wants to put together called, Hot Seat Beast which would help people become better hot seat facilitators and use that in their own marketing, pitch themselves to masterminds and help add value to their programs
Connect with Hillary on her website, check out her YouTube show, HAMYAW, or reach out on Instagram or Twitter

Links mentioned:

Statement Piece Studio

Statement Piece Framework

The Thunder Collective

Hillary’s Website

YouTube Show, HAMYAW

Connect with Hillary on Instagram

Connect with Hillary on Twitter

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Anahitta Mian is a US based multidisciplinary Creative. She's have been a freelancer for a while now. A few of her recent projects includes; Aqua Mat (Amazon best seller) for a U.S. company, the book "Three sisters" on Amazon (where she was featured and was an illustrator!) and multiple artworks in Canton Fair 2020. Check out her Disney Princesses in Pakistan Series below!

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Anahitta and I met through my free Facebook community and how I saw her posting beautiful artworks, which she calls her, Disney Princesses in Pakistan Series
Anahitta shares how she started drawing on CorelDRAW and made her first portrait at age 12 or 13
Because there wasn’t a school for art in Pakistan, Anahitta’s mother suggested pursuing art as just a hobby, but she was not convinced
While Anahitta pursued her degree in B.C.S. honours and software engineering, she worked as a freelancer and was the graphic designer for every other society at her university
Anahitta realized that the graphic and illustration was something she could take from "hobby" and turn into a job, so after she had her baby she started doing freelancing full-time
Anahitta expresses her love for drawing and explains the change she made from software engineer to creative after she moved back to the U.S. and started drawing more
The inspiration behind Anahitta’s Disney Princesses in Pakistan Series came from her dad buying her Disney princess items when she was young and their trip to Disney, which sparked a conversation about what the princesses would look like if they were dressed in the same outfits as Pakistan women
Anahitta had her followers pick their favorite Disney princesses and their favorite Pakistan street wear brands and drew the princesses in formal wear, bridal wear, casual wear or night wear and then shared the drawings online and tagged the follower who had done the request
After graduation, Anahitta worked in a software house where she was working on a computer that had Illustrator – she started drawing and someone from the graphic department saw and that’s when she started making graphics for them
How Anahitta requested to work as a graphic intern, which she ended up doing and how that helped her become more comfortable with her drawings and helped her find her own style
After becoming a mom, Anahitta decided she would pursue her passion for graphics and art, and chose not continue with software engineering
How Anahitta got her first freelancing job doing graphics for different societies at her university and how they then recommended her for jobs once they graduated and were in the business world, but how at the time she wasn’t open for orders
The story of how one of Anahitta’s friends asked her to create a company profile for the Pakistan business she was working for – she charged $5,000 for it and was then given two more projects because they were very happy with the results
Sometimes Anahitta would pause her freelance work when life got busy, but after having her baby she decided she needed to pursue it because it’s so much fun for her and explains she’s never really done it for money, she does it for fun
Anahitta explains that she defines her own hours and describes herself as an active person and a multi-tasker who’s always up for work if she has time on her hands
What Anahitta charges for her work and explains how it really depends on what the customer is looking for that determines her prices – she does prints, online invitations, home decor, large paintings, etc.
Anahitta explains what it’s like having a 19-month old at home while she’s working and says that when he’s sleeping, she’s doing client work and when he’s up they’re playing
How there are a lot of viz artists in the world, but few viz gurus, which Anahitta is and how she worked in a media house but came to the U.S to get her viz art certification
What viz art is and how Anahitta compares it to augmented reality, like when you see someone on TV with rain behind them, that is created by a viz art team
For someone who is interested in the viz art certification, Anahitta says they should visit the Viz University website
Anahitta’s advice for people starting out with graphics is that it’s okay to start small and do it part-time and then work into doing it full-time, but you should never give up no matter what anyone says
Connect with Anahitta on Instagram

Links mentioned:

Viz University Website

Check out Anahitta's portfolio

Connect with Anahitta on Instagram

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Matt's a conversion design consultant who helps businesses solve human problems.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

The story of how Matt and I met at Copywriter Club TCC IRL Event and have since connected and chatted about partnering up because Matt is also in the conversion design realm
As a child, Matt loved art and shares that his interest in creating something and telling a story visually never went away
Matt shares that he learned to build websites at 13 or 14 and started adding visual elements by learning how to do flash animation
When Matt was in college he studied English to become a writing instructor, but after a couple years of teaching he realized that wasn’t the world that was going to be around for much longer, so he looked online and got into content strategy
How Matt started blog writing which eventually led to clients hiring him to write emails or their new website copy, which gave him the opportunity to design for them in order to have the copy portrayed in the most optimal way
Matt shares that only in the last few years has he really transitioned from being a copywriter full-time to someone who uses visual design, as well as experience design in everyday work
Being a teacher helped Matt see the similarities between client interactions and teaching and expresses that you need to be a good listener, see how well what you’re saying is working and how you must be able to adjust on the spot
Matt’s secret to being a really good copywriter is talking to the client about what they want, writing down every word they say, structuring it, and then giving it back to them
How a sales page teaches someone about a problem they might be aware of or one they are not aware of and how the visuals and text need to support each other in order to get someone to arrive at the conclusions you’re trying to get them to arrive at
I share how teaching college classes has helped me in my business and how I want to help my students discover what jobs are available to them so they have a better understanding when entering their career field
We discuss that some surface level posts online might have high engagements but how that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re building their brand or business
Matt shares that he is a jack of all trades who enjoys problem solving for clients; he also shares that he runs a small conversion design focused website studio with his wife where their focus is working with clients and on projects that are going to make the world a bit better
Matt works with coaches and influencers and shares that he doesn’t want to work with people who are offering a product that doesn’t match what their marketing is promising because he wants to make sure he’s delivering the value his clients are promising
Recent projects Matt has worked on include, designing a blog archive page for a client who’s launching a podcast, and a website redesign project for an app and a web app that helps salespeople
One way to spot red flags when working with clients and companies is listening to how they talk about their customers and looking at how they treat you and interact with you
The more information you can get about the client and project in the beginning the better says Matt, because you'll be able to tell how ethical the company is by understanding how your deliverable is going to be used in the big picture for their business
Understanding the rules and laws of marketing can help you as a designer Matt explains because if you design something like a sales page, and claims are made on that sales page that aren’t accurate, you can get caught up in legal action
Why having a strong, personal brand set of values is important because there are ideas, values and principles attached to every piece of work created and how the work you decide to do now will be the work you’re hired to do later so you have to make sure it aligns with your values
While working in an agency, Matt realized the designers creating websites and advertisements for clients weren’t thinking about if it led people down the page and through the experience they wanted them to have, towards a measurable conversion event, which is how he describes conversion design
Matt explains that design is not art; design can be artistic but ultimately design is communication and how to communicate so effectively that it leads the user towards a specific action
How after Matt came up with the term conversion design to describe his method and started googling it and found that I was also using the term, so he joined my email list and we met at the Copywriter Club TCC IRL Event
Why it’s important to maintain our emotional and physical energy–Matt explains when you’re doing work you don’t believe in, it’s emotionally draining and the best thing you can do when you see a change like this happening, is to move and change directions and gives a personal example of when he had to do this
Matt shares that throughout college no one taught him how to get a job, so he created a course called, Get An Awesome Job, for creative professionals, young in their careers to help them understand what they can do to get a job and how to approach creative work so they have more options
The biggest secret Matt shares is to always be doing something in the field you want to work in and says that so many people wait for the right job to come along instead of creating it themselves
Matt compares job postings to a sales page and says to approach it the same way by using design principles to understand the client problem and understand how to speak to that problem–if you can do that, you’re going to convert
The free 5 step process on Matt’s website to reverse engineer the needs of a role based on the job description and figuring out how to communicate that you have the skills and experience necessary by using the right language
If you have the confidence to stand up and say this isn’t ethical, that gives you a lot of power– Matt shares an example of when he stood up to a boss when he was asked to do something unethical
Connect with Matt at getanawesomejob.com , or if you’re a creative who wants to prove their value to their clients and achieve measurably better results check out conversiondesign.org

Links mentioned:

Matt’s Course- Get An Awesome Job

Conversiondesign.org

Like what you heard?

Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board

Let’s connect on Instagram!

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Well hello friends! It’s been a minute since I’ve published a solo episode, and I wanted to pop in here to give you a couple behind-the-scenes updates today.

It’s December 21, 2020, and this is a time of year where a lot of people take time off, reset, declutter, share gratitude and get ready for the new year.

2020 has been a year unlike any other we’ve experienced during this lifetime, but I’m grateful for so many things.

My oldest son graduated and has been promoted twice already, soon to be 3 times at his job.

My younger son just turned 14, is doing pretty well with virtual learning, and started working out to get in shape for football next year.

My little sister was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer at this time last year, and she’s expected to make a full recovery.

My dad hit a big set back in September with some chronic illnesses he has, and is doing 100x better.

We did some projects around our house that we never had time to do because we were always gone with our kids in sports - what seemed like 24 / 7. We got new hardwood floors in our bedrooms, built a new retaining wall around our pool (we had to for structural reasons) and I’m forever finding things to deep clean and declutter. My family would like me to go to work at an office so I stop giving them tasks. :)

I wanted to share a couple wins in my business, and things I’ll be doing differently in 2021 and beyond.

I shared this exercise last year on episode 66 and I wanted to publicly share what I found when I did this exercise yesterday.

The exercise is really easy. Here’s what you do:

Write down all your wins.
Acknowledge what didn’t work.
Declare what you’re saying goodbye to.
And announce to the world what your new normal is.

I got the new normal idea from one of my mentors, Erika Lyremark, last year. Before COVID.

Here’s a couple things from my list of wins:

My visibility has tripled this year, which resulted in so many great things! Like new followers on Instagram, new people on my email list, more podcast downloads, consistent invitations for me to be interviewed on other podcasts, guest training opportunities, project collaborations and more.

I even got the opportunity to license Conversion Design School™. In 2021 I’m looking forward to even more opportunities for me to expand my reach, and plan to be super strategic about my visibility. I’ll be re-viving my YouTube channel, being more strategic with this podcast, and I already have my launches planned for Q1. I know from experience that Launching as a digital marketing tool you can use to help you expand your imprint, visibility, audience, customer list, and bottom line.

If you want to collaborate on a design project, interview me on your podcast, or want me to do a guest training for your audience, send an email to me at design @ melissaburkheimer.com.

I’ve finally created a product suite that converts. After years of only designing sales pages and managing launches, I’ve created 4 new offers that can help me build momentum on a much larger level, and help me do something that should’ve crossed my mind years ago: build wealth. These programs are my new DIY offers that are there, and will be updated + marketed later in 2021. Not many people know about them because I didn’t do any major launches or marketing for these programs in 2020.

I had 2 launches planned for Conversion Design School™ in June and September of this year, but shelved those plans.

The newest offer I’m working on that I’m super excited about it - because it’s the Done-With-You offer that’s been missing from my product suite.

It’s called Launch Celebrity, and it’s a 6-month group mentorship program designed to help service providers, creatives, and consultants produce a blockbuster launch. It’s so new that I don’t even have a sales page for it yet. Applications are open, so if you want details, send me a DM on Instagram!

I hired someone to help me write my show notes for the podcast! This was a huge relief for me. There’s a lot of talk in the online space about outsourcing + hiring, but not a lot of context for what to do. I spent the first year or so doing them by myself, and it took me what felt like forever. I was distracted, frustrated, and knew I needed to get it off my plate. When I first started the podcast, I’d take notes during the interview to help me get started, but then I didn’t feel like I was being present, so I started doing it after the fact!

Here’s a couple things from my list of what didn’t work.

I planned to rely on launches for most of my income this year, said no to 1:1 projects and then didn’t launch. So, I’m setting up 2021 to look much different, so I’m not solely reliant on launches for my business revenue. I still had income from teaching college classes, payment plans from previous launches, and design projects, so I was still able to keep my business running.

I could’ve launched on a smaller scale if I had a team in place to handle things when I had to stop working.

I plan to hire a part-time project manager early next year to help me manage my launches (I do most everything myself now besides sales page copy and website development). I’ll spend the first half of the year creating updated assets for all the offers, and then I can spend the second half of the year tweaking and testing to increase sales.

What I’m Saying Goodbye to:

Working all the time. Quarantine had me at the laptop waaaay too much, especially the first half of this year.
Doing almost everything myself. Hello, new launch manager! I can’t wait to meet you! I’m a much better delegator than doer, so I’m excited to see how this turns out!
All this extra weight I’ve been carrying for the past 5 years. Emotionally and physically. I want to be in the best shape + health of my life, so big changes are coming.

My new normal: I want to help 100 service providers become Launch Celebrities. I make money in my business every day. My content creates change in the design industry. More and more creatives believe success is possible by watching my content. And they make it happen. I have small, but mighty team that supports me. My podcast creates opportunities for my business, my listeners, my guests, and more. It’s easy for people to buy from me!

I also wanted to share a few quick updates happening behind-the-scenes for the podcast:

We’re updating our messaging, graphics, and mission within the next few months.
We’re going to make it easy for you to request interviews from experts you look up to, and submit questions that get answered on the show.
I’m working on creating transcripts for every episode to make it more accessible. We have about 30 done, and 90ish left.
I’m going to get fancy and create a press kit, and create more sophisticated pitches to send to guests.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to be in your ears every week.

I’m so thankful that you listen – and for the creatives who come on here and share their stories.

And if you wanna be brave, send me a DM on Instagram and tell me what you learned from this exercise or even just what your new normal is.

I’ll be hosting some free, live masterclasses and fun experiences in January all about sales pages and launching. If you want to be the first to know when those happen, make sure you’re on my email list. You can hop over to https://melissaburkheimer.com and scroll to the bottom of the page to get on it. My mentor doesn’t let me send boring emails, so it’s always valuable stories!

I’m rooting for you!

Like what you heard?

Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board

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Lakeasha Jackson is a mom of 3, wife & CEO. She’s based out of Long Island, NY and works with clients nationwide.

She started her business back in 2012, and that business was formally named Jackson Designz (Now, Lakeasha & Co.) She didn’t leave her full-time job until July 2015 to really pursue the joy of being a CEO. She was so wrapped up around building and branding other people’s businesses and didn’t see that she could be doing the same for herself if she put in the same amount of work ethic she did for that 40-hour paycheck. Like most of her clients, she had to start from the ground up and design was just her league.

However, she noticed after working with multiple clients that her joy wasn’t only in building their website, it was in BRANDING THEIR PURPOSE and from there, you have Lakeasha Jackson; the Digital Marketing Strategist.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How I met Lakeasha at Carolin Soldo’s From Passion to Profits LIVE event in 2016 where we connected and stayed in touch
The story of how Lakeasha got started as a self-taught designer in 2012 because she and her husband were starting a business and were looking for someone to do the logo and website, but no one could grasp the concept she was going for
After Lakeasha created their logo and website she realized she wanted to be a designer, so she quit her job and never looked back
Lakeasha talks about the business her and her husband created called, Let’s Stay Married, to counsel other couples and encourage them to give marriage a second chance
When Lakeasha was first trying to get clients, she went to networking events and joined Facebook groups, but wasn’t very successful in getting clients even though her prices were so low
Lakeasha shares the story of how she landed her first big package deal when she went to the event in Miami with her husband
Lakeasha’s idea for a brand in a box, where she creates everything you need to brand your business including, business cards, logo, flyers, website, and coming soon page and how she was undercharging for that service which now costs around $4,000
When Lakeasha was first starting out, clients had to pick between the brand in a box or a website and how now there are more digital options for the brand in a box service, like digital business cards, social media flyers, social media image and marketing materials
Lakeasha talks about the custom planners she creates for clients based on their brand, which come in the brand in a box service
How Lakeasha only worked with female entrepreneurs in the beginning, but as she’s grown, she has more businesses looking for her than entrepreneurs so now she targets to both entrepreneurs and small businesses
Lakeasha shares that Instagram has connected her with many of her clients and that Instagram and LinkedIn have opened many doors for her
How Lakeasha ties her personal life into her branding on social media to keep it as real as possible with her audience and talks about how she balances being a mom, a wife and an entrepreneur through open communication with her audience
Lakeasha explains that it’s important to include your audience in your life because they want to see that you are a real person too, so she may post that she’s at a football game, but she’ll also most that she’s up at 3 am working on a client project
Lakeasha shares that her preferred website platforms are WordPress, Shopify, and Squarespace and she shares which one you would use based on the service-based or product-based business you have
Why Lakeasha prefers WordPress overall because you own your website and content and have more control over your website unlike Shopify and Squarespace, where they belong to that platform
How Lakeasha sells templates for WordPress, and currently has two out for female coaches but is looking to start another one for a males perspective
When someone buys the website template package (which starts at $297), Lakeasha does custom updates by going in and putting their content in, putting their photos in, and putting their color scheme in- she will also do the branding as an added service if needed
Lessons Lakeasha has learned through having her template shop is to be prepared and to stay consistent- she shares that when she posted it to the world she wasn’t expecting it to be wanted and needed right way
Lakeasha shares that lately she’s been doing a lot of networking because she’s learned there’s nothing bigger and better than word of mouth
Why design is important to Lakeasha
Where people go wrong with branding and designing is combining the two - Lakeasha explains that branding is more about who you are, who you want to serve, what your client looks like and wants, whereas design is taking from your branding, putting it together in a digital way and adding design elements
Lakeasha’s biggest tip for creatives who are trying to balance their personal life with work is to go with the flow, give yourself a timeline but also give yourself the flexibility to be available
The process behind Lakeasha’s consultation calls is to just have a conversation with the client versus asking them a bunch of complex questions, she shares that she learns way more about them and their business that way, which helps her brand them digitally
What Lakeasha would tell herself four years ago is to stop being so scared, own your price, own your services, own what you know, and don’t be scared to keep learning
Connect with Lakeasha on her website, Facebook, or on Instagram

Links mentioned:

Lakeasha’s Website

Connect with Lakeasha on Facebook

Connect with Lakeasha on Instagram

Like what you heard?

Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board

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Alyssa “Twist” Light is a professional speaker who helps businesses grow by utilizing the power of storytelling in every aspect of their operations, especially marketing.

Her most recent success outside of her speaking work is Social Innovation Monthly, an offline subscription of social media “recipe cards” that help businesses engage in more powerful and consistent storytelling. Twist has spoken at Landscape Ontario’s Congress, Ontario Irrigation Conference, CreativFestival, Halton Police Service, Go Camp Pro, Social Tenacity, HortEast, and the Ontario Camp Association among others. A self proclaimed lover of conferences, Twist’s mission is to make event planners look like superheroes and delegates feel like rockstars.

She has also been a guest on dozens of podcasts, including The 6 Figure Events Podcast, Authentic Influencer, Service Business Mastery, and Podcast Domination.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Twist and I met at Sage and Tarzan’s Legendary Life Event in the fall of 2019
The story behind why Twist stopped using her first name (Alyssa) and now goes by her nickname and why it’s important to get names right on work
From her stage work to her design work, Twist is continuously thinking about how the work she’s doing will be received and how it will help somebody experience belonging and also create it for other people
Why Twist feels so strongly about creating a sense of belonging and why she wants to put that into business, marketing, and everything she creates so the community she builds is strong and powerful
Twist shares a couple stories from her childhood highlighting her entrepreneur skills from a very young age and shares that she’s had a couple of jobs, but they didn’t work out because she has really big ideas and sees things differently than other people do
When Twist first started, she had to figure out her way through trial and error and explains what that process looked like, she also explains how she fell into speaking
Why speaking made Twist want to have a portfolio because of one her biggest challenges with speakers are those who get on stage and say a lot, but don’t have experience to back it up or don’t have a willingness to go out and make those things happen for themselves
Twist shares what she’s doing now since the speaking industry is on hold due to the coronavirus such as, Social Innovation Monthly, which is a deck of storytelling recipe cards she sends out; each have a prompt, instructions on how to create your own post, why you're doing it and a sample, organic post
Another thing Twist does is creates course enhancing assets for people with digital or in person courses and walks us through how she does that
Twist talks about how she works with people to go through their client journey process and looks at different aspects of it so they can create a client love process, which is onboarding and offboarding, but also acknowledging the milestones in between to enhance the relationship
Twist shares her love for quilting and explains how she got experience by wanting to make the industry she loves even better, so she started by helping a quilting business redesign everything start to finish for their business
How Twist prepared herself for the speaking industry and stresses that every speaker’s process is different and in order to get clients, you need to make sure what you're saying makes sense and communicate that to an event planner
Even if you aren’t being paid to speak, Twist says there is plenty of opportunity to get clients afterwards
Twist shares that finding a local networking event that is looking for speakers can help you practice new content and says to have a strong point that the audience can do something with and then find out what they did with that information
As you grow your business, Twist suggests looking for paid event opportunities that are within associations because they often have funds to pay speakers
Twist suggests putting on your own event, such as a live video on Facebook and says to record it so you can watch yourself after and learn the language, body language, tone of voice, volume of your voice, etc. that you are using
Why Twist started offering course enhancing assets for course creators because she became frustrated with courses she would take that offered no documents or interactive activity to reinforce what was being taught
Twist gives real examples so we can see how not having documents or interactive activities can hinder your audience from actually learning
Twist explains gamification, which can be very simple - the main goal is to make our audience feel like they achieved something and give them quick wins, whether that’s checking off boxes, receiving stickers, or formatting your copy a certain way
How Twist came up with the idea for Social Innovation Monthly through her passion of helping people express information and by realizing people needed an easy analogy to understand, which is how she picked recipe cards
Social Innovation Monthly was originally thought of for just social media at the time with the idea of helping people tell better stories and tell stories better
Twist shares that she started funnel hacking other people that were giving away or selling prompts and was not impressed with what she was given and thought about what was missing
The thought process Twist went through to create Social Innovation Monthly and how it is completely unique and goes above and beyond for the subscribers by offering prompts, questions and templates
The story of how Twist drove 40 minutes to print her sample recipe cards and glued them together by hand and took her idea to social media to see if there was an interest and how at the time of the launch Twist was doing everything herself
What Twist had to learn and overcome while working on Social Innovation Monthly and how they made the decision to make it a membership and only do 12 months of content
Check out Social Innovation Monthly to find out more information- Twist talks about their new system of doing open cart only through affiliates and asks if I would like to be a partner so my listeners can get access
Twist suggests having another episode where we talk about the client love piece, so stay tuned for another episode with her
Connect with Twist on Facebook

Links mentioned:

Social Innovation Monthly (affiliate link)

Connect with Twist on Facebook

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Nita Scruggs is a Brand and Marketing Strategist who partners with CEOs, executives, and solopreneurs to grow their personal and professional brands.

With 6 years of experience in design and marketing for established brands and startups, Nita knows what truly drives conversions and sold-out launches.

Nita has landed coverage in print, acquired for in-person business presentations, and has solidified her knowledge in brand design by working with well established online business professionals. In addition to her extensive design and marketing experience, she is also a trained Set Up for Success online business consultant.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Nita is in my Facebook group for designers and how I asked her if she’d be interested in coming on the podcast to talk about building a cohesive brand and the importance of design consistency
Nita shares how she got into network marketing as a stay-at-home mom and realized she would have to make herself stand out in an industry where everyone looks the same, which led to her discovery of branding
What branding means to Nita: being unique and embracing those qualities about yourself that other people can resonate with and tapping into who you want within your space
The story of how Nita learned to create her own WordPress blog from one YouTube video
How people started noticing her blog which led her to create brands for other people, and then she transitioned her into becoming the branding guru she is today
How Nita’s creativity, connecting with clients and getting to bring their vision to life really drove her to continue to learn and contribute to someone else’s vision because she knew what having a vision felt like
Nita’s first website project she tried to avoid because she was terrified about doing websites for other people, but eventually accepted it
How through that project she learned as she went, and the client ended up loving it and they are still connected today
After Nita’s first project she worked on a design campaign for a county council member, which was a great experience for her because she didn’t know a lot about local politics at the time
How working with this local politician opened up the local area as an option for Nita, which she had never considered before and how it also led to her working with the senator
The specifics of what Nita did for the local politician’s campaign, like helping her with visuals, create a brand identity that matched her messaging, and everything for print collateral
A pattern Nita started noticing was that people wanted a cute brand, but had no foundation
How that pushed her to learn more about branding beyond a logo and color pallet to really help the people she was working with
One element most people are missing when it comes to their own brand Nita says is owning who you are, who you want to work with and the type of clientele you want to maintain
Nita explains that many women in design, and business in general tend to go towards what they think everyone else needs and forget about what they want or need
How people try to do something quickly because they see others having success with it but forget to evaluate their own personal situation to see how they can have business flow with their personal life
Nita talks about how she has found harmony between her work and personal life during 2020 and has let go of the need for perfection while still being able to show up and deliver the way she wants to while being able to care for herself
How Nita balances being a mom and running a business from home and shares “jobs” she lets her younger daughter help with
Nita has always wanted to help people with the foundation of their branding outside of the design, which she had already been doing but was not getting paid for it, so she decided to transition into consulting
Nita’s new business model where she’s able to help people build their brand and get the foundation set up, like who you serve, how you want to serve, what your business model is, creating a signature offer, and more
After doing the foundational work with clients, Nita does design work, and even offers ongoing coaching
One of Nita’s offers is 6 weeks long and her ongoing coaching is for 10 months, which is a maintenance coaching and ongoing support from the initial 6 weeks
Nita shares that she does 10 months of coaching because it’s easy for people to fall off without that ongoing support
Where Nita gets most of her clients is from referrals and Instagram and shares how she likes Instagram because she feels that it’s easier to make connections and conversions
What Nita does specifically on Instagram includes sharing her brand pillars, talking about her process, standing firm on her values and what she believes branding is, educating and a lot of motivation
Nita discusses the strategy behind her posts, the time of day she posts and how she connects her posts to her audience
Nita shares that creating a polished presence on Instagram has to do with sticking to your brand elements and standards and shares that she’s only changed hers once
Nita likes to create templates to drop content into and explains that she likes to content plan but isn’t so strict on it, some days she’ll plan it and other days she’ll create the day of
When figuring out your service, Nita says it’s best to map out your skill set, where you see the most results and what brings you the most fulfillment and shares an example of a client who switched things up because she found her passion and what fulfilled her
When people think about rebranding, Nita says it’s amazing how many people go straight to the visuals instead of going back to the foundation of their business and says that the other elements won’t matter unless you know your foundation
Connect with Nita on Instagram, her website, or Facebook

Links mentioned:

Connect with Nita on Instagram

Nita’s Website

Connect with Nita on Facebook

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Melissa Morris is a Business Operations Consultant who specializes in client processes, which includes client onboarding, management and offboarding. She uses her 10 years client management experience to help service based business owners streamline and automate these processes as well as teach them how to set client expectations and create and hold boundaries.

Melissa’s been seen in INC Magazine and Keap Business Success Blog and heard on podcasts such as My Biz Bestie and Productivity Straight Talk. She frees business owners from overwhelm so they can actually work ON their business and not just IN their business.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

When Melissa had her 9-5 job at an ad agency she was an account executive, which is a project management and client management role and how being in that role served her and created some good systems for herself
Melissa explains that she liked her 9-5 job but was craving more flexibility and higher income, so she left her agency and started doing marketing consulting
After becoming a marketing consultant, Melissa quickly booked a lot of clients but looked around and realized she hated it and questioned what happened
Why Melissa didn’t like marketing consulting because she had to execute on a lot of ad plans, where she was writing social media posts, creating graphics and all that comes with consulting, which was unlike the project management role she was in at the agency, which she loved
How Melissa approached some of the business owners she’d been working with and started having conversations with them about managing their own projects because she was exploring this new line of work and they loved it
Melissa began to realize how this happens to so many solopreneurs, freelancers, etc. who go out on their own and then no longer have a project manager there to serve as a buffer person to keep things on track
How Melissa used her social media business to work with some of those business owners and do additional project management work for them
When Facebook made their big algorithm change it drastically dropped business page’s ability to show up in news feed, and their page views, so Melissa used that as an opportunity to fire a lot of the social media clients she was with and explains why that made sense for her
Melissa loves her work and primarily helps service providers create systems and processes, streamline and automate and identify the tools they need in their business to make all of that happen
Melissa’s experience in client management helped prepare her for tough client conversations and explains that when she presents to clients a shift in her business or unfortunately firing, she highlights the benefits for them and set them up for success as much as she can
What Melissa’s initial offerings included were conversations about where things were getting stuck in her clients’ business, why tasks were slipping through the cracks and helping them get out of overwhelm, which she explains stems from overbooking or not having a clear process
Melissa explains that if you can’t write down what your process looks like, then it is not nearly as clear as you think and you are going to have a difficult time automating that process or ask for help
Two things Melissa sees when it comes to tools is business owners who wait too long to have any tools and other business owners who know they need automation but aren’t sure what tool they need and end up duplicating a lot of tools
The categories of tools business owners need to pull from including a CRM, a project management tool, a scheduler and an invoicing tool and how Melissa sees the most duplication in the CRM and project management section
Melissa walks us through her DISCO Framework where you Define your current process, Identify gaps in your process and redundancies, Streamline by creating canned emails and templates, Create phases and milestones to build accountability, and Outsource and automate
Melissa recommends Dubsado, a CRM tool that covers your automation, has a scheduler built into it, and has the ability to automate invoicing
Popular project management tools are Asana, Trello and ClickUp, Melissa explains that if you are a checklist type of person you will probably prefer Asana’s approach and if you’re into visuals you will probably prefer Trello
How even if you don’t have a lot of clients, but your goal is to grow, and you have the time now to get things into a system, it can be very beneficial to just get started versus waiting to do it so you’re prepared for the future
Most business owners Melissa works with report saving 5 hours per week which gives them time to spend doing other things to help grow their business or helps give them some breathing room
Why Melissa thinks there is a moment when it’s too soon to focus on your systems and processes; this might be if you are still refining your services and offers, or you’re still playing with who your target audience is, deciding on price points, etc.
Melissa explains that you can begin small with automation and just start with automating your invoicing, getting some questionnaires out automatically, or a quick onboarding workflow that can deliver the proposal, contract and a welcome email
How it depends on timing and the phase of business the business owner is in when deciding to implement systems and how it might not even be the business owner who realizes something needs to be done
Melissa explains her Asana project, where she has different steps set up for her process that help keeps her on track
Melissa noticed when she first started working with business owners, they would spend most of their deep dive strategy session searching for their contract or updating the questionnaire so she decided to add a kick-off call to her process and give them some automated resources
Melissa’s experience moving from one city to another during a pandemic and explains she is just as intentional in her personal life as she is in her business and created checklists for moving and a timeline for moving
If you are listening and want to get started, Melissa suggests getting some canned emails, getting your contracts and proposals together, and remember that you can start small
Connect with Melissa on Facebook, on her website and check out her Automation Roadmap that will outline your first steps for getting automated

Links mentioned:

Connect with Melissa on Facebook

Melissa’s Website

Melissa’s Automation Roadmap

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Keshia White is a Business Mentor for new service providers who want to learn how to attract premium clients online. After nearly a decade in corporate America, working in business-to-business sales, from the telecommunications industry to the software industry, Keshia made a pivot to take her branding and web design business full-time in 2018. After running her own business full-time for nearly two years, she now uses her experience to teach new service providers the branding and marketing strategies that they need to attract their first premium clients online.

Past clients of Keshia’s have gone on to gain more confidence in their businesses, create signature offers to sell, and book their first $1,000+ clients after working together. Sign up for Keshia's free masterclass (exclusively for my community!) to Learn the 3 Steps to Booking Premium Clients Consistently!

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How we met Keshia on Episode 84 of The Design Business Show where she talked about business journey of becoming a website designer
The new Masterclass Keshia is teaching exclusively for my community called The 3 Steps for Booking Premium Clients Consistently - Make sure you sign up!
Keshia explains the need she saw for early stage entrepreneurs who needed the knowledge on how to create sustainable income to get their business off the ground
How Keshia juggled design clients while creating her course at first and then slowly transitioned away from designing websites
Keshia tells us how she was charging $1,500 for brand and web design and realized she was undercharging but felt accomplished because it was the most she had ever charged before
As Keshia got booked more and more she realized she was undercharging and up her pricing to $2,000 but quickly overbooked herself at that rate to where she was juggling 8-9 clients and had no money left over to hire help
How Keshia left corporate America in the fall and made the pivot to premium in the spring where she went up to a $5,000 rate and explains how it was a struggle because she was still booking people who were a better fit for a $2,000 rate
Keshia shares that it took a while to start attracting more experienced entrepreneurs and how she had to shift her marketing messaging, elevate her process, refresh her portfolio and shift how she positions herself as a credible person online
Life became more balanced for Keshia after she was able to elevate her rate and only take on 2-3 clients per month which resulted in better work quality that clients were impressed with
How Keshia uses Instagram and noticed people who followed her there were more beginners and thought they’d be a good fit for an online course geared towards beginners and how she uses LinkedIn to attract people who were more experienced
When Keshia left corporate she didn’t have a niche or target market which ended up attracting all kinds of businesses and how she looked back on her projects and picked the coach and consultants niche
After picking the coach and consultants niche, Keshia tailored her messaging so it would be relevant to an experienced coach or consultant and gives examples of messaging she used and messaging she avoided
Instead of listing the features of the package on her website, Keshia broke it down into stages and highlighted the benefits of each stage and discussed what they would do, which really painted the picture of a transformation
How Keshia changed her content by doing a little blogging and more live videos and social media posts, which tended to attract more experienced people, and explains how that made discovery calls easier
Keshia explains finding your niche by figuring out what areas interest you because picking a niche you enjoy will help you stay invested in it and how you need to pick a niche that values what you do
One of Keshia’s goals was to eventually work off referrals because in the beginning she didn’t have any kind of network and how she teaches social media marketing because that’s what she uses
Keshia explains how she used a weekly marketing calendar and explains her own marketing approach she likes to call the 3 C’s where you create content that shows you’re credible, post connection content, and post call-to-action content
Keshia shares a way to use Facebook without having to pay for ads is by interacting in Facebook groups with your target clients and being helpful to them by answering their questions
The story of how Keshia’s client used her program to help package her data knowledge into an offer she could sell and how after implementing the marketing Keshia outlined, she was able to attract clients online and even have some repeat clients where she charged a higher rate
How one of Keshia’s clients followed her organic LinkedIn methods and was able to book a couple of $3,000 clients from that
Why LinkedIn feels a bit more empowering to Keshia versus other platforms because once you know the target client you’re looking for, you can specifically look for those titles in bios, unlike other platforms that are have more personalized bios
How Keshia used her 3 C’s marketing strategy on LinkedIn, and discovered that storytelling posts performed well
Keshia tells us not to let the lack of confidence in the beginning stop you from charging what you want to charge
Keshia explains what you will learn in the Masterclass which includes, how booking higher premium clients can help you grow your business faster, differences in marketing that will need to happen if you want to book premium clients, the top 3 fundamentals your business must have in place to attract the premium clients and impress them to get referrals
How you’ll also learn about Keshia’s program, The Successful Service Provider and learn how you can actually work with Keshia
Connect with Keshia on all platforms @keshiamwhite

Links mentioned:

LIVE MASTERCLASS: The 3 Steps for Booking Premium Clients Consistently

The Design Business Show - Episode 84

Connect with Keshia on Instagram

Connect with Keshia on LinkedIn

Connect with Keshia on Facebook

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Let’s connect on Instagram!

*If you choose to enroll in Keshia's program, The Successful Service Provider during the live masterclass, I'll receive a commission. I only recommend programs that I know will make a difference in helping my community achieve their goals.

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Eva Jannotta is a communications consultant providing marketing and thought leadership support to North America’s most recognized entrepreneurs and leaders in the women helping women economy. She offers thought leadership, marketing and social media strategy to women who serve women. Prior to starting her business Eva worked in Corporate Communications for an organic grocery store chain. She grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and got her degrees in Gender and Women's Studies and English literature. Today she lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her partner Steve.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Eva reached out to me after hearing about the podcast and wanting to come on which sparked a conversation
Eva shares a story from her childhood that had a huge impact on her growing up but shares how she didn’t realize the impact it had until she was graduating with her degree in Gender Women’s Studies
When Eva realized a couple years into her business that she wanted to eradicate sexism and racism and realized she could through her business by helping women's voices be heard
How Eva started her career in communications for an organic grocery store where she did a lot of social media and marketing strategy but ended up leaving to start her own business at 25 years old
Eva shares that when she started her business she didn’t have a plan and felt embarrassed about not having an aspirational start-up story but at the time she didn’t know what else to do and wanted to give her own business a try
Why Eva started out with a professional organizing business because she loves making order out of chaos and shares how she learned how to be organized and strategic at a young age
How Eva embraced minimalism after college, not to an extreme degree but she realized she had way too much stuff for a person in their early 20s and thought with this personal experience she’d be a great personal organizer
Eva found out that being a professional organizer wasn’t a great fit for her and accidentally pivoted into communications because she knew someone who needed marketing and communications support
When Eva started offering social media execution, she also started building her clientele one person at a time by networking and getting word of mouth referrals which made her communications business blossom
How Eva realized that social media marketing on its own is typically not enough to make an impact on being seen and heard online and how you need to have more strategy behind your social media than just posting
Eva tells us that she started adding thought leadership ghostwriting and thought leadership ideation where her and her clients will sit down together and develop their ideas together
A look at the services Eva offers, including strategy consulting, thought leadership ideation, and social media execution
Eva shares that networking and word of mouth is how she currently gets most of her clients and shares that one of her skill sets is making new friends, which is transferable to networking
How if your goal as a creative or someone who offers services that have a lot to do with intellectual property is to be known for that, you have to communicate that for yourself and why you should resist the temptation to outsource that work
Eva shares an example of how earlier in the year her system was to write a new thought leadership article every other week and how that system worked for four months but then fell apart so now she’s shifted to a new system
If you’re looking to produce your own thought leadership, Eva shares that you need to be committed to it and you need to create a system for doing it and be willing to tweak the system if needed
Eva shares the difference between regular content and thought leadership, and shares that Edelman and LinkedIn have a partnered thought leadership study that comes out each year which shows the influence of good thought leadership
How good thought leadership makes prospective clients want to pay a premium for your services, make them respect you, and award you business and how poor content can hurt your reputation and cause them to not want to do business with you
What Eva would consider to be content that is not thought leadership includes, listicles, basic practices and curating other people’s ideas
Eva shares that what makes thought leadership unique and challenging to produce is that it requires you to take risks with what you’re saying and shares an example of thought leadership she produced earlier in the year
How thought leadership can position you as an expert in your field but how as women, and women of color, it can feel vulnerable and scary to risk being wrong and how you should view people’s disagreements as a good thing
Eva discusses how to include social justice within your content and hopes to create a communication consultancy with anti-racism at the forefront
Eva expresses the importance of following leaders of color in your industry, making sure your imagery is inclusive, and trying to imagine how the advice you're giving could be received by different identities
How we need to recognize that we are going to make mistakes when trying to be more inclusive and integrate social justice
How we can take responsibility for those mistakes and listen without defensiveness when people give us feedback
Eva talks about a #ShareTheMicNow video on Instagram featuring a woman who talked about how it is important to start small with your activism instead of changing it overnight
Practices Eva is doing within her business that you could do as well to stay inclusive include, curating content produced by people of color, making sure imagery is inclusive, Eva shares a great organization called, CreateHER Stock where you can go to get inclusive images of women
Eva invites you to go to 5magneticpillars.com to find Eva’s free 5-day email course where she walks you through the five pillars of magnetic thought leadership

Links mentioned

Edelman and LinkedIn Thought Leadership Study 2020

#ShareTheMicNow on Instagram

CreateHER Stock

5magneticpillars.com

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Zane’s life experiences have had a profound impact on his life. From growing up in a single-parent household in the projects, to failing high-school geometry, to completing a Ph.D. with a specialty in Quantum Field Theory, Zane views challenges as opportunities to transform and failures as an opportunity to learn.

He desires to share his unique perspective on empathy, combined with skills and talents that he acquired over his more than 22 year corporate career, to enhance the lives and livelihoods of others. Zane has had the unique opportunity to touch almost every facet of innovation from technology assessment, corporate strategy, product design and development, brand management, packaging, and consumer futures.

In his "free time," Zane enjoys spending time with his wife and dog, thankful for the joy that they both bring to his life. DJ-ing his way through college to pay tuition, Zane’s passion for music lives on today. And when life’s too slow … Zane hops in his race car for some thrills!

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Zane is the design futurist and product and brand strategist at ZADA Strategy, a company he recently formed in 2019
Zane shares that he worked in corporate America for 23 years of his life but then decided to take a different path and started his own consulting firm with his business partner, David
The story of how Zane and I met through his wife, Michelle Martello, who was on Episode 32 of The Design Business Show
How Michelle asked me to participate in a research project for an egg brand that Zane was creating with his partner, David and how after I asked Zane to come on the podcast to talk about their process for research
Zane tells us about their client, The Farmer’s Hen, who asked how could they leverage their brand to grow in the marketplace
How Zane and David conducted many rounds of research and always start with consumer empathy in their process
Zane’s principle on researching is about being a good detective and how piecing all the information together helps you solve a problem, create a strategy, improve your design or connect with new audiences
The first part of their process is to identify the key questions you want to have answered or any key hypothesis or assumptions you want to test
Zane shares that when starting with The Farmer’s Hen they asked a variety of foundational questions to consumers so they could better understand the audience and what drives their decisions to purchase eggs
Zane explains that the project was broken up into phases, which first started with observation, where they camped out in grocery stores for two weeks and watch people shop for eggs
The next phase was interviews where they conducted 1 ½ hour sessions with people, asking them a variety of deep questions based on their observations
How discovery research and talking to people in the beginning of your research process can be one of the best tools and how it can also help you figure out how to ask questions in a survey
How interviewing people allowed Zane and David to look at different shopping behaviors and criteria used to identify the eggs being purchased
During the next phase, they conducted package research where people from all parts of the east coast participated in evaluating different packaging elements
How the discovery research and packaging research were given to the design team so they could start working on design concepts
Zane shares an example of how they were able to use different brands and their visuals to see how people connected to different elements, which helped them figure out exactly what they needed to do
How they conducted A/B testing on copy for The Farmer’s Hen by testing different parts of the egg carton with slightly different changes and asked people to give their feedback
Zane shares the next step in their process was to do more iterations of the packaging and logo design so they could look at the fine differences including colors and texture
Zane explains that the project is still going on and shares that the packaging phases, preliminary research, and all the other work that led up to the brand building took about 6 months
Why Zane and David formed ZADA to help mid-sized companies who are trying to grow to a larger company by starting from the human perspective to help them grow their brands, products, and people
Zane shares an example of how they might use some of their design processes to help with cultural change in workplaces by using human centered design
What Zane would tell designers who want to design in one day is to take half of the following day to test the design and see if it worked for your client so you can see if there’s anything you need to fix to better resonate with your clients audience
When trying to find the right people to do research with, Zane suggests first figuring out what the characteristics are of your client or your clients audience
Zane gives us his top list of suggestions when it comes to finding people to do research with and says you need to remember to ask yourself, of the people who responded, how representative are they of the people who are actually going to purchase the product
Zane advises against posing open-ended questions and gives examples on how to ask more specific questions to your audience in order to interpret your results more clearly
Connect with Zane via email at zane@zadastrategy.com or reach out on the ZADA Strategy website

Links mentioned:

The Design Business Show 032 with Michelle Martello

Zada Strategy Website

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Tyler Brooks has been with Turner Duckworth since 2011. He’s a Creative Director at the agency’s San Francisco studio, with a portfolio of award-winning work across a diverse range of clients like Coca-Cola, Google, Metallica, Little Caesars, and, most recently, McDonald’s. In his spare time, he’s probably reading too many comic books, telling one too many bad jokes, and/or playing too many video games.

Check out some of the brand visuals from the rebrand below.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Tyler and I connected when his team reached out and asked if I’d be interested in having him on the podcast to discuss the McDonald’s visual identity rebrand
During high school, Tyler spent time with his art teacher who suggested graphic design as a career path and told him about the University of Cincinnati which she thought would be a good fit for him
Tyler enrolled in the graphic design program at the University of Cincinnati, College of DAAP and completed an internship with Turner Duckworth to gain real world experience
How Tyler did two rounds of internships with Turner Duckworth and was offered a job before he graduated
Tyler shared what it was like to intern at Turner Duckworth, and shared how they're really treated like junior designers who create creative concepts for internal critiques, who also perform some studio maintenance
The benefits of being an intern and getting to learn from a wide variety of people that you can build your knowledge from versus working with one small group of people
Tyler shares the story of his move to San Francisco and how he started out as a junior designer with Turner Duckworth doing quick turn around tasks for Coca-Cola and Sprite
How being in the right place at the right time and performing your best in those moments can set you apart from others and why you should speak up and look for opportunities yourself as well
Tyler shares that doing the work is easy, but presenting it to others and explaining why it’s the right work is the hard part
The story of how Turner Duckworth first engaged with McDonalds in late 2017 / early 2018 and how they launched the visual brand identity to their system in September 2018
How Tyler led the global refresh for Little Caesars and how Turner Duckworth has worked on many other Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) brands
Tyler walks us through some of the biggest visual elements that changed through the McDonald’s rebrand
How Turner Duckworth was able to introduce the first ever global brand font for McDonald’s which made their everyday messaging more approachable
Tyler explains that with a rebrand like McDonald’s, the goal is update all areas, but some things take longer than others, like updating architectural fixtures and physical elements
How the creative team at Turner Duckworth thought about what could make the biggest impact for McDonald’s rebrand and started with changing social media icons, content and digital applications
Working on the McDonald's rebrand involved a large creative team, Tyler, Turner Duckworth’s CCO, production and implementation teams, as well as account management communicating with the client to make everything is on track
Why making a functional system that others can use, be inspired by, and be creative with is the goal of Turner Duckworth
How at the start of the McDonald’s project they met bi-weekly and took on the master brand and how they now have daily interactions and have branched to sub brands like, McCafé and Happy Meal
Tyler shares that the McDonald’s brand exists in 120 countries and in 30,000+ restaurants, all of which required different levels of transformation during this project
Tyler’s advice for projects is to stay on course as best as possible and remember your main goals but understand that the relationship between client and agency and how a project develops is not a straight line
How to be okay with the fact that when you have reached a plan, your client might disagree and you’ll need to compromise to make it the best it can be
Tyler’s job as creative director is to ensure the work they’re doing has a life beyond today and tomorrow
Tyler discusses what it’s like to lead a team and shares that it’s fun because he gets to work with a broad range of people with different levels of knowledge
How it’s important to reach out and make connections with people and agencies whether reaching out is in your comfort zone or not because it shows initiative
Why learning as much as you can, gaining real life experience, showing your passionate and showing empathy is important as a designer
Tyler shares something that was said in many McDonald’s meetings, which is, “progress over perfection” and explains how many young designers get suck and need to be okay with not always getting it 100% right
How design is becoming more accessible which is raising the baseline quality, making it harder to stand out and why Tyler says that’s a good thing
Connect with Tyler on LinkedIn

Creative Credits for Images above:

Agency: Turner Duckworth, San Francisco

Global CCO: Sarah Moffat

Creative Director: Tyler Brooks

Lead Designer: Hannah Steinberg

Designers: Loren Schott, Oliver Lo, Sydney Bradshaw, Hollis Callas

Account Directors: Wyeth Whiting, D’Arcy Danaher

Account Manager: Carly Newgard

Typography: Dalton Maag

Production Director: Craig Snelgrove

Production Artist: Jeff Ensslen

Implementation Director: Liisa Turan-Walters

Implementation Designers: Sara Scanlan

Digital Hub partner: Reach Creative

Links mentioned:

Turner Duckworth Website

Connect with Tyler on LinkedIn

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Sasha-Shae Weekes is a creative at heart, who enjoys storytelling and bringing dreams into reality. As a Visual Design Strategist, she enjoys using strategic purpose-fueled solutions to pull together brands and websites for the creative business owner seeking a refined yet standout design that illustrates their expertise and encapsulates who they are. Sasha-Shae resides in NYC with her hubby, and enjoys reading, catching up on natural beauty, plant-based cooking and home decor videos when she has a little down time. Otherwise, she's always seeking to help out with gospel missionary work, bringing hope and simple tips to improve one's health through lifestyle.

How Sasha-Shae built her blog from the ground up and how she used her blog as an experimental design project where she could focus in on certain design skills
As a result of her blog, Sasha-Shae had many people reach out asking for branding or site work, which is how she started to learn more about strategy
Sasha-Shae shares her introduction to design strategy and explains why she didn’t write a full on strategy plan right away
Why Sasha-Shae believes design means nothing unless you have a solid strategy behind it
Sasha-Shae offers a full rebranding package that includes, brand strategy, brand identity, design for the whole system, and website design
How Sasha-Shae also offers her services within her rebranding package separately if needed
Sasha-Shae shares that most of her clients come from word of mouth and referrals
Why Sasha-Shae prefers long-term relationships with clients and explains how deeply understanding their audience & vision makes it easier for her to step in and keep creating things that will resonate with them
How Sasha-Shae offers design retainer programs for clients or for those who weren’t existing clients but realize they need ongoing services frequently
Sasha-Shae shares a project she worked on where the client needed a better brand identity system and how they crafted it into something that attracted her ideal clients and received great responses
Sasha-Shae explains how sometimes we don’t show up as boldly as we should online, which can be a personal pitfall of hers when social media gets to be overwhelming
Tips Sasha-Shae recommends for creatives is to stay consistent and plan ahead because it will help you push past your feelings of being overwhelmed or what’s going on
A common mistake Sasha-Shae sees creatives make is creating based on their personal feelings or preferences when you really need to ask yourself what your clients who continually buy from you are attracted to
Another mistake Sasha-Shae sees creatives make is not having a strategy with data that fuels what you’re doing
The story behind Sasha-Shae’s brand name, Fresh Medley Design Studio which was inspired by her desire to make all of her creations fresh and new- the name also conveys her love for many different types of creativity
Sasha-Shae gives advice on not undercharging yourself as a designer even if you don't have years of experience, making sure if you barter, you get something long lasting, and how you shouldn't mentally block yourself
How Sasha-Shae got involved with gospel missionary work and helping at sanitariums and explains why she believes your health is one of the most important things in life
Why if you’re a designer or creator, you should stick with it even if you're afraid to put yourself out there because it will pay off in the end
Connect with Sasha-Shae on her Instagram, website, or Facebook

Links mentioned:

Connect with Sash-Shae on Instagram

Connect with Sasha-Shae on her website

Connect with Sasha-Shae on Facebook

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Amber Brooks is the founder of Brandividuation® - a signature solution for evolving impact-driven brands and community builders who are here to take a stand and make a difference. She’s a Marketing Consultant for Where We Help, Content Director for Rebelle Con, former Marketing Producer for Singularity University, and previous board member for several non-profit organizations. She helps founders and teams share their big, meaningful mission in a way that gets people to care about what they have to say and create a ripple effect from the impact they bring to the world. Now, she gets to share her experience and expertise expanding brand impact through in-person and online workshops and retreats.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Amber and I were introduced by Kira Hug a couple years ago
After graduating college, Amber applied to 40+ jobs and was left frustrated because she had a degree but not the 5-10 years of experience the jobs wanted
Amber decided to open her own business, doing copywriting because her degree was in english/research and thought she could use this skill to help people make a difference
How Amber ended up working with clients who wanted a ton of copy but couldn’t tell her what their business was about, who their ideal clients were, or what their vision was
Amber started learning more about brand strategy, development, messaging and positioning to help her clients fill the gap they were missing, but discovered that’s where her zone of genius lived
Why Amber shed her copywriting identity after discovering her passion for branding and how she went completely in on brand messaging and marketing strategy
Amber shares how she started the process to trademark her signature service last year when she didn’t even have a name for it
How Amber knew she needed to go all in because she saw that her clients needed this service and the designers who were working with people like her clients needed it
Why Amber starts with brand dividuation because if a client doesn’t already have their branding clearly defined and articulated into some core messaging, there’s nothing they can do together
Amber explains that logos, colors and fonts are representations of your brand but they are not actually your brand
How your brand is the perception people have and believe about you and how you can influence that belief but you can’t force them
When Amber says brand, she’s talking about your values, the things you stand for or against, the core messages that represent those beliefs, and how you connect with your ideal clients
Amber shares that she helps people gets clear on what they care about and what their ideal clients care about and put those into some core messaging hierarchies in her marketing strategy
How Amber has a creative director who partners with her for brand dividuation projects but how she also collaborates with other designers
Amber explains the two paths for working with designers which are whitelisted services, where they can subcontract under Amber or they can refer their clients to Amber first and then start the project with their client after as the designer
Amber talks about the division she sees between the messaging, visuals and copywriting but says if you can marry all those things, the client and their audience will get the best possible experience
Amber gives tips for collaborating on a project and says you need a good relationship, see eye to eye and care about the whole experience and outcome for the client and their audience
Amber’s partnership toolkit for designers based on their decision to whitelist or refer that has a process mapped out for them and everything they need to make the project a success
How there are people making a difference and impact but no one knows about it so Amber and the people she partners with help them share their stories
Amber explains the difference between just having a website versus having a foundational platform that tells your audience the impact you’re making
After brand dividuation and after platform establishment, Amber does marketing VIP days and team trainings so they don’t only build a brand, but a brand culture
Amber shares when the best time to invest in branding is and how if you’re new you need to talk to your audience and see what they respond to because it takes time to learn how to show up and serve at your best level
Why Amber typically doesn’t work with anyone until they are in the 2 - 5 year range depending on how fast they grow because a lot can change within the first year
How Amber undervalued the branding service she offered at first because she thought people didn’t understand the value of it and thought they only wanted to hire someone for the copy
Why Amber kept evolving her branding service after working with more people who started to realize this gap as much as she did and started understanding that they can’t do the copy until the branding is done
Amber shares that her rates depend on the kind of business it is and how many employees because the amount of work it takes for the market research and development is different depending on the business
Amber shares how being a mother to kids with complex medical issues has taught her about planning for uncertainty which has helped her structure her business in a way that has allowed her time to do the things she needs to do
Amber walks us through how she schedules her weeks and blocks out her time in order to have time for research and writing and how she can shift and change her blocks of time if needed
How finding balance and knowing that you don’t have to be on all the time is key
Why foundational, core inner work needs to be done for every business and how it adds so much value to the clients’ experience and outcome
Reach out and connect with Amber on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn; she would love to hear from you

Links mentioned:

Connect with Amber on her Website

Connect with Amber on Instagram

Connect with Amber on Facebook

Connect with Amber on LinkedIn

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Happy Friday, Friends. Or happy whatever day it is when you’re listening.

If you’re new or you’ve been listening for a while - nice to meet you and I’m grateful that you listen and share! It’s been a minute since I formally introduced myself on the podcast, so I thought I’d take a minute to do that before we get to today’s topic.

My company, Melissa Burkheimer Studios, is here to design iconic sales pages that convert, and show expert entrepreneurs how to launch their offers online and get results.

I love what I do, and I'm driven by a really strong mission to give conversion design a bigger voice in the online business space & love building a business that gives me the freedom to sleep in, earn as much as I want to, and help my clients get blockbuster results.

I work with clients inside my digital courses in programs, VIP Days, and 1:1 when we design sales pages. Swipe to see some samples of my work & check out melissaburkheimer.com for more information - and send me an email at design@melissaburkheimer.com if you’re interested in working together.

One really quick thing - I’m working on something fun to celebrate the 2-year anniversary of the podcast and here’s what I want to know.

What’s one action you’ve taken as a result of listening to this podcast?

Maybe you started or grew your freelance business, or started designing sales pages.

Or maybe you got motivated to apply for your dream job, or just know that you’re not alone in your design world.

Have you bought someone’s course as a result of listening? Or signed up for their email list? I want to know all of those things so I can celebrate you.

Please send me an email with deets at design@Melissaburkheimer.com or a DM on Instagram. If you send it to me by October 15, you’ll get free access to a brand new advanced sales page design training I’m hosting live (only once!).

Okay - now today, I want to talk to you about 3 design elements you can add to your sales page to help increase conversions. When people ask me what a sales page is, I like to compare it to an infomercial. Instead of it being a long broadcast on TV, it's a web page containing conversion copy, messaging, design, photography and a user experience with one goal in mind: make the sale.

There's a lot of information out there about writing + designing sales pages.

What works and doesn't work depends on a lot of things. Your offer, your copy, your UX, the mobile design, the audience, the marketing strategy and more.

When we design our sales page with the conversion goal in mind, it’s like making sure that if you go to Starbucks, someone is taking orders and collecting payment at the cash register.

If no one is there to take your money - and there’s no menu to order from, you’re missing a huge step in the buyer’s journey.

In the online buyer’s journey - the sales page is an important step in the digital sales process.

The first part of your sales page is called the “hero section” - and it’s the first part of your sales page design. You have about 8 seconds to get people’s attention, so the hero section has wow them. This is a part of my Design Your Sales Page pillar of the Launch Design That Converts method I teach my students inside Conversion Design School™. Most people skip this step, and when they do that they create a sales page that doesn’t get them the results you want, and that may be exactly what you’re doing right now.

When you carefully map out your sales page design, you simply need to write down all highlight the benefits that your clients experience, a results-focused headline, and some type of brand identity.

Here are 3 design elements that you should use on all of your sales pages, especially in the hero section.

Directional cues, so we know what action to take next. These can be added as arrows instead of bullet points, arrows guiding you from one section to the next, or even arrows pointing to the call-to-action.
A countdown timer in a sticky menu (the menu stays in your browser as you scroll).
A brightly colored button (call-to-action) that takes the user on the buyer’s journey.

Sample #1: In this sales page example, we have directional cues pointing to the brightly colored button and a countdown timer in the header menu.

Sample #2: The directional cue is placed below the second section, indicating you should scroll. The countdown timer is in the sticky menu next to the brightly colored button.

You can create the best product in the world - but if the hero section doesn’t connect with your visitors, no one will scroll, so we want to make it easy for them to buy from you! MMkay?

You can use these simple design elements all throughout your sales page.

You can create the best product in the world - but if the hero section doesn’t connect with your visitors, no one will scroll, so we want to make it easy for them to buy from you!

A sales page alone does not guarantee sales, but when used as a part of your sales system, it can do the selling for you, making it a magical asset in your business that can help do the thing all businesses need to survive: MAKE SALES!

If you want even more tips to help you get better results from your sales page designs, sign up for my Sales Page Trello Board and get a copy outline, offer checklist, design samples, a process map to help you sellout your next launch with a Sales Page Hero Section that Connects + Converts. You can get immediate access when you sign up at http://melissaburkheimer.com/salespagetoolkit

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Jennifer Dopazo is a graphic designer specializing in Brand Identity, Interaction Design and UX/UI Design. She’s the founder of multimedia design studio Candelita and a 3-time American Graphic Design Award winner.

Jennifer helps organizations attract their dream clients by translating their big vision into an awesome digital experience with a unified brand. She’s worked with companies like The New York Times, Pepsi and Nickelodeon, along with authors like Danielle LaPorte.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Jennifer’s podcast company asked if I’d be interested in hosting Jennifer on my podcast, to which I said yes because we’ve never had someone on the podcast to discuss membership design before
Jennifer tells the story of how she dropped out of business school and went back to painting school, where her teacher suggested she go into design
How Jennifer’s brother was talking to his friend whose sister works as an illustrator and how they connected her and Jennifer
Jennifer explains that the sister was a professor at the school in Venezuela that Jennifer went to and how she explained that the design school is great because it’s more than graphic design or illustration, it’s visual communication
Jennifer enrolled in school and in three years was graduated and wondering what to do next, when her brother suggested she move out to NY and complete a postgraduate course
After graduating college, Jennifer worked in a small studio her professor founded doing government and non-profit work
Jennifer explains that she’s kept her business small and how she is in the front, working one on one with clients while she has developers and a designers helping her in the back
Jennifer expresses how keeping her business small has made for better connections and better client care
Jennifer is friends with Nathalie Lussier, creator of AcessAlly who reached out to the community and asked people if they’d be interested in being part of what they were launching and learning a new way to offer a different service, which is how Jennifer got involved in memberships
Why Jennifer loves working in memberships is because she gets to see many different professionals, from different backgrounds come to her and say, I want to build a learning platform
Jennifer starts by defining her clients’ customer journey and asking them what they want their members to learn/do so they can map it out and create a list of tasks to accomplish
Jennifer explains how some platforms have too many bells and whistles that overwhelm members and how you need to decide if you want to have a platform or if you want to host it yourself
How it can be hard to keep members’ retention after a while and how Jennifer walks her clients through keeping them engaged with new content and different interactions
Jennifer gives examples of how to keep members engaged through community involvement, becoming an ambassador, offering different content, or specialized events.
How Jennifer tackles clients wanting to use other platform ideas and how she walks them through an exercise that gives them clarity on what they actually need for their platform
Why Jennifer tries to discover what the minimum requirement is for each member to come back and feel that they are learning and why it’s not good to throw everything at them when they login
When Jennifer’s clients go through this exercise and gain a better understanding of why they like the reference they picked, it can sometimes be a branding issue and not an experience issue
Jennifer shares her loves for processes and how she always starts with discovery work, which is all about your member persona, understanding the user journey, and understanding the design and architecture
Jennifer likes to keep her clients very involved and feels it makes them trust you more when they get to see your process
How Jennifer believes everyone has their own process that works best for them and how doing that process will make for the best delivery
One tip Jennifer has for creatives who want to create their own methodology is to document what your process to deliver looks like, so then you can give yourself specific tasks that need to be done
Keep it simple by splitting up your framework into six phases and defining what before and after looks like for each phase
How LinkedIn has been Jennifer’s best friend for finding consulting opportunities with big companies like, The New York Times and how just talking about the past work she’s done on her LinkedIn has helped her gain clients
Jennifer shares that when it comes to accepting work, make sure you feel out if they are a good fit for you and make sure to take care of your space because it can be uninspiring to accept the wrong project or say yes to everything that comes your way
Jennifer discusses the awards she has won, which have mostly been print work and shares that they have been projects that came her way through friends
How one award winning design was a book cover that she loved working on because it was nice to get away from the computer and work on some illustration
Connect with Jennifer on her website, the Candelita website, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn

Links mentioned:

AccessAlly

Connect with Jennifer on her Website

Candelita Website

Connect with Jennifer on Instagram

Connect with Jennifer on Facebook

Connect with Jennifer on LinkedIn

Like what you heard?

Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Click here to download my Sales Page Trello Board

Let’s connect on Instagram!

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Hey friends! Before we get to today’s episode, I wanted to let you know here first that I’m now offering VIP Days in September & October 2020.

Your offers are more than worthy of a profitable launch design. I'd love to help you transform your launch into a record-breaking blockbuster with a VIP Day! If you’re interested in working with someone who can help you get actual results in your business, head on over to https://melissaburkheimer.com/vip/ to save your date!

Questions? Send me a DM over on Instagram! You can find me over there @melissaburkheimer, and I can’t wait to connect with you!

You’re listening to The Design Business Show, and I’m your host, Melissa Burkheimer. I’m back today with a quick solo episode.

Before we get to today’s topic, and one thing I’d love to know from you is if you like these solo shows. l’m in a season where I have this itch to share more of the behind-the-scenes of my business and some of the things as they’re happening.

So hop onto Instagram and send me a DM (I’m over there @melissaburkheimer) and let me know what you think!

I just wrapped the beta sales page design course experience where I taught 375 entrepreneurs sales page design principles, how to draft sales page copy, plus design + build the page, and then gave them a design template they can use - no coding necessary!

My intention with the launch was for it to be a chilled launch, and for the most part, it was, until the second week which turned into a couple nights with 3 hours of sleep while I finished creating the course. I did 90% of the tech myself, and that’s not usually a good thing but a great lesson learned to not do that again.

I worked on the debrief today and one big win was that I made the top 10 most engaged list (more than once) inside Membervault, the membership site I’m using for my courses now.

I’m not sure if I’ll sell the course again - but I’m adding it as a bonus inside Conversion Design School™, and I’ve spent the last few weeks to chill, get my youngest kiddo ready for virtual learning, doing some volunteer work, and decluttering my house and business.

Today I want to talk to you about a not-so-fun but very real thing that we all experience. I joke that Beyonce might not experience it, but most of us do.

That thing I’m talking about is Limiting Beliefs and thinking you’re not good enough.

Limiting Beliefs can often be masked as self-sabotage.

Fear sometimes manifests itself as procrastination.

Self-doubt can show up when you’re exploring territory that’s outside of your comfort zone or it’s new, and you’re not sure what the outcome will be.

Or you’re an introvert, or you don’t like putting yourself out there, even though you like being recognized for your accomplishments.

Maybe you know that you’re really good at something, but you’re too busy being focused on making it perfect or worrying about what could go wrong instead of sharing it with the world, like I did when I launched this podcast. :)

I sat on the first episode of this podcast for 6 months, and then published 4 episodes and didn’t take it seriously until 2019. Confession: I’m really good at getting in my own way. And over complicating things.

I’m full of limiting beliefs, self-sabotaging habits, and I’ve learned a few things that to help me crush those beliefs and habits and that’s what I wanna share with you today.

I was first exposed to the world of manifesting and alignment in December 2012, when I joined a pilot program with other female entrepreneurs lead by Elizabeth DiAlto.

Joining that program helped me see the potential for success outside of my little freelance design world. It felt like 100 little doors opened, and through them was the path that taught me how to think bigger. I'm not an expert in "alignment or manifesting." The more I dabble, the more the higher powers shift things into my favor. Kind of like I just know that I'll get a close parking spot when I go somewhere, because I believe and know it's true.

I'm sharing what’s worked for me, so you can maybe try it too.

I want to talk about 3 limiting beliefs that service providers experience, and talk to you about how to move through them and on to bigger and better things that you desire.

Disclaimer: Not everyone is dealt the same cards. Some people have more privileges than others. I’m solely sharing what I know for my own personal experience and from working with dozens of entrepreneurs for the last 9 years.

I’m not good enough. I consider myself a very confident person, but I was not always confident in my design skills, and I definitely was not confident as a launch manager when I was actually working with someone that people consider to be an online celebrity.

I really felt like I wasn’t good enough as a designer in college - and I even won a design award in college.

If you don’t think you’re good enough, I can tell you that you’re among many people who feel or have felt the same.

You get confidence in your skills by practicing again and again. And believing you have something to offer the world as a designer or whatever your expertise is.

When I’m experiencing the “I’m not good enough” thoughts and questioning my entire life and every decision I’ve made (you know I like to keep things really real!), I like to invite you to take a minute to really look at that statement.

Is it really true? I would guess that it’s not.

Can you take a few minutes and celebrate all of the awesome things you’ve accomplished? Or read all the awesome testimonials you’ve gotten for your clients?

And then can you take a look at where you want to improve your skills?

Or if it’s possible to go from basic to next level at a few select things?

I narrowed down all of the design services I could offer my clients, and slowly just focused on sales page design and moved away from all the other stuff.

Every time I design a sales page (even if it’s for myself) I get better.

And I’m way better at directing the process than the actual production. I can do both, but often stay in the director seat because that’s my zone of genius.

Denise Duffield-Thomas is someone who’s work has had a lot of influence in my business - and one mantra that she teaches is simply taking a deep breath and putting your hand on your heart, and saying “I am enough.” Do that 5-6 times a day.

And remember, even if you don’t think you’re that great of a designer, the simplest things you know can make a world of difference for someone else!

“No one wants to pay my rates.” We’ve all been there.

But knowing that we’ve all been there - and had clients tell us our rates are too high, we’ve also experienced working with clients who just pay our rates without questioning it, right?

Take a step back. Think about when you decide to make a purchase. It can be something for $5 or $5,000. Your perception of the value versus the price is different from someone else’s.

Your creative talents are worth what people are willing to pay.

And frankly, there will always be potential clients who are willing and unwilling to pay what you charge. Most of the time, it has nothing to do with you.

And just because there are other designers out there doing the same thing as you, it doesn’t mean there won’t be any clients for you.

There is plenty of work for all of us. Just yesterday I made 2 referrals for sales page designers I know and have personally hired myself.

And my sales page offer is my most profitable offer. I make referrals all the time.

When I first started my business, I was hired by local companies as their production designer and they hired agencies to do their big picture branding + web design work.

I have another client who works with another agency for his brand design, and me for his sales page designs.

If you’re not getting clients, start the client attraction process with these 3 simple steps:

Make a list of 20 people / companies you’d like to work with.
Make another list of people you know who have connections at these companies.
Start making introductions, asking if anyone could use your help and start reaching out.

If you go to melissaburkheimer.com/newclients there’s an email script and a process map you can follow.

You could even take it a step further and set reminders on your phone to pop up 2-3 times a day and say “my dream client is out there and can’t wait to work with me!”

Also, you can decide what kind of job, opportunity, or projects you want. So take some time and decide what you really want. Get specific.

When I write down my goals - I’ll write down things like “I’m excited to attract a new client this week who can’t wait to pay my rates” or “My new Conversion Design School™ just sold out their offers & getting the results they want!”

The sales come from you being specific about what you offer, confidently presenting it during your digital sales process, and from experience getting results for your clients.

Also, do you see how we’re not even talking about whether or not people can afford you anymore? :)

I have to do everything myself because no one can do it like me. You’re right, no one can do things just like you.

But you can teach them how.

You can mentor & lead them in the direction that yields the best results for everyone - the client, their mission, their team, their customers, and your team, your company and more.

That’s exactly what I do with the designers I partner with for projects - and for the expert entrepreneurs who join my digital programs.

I can tell you as someone who has no agency experience, there are entire creative teams who work on project campaigns - and there are different roles and humans who fill these roles for a reason.

And I can also tell you that when I started hiring designers who specialize in specific types of projects to support me and my clients on projects, it opened up doors for new opportunities, clients, and projects I thought I’d never get.

This can apply at home too. You’ve heard me talk about hiring a cleaner - and it saves me a ton of time and energy just knowing that the cleaning is done a few times a month.

Long story short - you don’t have to be everything to everyone, and you don’t have to take on projects that aren’t in alignment. Life’s too short for that. :)

To help you reframe & reset when these thoughts creep in, I wanted to share a few of my easy-to-do success habits that help me hit new goals. I’m not perfect, and I don’t do them every day, but when I do most of them, I’m more productive, cool things happen, and I believe even more than I did the day before.

Write down your goals every day On days when I’m consistent, I write down everything I want, such as 5 VIP Days booked in September and October 2020 and 1 private design for the next 6 months. (Do you hear that, Big U?).

In 2017 I wrote down that I wanted to speak at an event I was attending. I let go of the “how,” and it happened.

Set Intentions for Each Project + Launch During my launch manager days, the launch team would set an intention for the participants of our free content and for the people who bought the course. And, each team member working on the launch would set an individual intention for our performance within the launch.

Mine was always around confidence, cause I didn’t realize that I was actually good at what I was doing.

Track Your Incoming Money and Your Wins Every Day Almost every day, I log in to my bank accounts, PayPal, Samcart and my biz revenue spreadsheet and track everything that comes in and goes out. Set money goals, and track your income as it comes in, and celebrate your wins every day. Gratitude over everything. :)

Any time one of these thoughts creep into your mind, work through them, journal out the fears, try some of the exercises above and it will help. I'm not an expert at this - but if you still need help, send me a DM on Instagram.

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With 15 years of branding and design experience, Sarah Masci is a leader in the online industry for clients looking for high-quality, aesthetic digital design. As the founder of Book Me For A Day™, her signature one-day intensive program, she thrives on compressing professional branding, web and digital design into one day, versus weeks or months.

When she's not doing intensives for her own clients, Sarah teaches fellow designers how to ditch the feast or famine cycle and create more income and freedom with a one-day intensive business model, following her exact blueprint.

Sarah's down-to-earth personality and distinctive way of simplifying even the most complex problems have earned her the trust and respect of hundreds of clients and students over the years.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Sarah helped me when I switched my membership site to MemberVault how we were both in Krista Miller’s Simply Profitable Designer Summit in 2020
When Sarah started 15 years ago she wasn’t doing design, she was doing more blogging and had an online boutique for children’s products
Sarah had a successful Etsy business, doing printables and custom iPhone cases but started dipping her toes into freelancing in 2012/13 where she then let go of her business and started in branding
While branding, Sarah got into web design around 2014 which is what she does today
Sarah shares her Book Me for a Day offer which is a one day intensive for her design clients
When Sarah was doing traditional design projects she had heard people talking about designing in a day but didn’t give it much thought because she never thought she could do it
Sarah tells the story of how she helped an interior designer with a simple website in a day, which was the first time Sarah proved to herself she could do work in a day but didn’t do anything about it for 2 or 3 months
Sarah says the idea to do a day rate really came to her while doing a punch list for a client and telling them she could get it all done in a day
Slowly, Sarah started offering it to other people and soon it was all she was doing, which caused her to give up all the traditional client work she had been doing
Why Sarah only books a few intensives while her school aged kids are home for the summer
How Sarah makes sure there are no distractions, including kids when she starts her intensive at 8:30am and how she works until around 4:00pm
Sarah explains that it’s has taken a lot of testing to figure out how much work she can get done in a day and makes sure not to promise a client more than what she believes she can get done
When people book a day with Sarah, she explains that they have to understand that they’re not going to get an elaborate design logo or website and explains what she can get done in a day
Sarah explains that people can book multiple days with her and shares a story of a client who booked three days and how she tackled the tasks that client needed
Sarah uses Divi Theme and WordPress to develop and design so she doesn't have to outsource development
Sarah shares that she will use SquareSpace, but feels limited on how creative she can be with the design because she does custom designs for all her day rate clients and doesn't use templates
When working on a day rate project, Sarah sets it up for them to message throughout the day and lets them know what she’ll be working on at the start of the day
Sarah explains that clients need to be available all day during an intensive because she relies on their feedback and is sending them screenshots and concepts throughout the day
She guarantees her time for the entire day, not necessarily the outcome and explains if the design is going in the wrong direction she’ll get on a call with them
How most people find sarah through word of mouth, social media or through referrals and how on her website they can send her a message through a chat feature, which has cut down the amount of discovery calls she has to do
After a discovery call, Sarah explains that everything is automated so she doesn’t have to do anything until their kick-off call a few days before the intensive
When kick-off calls happen in relation to the intensive and how it gives clients enough time to finish any pre-work Sarah has asked for and ensures the information is fresh in her head
Why Sarah put the chat box on her website for her clients’ convenience and how it works with messaging and notifications
Sarah shares that she is in a Facebook group with other designers where they share what they are working on and how she told them about her day rate offer
How some other people in her group were interested so she created a 30 minute walk through of her process and received great feedback from them
After Sarah shared her video with them she thought she could teach other people how to do a day rate offer since her process is so detailed
Sarah shares that she always wanted to create a course but never had time due to always working with clients on long and draining projects
When Sarah started doing day rates, she had more time to create a course because she was only working 1 - 2 days a week
Sarah explains that she sells her course concept before she makes it by having buyers who want the course and then building it one week at a time through the live course
Sarah shares a story of how she opened a waitlist to see interest and then opened up the course and how she designed it to cater the people taking it
How Sarah shares her waitlist on her personal page, Facebook group pages and takes advantage of promo days within Facebook groups
Sarah can’t say enough good things about the day rate model and how it can give you time to build courses or work on other projects and how even testing it with one client might do you wonders
Connect with Sarah on her website and check out her free training for day rates

Links mentioned:

Connect with Sarah on her Website

Sarah’s Free Training on Day Rates

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Zafira Rajan is a strategic launch copywriter and soulful strategist committed to helping coaches and course creators build, grow and scale a meaningful digital empire by wielding the power of their personality and intuition to tell stories only they know how.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Zafira and I met at The Copywriter Club TCCIRL Event in March 2020
Zafira shares that she always wanted to be a writer but there was always a side of her leaning towards the arts
Early on in her career Zafira was a digital communication specialist, designing ads and graphics for billboards, agencies and universities
While designing, Zafira also did the copy so people would rather hire her versus paying for a designer and a separate copywriter
Zafira started out in higher education, working with a university in Vancouver, Canada where she managed the communications for a school within the university
After 2-3 years, Zafira realized a 9-5 job was not for her and wanted to do her own thing
Zafira shares that when she was first starting to think about becoming an entrepreneur it was to marry design and copy into one solution for clients
How Zafira took a one year contract where she was both the designer and copywriter and how she told herself when the contract was up she was going out to do her own thing
Zafira explains how the contract job she took allowed her to scale back and only work 3-4 times a week and how that allowed her to start building her business and get clients
Zafira ended the year doing a campaign where she got to use her copy and design skill, and did that for a few years working with agencies and clients
How in the end, Zafira realized she was doing too many things and would have to give something up if she wanted to be the best and niche down to really know who she was serving
When Zafira decided she needed to call herself a copywriter which lead to the discovery of The Copywriter Club and how she joined a couple of their programs to figure out where she wanted to specialize
Zafira shares that she has brought her design eye along through copywriting and how it’s valuable to be that extra pair of eyes for her clients
Zafira tells us that she’s never taken a copywriting class up until this year when she decided to upgrade her skills
The best way to learn about copywriting is to give yourself space to do it
Early on in Zafira’s career she want to a Laura Belgray workshop in Italy where they spent three days just writing, which changed the way she approached her writing
Zafira shares that there’s not a one solution, but things like copy school, group programs and being in the company of other people trying to do the same thing can be very powerful to help with your copy skills
Zafira’s group program called, The Intention Infusion that she launched this year, walks people through writing their website copy, welcome emails and more
What holds most people back from writing isn't the skills, it’s the confidence
Zafira shares a website called, 750 Words that helps you commit to writing every single day
How after any event you attend you should then create a mini commitment plan to yourself to catch the information while it’s fresh
If Zafira’s clients are doing the design work themselves she takes that into careful consideration and offers a design audit after she implements her copy
Zafira’s goal is to make sure the design is in a place where it can evolve with the client if they ever work with a designer in the future
If clients are working with a designer, Zafira asks to meet them early on in the project and makes she she knows all the branding elements they’ll be working with
Zafira shares that she tries to make it a team effort so everyone is very involved and makes sure to have meetings at each stage the designer is involved
How making it a team effort will save your client stress because the copywriter and designer are collaborating and communicating effectively
A walk through of what The Intention Infusion is and how it helps entrepreneurs gain clarity and confidence in their voice
Zafira’s signature offer, Launch & Let Go where she works with people on their sales page, strategize their whole launch, and email sequences
The Day Spa, Zafira’s most popular offer which is her copy day rate where she can write up to two pages of website copy or a couple emails in half a day
How some people hire her for a whole day to write a sales page or write an email sequence
How Zafira launched Quiz Funnel in the last year that helps clients create an interactive, high converting quiz, where she writes all their results pages, brainstorms fun topics and writes the follow-up email sequences
How Quiz Funnel will launch again in October
Why Zafira feel that a quiz is the best lead magnet an entrepreneur could have and how it’s a great way to grow your email list
Zafira shares that she’s always treating her business like an experiment and has combined services to lighten her load and limits herself to how many projects she takes on at one time
How Zafira hired a team for the first time this year, which makes her feel really supported and how she couldn’t have launched a program or have managed clients and leads without them
What’s helped Zafira is getting really intentional with her offers and getting clear on her values so she can be her best for clients
One way Zafira has built her audience is by joining masterminds and building a strong referral network
Why Zafira thinks it’s important to have a strategy in place to build your audience in other ways than just referrals
How being a guest on podcasts, teaching in a mastermind group or offering to run trainings can help you build a strong audience
Why you should pick one platform to show up on and do it well instead of trying to be everywhere
Zafira explains that by joining copywriting programs, it helped her niche down and now she primarily works in the personal development and course creation space
Why you should dedicate your energy to building your email list
How through quizzes, Zafira has been able to segment who she’s talking to and uses those segments in her own launches and marketing
Zafira’s advice for designers who are looking to use quizzes as a lead magnet
The program Zafira took called Grow With Quizzes with Chanti Zak that helped her learn how to develop a quiz funnel
Zafira recommends using Interact Quiz Builder as a quiz platform because they have a ton of free information and resources
Quiz suggestions for designers and how you should look at what pain points your audience has and pair them with things that make you, you to create a fun topic
Connect with Zafira on her website, take her quiz which will help you discover your brands core essence, or follow her on Instagram and shoot her a DM

Links mentioned:

The Copywriter Club

750 Words

The Intention Infusion

Launch & Let Go

The Day Spa

Interact Quiz Builder

Connect with Zafira on her website

Take Zafira’s Quiz

Connect with Zafira on Instagram

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Sherry Holub has over 20 years of experience eliminating stress and worry for small business clients and becoming a trusted partner for their website, design and marketing needs. She’s an advocate for education, a member of prestigious design organizations, and has judged design competitions such as the Webby Awards.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Sherry talks about when the internet first became a thing and how it’s crazy she has a job that didn’t even exist while growing up
In 1995 Sherry was asked to make a website and agreed because she had background with graphic design and photography
Sherry attended the UCLA School of Art and had some graphic design background in the music industry creating cover designs and merch design for DJs in LA
Sherry shares the story of her first client and how they are still a client today
How in the beginning it was just Sherry but she started bringing more people in, like her husband in 1999
Why Sherry expanded her business with only a few employees and why she’s always wanted to keep her business small
When Sherry was young her dad ran a business from their home and her mom worked retail so from a young age she was thinking about wanting to be her own boss
Sherry explains that design is not all she’s ever done and shares some past jobs she’s had but how in 1995 she went all in with making design work
How Sherry’s dad would give her business advice when she first started out like, how to deal with customers, making contracts and taking money upfront
When Sherry first started it was just her running the whole operation out of the bedroom of her apartment
After about two years in, Sherry started bringing more people in as independent contractors because she was receiving bigger jobs, or projects that weren’t in her particular area of expertise
How Sherry’s business model has stayed the same as far as hiring independent contractors and how they have a small home-based office with three employees and three contractors
Sherry shares the story of how she hired her husband before they were married after knowing him from school and how they formed a corporation after he was hired
How Sherry hired two programmers that didn't work out so she searched online and found someone to test out for a couple projects which worked out and how she still works with them today
Services Shelly offers include, website design, graphic design and support services and says they like to be a one stop shop for design
With website design it’s all custom and they code their own WordPress for them but every now and then they do a small HTML website
Sherry explains that most clients who come to them are small businesses and explains they don’t have a niche market of clients so they can stay inclusive
Sherry noticed overtime that clients weren’t logging into their WordPress site so she decided to make Worry-free Maintenance and support as an offer
Sherry launched Worry-free Maintenance for a monthly fee, where clients can call anytime for an update or anything else they need, like stickers or brochures for an event in addition to the maintenance
Sherry explains that marketing is built into the design, like figuring out who the audience is, figuring out buyer personas and focusing on what the main goals of the company are
Why Sherry is good about working with other marketers on projects because if they don’t communicate, the marketing won’t be as successful or you won’t get the conversions that you want
Sherry tells the story of when they had a client hire a startup SEO company and how she uncovered their spammy backlinks
How Sherry is very flexible when it comes to working with others because she’s all about anything that will help her clients
Sherry explains how they work with other companies to get clients through referrals or outsourcing
How pricing can work where clients pay separately for the design and programming work between the two companies or when working with another company on a project, one company is paid and then pays the other
Another way Sherry gets business is from referral bases where a company refers them to a project and then the company will ask for a certain percentage off the top
Sherry is all about making it easy for the client and typically wants them to only have to pay one person and shares examples of how they’ve worked out prices and payment in past projects
Sherry shares that on a custom program project where she’s doing the project management and they bring in a more advanced programmer sometimes the markup can be 25% - 100%
Sherry says the best way to test the waters with a bigger company is to work on a small project with them so you can see the personality or dynamic behind the company and then build the relationship as you go
One thing sherry hates seeing is designers ragging on clients and projects because she believes it’s your job to help them understand and guide them through this process
Sherry’s E-book she wrote on how to work with designers that’s written from the perspective of a client who may have never worked with a designer before
One thing Sherry has learned is when you’re working with small businesses is they’re paying you with hard earned so it’s a concern for them that they’re going to get their money’s worth
How you should have a conversation right from the start with your clients about who their customer is because that’s who you’re really designing for
Sherry’s advice when it comes to offering multiple proposals to a client who may only want to do a small portion and how to explain to them that their best chance of success is with what’s outlined in the proposal
Sherry shares a way to get more comfortable presenting proposals is to practice with a friend
Connect with Sherry on Twitter, LinkedIn or on her website

Links mentioned:

Connect with Sherry on Twitter

Connect with Sherry on LinkedIn

Sherry’s Website- JV Media Design

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On your sales pages, I don’t recommend that you include a link to your about page. Instead - create an “about you” section on your sales page.

When you write the copy - you want to introduce yourself - but not in your typical "about me" fashion.

Your years experience + degrees are important but why are you different from those in your field?

What kind of results do you get for your clients that highlight the transformation?

What do you believe should change in your industry?

What’s your signature method?

Is it proven over and over again?

What actually happens to your customers when they work with you?

For example, I talk about my experience designing sales pages that yield my clients 7-figure results, and share how much experience I have as a sales page designer, not a designer in general.

You can write your about you section in paragraphs or bullet format text. Your choice. Just write the copy so it influences the scroll, and the sale!

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The Design Business Show 107: Get Clear on Branding with Gabby Woltz

Show notes:

As a brand and web designer, Gabby spends her days crafting brands that run deeper than pretty logos and fiery color palettes. She helps creative introverts defeat branding overwhelm, own their voice online, and actually get excited when talking about what they do. I’m talking conversations over whiskey spiked chai lattes that result in deep belly laughs and a web presence that gets her clients seen and paid like the experts they are. It’s a one-way ticket off the struggle bus and into a brand and website that connects you effortlessly with your true audience and has them lining up to buy.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Gabby and I met earlier this year at Kira Hug and Rob Marsh’s TCCIRL event
Gabby explains how she knew in high school that she didn’t want to work for anyone long term and knew she wanted to spend her time being creative
What got Gabby started was her studies in photography which led her to figuring out how design and imagery works in communicating messages
Gabby shares that she stumbled into design by being determined to create her own website with the knowledge she learned from her classes
How Gabby sold her first website design for $500 and then started receiving more projects
How Gabby did design off and on after school and actually stopped doing it for a while because she didn't have a process that made it easy for her to work with clients
Gabby tells us about the course she took at the end of last year which made her more confident in knowing what she needed to do in a web design project
Since completing the course, Gabby has done some copywriting work and incorporates that into the work she’s doing now
Gabby shares the story of how she got the name of her brand, Bold Whisper Studio and what it means to her
How Gabby schedules her day and tips she has for people who are introverted as well
Gabby shares that her balance and energy is super important to her so she can be on her A game for her clients and in her personal life
Gabby’s VIP Day offer that has to do with brand strategy, understanding who you are as a person, who your target market is and how you serve them
Gabby explains that she likes to do VIP Days with clients before they do any design work because if you’re not clear on your messaging or who your serve, the design won’t do anything positive for your business
The second step for working with clients is working on brand identity, working with their logos, color palettes and font pairings- then they can opt to go fully into design work for their websites
Gabby tells the story how how she got her first website design job and how she wasn’t sure what she should charge for her services
How after her first website she jumped up to charging $2,000 for her website design which also included branding and how now she charges $7,500 for brand identity, design, strategy and the website and charges more if it includes copywriting
Gabby explains what she likes to do if clients bring in their own copywriter and how she likes to have a conversation with the copywriter and share her brand brief with them so they can see the tone they have set for the brand
Why Gabby believes communication is so important to a project and how establishing a rapport with other people helping your client on their project can help you
How a lot of the tips you get when you are starting a business to put yourself out there are in very extroverted ways and how that doesn’t plant off introverts strengths
Gabby shares that when she put herself out into the spotlight right away, she felt like she didn’t belong because she was doing things in a way that someone else told her she should, without thinking about who she was as a person
As an entrepreneur it’s hard doing everything yourself in the beginning and how it can be even more exhausting if you aren’t doing it in a way that’s supported by your strengths
Gabby tells the story of how she took a step back after realizing how burnt out she was getting by trying to put herself out there and figured out how her being an introvert played a role in the way she does her business
How Gabby had to find ways to play off her strengths as an introvert and figure out who she was in order to figure out her limits and help her not push those boundaries
Gabby explains how jumping into a website before understanding who your talking to makes it more complicated and how it can suck the energy out of your marketing efforts
While working by yourself you can miss a lot of blindspots and your own strengths and how working with other people can help shine a light on things you might not see
If you’re not clear on who you are, who your serving and the ways you’re wanting to show up, that will show through on your website
How gabby makes her website super clear so people who may not be in the industry can understand it- see example on her website
How Gabby tries to explain everything clearly because she understands that not everyone she’s talking to knows industry terms or understands it in the same depth
Why it’s important to regularly check in with yourself because things you defined for yourself early on may not be what serves you anymore and
Connect with Gabby on Instagram and send her a DM or invest in a VIP Day and work with Gabby one on one

Links mentioned:

Bold Whisper Studio Website

VIP Day Offer

Connect with Gabby on Instagram

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Lanie Lamarre treats your Done List like it owes you money... because it probably does! Fave topics: Airtable, your conversion rates, happy hour

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Lanie and I met at the Legendary Life Event last fall while at dinner
Lanie leans into her inner “geek” and is passionate about spreadsheets, data and conversion rates
Lanie discusses how most creative entrepreneurs convince themselves that they aren’t good at math and numbers but have number based goals
Lanie explains how everyone can be a numbers person if they see numbers in a way that inspires them to take action
Why when you show people their numbers and data in a way that they understand, they will start thinking outside the box of how they can take action to improve their results
How Lanie fell down the rabbit hole of the data and project side of things and realized she could make money helping people generate information they don’t naturally come to themselves
Lanie understands that data can be overwhelming for people so she got good at creating dashboards that people could plug their information into
After seeing the reaction she was getting from the way she was presenting data, it was a natural progression for her to hone in on it
Lanie shares that she feels most of the numbers in Google Analytics aren’t needed; while they are interesting, you don’t generally do anything with that data
Eighty percent of everything you need to know about your numbers boils down to two data sets; how you’re generating leads and how you’re making sales
Lanie explains that by focusing on those two results and seeing how everything on your website, social media, etc ties into those two data sets, you minimize all the distractions of information you aren’t going to use
How you can create goals in Google Analytics for the leads you’re generating and for the sales you’re making
What metrics you should be looking at and why looking at your sales page is a good starting point because that’s where the bottom of your funnel is-where sales and leads are happening
Lanie explains that you should look at how people are engaging on your sales page and see how that’s related to how they’re checking out and actually buying
How if you see there’s not enough people visiting your sales page based on your traffic, maybe you need more call to actions to lead them there
Lanie goes through the top, middle and bottom of the sales funnel and explains what data you will find within each one
When you start making the connections and seeing the trends between how they interact with each other, you can start improving on those results
Lanie offers a free dashboard people can use that comes with a tutorial on how you can set up the goals for your leads and sales
How after you set up those goals, all those numbers will automatically populate in the dashboard and will show you the user experience, and what your client journey looks like so you can see where there are opportunities to improve
Lanie talks about how easy it is to set up the dashboard and have it automatically send to your email once a month
How easy it is to see where your audience is coming from and how they interacted on your sales page after coming from your website, Pinterest, etc.
Find Lanie’s dashboard here and use it for free
The work Lanie does is for companies and organizations where she gets paid doing project management but also works with data clients, who generally own agencies that don’t need a data person 24/7
Courses Lanie offers include AIRTABLE LIKE A BOSS for people who aren’t sure what to do after they register for Airtable and BOSS MODE METRICS that teaches you about measuring what matters, visualizing data in a way you can do something with and understand how the top, middle and bottom of your sales funnel is performing
Lanie shares what bothers her about the way people talk about conversion rates
Why the most important thing about improving conversion rates is knowing what your starting point is for that specific conversion because there are so many different conversions for everything
Lanie explains when she started getting vocal about her passion that’s when people started asking more questions
Lanie made it her mission to show people the beauty in data and spreadsheets and to help them get excited about it
Lanie’s advice is to show off your work; she started seeing a difference once she started showing her dashboards and sharing how she visualizes data and how others should too
Why Lanie created her Airtable course after not being about to find a course on how to use it for herself
How when Lanie teaches AIRTABLE LIKE A BOSS she makes it as much play and plug as she can and has modules that teach you the tech side of it and bonus modules, making it a complete A - Z Airtable guide for entrepreneurs
One thing Lanie has struggled with is leaning into what she’s good at because it seems to easy to be true
Lanie shares something that has helped her move forward in her business is engaging with other people, in person within small groups
How leaning into what makes you different and unique gets rid of some of the hate and insecurities that go on in the marketing world
Lanie tells us that if there are things you know are important to your business or its growth, find something or someone who speaks about it in a way that you can wrap your head around
How you need to realize you don’t need to be the one doing everything to stay on top of things, if analytics is intimidating to you, get someone to set it up for you
Why you should focus on what you’re really good at and what brings light to the way you’re doing your work
How you can burn yourself out by doing the things you hate in your business, and how it’s okay to ask for help
Visit Lanie’s website to learn more about her and use her free resources, also connect with her on Instagram and send her a DM

Links mentioned:

Lanie’s free dashboard

AIRTABLE LIKE A BOSS

BOSS MODE METRICS

Lanie’s Website

Connect with Lanie on Instagram

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Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Get access to my Sales Page Trello Board

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Before I get to today’s episode, I wanted to let you know that I’m creating a beta sales page design course starting August 17, and you can get access for free in exchange for a testimonial.

All you have to do is go to http://melissaburkheimer.com/betacourse, fill out the application and get ready to build your sales page! I wanted to talk to you today about my process and strategies for I use when I work with my 1:1 clients on sales page designs. When I get on new connection calls and potential client calls, the most commonly asked question I get is “how do you get sales page clients” and “what platform should I use” and “can you just show me how to design sales pages please!!!” So, I’m going to breakdown all of that and more. How I got my first sales page client In episode 001, The Opener, I tell the story about how I got my first sales page project. The short version of that story is that a FB friend I connected with in the online space posted saying that he needed a graphic designer. I raised my hand, we connected, and I ended up getting 1 of 2 available design gigs. Back then I was working with local clients on an as-needed basis, and this was my first time even knowing that a sales page was a thing. After two months of working with him on multiple design projects, his friend hired me to do a couple of sales pages, and then his friend referred me to a lot of people in his rolodex because of 2 reasons: 1. I did what I said I was going to do when I said I was going to do it. 2. The designs I was creating for them got them results.

Six months later, I had my first $5K month, and by then I stopped working with my local clients. This was May 2014. So since then, I’ve worked on dozens of launches as a launch manager, sales page designer, and strategic partner that have generated multiple 7 figures in revenue. I decided to Specialize in Sales Page Design in 2014 Fast forward to today, it’s August 2020, sales pages are still the most profitable offer I have, and the easiest to sell, and always make a big impact for my clients. Every time I work with a client, I find a hole in my process and I patch it. The one thing that’s true for every single client I worked with is that they always have a top notch experience, and that’s a huge priority for me. I say that to tell you that I’ve learned a lesson on every single project, and that I use each lesson to make myself and my business better. Sometimes going through it or having those conversations isn’t easy. One time a client had hired a sales page copywriter before I got involved, (this was 2016), and back then I didn’t really review the copy before I started designing. I more saw myself as a designer, not a copywriter. The night before we were supposed to go to development, on a really tight timeline, I realized that this sales page was not going to get the client the results they wanted because the offer was not being presented clearly. I had to have a difficult conversation with the client, because I knew them and their business since 2013, but I knew anyone looking at this sales page might be confused. She understood and was able to update the copy and we got the page done, but like I said, I encourage you to look at instances like this where it could seem difficult, but it was needed if I wanted them to have the best results possible using my designs. So here’s how it looks today, and I’ll break this up in four phases for you, so you can steal the four phase system for your client projects. Phase 1: Interest / Inquiry If someone is interested, maybe they reach out via Instagram or FB messenger or email, and then I always say thank you, and send them to my sales page for my sales page design service. I built that page in 2016 - Lacy Boggs helped me write the copy, and other than a few adjustments, it’s worked really well for me. At the bottom of the page, there’s one inquiry button. That’s on purpose. I don’t take on a ton of clients anymore, so I want the ones I work with to be serious and actually at least scroll to the bottom of the page. I could do an entire episode about the sales page itself, (if you’re interested in that, send me a DM on Instagram and I’ll make it happen) but it does it’s job of explaining my process, how I work, and showing samples of my work, and more. Once they click the inquiry button, it takes them to a page with questions about their project. I talk about those questions in episode 16, so you can listen to that episode to get the skinny on why I use them. The questions on the page now have shifted since I recorded that episode, but I can tell pretty quickly if that person’s answers if they’re going to be a good fit. After I get the message, I invite them to schedule a call with me using a call scheduling tool called Calendly. That way it saves a bunch of back and forth communication about time scheduling, and I’ve actually arranged my calendar so I only do calls on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s, saving Monday’s and Friday’s for VIP Digital Sales Strategy days with clients and Wednesdays for working on my business. On the actual call, I introduce myself, ask them about their launch strategy, make suggestions (I learned this in episode 27 with Natalie McGuire - it helps position me as an expert) go through my slide deck + my process, and then talk dates, cost, and answer any questions. From there, I send a custom proposal for them to review. Once they say yes, then I send a contract for electronic signature + Invoice for the first payment (I do 50% down and 50% before I deliver the final design file). This is a manual process, but I use a template for the contract, invoice and proposal so it’s easy to update. I plan to update this process and automate most of it in Q4. My intention in Q4 is to systematize the heck out of my business. Phase 2: Onboarding + Draft Design Process I walked you through some of my onboarding process - but before I get started on a project, I ask for all of the design assets I need. Think about the course brand guide + logo, colors, photos, fonts, any previous design files they want me to work off of. I also review the copy before we get started - and sometimes even connect with the copywriter before the project gets started to say hi and talk about the process. Then, we get started with the first few sections of the sales page. I usually have team design 2-3 first drafts and then we work on those for a few days until they’re ready for the client to review. Sometimes the client will review on a live call with me, or send me feedback via Trello or the PM app we’re using. It’s 100% mandatory that we use a project management app dedicated to the sales page for feedback. I will 100% not accept feedback via email, text, FB message or any other way. Communication for all projects can easily get lost, and when you have 5000-10000 words on a page with multiple design revisions and development, it can be easy for mistakes to happen, and I’m not in the business of making mistakes. My design company offers a premium service. I personally pay for the editor, because I used to do this myself and it hurts my brain. This allows me to focus on my zone of genius, which is the design, the UX, the flow and the overall page itself, and the proofreading is something I can outsource to an expert. Phase 3: Design Production It may take a few try’s + rounds to get the first few sections of the sales page right - the way both the client and I like it, and from there, we move really fast on designing the page. My team uses Photoshop to design sales pages - and sometimes the document is so big we have to break it up into two files so my clients can preview them. All of our sections are grouped in their own folder in the layers section, which makes it really easy to develop and edit. During the design production phase, my editor is double checking the copy to see which copy makes it to the page, and I’m also checking and directing my team to make design edits while the client provides feedback. The entire design process can take up to two weeks - give or take depending on the timeline originally planned and when the launch is. I know some people who will design + develop an entire sales page in a day - which is awesome, but it’s not something that would work well for my process. I’ve started taking on VIP Day Clients (after being nudged so many times by my friend Jordan) but we focus on really making sure their digital sales strategy is awesome. We do our final reviews on my side and the client side, and my editor also does her final spidey check. And then, we hand the PSD over to both the client and the developer to develop. Phase 4: Development It’s important for me to point out that my company does not offer any type of development services. We do something better - and that’s collaborate with developers who are experts at sales page design, UX, mobile experience and more so that the designs I make for people actually look like the PSD, and work everywhere. I’m different than most designers in the fact that I stay involved in the development process. We’ve created a process for success by having a conversation with the developer, pre-scheduling our timeline, implementing reviews of sizing and spacing before the page is done, and allowing for enough edits to make sure all the My clients pay a separate fee to the development company - and my directing the development is included int he cost of my process, and it’s not an option for me to not be involved in the development process because I can’t guarantee the quality of the page. There are some cases where I know the client and they have someone on their team who can check this, but at the end of the day, I want them to have someone who can support them in a tech crisis (it happens) and who is an expert at what they do. During the process my editor also gives the page a final sweep - while I’m checking in on things. My Role in the Sales Page Process I go over this on my sales calls and it’s really clear on my sales page. I serve as the creative director, launch strategist, project manager, designer and quality control. I’m not just a designer who does something and moves on. And by doing this, I’m able to provide a really high quality service for my clients, and get them awesome results. I have an editor and multiple designers on my team who work with me on specific projects, but I’m really proud of this service, how it helps my clients, and how it’s still the most profitable service and the easiest one to sell. :) If you have any additional questions - please send me a DM on Instagram - you can find me over there @melissaburkheimer. Links mentioned:

My Sales Page Design Beta Course

Calendly - my call scheduling app

My Sales Page Design Service Page

The Design Business Show episode 001

The Design Business Show episode 027 with Natalie McGuire

Connect with me on Instagram

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Vanessa Velez is the founder of Clarity is Crucial, where she helps brilliant women elevate into the person their purpose needs them to be.

She’s a 4th generation healer and intuitive, with a Fortune 500 background and indigenous roots.

Before taking the entrepreneurial leap, she led a corporate career in a male-dominated industry as a leader, trainer and professional problem solver – a path that would be forever altered the day she resigned and dove all in to her purpose.

Since then, she’s worked with women from San Diego to Sweden – in person and online, hosted group workshops and events, taught live online and on stage, created her own products, programs and the Clarity is Crucial podcast – all with one clear aim…

To help brilliant women lead and be the person their purpose needs.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Vanessa has been on the podcast before and how we are both in a mentorship program with Erika Lyremark
The reason why Vanessa is here to have a conversation about how to show up as a conscious leader when it comes to design
How people are craving more authentic leaders in 2020 which means making sure things are ethical, inclusive and making sure you're standing up for social justice in your business
Being a conscious leader to Vanessa is someone who does the inner work, has mastered their mindset and is able to manage their emotions, so they don’t lead from that, but lead from a more conscious place
Vanessa shares that it takes courage to talk about these topics that others don’t want to discuss
How you need to lead yourself internally and then be true to who you are and bring that out into the world
One tip Vanessa shares to make that transition in your business is to take small steps each day
Vanessa explains why you need to get clear on what you value and what causes you think are important
Why Vanessa believes you should trust what lights you up because leaders are needed in all spaces
Vanessa talks about how leadership is a skillset that we were not taught so we must be intentional about doing the work ourselves so we can model that in all spaces
Vanessa shares that you should always lead with what’s true and make sure you are true to who you are when applying conscious leadership within your marketing materials
The reason why some people are hesitant on how to move forward is because they haven’t acknowledged that they are in a transitions themselves
When you’re transitioning, Vanessa shares that you have to reflect and re-evaluate what you stand for and what’s important to you now because it might have changed
Vanessa explains that you should take what’s important to you and brainstorm ways that feel good to you in embodying that, whether that’s writing content about it or sharing someone else's content about it
One important thing you should think about is how you would want the message or information delivered to you and deliver it that way to your audience
Vanessa shares that one way to make sure you’re taking baby steps everyday is to ask yourself daily if you did something that helped you align with what you value today
Why we need to learn to have difficult conversations, especially now that the whole world is having them
One step Vanessa took was sharing an important PSA on her podcast that was strong and had been on her heart
How that vulnerable podcast Vanessa shared is the most played episode of the season and it inspired other people to start showing up and speaking out about these issues
Vanessa believes that there is someone out there waiting for you to take that step and believes we all have a responsibility to be on the conscious side of all this
Vanessa explains that fear will not go away because fear is what causes people to take action sometimes, the important thing is that we don’t get stuck there and allow fear to dictate our actions
You have to get to a state of courage so you build that confidence to take baby steps into bigger steps
Vanessa teaches the mindset of having goals that help you grow is very important
Vanessa shares a story from her childhood that explains why having goals that help you grow is important and is something she had to learn along the way
How if you don’t allow yourself to make mistakes and grow, you’re actually limiting yourself
Vanessa explains that anticipating how you will handle mistakes takes away the anxiety because now you have a plan for them
Why you should differentiate between criticism that is valid and criticism that is not so you can see if there’s something that is can help you move forward, better, smarter and stronger
Connect with Vanessa through her website, Instagram or her podcast

Links mentioned

Clarity is Crucial Website

Connect with Vanessa on Instagram

Clarity is Crucial Podcast

Important PSA Podcast

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Mychelle Blake runs her own web design and SEO company with a focus on small to medium businesses and non-profits. She provides a full range of online business services including website design, copywriting for the web, search engine optimization, Google analytics setup and reporting, and web accessibility audits. She approaches her business with an eye towards online solutions that fits each of her clients' unique needs. She also has a specialty in helping individuals develop online course platforms, whether it's on their own website or using pre-configured learning management systems. She has studied web design and internet technology at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and was one of the very first students of the Las Vegas campus of the Iron Yard Front End Engineering program. She also works as a writer for LoveToKnow, writing on a diverse set of topics from website design and social media to pet care and gaming.

In addition to her technical background, her professional background includes over 20 years working in administration, development and marketing/communications positions in the non-profit world. She has worked for both 501c3 charitable organizations and 501c6 nonprofit professional associations. She previously was a Certified Association Executive (CAE) through the American Society for Association Executives (ASAE). She has a Masters in Social Welfare with a concentration on Community Administration, Planning and Programs through the University of California Los Angeles. She currently serves on the board of directors of SiouxperCon, a 501c3 charity in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and as head of the Marketing Committee for the Spencer Group, a 501c3 charity based in Minnesota. She also volunteers as a trial secretary for the Sioux Empire Kennel Club.

Mychelle lives with her dogs Kaylee, a Sharpei/pit bull mix and Jack, an American Staffordshire Terrier, her bearded dragon Haku and several aquatic creatures in Sioux Falls, SD. She is an avid science fiction, horror and fantasy book, movie and TV fan. She is also a passionate video and board gamer all the way back to owning both an original Atari 2600 gaming console and Dungeons & Dragons sets as a child.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Mychelle and I met on one of my webinars last year and how she was the first to apply to my Mastermind
Mychelle shares how she first got started in working for nonprofits on the administrative side while working with some clients on the side and eventually moved to association management
The story of how Mychelle and her team were laid off because the people who ran the association were looking to do a different model
How Mychelle had been going to school on the side studying web and has been doing websites on the side since the Internet first became accessible
When Mychelle got laid off she took her severance pay and went back to school, finished up a coding bootcamp program and went from there
Mychelle shares that after she got laid off, people she had met along the way through the association contacted her to do part time work
After doing so much part time work Mychelle realized she could do this full time instead of always looking for a job
Mychelle shares that she does a lot of WordPress but can do pretty much any platform and works with a lot of small businesses, start-ups, nonprofits and associations
What sets Mychelle apart is that she has a wide background in content writing and social media and creates a personalized service to each of her clients
The services Mychelle offers includes, website design/redesign, WordPress sites, SEO, Google Analytics, content writing and website audits
Mychelle also shares that she doesn’t have set prices for any of her services because she feels that everything she does for clients is different highly personalized
How Mychelle gets her business from a small community of animal behavior professionals because she used to be a dog trainer, from networking locally and doing some advertisements
How to network and become connected by joining BNI (Business Networking International) if there is a chapter near you, using Meetup.com and search for groups that have to do with your niche, small businesses or entrepreneurs, and then use Facebook to become part of small business groups in your area
How networking might be difficult for you but you should do it anyways and go in with topics you can talk about to make it a little easier, and how you should have an elevator speech prepared
Mychelle explains what website accessibility is and how it comes from the ADA (Americans Disabilities Act)
How most people follow WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
How you should put yourself in the shoes of someone with a disability and try to navigate your website and see how accessible it is
Main issues you want to look for include contrast colors for people who have a visual disability and making sure your site is properly set up to work with a screen reader for people who are blind
How you should make sure your site is accessible by keyboard only for people who have physical disabilities and cannot use a mouse or touch screens
Why you should make sure your videos have captions and an audio file to go with for those who are deaf or those who may have a visual disability
Other things to look out for are making sure your site doesn't lack header tags, which the screen reader looks for, making sure your site doesn't just use PDFs because they generally aren't accessible
Offer a link to skip navigation so they can get through the site quicker and making sure you use proper anchor tags for links that are descriptive and underlining your links
Mychelle shares that if you have a page that times out after a certain amount of time you want to provide a static version because people with a visual or learning disability won’t be able to get through it as quickly
How if you have an autoplay video or audio on your site making sure you allow them to stop, pause it or slow it down because they might not be able to process it as quickly
How providing an email or phone number people can contact if they get stuck is useful that way they can ask questions and get help
Mychelle shares that there are free website checkers that will tell you how accessible to your website is and tell you where there are issues
How including an Accessibility Policy can show that you are making an effort and will continue to is better than not including one and potentially be targeted for a lawsuit

Links mentioned:

Mychelle’s website

Mychelle’s Accessibility Tips

BNI (Business Networking International)

Meetup.com

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Latrice Claiborne is a system and operations strategist who specializes in marketing automation (Infusionsoft Certified!) and making back-end business systems and processes seamless for small business owners! As a Systems & Operations Strategist, she’s helped hundreds of amazing entrepreneurs totally transform their business back-end from "blah" to "all systems go”!

She’s also a Business Coach for Mompreneurs, helping them build profitable businesses without sacrificing family. I'm a wife, mother, Believer, speaker, and tech tools fanatic!

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Latrice and I met through a mutual friend, Jordan Gill
Latrice shares how she started at a company where she was overworked, underpaid and underappreciated but how that laid the foundation for what she does today
The story of how Latrice was shown Infusionsoft and had to learn how it worked to teach to her team
While on maternity leave Latrice felt overwhelmed and started thinking of ways she could work from home
When Latrice’s boys were 2 years old and 2 months old her and her husband created a strategy, saved up 3 months of her income and Latrice started business
How Latrice’s first client was her previous job because they didn’t want to see her leave
Latrice shares how she started out as a virtual assistant, then she started specializing and her business evolved into what it is today
Latrice explains how when she started this business 4 years ago she had no idea it would grow into this and end up helping business and mompreneurs like it has
Why having her first client be her previous job was a weird transition because the tables turned and she was setting the rules and pay as her own boss instead of them
Latrice explains how she is so much bolder than she was four years ago and encourages everyone to ask questions, the worst answer you’ll receive is no
Latrice gave her job a 1 month notice that she was leaving and how 1 week into that notice her boss told her they want her to stay on, which is what Latrice wanted but had feared to ask
How some companies do hire contractors and are starting to realize that they can have more remote workers and reduce their costs without having to micromanage people who are physically in the office
Latrice shares how you can’t be desperate, sign each client or business and ignore red flags, which is what she did at the beginning
Questions you need to ask yourself when choosing clients to ensure they are a great fit for your company, for your services and your lifestyle
How you should create multiple streams of income within your one business/niche so you become an expert in your field and don’t confuse your audience
Latrice shares how she had to learn how to manage her time when trying to balance all her commitments and obligations
How Latrice uses Toggl to track all her time on tasks and the reason she tracks her time is to hold herself accountable because she is the only one who can do that
Latrice shares how using time blocking, scheduling, tracking and project management tools could help increase your productivity
Latrice’s Facebook Group, SuperMoms Business Society where they share tip and tricks to help moms be productive, especially those transitioning to working from home
How Latrice schedules everything in her life and how if you want to achieve your goals you should put something on your schedule that relates to it
Latrice explains how taking advantage of her time and delegating tasks in her home and business has made a huge difference so she doesn’t lose time or her sanity
Latrice shares how she hired too soon in her business because she didn't have any systems or processes documented so it wasn’t efficient
How using her time management tools helped Latrice figure out what she should delegate first
Latrice’s friend Abbey Ashley’s Facebook Group, Virtual Assistant Savvies where a lot of people go to hire freelancers, virtual assistance and more
Latrice explains her extensive hiring process including where she gets potential employees and how she narrows them down using specific instructions, and specific phases
The system side of Latrice’s services, where she manages company’s technology and tech department, does their marketing automation and can set up webinar funnels if needed
The other side of Latrice’s business where she’s a mompreneur coach and gives them resources to build profitable and sustainable businesses
How automating your systems and processes can help you maximize your efficiency and how that results in you maximizing your profit
How you should identify what is paining you the most and start with creating a system for that thing first so you can delegate it in the future
Why Latrice is so disciplined in her business so when a day comes where she feels unmotivated, she can take a break because she’s not behind on anything and is actually ahead of schedule
Connect with Latrice on her website or follow her on Instagram

Links mentioned

Latrice’s Website

SuperMoms Business Society Facebook Group

Virtual Assistant Savvies Facebook Group

Connect with Latrice on Instagram

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For this episode, we're doing something a little bit different. If you guys listen to episode number one, which I called ‘The Opener’, I brought in my friend Kira Hug who is one of the only people I know who's better at asking questions than I am, to ask me questions about my story.

I have given her a list of questions to ask me, just as a sample for reference, but she also hosts her own podcast called, The Copywriter Club with Rob Marsh, and I've been a big fan of the community they've built, the podcast that they've created and I joined her group just kind of like as a body in you know, full supportive what her and Rob are doing for copywriters.

This podcast was originally inspired by what they were doing but just I wanted it to be on the design side. So, if you don't know her, she's a conversion copywriter expert who is really great in infusing your weird personality traits into all types of conversion copy. They run a ton of mentorship programs and masterminds over at the Copywriter Club Group and I recommend the podcast really heavily. So I’ll introduce you to my friend Kira Hug and then let her ask the questions!

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

I discuss how my perspective and my passion for design has grown immensely over the last 100 episodes
I explain how I’ve falling more and more in love with design because of how it’s used in our world, how it helps people, and has led me to know a bunch of amazing people in this field
How I created the podcast to be a resource for designers, creatives and businesses who want to learn about the world of design without someone pushing their viewpoints and designs at them
I give insight on what surprised me most about running a podcast and how it’s a privilege to connect with people I don’t know weekly.
Why the podcast has allowed me give my clients a different perspective and build relationships in my business with people who I normally wouldn’t have connected with
Why I think if you’re thinking about having a podcast, you should find a way to monetize it and build a system that works for you
How I love being able to have something that is my own and having complete creative control over it makes me feel like I can make my own difference on this side of the world
I get real and share my personal struggles of 2020 which include my mindset, everyone being home with me during this time, putting time and money into something and wanting the reward right away, and more
How I deal with the struggle of ‘I’m not good enough’ and how even creativing Conversion Design School™ was also a struggle, not because of the content but because of my mindset at first
How I view myself versus how other designers view themselves and how my project management skills have set me apart and helped my clients
Kira and I discuss how you might look at a person and think they have it all figured out when they don’t and how I want to be known for my work individually and not because I worked with a big client so many years ago
The best thing you can do is go all in for what you want, believe what you offer, be committed to the end result, and changing your mindset to believe it will happen
For listeners wanting to go all in, find what you are an expert in, what people ask you about, consider investing in a mentor and just put your stuff out there and see if people are interested
How I started teaching college classes because I wanted to become a better teacher and learn how to create the best course I can
Why I think creating multiple sources of revenue within your business is very important because if plan A doesn’t work out, at least you have plan B, C, D
How being able to adapt to changes in the field, believing what you’re doing, making sure you have support and revenue always coming in is where to start if you’re looking to start
My advice for designers who want to have multiple sources of revenue is to reach out to 20 people you know and tell them what you’re up to; use the people you know to do business with and create a constant flow of income to invest back in your business
I explain how the biggest and most impactful investment I’ve made would be my mentor Erika Lyremark
I share some core lessons I learned from Erika including that I could create Conversion Design School™ without teaching development, finding my viewpoints and using them over and over again and the fact that I had Voxer access to her was huge to me
How being a designer in 2020 takes a belief in your skills, understanding the customer journey, and takes knowing more than just opening up the Adobe programs
Why thinking critically, taking feedback in a good way, be willing to listen, always working on your skills and finding your niche will only benefit your business
How I think the world of design will go more digital in the next few years and how understanding what all really goes into a design with the copy, marketing message, placement, timing etc. will set those apart from who don’t understand that
Why you should consider the work you're doing and ask the questions: does this feel right to me, is this a good or bad fit for me, and is this good for the world? Instead of making it a PR movement
I discuss how being involved in the community has made me an overall better person which is important when you run a personality driven business because people crave the connection
How I want all people to feel included, especially when it comes to the podcast and how I believe every designer has something to share and can make a difference in someone else's life
I discuss how we can make make sure our businesses are not exclusive and to make sure people always feel welcome and wanted
How I want to better than a good person, I want to be making a difference
Why having an end goal in mind and understanding that people may not buy from you is where you have to start when thinking about starting a community
I share why I created my Facebook group as a safe place for designers to ask questions because there is so much judgement in this field and how if you want to create a community, you should do it with a bigger mission
My goal and the goal of everyone should be to create a bigger impact in the design world, that’s why I created my podcast - to give designers a voice, that’s why I created my community
Looking ahead I have a lot of great guests scheduled to be on the podcast who’s fields are complementary to design
Conversion Design School™ is brand new as of this month, how I updated the program and how you can check it out and learn more at melissaburkheimer.com
How for the next month I’ll be doing a lot of focus groups, surveying and getting on the phone with people to figure out my next steps
I share that I will be opening up launch direction services again, and will probably be opening up some programs for design mentorships that haven’t been done in over a year
My bigger mission in life is to get conversion design out there and educate people on how it can help them
How designers, marketers and copywriters need to connect, communicate and collaborate together in order to have successful projects
How I'm taking care of myself during these times, especially with being at home all the time

Links mentioned:

Episode 001
The Copywriter Club Podcast
Conversion Design School™
Erika Lyremark’s episode on The Design Business Show
My sister Amanda's GoFundMe Page

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Shaundra Howard is a graphic designer turned launch + operations manager for mission driven course creators and coaches. She takes the moving parts and pieces of a launch + business back end and puts them together in super easy roadmaps for the whole team to follow.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How we originally met Shaundra on Episode 14 of the Design Business Show
Shaundra shares how she went from doing everything graphic design to managing the business and operations side of her clients' businesses
Why having a graphic design background has helped Shaundra with managing the business and operations side of things
How Shaundra started learning more about how people run their businesses online
The story of Shaundra’s first client who needed help with her website, blog images, etc. and also needed help running the back end of her business which Shaundra helped with
How Shaundra knew enough about CRM systems to get by and started helping her client with her course launches and membership launches
Shaundra shares that she learned about sales funnels, generating leads and how to get people interested in your offer while helping her first client
How it was hard for Shaundra to let go of design but decided to so she could create a clear message for her audience
Shaundra explains how she finished up design projects for clients and then stop offering design services
Shaundra’s launch services include launch mapping and launch management
The clients Shaundra works with and how she gets them through social media, client outreach or referrals
Shaundra shares what she’s learned over the years, such as making sure you work with people that you will work well with and understanding that there is room for everyone, we all have our place.
How Shaundra priced her services when she first started out versus now
How Shaundra struggled with asking for the amount of money she wanted to make
What you get with Shaundra’s $5,000 offer, where she’ll create a launch map and manage for you
What you get with Shaundra’s intensive offer where she creates a detailed launch map for you and your team
How Shaundra breaks down her launch maps in four phases
Connect with Shaundra on her website or her Instagram

Links mentioned

Shaundra’s Website

Connect with Shaundra on Instagram

Episode 14 of the Design Business Show

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Jennifer Spivak is the CEO and founder of TEAMSPIVAK, a high-vibe Facebook Ads squad. She has helped hundreds of businesses generate millions of dollars on Facebook and Instagram with many seeing a thousand percent PLUS return on their ad campaigns. Her all female team enjoys crunching data, helping women owned businesses make lots of money and smashing the patriarchy.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How I met Jennifer through our mutual friend, Sage Polaris, by doing a pair mastermind and also how we roomed/traveled together at Sage and Tarzan’s Legendary Life Event
Jennifer shares how she went to school for marketing and PR and always knew entrepreneurship was in the cards for her
The story behind how Jennifer got started by meeting a guy on Craigslist while she was in college, who was looking to build a visual agency and who needed an intern
How Jennifer started off as his intern in college and how they then became business partners and grew their little digital agency into a bigger company
Over 4 years they built their company from just the two of them to having 20+ teams, offices in NY and Boston
Jennifer realized, as the company had grown, the culture completely changed into a total Boy’s Club, where it was glorified to come in early and stay super late
How Jennifer had the idea that she could make just as much, if not more money without working so hard and having to hustle all the time
How at the end of 2014, Jennifer left the company to do what she had been doing with a partner, on her own- without the pushing yourself until your dead work, which is where she is now
Jennifer explains how an ad by itself doesn’t do anything, it will only work as well as the system behind it works
Why ads have to be backed with a great sales page, webpage, etc in order to convert
How just because your ad is pretty, doesn’t mean it will work and how you should focus on creating an ad that yields your desired end result
Why there is no need to treat Facebook Ads as its own thing, and how all of the same basic marketing concepts apply
How Facebook Ads is just a source of traffic and it’s only as powerful as the funnel, foundation and additional touch points that go with it
How investing in yourself and making yourself feel good will help your business flourish
Jennifer speaks her truth and explains how she lives unapologetically extra and what “the work is feeling good” means to her and how she lives her life the way she does
How knowing what works for you and what makes you feel good is really important, because it’s not the same for everyone
One big takeaway Jennifer got from doing Denise’s Money Bootcamp in 2014 was the idea that you have to first have money in order to live abundantly and live in luxury is completely backwards
Jennifer shares the story of how she started off small with incorporating abundance, luxury and first class in her life
One tip that Jennifer learned from Denise is to change all your passwords to your next income goal so it’s a constant reminder and that way you can wrap your mind around it the more you see it
The biggest tip Jennifer says is going back to the work is feeling good, and embodying that person now because there’s nothing you can’t do if you start becoming the match to the thing you want and the money you want to make
When you become the thing, or that person, the universe literally has no other choice than to give you what you want
How for most of history women have been trained to put their needs second and that’s why it’s important to live unapologetically extra and embrace what makes you feel good
Jennifer explains how having this lifestyle isn’t just for her, it’s for the people around her and for the world
Connect with Jennifer on Facebook or on her website

Links mentioned

Jennifer’s Website

Connect with Jennifer on Facebook

Connect with Jennifer on Instagram

Money Bootcamp with Denise Duffield-Thomas

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Katell is the co-owner and lead designer at Reverielane, a purpose-infused design studio based in sunny southern California. Katell began Reverielane over 6 years ago with the belief that thoughtful design can turn your dreaming into doing. Her husband Jon joined on as a co-owner this last October, and together they are building Reverielane to fully live on their own terms as a creative family.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Katell moved to the US from France in 2010 with a degree in International Project Management, but found resistance in wanting to pursue that work once she got to the US
Katell explains how she got into branding by learning about it in school, and starting off with logos to become better at the design aspect of marketing
In 2014 Katell realized branding is more than a logo, and wanted to create something bigger where she could connect more with clients and lead them through a process
Why Katell picked International Project Management as a degree after receiving her license in Applied Modern Languages and how she felt she could work in any industry because of her degree, which excited her
How Katell found freelancing frustrating because it was always just one project, logo or business card etc. and that’s it
Katell explains how she started her business, Reverielane in 2014 and used Facebook to connect with others who knew more about starting a business so she could learn
Why creating a group launch with other people Katell connected with, helped her to know what to do when launching her website
Services Katell’s business offers include everything you need for your brand to stand on its own and create a branding experience; branding websites, custom website designs, strategy, creative direction and more
Katell explains the difference between being a technician and being a specialist and how understanding this made Katell make the switch from being a freelancer to having her own business
How Katell’s business has been moving to a one design concept offer over the last two years so they can focus on strategy and heading in the right direction for each of their individual clients
Katell tells us how it depends on where you are in your journey when deciding if you need a technician versus a specialist
Why Katell sees the value in creating one concept that is right for her clients versus creating multiple options that might work for them and having them pick one
How Katell receives most of her business from referrals and some from her website and Instagram
Katell explains how fluid her timeline process can be depending on the project but generally gives the timeline of 4-6 weeks for a basic brand
The type of clients Katell usually works with includes people who have been in business for a while and are or want to be leaders in their industry, or people who have felt resistance with using other branding companies or website designers
How Katell gives her clients a personal experience by taking care of them and giving them the whole package
Katell’s business handles website development and design, which is all done in-house
Katell explains that she likes to build on her own terms and create something that feels right to her, otherwise she doesn’t consider it a success
How being mindful of each piece of your life and understanding what you are willing to negotiate on, or trade can help you create healthy boundaries for you and your business
Why changing your mindset to think “trade offs” instead of just thinking “problems” can help you see what you are gaining, losing/trading for it and figuring out if it’s worth it
Katell explains how difficult it can be for designers to brand themselves and suggests bringing someone else in as an advisor to help you
How building relationships with her audience in person and online instead of always selling to them has helped Katell’s business grow
Katell compares pricing from when she first started- charging $200 for a logo, to now, charging $3,000+ for an entry brand package
The best spots to connect with Katell are Reverielane’s website, or on Instagram

Links mentioned

Reverielane’s Website

Connect with Katell on Instagram

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Hey everyone! How are you doing? For real! Tell me!

I just want you to know how grateful I am for each of you in here. I've intentionally been quiet online so I could listen, learn and do better when it comes to racial injustice.

I had planned to launch Conversion Design School™ last week, but 4 days before cart open, I stopped working on my launch because a more important conversation needed to be had.

Just like business, the fight against racial injustice is a long-term game, and I'm committed to doing better.

Here are a few more resources I've come across the last week:

The Show up & Serve workshop replay from Trudi Lebron is only $97, and I highly recommend it: https://www.trudilebron.com/emergencyworkshop
Vanessa Velez from Clarity is Crucial. She did a training inside a mastermind I'm in. The conversation was so good I invited her to come on my podcast! Check out her recent post on Instagram to learn how to become a leader in this space. https://www.instagram.com/p/CBR1kY7DVEB/
The replay of this Re-Imagining Small Business Town Hall with Susan Hyatt, Rachel Rodgers, Ericka Hines, Nathan Berry, Robert Hartwell and Sonya Renee Taylor. Link: https://helloseven.co/townhall-2/

I don't have all the answers, but I trust that in my own way, I can make a difference.

One way I know that I can help designers, copywriters, creatives, and expert entrepreneurs get more conversions on their launches.

A launch is simply a word used to plan a promo where a product or service is for sale over a certain period of time. The benefits of launching:

You get to add a new stream of income to your revenue. By launching, I’ve added around $40K in extra revenue to my business.

I said the actual number - and please know that $40K could be super high or super low for you. Some people make more, some people make less. The number is just mine, and it’s a result of me doing the work to test out a dozen or so offers in the last 3 years.

This number does not include the amount of money I make from consulting or sales pages. It’s simply when I open and close the cart for an offer.

As of right now, my signature sales page design service is still my most profitable offer and the easiest one to sell.

I’ve also been doing it for 7 years, so it’s gotten easier every time and doesn’t even feel like I have to sell it when I’m on a sales call.

It takes practice to get to that level of confidence - and you learn more every time to sell a service or launch.

I’ve never actually launched my sales page service, since most of my leads come via Google or referrals.

When you launch a course, product or even a new service, it’s fun and exciting because, you get to try something new.

You get to position yourself as an expert – and serve a bigger group of people instead of just 1:1 work.

The industry is shifting, and I have to stay on top of my game if I want to become known as the conversion design expert in a bigger way.

The downside of launching:

You don’t technically get paid until someone buys.

It requires you to step out of your head and show up as an expert in your field, and consistently help your clients for free.

People may not buy until a few years after they hear about you, or at all.

Reality:

Launching is a big-picture game. You don’t score a touchdown the first time you step on the football field. You’ll have lots of wins. Lots of losses. Lots of lessons.

I gave the actual breakdown from my first launch debrief in 2017 on http://thedesignbusinessshow.com/064 if you want to check it out.

Now the next time you launch, it’s important that you’re able to tell me the following 7 things about your offer:

Identity, Interest + Benefit Bullets
The Problem You Solve.
The Offer Introduction & The Offer Promise.
Who is your course, product or service for?
Testimonials from current and previous students.
What's included in the investment?
The Guarantee & Buy Now Buttons.

These 7 things are the foundation of your offer, your sales page, your strategy and more. Before you stress about creating a sales page, or doing a big launch, make sure your offer is solid.

If you don’t know those 7 things, then it’s not time to launch. It’s time to focus on direct sales.

You don’t have to create a big marketing campaign to sell your offers. You need a way to sell it, a way for people to buy it, and a way to deliver it.

Here’s a process for you to get started with your new offers.

Create a beta offer.

Sell it the old-fashioned way.

Test it.

Get your clients results.

Improve your process.

Offer it again until it’s solid.

When I first launched my mastermind for designers (this is not a secret “pitch” for my mastermind, it’s not for sale right now, and I’m not sure if I’m bringing it back again), I got conversions from doing webinars.

So I’ve done probably over 200 free webinars over the last 3 years, most of them pitch-free.

Every single person who has bought from me has been on a webinar with me, so that’s why I do them.

I’m really into finding a thing that works, and re-implementing that strategy over and over again.

Facebook ads convert? Cool. Let them run and work on other things.

People who experience a live webinar with me are more likely to buy? Awesome. Do a lot of them.

The world is at home because of COVID-19? People are craving connection and tools. I ran ads to grow my FB group, and to a sales page Trello board I made.

I’ve never had ads convert for $2-$3 per lead. The only other ads I’ve really ran are for webinars, and they’re still converting at $11-$30 a person, so I’m not really planning to run ads to webinars anytime soon.

I like to measure my launch data on 3 different things: data, energy, and sales.

Data is things like opt-in page conversion rates, FB lead costs, webinar sign up & attendance rate.

Yes, energy.

What fears are coming up?

What isn’t working?

Did you plan a realistic amount of time to do this?

Are you creating space in your business for more customers?

For sales, you can look at things like Sales Booked on Sales Calls, Sales on Cart Open Day, Sales on Cart Close Day & Sales for each offer level.

Launching is a big-picture game. You don’t score a touchdown the first time you step on the football field. You’ll have lots of wins. Lots of losses. Lots of lessons.

It’s a part of the game. I want to help you win!

If you have questions about launching or need help making your launches better - send me a DM on Instagram and let’s start a conversation.

Links mentioned:

Trudi Lebron's Show Up & Serve
Vanessa Velez from Clarity is Crucial
Rachel Rodgers Re-Imagine Small Business Town Hall

My sales page Trello Board

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Hi! My name is Melissa & I wanna help you get more leads that convert into customers. This is Day 3 of 3 Where I’ll show you how to get more conversions in your business.

And, if you want to win a free 30-minute session with me, all you have to do is post a photo of you watching each video, share it on Instagram & tag me @melissaburkheimer and use the hashtag #getmoreconversions, and each time you post, you’ll be entered to win.

Each post counts as 1 entry, so if you watch all 3 videos, post each day, then that means you have 3 entries.

The last day to enter the contest is today, Friday, May 29 2020 at midnight CDT and the winners will be notified via Instagram DM.

The process people ask me about the most is my sales page process.

Sometimes I’m hesitant to answer, because you need to know so much more than "how to design a sales page" in order to get results from your sales page.

A sales page is not a quick fix. It's a part of your sales strategy. When combined with the right message, the right audience, the right strategy and at the right time - it can help do the selling for you.

Here are 3 tips you can use on your sales page design:

Build your sales page once you’ve already sold your offer. If you haven’t sold your offer yet, wait.
Invest in conversion copy. Conversion copywriters are trained to get you results. Hiring one = more results.
Make your mobile user experience a priority. In the last 7 years, mobile usage has increased 77%. I'd hate for you to lose an ideal customer because you didn't pay attention to the mobile experience!

Going the extra mile with your launch and sales page can infinitely help you get better results.

Thanks for listening, and stay tuned for the next episode coming out tomorrow to help you get more conversions in your business!

Links mentioned:
Click here to get on the Waitlist for Conversion Design School™

Click here to follow me on Instagram

Like what you heard?

Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Click here to join the free community!

Let’s connect on Instagram!

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Hi! My name is Melissa & I wanna help you get more leads that convert into customers. This is Day 2 of 3 Where I’ll show you how to get more conversions in your business.

Before we get started, I wanna make sure that you’re following me on Instagram @melissaburkheimer!

Each post counts as 1 entry, so if you watch all 3 videos, post each day, then that means you have 3 entries.

The last day to enter the contest is Friday, May 29 2020 at midnight CDT and the winners will be notified via Instagram DM.

How easy do you make it for your customers to buy from you?

For real. You work so hard to get the conversion - so make it quick, fast and easy for them to buy and get started.

Here’s a tip you can implement today: create a 1-page check out system.

How many times have you tried to buy something, and then the process felt like it was too hard.

Excess shipping costs, random pop ups, and then you just end up getting annoyed and leave.

Think about Amazon. Look at how EASY they make it to shop there. 1-click check out. Easy return policy.

I use Samcart in my business. It’s easy to use, mobile responsive, and has a lot of reporting that I should start using!

Buyers often leave the check out process when they can’t view the total before entering credit card info, or they have to set up an account, or there aren’t enough payment options available.

You put in a lot of effort to design your launch, so make it quick, fast and easy for them to buy and get started.

Conversion Design School™ opens up on June 2, and you can head to http://thedesignbusinessshow.com/094
to get on the waitlist!

Thanks for listening, and stay tuned for the next episode coming out tomorrow to help you get more conversions in your business!

Links mentioned:
Samcart <----affiliate link
Click here to get on the Waitlist for Conversion Design School™

Click here to follow me on Instagram

Like what you heard?

Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Click here to join the free community!

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Hi! My name is Melissa & I wanna help you get more leads that convert into customers. This is Day 1 of 3 Where I’ll show you how to get more conversions in your business.

Before we get started, I wanna make sure that you’re following me on Instagram @melissaburkheimer!

Each post counts as 1 entry, so if you watch all 3 videos, post each day, then that means you have 3 entries.

The last day to enter the contest is Friday, May 29, 2020 at midnight CDT and the winners will be notified via Instagram DM.

The main strategy I’ve used for 7 years in the online education industry is to help my clients get results is conversion design.

Design plays a major role in the entire conversion process, from the top to the bottom of the funnel.

Conversion-Centered Design focuses on persuasion, marketing, copy, empathy, design, and usability to achieve a single business goal.

The goal is usually for a user to take a single action on a landing page, which can be a lot of things, but when you’re launching, you want it to be a sale.

Using conversion design and incorporating it into your launch plan can help drive your sales.

It’s important to know that branding + graphic design are important and drive credibility & trust.

Conversion design drives sales & leads.

Three conversion design principles you can use throughout your entire launch design:

Directional cues to point your users in the direction they’re supposed to take next.
Lots of blank space on your page to give your users eyes a break.
A brightly colored call to action / CTA button that anyone could know it’s there.

You can implement these strategies throughout your entire launch design.

The check out page system
The opt-in system
The inquiry process
The comment system
The mobile design
The responsiveness
Every interaction

Conversion design can help you get better results - just remember to test everything, make your pages accessible, and mobile-ready.

Conversion Design can be implemented into your launch really simply, and taking the extra step to test all your pages will help you get more leads and sales.

Thanks for listening, and stay tuned for the next episode coming out tomorrow to help you get more conversions in your business!

Links mentioned:
Click here to get on the Waitlist for Conversion Design School™

Click here to follow me on Instagram

Like what you heard?

Click here to subscribe + leave a review on iTunes.

Click here to join the free community!

Let’s connect on Instagram!

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What does it take to have a blog that actually makes an impact for your business? It all starts with strategy. Lacy Boggs is a content strategist, author of the bestselling Kindle ebook, "Make a Killing With Content," and the director of The Content Direction Agency. She helps personality-driven brands create and implement content marketing strategies tailor-made to support their customers and reach their goals. To learn more, go to lacyboggs.com/undercover.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How I met Lacy from B-School in 2013, and hired her to write my sales page copy in 2016
Why Lacy believes blogging is not dead due to the majority of what we consume on the internet being text
Why you can’t have design without copy and content
Focusing on Why-to content versus How-to content inorder to help customers who don’t need to know how you’re doing something
How there’s a story and a why behind every design and how sharing those two things can help create trusting relationships that will make people want to do business with you
Lacy explains that without strategy your content won't matter and the why’s you need to consider behind every piece of content
How everyone’s strategy looks different and how reverse engineering to craft your content from your why and end goal is where you should start
Check out The Content Direction Agency website to read different case studies about how they’ve helped people and how it could help your business
The story behind Lacy helping on a very successful membership site, driven by organic blog traffic
Lacy explains the different services her and her team offer, ranging from monthly retainers for clients, to full launches
The story behind how The Content Direction Agency grew organically and how their team is made of women who specialize in all different areas of marketing so their clients receive the best in every department
Lacy’s small group program called CIA (Content Intelligence Academy) in 90 days that teaches Lacy’s system for putting together content strategy and a content calendar
Lacy explains the biggest thing she’s learned in her eight years of business is that nobody can tell you what's going to work for your business
How you should become a leader in marketing versus a follower in marketing because what works for someone else isn’t going to work for you and your business
Why Lacy thinks it’s important as a copywriter to change your copy to match the personality and voice of your client
What a brand voice style guide is and how it can help create consistency, especially when you have a client bringing in multiple contractors
How you can visit lacyboggs.com/cia90 to learn more about Content Intelligence Academy which is coming up in June again
Other ways Lacy can help you through discussing strategy or blogging on your behalf
Why outsourcing stressful tasks, tasks that aren’t a good use of your time, or tasks out of your wheelhouse is a smart thing to do
Connect with Lacy through her website or by checking out CIA in 90 days

Links mentioned

Lacy’s Website - The Content Direction Agency

Lacy’s book- Make a Killing With Content

CIA in 90 Days

Lacy's Voice Identification Process

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Claudia Ramos of Claudia Ramos Designs is a graphic designer, surface designer, and illustrator, who has worked on everything from web design, greeting cards, soft good graphics for fashion dolls, and apparel to signage.

She loves keeping up to date on trends and she’s constantly checking what's going on in the social media world. She loves to draw, create patterns, illustrate, and do DIY projects with her 11-year-old daughter. Her daughter is her inspiration and she always reminds her that she should be having fun! Her work expresses who she is, colorful, fun, and creative! Creating patterns are fun and that's what she wants her work to express. She was born in El Salvador, San Salvador, but came to America when she was two-months-old. She grew up in Central Los Angeles, where her neighborhood was a mix of different cultures, food, music, and art. Since a very young age, she’s enjoyed coloring, doodling, and even collecting cool pens. She’s married to her high school sweetheart and the mom to a spunky 11-year-old and loves spending time with my family and capturing every moment with her iPhone!

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How I found Claudia’s Instagram and invited her to come on the podcast
How Claudia knew from a young age that she wanted to do something in design because she always loved art while growing up
What happened when Claudia’s counselor suggested graphic design so she could still make her own designs and impact the world
How Claudia fell in love with graphic design and got her AA degree then transferred to California State University, Northridge where she got her BA
When Claudia graduated she worked in the graphic design field where she was focused on print because social media was just starting and she didn’t have much knowledge on creating websites or coding
How Claudia was doing banners, label art and repeat patterns but decided she wanted to learn more so she applied to jobs that asked her to create websites
How Claudia was given the opportunity to learn how to code because of how open she was in interviews about not knowing how to code, but knowing how to design websites
Claudia’s first job out of college was working for a signage company, creating big banners and signage designs
How after working for the signage company she worked for Forever21 doing label art, creating the tags and doing repeat patterns for the fabric of their clothes
How after working at Forever21, Claudia had her daughter and stayed home for two years where she started a blog, did some illustration and spent a lot of time creating boards on Pinterest
How American Greetings reached out to Claudia looking for a graphic designer who was very in touch with online and phone usage
How Claudia did design for American Greetings mobile and website creating a brand called Just Wink where you can send greeting cards over the phone
How Claudia worked for American Greetings for three years where she got to create digital greeting cards, draw and create layouts for greeting cards
How Claudia was looking for a job for a year and decided to create an Etsy shop to learn more about what she wanted to do
How Claudia’s friend asked her to create a save the date invitation that she posted on her Etsy and Instagram which got her noticed by a wedding magazine who reached out to her
How the wedding magazine asked if they could put Claudia’s save the date invitation in their magazine and how that gained her exposure, which grew her business
How Claudia was networking and creating for herself, then posting on her blog and Instagram which gained her exposure
How you don’t really know whos behind these design projects when all you see is the big company’s name and how Claudia started sharing on her Instagram that she was behind the scenes for some projects
How giving back to the community and inspiring young girls and boys with her work and success is important to Claudia
Why creating artwork you love and sharing about yourself can help you stand out in your business
How sharing events that you’re attending can also help you gain exposure
Why Claudia keeps it real and positive with her audience so they can get to know her and how you should do the same
How Claudia knew she liked repeat patterns and started researching textile design and found you can do repeat patterns with items like pillows, blankets and planners
The story behind how Claudia created a bunch of repeat patterns and took them to an event in NY where licensors or artists go and show their next line of textiles
What happened when Hasbro reached out to Claudia for an interview after seeing her portfolio and how in addition she showed them her textile designs which they loved
How Claudia was hired as a temp at Hasbro with the goal of getting them to hire her on after her temp year was up and how she has now worked for them for four years
How Claudia has worked on amazing brands such as Frozen 1 and 2, Moana, Descendants 2 and Star Wars Force of Destiny
How Claudia had experience with adult and child clothing but had to learn how to do artwork for dolls clothing which has helped her grow
A behind-the-scenes look at Claudia's other design hobbies as a freelancer such as embroidering, her Etsy shop which is now on her website, label art, print and stickers
The story behind Claudia's new podcast called Homegirl Chat to share her story, background and journey because it’s not a story she hears often and wanted to speak up and inspire others
Another project Claudia is focusing on is Hola Mijas Bonitas which is an Instagram page full of cute, kawaii comics that are inspired by her growing up in East LA
The things Claudia does for fun, like embroidery and going to events where she gets to meet amazing other creative people
How you can connect with Claudia on her Instagram or at claudiaramosdesigns at gmail.com

Links mentioned

Claudia’s Website

Claudia’s Shop Online

Connect with Claudia on Instagram

Hola Mijas Bonitas Instagram Page

Connect with Claudia on Pinterest

Homegirl Chat Podcast

Claudia’s Blog

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Sarah Ashman is the founder of Public Persona Studio, a company focused on helping entrepreneurs and influencers uplevel their business, elevate their influence and increase their perceived value through branding. She has over fifteen years experience as a brand strategist and creative director for influencers, thought leaders and business owners, developing and creating compelling and cohesive brands that are memorable and attract attention. She works for thought leaders such as Amy Porterfield and Nikki Elledge Brown, as well as fortune 500 companies such as Estee Lauder, Vogue Magazine and Mercedes-Benz.

And if you haven’t listened to episode 35 of The Design Business Show, please check that out because we really go into the story of how Sarah became known as the “Pitch Bitch”, how she’s revolutionized her business and the brand industry and her great work.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Why I invited Sarah back after talking with Hillary Weiss and learning about Sarah’s Creative Direction Certification Program
How Sarah left the corporate space to and started focusing on personality led brands in the online space
How Sarah has a passion to help people first become the most powerful version of themselves and then help them wrap an incredible brand around that
How Sarah uses left brain strategy and positioning along with this fun and creative direction
What prompted Sarah to start her own business was that she felt a calling to make more of an impact by helping people rather than big brands
How Sarah felt frustrated with the limited creative freedom she was receiving and how she was looking for something to latch onto that felt meaningful
How Sarah has always been fascinated with fashion and personal style which led her start a fashion blog, called Public Persona in 2008
How Public Persona gained media attention and how through that clients started coming to Sarah
How Refinery29 and Nylon Magazine did a feature on Sarah which led to people asking her to style them
How Sarah saw that styling her clients was helping them feel better and show up in a more confident way
How styling clients got Sarah thinking about how this might apply to brands and small businesses, which is how she made Public Persona as it is today
How personal styling began to feel surface level when she realized she wanted to do more in the entrepreneurial space in the way of building brands
How Sarah created this surface where she was helping people figure out who they were on a deeper level and then figuring out how to express that which turned into her service, Privé
How Privé is now her core offering and a prerequisite for any other service Sarah does for clients
How Privé helps clients think about their brand in a deeper way to help them see themselves very clearly and to help them show up more confidently
How Sarah realized she loves doing the deeper work which is why she got away from doing logos and design work
The story behind Sarah’s MirrorBrand™ group program
How Sarah was challenged with making a program that someone else can follow versus using the thinking and process she uses for one on one clients where she’s doing the work
The first time she launched MirrorBrand™ she only used word of mouth and told a few clients and people she knew
Why Sarah only runs MirrorBrand™ once a year because she likes to be personally involved in it which makes it more than a course or program
How creatives taking MirrorBrand™ fell in love with the process which resulted in them shifting further than surface level and into a brand strategist role which opened more possibilities for them
How creatives in MirrorBrand™ asked Sarah to teach them how to do what she was doing which lead to the creation of her Creative Direction Certification
How Sarah is in her first round of the Creative Direction Certification which is a nine month program in a mastermind format
The different aspects of Sarah’s Creative Direction Certification and how it can help creatives with their bigger picture vision to help clients
How Sarah’s Creative Direction Certification has those enrolled bring in a test client to go through the process so they can problem solve as a group to help these clients
How Sarah’s photoshoot styling service came about from doing website work for people and wanting specific photos that they didn’t have
How Sarah’s background in directing large scale campaigns helped her with her photoshoot styling service
How Sarah’s photoshoot styling service spread by word of mouth and is the only really hands on service she has kept because she loves it so much
The story behind the photoshoot Sarah helped style for Nikki Elledge Brown on Nikki’s website
What Sarah’s next steps are and how she feels called to step into the teaching role and mentor which means a little less doing for clients one and one and just teaching her methodology
How Sarah would love to see other people benefit from her methods to create a ripple effect
How you can listen to episode 35 of The Design Business Show to hear more about Sarah’s story
How most of Sarah’s business comes from word of mouth and how doing good work for clients will result in referrals

Links mentioned:

Sarah’s Website

MirrorBrand™

Connect with Sarah on Facebook

Connect with Sarah on Instagram

Nikki Elledge Brown's Website

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Rachael Kay Albers is a digital strategist and business comedian. As the founder and creative director of RKA ink, a branding, web design, and digital marketing studio based outside Chicago, Rachael has helped hundreds of thought leaders and visionary entrepreneurs all over the world stand out online without selling their soul or playing the manipulation game. When not crafting epic, unforgettable brands for her clients, Rachael hosts Awkward Marketing, a business comedy show blending fun-sized business advice with storytelling and sketch comedy. Think of her as the one-woman SNL of biz TV.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How I had Rachael on the podcast in episode 22 where we talked about how just building a website for your client isn't enough
How Rachael is going through a rebrand and hired Sarah Ashman to help with the process
How offers that Rachael sees online for fast branding & design lead her to speak out on Instagram
How you can get a new brand look, feel and starter website in a short amount of time but is that in your businesses best interest in the long run
How small businesses need to be educated on what a brand is instead of believing the common myth that your brand is your visuals
How you can go to Rachael’s Instagram to check out her posts
How meeting with Sarah made Rachael realize her brand didn’t match what she was putting out into the world
How Sarah told Rachael on their discovery call that they have to know what they are packaging before they work on the visual direction of her brand
How Rachael didn’t take the advice she gives her own clients about not focusing on the visual right away but focusing on your business strategy and where the future of your business is going first
What the first process of Rachael’s rebrand was and how it can inspire other designers
How Rachael booked a room at the Four Seasons Hotel so she could be inspired and focus on what she really wants for the future of her business
How branding is more emotional than people might know so when you rebrand it’s really like therapy for your business
How working with Sarah was the biggest investment Rachael made for her business and how it changed her mindset about her leadership role
How Rachael’s agency, RKA ink is staying similar to what they were before but she’s building a new website for her personal brand, Rachael Kay Albers
How Rachael’s agency is “done for you” and her brand Rachael Kay Albers is “show you how to” where Awkward Marketing, consulting services and courses will live
How Rachael wanted to move into the “show you how to” side to reach infinite people because she can only take on so many one on one clients each year with the agency side
How Rachael has been speaking everywhere because it truly fulfills her and brings brand awareness, leads and credibility
How Rachael goes about her social media strategy in a more organic way and how she has used social media posts to create bigger content pieces, videos or even keynotes
How Rachael doesn’t hire out her content creation because she loves doing it
How sometimes you do need to hire an outside person to help accelerate things, see blind spots and because you might be too busy
The break down of how much time Rachael spends in the different areas of her business
How there are two camps for how people do their work, camp hustle and camp chill out, where some people work hard to make money and where others don’t work that much and still make a lot of money
How both camps can be toxic and how your reality is somewhere in the middle of both
How Rachael works very hard partly because of the big shift her business is going through so she can make more revenue from courses, speaking and consulting and less from one on one clients
How people don’t talk about when you're scaling your business it can be a long, slow pivot when you have no other strong source of income
How Rachael’s pivot for her own business has taken years and it will continue to take years
Why Rachael is doing the work now so she can give a gift to her future self and why you should too
Keep an eye out for Rachael’s rebrand because bringing Sarah in to help has created magic for her business and how bringing an outside person in could help you too

Links mentioned:

Rachael’s Website

RKA ink

Awkward Marketing Webpage

Awkward Marketing YouTube Channel

Connect with Rachael on Instagram

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Disclaimer: I hope your family, friends, loved, ones, clients and those in your world are safe. I wanted to acknowledge that we're in the midst of something most of us have never experienced and I hope is that this podcast provides inspiration to help drive your goals forward using design. Most of the episodes for this show are recorded in advance, and although Amber and I have an important discussion about hiring help in your business. This episode was recorded in February 2020, before COVID-19, and while I don't have all the help I'd like in my home right now, I want to say it's important to get the help you need to support you in life and business. I'm rooting for you, I believe in you. I hope you love this episode!

Amber Crudup: Brand Strategist + Coach

Army Wife. Boy Mom x3. Scientist turned Creative Entrepreneur

She’s a self taught graphic designer, a self-proclaimed graduate of YouTube University, and an advocate for creatives charging their worth.

As a Biracial woman she has been navigating identity her entire life and she now uses this unique perspective to help creative entrepreneurs uncover the true identity of their brands so they can effectively market themselves. Using strategy and her signature methodologies + framework, she helps creative entrepreneurs:

Gain focus and clarity around their brand so they can position themselves as experts

Confidently raise their prices so they can charge their worth or tap into a premium market

Develop a visual identity + online presence that’s designed to attract and convert quality clients, helping them generate consistent revenue month after month.

Simply put, she helps my clients stand out from their competition so they can start booking quality clients consistently, while establishing themselves as experts and positioning their brands in a way that allows them to charge premium rates.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How I got Amber’s name after interviewing Ticora Davis on episode 56 of the podcast
How Amber was very creative even at a young age which started her interest in design
In 2002 she read an article and decided she wanted to design spread layouts for magazines so she went to North Carolina A&T where she studied visual arts and design
How Amber let self doubt get to her and decided to change her major to animal science
How Amber got laid off in 2008 from the biomedical field and fell back into the world of design
How Amber took the first job she could which was at a wedding venue that put her back in touch with her creative side
How Amber taught herself graphic design and built a wedding stationery business
How in 2017 Amber transitioned into brand and web design
How growing up on a farm impacted Amber to pick animal science as a major
How YouTube University taught Amber the skill set to use the software and how she started off using photoshop and illustrator
How being pregnant with her sons impacted what she was able to do at her wedding venue job
How Amber needed a way to stay in the wedding world but work at home which led her to start her wedding stationery business
How Amber landed on branding and web design after realizing she wanted to help people change their lives and not just make an impact for one day
How Amber learned everything she could about branding and web design from 2016-2017
Amber explains what it was like to work from home with three boys and when she got most of her work done
How hiring a cleaner or personal assistant is a good investment for your business so you can spend more time working on what you love
How knowing what the best use of your time is and knowing how much your time is worth can help change your mindset
How you should be spending your time on revenue generating tasks and not the small tasks that you can have someone else do
How Amber offers brand and web design services and packages them together to make two different offers
The difference between Amber’s first and second offer for her brand and web design services
How the core of Amber’s services come from the strategy that happens before the designing starts
How stepping into a brand strategist role has changed Amber’s mindset about design
How Amber offers her clients more than just a pretty website and gives them the strategy and tools they need to convert
Amber’s starting prices for her services when she didn’t package them together and how it’s changed throughout the years
The prices of Amber’s packages as of last year and how she has increased them again this year
How in 2018 Amber developed a signature strategy that allowed her to break past the six figure mark
How Amber created her signature strategy to help guide and teach other designers how to build a profitable business that helps themselves and their clients
How Amber has transitioned from full out designer to helping designers grow and build their business
How Amber first launched her program Designed to Profit in the spring of 2019 and has done it three more times since then and continues to fine tune it
How Amber does development for websites on the Showit platform which is simple and makes it easy for her clients to make updates
Why Amber charges for source files when she designs and how much she charges
How Amber is in the process of moving her business towards an agency model
How students in Amber’s program Designed to Profit have the opportunity to join her team after to help build their portfolios and see what it’s like to work with high quality clients
How schools might be falling behind on what they should really be teaching students which also inspired Amber to create her program
How we want to help people see what’s available to them and teach them so they don’t lack knowledge
How you can find information on Amber’s upcoming program on her website and get on a waitlist or how you can connect with her on Instagram
How you deserve to value your worth and charge your worth in your business
How Amber’s program is more than a course and involves group coaching where you get a lot of access to Amber
You can see stories and transformations from Amber’s students on her Instagram or under #DTP

Links mentioned:

Ambers Website

Ambers Program- Designed to Profit

Connect with Amber on Instagram

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Cami Farey is a web design and strategy expert who teaches “real deal” entrepreneurs like you how to swap out their outdated or barely-there websites for a digital presence that reaps dazzling rewards (and results).

Over the years, she’s had the honor of changing the game for award-winning photographers, coaches, copywriters, healers, designers, and so many more.

Want to add your brilliance to that list?

Get started with Cami’s FREE Website Strategy 101 Video Training and learn how to plan a website that sells your services in just 10 minutes: https://www.simplesiteblueprint.com/strategy

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How I knew I needed to meet Cami after realizing we had mutual contacts and seeing her show up everywhere on my social media
How Cami got started as a completely self taught designer
When Cami realized she wasn’t happy in her current job at an art museum and knew she needed to take action
How Cami left her job and traveled the world leading her to discover travel blogging and online business
How Cami started a travel blog with zero design or tech skills
How Cami started taking classes to improve her skills for her travel blog but fell in love with tech and design
When Cami came home she landed her first client and started pitching to people in her community who were artists and actors
How taking B-School early on opened the world of online entrepreneurs to Cami and how her services and clients evolved from there
Who Cami works with and how she went from charging $500 to $5000 at the minimum
How Cami launched her course Simple Site Blueprint to help people build and design their own sites
How Cami used her partner's website who is an actor to test her website design skills
How Cami shopped the website she designed for her partner around and how knew she could help artists by helping them see themselves as entrepreneurs
How Cami did informational interviews to figure out what people were struggling with when it came to their online presence
How getting vocal on social media lead people to her naturally
Why you should always talk about the work you are doing because you never know who is listening or who they know
Why designers need to pay attention to their own websites because it is their best portfolio and will help future clients make the decision to work with you
How Cami changed her mindset and website to match her quality of work and who she really is
The disconnect between how her website was presented and how she was showing up visually for clients
How Cami realized she had branding and marketing problems of her own and how that was leading potential clients to give her no or maybe answers
How Cami took action to change her branding efforts which resulted in more yes answers from clients
How anyone that doesn’t want to be the face of their brand should put their fears and ego aside
How putting yourself at the center of your brand helps clients make decisions and makes it more personal
Other options to consider if you can’t bring yourself to be the center of your brand
How Cami changed her mindset from thinking of herself as a freelancer and started thinking of herself as a business owner
How Cami realized she needed to learn how to sell, how to market and how to get comfortable with money
How changing her mindset from thinking of her services as an expense to clients to thinking of her services as an investment for clients helped her attract better clients
How getting stuck overthinking your niche on paper is very easy to do and what you should do to find your niche
How through doing more work you will be able to narrow down your niche
How Cami’s frustrations in past projects lead her to create her signature offer which is her 5 day web design sprint
How Cami created Simple Site Blueprint and how she wanted to help people who weren’t ready for a one on one with her but still needed an awesome website
How Cami grew her course awareness by leveraging other people’s audiences by doing joint webinars and collaborations
How doing one on one work is different than doing course work for mindset and visibility
How challenging is has been for Cami to take herself out of the delivery of it and not being there every step of the way students in her course
How figuring out a way to do the work once and then let that work for you over time is important in course work
How to put one foot in front of the other and understand it doesn’t have to be perfect right way
How everyone should show up, put their work out into the world and see what happens
How you can connect with Cami on her website and through Simple Site Blueprint

Links mentioned:

Cami’s Website

Simple Site Blueprint

Connect with Cami on Facebook

Connect with Cami on Instagram

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Click here to join the free community!

Let’s connect on Instagram!

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How I met Melanie in January 2017 at Business by Design Live where James Wedmore had Melanie leading a Emotional Freedom Technique
What EFT is, also known as tapping and how it helped Melanie
How leading a tapping session at BBD Live got Melanie thinking about how tapping could help entrepreneurs and business owners
How using tapping can help set you up for success when things don’t go the way you thought they would in your business and life
How Melanie uses EFT as a motivational tool in her business, Tapping into Your Big Vision to help people
How Melanie left her corporate career and started her business 10 years ago
How Melanie was faced with the choice of going back to her corporate career or trying to leverage her business online
How Melanie focused on tapping using Skype and Zoom when she took her business online
How moving her business online gave Melanie the freedom to open up her client base
How in 2015 Melanie started doing Vision Board Workshops mostly online
How Melanie joined BBD in 2016 and realized she wanted to move her business online
Melanie’s first online course, Tapping into Abundance where she started to understand money mindset and tapping to limit beliefs
How Melanie asking her audience what their biggest pain points were lead her to launch Tapping into Abundance
How Melanie used Facebook Live as a test to see if she could do a workshop online
How Melanie has created online communities in private Facebook groups and continues tweaking her online workshops to improve her courses
How switching her business to online is different than digital marketing for Melanie
How Melanie uses the videos she creates and packages them to put into courses and sells the replays as a Vision Board Workshop
Melanie does Global Vision Board Day twice a year- once in June and once between Christmas and the New Year
How Melanie is passionate about helping people who want to make big changes in their life but aren’t sure how and how video has helped her reach more people
Melanie’s upcoming event, her June Global Vision Board Day
How Melanie opened up membership community to help people stay in alignment with their vision with monthly group coaching
The four pillars of Your Big Vision of Abundance
How using the four pillars can help you make sure your life is in balance
Where you can find Melanie inbetween her workshops is on her weekly TV show, Big Vision TV where she interviews people who inspire her
How Melanie made the decision to close her Tapping into Abundance course and turn it into a membership program
How changing to a lower cost membership program helped open up more topics and allowed her to help more people with personal growth
What you recieve when you become part of Melanie’s membership program
How you can find free content on Melanie’s YouTube channel and Facebook profile
What does the vision of your life look like and how much money you need to earn
EFT session with Melanie- Tapping and manifesting a miracle
Go to the design business show.com to find Melanie’s YouTube videos and membership site

Links mentioned:

Melanie’s Website

Melanie’s YouTube Channel

Connect with Melanie on Facebook

Global Vision Board Day

The Design Business Show

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Merel Kriegsman - Business Mentor, helps women break free financially by showing them how to position themselves as the Hermes bag of their industry (high-end!), and charge accordingly.

Her work centers around breaking generational chains of scarcity (AKA copying your moms toxic patterns that kept her financially dependent) - and giving female business owners the skills they need to make as much money they desire. And that… makes them powerful beyond measure.

When she’s not showing her students how to get to 5-figures/mo (for starters!) you can find her in her veg patch with her hubby and tiny daughters, on their 160 acre farm in rural Canada.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How I met Merel in the fall of 2019 at Sage & Tarzan’s Legendary Life Event, where we were both guest mentors
The story behind Merel’s “why,” and how in her mid-twenties she did a money challenge and realized she hadn’t earned that much money in her business
How earning money by helping people fully healed her
How Merel gave up her singing career and learned everything about sales, marketing, and promoting yourself
How Merel started her business as a copywriter and how she can help designers with clients and positioning
How Merel realized she needed to position herself as high-end & how designers can do the same by not worrying about what’s allowed and what’s not allowed
How working hard for your business creates privileges, like setting your own prices
How setting financial goals will help you set prices for your business
How focusing on your niche, messaging and positioning can help create a business that is referable
How Merel uses social proof to leverage herself to potential clients and how you can do the same to change how you position yourself
Merel’s process for getting fantastic testimonials and how to help clients through the process so you can attract more customers
How Merel’s organic launch made 350,000 dollars without paid traffic
How Merel tried to do paid traffic when starting her launch and the lessons she learned from it
How Merel uses nurturing as a business tool to get quality numbers for her programs
How important the months leading up to a launch are and how you can nurture leads and clients
How often Merel is on social media and how often she emails her subscribers each week
How nurturing consistently, having personality, not talking just business and sharing credibility will help you convert potential clients
Why it’s guaranteed if you open Merel’s emails, you’ll cry, laugh, learn something and make shifts in your business
Why Merel doesn’t share service prices publicly or on her website and the reason behind it
How if you do your branding well and share social proof, you can create high-end positioning
How Merel’s contract and payment process works for clients
Why service providers need to be way more badass with their boundaries
Merels gift, How to Position Yourself as High-End, for listeners on positioning
Merel’s free group, Create your Money Vortex
How you can connect with Merel online

Links mentioned:

Merel’s Website

Merel’s Stellar Testimonials Guide

Create Your Money Vortex

Connect with Merel on Instagram

Merel’s gift, Position Yourself High-End in 5 Simple Steps

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Let’s connect on Instagram!

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Keshia White is the founder of Keshia M. White Designs, LLC. Her agency provides strategic, standout brand strategy, brand identity, and website design for coaches, consultants, and other service providers.

After nearly a decade in corporate America, working in business-to-business sales, from the telecommunications industry to the software industry, Keshia made a pivot to take her business full-time in 2018.

With her corporate background, she brings a unique outlook to the design world, which helps her develop brands and websites that actually support the business goals and objectives that her clients are working towards.

Keshia’s design work has been recognized by the leader in design software, Adobe. She was invited to design a user interface website design kit as part of Adobe’s promotional campaign for their prototyping tool, Adobe XD. And she also conducted web design tutorials over live video from Adobe’s San Francisco studio, sharing her business-focused design process with thousands of up-and-coming designers from all over the world.

Keshia resides in Atlanta, Georgia and enjoys cooking, travel, exploring nature, and a good Netflix binge in her spare time.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Keshia and I connected last summer over Instagram
How Keshia got started in the world of design
What classes Keshia took to start her web design career
What Keshia did after classes and how she used the skills she learned
The work Keshia did to earn her first $100
How Keshia's first $100 motivated her
Different job experiences Keshia had
When Keshia decided to go full time with her web design business
How Keshia knew it was time to say goodbye to corporate life
What projects Keshia was working on when she decided to make the leap and go full time with web design
How Keshia kept her mindset right and surrounded herself with an environment that motivated her
What services Keshia offers in her design business now
How Keshia meets client needs through her branding program and custom designs
How the creation of Keshia's Branding Program came about
What Keshia charges for her website designs and course
What Keshia thinks most web designers are missing when they work on websites
Keshia’s strategy behind the marketing she does on social media
Keshia’s content video topics and where she creates them
Advice from Keshia for aspiring designers
How you can connect with Keshia online

Links mentioned:

Keshia's website

Connect with Keshia on Instagram

Connect with Keshia on LinkedIn

Connect with Keshia on Facebook

Connect with Keshia on Twitter

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Krista Miller is a WordPress developer, co-host of the Get Back To Design Podcast, and creator of the Simply Profitable Designer Summit. She specializes in collaborating with passionate designers to craft websites that directly support their clients' goals, while helping them simplify their businesses to spend more time doing what they love - design.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

Krista’s first interview, episode 026, on The Design Business Show
How I met Krista in 2017 and hired her to develop a sales page for a client
Why Krista is reducing the number of custom development projects she takes on
The origination of Krista’s new Development Day service
How Krista’s new business Summit in a Box has grown
What people get when they book Krista for a development day
How designers and creatives can implement Krista’s Day Rate service
How Krista is able to give accurate estimates for how long a project will take her
How Krista gets booked out in advance through specific services
How Krista got the idea for her summits
How Krista launched Summit in a Box
Krista’s upcoming summit, The Simply Profitable Designer Summit, on Monday, March 23 where I am speaking
Krista’s advice for people with businesses who want to change directions or try something new
Why Krista is bringing back the Simply Profitable Designer Summit
How Krista and her podcast co-host, Kory Mae built a community of designers and podcast, called the Get Back to Design podcast.
What Summit in a Box is and what Krista is doing to grow this business
Krista’s signature offer coming in April 2020
How Krista is moving her Summit Host Vault membership to her Summit in a Box product
How admin work is different for everyone
All of the roles and responsibilities of Krista’s virtual team
How to step into being the ideas person as a systems person
How I got my idea for Conversion Design School™ from Krista and Kori’s Get Back to Design Podcast
How Krista schedules herself through weekly themes

Links mentioned:

Krista's Website

The Get Back to Design Podcast

My interview on The Get Back to Design Podcast

Krista's Simply Profitable Designer Summit (<---affiliate link)

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Nathan T. Wright is an illustrator and artist based in Des Moines, Iowa, specializing in graphic recording, custom illustration projects and comics. He loves collaborating with companies, organizations and individuals on their visual storytelling needs.

Nathan is the creator of Fatberg, a lovable sewer blob who stars in children's books, graphic novels and comic strips. He draws cartoons for Clay & Milk, a publication covering new companies and art in the Midwest.

Nathan built his art career in between digital marketing jobs at an advertising agency, his own consulting firm and a large retail company. He speaks about creativity and innovation for organizations, universities and conferences.

Nathan graduated from the Iowa State University College of Design in 1999 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts. His work is inspired by science fiction, emerging tech and mythology.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How I first met Nathan back in 2011 when I first started my design business
The story behind Nathan’s social media agency, Lava Row, that he opened in 2007
The story behind why he decided to close the agency in 2012
The process he used to close the agency, including helping his team land on their feet
The role Nathan got for a retail company when he went back to working a full-time gig
How he knew illustration was the end-game for him, and started his side hustle as an illustrator
The story behind his first project, and how he figured out what his illustration services are worth
The two ways he charges for his illustration services
How much money Nathan decided to save before he quit his full-time job
The type of illustration projects that he works on in his business
How Nathan gets clients from referrals, and doing art shows
The story behind his popular graphic recording for events
How he pitches his graphic recording services to potential clients
How Nathan learned to get better at his follow up strategy when it comes to getting clients and getting payment on time
How Nathan charges for his graphic recording services at events
How Nathan came up with his day-rate price
A few things he’s currently working on for his business and why it’s good to be able to hold something you work on in your hands
The story behind his new book, Office Creatures: An Illustrated Field Guide
How he published his book through Amazon, using Kindle Direct Publishing
Some advantages of using Amazon’s publishing service and tips for working through the process
How Nathan got the idea for his children’s book, The Adventures of Fatberg
How creating that book lead to opportunities he didn’t think would ever come
How putting work out there can pay dividends in the future
The story behind Nathan’s artist-in-residence project at Ballet Des Moines
How he decided to create a comic book about ballet dancers in his pitch to Ballet Des Moines
Tips for pitching yourself for an artist-in-residence program
Some goals Nathan has for his illustration business in 2020 and beyond
The social media networks that Nathan uses to share what he’s up to in his illustration business

Links mentioned:

Nathan’s illustration websiteNathan’s book, Office Creatures: An Illustrated Field GuideNathan’s book, The Adventures of Fatberg Nathan’s work as an artist-in-residence at Ballet Des Moines

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Jason Resnick helps established online businesses get more customers, repeat customers and create raving fans of their brand. He does this by helping them build a strategy and implement behavioral marketing through automation, email marketing, and on-site personalization.

Jason helps web developers and designers live the life of their own design through coaching and community so they can specialize their businesses and build recurring revenue. This is done through a framework to discover your ideal client, find out their value, how to market to them, and walk away with a plan to move forward and build recurring revenue.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

How Jason knew that he’d never work for anyone else
The exact moment that Jason knew he was going to start his business
Why Jason focused on learning the business side of business after the stopped freelancing the first time around
The story behind how Jason pivoted his business and decided to niche down after working in projects in multiple programming languages
How Jason now focuses on the customer journey with the clients he works with, and what the transition process looked like
How Jason set up his entire customer experience by listening and getting feedback from his clients by creating memorable moments
How Jason built a word-of-mouth foundation in his business, and never has spent money on ads
How sending one client a gift in the mail has lead to lots of referrals from one client that Jason worked with a long time ago
How Jason sets boundaries in his business by over communicating, and being clear about when he’s available and when he’s not
Why Jason set up an onboarding sequence in ConvertKit to show his clients how he works with them
Why it’s important to tell your clients how you work with them
The breakdown of his ConvertKit onboarding sequence for new clients
Why Jason created Feast, an online community for designers and developers to help them get out of the hamster wheel
How he got the idea to create Feast after getting questions from other freelancers asking him how he built his business
Why Feast is different than most online communities and offers things like a 1:1 call with Jason, a custom curriculum, monthly round up calls, and more

Links mentioned:

Jason’s onboarding sequence

Feast

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Tracy Matthews is a Jewelry Designer, Entrepreneur, Mentor to Creative Visionaries and the Host of the Top-Rated, Thrive By Design Podcast. Her jewelry and story have been featured in InStyle, Elle, Us Weekly, Real Simple, Martha Stewart Weddings, Entrepreneur, and on The Today Show. She’s been interviewed on countless podcasts and programs including, Yahoo Finance, American Fashion Podcast, EOFire, SoMoney and Creative Live. As the Chief Visionary Officer of Flourish & Thrive Academy, she helps other jewelry brand launch, grow and scale profitable jewelry businesses. Over the years, she’s inspired creative thinkers to use their innate gifts to grow their business.

At Creatives Rule the World, she helps creative visionaries of entrepreneurial companies to spend more time in their creative zone of genius, inspire and lead their teams and increase their profits. She lives in NYC, loves to travel and is the proud auntie to 20 nieces and nephews.

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

The story of how I met Tracy back in 2013 when I was in Erika Lyremark’s Daily Whip program, and then met her IRL at Copy Chief Live in 2018
The advice that Erika gave Tracy on a free 15-minute Business Whip Down call
Why making connections in business and going to events is a great way to explore your creativity
How Tracy started her custom jewelry design business
How she started Flourish and Thrive Academy, a business that mentors up-and-coming jewelry designers
The story of how she’s launched multiple programs, and how she’s streamlining that business now
How Tracy came up with her new brand name, Creatives Rule the World
The purpose of her new brand, Creatives Rule the World
How all of us are actually creative, and it’s important to lean into and protect the way we experience creativity
How Tracy was fascinated by Google’s creative days
How you can implement your own creative days in your business, and use it as an opportunity to find inspiration in another place
Why creativity requires structure, and why structure is important
How you can create structure with time-blocking, rituals, and routines
How distractions can distract your flow, and how Tracy was able to use this to help her team be more productive when she had a space in San Francisco
How Tracy uses the Brain.fm app to help her get into a flow state
The details about The Visionary Code, the free download Tracy created to help you stay in flow with your creativity

Links mentioned:

The Visionary Code Download

Connect with Tracy on Instagram

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The Design Business Show: Recent Episodes

Melissa Burkheimer