Get Back To Design: Design Business | Designer | Creative Business による

I’m so excited for today’s guest, Morgan Rapp to join us on the podcast! I’m guessing a lot of you love her as much as I do and I can’t wait for you to listen to our conversation together. Morgan has been creating brands and websites for over 8 years with experience as a Shopify expert and mentor to designers. She teaches them how to scale, get boo…

We’ve talked about all kinds of ways to find more clients. In fact, we’ve covered coffee chats, content, and more. Today, we’re going to talk about Instagram specifically. Krista here! Instagram wasn’t always where my focus was for finding clients. For a while I used Facebook groups, did some other stuff for a while, and finally I started seeing th…

Kory here! I’m so excited about this episode because I love pulling back the curtain and sharing more about my business with you guys. If you’re an avid listened, you may know that I stopped taking 1:1 design clients last year because I needed a break and wanted to take my other business full-time. This past summer I decided to start taking clients…

Kory here! This idea came to me several months ago when we were hosting our Get Back to Design Accelerator, and I was talking to one of our members about teaching clients how to use their designs. Oddly enough, the topic was really sticking out to me after hiring another business owner for a social media management project that didn’t go according …

There are so many things that go into strong, strategic branding to help our clients grow their business and achieve their goals. One thing that many people might not be thinking about is the actual psychology aspect that can help you develop your clients’ brands. Truth be told, we’ve never thought about psychology when it comes to branding or desi…

We’re not really sure how we’ve made it 2.5 years of this podcast without recording this episode. There’s not a whole lot that’s worse than expecting an invoice to be paid by a client only to hear crickets in your inbox. It’s a common struggle, but it’s so important that you’re getting paid when you expect to. It can be difficult to handle this sit…

How many times have you had a client need additional work and their projects and they try to sneak it in without paying extra? Kory here! I know that Krista and I have both certainly had this happen to us, and it is annoying and frustrating to deal with. We are so so thrilled to have Gigi from One 6 Creative join us on the podcast this week just to…

So, this is a bit of a different episode than we normally record for you guys! A few months ago someone posted in our Facebook group about feeling down about herself because her path as a designer wasn’t the “traditional” path. Kory here! Honestly, I’ve felt the same self-doubt from time to time in my own business. It doesn’t always stem from the f…

Krista here! Jason and I were originally introduced through a mutual friend, and the second I landed on his website I knew I had to get him on the podcast. Jason helps freelancers, especially web developers and designers, live the life of their own design through coaching and community so they can specialize their businesses and build recurring rev…

We are currently in the middle of working with 8 amazing women in the Get Back to Design Accelerator, and we have been enjoying helping them with their design businesses so much. Last month we were talking to them about simplifying the client process, and when we were covering that the topic of revisions came up. Around the same time, Kory also was…

Have you ever presented your designs on a call or through a video recording for your clients? It can be a total game changer when it comes to getting less revisions, looking more like the expert you are, and the client enjoying the process even more. Last year we talked about presenting your work to clients in episode 052, but today we wanted to br…

A few weeks ago, Kory talked to Amber from Copperheart Creative about creating a team, and we wanted to do a follow up for you guys because I know it’s something that a lot of people are curious about. Amber built a team of contractors for her clients, but most of us are looking to start by just getting help with our own work. I have some experienc…

Natalie and Krista first met at a mastermind group of people creating projects and services for designers. After connecting through the group, Krista invited Natalie to speak at one of her summits! She spoke at one earlier this year and her presentation was so good that we had to bring her on here to share with you too. Natalie creates award-winnin…

Last week we launched our first ever group program together, the Get Back to Design Accelerator! There are still a handful of spots available, so this week we wanted to answer some of the questions we’ve been getting! Subscribe on iTunes Click here for details and to enroll in the Get Back To Design Accelerator! If you’re seeing this after the enro…

We’ve been hinting about this on Instagram for several weeks and we’re so excited to open the doors of the Get Back To Design Accelerator today! In this episode we cover where the idea came from, what it is and how it works, who it’s for, the investment, and everything else you’ll need to know. Subscribe on iTunes Click here for details and to enro…

There are a couple of big decisions that designers eventually face in their business. When you’re first starting your business, you have to decide if you’re going to work with local or online clients, or a mix of both. Later, as your business grows, you’ll likely find yourself thinking about how to work with a team for your clients. We know that so…

Retainers are a huge part of Krista’s business and she can’t imagine not having it included in her business operations. We can’t believe we haven’t talked about this topic before already! This subject is something that came up a lot in this year’s online summit, so today’s episode is all about retainers. We are covering what they are, the benefits,…

In Episode 73, we talked all about how to get clients to say “yes” to working with us. Within that episode, we mentioned that your packages need to provide your clients with what they want as well as what they need. When we first brought it up, we were tempted to go down the rabbit hole, but we saved all of our thoughts for this episode to break th…

One of the most popular topics of conversation for online business owners, particularly designers, over the past year has definitely been how to create more passive income. In fact, it’s such a big deal that in episode 66, we broke down a variety of ways you can do exactly that for your brand, including tons of examples. We know that many of you ar…

In episode 50, we shared about how we structure our days to work best for our schedule and attempt to have a work/life balance through it all. Since that episode aired, there is so much that has changed in our lives. There are now two babies in the mix along with other life updates. We wanted to update our listeners on what our days look like more …

In episode 54 we talked about why it’s important and briefly touched on a few ways that you can niche your design business. The key takeaway from that episode is that with the ever growing list of designers available for our clients online, having a niche for your services makes you stand out tenfold to potential clients. We know that it can be ove…

In today’s episode, we are talking about actionable steps that you can implement right away to improve your inquiry process, update your workflow and gain clients with ease. You don’t have to lower your prices to get new business, but sharing the benefits of working with you can be a game changer. Getting a client to say “yes” and sign the dotted l…

As the online business industry evolves, more business owners are realizing the importance of a website that does more than look pretty. They understand that a well-designed website will attract clients and customers visually, as well as do part of the selling for them. With that being said, conversions are something all web designers will have to …

After a break from recording we’re back with our first episode of 2019! We love getting a behind the scenes look into other businesses so today we’re chatting about how 2018 went for both of us and what to expect in 2019. You’ll see that we both learned, found ways to grow, and struggled over the last year, but we’re so happy with where things are …

All of the experts online talk about ideal clients and how you can do things to attract them. I know from experience that you can easily book clients, but that doesn’t mean you’re landing your ideal clients. I used to struggle to book the type of work I wanted to be working on, and I know if I struggled with this then you may as well. So in today’s…

As small business owners, we end up doing it all. Client management, design, development, social media, marketing, content creation, and more. Sometimes, doing it that way comes at a cost. As a designer trying to do it all, you might find yourself overlooking certain pieces of your design projects. Specifically in the development phase, since that’…

Earlier this year I talked in the Get Back to Design Facebook group about getting referrals for your business. This is by far one of the easiest ways to get more work and more clients. But here’s the thing – to get referrals you want to make sure your clients have a great experience while working with you so that they’re excited to tell everyone th…

Running a design business can get overwhelming fast. If it were just the design work that would be one thing, but we all know there’s a lot more that goes into it. Simplifying your business can take a huge weight off your shoulders and free up time for generating more income or getting a chance to relax, so today we’ll go over 5 things you should s…

One thing we hear a lot from other designers is that once you get to a certain point in your business it’s hard to keep growing without trading more time for dollars. Enter passive income. This is easy for most business owners because logically the next step is to start teaching things through courses. However, most of us don’t want to create cours…

We’ve talked about the option of working with a developer when you don’t know how to code (or don’t want to). But we haven’t talked much about another option that’s out there, which is making use of premade themes. This is a strategy that a lot of designers use, but others are unsure of how to do it correctly. Today we’ll chat about making use of p…

We got a question last year that went like this: “Can you talk about creating a web design package with specific timelines (and how to follow them) so I know if I’m on schedule and I know exactly when I can book my next client?” Kory here! I won’t lie – this is definitely something that took me the longest to nail down because I spent so much time …

We love hearing the origin stories of people who are working together, whether it’s a small collaboration or full-blown business. As most of you know, the two of us are in a mastermind group together, run this podcast, have a joint Facebook group, and co-own a WordPress theme shop. Today we thought we’d do something fun and talk about how it all ca…

Something we’ve noticed this year is that brand strategy is starting to become more popular in the design industry. There are some really great designers, like today’s guest, talking and teaching about it, which means that more people are sharing that they walk their clients through a brand strategy process as part of their branding project. Howeve…

Collaborating with a developer is a big topic on this podcast because it’s something that can free up huge amounts of your time. Up until now, we’ve focused on outsourcing full custom site builds, but that’s not the only way you can collaborate. In fact, it could be even more beneficial for your business to have someone around for smaller projects …

A solid services page is a huge part of landing clients and, more importantly, the types of clients you actually want to work with. But to work with dream clients and charge premium prices, a good services page isn’t enough. You also need a positive mindset to go along with it. In this week’s episode, we’re chatting with Jean Coelho about the chang…

One of the most common questions we see from designers would be how to handle communicating in the best way when it comes to certain situations with clients. In episode 32, we talked about how to handle 5 specific awkward situations with clients; however, it doesn’t necessarily take a sticky situation to leave you questioning the way you’re respond…

Staying in control of your client projects is extremely important, but doesn’t come naturally. It takes a little extra effort. When starting out, it’s common to let clients walk all over you or not know how to make them give you the guidance you need throughout projects. Since this is such a common struggle, today we’ll go over why it’s so importan…

A lot of our episodes are geared more toward experienced designers who have been in business for several years. However, we know that there are a lot of people who are just starting their design businesses or are thinking about starting their business. So, we wanted to create an episode for you with things we think you should focus on when you’re j…

We’ve talked a lot about the strategy of websites when it comes to making sure clients’ goals are supported, but there’s more that goes into a well-designed website. Something we’ve seen several questions on lately is how to make websites easy to navigate. When we think about website navigation, it’s easy to consider the menu at the top and that’s …

Both of us had a minor moment of panic last year after finding out each of us were pregnant because that meant that we would need to take at least a month away from our businesses to take care of our new little babes and ourselves. We ended up taking more than a month off, and we know that it can feel scary to prepare your business for any time awa…

A big question among all designers is whether or not we should be doing one type of design or work with one type of client instead of doing a little bit of everything for everyone. In the past, designers could get away with working with all types of clients doing all types of design work. However, now it’s important to focus on niching your design …

A big concern of a lot of designers who are considering working with a developer is that the final website won’t look like the mockups they’ve worked so hard on. This is a very valid concern. I’ve seen websites where you can’t tell the difference between the website and mockups and others where you’re kind of left wondering what the developer was l…

We’ve talked a lot in previous episodes about presenting your work to your clients, but we’ve never really gone that much into detail with it. We both think it’s important to have a process for presenting designs instead of just sending over what you’ve created and saying something like, “So, what do you think?” Because we see the value in doing th…

Website strategy tends to come easy for designers in some areas, but not in others. The ones that aren’t quite as easy tend to get overlooked and serve as more of a dumping ground for the client. If there are two places that get overlooked more than others, it seems to be the sidebar and footer areas on a website. Subscribe on iTunes Designing a st…

How about a fun non-design related episode this week?! We’ve gotten a lot of questions from our listeners asking how we schedule our weeks and handle work/life balance. We’ll preface this episode by saying that neither of us is perfect. We’re each better at certain pieces of structure and balance, but we were able to turn it into a fun conversation…

We’ve seen a lot of questions about managing clients and keeping projects running smoothly both online in general, as well as in our Facebook group. Since you should be the one in control of the project, we talked about how you can keep your projects on track back in episode 17. We’ve also gotten a lot of questions, though, about how we do things s…

We’ve talked a lot about using your client’s goals to design a website that gets them results, but haven’t actually talked about how to uncover those goals. With that being said, it doesn’t surprise me that I’ve started seeing questions come in about how to discover a client’s goals in the first place, especially when newer business owners won’t kn…

One of the most asked questions we see is how to get more clients. We totally get it, too. It can be difficult to consistently attract new clients and get yourself booked out. Your marketing could be amazing, but if there’s still something holding your potential clients back from booking, it might be your website. We discussed website mistakes that…

There are a lot of questions that come up when we talk about working with a developer on your design projects. One of the more common ones we hear is how the project management process works and who is in charge when. This is a great question and definitely something you want to be aware of before jumping into a project. Today we’ll talk about how …