August 2021 Newsletter

In August, I learned how to better equip my clients by thinking ahead – and quitting coffee, for now.

Over the month of August, I worked on a few sub-brands, a Wix website, a new brand and website, an event campaign, a couple of website restructure plans, a 32-page event booklet in less than 2 weeks, several MailChimp newsletters, social media graphics, a couple WordPress website training videos and many Canva templates.

Why the F would a WordPress website designer and Adobe Creative Suite trained professional be talking about Wix and Canva?
I am learning how I can best support and serve my clients. Sometimes that is with taking over their marketing tasks and doing their marketing for them. Other times, I can best serve my clients by creating a strong layout and suite of graphics on a simpler software that they can then own and run with.

I don’t want to work in a rush and business owners sometimes need to seize an opportunity when it arises. By creating flexible tools that my clients can jump into and work on without me, I am removed from their last-minute needs and they are better equipped to not be handcuffed to a designer or developer for ever little update and change they need.

Why quit coffee? I am continually trying to better my nutrition and fitness, while balancing the demands of entrepreneurship. I tend to have a bit of anxiety in general, and when my brain gets going on creative problem solving, it can be hard to switch it off. Recently, while doing research for my specific body goals, the topic of caffeine came up and how it disrupts hormones that affect metabolism and fat storage. The resources I found suggested a very limited consumption of caffeine to allow the body to regulate naturally and I decided to give it a try. The first week was a struggle. But I am finding it pleasant to sleep better, not feel as squirrel-brained during the day and to enjoy warm mugs of tea, Postum, Dandy Blend or decaf coffee.

Who is using these templates?

Some of my clients who are leveraging the recent templates I created are:

A health services trainer. She gives workshops throughout the year and wants an editable flyer to email out when she can schedule new dates.
A physical therapist. A large part of this client’s attraction model is to offer educational workshops to her target audience on timely topics. She can edit the titles and subtitles of her workshop graphics and then post across her social profiles.
A sports training facility. This facility offers clinics and camps throughout the year and has 5 different areas where they need to promote them. By investing in editable graphics, the internal team can change dates and times independently throughout the year without needing to loop me in before a new season launch.
An event venue owner. The multi-passionate entrepreneur wants to be able to execute her own content marketing and promotions around event and equipment rentals. By creating a set of branded core graphics, she can edit and tweak them for many future needs.

If you know someone looking to partner with a designer to invest in getting their brand cleaned up and who will be flexible enough to equip them to do some of their own marketing, I’d love to chat!

Don’t forget holiday gifting and thank you’s!

December will be here before we know it! One of my favorite ways to acknowledge the folks who build my business is to send out branded thank you notes and gift boxes from Greetabl. The photo below is what mine looks like. In full transparency, I am an affiliate of Greetabl and earn a small commission if you purchase through my link. If you want to wow your clients and referral partners while staying on-brand, this is one of my favorite ways to do it.

Money celebration & challenge

I have fully implemented Profit First in my business bank account as of August 25. My accounting in FreshBooks looks all kinds of jacked up because of all of the bank accounts, however, I am planning to go in and reconcile everything with bank statements in the next couple of weeks.

My business remains profitable and I am fast closing in on 6 figures of revenue this year. August was a lower income month than the previous few. I’m retaining most of my existing clients for continuing work so I’m sure I’ll be at that milestone in no time.

New client branding, website and launch!

My client Lavender Hill recently launched their new commercial coworking space. If you know of someone in Richmond looking for a calming space to get work done in a charming 1930’s brick building with a central location and ample, free street parking, send them to the website!

Exploring the world of affiliates

Since becoming an affiliate with Greetabl, I have started to explore how to be an affiliate for other brands I use and believe in.
I have heard other entrepreneurs talk about how this is “coffee money” not really top line revenue money, but I’m excited to see how it might change my bottom line over time.
Brands I’m an affiliate of now:
– WP Engine – where I recommend all clients on WordPress get their hosting
– Gusto – where I process payroll for contractors and look forward to an easy W2 experience at the end of the year

Booking now for end of 2021 projects!

The end of the year will be here before we know it and I am booking up my fall really quickly. If you or someone you know wants to create or launch something in 2021, they should reach out to start a conversation now.
Websites and brands tend to take between 2 and 4 months and I am likely ending my work year around December 15.
If you or someone you know needs something launched this year, reach out soon! Even if it’s not me that you work with, talking to your marketing partner sooner than later helps plan for the busiest season of the year – which tends to be around the holidays for creative services since everyone is trying to clear year end budgets and cross off yearly goals.

Thanks for reading. If you’d like to connect over a quick discovery call, please grab a spot on my calendar.