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How to Talk About your Etsy Shop on LinkedIn
So, youâre working on revamping your LinkedIn and have no idea if itâs appropriate to talk about the Etsy shop that youâve put your blood, sweat, and tears into. I mean, who wants to hear about the sixty different soy candles youâve crafted? Hintâa lot of people do! Why should I put my Etsy shop in my LinkedIn profile? Speaking about your Etsy shop is on LinkedIn can be a huge differentiator because it showcases a combination of your entrepreneurial spirit with a personal passion of yours (well, letâs hope that youâre passionate about whatever you sell on Etsy). It gives something for people to relate to you by showing a bit more about your personality than whatâs just on your resume. So, how can you show off your Etsy shop in a way that impresses recruiters or whoever else is popping by your profile to stalk your career âcred? Unless youâre running your Etsy shop as a full-time job (and if you are, props to youâthatâs amazing!), it may be a little bit overkill to create a whole experience section for your shop. In this case, the Projects section is going to be your friend! You can add a new project to your profile by going to Add a Profile Section > Accomplishments > Projects. Here are some ideas for what to include: A link to your shop (doh!) How long youâve been running your shop for The type of product you sell. Donât worry if youâre a doctor and you sell puppy toysâit shows you have interests outside of just work! This also gives people an easy way to start a genuine conversation with you. Stats that youâre proud of (for example # of sales in x amount of time, # of unique visits, conversion rate) Any techniques that youâve learned and used that you feel proud of (cough cough mastering Etsyâs own breed of SEO) An example for you: Hereâs an example of what I previously had on my LinkedIn covering my Etsy shop (which I have now closed down). Feel free to pull from this for inspiration! Etsy Shop - Bungalow Creative Jul 2017 â Present Launched and currently maintaining an Etsy shop selling business branding templates and custom design services Optimized listings to rank at the top of Etsy's search engine - first listing ever was ranked at #1 for its main keyword! Achieved 19k+ unique visits, 500+ sales, and $10,000+ in revenue in first year of business, maintaining over a 3% conversion rate Promoted shop across social media to increase traffic and brand awareness You can keep it short and sweet. Remember to revisit this section of your profile every couple of months or so to update your ever-growing stats and accomplishments! Donât forget! Beyond just adding a project for your Etsy shop, donât forget to add the skills youâve learned along the way to your skills section. This could include things like Search Engine Optimization, Keyword Research, Customer Service, Analytics, and much more! You can (and should!) also include a link to your Etsy shop in the links section at the top of your profile. Who knows, your next big order or dream client could find you through LinkedIn, so itâs best to show it off in as many places as you can (within reason). In conclusion, itâs probable that selling on Etsy has given you a ton of marketable skills and experience that should definitely be shared. T aking time to outline and describe what youâve achieved on Etsy will not only give you a little confidence boost and kick in the butt to expand your store even more, but if youâre on the job hunt, itâll make your profile shine a little extra and prepare you to speak about these key highlights in possible future interviews. I truly believe that speaking about my Etsy shop has helped me a ton in past interviews Iâve gone throughâmy passion for what I do was evident when describing what Iâve learned and accomplished through being a seller on Etsy. How are you planning on showing off your Etsy shop on LinkedIn? Do you have any other ideas for how to showcase your work? Let me know in a comment below! Letâs stay in touch! Instagram  |  @bungalow.creative Pinterest  |  @bungalowcreative
How to Talk About your Etsy Shop on LinkedIn
So, youâre working on revamping your LinkedIn and have no idea if itâs appropriate to talk about the Etsy shop that youâve put your blood, sweat, and tears into. I mean, who wants to hear about the sixty different soy candles youâve crafted? Hintâa lot of people do! Why should I put my Etsy shop in my LinkedIn profile? Speaking about your Etsy shop is on LinkedIn can be a huge differentiator because it showcases a combination of your entrepreneurial spirit with a personal passion of yours (well, letâs hope that youâre passionate about whatever you sell on Etsy). It gives something for people to relate to you by showing a bit more about your personality than whatâs just on your resume. So, how can you show off your Etsy shop in a way that impresses recruiters or whoever else is popping by your profile to stalk your career âcred? Unless youâre running your Etsy shop as a full-time job (and if you are, props to youâthatâs amazing!), it may be a little bit overkill to create a whole experience section for your shop. In this case, the Projects section is going to be your friend! You can add a new project to your profile by going to Add a Profile Section > Accomplishments > Projects. Here are some ideas for what to include: A link to your shop (doh!) How long youâve been running your shop for The type of product you sell. Donât worry if youâre a doctor and you sell puppy toysâit shows you have interests outside of just work! This also gives people an easy way to start a genuine conversation with you. Stats that youâre proud of (for example # of sales in x amount of time, # of unique visits, conversion rate) Any techniques that youâve learned and used that you feel proud of (cough cough mastering Etsyâs own breed of SEO) An example for you: Hereâs an example of what I previously had on my LinkedIn covering my Etsy shop (which I have now closed down). Feel free to pull from this for inspiration! Etsy Shop - Bungalow Creative Jul 2017 â Present Launched and currently maintaining an Etsy shop selling business branding templates and custom design services Optimized listings to rank at the top of Etsy's search engine - first listing ever was ranked at #1 for its main keyword! Achieved 19k+ unique visits, 500+ sales, and $10,000+ in revenue in first year of business, maintaining over a 3% conversion rate Promoted shop across social media to increase traffic and brand awareness You can keep it short and sweet. Remember to revisit this section of your profile every couple of months or so to update your ever-growing stats and accomplishments! Donât forget! Beyond just adding a project for your Etsy shop, donât forget to add the skills youâve learned along the way to your skills section. This could include things like Search Engine Optimization, Keyword Research, Customer Service, Analytics, and much more! You can (and should!) also include a link to your Etsy shop in the links section at the top of your profile. Who knows, your next big order or dream client could find you through LinkedIn, so itâs best to show it off in as many places as you can (within reason). In conclusion, itâs probable that selling on Etsy has given you a ton of marketable skills and experience that should definitely be shared. T aking time to outline and describe what youâve achieved on Etsy will not only give you a little confidence boost and kick in the butt to expand your store even more, but if youâre on the job hunt, itâll make your profile shine a little extra and prepare you to speak about these key highlights in possible future interviews. I truly believe that speaking about my Etsy shop has helped me a ton in past interviews Iâve gone throughâmy passion for what I do was evident when describing what Iâve learned and accomplished through being a seller on Etsy. How are you planning on showing off your Etsy shop on LinkedIn? Do you have any other ideas for how to showcase your work? Let me know in a comment below! Letâs stay in touch! Instagram  |  @bungalow.creative Pinterest  |  @bungalowcreative
How to Make the Most Out of Your New Branding
Alright, so you've just invested a good amount of time, money, and effort into working with a brand designer to bring your dream business to life. Everything should just fall into place now, right?! Not quite. Below are a few key things to consider to ensure that you're getting the most mileage out of your new branding. Don't neglect to invest in photography + copywriting Something that kills me (and any other brand strategist worth their salt) to see is when a client shells out a decent chunk of change for a custom brand strategy + website and then provides  âI shot this blurry photo on my iPhone in poor lightingâ photography and âI forgot to run spell check and brain dumped everything I know about my brand with no clear aimâ copy. Seriouslyâyour brand strategy + identity is so important, but if your copy + photography doesnât match the quality, the whole thing will likely flop. And we donât want that! Itâs understandable why this often happens. The brand strategy + identity design typically comes a bit earlier in the process than copy or photography, so business owners spend their entire budget on the branding + website and then leave little to be able to hire experts that can help deliver amazing copy and photography. To make sure this doesnât happen to you, expect to spend about 15-25% of your entire branding + website budget on copy and photography. This is something that I see holding brands back time and time again. By knowing this ahead of time, youâll be miles ahead and well-prepared to make a splash with your launch. Stick. To. Your. Fonts. (Please!) Not sticking to your brandâs fonts is probably the most common offender when it comes to cheapening your brandâFAST. Not only do you want to stick to the fonts outlined in your brand guidelines, you want to be sure that youâre using them in the proper case, letter spacing, size etc. For example, in all of our projects we provide a thorough outline of how all your different headings should look like. It looks something like this: To further emphasize what you should NOT do with your typography, we also include examples of what not to do with your fonts like this: To sum it all up: you just spend a good amount of time, energy, and money into a strategy-backed, beautiful brandâwhy throw this all away by not sticking to your brand guidelines? This sounds a bit dramatic, but simply sticking to your guidelines (particularly your fonts) is the magic ingredient when it comes to building a cohesive brand that builds customer loyalty. Refer to your brand strategy frequently Launching a new advertising campaign? Take a look at your brand voice guidelines. Making a new hire? Reference your brand values. Deciding on which product to launch next? Re-read your audience problems overview. Get the point? In order to make sure that your brand is acting in a consistent way and making progress towards your goals, you need to make sure that any and all actions in your business are aligned. This is the point of your brand strategy documentâit acts as your north star as your business grows and evolves. Don't just chuck it in a random folder on your computer and forget about it! Keep it consistent + thoughtful on social Nothing makes me cringe more than when brands are haphazardly throwing up posts to their feeds that are blurry, tacky, or not in their brand fonts. It's better to post less frequent yet high-quality content than posting just for the sake of it. A tip I like to let my clients know is that if you're part of an event (say, a maker's market or upcoming speaker panel), DON'T post the event's graphic straight to your feed on Insta and mess up the hard work you've put into consistency. It'll stick out like a sore thumb! Instead, create your own branded graphic and use the carousel feature to put the event graphic behind it so that your feed stays cohesive and branded. Pay attention to your brand voice Understand that your brand is way more than just the visuals. The way that you speak to your audience has a massive impact on whether or not they'll form an emotional connection with your brand. Because of this, you want to make sure that your brand voice is oozing with personality and makes sense for the kind of image you're trying to portray. As an example, are you a high-end brand that's selling cool, sleek, Italian-inspired sunglasses? It may be in your best interests to steer clear from using a billion exclamation points and HEY, GIRL! type statements. If you're hiring a copywriter or social media manager to help with things such as email newsletters or captions, make sure they take a close read through your brand strategy document so that they're well-acquainted with the personality and voice of your brand. Actually live up to your values Your brand's values are so much more than just a page in your strategy guidebook that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy about your brand. There are 3 ways that they come to life in your business' day-to-day: 1. The channels that you communicate in Are you making your values loud and clear in the voice that your brand uses and the content that you put out into the world? 2. The partnerships that you foster Are all of your brand's vendors, suppliers, and clients well-aligned with the change you'd like to see in the world? 3. Your business' processes Do you talk the talk or walk the walk? AKA, do your day-to-day business activities actually embody your core values?   Did this help you envision what it's like to take ownership of a successful, sustainably growing brand? Interested in working together to take your business to the next level? Get in touch to inquire about a project today.
How to Make the Most Out of Your New Branding
Alright, so you've just invested a good amount of time, money, and effort into working with a brand designer to bring your dream business to life. Everything should just fall into place now, right?! Not quite. Below are a few key things to consider to ensure that you're getting the most mileage out of your new branding. Don't neglect to invest in photography + copywriting Something that kills me (and any other brand strategist worth their salt) to see is when a client shells out a decent chunk of change for a custom brand strategy + website and then provides  âI shot this blurry photo on my iPhone in poor lightingâ photography and âI forgot to run spell check and brain dumped everything I know about my brand with no clear aimâ copy. Seriouslyâyour brand strategy + identity is so important, but if your copy + photography doesnât match the quality, the whole thing will likely flop. And we donât want that! Itâs understandable why this often happens. The brand strategy + identity design typically comes a bit earlier in the process than copy or photography, so business owners spend their entire budget on the branding + website and then leave little to be able to hire experts that can help deliver amazing copy and photography. To make sure this doesnât happen to you, expect to spend about 15-25% of your entire branding + website budget on copy and photography. This is something that I see holding brands back time and time again. By knowing this ahead of time, youâll be miles ahead and well-prepared to make a splash with your launch. Stick. To. Your. Fonts. (Please!) Not sticking to your brandâs fonts is probably the most common offender when it comes to cheapening your brandâFAST. Not only do you want to stick to the fonts outlined in your brand guidelines, you want to be sure that youâre using them in the proper case, letter spacing, size etc. For example, in all of our projects we provide a thorough outline of how all your different headings should look like. It looks something like this: To further emphasize what you should NOT do with your typography, we also include examples of what not to do with your fonts like this: To sum it all up: you just spend a good amount of time, energy, and money into a strategy-backed, beautiful brandâwhy throw this all away by not sticking to your brand guidelines? This sounds a bit dramatic, but simply sticking to your guidelines (particularly your fonts) is the magic ingredient when it comes to building a cohesive brand that builds customer loyalty. Refer to your brand strategy frequently Launching a new advertising campaign? Take a look at your brand voice guidelines. Making a new hire? Reference your brand values. Deciding on which product to launch next? Re-read your audience problems overview. Get the point? In order to make sure that your brand is acting in a consistent way and making progress towards your goals, you need to make sure that any and all actions in your business are aligned. This is the point of your brand strategy documentâit acts as your north star as your business grows and evolves. Don't just chuck it in a random folder on your computer and forget about it! Keep it consistent + thoughtful on social Nothing makes me cringe more than when brands are haphazardly throwing up posts to their feeds that are blurry, tacky, or not in their brand fonts. It's better to post less frequent yet high-quality content than posting just for the sake of it. A tip I like to let my clients know is that if you're part of an event (say, a maker's market or upcoming speaker panel), DON'T post the event's graphic straight to your feed on Insta and mess up the hard work you've put into consistency. It'll stick out like a sore thumb! Instead, create your own branded graphic and use the carousel feature to put the event graphic behind it so that your feed stays cohesive and branded. Pay attention to your brand voice Understand that your brand is way more than just the visuals. The way that you speak to your audience has a massive impact on whether or not they'll form an emotional connection with your brand. Because of this, you want to make sure that your brand voice is oozing with personality and makes sense for the kind of image you're trying to portray. As an example, are you a high-end brand that's selling cool, sleek, Italian-inspired sunglasses? It may be in your best interests to steer clear from using a billion exclamation points and HEY, GIRL! type statements. If you're hiring a copywriter or social media manager to help with things such as email newsletters or captions, make sure they take a close read through your brand strategy document so that they're well-acquainted with the personality and voice of your brand. Actually live up to your values Your brand's values are so much more than just a page in your strategy guidebook that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy about your brand. There are 3 ways that they come to life in your business' day-to-day: 1. The channels that you communicate in Are you making your values loud and clear in the voice that your brand uses and the content that you put out into the world? 2. The partnerships that you foster Are all of your brand's vendors, suppliers, and clients well-aligned with the change you'd like to see in the world? 3. Your business' processes Do you talk the talk or walk the walk? AKA, do your day-to-day business activities actually embody your core values?   Did this help you envision what it's like to take ownership of a successful, sustainably growing brand? Interested in working together to take your business to the next level? Get in touch to inquire about a project today.
How to Create a Timeless Brand
You know what's a real bummer? It's when brands invest a lot of time, money, and effort into pulling together their brand strategy and identity, only for it to feel outdated in ~2 years. Now they're stuck between investing another 5k+ into a rebrand or continuing on with something that feels out of alignment. What went wrong here? Typically, this is caused by a brand solely focusing on whatâs trendy at the moment, without any real substance behind the design decisions that they made. This is NOT to say that all trends are bad and you need to steer clear of them. Quite the opposite, actuallyâif you do it smartly! So, how can you build a brand that stands the test of time and evolves as the years go on? Take a close look at today's trends In order to make an informed decision on the trends you're going to draw from, it's important to conduct the necessary research in order to understand the landscape of your industry and what's hot right now. Some questions to ask yourself include: What design styles and elements are you noticing a lot of? What were these inspired by? Can you make a guess at why they may be popular at the moment? What type of audience is each trend attracting? Thoroughly looking at the trends that are hot right now will help you strategically leverage them rather than blindly follow them. Draw inspiration from the past You don't necessarily need to design your logo on a typewriter for your brand identity to use inspiration from the past. There are a lot of ways to mix the old with the new in a modern and innovative way. In addition to looking at classical typography and layouts (Iâm a sucker for vintage Parisian invites!), you can also find timeless inspiration in a variety of mediums such as: Architecture Fashion Magazines Furniture Event + Concert Posters Letâs say you found a current trend that you absolutely love and after researching, feels right for your business. Try mixing an element from the trend with an element inspired from the past. This is going to help you attract a relevant audience while also grounding it in what we know works time and time again. Build a flexible foundation In order to design a brand that stands the test of time without feeling stuffy and dated, itâs important to consider how it might change in the future as trends evolve. Basically, how can we create this brand so that it can be evolved in the future while keeping its core identity? To do this, youâll want to consider which parts of the brand are flexible vs. inflexible. Some brand elements that youâll want to keep the same over time (and therefore are inflexible) are your logos, typography, and color palette (although color palettes can sometimes strategically be expanded on). These core elements help your audience recognize you in the sea of brands that are out there. Changing them up willy-nilly as trends come and go will lead to confusion and less brand equity. Brand elements that may have the flexibility to change in the future are the âperipheralâ pieces of the brand, such as illustrations, patterns, layouts, and print materials. You can experiment with these and fit them to todayâs trends without losing as much brand recognition. A word to the wise, thoughâgo slow with the changes! Overhauling these elements all at the same time might cause your brand to become unrecognizable. It's better to update slowly so not to alienate your audience (we don't want that!). So, how can we ensure that our brand foundation is built to be flexible? A good idea is to keep your inflexible elements on the more classic + minimal side so that you can complement these with trendier flexible elements. For example, In the late 90âs, funky shapes and patterns were everywhere. In the 2010s, watercolor was all the rage. Now, neon Y2K vibes are everywhere. If we keep our logos + typography on the classic side, we're able to update our backdrop brand elements to fit the times. Consider your audience One of the biggest mistakes you can make that leads to creating a brand that feels shallow is designing your identity without any consideration for your audience or the problem you solve for them. This fatal mistake leads you to design your brand with only trends in mind. Additionally, because youâre not quite sure of who exactly youâre serving, itâs easy to fall into the trap of following in your competitorâs footsteps and not coming up with anything new or innovative. Getting a strong understanding of your audience also helps understand what types of trends and design cues they will respond to. For example, in todayâs market, if you wanted to attract 40-something working moms, you likely wouldnât be using the Y2K-esque style mentioned above. By not thoroughly analyzing who youâre trying to target, you run the risk of attracting the wrong audience that wonât actually connect with your product or service. Conclusion All in all, crafting a timeless brand is all about balance and a deep understanding of design conventions + trends. When in doubt, itâs ideal to err to the classic side of things, unless youâre fine with forking out the big bucks for a rebrand a few years down the line. That being said, you donât want to seem so traditional and stuffy that you donât make waves in your market. One more thing to noteâthese are just general suggestions, and they may not apply to every single brand. Do you feel like one of todayâs trends TOTALLY encapsulates your brandâs energy and target market, and youâre just so excited to share it with your audience? Go for it, girl. Are you an absolute sucker for old-style script fonts and feel like you were born in the wrong era as a vintage bookstore owner? Why not go for that completely vintage-inspired look. So, if you feel really passionate about leaning one way or the other (and have the data about your target market to back it up), you donât necessarily need to fall right in the middle of the spectrum between trendy and timeless. Working with a brand strategist can help you clarify where along this line you should aim for in order to craft the best-fitting (and best-performing) brand identity possible. Looking for help creating a timeless brand? Get in touch here about a project together.
How to Create a Timeless Brand
You know what's a real bummer? It's when brands invest a lot of time, money, and effort into pulling together their brand strategy and identity, only for it to feel outdated in ~2 years. Now they're stuck between investing another 5k+ into a rebrand or continuing on with something that feels out of alignment. What went wrong here? Typically, this is caused by a brand solely focusing on whatâs trendy at the moment, without any real substance behind the design decisions that they made. This is NOT to say that all trends are bad and you need to steer clear of them. Quite the opposite, actuallyâif you do it smartly! So, how can you build a brand that stands the test of time and evolves as the years go on? Take a close look at today's trends In order to make an informed decision on the trends you're going to draw from, it's important to conduct the necessary research in order to understand the landscape of your industry and what's hot right now. Some questions to ask yourself include: What design styles and elements are you noticing a lot of? What were these inspired by? Can you make a guess at why they may be popular at the moment? What type of audience is each trend attracting? Thoroughly looking at the trends that are hot right now will help you strategically leverage them rather than blindly follow them. Draw inspiration from the past You don't necessarily need to design your logo on a typewriter for your brand identity to use inspiration from the past. There are a lot of ways to mix the old with the new in a modern and innovative way. In addition to looking at classical typography and layouts (Iâm a sucker for vintage Parisian invites!), you can also find timeless inspiration in a variety of mediums such as: Architecture Fashion Magazines Furniture Event + Concert Posters Letâs say you found a current trend that you absolutely love and after researching, feels right for your business. Try mixing an element from the trend with an element inspired from the past. This is going to help you attract a relevant audience while also grounding it in what we know works time and time again. Build a flexible foundation In order to design a brand that stands the test of time without feeling stuffy and dated, itâs important to consider how it might change in the future as trends evolve. Basically, how can we create this brand so that it can be evolved in the future while keeping its core identity? To do this, youâll want to consider which parts of the brand are flexible vs. inflexible. Some brand elements that youâll want to keep the same over time (and therefore are inflexible) are your logos, typography, and color palette (although color palettes can sometimes strategically be expanded on). These core elements help your audience recognize you in the sea of brands that are out there. Changing them up willy-nilly as trends come and go will lead to confusion and less brand equity. Brand elements that may have the flexibility to change in the future are the âperipheralâ pieces of the brand, such as illustrations, patterns, layouts, and print materials. You can experiment with these and fit them to todayâs trends without losing as much brand recognition. A word to the wise, thoughâgo slow with the changes! Overhauling these elements all at the same time might cause your brand to become unrecognizable. It's better to update slowly so not to alienate your audience (we don't want that!). So, how can we ensure that our brand foundation is built to be flexible? A good idea is to keep your inflexible elements on the more classic + minimal side so that you can complement these with trendier flexible elements. For example, In the late 90âs, funky shapes and patterns were everywhere. In the 2010s, watercolor was all the rage. Now, neon Y2K vibes are everywhere. If we keep our logos + typography on the classic side, we're able to update our backdrop brand elements to fit the times. Consider your audience One of the biggest mistakes you can make that leads to creating a brand that feels shallow is designing your identity without any consideration for your audience or the problem you solve for them. This fatal mistake leads you to design your brand with only trends in mind. Additionally, because youâre not quite sure of who exactly youâre serving, itâs easy to fall into the trap of following in your competitorâs footsteps and not coming up with anything new or innovative. Getting a strong understanding of your audience also helps understand what types of trends and design cues they will respond to. For example, in todayâs market, if you wanted to attract 40-something working moms, you likely wouldnât be using the Y2K-esque style mentioned above. By not thoroughly analyzing who youâre trying to target, you run the risk of attracting the wrong audience that wonât actually connect with your product or service. Conclusion All in all, crafting a timeless brand is all about balance and a deep understanding of design conventions + trends. When in doubt, itâs ideal to err to the classic side of things, unless youâre fine with forking out the big bucks for a rebrand a few years down the line. That being said, you donât want to seem so traditional and stuffy that you donât make waves in your market. One more thing to noteâthese are just general suggestions, and they may not apply to every single brand. Do you feel like one of todayâs trends TOTALLY encapsulates your brandâs energy and target market, and youâre just so excited to share it with your audience? Go for it, girl. Are you an absolute sucker for old-style script fonts and feel like you were born in the wrong era as a vintage bookstore owner? Why not go for that completely vintage-inspired look. So, if you feel really passionate about leaning one way or the other (and have the data about your target market to back it up), you donât necessarily need to fall right in the middle of the spectrum between trendy and timeless. Working with a brand strategist can help you clarify where along this line you should aim for in order to craft the best-fitting (and best-performing) brand identity possible. Looking for help creating a timeless brand? Get in touch here about a project together.
How to Build a $100k/Year Shopify Store
Selling your products online is a great way to scale your product-based business, and Shopify is the perfect platform if you're looking to have all the tools necessary to take in six figures a year with your online store. With Shopify, you can create a professional-looking and high-converting eCommerce business with ease, and there are tons of tools and resources available to help you grow your business. In this guide, we'll show you how to build a six figure Shopify store. We'll cover everything from setting up a profitable Shopify store to marketing your products, so read on and get started on your new store today! Learn from your competition, but make it better With any type of E-commerce store, it's important to learn from other Shopify store owners by studying what they're doing well and identifying areas where you can improve with your own store. Also, you don't have to stick to your direct competitorsâyou can take a look at different dropshipping stores, the social media accounts of your competitors, or pretty much just any online business. Make your online store stand out However, it's also important to define what makes you stand out from your competition. This will help you to attract your ideal customers and build a loyal following. This is especially important when you're first starting out as it can help you quickly gain ground in your industry amongst the sea of Shopify stores. Questions to ask yourself about your eCommerce business To do this, think about the followingâwhat are your unique selling points? What can you do better than your competitors in order to give your store a leg up? Once you've answered these questions, you'll be in a strong position to succeed in your industry. Choose the right apps for a six figure Shopify store Shopify apps are a fantastic way to increase your revenue quickly. However, with so many options available, it can be difficult to know which ones to choose. What to consider when choosing apps for your Shopify store Some factors to consider include the price of the app, the app's features, and the app's reviews. By taking all of these factors into account, you can be sure to choose the right apps for your business and increase your revenue quickly. Below are a few categories of apps that perform really well when it comes to building a successful store: Upselling Have you ever been to a fast-food restaurant and been asked if you want to "supersize" your order? That's an upsell. This works because it's an offer for something that's closely related to what the customer is already buying, and it's usually presented at the point of purchase when they're already in a buying mood. You can use these type of sales weapons to increase revenue on your Shopify store by using apps such as ReConvert or One-Click Upsell to upsell products. In-cart upsells are a great way to increase your average order value because they're presented to the customer after they've already added an item to their cart and they're more likely to say yes at that point. SMS Marketing SMS marketing is a great way to boost revenue on your Shopify store. Unlike email newsletters, these messages are opened and read almost immediately. This makes them an ideal way to offer discounts and recover abandoned carts. SMS marketing apps such as Postscript and Privy make it easy to send bulk messages, and they also provide valuable insights into customer behavior. With SMS marketing, you can target specific customers with personalized messages, making it more likely that they'll make a purchase. Additionally, because SMS messages are so easy to read and reply to, you can quickly build rapport with your customers. Subscriptions If you're looking for a way to increase your recurring revenue on your Shopify store (we're all about that consistent cash flow!), installing an app that allows your visitors to subscribe to your products is a great option. There are a number of subscription apps such as Recharge and Bold Subscriptions available that can help you set up subscriptions for your products or services. Subscriptions are great because they allow you to provide your customers with a more convenient and hassle-free way to purchase your products or services on an ongoing basis. In addition, subscriptions can help you save money on marketing and advertising costs by providing you with a built-in base of loyal and engaged customers. Bundle Builders If you're looking for a way to increase your average order value (AOV) on Shopify and get more sales, bundle builder apps are a great option. These apps allow customers to build their own bundles of products, which can encourage them to add more items to their carts. They also make it easy for customers to find products that go well together, which can further increase your AOV. An added bonus is that bundle builder apps can help you boost sales of slower-moving items by pairing them with popular items. They may not be the best setup if you're a dropshipping store that has products coming from all over, but if your online store has its inventory management in one location, adding a bundle builder to your Shopify account can make your products sell even more. Focus on a seamless user experience Creating a seamless user experience for potential buyers is essential for any online business, particularly when you're trying to convince your users to purchase your product. Selling products with a quality customer journey Whether they're landing from one of your social media accounts or Google ads, it's extremely important to delight them with clear product images and a thorough product page, a fully responsive design if they're on mobile, and making all the steps to purchase clear and easy to follow. Visitors should be able to easily find what they're looking for on your page in just a few minutes without getting frustrated. You can help them along in their journey by being strategic about your navigation as well as having many opportunities for them to find what they're looking for as possible. A fast site is also importantâno one wants to wait around for a slow page to load. This will also help your site rank higher on search engines. A super-clear Shopify store Including a FAQ page is also super helpful in case visitors have any questions. This has the added benefit of reducing the amount of customer support interaction needed when it comes to answering your visitors' questions. When it comes to product pages, think about how you're structuring them so that they're digestible, easy to navigate, and search engine friendly. Nesting information in dropdowns using Shopify's new built-in Metafields feature is an awesome way of avoiding hitting your visitor with a wall-of-text product description. By focusing on improving your user experience, you'll see the conversion rate of your Shopify website (and therefore profits!) grow. Emphasize retaining customers Something you should always keep in mind is that it costs MUCH more to attract and sell products to a new customer than it does to retain a current one. And, not only is it more expensive to find new customers, but they also don't stick around as long as loyal ones. That's why it's so important to focus on increasing customer lifetime value - making sure that your current customers are happy and keeping them coming back for more. Making more money with loyal customers Creating fans of your brand is essential to long-term success, as they're the ones who will spread the word and bring in new business. So, while it may be tempting to put all your energy into finding new customers, remember that retaining the ones you have is just as importantâif not more so. Below are a couple key areas to focus on in order to retain your best customers: Customer Service Good customer service is essential if you want to retain customers and create a good reputation (and therefore grow your revenue!). Customers who have a positive experience with your company are likely to come back for more as well as recommend your brand to others. On the other hand, customers who have a negative experience with you are likely to never use the your products or services again and may warn others against purchasing from your brand. Most people appreciate the extra mile Good customer service involves creating a pleasant customer experience, being responsive to customer needs and complaints, and resolving issues in a timely manner. Sometimes, it's better to just offer the refund with a smile rather than make someone angry about their experience (even if they're in the wrong). A note if you're a dropshipping business If you're a dropshipping business or you use a fulfillment company for inventory management, you'll want to pay even more attention to your Shopify store's customer service because you won't be able to inspect your physical products on your own before they're sent. By making customer service a priority, you can create loyal customers who will continue to do business with them for years to come. Email Marketing There's no doubt that email marketing is one of the most powerful sales channels when it comes to retaining customers. Staying top-of-mind with your customers on a regular basis is key to keeping them engaged, and email is a great way to do that. Offering special subscriber-only deals is a wonderful way to keep them coming back for more. By providing your customers with consistent communication and valuable offers, you'll be sure to keep them loyal for years to come and start selling products at a much higher rate. Now, it's time to make your store! So, there you have it! A comprehensive guide to starting and scaling your online store that brings in $100,000 or more in annual revenue. Of course, these are just general tips for getting more sales and your mileage may vary, but if you follow the advice weâve outlined here and put in the hard work, you should be well on your way to success with your Shopify store. Get your Shopify store built in just a week Ready to hit the ground running with Shopify store? Get in touch â we would love to help get you started on the right foot.
How to Build a $100k/Year Shopify Store
Selling your products online is a great way to scale your product-based business, and Shopify is the perfect platform if you're looking to have all the tools necessary to take in six figures a year with your online store. With Shopify, you can create a professional-looking and high-converting eCommerce business with ease, and there are tons of tools and resources available to help you grow your business. In this guide, we'll show you how to build a six figure Shopify store. We'll cover everything from setting up a profitable Shopify store to marketing your products, so read on and get started on your new store today! Learn from your competition, but make it better With any type of E-commerce store, it's important to learn from other Shopify store owners by studying what they're doing well and identifying areas where you can improve with your own store. Also, you don't have to stick to your direct competitorsâyou can take a look at different dropshipping stores, the social media accounts of your competitors, or pretty much just any online business. Make your online store stand out However, it's also important to define what makes you stand out from your competition. This will help you to attract your ideal customers and build a loyal following. This is especially important when you're first starting out as it can help you quickly gain ground in your industry amongst the sea of Shopify stores. Questions to ask yourself about your eCommerce business To do this, think about the followingâwhat are your unique selling points? What can you do better than your competitors in order to give your store a leg up? Once you've answered these questions, you'll be in a strong position to succeed in your industry. Choose the right apps for a six figure Shopify store Shopify apps are a fantastic way to increase your revenue quickly. However, with so many options available, it can be difficult to know which ones to choose. What to consider when choosing apps for your Shopify store Some factors to consider include the price of the app, the app's features, and the app's reviews. By taking all of these factors into account, you can be sure to choose the right apps for your business and increase your revenue quickly. Below are a few categories of apps that perform really well when it comes to building a successful store: Upselling Have you ever been to a fast-food restaurant and been asked if you want to "supersize" your order? That's an upsell. This works because it's an offer for something that's closely related to what the customer is already buying, and it's usually presented at the point of purchase when they're already in a buying mood. You can use these type of sales weapons to increase revenue on your Shopify store by using apps such as ReConvert or One-Click Upsell to upsell products. In-cart upsells are a great way to increase your average order value because they're presented to the customer after they've already added an item to their cart and they're more likely to say yes at that point. SMS Marketing SMS marketing is a great way to boost revenue on your Shopify store. Unlike email newsletters, these messages are opened and read almost immediately. This makes them an ideal way to offer discounts and recover abandoned carts. SMS marketing apps such as Postscript and Privy make it easy to send bulk messages, and they also provide valuable insights into customer behavior. With SMS marketing, you can target specific customers with personalized messages, making it more likely that they'll make a purchase. Additionally, because SMS messages are so easy to read and reply to, you can quickly build rapport with your customers. Subscriptions If you're looking for a way to increase your recurring revenue on your Shopify store (we're all about that consistent cash flow!), installing an app that allows your visitors to subscribe to your products is a great option. There are a number of subscription apps such as Recharge and Bold Subscriptions available that can help you set up subscriptions for your products or services. Subscriptions are great because they allow you to provide your customers with a more convenient and hassle-free way to purchase your products or services on an ongoing basis. In addition, subscriptions can help you save money on marketing and advertising costs by providing you with a built-in base of loyal and engaged customers. Bundle Builders If you're looking for a way to increase your average order value (AOV) on Shopify and get more sales, bundle builder apps are a great option. These apps allow customers to build their own bundles of products, which can encourage them to add more items to their carts. They also make it easy for customers to find products that go well together, which can further increase your AOV. An added bonus is that bundle builder apps can help you boost sales of slower-moving items by pairing them with popular items. They may not be the best setup if you're a dropshipping store that has products coming from all over, but if your online store has its inventory management in one location, adding a bundle builder to your Shopify account can make your products sell even more. Focus on a seamless user experience Creating a seamless user experience for potential buyers is essential for any online business, particularly when you're trying to convince your users to purchase your product. Selling products with a quality customer journey Whether they're landing from one of your social media accounts or Google ads, it's extremely important to delight them with clear product images and a thorough product page, a fully responsive design if they're on mobile, and making all the steps to purchase clear and easy to follow. Visitors should be able to easily find what they're looking for on your page in just a few minutes without getting frustrated. You can help them along in their journey by being strategic about your navigation as well as having many opportunities for them to find what they're looking for as possible. A fast site is also importantâno one wants to wait around for a slow page to load. This will also help your site rank higher on search engines. A super-clear Shopify store Including a FAQ page is also super helpful in case visitors have any questions. This has the added benefit of reducing the amount of customer support interaction needed when it comes to answering your visitors' questions. When it comes to product pages, think about how you're structuring them so that they're digestible, easy to navigate, and search engine friendly. Nesting information in dropdowns using Shopify's new built-in Metafields feature is an awesome way of avoiding hitting your visitor with a wall-of-text product description. By focusing on improving your user experience, you'll see the conversion rate of your Shopify website (and therefore profits!) grow. Emphasize retaining customers Something you should always keep in mind is that it costs MUCH more to attract and sell products to a new customer than it does to retain a current one. And, not only is it more expensive to find new customers, but they also don't stick around as long as loyal ones. That's why it's so important to focus on increasing customer lifetime value - making sure that your current customers are happy and keeping them coming back for more. Making more money with loyal customers Creating fans of your brand is essential to long-term success, as they're the ones who will spread the word and bring in new business. So, while it may be tempting to put all your energy into finding new customers, remember that retaining the ones you have is just as importantâif not more so. Below are a couple key areas to focus on in order to retain your best customers: Customer Service Good customer service is essential if you want to retain customers and create a good reputation (and therefore grow your revenue!). Customers who have a positive experience with your company are likely to come back for more as well as recommend your brand to others. On the other hand, customers who have a negative experience with you are likely to never use the your products or services again and may warn others against purchasing from your brand. Most people appreciate the extra mile Good customer service involves creating a pleasant customer experience, being responsive to customer needs and complaints, and resolving issues in a timely manner. Sometimes, it's better to just offer the refund with a smile rather than make someone angry about their experience (even if they're in the wrong). A note if you're a dropshipping business If you're a dropshipping business or you use a fulfillment company for inventory management, you'll want to pay even more attention to your Shopify store's customer service because you won't be able to inspect your physical products on your own before they're sent. By making customer service a priority, you can create loyal customers who will continue to do business with them for years to come. Email Marketing There's no doubt that email marketing is one of the most powerful sales channels when it comes to retaining customers. Staying top-of-mind with your customers on a regular basis is key to keeping them engaged, and email is a great way to do that. Offering special subscriber-only deals is a wonderful way to keep them coming back for more. By providing your customers with consistent communication and valuable offers, you'll be sure to keep them loyal for years to come and start selling products at a much higher rate. Now, it's time to make your store! So, there you have it! A comprehensive guide to starting and scaling your online store that brings in $100,000 or more in annual revenue. Of course, these are just general tips for getting more sales and your mileage may vary, but if you follow the advice weâve outlined here and put in the hard work, you should be well on your way to success with your Shopify store. Get your Shopify store built in just a week Ready to hit the ground running with Shopify store? Get in touch â we would love to help get you started on the right foot.
How to Sell Digital Products on Shopify
Are you looking to kick back and relax while passive income rolls in? It's time to consider selling your digital products on Shopify. Whether you're moving your store over from Etsy or starting from scratch, we have a few key steps that you won't want to forget when starting your digital download empire. Below are the steps you'll need to take in order to get your digital shop up and running: Prep your digital product for sale The first thing you'll want to do after finishing your product is figure out where to host it. Depending on what your product is/its file type, it can be hosted on any number of servicesâsuch as Google Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, Kajabi, you name it! Beyond just the digital product itself, you'll likely want to create a simple PDF page that links through to a URL where your customers can access their content. This is what you'll upload to your store via a digital downloads app (which we will cover below!). These "welcome" PDFs typically include something like: Your logo A welcome/thank you line or two Link to the Google Drive/Dropbox/WeTransfer etc. folder where your digital product lives A copyright notice/line explaining this digital product shouldn't be shared Link to your website + socials VIP promo/discount code for any other products you may offer Sign up for Shopify The next order of business is to sign up for a Shopify plan so that you can get working on your store. If you're just getting started, you'll probably be just fine with Shopify's Basic planâa handful of the benefits you get when you upgrade plans actually pertain to physical shipping, which you won't be doing. Looking for more general tips on getting set up in Shopify? Check out our XX things to know before starting your Shopify store. Build your Store Now's the fun partâbuilding your store! I recommend taking a close look at the theme you're going to go with before installing it. The theme you choose can make or break your store depending on what you're looking to build. Keep in mindâwhen looking at theme previews, focus on the layout and functionality rather than the general design, because you can always change fonts and colors easily but not so much the "bones" that your theme offers. Looking for more in-depth help getting your Shopify store set up? Learn more about how our Shopify Sprints can help you get your site up and running in just a week. Upload your products Shopify doesn't natively allow for digital products to be sold, meaning that you'll need to use an app in order to do so. Shopify offers a free digital products app, but you may want to consider using a paid version such as SendOwl or Easy Digital Products because of the extra features they offer, such as: PDF stamping Automatic download button License keys Optional delayed delivery Automatic refunds Once you've installed a digital downloads app onto your store, follow its specific instructions to upload and set up your products' settings. Promote your products So now that your store + digital products are all set up, what's next? It's time to get promoting! Some effective ways you can consider getting your digital products out into the world include: Promoting it on Pinterest - Pinterest visitors are SO much more engaged and ready to buy compared to casual Instagram + Tik Tok scrollers. Facebook Ads - FB ads allow you to get super granular about who you're targeting, meaning that you can really hone in on traffic that will be interested in what you have to offer. Additionally, if you have a Facebook Pixel installed on your store, you can retarget people that have previously visited. Focus on abandoned checkouts - Shopify makes it easy to automatically email visitors that add products to their cart and then abandon their checkout. They've even optimized the intervals of time to wait before sending an email based on what they find converts the highest. And there you have it, a high-level overview of how to begin selling digital downloads on Shopify! Have any questions about getting things set up? Shoot me a DM on Instagram and I'd be happy to help đ€
How to Sell Digital Products on Shopify
Are you looking to kick back and relax while passive income rolls in? It's time to consider selling your digital products on Shopify. Whether you're moving your store over from Etsy or starting from scratch, we have a few key steps that you won't want to forget when starting your digital download empire. Below are the steps you'll need to take in order to get your digital shop up and running: Prep your digital product for sale The first thing you'll want to do after finishing your product is figure out where to host it. Depending on what your product is/its file type, it can be hosted on any number of servicesâsuch as Google Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, Kajabi, you name it! Beyond just the digital product itself, you'll likely want to create a simple PDF page that links through to a URL where your customers can access their content. This is what you'll upload to your store via a digital downloads app (which we will cover below!). These "welcome" PDFs typically include something like: Your logo A welcome/thank you line or two Link to the Google Drive/Dropbox/WeTransfer etc. folder where your digital product lives A copyright notice/line explaining this digital product shouldn't be shared Link to your website + socials VIP promo/discount code for any other products you may offer Sign up for Shopify The next order of business is to sign up for a Shopify plan so that you can get working on your store. If you're just getting started, you'll probably be just fine with Shopify's Basic planâa handful of the benefits you get when you upgrade plans actually pertain to physical shipping, which you won't be doing. Looking for more general tips on getting set up in Shopify? Check out our XX things to know before starting your Shopify store. Build your Store Now's the fun partâbuilding your store! I recommend taking a close look at the theme you're going to go with before installing it. The theme you choose can make or break your store depending on what you're looking to build. Keep in mindâwhen looking at theme previews, focus on the layout and functionality rather than the general design, because you can always change fonts and colors easily but not so much the "bones" that your theme offers. Looking for more in-depth help getting your Shopify store set up? Learn more about how our Shopify Sprints can help you get your site up and running in just a week. Upload your products Shopify doesn't natively allow for digital products to be sold, meaning that you'll need to use an app in order to do so. Shopify offers a free digital products app, but you may want to consider using a paid version such as SendOwl or Easy Digital Products because of the extra features they offer, such as: PDF stamping Automatic download button License keys Optional delayed delivery Automatic refunds Once you've installed a digital downloads app onto your store, follow its specific instructions to upload and set up your products' settings. Promote your products So now that your store + digital products are all set up, what's next? It's time to get promoting! Some effective ways you can consider getting your digital products out into the world include: Promoting it on Pinterest - Pinterest visitors are SO much more engaged and ready to buy compared to casual Instagram + Tik Tok scrollers. Facebook Ads - FB ads allow you to get super granular about who you're targeting, meaning that you can really hone in on traffic that will be interested in what you have to offer. Additionally, if you have a Facebook Pixel installed on your store, you can retarget people that have previously visited. Focus on abandoned checkouts - Shopify makes it easy to automatically email visitors that add products to their cart and then abandon their checkout. They've even optimized the intervals of time to wait before sending an email based on what they find converts the highest. And there you have it, a high-level overview of how to begin selling digital downloads on Shopify! Have any questions about getting things set up? Shoot me a DM on Instagram and I'd be happy to help đ€
A Sneak Peek Inside My Client Process
Are you a total newbie to the branding process and wondering what it entails? Does the idea of an entire brand development project make you a little woozy? No worriesâwe've got your back. We know that as an entrepreneur, you have a thousand other plates to spin when launching a brand, which is why we offer condensed sprint-style project timelines and clear milestones. Want to leisurely email back and forth once a week for the better part of a year? We're probably not for you. Looking to get in, create an incredibly stunning and strategic brand, and then move on to other things? We'll get along fabulously. Check out our process below, broken down into steps: Inquiry First, you'll make an inquiry via our contact form here. This is pretty straightforwardâbut, do note that the more detail you include here, the more prepared we will be for our discovery call! Discovery Call After filling out the contact form, you'll receive an email from our team with a link to book a free 30-minute discovery call. This is where we'll learn all about your business, what you want to get out of this project, and your goals for the future. A few questions we'll ask on the call: What are some of your goals both short-term and long-term for your brand? What compelled you to start this business? What does success look like to you? We'll also chat about different budget options, project timelines, and deliverables to determine a solution that fits your needs. Proposal After our discovery call, we'll have a good understanding of all the details that are needed in order to send you a detailed proposal. This will outline specifics about your project such as the deliverables included, timeline, payment plans, and how your project will be run. With most of the proposals that we send, we include a couple of different package options outlining different ways to tackle your brand development at varying budgets and timelines. Note that these aren't set-in-stoneâwe are happy to fine-tune them as much as needed so that they fit exactly what you're looking for. Onboarding Alrightâso, you've read through your proposal, selected packages that work for you, and you're ready to rumble. In order to book, you'll pay a 40% deposit to hold your spot in the timeline and review and sign a contract. Within about 2 business days after you book, you'll receive all of your welcome information via a centralized project dashboard that outlines everything you need to knowâproject milestones, a recap of your deliverables, how to submit your content, and quick links to important documents. You'll take some time to read through everything, and then there are two major tasks to complete: booking your brand strategy session + filling out a pre-session questionnaire. Brand Strategy The brand strategy session is where the magic happens. Before our session together, you'll fill out a quick questionnaire that will help us get on the same page before diving in together. It'll get the gears turning in your head when it comes to your brand and set the scene for what we'll be discovering on our call. On the day of the strategy session, we'll hop on a Zoom call for 1-2 hours and dive deep into aspects of your strategy such as your target audience, how to reach them, how to stand out from your competition, and what is the secret sauce behind your brand. We'll be taking organized notes the whole time and you'll have access to these in your final brand files for future reference. Now that we've chatted through all aspects of your brand, it's our turn to put our heads down for a week and get to researching + planning. At the end of this phase, we'll deliver to you an amazingly in-depth brand strategy guidebook that will be the North Star for the rest of your business' life. Whenever it's time to create a marketing campaign, hire a new employee, or develop a new product, you'll have this document to refer to in order to help decide the way forward and make sure you're making aligned decisions. During this phase, we also propose 2-3 strategy-informed visual solutions for the look and feel of your brand. We go beyond just basic moodboards for each of these, including typography inspiration, potential fonts that could be used, and a live website homepage mockup so that you can get a feel for how the brand actually might come to life. Identity Design Here comes the fun part! Now that you've chosen a visual direction and we've completed all the discovery, research, and planning behind your brand strategy, we can now move onto creating the visual identity of your brand. We believe in presenting brand concepts that are fully fleshed out. So, during the first step of this process you'll receive a presentation outlining not only all the logo variations, colors, and fonts included in your brand identity, but a handful of digital mockups that will help you actually envision how your brand will appear in real life. After you receive this presentation, you'll have two rounds of refinements to explore anything you think is necessary in order to convey your brand's message more effectively. Because of our in-depth strategy process that we complete beforehand, we find that the vast majority of our clients have barely any changes they'd like to see to the initial brand concept presentation. If you've selected a package that includes collateral (think business cards, social media templates, stickers etc.), we get to work on this in the week after your brand identity is finalized. At the end of this process, you'll receive all of your final brand files in a nicely packaged folder structure. We provide a clear set of brand guidelines (with examples of what and what NOT to do) so that it's easy for you to stay consistent with your brand in the future. Additionally, we provide a guide for understanding your file formats, color codes, and tips for making the most out of your new brand. Packaging Woohoo! Now that we're done with the brand development portion of the process, we are now able to move onto packaging (if it is included in your project). The secret sauce for making a packaging project run smoothly is: Being super organized with all of the bits and pieces that you need to supply (packaging copy, die lines, printing info, ingredients, barcodes, badges, net weight, disclaimers, nutrition factsâyou name it!). Not beginning the packaging project/design until the above content is 90% there When we dive into this part of the project well-prepared with everything that needs to go on the packaging, we can focus more on the design and concept itself rather than updating and tweaking the necessary content. Packaging can be overwhelming if you've never done it before, which is why we provide a comprehensive checklist of everything that's needed on your end so that the process is a bit less daunting and more clear + easy for you. Like the brand identity, for packaging we provide an initial concept presentation fully fleshed out with mockups, and there are two opportunities for refinements to the design + content. Your final files are delivered so that they're print-ready according to your specifications and can be directly handed off to your printer. Production + Photography Something that a lot of people don't realize when starting a branding, packaging, + website project is that there needs to be roughly a 2-3 month gap in the middle of the timeline to 1. get your products printed + produced and 2. get your products professionally photographed. Your website design truly comes at the END of everything elseâit's the last thing you focus on that leads right up to the brand's launch. It's important to have your photography (or at least a good chunk of it) finalized before diving into the site design because much like copy, your photos make a HUGE impact on the design of the site. For this reason, we highly recommend a couple-month long "break" between the packaging + web design phases of your project so that you can focus on getting your products produced + photographed. See below for an example of a project timeline laid out visually: Site Design We're in the home stretch! Now it's time to take allll that we've done so far and craft your brand's own corner of the internet. At the beginning of this phase of the project, your site's information, details, and copy are due from you. This will be clearly outlined in an easy-to-follow checklist that will help you stay organized and on track. If you want to outsource your site's copy (which is often the most daunting part of gathering what's needed for your site!), we offer this as an add-on to your project scope. When it comes to the site design itself, the structure of the project depends on which type of package you opted for: Template-Based Sites With a template-based site, we will work together to determine your site's needs and find a theme that works best for the functionalities and layout that you're looking for. From there, we will use your brand's colors, custom fonts, and custom CSS to stylize the site and make it your own. Just because it's template-based does NOT mean it's going to look DIY or like everyone else's site! The end result is a stunning and branded site that works for you and comes at a more affordable cost than custom development. Custom-Developed Sites Our custom development packages offer a higher level of flexibility when it comes to the design and functionality of your site. We start the process by mocking up how your site will look from scratch. This gives us a totally custom and differentiated feel and allows you to make design decisions that wouldn't necessarily be possible with a template-based site. After we finalize the site's design in the mockup stage, we then move onto the development phase of the project where your site is built and brought to life. After the site has been designed, the next steps for both package options above include optimizing the site for mobile, installing any necessary on-site apps, and running through a series of testing and pre-launch tasks. We recommend that before launching your site, you have about a week-long "soft launch" so that you're familiar and comfortable with your site's backend and ordering system before your real launch. It's important that you feel super comfortable and empowered to update your site as your brand evolves, so we also provide training videos to walk you through the backend of your site for future updates/promotions/product additions etc. Wrap up At the end of every project, we set you up with a handful of materials that ensure the success of your new brand. See below for the full list of deliverables that a typical brand development, packaging, and website project includes: Brand strategy session notes Brand strategy guidebook + competitive analysis Brand guidelines document Brand identity assets (logos, colors, font guidelines etc.) Any collateral pieces that were included in your project (business cards, social templates, stickers etc.) A series of digital mockups portraying your brand in real life Guide covering how to use your file formats, color codes, and how to get the most out of your brand Your print-ready packaging files A stunning, high-converting branded website with apps + functionalities Website training videos Backup of your site's custom CSS Future Support We want you to have a partner that you can rely on when it comes to any future branding, design, or website needsâwhich is why we don't say sayonara as soon as our project together has wrapped up! In order to support you in a convenient, flexible way, we offer one-day design sprints so that you can get the design help you're looking for whenever the need arises. Our past clients rave about these because they offer you a quick turnaround, live collaboration, and it's like having a full-time design employee but only when you need it (and without the commitment of a yearly salary). Plus, we get a lot done during these days! Learn more about how our post-project design days work here. In Conclusion We've put a lot of thought and trial + error into our process over the years. What we've landed on is streamlined, strategic, and, most importantly, produces the results and ROI that you're looking to get when launching your brand. Interested in learning more if we're the right fit for you + your brand's needs? Schedule a free 30-minute discovery call today. We'd be thrilled to get to know you!
A Sneak Peek Inside My Client Process
Are you a total newbie to the branding process and wondering what it entails? Does the idea of an entire brand development project make you a little woozy? No worriesâwe've got your back. We know that as an entrepreneur, you have a thousand other plates to spin when launching a brand, which is why we offer condensed sprint-style project timelines and clear milestones. Want to leisurely email back and forth once a week for the better part of a year? We're probably not for you. Looking to get in, create an incredibly stunning and strategic brand, and then move on to other things? We'll get along fabulously. Check out our process below, broken down into steps: Inquiry First, you'll make an inquiry via our contact form here. This is pretty straightforwardâbut, do note that the more detail you include here, the more prepared we will be for our discovery call! Discovery Call After filling out the contact form, you'll receive an email from our team with a link to book a free 30-minute discovery call. This is where we'll learn all about your business, what you want to get out of this project, and your goals for the future. A few questions we'll ask on the call: What are some of your goals both short-term and long-term for your brand? What compelled you to start this business? What does success look like to you? We'll also chat about different budget options, project timelines, and deliverables to determine a solution that fits your needs. Proposal After our discovery call, we'll have a good understanding of all the details that are needed in order to send you a detailed proposal. This will outline specifics about your project such as the deliverables included, timeline, payment plans, and how your project will be run. With most of the proposals that we send, we include a couple of different package options outlining different ways to tackle your brand development at varying budgets and timelines. Note that these aren't set-in-stoneâwe are happy to fine-tune them as much as needed so that they fit exactly what you're looking for. Onboarding Alrightâso, you've read through your proposal, selected packages that work for you, and you're ready to rumble. In order to book, you'll pay a 40% deposit to hold your spot in the timeline and review and sign a contract. Within about 2 business days after you book, you'll receive all of your welcome information via a centralized project dashboard that outlines everything you need to knowâproject milestones, a recap of your deliverables, how to submit your content, and quick links to important documents. You'll take some time to read through everything, and then there are two major tasks to complete: booking your brand strategy session + filling out a pre-session questionnaire. Brand Strategy The brand strategy session is where the magic happens. Before our session together, you'll fill out a quick questionnaire that will help us get on the same page before diving in together. It'll get the gears turning in your head when it comes to your brand and set the scene for what we'll be discovering on our call. On the day of the strategy session, we'll hop on a Zoom call for 1-2 hours and dive deep into aspects of your strategy such as your target audience, how to reach them, how to stand out from your competition, and what is the secret sauce behind your brand. We'll be taking organized notes the whole time and you'll have access to these in your final brand files for future reference. Now that we've chatted through all aspects of your brand, it's our turn to put our heads down for a week and get to researching + planning. At the end of this phase, we'll deliver to you an amazingly in-depth brand strategy guidebook that will be the North Star for the rest of your business' life. Whenever it's time to create a marketing campaign, hire a new employee, or develop a new product, you'll have this document to refer to in order to help decide the way forward and make sure you're making aligned decisions. During this phase, we also propose 2-3 strategy-informed visual solutions for the look and feel of your brand. We go beyond just basic moodboards for each of these, including typography inspiration, potential fonts that could be used, and a live website homepage mockup so that you can get a feel for how the brand actually might come to life. Identity Design Here comes the fun part! Now that you've chosen a visual direction and we've completed all the discovery, research, and planning behind your brand strategy, we can now move onto creating the visual identity of your brand. We believe in presenting brand concepts that are fully fleshed out. So, during the first step of this process you'll receive a presentation outlining not only all the logo variations, colors, and fonts included in your brand identity, but a handful of digital mockups that will help you actually envision how your brand will appear in real life. After you receive this presentation, you'll have two rounds of refinements to explore anything you think is necessary in order to convey your brand's message more effectively. Because of our in-depth strategy process that we complete beforehand, we find that the vast majority of our clients have barely any changes they'd like to see to the initial brand concept presentation. If you've selected a package that includes collateral (think business cards, social media templates, stickers etc.), we get to work on this in the week after your brand identity is finalized. At the end of this process, you'll receive all of your final brand files in a nicely packaged folder structure. We provide a clear set of brand guidelines (with examples of what and what NOT to do) so that it's easy for you to stay consistent with your brand in the future. Additionally, we provide a guide for understanding your file formats, color codes, and tips for making the most out of your new brand. Packaging Woohoo! Now that we're done with the brand development portion of the process, we are now able to move onto packaging (if it is included in your project). The secret sauce for making a packaging project run smoothly is: Being super organized with all of the bits and pieces that you need to supply (packaging copy, die lines, printing info, ingredients, barcodes, badges, net weight, disclaimers, nutrition factsâyou name it!). Not beginning the packaging project/design until the above content is 90% there When we dive into this part of the project well-prepared with everything that needs to go on the packaging, we can focus more on the design and concept itself rather than updating and tweaking the necessary content. Packaging can be overwhelming if you've never done it before, which is why we provide a comprehensive checklist of everything that's needed on your end so that the process is a bit less daunting and more clear + easy for you. Like the brand identity, for packaging we provide an initial concept presentation fully fleshed out with mockups, and there are two opportunities for refinements to the design + content. Your final files are delivered so that they're print-ready according to your specifications and can be directly handed off to your printer. Production + Photography Something that a lot of people don't realize when starting a branding, packaging, + website project is that there needs to be roughly a 2-3 month gap in the middle of the timeline to 1. get your products printed + produced and 2. get your products professionally photographed. Your website design truly comes at the END of everything elseâit's the last thing you focus on that leads right up to the brand's launch. It's important to have your photography (or at least a good chunk of it) finalized before diving into the site design because much like copy, your photos make a HUGE impact on the design of the site. For this reason, we highly recommend a couple-month long "break" between the packaging + web design phases of your project so that you can focus on getting your products produced + photographed. See below for an example of a project timeline laid out visually: Site Design We're in the home stretch! Now it's time to take allll that we've done so far and craft your brand's own corner of the internet. At the beginning of this phase of the project, your site's information, details, and copy are due from you. This will be clearly outlined in an easy-to-follow checklist that will help you stay organized and on track. If you want to outsource your site's copy (which is often the most daunting part of gathering what's needed for your site!), we offer this as an add-on to your project scope. When it comes to the site design itself, the structure of the project depends on which type of package you opted for: Template-Based Sites With a template-based site, we will work together to determine your site's needs and find a theme that works best for the functionalities and layout that you're looking for. From there, we will use your brand's colors, custom fonts, and custom CSS to stylize the site and make it your own. Just because it's template-based does NOT mean it's going to look DIY or like everyone else's site! The end result is a stunning and branded site that works for you and comes at a more affordable cost than custom development. Custom-Developed Sites Our custom development packages offer a higher level of flexibility when it comes to the design and functionality of your site. We start the process by mocking up how your site will look from scratch. This gives us a totally custom and differentiated feel and allows you to make design decisions that wouldn't necessarily be possible with a template-based site. After we finalize the site's design in the mockup stage, we then move onto the development phase of the project where your site is built and brought to life. After the site has been designed, the next steps for both package options above include optimizing the site for mobile, installing any necessary on-site apps, and running through a series of testing and pre-launch tasks. We recommend that before launching your site, you have about a week-long "soft launch" so that you're familiar and comfortable with your site's backend and ordering system before your real launch. It's important that you feel super comfortable and empowered to update your site as your brand evolves, so we also provide training videos to walk you through the backend of your site for future updates/promotions/product additions etc. Wrap up At the end of every project, we set you up with a handful of materials that ensure the success of your new brand. See below for the full list of deliverables that a typical brand development, packaging, and website project includes: Brand strategy session notes Brand strategy guidebook + competitive analysis Brand guidelines document Brand identity assets (logos, colors, font guidelines etc.) Any collateral pieces that were included in your project (business cards, social templates, stickers etc.) A series of digital mockups portraying your brand in real life Guide covering how to use your file formats, color codes, and how to get the most out of your brand Your print-ready packaging files A stunning, high-converting branded website with apps + functionalities Website training videos Backup of your site's custom CSS Future Support We want you to have a partner that you can rely on when it comes to any future branding, design, or website needsâwhich is why we don't say sayonara as soon as our project together has wrapped up! In order to support you in a convenient, flexible way, we offer one-day design sprints so that you can get the design help you're looking for whenever the need arises. Our past clients rave about these because they offer you a quick turnaround, live collaboration, and it's like having a full-time design employee but only when you need it (and without the commitment of a yearly salary). Plus, we get a lot done during these days! Learn more about how our post-project design days work here. In Conclusion We've put a lot of thought and trial + error into our process over the years. What we've landed on is streamlined, strategic, and, most importantly, produces the results and ROI that you're looking to get when launching your brand. Interested in learning more if we're the right fit for you + your brand's needs? Schedule a free 30-minute discovery call today. We'd be thrilled to get to know you!
My 7 Must-Read Branding + Business Books
Books đđŒ are đđŒ the đđŒ best đđŒ. (And yes, although they're not my style, audiobooks DO count as reading!). Seriously. The depth of knowledge that a $10-$30 business book can get you (if it's not one of those repetitive, Apple-is everything, filled with fluff type ones) just doesn't compare to blog posts, podcasts, YouTube videos, you name it. As someone who reads for an average of 90 minutes a day, I can say wholeheartedly that reading has changed the course of my business FASTâhere's a list of my favorite branding and business-related books: Building A Story Brand Starting off with a classic, this one is a must-read for not only brand designers but any entrepreneur, marketer, or product designer. The way to a human's heart (or level of deep understanding) is through stories. When you frame your product/business/brand through the lens of a story, all sorts of magic happens. This magic = the growing success of your brand (and revenue!). Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action If you're any sort of business owner, read this book. As a business, when you articulate WHY you do what you do before explaining WHAT you do and HOW you do it, people's ears perk up (as opposed to instinctively shutting you out, like the other 4,000 - 10,000 ads they see per day on average). Beyond just successfully marketing your brand, this book helps you find a greater purpose in the work that you do every day. Having a strong understanding of your "why" helps you more easily make decisions in your business, identify which opportunities are right for you, and attract clients/customers that could really be helped by what you offer. This book was truly one of my favorites, and I'd probably recommend starting with this one! The 12 Week Year This one is somewhat of a recent find for me and has been SUCH a game changer. If you're like me, you're a dreamer. You have all these big ideas that sound amazing. You have so much fun brainstorming and setting up a plan to implement these ideas. However, when it comes to actually implementing them...it never seems to pan out! How frustrating, right? This has been a big source of insecurity for me in my business lately. Cue The 12 Week Year, which breaks down how to ACTUALLY get stuff done by mapping it out clearly into a 12-week plan of attack that keeps you accountable day-by-day. Since reading this book and setting up a simple system in Notion for tracking these 12-week goals, I've gotten SO much back-burner stuff done in my biz. It makes my brain so happy to check things off each week (and even getting ahead of the weekly plan). And, it's not overwhelming to make this change, which means it'll actually be sustainable in the long run. The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself Although a tad bit outdated (I think I remember faxing being mentioned non-ironically at some point), this book still provided a relevant + valuable overview of how to market your business. The title is a bit misleadingâthis one covered way more than just how to build a referral program. It's more like "How to Build a Business That's So Awesome It'll Get a Ton of Referrals". The business world is really cool to me because when it comes down to it, it's all about people offering their unique skills, knowledge, and experience to help others...help others. This book covers in-depth the entire customer life cycle and how to show up in an authentic way that 1. keeps your customers hooked and 2. builds exponential business growth via organic referrals. Again, this one's not just for brand designersâany sort of entrepreneurial soul would find a lot of value in this one. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth Yes, you created your business primarily to help others, but it's also true that a big part of being an entrepreneur centers around making that good good cash flow. You can't do your best at what you love to do (and hire other people to help you) if you're constantly stressing about the lack of invoices you're sending out next month, right? I loved this book because it outlines building wealth in such an easygoing, abundant way. It talks about a variety of principles and mindsets about money that successful people often share. It really gives you a magnifying glass that highlights where your beliefs are holding you back or helping you find success. It's an easy and insightful read (and gets you excited about the goodness that your future holds!). The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level This is another one that hit me like a brick wall (in the best of ways). My fellow design biz friend Emily from Salt and Soul Collective and I gushed over this one during a hangout in Sayulita togetherâit was the answer to a problem that she and I were both facing at the time. You know when everything's going REALLY well for you and you're like "holy cow, how did I get here? There's no way this is going to last!". This is actually a majorly limiting beliefâthis book talks about how a HUGE amount of people self-sabotage as soon as they hit a certain level of success. It teaches you how to raise your "upper limit" and become truly comfortable with the dream life that you're building. Another message from this book that I LOVED and think about all the time is the idea that you create your own time. I'm still working on fully soaking this mindset in, but it is so freeing to view things in the way that you "get" to do them, not "have" to do them. This is one that I can see re-reading every 2 years or so just to soak in the goodness of its message. The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes I am only about 50% done with the book (at the time of writing this post) and I. Am. Obsessed. Much like Donald Miller's Building a Story Brand mentioned above, this book looks at brands through the lens of storytelling. However, this one more specifically speaks about how successful brands are ones that fit into a series of "archetypes" that humans know and are familiar with (ex. the Hero, the Outlaw, and the Magician). Although this is a branding book, I think that even people that aren't necessarily in the branding world would enjoy this. Something about it just CLICKS and makes so much sense.  I hope you find something in this list that changes the game for youâI've for sure found a gold mine in each of these. Curl up with a hot cup of tea, a cozy blanket, and get learning đ Have any other book recs or want to chat about one of the above? Send me a DM on Instagram!
My 7 Must-Read Branding + Business Books
Books đđŒ are đđŒ the đđŒ best đđŒ. (And yes, although they're not my style, audiobooks DO count as reading!). Seriously. The depth of knowledge that a $10-$30 business book can get you (if it's not one of those repetitive, Apple-is everything, filled with fluff type ones) just doesn't compare to blog posts, podcasts, YouTube videos, you name it. As someone who reads for an average of 90 minutes a day, I can say wholeheartedly that reading has changed the course of my business FASTâhere's a list of my favorite branding and business-related books: Building A Story Brand Starting off with a classic, this one is a must-read for not only brand designers but any entrepreneur, marketer, or product designer. The way to a human's heart (or level of deep understanding) is through stories. When you frame your product/business/brand through the lens of a story, all sorts of magic happens. This magic = the growing success of your brand (and revenue!). Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action If you're any sort of business owner, read this book. As a business, when you articulate WHY you do what you do before explaining WHAT you do and HOW you do it, people's ears perk up (as opposed to instinctively shutting you out, like the other 4,000 - 10,000 ads they see per day on average). Beyond just successfully marketing your brand, this book helps you find a greater purpose in the work that you do every day. Having a strong understanding of your "why" helps you more easily make decisions in your business, identify which opportunities are right for you, and attract clients/customers that could really be helped by what you offer. This book was truly one of my favorites, and I'd probably recommend starting with this one! The 12 Week Year This one is somewhat of a recent find for me and has been SUCH a game changer. If you're like me, you're a dreamer. You have all these big ideas that sound amazing. You have so much fun brainstorming and setting up a plan to implement these ideas. However, when it comes to actually implementing them...it never seems to pan out! How frustrating, right? This has been a big source of insecurity for me in my business lately. Cue The 12 Week Year, which breaks down how to ACTUALLY get stuff done by mapping it out clearly into a 12-week plan of attack that keeps you accountable day-by-day. Since reading this book and setting up a simple system in Notion for tracking these 12-week goals, I've gotten SO much back-burner stuff done in my biz. It makes my brain so happy to check things off each week (and even getting ahead of the weekly plan). And, it's not overwhelming to make this change, which means it'll actually be sustainable in the long run. The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself Although a tad bit outdated (I think I remember faxing being mentioned non-ironically at some point), this book still provided a relevant + valuable overview of how to market your business. The title is a bit misleadingâthis one covered way more than just how to build a referral program. It's more like "How to Build a Business That's So Awesome It'll Get a Ton of Referrals". The business world is really cool to me because when it comes down to it, it's all about people offering their unique skills, knowledge, and experience to help others...help others. This book covers in-depth the entire customer life cycle and how to show up in an authentic way that 1. keeps your customers hooked and 2. builds exponential business growth via organic referrals. Again, this one's not just for brand designersâany sort of entrepreneurial soul would find a lot of value in this one. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth Yes, you created your business primarily to help others, but it's also true that a big part of being an entrepreneur centers around making that good good cash flow. You can't do your best at what you love to do (and hire other people to help you) if you're constantly stressing about the lack of invoices you're sending out next month, right? I loved this book because it outlines building wealth in such an easygoing, abundant way. It talks about a variety of principles and mindsets about money that successful people often share. It really gives you a magnifying glass that highlights where your beliefs are holding you back or helping you find success. It's an easy and insightful read (and gets you excited about the goodness that your future holds!). The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level This is another one that hit me like a brick wall (in the best of ways). My fellow design biz friend Emily from Salt and Soul Collective and I gushed over this one during a hangout in Sayulita togetherâit was the answer to a problem that she and I were both facing at the time. You know when everything's going REALLY well for you and you're like "holy cow, how did I get here? There's no way this is going to last!". This is actually a majorly limiting beliefâthis book talks about how a HUGE amount of people self-sabotage as soon as they hit a certain level of success. It teaches you how to raise your "upper limit" and become truly comfortable with the dream life that you're building. Another message from this book that I LOVED and think about all the time is the idea that you create your own time. I'm still working on fully soaking this mindset in, but it is so freeing to view things in the way that you "get" to do them, not "have" to do them. This is one that I can see re-reading every 2 years or so just to soak in the goodness of its message. The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes I am only about 50% done with the book (at the time of writing this post) and I. Am. Obsessed. Much like Donald Miller's Building a Story Brand mentioned above, this book looks at brands through the lens of storytelling. However, this one more specifically speaks about how successful brands are ones that fit into a series of "archetypes" that humans know and are familiar with (ex. the Hero, the Outlaw, and the Magician). Although this is a branding book, I think that even people that aren't necessarily in the branding world would enjoy this. Something about it just CLICKS and makes so much sense.  I hope you find something in this list that changes the game for youâI've for sure found a gold mine in each of these. Curl up with a hot cup of tea, a cozy blanket, and get learning đ Have any other book recs or want to chat about one of the above? Send me a DM on Instagram!
How to Become a Graphic Designer in College
If youâre looking to become a graphic designer as a college student but thinking âwhere do I start?â, youâre not alone. How am I supposed to find clients? How much should I charge? It can take a bit of testing the waters to truly figure it out. In celebration of graduating from university next week, Iâll pull together some insight into how I built a 800+ customer, five-figure graphic design business on the side over the past year while attending college full time. Tutorials, Tutorials, Tutorials! Iâd say that 80% of my graphic design skills are self-taught with the remaining 20% coming from design school itself. The good news here? You donât really need to go to design school to become a successful designerâitâs all about having the drive to learn and better your skills on your own time. Online tutorials are probably the #1 most powerful way to learn graphic designâthe wealth of information at your fingertips online is astounding. Lynda.com, Skillshare, and Adobe are all wonderful resources that are great ways to learn the basics and get comfortable using a variety of graphic design tools and programs. Once you have those down, YouTube and Pinterest are amazing for finding more niche tutorials that will bring your design skills to the next level (and allow you to have fun while doing so). What Software Should I Use? My recommendation to someone looking to dive into graphic design would be the Adobe Suite all the wayâspecifically Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat Pro (perhaps Lightroom too if youâre working heavily with photos). These are the pretty much the holy trinity of graphic designâlearn the uses for each tool and when itâs appropriate to use them (ex. logo designs in Illustrator, magazine layouts in InDesign). Luckily, Adobe offers a pretty kickass student discount that makes it affordable and definitely worth a subscription. Beyond this, some of my top-used tools in my belt include: WeTransfer (sending large files to clients) Coolors.co (a seamless way to put together color palettes) Trello (for organizing and keeping track of client projects/other to-dos) Toggl (for keeping track of time spent on projects) AND CO (awesome invoicing, proposal/contract, and expense tracking tool) Hipsum (youâre going to want to show this to everyone you know) Where to Get Clients? Iâll let you in on a little secretâall of my clients so far have been inbound. Thatâs right, I havenât once put out a sales pitch (yetâplanning on it in the future!). So, how did I achieve a steady pipeline of clients as a total beginner without a degree or portfolio? My (not so) secret ingredient isâan Etsy shop! Here are a few magic things about Etsy that make it the perfect tool to jumpstart your graphic design career: It has so much traffic to offer. Get your keywords and search optimization right and youâll have a much higher pipeline of people checking out your work compared to the traditional build-a-website and organically-grow-traffic route. Itâll be smart to build yourself a website down the line once you have a meatier portfolio, but Etsy will get you much more traffic at a much faster pace. The creative freedom that selling templates online gives you is powerful. When youâre creating templates to sell, you have no client to work for, therefore you can design products exactly how you want, which is a great exercise in helping you find your personal style (and keeping things interesting!). You have the chance to start building an email list way early on in your career as a graphic designer/creative. Some hints on how to do thisâadd a link to your email signup at the bottom of your email signature, offer a 10% discount off your products if customers sign up for your email list, add the signup into your thank you note that Etsy automatically sends out to your customers. It puts you in touch with a global network of clients, which is amazing networking-wise, but also fulfilling to know that youâre helping people out across the globe. In my first 1.5 years of selling on Etsy, Iâve completed custom client projects for businesses and individuals in over ten countries and sold templates to clients in over fourty. Donât underestimate the power of a local network, but how cool is it to have that sort of reach right off the bat?! Once youâve found your groove and put products up in your shop, the flood gates will open and youâll start receiving inquiries for custom designsâitâs portfolio building time! Tips for Designers Selling on ETSY Templates, templates, templates! And no, Iâm not talking about the awesome design templates that youâll be selling. Youâll find that youâre going to receive the same questions over and over again once your shop starts getting noticed. Every time you answer a new question copy and paste your answer into an easy-to-access doc or notepad so that you can use it again later and streamline your question-answering process. Create an Etsy section titled âCustom Jobsâ or the like and create listings for each of the common custom services you offer (example here!). This will let visitors know that youâre open to custom jobs, inform them more about budget and project specifics before they get in touch with you, and overall raise the quality of the inquiries youâll get because they will (usually) have checked out the info on your custom services already. This puts your clients and yourself on the same page and sets reasonable expectations, making your job easier. Generally, charge for custom jobs through Etsyâs platform. The amount of fees taken out of the order may be higher than those of Paypal, however, your client will be able to leave you a sparkling review, the sale will count towards your overall order count, and you can consolidate all your earnings in one place. However, if itâs quite a large custom job, these benefits may not be worth it to youâitâs smart to judge this on a case-by-case basis. Recycle âcustom jobâ listings to save a TON of time by eliminating the need to build an entire listing for each. I usually have three listings that are dedicated to custom job payments. Whenever thereâs a payment for a project due, I reuse one of these listings that has already been paid by a previous client, adjust the title to be something like âCustom Listing for Julia - Logo Designâ, and adjust the price accordingly. Send the link to your client and youâre good to go! So, do you think youâre leaning towards setting up shop and diving headfirst into the freelance world as a college student? Here are a few more points to consider when deciding if itâs right for you. Benefits of Freelance Designing in College You can set your own schedule (and work from your bed!) It looks great to future employers and shows your drive, initiative, and entrepreneurial spirit. Plus, by building a network of clients, this can open opportunities for you in the future when youâre on a post-grad job hunt (or decide to freelance full time)! You learn a lot beyond whatâs taught in your classesâboth hard and soft skills You can blast music while getting your work done, all while in cozy sweatpants :) Drawbacks of Freelance Designing in College You can set your own schedule...and work from your bed⊠Finding the balance between schoolwork, design projects, campus clubs, a social life, and anything else youâve got going on. Itâs hard to study for that test when you know youâve got a design deadline coming up and vice versa! Youâve got to be careful about people walking all over you. The people around you will often ask âcan you make this quick flyer for me?â and youâll be tempted to do it for minimal pay or for free. Sometimes it is absolutely the move to help a friend or family member out, but it can become a slippery slope. Two hints in general: charge more than you think you should, and ALWAYS have a contract clearly outline the scope + number of revisions. Itâs more lonesome than a traditional on-campus job. Overall, the one thing that I truly believe you need to have in order to balance a full course load + a design business is passion. Generally, when working on a design project, I donât even feel like Iâm working at allâthatâs how much I love what I do. Iâm not sure itâd be an easy feat to succeed if your heartâs not in the game. However, if graphic design is your thing (or at least you think it may be in the future and youâre excited to put in the work and learn), thereâs a wealth of opportunity out there for you, even without the design degree and no previous experience under your belt. Graphic designers in college (or any other graphic designer for that matter!), how do you make it work? Are there any tips + secrets I missed? Leave a comment below! Letâs stay in touch! Instagram  |  @bungalow.creative Pinterest  |  @bungalowcreative
How to Become a Graphic Designer in College
If youâre looking to become a graphic designer as a college student but thinking âwhere do I start?â, youâre not alone. How am I supposed to find clients? How much should I charge? It can take a bit of testing the waters to truly figure it out. In celebration of graduating from university next week, Iâll pull together some insight into how I built a 800+ customer, five-figure graphic design business on the side over the past year while attending college full time. Tutorials, Tutorials, Tutorials! Iâd say that 80% of my graphic design skills are self-taught with the remaining 20% coming from design school itself. The good news here? You donât really need to go to design school to become a successful designerâitâs all about having the drive to learn and better your skills on your own time. Online tutorials are probably the #1 most powerful way to learn graphic designâthe wealth of information at your fingertips online is astounding. Lynda.com, Skillshare, and Adobe are all wonderful resources that are great ways to learn the basics and get comfortable using a variety of graphic design tools and programs. Once you have those down, YouTube and Pinterest are amazing for finding more niche tutorials that will bring your design skills to the next level (and allow you to have fun while doing so). What Software Should I Use? My recommendation to someone looking to dive into graphic design would be the Adobe Suite all the wayâspecifically Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat Pro (perhaps Lightroom too if youâre working heavily with photos). These are the pretty much the holy trinity of graphic designâlearn the uses for each tool and when itâs appropriate to use them (ex. logo designs in Illustrator, magazine layouts in InDesign). Luckily, Adobe offers a pretty kickass student discount that makes it affordable and definitely worth a subscription. Beyond this, some of my top-used tools in my belt include: WeTransfer (sending large files to clients) Coolors.co (a seamless way to put together color palettes) Trello (for organizing and keeping track of client projects/other to-dos) Toggl (for keeping track of time spent on projects) AND CO (awesome invoicing, proposal/contract, and expense tracking tool) Hipsum (youâre going to want to show this to everyone you know) Where to Get Clients? Iâll let you in on a little secretâall of my clients so far have been inbound. Thatâs right, I havenât once put out a sales pitch (yetâplanning on it in the future!). So, how did I achieve a steady pipeline of clients as a total beginner without a degree or portfolio? My (not so) secret ingredient isâan Etsy shop! Here are a few magic things about Etsy that make it the perfect tool to jumpstart your graphic design career: It has so much traffic to offer. Get your keywords and search optimization right and youâll have a much higher pipeline of people checking out your work compared to the traditional build-a-website and organically-grow-traffic route. Itâll be smart to build yourself a website down the line once you have a meatier portfolio, but Etsy will get you much more traffic at a much faster pace. The creative freedom that selling templates online gives you is powerful. When youâre creating templates to sell, you have no client to work for, therefore you can design products exactly how you want, which is a great exercise in helping you find your personal style (and keeping things interesting!). You have the chance to start building an email list way early on in your career as a graphic designer/creative. Some hints on how to do thisâadd a link to your email signup at the bottom of your email signature, offer a 10% discount off your products if customers sign up for your email list, add the signup into your thank you note that Etsy automatically sends out to your customers. It puts you in touch with a global network of clients, which is amazing networking-wise, but also fulfilling to know that youâre helping people out across the globe. In my first 1.5 years of selling on Etsy, Iâve completed custom client projects for businesses and individuals in over ten countries and sold templates to clients in over fourty. Donât underestimate the power of a local network, but how cool is it to have that sort of reach right off the bat?! Once youâve found your groove and put products up in your shop, the flood gates will open and youâll start receiving inquiries for custom designsâitâs portfolio building time! Tips for Designers Selling on ETSY Templates, templates, templates! And no, Iâm not talking about the awesome design templates that youâll be selling. Youâll find that youâre going to receive the same questions over and over again once your shop starts getting noticed. Every time you answer a new question copy and paste your answer into an easy-to-access doc or notepad so that you can use it again later and streamline your question-answering process. Create an Etsy section titled âCustom Jobsâ or the like and create listings for each of the common custom services you offer (example here!). This will let visitors know that youâre open to custom jobs, inform them more about budget and project specifics before they get in touch with you, and overall raise the quality of the inquiries youâll get because they will (usually) have checked out the info on your custom services already. This puts your clients and yourself on the same page and sets reasonable expectations, making your job easier. Generally, charge for custom jobs through Etsyâs platform. The amount of fees taken out of the order may be higher than those of Paypal, however, your client will be able to leave you a sparkling review, the sale will count towards your overall order count, and you can consolidate all your earnings in one place. However, if itâs quite a large custom job, these benefits may not be worth it to youâitâs smart to judge this on a case-by-case basis. Recycle âcustom jobâ listings to save a TON of time by eliminating the need to build an entire listing for each. I usually have three listings that are dedicated to custom job payments. Whenever thereâs a payment for a project due, I reuse one of these listings that has already been paid by a previous client, adjust the title to be something like âCustom Listing for Julia - Logo Designâ, and adjust the price accordingly. Send the link to your client and youâre good to go! So, do you think youâre leaning towards setting up shop and diving headfirst into the freelance world as a college student? Here are a few more points to consider when deciding if itâs right for you. Benefits of Freelance Designing in College You can set your own schedule (and work from your bed!) It looks great to future employers and shows your drive, initiative, and entrepreneurial spirit. Plus, by building a network of clients, this can open opportunities for you in the future when youâre on a post-grad job hunt (or decide to freelance full time)! You learn a lot beyond whatâs taught in your classesâboth hard and soft skills You can blast music while getting your work done, all while in cozy sweatpants :) Drawbacks of Freelance Designing in College You can set your own schedule...and work from your bed⊠Finding the balance between schoolwork, design projects, campus clubs, a social life, and anything else youâve got going on. Itâs hard to study for that test when you know youâve got a design deadline coming up and vice versa! Youâve got to be careful about people walking all over you. The people around you will often ask âcan you make this quick flyer for me?â and youâll be tempted to do it for minimal pay or for free. Sometimes it is absolutely the move to help a friend or family member out, but it can become a slippery slope. Two hints in general: charge more than you think you should, and ALWAYS have a contract clearly outline the scope + number of revisions. Itâs more lonesome than a traditional on-campus job. Overall, the one thing that I truly believe you need to have in order to balance a full course load + a design business is passion. Generally, when working on a design project, I donât even feel like Iâm working at allâthatâs how much I love what I do. Iâm not sure itâd be an easy feat to succeed if your heartâs not in the game. However, if graphic design is your thing (or at least you think it may be in the future and youâre excited to put in the work and learn), thereâs a wealth of opportunity out there for you, even without the design degree and no previous experience under your belt. Graphic designers in college (or any other graphic designer for that matter!), how do you make it work? Are there any tips + secrets I missed? Leave a comment below! Letâs stay in touch! Instagram  |  @bungalow.creative Pinterest  |  @bungalowcreative
Branding Mistakes that are Costing You Money
An important concept to be aware of in business is your opportunity costâ"the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen". In short, what are you missing out on as a result of the choices you make? It's not only WHAT you do that's crucial, it's also what you don't do. Having a solid brand requires that you have an awareness of the marketing activities that will drive the most revenue and success. See below for a list of the most common missed opportunities that we see brands struggle with: Skimping on your photography budget If I had to pick just ONE element of your overall brand that can truly "make it or break it", it'd be your brand's photography. Humans are extremely visual creatures and make a subconscious snap judgment as soon as they lay eyes on your imagery. You want the hero section of your site to be crystal clear, engaging, and communicative. It should clearly demonstrate your product with a little bit of flair (AKA not just on a plain white background). A lot of brands forget to carve out budget for professional photography in the initial brand building process. You MAY be able to DIY your photos, but from what I can see 85% of brands who try to do this just aren't cutting it quality-wise. Prioritizing social over email New business owners make the mistake of thinking that their Instagram feed is their end-all, be-all marketing platform of choice. I'm pretty sure the below statistics will change your mind: Agency Analytics states that: Email marketing generates $38 for every $1 spentâan astounding 3800% ROI. Social media comes in at a distant second place with an estimated average ROI of 28%. Say what?! It's definitely important to have a stunning social presence, but if you're not emphasizing the importance of email marketing in your business, you are missing out on some serious dollar bills. Plus, with email, you "own" your audienceâprotecting you from potentially losing access to your audience in a social account (which is super common with Instagram's habit of wrongly shutting down accounts lately). Glossing over customer retention Harvard Business Review states that acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. This is a HUGE difference! It's fun to put a lot of thought into growing your audience and attracting new customers, but you should be putting in just as much (if not more) effort into making past customers happy and engaged. A few ways you can do this are offering customer-only sales, reaching out for product feedback, sharing their user-generated content on your socials, and overall considering how your post-purchase funnel consistently increases your average customer lifetime value. Focusing on keeping past customers happy will also reap dividends when it comes to word-of-mouth marketing. Forgetting to upsell Sumo.com shares a couple of statistics that will make you want to hop on over to the Shopify App Store to find a good upsell app ASAP: Upselling increases revenue by 10-30% on average. Upsells are 68% more affordable than acquiring a new customer. Upselling in E-commerce is the same idea as the gum in the checkout lane at a grocery storeâmaking it easy for customers to add low-cost items to their carts on your way out is a way to significantly raise your revenue at a really low cost. In Conclusion Take a step back and really consider what opportunities your brand may be missing out on when it comes to growing your audience and revenue. It's important to not only go with your gut feeling hereâyou also want to take a look at the average ROI of the different strategies available to you so that you can be sure you're maximizing your efforts and reaping the rewards. Want to chat about the potential blind spots in your brand? Schedule a free 30-minute discovery call with us today.
Branding Mistakes that are Costing You Money
An important concept to be aware of in business is your opportunity costâ"the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen". In short, what are you missing out on as a result of the choices you make? It's not only WHAT you do that's crucial, it's also what you don't do. Having a solid brand requires that you have an awareness of the marketing activities that will drive the most revenue and success. See below for a list of the most common missed opportunities that we see brands struggle with: Skimping on your photography budget If I had to pick just ONE element of your overall brand that can truly "make it or break it", it'd be your brand's photography. Humans are extremely visual creatures and make a subconscious snap judgment as soon as they lay eyes on your imagery. You want the hero section of your site to be crystal clear, engaging, and communicative. It should clearly demonstrate your product with a little bit of flair (AKA not just on a plain white background). A lot of brands forget to carve out budget for professional photography in the initial brand building process. You MAY be able to DIY your photos, but from what I can see 85% of brands who try to do this just aren't cutting it quality-wise. Prioritizing social over email New business owners make the mistake of thinking that their Instagram feed is their end-all, be-all marketing platform of choice. I'm pretty sure the below statistics will change your mind: Agency Analytics states that: Email marketing generates $38 for every $1 spentâan astounding 3800% ROI. Social media comes in at a distant second place with an estimated average ROI of 28%. Say what?! It's definitely important to have a stunning social presence, but if you're not emphasizing the importance of email marketing in your business, you are missing out on some serious dollar bills. Plus, with email, you "own" your audienceâprotecting you from potentially losing access to your audience in a social account (which is super common with Instagram's habit of wrongly shutting down accounts lately). Glossing over customer retention Harvard Business Review states that acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. This is a HUGE difference! It's fun to put a lot of thought into growing your audience and attracting new customers, but you should be putting in just as much (if not more) effort into making past customers happy and engaged. A few ways you can do this are offering customer-only sales, reaching out for product feedback, sharing their user-generated content on your socials, and overall considering how your post-purchase funnel consistently increases your average customer lifetime value. Focusing on keeping past customers happy will also reap dividends when it comes to word-of-mouth marketing. Forgetting to upsell Sumo.com shares a couple of statistics that will make you want to hop on over to the Shopify App Store to find a good upsell app ASAP: Upselling increases revenue by 10-30% on average. Upsells are 68% more affordable than acquiring a new customer. Upselling in E-commerce is the same idea as the gum in the checkout lane at a grocery storeâmaking it easy for customers to add low-cost items to their carts on your way out is a way to significantly raise your revenue at a really low cost. In Conclusion Take a step back and really consider what opportunities your brand may be missing out on when it comes to growing your audience and revenue. It's important to not only go with your gut feeling hereâyou also want to take a look at the average ROI of the different strategies available to you so that you can be sure you're maximizing your efforts and reaping the rewards. Want to chat about the potential blind spots in your brand? Schedule a free 30-minute discovery call with us today.
