How Holly Meyer Streamlined Her Design Process (Using Organize & Automate)

How Holly Meyer Streamlined Her Design Process (Using Organize & Automate)

Holly Meyer is the talented brand and web designer behind Holly Meyer Design. 

She enrolled in my course, Organize & Automate,  this Summer and saw SUCH great results from it that I knew I had to turn her experience into a full blog post for you to see. 

Real quick before we dive in: Organize & Automate is my signature video course, made to help web + graphic designers streamline their design process so they can work smarter and faster, not harder. 

Read on to see how O&A helped Holly:

  • Outline & document her design process
  • Impress her clients with her new consultation process
  • Work smarter so she can take on more clients without more stress!

4 Simple Emails To Build Your Client List (Today!)

4 Simple Emails To Build Your Client List (Today!)

One of the best parts of being a creative entrepreneur is the work. 

Unlike your friends with a j-o-b, you get to decide which projects you take on, which challenges will stretch you creatively, and which tasks are the best match for your skill set.

One of the worst parts of being a creative entrepreneur? Finding that work.

When you dreamed of becoming a freelance designer (or a freelance copywriter, in my case,) we didn’t fantasize about sweaty palms at networking events. Awkward sales conversations. Struggling over how the heck to install a Facebook tracking pixel.

And hey, networking events and social media can be great ways to find new clients. But there’s also a beauty in getting back to basics. 

Finding clients doesn’t have to be complicated or anxiety-inducing. It can really be as easy as sending a few simple emails. 

How I went from shop assistant to freelance web designer in 3 months

How I went from shop assistant to freelance web designer in 3 months

If you're going to read my blog posts every week, I want you to know who they're from. I want you to know about my past, my journey as a designer and how I can help you.

Basically, I want us to become friends!

So if you have a spare 10 minutes and you're curious about who these emails are from, read on. I'm getting brutally honest about my journey today.

The start of it all

In 2010 I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. One day I wanted to be a teacher, the next day I wanted to be a writer. So, I didn't do anything. I waitressed in Pizza Hut for a while so I could at least bring in a bit of cash, and I worked in telesales for day. (Six hours of cold calling and I was outta there.)

In 2011, I worked in as a shop assistant for Calvin Klein Jeans. It wasn't the most glamorous job but it paid the bills. My boss became seriously ill and had to leave for six months, so I took her place as manager and learned what it takes to manage a department, deal with angry customers, handle employees, work ridiculous hours and hustle towards sales goals (or suffer the wrath of Head Office if I didn't.)

I didn't know it at the time, I was learning what it took to be my own boss.

How To Create A Contract For Your Design Business

How To Create A Contract For Your Design Business

As all freelance designers and creative entrepreneurs know, contracts are a necessity when working with clients, no matter how big or small the project is. 

Why?

  1. Contracts provide you and the client with a description of responsibilities. It helps you both understand who is responsible for what. 
  2. Contracts secure payment. 
  3. Contracts protect you if you encounter problems with your clients.

Most designers do have a contract in place, but it's usually either (A) an unprofessional contract they wrote themselves (B) a contract they created from bits and pieces of other designers contracts, or (C) a template they found on some shady website they can't even remember.

5 ugly truths about becoming a freelance designer

5 ugly truths about becoming a freelance designer

When I first decided to become a freelance designer, I had big dreams about what it would be like. At the time, I worked a boring 9-5 job that didn't fulfill me creatively in the slightest, so the thought of being paid to design and do what I love filled me with SO much joy. 

I followed lots of design bloggers and I was always in awe of the pretty moodboards they had created, the beautiful Instagram profiles they had curated, and the wonderful testimonials from wonderful clients about how wonderful the design experience was. The life of a freelance designer looked beautiful. But that's probably because I was looking at it through rose-tinted glasses.

I know there are lot of people in my community who want to quit their jobs and become freelance designers (or start other kinds of businesses), so I wanted to take the opportunity today to share a few truths with you.

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