No one knows who The Rock used to be (or about how you mega failed that one time..)
In a random survey (of my friends) it was found that 60% of people don’t know what Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson did before he was
What can we learn from Kanye and Adidas?
Okay, this is a heavy one.. There’s a pic of my wee kitty if you read all the way to the end 🙂 The people
Marketing is about saying it over and over and over and..
You know that thing you keep talking about online? The thing you sell.. You know the thing you’re 100% sure people are tired of hearing
Feel better about your marketing by focusing on how you make people feel
This you..? You post once about your latest project then never talk about it again..You see people who need your service but haaaate to message
Sometimes it’s right to break your own rules
You know me, I’m not one to work weekends… Yet here I am writing a blog on a Sunday. What? Why?? How come??? Hypocrite! Look,
Instead of saying NO to a client, try this..
Next time you’re gonna say no.. Ask for something outrageous. I neeed you to get this done by tomorrow – Sure, for triple the rate. Can
You control your own time, act like it!
Have an awesome week! But wait..! It’s Thursday (when I wrote this!), it’s not the start of the week??? Look, time is a human construct.
How the fear of being wrong holds you back
Y’know what’s holding you back? It’s not not knowing what you need to do (you know enough to get started (you know that!)) It’s not
Overcome your limiting beliefs and become who you want to be
What I learned about freelancing from coaching freelancers
I’ve been coaching freelancers for three years now. (Well really I’ve been doing it for about 10 years but y’know, informally like.) In that time
How to take time off as a freelancer
If you live in the UK today is a bank holiday. That means the banks aren’t open, the trains run reduced service, shops close, public
The things I need to be an effective designer
I was on holiday and now I’m back! While I was away I was reminded of something. I need quiet. Like… … … … …
To make more money, make people care
Have you ever asked yourself if people care about your business? Most freelancers only see their biz from their point of view. For what it
Fuck this 10k boss babe / hustle bro nonsense
Top tips for avoiding burnout
It’s the end of the day on a Friday so I’m not gonna keep you long.. My last (hopefully ever) burnout came after I worked
6 ways to improve client negotiations
I got a rough lesson in negotiation in my early days as a designer and it helped me shape how I approached negotiations ever since.
How to get paid – Let me (pretend to) run your finance dept
As a freelancer you wear many hats in your biz
One of the most important is getting paid!
But it’s not easy to be the person delivering a service and chasing payment
So let me do it for you!
Create a new email address, orwell@yourURL.com and pretend I run your payments
Swipe n I’ll show you how!
Just pretend you’re me!
From: Orwell McG [orwell@yourURL.com]
Hi [client name]
I’ve attached the invoice for [work description]. Please make the payment before [deadline], the payment details are included on the invoice.
Thanks for your business!
Orwell
Payments dept.
It lets you ask for money and chase late payments without having to feel weird or pushy
One of my clients has been doing this for months!
By putting distance between you and the money, it also makes a client feel more obliged to pay on time
In their mind you’re no longer a wee freelancer but a business owner with a team
Try it and let me know how you get on 🙂
So the client hates everything you make..
New projects are wonderful! Full of potential to make lovely designs. Interesting designs! Designs that push the boundaries of your skills and the client’s expectations..
How the mentoring programme works
I’ve got a programme that I’ve refined over my years as freelancer
It’s helped me at every stage of my career from sidegig freelancer to director
It works like this…
Happiness
More time
More money
Calm mind
That’s the results
But what does it actually mean for the freelancers I work with?
Growth
Systems
Audience
Basics
Basics
We can’t build a house on poor foundations, so first we cover the basics. Think of it as taking the chaos out of your head and gving you back control.
Audience
You gotta know your audience in order to appeal to them. We create predictable cashflow by understanding your audience and giving them what they need from you.
Systems
Imagine McDonalds if they didn’t have a process for making the food fast, it wouldn’t work right? We give you back your time by putting processes and systems in your biz to make the repetitive stuff super easy.
Growth
As you grow your needs change, so we identify the skills and the people you need to help your biz grow how you want it to
The programme works!
It’s worked in my business and it works for the freelancers that work with me
We lay the foundations, you learn the skills and know-how you need and you do it for yourself!
Wherever you are in your freelancer career, this process can help you get to the next stage
How to spot a time waster
How to spot a time waster
They’re vague about what they want
They say they have no budget
They don’t engage with your process
They agree to the price but want to delay payment
They ask you to copy someone else’s work
They try to micromanage you
They have unrealistic expectations
They’re quick with deadlines but slow with payments
What’s the solution?
Set some boundaries with you client at the start!
Steal my process for staying in touch with potential clients
Not every person who needs your service is ready to buy
It’s your job to be first in their mind when they are
But how can you stay in touch without feeling like you’re being pushy?
Swipe and I’ll show ya…
When you contact them, focus on solving their problem
Steal my process
Make a list of potential clients you’ve spoken to
Note their problem and how you’d fix it
Set a date to contact them
Whenever you see an article, event, post, video or if you create something that will help them with their problem, save it!
Send it to them when you get in touch
Swipe to see my script…
Steal my client script
Hiya
Last time we spoke you said you were working on [their problem], how are you getting on with it?
I saw this [name of thing you’re sharing], it has/shows you [describe useful section], I think it might be useful to help you out.
Let me know if it’s useful!
It shows you remember them and their needs
Gives them something that helps them
And offers the opportunity to get in touch
And you don’t ask for anything!
Try it and let me know how you get on 🙂
Reflect on your progress to improve your mindset
Life is a series of experiences. Some make us feel good, others make us feel less good. Our brains are hardwired to remember the less
Set goals on your own projects so you achieve them!
In our day to day work we use our skills to help people achieve their goals. We find out what they’re trying to achieve, research
When they ask you to work during your holidays, copy this
A client wants you to work during your holiday time? We can’t have that! Copy this script and politely let them know you won’t be available
given the opportunity clients will…
steal your you time
holiday headspace
check your emails
convince
guilt working
don’t let them do it
you give so much
you deserve your holiday
recharge
recentre
expand your mind
don’t apologise
taking a break
desk
copy it
Manage your ego and learn to be the sidekick
Every hero story needs supporting characters
They’re the people the hero couldn’t succeed without
Batman has Robin and Alfred
Beyoncé had Kelly and Michelle
Pharell has N*E*R*D
Carol Davers has… well she’s Captain Marvel so…
Being a sidekick isn’t an insult, it’s a role you take when you realise you can’t be the hero in every story
The truth is
You can’t be the hero in your client’s story!
When you focus on helping them achieve their success
You will become more sucessful
So let them be the hero!
Be the sidekick, support their success and remember to ask for referrals 😉
Your identity iceberg explained
Your identity is made up of many things
Not all of them can be seen on the surface
This is how we all experience each other
When we start out in business, these are the things we see and admire about others
We see people’s actions, decisions and behaviours and we copy them, hoping they will bring us the same success
But if you’ve ever done this, you know it doesn’t work. That’s because we’re missing what’s below the water
These are what make you unique
You are you because no one has the same combination of skills, beliefs, values and identity that you do
The reason it feels weird to copy someone else is that you’re not being true to yourself
Only by using your skills to act on your beliefs and values can you be true to your identity
That’s when you’re at your best!
What’s below creates what’s above
If you want to chage your actions, decisions and behaviour, you have to start by changing what’s below the water
Challenge your limiting beliefs
Improve your skills
Question the root of your values
Choose to be who you want to be
Or change your environment!
Only you get to choose who you are
When did Rihanna become Rihanna?
When did Bowie become Ziggy Startdust?
Was Zlatan born a lion?
You get to decide who you are. Only when you choose to become who you want to be do you start acting like that person.
Don’t be passive in your own life, choose it.
Actions
Decisions
behaviour
skills
beliefs
identity
values
environment
How I became a £500 per hour designer
When I first started out as a freelancer making money was tough
I was inexperienced with a small folio and I didn’t know how to convince people to hire me to design their branding…
So I created Startup 101
A basic brand package that covered the main forms of comms for new companies in my area
Logo
Business card
Letterhead
Email signature
£600
The process worked like this
Client interview
Research
Sketches
Client chooses a sketch direction
Logo + mockups
Edits
Final files
It was a hit! I got loads of work
Quickly the £600 price tag became £800 became £1200 became £2000!
I knew the process inside out, I got better and better at knowing what the client needed, I refined my process, got clients to refer me to other businesses and, as clients built up, I increased my price
And I got so good at feeling what design was right for the client I cut out the sketch decision phase
I was delivering a single set of designs to a happy client it in just 4 hours
£2000 ÷ 4 hours = £500ph
If you’re struggling to sell all your services…
Choose a product you can create that your clients need
Design a process to create it
Learn how to sell it
Work the process till you know it inside out
Collect feedback and get happy clients to refer you
Up your price as you get better
How to avoid getting screwed when projects go wrong
Life would be great if it all went to plan…
But often times it doesn’t…
And in business, if you haven’t planned for a bit of mess
You can get screwed!
Luckily, planning for a few mistakes is easy to do
Swipe and I’ll show you how…
+20% That’s it, that’s the secret
Plan the project
Work out how long it will take
Then add 20%
That will make sure that when things go wrong you’ve got time to fix them
Time you’re being paid for!
So why let a fear of being yourself hold you back?
Things always take longer than you expect, and that’s okay!
Things always take longer than you thought
We all have our own shit going on and work at our own pace. Life gets in the way! So when it does…
Go easy on yourself!
Decide what you want, keep getting better every day and the life you want will come
How to create a PDF preset for Adobe CC
Tired of wasting time changing the settings every time you wanna export a PDF? Want to understand what some of those darn settings do? Check out this vid and I’ll show you how to create your own preset that you can use across all of the Adobe Suite 😀
