This post comes highly requested from my most recent annual survey, so I’m stoked to write it for you!

First things first, my business has undergone a pretty massive pivot in what I offer, which in turn changes what I do every day, week and month quite a bit too.

In this past year’s 2019 subscriber survey, y’all told me you’d like to see more of the behind the scenes of how I run my business and what I’m actually up to, so this post is an effort to do exactly that!

The scary thing about telling the world on your blog what you’re up to though is that it puts on the pressure to actually make all the things happen . . . Eeeek!

I’m back with another business anniversary recap post! I love doing these, both so you get to see what growth and evolving in an online business really looks like year to year, and because it’s legit part of my year-end tasks to reflect on the past year, make decisions and changes for the new year. And so writing this post really helps me do that and forces me to take the time to do so.

Soooo the new year is coming around the corner hot and you’ve been struck by the feeling that you should probably do some planning for the year to come . . . buttttt, you don’t really know where to start, eh?

I’m going to share how I reflect on my past year and plan for the coming one in this post today, so feel free to take some tips and plan the next year of your business alongside me!

I’m sure if you run a business too you feel the pressure to be on all the social platforms, especially the current Queen of social media - Instagram!

We all seem to have this guilt and feeling like we ‘have’ to be on Instagram, especially for our businesses. But let’s be real, a lot of people are starting to get over the social media hype, live more in their ‘real life’ and less in the often very fake world of social.

Let’s face it. Starting an online business is HARD.

There are so many things to think about—picking your niche, designing your website, figuring out all things legal + taxes, choosing a CRM, finding your brand vibe, getting clients, nailing down finances—the list goes on and on!

It’s no wonder many online businesses fail before they even really get started…it’s an overwhelming process.

I get it. I’ve been there.

I’m sure as a fellow business owner you know what I’m talking about when I say it feels like there’s a pressure about what we ‘should’ be doing to get clients in our business.

It seems like everyone out there has the latest and greatest marketing strategy which you must do in order to get clients.

But I have good news! A lot of these things we’re hearing are just lies and I will tell you honestly that I know you can run a fully booked studio without listening to the noise.

Let’s not sugar-coat it, we all struggle with the comparison game at some (or many) points when running our businesses.

#BusinessEnvy can be a real thing.

Ugh, we all know the struggle.

An inquiry from a potential web design client lands in your inbox, you get back to them and then . . .

*Crickets*

This question is one I know so many new designers struggle with; when do you know the time is right to raise your prices?

I’m going to give you both some insight from my own business and others designers I’ve chatted with to help answer this question today.

I answered a question for one of my course students today and I thought I'd be doing y'all a disservice if I didn't share the answer with you too.

She knew I had paid for and taken Copywriting for Creatives, the course from Ashlyn Carter that helps creative entrepreneurs write conversion copy for their website!