I’m sure that, as a creative person, you understand the power of catching people’s attention—be it via your creative artwork, a product you created, a photo or video you captured, or a written story that awakens deep emotions in those who read it.

Having a newsletter is like having someone’s phone number that you can text at any time, with the added benefit of writing once and distributing the same message to a few dozens (or even millions) of people. This makes email a powerful tool and one of the few digital communication methods that directly connects your message to the person interested in hearing it.

Of course, I’m not the only one knowing this, and neither are you. Anyone’s email can easily get overwhelmed by people or companies with the same goal—distribute their message to those interested.

Long gone are the days in which getting an email was an excitement. Now the inbox seems to become more crowded and harder to navigate. That’s why creating a newsletter is no easy feat and should not be taken lightly.

For almost nine months, we helped local creative entrepreneurs create digital homes for their businesses. During our collaboration, I noticed a big drive in implementing a subscription box on their website. While this shows that they understand the power of direct communication, this drive was not accompanied by a strategy on why, what, how, and when they should communicate with those looking to hear from them.

Without a clear strategy, you can leave room for all sorts of interpretations and frustrations on both ends—yours and your subscribers.

In this article, I will provide some guidance to help avoid the same mistakes and start this adventure with the right tools and strategies under your belt.

One of the first things you should tackle before comparing email sending services is to…

Give your newsletter a clear purpose

I can safely say that this is one of the most important and most skipped steps in implementing a newsletter on a website. From my experience, often, people go directly to adding a subscription box with no clear promise or intention behind it.

Going forward in this manner can bring many headaches for you and for the people who, although unaware of what’s going to happen next, trust you with their email address and hit the subscribe button.

What’s likely going to happen is that you will soon start feeling the pressure of sending something to your subscribers without actually knowing what to send and what they expect. Constantly having in the back of your head that people expect a message from you can become a burden.

As for the people who manage to subscribe to a mysterious newsletter, they will be caught off guard when out of nowhere, and after god-knows how many months, an email from you pops in their inbox.

To avoid such scenarios, take a bit of time to think about what you want your newsletter to be about. People need a clear value proposition from you to make room in their already crowded inbox. Plus, having a clear purpose in mind can give you a clear direction and sets the right expectation from the get-go.

If you have a hard time deciding what your newsletter should be about, I encourage you to start from what you already know or do.

You can build a newsletter where you share your views on the industry you are activating in, or talk about your struggles and find others who relate; you can use it to keep people up to date with what you do, invite them into your world, and help them understand the passion and drive behind the scenes, or provide helpful tips and tricks for others looking to get into the field.

Whatever it is, I suggest to…

Start small and make sure it’s doable

Don’t go overboard with your plans, and don’t try to hit two many birds with one stone. Since this (probably) is new ground for you, it’s best to start with one purpose in mind and move up from that.

Make your life easier, and don’t complicate things. Although you might feel the need to talk about numerous things with your audience, overpromising can soon hurt your ability to deliver on those promises.

For example, at Pixelgrade, we created the Upstairs community as a place where creative people speak about their journey and where people can interact with one another and discuss similar experiences. We started with this goal in mind because Oana and I are the ones deeply involved and stories are closer to our heart—we know we can manage it by ourselves with small interventions from our team members.

The same can be with your newsletter—make it about one thing (at least initially) and be confident that you can handle it by yourself or have the right people around who can pitch in. This strategy allows you to be focused and ensures you can…

Tell people what to expect

Your audience needs to understand what they will receive and what’s expected of them in exchange for that email address. Stating your purpose loud and clear ensures everyone is on the same page.

The good thing is that, now that you tackled the steps I mentioned above, you can start outlining your promise to the website visitors you are looking to attract.

Start with detailing what you are going to send them via email. Be clear in your promise so there won’t be any misunderstandings. Don’t use complicated sentences that ultimately diffuse the message or make it harder to comprehend.

Next, make sure you explicitly mention when the newsletter is arriving in their inbox. Creating a time and frequency commitment will be helpful both ways—people will know when to expect to hear from you, and you’ll have a deadline and recurrence to keep you motivated.

To go a step further and give people a glimpse into your reasoning, it’s worth mentioning why you started this newsletter and what you want to achieve with it.

For example, let’s say you are creating handmade scented soy candles, similar to what Flair Scent does, one of our Rosa2 customers, and want to write a newsletter to share what’s it like to be a small creative business owner. During your time analysis, you realized that realistically speaking, you have can make it happen once a month.

Here’s what people can expect to read in the subscription box added on your website: “Once a month, I share details about the process and struggles I face when building my small business in the hopes that others find inspiration and learn from my mistakes.”

All you have to do next is get down to work while you…

Make sure it speaks to who you are

As with any writing endeavor, the main roadblock comes from actually sitting down and writing the content. A lot of questions might pop into your head: “How should I address my audience? Should I be friendly or formal? Where to start?”

Hard questions, indeed, but they have a straightforward answer—write the same way you talk. We’re written many times on this subject (I mentioned that stories are closer to our heart, didn’t I?) and even created an ebook on how to improve your writing style, but it all comes down to being true to who you are.

Let’s say you publish a picture on Instagram. To create more context, you start writing a few lines, outlining a story around that photo. Well, when it comes to writing your newsletter, you should most certainly use the same writing style and migrate it over to email.

There’s no need for using words, expressions, or tone of voice that’s not in tune with who you are. Doing that will cause two things:

1. your audience will see disconnection from your social media persona and the one in the emails, causing an inconsistent experience;
2. your newsletter will suffer long term because it will be hard to keep up with a style that doesn’t feel like you. Soon enough, you will reach writer’s block, and you’ll have a hard time keeping your promise.

Newsletters don’t just “live” on the internet isolated from everything else you do. It’s important to offer a consistent customer experience every step of the way and make sure the newsletter fits the overall design, writing style, and brand identity.

As long as you are true to yourself, sharing your thoughts with the world will become easier as time passes by, and the people interested in hearing from you will be able to find themselves in your stories.

Of course, all of this advice means nothing without an audience. Growing your list will be a long-term process, so…

Don’t get discouraged by the numbers

People use their email for all sorts of things: track and confirm online purchases, manage bills and subscriptions, read other newsletters, get notifications from different apps, communicate with other businesses or institutions, connect with like-minded people, apply for jobs, and the list goes on.

As you can imagine, your newsletter must convince people that what you have to say deserves its place among all the others. When you think about it this way, you soon realize that having 20 subscribers is a significant achievement. It means 20 people found you worthy of taking place in their (already crowded) inbox, and your thoughts deserving the hassle of having another email to manage.

The second thing your newsletter has to do is cut through the noise and convince people to read it time and time again. If you see a 15% open rate count it as a big achievement—you swayed a part of your audience to give your email a high enough importance on that given day.

Your newsletter is competing for attention, and these days attention is the number one currency in the digital world.

Every company, big and small, wants to get as much attention as possible out of any given day—Netflix wants you to keep watching, Facebook and Instagram to keep scrolling, Youtube to jump from one video to the other.

On top of all of these attention grabbers, there’s life with all its intricacies—working, spending time with family and friends, eating, exercising, and whatnot.

It’s easy to get discouraged when looking at the “competition,” but try to see the bigger picture. You managed to convince people that making room to read your emails among all that noise is worthwhile.

Although I’ve talked a lot about strategies, goals, audience, and so on, never forget to…

That was a lot. Let’s recap the main ideas to make sure we’re on the same page:

1. Start with a purpose in mind—give your newsletter a clear goal, and keep things narrow so you can be focused and motivated;
2. Make sure you can handle it—start by writing about things you are most comfortable with, and come naturally to you; don’t complicate things, or you risk bailing out early;
3. Commit and make sure it fits your schedule—running and maintaining a newsletter is no easy feat, so make sure right from the start that it’s something you can handle long term;
4. Be honest and upfront with what you have to offer—don’t just place a subscription box without providing context. Inform your website visitors about what they will get, when you are going to knock on their digital door, and why you are doing it. Clear the air to make sure everyone’s on the same page;
5. Match the newsletter to who you are—don’t create an alternate persona or put pressure in writing your newsletter a certain way just because you saw it somewhere else. By being yourself and writing the way you talk, you create a consistent experience for those who follow you, and that’s priceless;
6. Don’t obsess over the numbers—everyone’s email is flooded with information left and right, not to mention all the other services and areas of our lives that get our attention. Keep your eyes on sending out a newsletter you are proud of, and people will follow;
7. Play around with different ideas and see what sticks—avoid getting stuck into the same ways of doing things; your life can change, the things you did can no longer be sustainable, so don’t be afraid to adjust the course and have some fun along the way.

Newsletters are one of the most effective ways you can reach many people in a single shot. It also requires an action plan, commitment, drive, and, of course, other people interested in hearing from you.

The good thing is that if you start the journey equipped with the right tools and strategies, you will most certainly reach your goals. You just need to be patient and listen to feedback; after all, email opens a two-way communication channel.

The post Starting a newsletter on the right foundation appeared first on Pixelgrade.

As a community builder constantly investing in my learning curve, I felt first-hand the limitless power of relationships. For instance, within Upstairs Community, members help me keep the cadence of publishing new narratives every two weeks. It doesn’t happen out of the blue, that’s for sure. In fact, communication is what opened the gateway to nurture this tribe.

Due to an honest and authentic dialogue, I’ve been discovering new contributors, I’ve been bringing new members on board, I’ve been iterating on the core message. I’ve been keeping things in motion.

“Relationships move at the speed of trust, and social change moves at the speed of relationships.”

Jennifer Bailey

At Pixelgrade, though, things are more complex since the entire system looks like a mosaic. We use multiple communication channels, there are several touch-points with our customers, various audiences to serve, and quite a few marketplaces.

Things are not linear nor uniform. For the past five years, we’ve been heavily investing in places where we can control the experience. I know that control can send chills down your spine, but bear with me. I’m talking about the opportunity to get in touch with our customers and initiate a relationship in the best possible terms.

Having the chance to talk directly with our customers and address their needs and interests gives us room to start building relationships.

In this article, I walk you through how we shape relationships on our side of the world. While most of the tactics could be a good fit for your business, make sure you filter them through your own lenses and goals.

Let’s dive in.

An emotional customer relationship goes a long way

First of all, it’s good to know that we’re Latin people. We have a certain passion running through our veins. We put a lot of soul and intensity into what we’re doing. It’s, for sure, a huge chunk of what kept our wheels spinning in the last ten years at Pixelgrade.

Second of all, the understanding of how we want to treat our customers in the long haul evolved as years passed. If in the beginning, we were laser-focused on solving their problems as fast as possible and move to the next one, that’s not the case anymore. Today, we still help them make progress, but we’re interested in gluing the pieces to build a bigger picture, too. 

We’re keen to understand our customers’ business, motivations, even their set of values and beliefs.

On a local level, we’ve done that thoroughly with a couple of businesses operating in the hospitality industry. Once the pandemic kicked off, we made a public call offering to them build websites that reinforce their personality and keep things afloat.

To build a relationship with them, we had multiple online calls, tailored our customers’ assistance by offering 1:1 support (Andrei, my teammate, did a fantastic job), and crafted personalized videos to help them understand the intricacies needed to move fast and safe. We genuinely gave our best to help them succeed and stay in business.

On a global scale, here are a few actions that we consistently take to nurture an emotional bond:

• Extra help: we’ve given before getting by offering rock-solid solutions through customer support tickets, even though some of them had nothing to do with our products.
• Video calls: we tried to put a face to the name and run 1:1 discussions about how they make the most out of our work and help them achieve more.
• Educational content: we’ve been writing articles about struggles they’ve been facing to help people get unstuck and make progress in better conditions.
• Interviews: we’ve been showcasing their stories on our blog in a way that’s aligned with our values and overall approach in communication; the interview with Mark speaks for itself.
• Reviews: we designed a system that encourages honest feedback about our digital products to help upcoming customers make the best decisions for their interests.
• Community: every two weeks, we invite them to get some inspiration and plenty of hope by reading beautiful stories about other people’s challenges. They also have the opportunity to share their story and create connections with other community members. 

It’s too much, too little? I don’t know. But I’m well aware that’s part of who we are today and in alignment with our mission: to support people who want to make an impact in their communities.

It’s very clear you build up communities, from Oana’s passion when writing to the quality service I’ve received from you & Vlad. Anyone who uses your products has a great chance to make an impact because of your dedication to empowering others.

I’m developing a website right now with Rosa2 for a client who provides the voice-over, video production, and brand building for her Hispanic audience, the site will be completely in Spanish. Her clients need her, my job is to help make that happen because it’s important, and you enable me to do that.

It’s a crazy world, just know that you all are making an impact here in the San Francisco Bay Area, to bring quality products & services to people that need them. Thank you Alin, this is all real, and it does make a difference, great work by all!

Jeff, Pixelgrade customer

Outcomes come in many shapes and sizes, but I’ll tackle this area in the next lines, so get yourself comfortable.

You may think that we’re in a privileged position because we’re selling on a global scale, or we have exquisite know-how internally. That’s not the case. Everyone can learn to nail building relationships. However, few people are up for the challenge. Mainly because you can’t sign in and sign out from a relationship whenever you want. You can’t be the one talking the most and pretending that you’re also a great listener. It’s not credible to look after someone only when you have an interest and ask for a commitment in return.

Please allow me to offer some hints about how you can start nourishing customers’ liaisons on your terms.

Where to start in building customer relationships

While I don’t have any recipes or magic tricks, I have ten years under my belt as a community builder. Creating tribes is all about building relationships, so I hope my expertise is enough to, at least, give the following tactics a go.

1. Know your customers

Every healthy relationship starts with a lively desire to know each other, discover, and find valuable insights. Remember when you first fell in love and felt the need to spend vast amounts of time with your dear one? Well, you don’t need to go there, but make sure you invest time and energy in discovering your customers.

One way to do that is to try to connect on a personal level. Give it your best to find out not only why they purchased your product or service. Go in-depth and learn about how they like to spend time, what their passions are, how they integrate your product or service into their life, how, when, and why they “consume” your product or service.

2. Connect with your customers

Connections come in many flavors, so feel free to choose the one that fits you best. There’s no need to compromise yourself. Get involved in contexts and scenarios where you feel comfortable, on your terms.

For instance, you can behave like a host next time you have a discussion (online or offline) with your customers. Before going wild and asking the hard questions, invest in welcoming and helping them feel comfortable. They, too, are nervous and anxious, do not doubt that. In the end, they don’t do this often. Get some coffee and goodies (if you are doing it offline), ask how their day was, how much time they have at their disposal, and how they feel. At the same time, share what you are going through — once they hear that you are as nervous as them, they will relax more knowing that a real person is on the other side.

Small gestures go a long way.

3. Stay in touch with your customers

Meaningful relationships pass the test of time. The most consistent friendships I have are with people I know a few years back. Thus, time is not the only key ingredient. Doing stuff together, sharing the same interests and passions, contributing to similar causes, having alike values are also necessary.

Your involvement does not have to end once you deliver the service or ship the product to their door. In some ways, it’s just the beginning. You can follow up a few months later and ask how they’re enjoying your product or the changes your service made possible. Learn about the ups and downs, what are the first memories they have with your product. You can also share bits and pieces of your work, including improvements you’re working on, new products coming up, awards you got, or the charitable work you are involved in and how they contributed to that.

There are various approaches to keep building relationships with your customers. In many ways, you are already doing that without even knowing it. Maybe you slipped a bonus product into the shipping box, or sent a hand-written note thanking them for choosing you. It’s precisely the kind of gesture that makes the relationship better.

It does not mean that all liaisons are equal (there’s no such thing) or that you will invest no matter the outcomes. But make sure that as long as you’re there, you give it the best chances.

Sometimes, at Pixelgrade, we’re lucky enough and get the echoes turned into reality. We get heart-melting emails from our customers who told us we’re the best. We get great reviews that make us dance in the office. We get photographs and illustrations as a sign of appreciation. We get flowers and other beautiful gifts that manifest gratitude and camaraderie.

And sometimes, we don’t get any of these. And that’s okay. It just reminds us that building relationships is a long-term investment and way of thinking and behaving. As long as we know that and act accordingly, we’re up for nurturing liaisons that last and grow. In the end, beauty lies in bringing forces together to make a change for the better, right?

The post Solid customer relationships can set you apart appeared first on Pixelgrade.

In the age of social media, email marketing, ads, and stories, there’re a lot of places where people can get a feel of who you are and what you do.

The problem is that, except for the posts you publish, there’s not much control over your social media account. Algorithms change, features get added and removed, and making sense of metrics like engagement, reach, and impressions are most often complicated and hard to link to actual sales.

Not to mention all the love-hate relationship with social networks and the contrasting approach people have with these services. When everything about the world is in one place (entertainment, cold facts, fake facts, donations, events, interest groups, and much more), none gets the needed attention. It’s just harder and harder to make a choice, so you end up scrolling, pushing the like button here and there, and exiting.

Your website is the place where you have the most control. You decide how each page looks, how products are showcased, and the purchasing experience you want to provide.

Think about it as your digital house. You have the keys, you take the garbage out, you clean up the rooms, you cook, you have fun, you let your friends in. It’s a level of authority that comes with both responsibility and rewards.

It’s often easier to rely on the “default setting” of some of the systems you use and miss showing to the world what makes you different.

Your website is also where people expect to get clarity around what you do, how you do it, who you are, and what you stand for. It’s the place where all those touchpoints connect and make sense in the mind of your visitors.

Having control also comes with the responsibility of offering a consistent customer experience. That means that you must make sure that the experience you offer your customers every step of the way, before and after purchase, is consistent with who you are and how you want to present yourself to the world.

Due to the complexity of the systems needed to create an online website and shop, you might often fail to provide the consistency your customers expect with each interaction. It’s easier to rely on the “default setting” of some of the systems you use and miss the opportunity of using them to show to the world who you are and what makes you different.

In the following lines, I’m going to explore three of the key strategies that can help you provide your customers a consistent experience while browsing your website and learning about you.

Everything I talk about comes from my hands-on experience working with local customers to create unique websites for their businesses. In other words: I’m speaking from the tranches, not the imaginary.

Focus on building a single digital home

These days, there are specialized solutions and services for just about everything. There are services for showcasing your portfolio (like Behance or Dribbble), selling your creative work (e.g., Etsy), showcasing and delivering your food (e.g., Uber Eats, Doordash), writing about what you’re passionate about (e.g., Medium).

Using specialized services comes with advantages — most of the time, they do one thing, and they do it great. You’ll be confident that, for very specific needs, those services made all the possible optimizations to help you get started in no time.

The problem is that all of these services are disconnected from your website and offer cookie-cutter solutions that make it hard to stand out.

Sure, uploading and linking to your portfolio on Dribbble is easy, but that means it will look the same as thousands of others, and it makes it harder for people to get in touch with you. Sure, you can direct your website visitors to purchase your work on Etsy, but your product page will also advertise other creative people’s work, slimming the chances of making the sale yourself. Not to mention all the changes Medium has gone through the years and how you can suddenly see your content gated behind paywalls.

Using your website in a mix with external services is exactly what breaks the consistency your customers are looking for.

Instead of seeing the same design and learning everything they need about you in one place, they are asked to switch platforms and get tangled in their specific flows—and probably getting lost and forgetting why they visited your www in the first place.

Who can guarantee that, once they end up on Dribbble, Etsy, or Doordash, they won’t see something or someone else that catches their eyes and makes them forget all about you?

If you are not convinced, here are a few reasons why you should think hard before using such services:

• You don’t have control over how you present your work, market your products, or share your stories — these services are created to fit large groups of people and come with big constraints.
• You don’t have access to data about your customers or followers — being able to communicate with those who choose you over others and getting to know them is extremely valuable for improving your work, gathering new insights, and connecting with your tribe.
• You don’t own your work — you can’t export those hundreds of reviews if you want to shut down your Etsy account, and your Dribbble or Medium followers are real as long as you keep using those services. All that work goes nowhere if your needs change and those specific services don’t fulfill them anymore.
• You are outsourcing your core — you should be the one controlling who can read your content, the way they can purchase your product, and how your portfolio should look like. Relying on third parties makes you susceptible to whatever changes they will enforce without having a voice.

The benefit of having everything under one roof, aka on your website, allows you to provide your fans and potential customers a one-stop-shop for everything related to you. You can have a place to tell your story, one to showcase your portfolio, a shop to sell your work, and a blog to keep people in the loop and share your vision and thoughts all within the same roof.

WordPress is such a tool that can adapt and grow at the same time as you. It allows you to add or remove functionality depending on your needs. With the right WordPress theme, you can control every step of your customer’s journey on your website, and you’ll be the one deciding how your story is presented to the world and who gets to read it.

A good example is DE CERAMICĂ, the website of a creative ceramics studio created with Rosa2, our WordPress theme. There, the two sisters behind the brand manage to talk about who they are, present their ceramic collections, share the past projects they’ve worked on, promote different workshops, and have a successful shop where they sell their handmade pieces. With everything under the same umbrella, they can control every part of the experience.

Show yourself in all interactions

When you have a website, there are many places where people come in contact with you. Some pages and channels are most visible — like your home page, about page, blog posts, you name it.

Others, like newsletters, product and portfolio descriptions, order emails, contact form submission messages, are less “noticeable” but can often prove essential in offering a consistent customer experience.

In the past year, we helped a few local creative entrepreneurs build a digital presence. During that time, I noticed people tend to perfect the visible parts of their websites but fail to identify and adapt the other, more hidden parts to who they are and how they want to present themselves to the world.

If I were to compare (again) your website to your physical home, it would as if you were only taking care of the front lawn, the garden, the white picket fence, and the car standing front and center, while ignoring the way things are arranged inside, the light from each room, the comfiness of your couch. It would be best to balance these two since they are part of the same universe.

This duality creates a place of inconsistency and a broken experience for your audience and customers. For example, people get used to seeing someone jolly and fun on Instagram and get the same feeling when reading your about page, but the fairytale ends when it comes to the actual purchasing experience.

It’s the third time I mention the About page, you might as well know that we wrote a separate piece on how to create an About page that strikes a chord.

They are met with a boring product description that doesn’t speak to who you are. Once they place an order, they see a blunt thank you page and a series of automated emails filled with preconfigured text generated by the eCommerce service or plugin.

As you can tell, this disconnection between how they see you on other channels and website pages versus what their post-purchase experience is does nothing good for building trust, loyalty, and attraction towards you and your business.

If you think that making these things “sound” more like you is complicated, you could not be more wrong.

If you want to create a consistent customer experience from the first visit to the post-purchase review, you need to customize each touchpoint to match your writing style and tone of voice.

I know that product descriptions need to inform people, order confirmation emails must provide details about what was ordered and next steps, but there’s also a lot of playing room left uncharted.

Bring your personality into the subject line with a catchy line and an emoji, delight people with a Gif with your happy face when they place an order, make them feel special when that confirmation email comes in by sharing your gratitude for their trust. As long as you are true to yourself and how you communicate is in line with how you regularly do things, the possibilities are endless.

If you struggle with finding your writing style, we have an ebook that teaches you how to express your ideas in writing, capture emotions by writing the way you’re talking and be more human in your communication. Give it a shot.

If you are not sure what those touchpoints are, I recommend simulating a few browsing sessions and purchasing flows on your website. Put yourself in the shoes of your visitors and write down every pre and post-purchase touchpoint.

Next, think about how you can connect the dots and make everything consistent with how you usually talk, write, and present yourself to the world. Find the opportunities to mix the must-have information with what makes you stand out.

No matter where you communicate with your customers (blog posts, product description, email newsletters, order emails), keeping the same writing style and tone of voice can make a lot of difference in your customers’ eyes and get you closer to repeat purchases. Even if something as ordinary as sending an invoice can have a bit of your personality and delight your customers.

Fully embrace your look

There’s one final stage left towards offering consistency — your visual identity. I know this subject does not come in handy for everyone who doesn’t have experience in digital design or communication, but have no worries; you don’t have to go that deep.

To be consistent on all fronts, focus on using the same fonts and colors from your website everywhere your audience comes in contact with you.

I’m sure you strive to achieve a certain look with each blog or social media post, so I suggest you start emulating that look in other places. 

Often, when using multiple services and when people have to switch platforms to complete a task (like checking out your shop on Etsy), they will see a disconnect in the design (the look and feel) and have a broken experience.

By having everything is under one roof, for example, using WooCommmerce with a compatible WordPress theme, you get rid of the confusion and can be in control of how everything looks and feels at every stage of the browsing and purchasing process.

Colors help convey certain feelings and make people associate you with pleasant emotions, so you must use them to offer your customers a consistent visual experience.

If you have trouble choosing the right color and font palettes for your website, you can select any of our WordPress themes that come with Style Manager—an intuitive system that lets you pick between pre-defined palettes or create your own. See it in action below:

Tackling this area is similar to what I described above. Go through all the places your customers encounter along the way — website pages, blog posts, shopping cart and checkout page, newsletters, automated emails, etc., and write down where you need to make improvements.

Making design decisions is a complicated task (that’s why we have a WooCommerce Add-on to style your shop automatically) so, to make things simpler, focus on two main areas: fonts and colors.

You will feel more empowered to keep working on the website if you get those two done right from the start. From my experience of working with local businesses, I noticed over and over again that this is one of the first steps they need to make to continue progressing: matching the colors and fonts with their branding system.

Therefore, take those two elements and apply them to the areas not covered yet. You will be surprised about how big of a difference these small teaks can make for offering a coherent experience to people who choose you.

Now, let’s recap the main actions needed to offer a consistent customer experience:

• Keep everything under one roof — avoid specialized services that direct customers to different websites where you lack control over how you present yourself and where future changes can affect your core sales, presentation, and communication channels.
• Keep the same tone of voice and writing style — show yourself in every page, product, email, or message your customers get by matching each interaction to the way you usually talk and write.
• Keep visual consistency across all channels — start with colors and fonts and apply them across all the different touchpoints your customers interact with along the browsing and shopping journey.

In the end, consistency comes from being true to yourself and the values you believe in. If you do that, you’ve done most of the work. All that’s left is to pay a bit of attention to the areas where your customers come in contact with you and make sure you adapt them to fit your narrative.

I know the steps I detailed seem like a lot of work, but the beauty is that once the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, customers will be able to see your true self in everything you do. And that’s priceless, right?

The post Crafting a consistent customer experience on your website appeared first on Pixelgrade.

Quick navigation:

• In-depth look on how to make money from your website using your skills (5 steps)
• Think about scalability and your available time (3 concrete options)
• Takeaways to keep in mind when you feel lost

We live in a world where technology works like a two-sided sword. On the one hand, it can be a gateway to create meaningful work; on the other, it can clutter your mind with all the opportunities it provides.

The most significant advantage as a creative person is that you can earn more while keeping the focus on what’s truly important to you and fuels your energy without making compromises.

Let me be clear what I mean by being creative: someone who gets paid for his ideas. No matter the nature of them. Maybe you are good at writing engaging stories that touch people. Maybe you are a stunning photographer whose vision is unique. Maybe you are a talented food blogger who loves experimenting with recipes.

Regardless of how you explore your creative potential and the type of work you produce, there are several ways to leverage its value and make extra money.

In this way, you will continue to invest time and energy in fine-tuning your skills and less in pleasing all kind of weird customers.

I have 8+ years of experience as a community builder within the creative industries and ten as a storyteller and marketer. While wearing those hats, I met dozens of people who aim to earn more money out of their passion, without compromising themselves. However, they don’t have the know-how to make it happen.

They know their craft, they’re good at what they’re doing, they are dreaming of staying relevant as much as possible, but they lack skills and knowledge regarding how to find more customers who are willing to open their pockets and pay for their products or services.

If you’re one of them, always feeling puzzled about how to make more money, please bear with me until the end of this article. Once you reach the final words, you will have a clear list of steps and options you can explore.

In-depth look on how to make money from your website using your skills

Step #1 — Define how success and good enough look for you

We are different, therefore we have different needs, lifestyles, interests, and so on. So don’t try to compete with people or compare with them because you will draw an unrealistic image and act accordingly.

Paul Jarvis, designer and writer, wrote a wonderful book named ‘’The company of one’’, where he talks a lot about how you can stay small and still have big impact, but, most importantly, about the importance of defining what good-enough means for you when it comes to make money. 

Would you like to be a solopreneur working with collaborators? Do you prefer putting together a family business? How about having a job and earning some extra cash from a side project? Whatever the case, you need to be honest with yourself and admit which path fits you.

Every decision is right in a way or another, but it will bring you on a different path. There’s a huge contrast between sticking to the freelancer hat and working from your home with other remote people versus building a business with dozens of employees you need to pay monthly.

When it comes to your website, depending on the goals you set, you can decline specific actions to help you accomplish them. For instance, if you just need to cover some fixed costs such as hosting, a few ads here and there (think Facebook, Instagram ads), you can start by accepting paid reviews from some products you usually use. There’s a bad idea to create stories about products, services, and people you don’t trust for some reasons. 

On the other hand, if you aim to turn your website into a full-time job that pays your rent and the majority of your expenses, then you need to start thinking seriously about concrete actions that can lead you there without being burned out.

One direction to explore is long-terms collaborations with brands. You can write about their products, but also about other initiatives they have, regularly and ask for a flat fee that keeps your cashflow running. 

Step #2— Do more with what you already have

Fortunately, if you read this article, you most probably live in a world where a lot more people live a comfortable life.

What changed in the past few hundred years is how ideas become more expensive once people understood their worth and became more attached to the concept of intellectual property.

As a creative person, you experience it every single day because you work in an industry where the demand for concepts (written, visual, multimedia, digital, offline, etc.) is increasing tremendously.

More and more people like you face a new challenging dilemma: How can I explore my ideas in new ways so that I could earn more out of them?

Here’s the thing: you need economically viable ideas in order to ask for money. If they do not bring a sort of value, they are, well, entirely useless. The worth of them can vary: from teaching someone specific things about how they could improve a skill to creating pre-defined design templates that they can use in their work to save time and other resources.

Whatever the case, your ideas need to bring something in return that feels like a benefit for them. Otherwise, is just thin air and will easily dissapear.

Now it’s time to go in-depth and talk about specific tactics you can consider to sell more on the Internet. Are you ready to embrace this challenges?

Step #3 — Develop multiple revenue streams

As someone who want to be sustainable and profitable constantly, you need to put your eggs in many baskets. We live in a super dynamic world, where there are no certainties. On the opposite, loads of people are joining the same league you are part of, so the competition is getting stronger.

Therefore, consider mix and matching the above examples to create a flow of revenue streams that keeps you above the what no matter if one of them fails. 

For instance, try to combine brand deals with ebooks, online courses with offline events, and consultancy with creating physical products. Try to put your skills to work for you in a diverse yet efficient way, without diluting your effort or the results.

Far mor important then that is to start considering developing a strategy which allows you to make recurring revenue. This way you have your back covered and, on top of that, you earn time which you can invest in different areas of your life, not only professional

Step #4 — Choose the right tools and platforms

Nowadays, if you are perseverant and hard working you can get tasks done by yourself. The days when we only had experts who could help us on different areas are quite over.

If you are already on WordPress with your website, you’re pretty much set to go. That’s because you can easily scale it up according to your needs. Not to mention that 34% of the websites out there are base on thise CMS (content management system), and more and more people are joining the party since it’s so easy and somehow cheap (at least) to start.

There are premium themes out there that you can adapt to your specific needs in order to put together a website that represents both your activity and values. The design of some of them is really outstanding and the fact that you can manage them by yourself helps you save money and time.

Moreover, WordPress is an active community where people of all kinds are developing products that you too can use for improving your digital presence. 

Let me name a few: 

• Gutenberg is the lastest editor which is far more easy to use and helps you manage content in various ways;
• WooCommerce is a e-commerce plugin you can easily install to create an online store to sell your products;
• Style Manager is a customization tool integrated in all our themes to facilitate you get visual consistency across your website, no matter how much you build upon it.

All these tools and platform are at your fingertips, you just need to make a bit of research and work with the best providers out there.

Step #5 — Start small and manager risks

Too often people like you get excited in the first couple of weeks, maybe months, and start a lot of battles that they can no longer fight after a while. They simply want too much too soon.

I suggest you to kick-off on a smaller scale and learn how to manage risks as you grow and develop your website. It will not only help you evolve organically and learn a lot without skipping important lessons, it will also give you a lot of clarity about where you want to invest more, and which efforts you are okay to let go.

Don’t be afraid to take the time you need to define how success looks like for you; this way you can know once you hit that phase or what you need to do to get closer. If you see your life as working from home for just 6h everyday, be honest with that decision.

Be introspect, check the values that define you most, imagine how would you like to spend your days, and make sure every single action is aligned with your intentions.

Put in good use what you already have in terms of gadgets (you will be surprised about how much you can accomplish with your current phone) or your skillset (a photographer can also be an excellent content creator or a provider of beautiful visuals for social media channels).

Choose tools, platforms, providers of all kinds that resonate with your approach and give you room to make it happen on your terms. For example, if you value privacy, go with tools that promise that like DuckDuckGo for searching, Brave for internet browsing, and so on.

All these will give you plenty of peace of mind that is priceless for someone who want to make money out their skills on their websites. If you want to be one of them, you already know where to start from.

Think about scalability and your available time

The best option to generate sustainable revenue from your website is to pack your work in various types of products.

By work, I mean content of any kind (articles, stories, visuals, videos, illustrations, designs, etc.), and by products I refer to both digital (courses, ebooks, webinars, podcasts, etc.) and non-digital (jewelry, clothes, mugs, T-shirts, books, coasters, stickers, etc.).

Now, I’ll assume you already have a strong skill you rely on, and you are open to leverage your game. In other words, you are not at the beginning of the journey; testing the water out there, you already have somehow a clear idea about the value of your work.

For instance, maybe you have a blog where you write down articles about topics related to food and health. You share stories from how you decided to pay attention to what you eat, why you recommend some diets, even managed to generate some testimonials from people whom you teach about changing their lifestyle and staying healthy.

You’ve been writing for a while, gathered dozens of articles, people from your community have been distributing your content across social media, and all this effort led you to a few partnerships.

Most probably, brands started to reach you out to review their products, write guest posts on their blogs, publish promotional Instagram stories for them to gain visibility, and touch new audiences. For you, this effort translated into making more money to pay hosting, subscription to different digital tools, and so on.

Quite a promising start, right? You reached a level where you not only write content just for the sake of sharing your thoughts out there; you’ve also been noticed by brands you admire and trust to work together. On top of that, people are talking about your content, and they kind of love following you because you gain their trust.

👍 The pro is that you have now an audience you address, and you are associated with companies that can afford to pay you. This way, you expanded your network, met new people, got in touch with new tribes, and became more prone to find new collaborations.

👎 The con is that such a tactic is not scalable. You are a one-man-show, and you have limited time and resources (we all have, right?). You can’t work with several brands at the same time, and if you try to delegate, you might lose some contracts because they want to work with you directly. That’s why they reached you in the first place. Your name it what matters most to them.

Now let’s explore some options that allow to scale your revenue without investing the same amount of effort every single time.

I chose three examples of digital products that you can consider today and take it from there. Too often, creative people tend to feel overwhelmed with the wide range of options they have. The truth is that not all them match your goals and the best way to find out which one do that is to start small. 

Option #1 — Create digital products and put them for sale

Put together an online course where you teach people something valuable

For the sake of being consistent and sticking to the same example, you can create an online course for other food and lifestyle bloggers who are in their early days and want to take a similar journey as yours. 

Sharing knowledge is a smart idea to attract wider audiences who are willing to pay for accessing your expertise since this way, they get insights that can help them avoid mistakes or lose money.

There’s a bunch of people who are already doing that successfully, but I chose to let you know about Paul Jarvis, who I been mentioning earlier.

He’s an experienced designer who started as an employee at an agency, quit, and then took the freelancing path. Now, he presents himself more as a creative entrepreneur and writer since.A few years ago, I bought one of his best courses — ChimpEssentials, where I learned a lot of stuff about how to use MailChimp in a way that brings new customers on board but also feels natural and genuine to the way we communicate at Pixelgrade.

He recorded every single lesson, provided a lot of value through his live webinars and Q&A sessions, send e-mails to offer extra information, and so on. Long story short, he poured his knowledge and experience into a course that was open in batches (twice a year for a limited timeframe).

Jarvis worked a lot to make all these things happen, that’s for sure. It’s not easy, and it’s not a weekend type of challenge. But once he did it right, got in touch with the right kind of people (mainly marketers, such as me), he succeeded in finding customers who got a lot of value out of his course. No wonder why he’s still successfully delivering it today. Moreover, he expanded his portfolio with others too.

The great thing about online learning is that you work once, mostly when you put together the first course, and the result is scalable. Of course, if the content changes, as did for Paul Jarvis, because MailChimp got plenty of improvements, you need to update everything.

However, maybe that’s not the case for you. The great thing is that you win a lot of time that you can invest in different areas, such as communicating with your audience, posting on your blog, keeping in touch with your current customers. That’s fantastic news since you are a small creative freelancer or solopreneur, who mostly works on his own. 

Every single hour you win is golden mine, especially if you know how to spend it: reading, crafting your skills, improving your craft, and so on.

Create an eBook out of your knowledge and sell it online to your audience

Another strategy to build on top of your knowledge is to create an ebook where you address real problems that you faced and found a solution to them.

eBooks are a great way to optimize the content and insights you already have and make them available in a more appealing and easy to grasp material. One way to do it is to select the evergreen educational content (content that is relevant as time passes) – work once and reap the benefits for as long as you want.

Providing value to your community through curated content not only builds momentum, but it also increases your authority.

The more you have of that; the more significant are the chances to develop stable relationships that will turn into projects, collaborations, new business.

Let me share with you how we approached eBooks at Pixelgrade, maybe you resonate with our attitude on this one.

We started by taking an in-depth look at our blog. This research led us to a set of articles tailored to writing, a topic that we heavily covered in different ways. While rereading them, we noticed that there’s a red thread that can be structured and fine-tuned to create an eBook.

We used our branding system to help us emphasize the key messages (we have an in-house designer, but you can make it happen with tools such as Canva or asking for help within your tribe), created a landing page (you also find a bunch of free options out there), used an e-mailing services (ActiveCampaign in our case), and made it available on our website.

We did not ask for money at the time, but now I am seriously reconsidering because I genuinely believe that you need to pay for the knowledge you get from experts.

However, more than 1,000+ people(from developers to teachers) downloaded our resource, wrote us great feedback, promoted on their network, and some even bought our work (WordPress themes).

👍 The pro is that you can sell it ongoing, and that means that you have recurring revenue, which is mandatory as a freelancer or any one-person company. Moreover, if you reach people who take real value out of your eBook, start to brag about it, write reviews and testimonials, the chances are that more folks will hear about, and some of them will also pay for it.

👎 The con is due to the content of the eBook. For instance, if you choose to create an eBook about a dynamic topic that changes and evolves at a super pace, you will need to update it regularly with new and reliable information. Otherwise, people will feel you are unprofessional and lazy, and that’s not okay.

Option #2 — Earn money by developing offline products

If you’re the type who prefers to get out of the digital world, you can always repack everything you know and experience along the way into a workshop, training, or conference. 

Turn your public speaking skills into products that can generate income. And even if you don’t excel in this area, you can start small by talking to 4-5 people, and, with time, you’ll gain confidence and move to bigger audiences. If this doesn’t suit your personality as well, kick-off with 1:1s. 

As long as you provide valuable information that people can use and implement within their activity, they will pay for listening to you. You can start with small fees and grow organically from there.

👍 The pro is that you have the chance to create stronger bonds with the attendees, and they can help you obtain new projects. Expanding the network with relevant connections, keeping the dialogue authentic and transparent, both are smart ideas that will bring you benefits in the short and long term.

👎 The con is that the costs can quickly go up. In some scenarios, you need to work with different providers: someone to help you with the overall communication (reaching out, participants management, answering e-mails, etc.) since you no longer handle everything by yourself. On top of that, maybe you also need to invest upfront money in renting the space, whatever you need in terms of logistics, coffee, finger food, and so on.

But hey, have you ever thought of producing small product (mostly swag) to sell on your website? Read next to find out how you can explore this area to maximise your revenues.

Option #3 — Sell physical products on your website

On the flip side, you can explore what it implies to sell small physical products on your website. For example, maybe you want to sell your book in which you share the vision you have on the culinary world (food waste, fair trade, local ingredients, and farmers, etc.) along with a series of your best recipes.

You can also think about other goodies, such as laptop stickers (check out Sticker Mule’s work), coasters, mugs, T-shirts, prints, tote bags, etc. It might sound like too small to give it a go, but every single product you put out there works like an extension of your brand. Once you got the authority I mentioned earlier, some people will also invest in supporting your activity this way too.

A good example is illustrators who publish their work online on their website and Instagram profile. A lot of their audience would like to hang that picture on their wall, take photos and brag about on the Internet. It’s just human nature: you want to show people how you support your favorite artist. For the illustrator, this means that he only has to draw one time and resell that drawing as many times as he wants.

This way, you not only have the chance to earn a few more bucks at the end of the month but, maybe most important in this phase, to spread the word about your work.

You can encourage your customers to publish photos with your swag on social media, tag you, share their opinion with their audiences, and all these actions will increase your popularity.

Selling it on the Internet has never been easier. You have all the tools out there to make it happen — from free WordPress themes, free plugins, payment processors, billing solutions & Co.) you no longer need to hire an agency or a bunch of freelancers to get the job done. If you are up for putting yourself in the middle of the process, you can get the job done.

👍 The pro is that this way, you develop a new revenue stream, and by distributing your eggs in many baskets, you diminish the risks and stay profitable. That’s the No. #1 rule in any business, no matter their size or profile.

👎 The con is mostly around logistics: keeping an accurate stock, finding storage space, dealing with a trustworthy delivery service, etc. It also implies having time to offer customer support assistance because people will have all types of questions: about shipping, refund policy, promotions, and such.

Let’s recap everything by the blink of an eye to make sure you have the main messages well formulated.

Takeaways to keep in mind when you feel lost

Instead of a conclusion, I would like to say Thank you! for reading until the end by listing the main takeaways to keep in mind whenever you caught yourself finding all kinds of excuses.

• Determine how success and good enough look for you because it will help you adjust your expectations and keep you on the right track.
• Do more with what you already have, no matter if it’s related to gadgets (phone, laptop) or your skills and abilities (content writing, design, photography).
• Build more revenue streams to stay safe and gain control of your cash flow by exploring different ways to pack your work (digital and offline).
• Choose tools and platforms that can help you get the job done with less money. Try to make it happen by yourself because you have everything you need at your fingertips.
• Start small and hadle risks by launching the first version of digital and non-digital products to see how it goes. It helps you get rid of the pressure.

Earning more money online out of your skills has never been more convenient. It is not easy as a walk in the park, but it is definitely worth a serious try. The days when only big names out there had the chance to make money on the Internet are gone. Now you can do it too. The best part is that you can make your own rules.

Just imagine how your life will look like if you succeeded in getting paid for several products and services, without being worry and anxious that the next bills are knocking your door? 

Hey! I’m Oana. 👋

I would like to help you level up how you make money online in a way that is authentic and sustainable.

Book a call with me

The post How to make money from your website with your skills appeared first on Pixelgrade.

Quick navigation:

• When you felt you belong to a community and what helped you?
• How to build an online community with the right digital tools?
• How to foster an offline community by meeting people in person?
• Five takeaways to keep in mind when building an online and offline community

When I refer to creatives, I point out people who reach their potential and make money out of the intellectual property. Basically, they sell their ideas—designers, copywriters, photographers, marketers, interior designers, musicians, those who pack concepts into products or services. 

As a community builder myself (I’ve been wearing this hat since 2011), I’ve always been interested in maintaining and fostering meaningful dialogue with my community formed by creative entrepreneurs. Before diving deeper into this topic, let’s start with what a community means. One of the definitions I resonate most with is the following one:

A group of people who share similar values and interests and are working together at something bigger than themselves.

Sometimes, a community can start with two people who have a clear intent in building a tribe. Other times, a community can take shape naturally without kicking-off from any specific objective in the early days.

Let me shed some light.

Think about all the birdwatching lovers out there, for instance. Each of them admires the beauty of nature. Without any talk in advance, they find out they have similar beliefs and start acting like a group: they share knowledge, address relevant questions, manifest curiosity around the same topics.

This is just the beginning of building a community, but I genuinely encourage you to not take it for granted. Every tribe I encountered kicked off with a hand of people with similar values who wanted to spend time together.

Join me in this journey where I confess how I’ve been nurturing a community of creative souls and how it all started. I will lead by example since I believe in putting the skin in the game and being authentic from top to toe.

When you felt you belong to a community and what helped you?

For me, it was definitely during Creative Coffee, a monthly event I run for three years in a row. I felt I’m part of a tribe of people who stand for the same things, such as connecting creative entrepreneurs to work together and build meaningful experiences together. 

The simple act of gathering regularly, sharing struggles, and asking for help reinforced a feeling of belonging that impacted my growth.

Let me provide a broader context about how this happened and how the effects are still alive even today, a few years later.

Back in 2011, I kicked-off this project next to my mentor and friend — Adriana Truong. At that time, she was the one knowledgeable about community building, creative entrepreneurship, and how people behave inside such tribes. She’s been heavily investing in this field long before people in Romania even heard about it.

After running together 23 events in Iași and supporting a couple more worldwide (from San Francisco to Istanbul, from Copenhagen to Adelaide), I started to understand better what community building is all about, but mostly how creatives entrepreneurs (solopreneurs included) could connect, pay it forward, and build tribes.

I was in charge of leading the local events of Creative Coffee, but also with expanding the network and keeping in touch with our chapter leaders (or organizers). This way, I had the first-hand experience regarding their endeavors, frustrations, the way they understand communities, and how they’re keeping people engaged.

During three years of being involved in developing this story, I learned a lot of valuable lessons about how creative entrepreneurs could create better liaisons with people who might consume their work. By consume I mean read, use, spend money on it.

The way I captured all this knowledge was by listening to stories told by the speakers invited, but also from having a bunch of 1:1s with the people who attended. 

The format of the event was quite straightforward: a fireside chat where I invited an experienced entrepreneur who had a challenging journey that creatives could learn from, he told his lessons in a 20-30 minutes speech, and then we shared lessons learned, with all the ups-and-downs, during a friendly networking session.

People were more willing to connect and be genuine because they already had someone in front of them who broke the ice and manifested vulnerability.

Eager to hear how it helped me create a community out of a bunch of random people? Read next to find out.

I’ve been using those insights to help creatives initiate more authentic interactions with their audience and actually create a community out of their people.

First of all, let’s face it: as a creative person you are kind of in love with your work. If you are genuinely passionate about what you do, then you most probably have a romantic (and naive?) connection with it. It what makes you-you.

You feel like the work you create says a lot about who you are as a person. It defines the values you stand for, what you aim to achieve, and how you’d like to impact the world.  It keeps your wheels spinning, and you hope you will keep doing it by the end of your life. You cannot imagine a different journey.

This particular attitude is one of the most beautiful mantras about creative people, both early-stage freelancers who are dealing with their first customers, and skilled entrepreneurs who already succeeded to build a name out of their work.

Second of all, you are super present in what you’re doing, and you want to become better. You are hard to settle. Because of that, you tend to forget about the real world. You are way too absorbed in finding the best colors for your website, the perfect design for your ceramics, the top-notch story around your products, a new teammate to work with you, that you tend to ignore the rest.

• Why don’t people understand that your creative work means the world to you?
• Why is everyone pushing you to network more if you don’t feel like?
• Why not investing your creative energy in finishing the current project?

I bet that you’re already nodding your head.

You’ve been facing many of these situations, and most of the time, the conclusion you came at was that the person in front of you just doesn’t have enough empathy. He doesn’t understand you, your work, your creative process; how could he resonate with your beliefs?

Bear with me because you will learn quite a few valuable lessons that I experience on my own during the last ten years.

The thing is that yes, you might be right. The person in front of you is not in your shoes. He can’t have a proper estimation of how you feel every time you wake up in the morning and can’t wait to start doing creative stuff. When your work received the appreciation, you’ve been expected for quite a while. Or, on the opposite side of the spectrum, when it has been heavily critiqued. When you got all the pieces right, or they fell like a domino.

The beauty lies in these specific differences. The person who’s trying to offer another perspective can help you became a better creative freelancer, entrepreneur, solopreneur, small business — you name it. The lens he sees the world through isn’t accessible for you as yours is not available for him. 

Your personality traits oblige you to focus on other things. Take advantage of that because you have the immense chance to improve and get better.

Next, I give you a list of concrete ideas about how to explore the right digital tools to maximise your chance of creating a community. Ready to take the leap?

How to build an online community with the right digital tools?

Let’s start with the online, since it seems we heavily rely on the Internet in promoting our creative work, keeping in touch with other professionals from our field, and constantly reinforcing our vision.

Since we live in such a dynamic and digitalized world, you just can’t avoid communication channels such as social media networks (be it Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Product Hunt, YouTube etc.). What you can do is to choose one or two channels that fits your work best (if you’re a candle maker, stick to Instagram, for instance) and use them to share your creative process: 

• How do you decide which pots fit your vision?
• How about the most popular flavours? 
• Why do you use a wick made of wood instead? 
• What convinced you to use soy, how does that match your beliefs?

However, there’s more than that. Take, for instance, private groups. They tend to attract like-minded people who are familiar with your work, your way of doing things, your approach on various topics. Since there’s already a history there are bigger chances to stick to what you are trying to build and even contribute in any form they feel comfortable (sharing links, bragging about stuff, writing public reviews or testimonials).

Keep in mind that anything that makes the relationship authentic, transparent, and meaningful will help your community feel confident that they are in good company.

Let me give you a relevant example in this sense.

I’m a constant listener of a podcast about creative entrepreneurs from Romania (Pe Bune), and a year ago, I was invited to a closed group on Facebook, together with other people from their audience.

Usually, I don’t join such groups since most of them are just noise, but because I had a background about the podcast, the guests and the host, it felt natural, and since then I’ve been a silent yet grateful learner out there. I did not open a topic yet, but I’ve been reading quite a few, and I felt I got value out of them. It strengthens a pleasant feeling of being part of something authentic.

I must confess that this is the only group I’m part of and even here I miss plenty of the threads. Therefore, I have other suggestions of digital channels that you can explore. Maybe the next ones will fit you better too.

E‐mailing is also a helpful way to talk with your audience, especially if you are open and invite people to follow-up, ask questions, provide feedback. For instance, you could share your struggles and help your audience learn from how you do things. Or send an e‐mail with how do you manage to act like a company of one or share the status of the current project you are working on. 

Anything that makes the relationship transparent and trustworthy will help your community feel confident that it matters, and there’s something relevant to learn from you.

Comments on your blog are also one of the most popular ways to engage with your community. Even though they might seem like an old‐school tactic, people still leave their thoughts if you managed to touch them with your stories. Please don’t take it for granted and make sure you answer genuinely, no matter how close or far their ideas are from your core beliefs. 

Congrats for reading until here. Yaaay! Let’s find out how to make it right in the real world as well. 

How to foster an offline community by meeting people in person?

No matter how a big fan of the digital world you are, you still need to meet people in person. Nothing can beat the non‐verbal and preverbal gestures that say so much about a person’s entire spectrum of emotions.

If you’re the type of creative who profoundly cares about who buys your stuff or consumes your content, you should go out and chat with those people. Try to find how they use your products or benefit of your services, what are their most significant ambitions or frustrations and how what you deliver improves their lives, no matter on what level.

If you don’t run an event on your own, you can start searching after relevant gatherings on dedicated websites, such as Meetup or filter on social media what happens in your proximity. Ask on your profile about meetings around topics that you find interesting and take it from there. 

You can join a few to get a taste of them, begin as an attendee and move to a guest (speaker) if you feel like you can share know-how from your experience. On the contrary, if you don’t like being on the stage, just genuinely connect with people through networking: tell them about what you do, your creative process, the challenges you face at the moment, ask for help, etc.

At Creative Coffee, I wanted to interact with my community as often as possible and lead by example to drive honest dialogue.

I’ve done that in several ways: from networking sessions after each event until running 1:1 interviews to hear more about how does my tribe bring value to particular individuals and how I can do a better job.

Don’t think that for me it is just natural because it fits me perfectly, and therefore there’s no stress. Not true. I am also a human being with a limited level of energy. 

Therefore, most of the time, these interactions are exhausting, even overwhelming because I am drained after actively listening creative entrepreneurs or freelancers. However, it paid off every single time.

In face-to-face communication, you can get far more than via e-mail, social media, blog, or so. People can’t hide their emotions, and that’s super important because it gives you more context and depth about the person in front of you. Such lessons just can’t be learned online.

On the other hand, another way to foster a community in the offline world was to identify believers and reward contributors. I had two-three volunteers who were actively involved in helping me create a better experience during Creative Coffee. 

Some were welcoming people and offering help with the logistics; others were taking photos; others were eager to facilitate networking and introduce people in a kind yet efficient way. 

I not only told them a bunch of times how much I appreciate doing this type of work, caring so much about how everything works, how people feel after our event, but I also introduced them to other creatives for future projects or jobs. 

I gladly put my time, connections, and knowledge on the table to lend a hand. This is how healthy communities work. People inside the tribe are keen to give back and provide help. You can learn more about this topic from two books I found highly meaningful and helpful along the way: Bred Feld — Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City and Priya Parker — How we Meet and Why it Matters.

Furthermore, you can also invite people to express opinions by filling feedback forms after you showed them your work. Be open to receive their input and don’t label their suggestions in any way. 

Gather data, capture everything they recommend, and make room to sleep on it and learn something from their insights. What they’re saying it will give you a sense about what matters for them.

Maybe what they want is not something you can provide, and that’s okay. It would help if you could found out instead of throwing conclusions too early and being opaque to any criticism. See if your interests as a creative fellow are aligned with people’s expectations. It’s a great chance to make valuable improvements and iterations.

It’s crucial to take some of the people who are active within your community and ask them specific questions about what keeps them engaged, what needs your work does not fulfill them yet, how would they want to be represented and so on.

Making room for these kinds of discussions means gaining clarity, and this leads you in increasing the engagement within your community but also brings the connection to the next level.

As a creative entrepreneur or freelancer, you can’t hide behind your work and hope that people will knock on your door, be it digital or non‐digital. It’s part of your mission to get out your comfort zone and run actions which close the gap with your community and inspire everyone to build a better future together.

Need the main takeaways at your fingertips?

• Be an active listener and talk with the people who consume your work and buy your products or services. You will find actionable insights which will help you improve your skills and strategy as a creative entrepreneur or freelancer.
• In the digital area, you can increase engagement with your audience through several tools and channels as long as you are authentic and provide meaningful information. No matter if it’s via your email or a closed group, lead by example and invite people to dialogue.
• In the non-digital field, you need to get out of your comfort zone and meet your readers, customers, fans, in-person to find out more about their needs, their struggles, the reasons why they chose you and how you improve their lives. You will get plenty of ideas to accelerate your growth.
• A community is more than a bunch of people under the same roof, be it a social media network, or an offline event. It is a group of people who share the same set of values and beliefs, and they want to work together to build something bigger than themselves.
• As a creative entrepreneur or freelancer, you too need to belong to a community to share your ideas, find bridges to work with other peoples, get feedback, talk about your creative process, and so on. It’s part of becoming the best version of yourself.

There are no recipes out there, just experiments that could work or not so much. You need to take it one step at a time and try to find out what fits your style and aligns with your core values when thinking about nurturing a robust community (online and offline). Once you do that, you will transform many creative entrepreneurs and freelancers into a solid tribe driven by the same beliefs and ambitions. From there, the sky’s the limit in terms of how you can impact the world.

This photo is taken by Katerina Nedelcu at our office.

The post How to build a powerful community online and offline appeared first on Pixelgrade.

How many of you creatives, or small business owners out there, have felt overwhelmed by the myriad of tasks you had to handle or solve on your own?

For the past eight years, I’ve been a part of the creative industries, working or interacting with designers, copywriters, photographers, marketers, interior designers, etc. I, myself having been a freelancer for six years.

And, as an active community builder, by constantly collaborating with entrepreneurs on various events, or by having in-person meetings, I’ve noticed some recurring pains and struggles they face: being in charge of everything, or not delegating, thinking that you must do everything yourself. 

Thus, it became clear to me that these problems can be solved with the right mindset and approach.

As a result, I’ve decided to put together this article where I point out issues creatives face on their entrepreneurial journey, coming up with solutions and providing healthy practices on the matter.

I’m interested in determining creatives to genuinely engage with their customers in order for their audience to interact better with the brands, making them memorable and trustworthy. 

All of these ideas will be explained and justified as follows.

Uncomplicated ideas to simplify your work

The solutions I put together were decided based on the idea of overcoming the challenges mentioned earlier, and to increase the chances of doing great business on your terms, without compromising your work or values.

#1 — Collaboration is key

From experience, I’ve noticed that, at a certain point, creatives should partner with anyone who can take care of areas which are unfamiliar to them causing them anxiety and stress. 

For example, if you feel helpless and inexperienced about managing the financial part, hire someone( like an accountant) to handle this area. Or if you wish to promote your latest photography portfolio, get in touch with friends or connections that could spread the word.

The key is to delegate and outsource anything that is not essential. Focus on what you love most.

As a community builder, I’ve first-handedly contributed to the welfare of creatives. When they needed a hand to publicize their latest event, or when they needed some encouragement to keep going, I would happily pitch in or play the part, as long as my help was requested.

When you dare to voice your concerns and ask for help, you’ll be surprised on the support you receive.

Additionally, when you try to do everything, something is bound to slip through the cracks. So, hand off tasks to others when you either don’t have the skills or the time to do them well. Then, center your energy where you can make the most impact.

#2 — View your customers as brand ambassadors

Yes, customers are far more than random people willing to pay for your products or services. They are human beings who have desires, needs, and values which can and should be addressed. Think of them as complex creatures with whom you ought to create strong liaisons in the long run.

Let’s say that as a consumer, you have decided to hire a photographer for a special event. After browsing through their portfolio and falling in love with the pictures, you notice that a client commented that this person was late at an event. What’s your next move? I imagine, one reaction could be to start distrusting them and move on with your search.

What I’m trying to say is that feedback is crucial and it can change everything. 

Satisfied, happy clients are the key to a successful business. If you have a solid reputation and people brag about your services, there are higher chances for your leads to transform into clients. If you learn how to expand and maintain this connection, you enter a new realm of possibilities. 

Now that we’ve dared look at the vulnerabilities and struggles that being a creative entrepreneur involves, and after we’ve considered some essential alternatives for them, it’s time to dig even deeper. Are you with me?

It’s time to expand our perspective about the way we engage with our audience. To be more precise, a while back I wrote an article about why you need to engage with your audience and create a community, aiming to point out that as a creative you cannot hide behind your work and hope people will knock at your door. 

If you wish to be successful and develop an enduring bond with them, your clients are the answer. And the reason is because they can make or break your firm.

With this in mind, next I will focus on ways you can interact and grow your relationship with your audience in order to get endorsed and strengthen your reputation.

And I’ll explore, more in-depth, the importance of relationship building and management with your audience.

How exactly can creatives take the leap and do more with their current customers?

True engagement with your clients means forming authentic relationships. And in today’s ecosystem, there are numerous opportunities to sow the seeds of a great connection.

As a result, I will provide some ideas you can implement today to help you transform your clients in brand ambassadors.

#1 — Under promise, over deliver

What I’ve noticed, in terms of strengthening professional connection, is the after-effect a client gets after purchasing a product or service. Have you ever noticed how thrilled you get when you buy something, and you get a little more than you thought? It can actually make your day. 

With this in mind, in terms of how you interact with your clients, give a little more than what they’d expect. For instance, offer something for free like a card, or simply include a little extra on the side.

Why?

Because showing gratitude, proving that you are truly honest in your intentions, will make people tick. This kind of attitude is an opportunity to influence perception and to direct it towards authentic interactions. This also includes showing parts of yourself and what you stand for because at the end of the day, people are attracted to honesty and authenticity.

Bottom line is to give before you get, and do it for an extended period of time, and this will open one of the best business opportunities ever. Give it a try and see where it gets you.

#2 — Go the extra mile

If you can lend your clients a hand by offering a few additional tips which would bring value to them, do that. It won’t matter the nature of it: maybe you’re a copywriter, and you noticed some flaws or inconsistencies on their social media channels. Don’t be shy and let them know.

Or perhaps you’re a photographer, and you are booked for a particular photo session, but the photo on their Facebook or Instagram page is inconsistent. 

Simply inform them, help out and make a difference. Maybe you are a designer who can fine-tune some materials for a more coherent visual approach — do that, let them know and fix it.

Believe it or not, but the smallest impact you may have on someone’s life, can have unimaginable reactions. And the reason is because a kind deed rarely goes unrewarded.

People will remember and they will spread the word about your kind intervention. Never underestimate the power of doing good and how it will be shared across various channels.

#3 — Make relevant recommendations

Be the one that has an answer to your client’s problems or the answer to what they want to achieve. 

Depending on the industry your customers are from, think if you can recommend better alternatives for some things that could offer them improved outcomes. For instance, maybe their websites look and work poorly and you know freelancers who can improve their digital experiences.

Put your best connections on the table and ask for nothing in return. Try it and see where your good deed takes you. 

Furthermore, if you are digging for a more detailed approach to customer interaction and involvement, consider the following practical tips.

#4 — Ask for real feedback

The most efficient way to better yourself is to seek feedback because it promotes personal and professional growth. And one reason is that it creates a clear picture of the situation you are facing, helping you adopt new knowledge and avoid repetitive mistakes.

For instance, kindly invite your customers to give you feedback on multiple areas of your business. For instance info related on the work you create, how you deliver it, your approach on answering emails, your social media activity, your fees, etc. Every piece of information you receive is a golden mine.

Besides the reality check you get, it is also a great way to have a grasp of both the expectations and the intentions they have. In this fashion, you can specifically tailor your approach and business strategy to meet your clients’ demands and necessities.

Nothing will make a loyal customer feel better than asking for their input and proving them how much you value it.

#5 — Run interviews

When you interview your clients you enhance your bond with them. You gain valuable insights about who they are, what their values are, what struggles they might face, why they chose you, and the list goes on. 

This way, the structure of your interview should be based on your intentions and on what you wish to achieve. And it is mandatory to have a plan and clear objectives to help you shape the interview questions.

If possible, run them in-person because nothing beats the power of 1:1, offline conversations, where you get the full picture of your customers.

You’ll have access to the way they talk, the words and the tone-of-voice they use, the non-verbal gestures, and everything will give you priceless observations and information.

Very important when conducting the questions is to show them that you care about how you can improve your collaboration in the long run. By trying to find other pains and discover ways to solve them through your work, you’ll gain valuable points right there. 

Plus, another tip to not overlook is to work more with the same customers than to always try to find and retain new ones. Why? Because loyal individuals are the ones that matter, worthy of your true attention and on top of that, they actually make up a higher percentage of the sales.

#6 — Create a rewarding system

When you offer discounts, or offer special buying opportunities to your consumers, you show them how much you value and appreciate them. Consequently, they will keep coming through your door. Once they trust you and feel gratified, they will have no problem spreading the word about your business.

To be more specific, think about what you can offer if they choose to promote you and bring new customers on board. It doesn’t have to be a big prize — a holiday, or a flat fee — to show your respect and gratitude for their involvement. 

You can start with small, yet meaningful actions, such as: expanding your services for the same amount of money on a particular project. Or, send them a gift, a handwritten letter, write down a public thank-you message, etc. 

But, show your care and recognition in a visible, authentic manner because the human touch is something so rare these days. Plus, it can be a differentiating aspect about your business, that’ll sticks in people’s heads, recommending you in the future.

All things considered, here are the main advantages of working closely with your consumers to turn them into your brand ambassadors:

• It positively impacts your growth as a creative — getting real, yet authentic feedback from real people who spend their money on your work is a brilliant way to level up your game and become a better version of yourself.
• You expand your professional network — entering other adjacent circles of interest increases your chances to find like-minded people. This way, you can develop healthy professional liaisons both in the short and the long run.
• It helps you feel less alone — as a creative entrepreneur, there are dozens of moments of solitude which are hard to navigate. By belonging in a tribe with others who share similar values, you can recharge your batteries and keep the wheels spinning.

You can be strategic by all means and start experimenting all the above tactics in a way that defines you. However, what I know for a fact, after nurturing communities within creative industries and running ambassadorship programs, is that honesty and transparency take you far. 

People’s gut feeling will accurately indicate if you’re in the arena with good intentions and willing to do the hard work or not. It’s up to you, but there’s only one answer to make it shine, and you know it.

The post How to transform your customers in brand ambassadors? appeared first on Pixelgrade.

As a photographer, choosing the right customers is not an easy job. Although having people get in touch with you might seem like a dream come true. Your Facebook Messenger is getting a dozen messages a day, your phone rings with offer requests, and your latest Instagram Story gathered 5 replies from people looking to learn more about what you have to offer.

It’s a dream come true, right?

After all, you’re having clients knocking at your front door asking to get in.

The problem is that it feels like there are 50 people outside your house, all yelling at the same time about their needs and wants. And you feel compelled to answer each and every one of them before any of your peers gets them first.

In this scenario, a very real one for most of us, you find yourself overwhelmed. For the most part, only 5 of those 50 people “shouting” are really interested in your work.

The rest of them are just browsing, getting a feel on how the market stands, testing the waters. Don’t get me wrong, they are valuable, and with a little bit of effort, they can become real customers as well.

The problem lies in identifying their true intentions by filtering those you actually want as customers from the rest.

But don’t worry, in this article I’m going to teach you how to quickly find out who’s interested and how to bring all these channels together to never lose an opportunity again.

Let’s dive in.

The first step: filtering your potential customers

Here at Pixelgrade, we are present on a lot of different channels. We have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest accounts, we offer free themes on WordPress.org, and promote our themes in other marketplaces like Envato or CreativeMarket. 

This can quickly become overwhelming, so one of our first steps was to decide on a customer generation channel (where to get our customers from) and establish one communication channel to keep all the conversation in one place. In our case, the website is the customer generation channel, and the email is our preferred communication line.

Of course, people can also talk with us on social media, and these channels are a great way to talk live with our customers, engage with them and also promote our products. But when it comes to buying, they are all redirected back to our website.

Now, back to your specific needs.

As a photographer, when it comes to choosing the customer generation channel, you need to think not only where your customers can get in touch with you, but also how you can bring all those channels together.

If you want to quickly figure out who of those 50 people are genuinely interested in working with you, you need to send them to a unique filtering place.

Let me explain.

Managing all these different marketing channels is definitely a struggle. At the same time, you can’t really give them all up.

They are all great places to showcase your work, promote your latest gigs, connect and talk with influencers in your niche, and even let others get to know you better as a person. In the end, you want to be seen as approachable and real. 

These are also places where people get in touch with you. Mostly because it’s easier for them to DM you on Instagram than to look up your website and find the contact page. 

My recommendation is to use these platforms as a way to guide potential customers to a place where you can ask more questions and filter out their needs.

A great place to do that is through your website.

How?

By guiding people to a contact page to ask them about their needs. This way you can always be sure you asked your potential customer all the right questions from the start. 

Using your website is a great strategy because adding a filtering layout will discourage some people to do the extra work. This allows you to work with the customers you want, and identify the ones that show real interest in what you have to offer (and not be in touch with the first one that drops a message.).

Getting the right customers from the start will help you do business on your own terms and according to your own values. Missing this step can mean running a business that doesn’t represent you, even if, at the core, you’re still doing photography.

Once you send them to your contact page, you can narrow down your communication channels to just one — email.

Two important things about this filtering method:

1. Your contact page should include a contact form that gathers the information you need, to move the conversation forward. Don’t settle with a classic “name”, “email”, “message” format. Ask them what type of event they’re having (a wedding, corporate party, etc.), when the event will be, where the event location is, plus their estimated budget, along with any other details that make sense to you.
2. Email is still relevant. I know that in the social media and direct messages era, this can seem like an ancient way of communicating, but it’s actually the no. 1 selling method for us and most people running a business. Not to mention, emailing provides a buffer where everyone can figure out the next step. Nobody expects instant replies.

No more forgotten Facebook messages, Instagram or Twitter DMs. Less stress for you since this system ensures, each person reaching out, is sending all the details you need to move the conversation towards a sale.

Don’t be discouraged if out of those 50 people demanding answers, only 5-10 will go through the process and complete the form. 

That’s a good thing! 

You managed to filter out the “window shoppers” that don’t have a true intention of buying. And, above all else, you gain more mental space to offer the best customer experience to those that really deserve it. Not to mention you’ll stop feeling guilty that you might have forgotten to reply to someone in a chat.

Katerina, a local photographer uses this method of filtering out potential clients and it works wonders:

”I was thrilled to use the contact form and push everyone to get in touch there. This way, I am far more efficient because I can filter the people who are just fishing around and focus on those really interested in my work and services. Of course, some folks thought the process requires too much effort and dropped the ship. 

However, I’m okay with that because whoever does not have the patience to fill a form is definitely not in my core target. Now, on the other side, I would like to improve the form and send an automatic email to potential customers with a sample of my portfolio. This way, they can quickly notice if we are on the same track in terms of style or if we should diverge paths.”

The second step: getting the most out of your potential customers

Now that you managed to filter out your best leads and guided them to a single point of contact, it’s time to properly manage all those messages.

Why?

From working almost 6 years in marketing, I learned that people need reminders. A lot of them. Like 4-6 of them. 

Yeah, that many.

And in over a year since I’ve been here at Pixelgrade, there wasn’t a campaign for us where one email sent was one email replied. And it didn’t matter if we were running a discount, asking for feedback or requesting a Skype call to get to know our clients better.

Let’s be real, you and I do this every day – ignore emails asking us to read a blog post, try out a new feature, and whatnot.

Sometimes we just have better or more urgent things to do.

Your potential customer has the same struggles: a job to get to, friends to see, chores to check off their list. It’s easy for them to forget about you or to postpone an answer until they completely forget about it.

That is why it’s vital to track and document all contact form requests.

In business, people often use a Contact Management Systems (or CRMs) that imports contact requests, takes care of the scheduling part, helps set reminders or even sends follow-up emails automatically. They are pretty great and there are really good free solutions out there. 

One example is Hubspot, that offers a contact form plugin integrated with WordPress and all our themes, and it comes with a free contact management system. This way, you can have all your contact form submissions in one place and easily manage your relationship with them. 

But, if you don’t get a dozen emails a day, you can manage just fine with a Google Docs or Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet.

And I’m gonna teach you how to set it up.

Once you get a contact request on your website, move to your spreadsheet and copy-paste their answer, along with contact details. Use this file to document every conversation you have with them, via phone, email or other channels, and track their movement along the sales cycle.

I have created a document that you can download and use for your own case.

I would recommend moving people along your sales cycle this way: 

The first spreadsheet is called “Leads” and it’s the place where you document all contact requests and the initial back and forths.

The “Opportunities” sheet is where you move people who you consider closer to seal the deal. I’m referring to those who’ve received a price estimate from you, talked with you over the phone and seem ready to buy. 

Documenting all the exchanges with a customer will allow you to have, at a glance, an overview of the conversation status and make sure you know when to act and if the ball is in your court or not.

Maybe you need to send an offer by the end of the month, or maybe the potential customer promised to give an answer in two weeks. Having documented all these steps will help you know what’s the next step towards making them a customer.

The next sheet will be “Customers”, which is obviously where you move all your opportunities that turn into a customer.

The last sheet is “Lost Opportunities”. This is where you should move all the contacts that didn’t purchase or stopped the conversation along the way.

BONUS TIP: create a special column where you document the reason why they have not chosen you. With time you’ll identify patterns and see if there are ways you can improve your offering: either pricing, flexibility, the output of your work, you name it.

For instance, one recurring reason can be that you don’t print out photo albums. This insight, if found repeatedly in lost opportunities, can be the hard data you need to update your offer.

Be sure to use your customers’ real words and limit yourself from interpreting their true reasoning for not choosing you. Eliminate the bias as much as you can if you want to be true to yourself and improve your services.

The third step: getting social proof from your customers

The thing is, no matter how much work you put out there, or how many times a day you post, people will always believe your customers more than you.

It’s a natural instinct. You are definitely biased when it comes to your work and people expect you to push your services above others.

But what matters most is the past (and real) experiences others have had while working with you. Did you show up on time? Have you delivered the work as promised? Did you honor your contract?

They are going to look for answers and your clients are your best bet for real feedback.

This is a great opportunity to leverage the connection you’ve built with your past customers by nicely asking them to review your work. Next, it’s essential to guide them to the place where they can deliver their insights. For instance, I recommend Facebook Reviews because it’s viewed as the most trustworthy source.

BONUS TIP: the best time to ask for a review is a few days after you’ve delivered your work. That’s when they will be most impressed and will have good things to say about you.

Often times, we found that people stare at a blank page and have a hard time writing something meaningful. After all, a review that says “totally recommend” doesn’t help that much. 

To combat this issue, create a template that guides people into giving a detailed and honest review. Ask them 3-4 questions like:

• What did you like best about working with me?
• What should I improve in the future?
• Would you recommend my work to someone else?

As always, never be too shy to follow-up and ask again. As I’ve said above, people need a little nudge.

Now that you have that testimonial, be sure to publish it on your website and pack it into a nice visual for all your other social media channels. This way, all prospective customers that are browsing around, can see answers to their concerns right away, and might be inclined to reach out.

You can see how we’re using customer reviews on our homepage, eBooks download pages, product presentation pages, and on Instagram.

The fourth and final step: getting recurring customers

Besides doing a great job the first time, be sure to keep a close relationship (as much as possible) with your past customers.

Connect with them on social media, engage with their posts, congratulate them for getting a new job, or wish them a happy birthday.

Be sure to not disappear into the murky waters of the internet. This will ensure you slowly fade away from their mind making room for someone else. 

As in any collaboration, the key is getting them to return to you not only with recommendations, but also, by using your skills in other important events in their lives.

Say you documented their wedding. Why shouldn’t you also be their choice when they’ll have the first, second or third baby? Or even at a birthday party?

Recurring customers mean more work for you and even the chance to build your own tribe or transform them into your ambassadors. 

This way, you can level up your skills by getting in-depth, yet authentic feedback, which can help you become a better version of yourself. 

On top of that, being a one-man-business doesn’t mean that there’s literally just one person behind the curtain. These people can act like your promoters to bring new business on board.

BONUS TIP: Always reward your customers. If they come back, make sure you give out a discount for choosing you once again; or if they recommend you to someone else and you get a new client, use this opportunity to discount your new customer.

Takeaways

Congrats, you have reached the end! Hopefully, you are more knowledgeable about how you can transform all your online channels into a performant sales funnel.

Let’s do a quick recap:

• Step 1: narrow down all the customer generation channels to just one, your website, by guiding people towards your website’s contact page. Continue the conversation via one communication channel: email
• Step 2: document your customers’ journey from contact form submission to actually signing a contract with you. Don’t neglect those that have passed on your offer, document the reasons why you weren’t their choice and use the info to improve your services
• Step 3: get social proof from your customers right when they’ll be most impressed with your work – a few days after you delivered it. Don’t forget to send them a helpful list of questions 
• Step 4: keep in touch with your past customers and try to make them into recurring customers

Once you have all these set up, be sure to use that extra mental space to focus on providing better services to your customers, and to enroll in personal projects that are closer to your ideal path as a photographer.

It might sound like a lot of work, and it might be in the beginning, but trust me, once you integrate everything in your workflow, things will soon be more organized and you won’t be able to imagine your life without it.

The post How to choose the right customer for your photo business? appeared first on Pixelgrade.

More and more creative entrepreneurs feel the pressure of showcasing their work in the digital landscape. To let people know about what they do, the process behind the scene, how they craft their ideas, through loads of content distributed on social media mostly, but also on their website.

The stress is so high that they no longer have the courage to stop this crazy rhythm to catch their breath and reconsider. If they do so, it feels like constantly losing by being one lap late, and that leads them to anxiety and frustration.

I genuinely believe there’s another gateway to survive as a freelance photographer, for instance. Maybe there are different tactics to attract the right customers. Maybe there’s a real yet easy to implement solution to keep being relevant without losing all your time, energy, and focus on What’s on your mind, Oana?

Ready to leave behind the hectic and move towards a more balanced attitude and lifestyle?

Website and social media, not versus

Stable relationships, reliable work, substantial projects lie in long-term thinking because, guess what, they require hard work. The overnight success statement is a myth.

If you choose to run like a mouse on a wheel spun by others, you will attract experiences that are superficial, full of flaws of all kinds, and quite exhausting to be honest.

On the other hand, if you have the gut to re-establish your own pace and adjust the dynamic accordingly, you have so much to win in every aspect of your life, both personal and professional.

When it comes to photography, no matter if you’re a solopreneur (one-man-or-woman project) or you represent a bigger company, I encourage you to think in different terms. Your terms.

Being sexy and clickable on Facebook might work for a while, and it will fill your instant gratitude reservoir, but to build a sustainable business, you should think about strategies that are less ephemeral.

Next, I will walk you through some reliable yet documented arguments concerning why you should seriously consider investing in your website as a photographer in order to promote your portfolio and reach new audiences that match your unique vision.

In the end, you’re an artist who aims to showcase the work to people who resonate and are open to enter your universe and its emotion, right?

In the last couple of years, I’ve done dozens of interviews with people all over the world who make a living out of their creative potential. So I had the chance to discover a wide range of tactics you can approach to reach the right target for what you plan to achieve.

In the following lines, I will let you know why creating a website is, by far, the best method you can use to level up your business while maintaining your health sane.

Start making decisions aligned with your beliefs

First of all, let me put it crystal clear that this is not a manifesto against social platforms.

I used them heavily as a copywriter freelancer both to be in touch with relevant people and promote my projects and initiatives, so I’m not naive nor eager to bring image damages to Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and the rest of the gang.

As always, it’s up to you how you choose to explore these platforms. My desire is offer a different perspective on how to swim in this challenging digital ocean so that you can survivee, but also enjoy the landscape.

I don’t believe that as a photographer you should make a decision between website and social media. Not at all. Instead, what I suggest is to understand which one fits which purpose.

Only then you are able to draw the best conclusion. But let’s take it one at a time.

I know that it’s hard for you to navigate through everything you have to do to keep your head above the water. From answering e-mails, preparing offers, negotiating fees, editing photos, sending previews, publishing content, answering calls, all the way to keeping track with what’s new in your industry, you cover them all.

And hell it’s hard. And confusing. It drains your energy and often you wish it would be a bit easier.

The good news it that you have the power to change how you want to shape your path as a photographer and automatically how to live your life.

Second of all, I’m aware that having so much on your table makes you enter a zone where checking boxes becomes the norm. You just want to finish that huge lists of tasks before 2 am and go to bed.

To have a normal life, right? To rest and be able to have the courage to show up again next day, and get the job done in the best possible way. You don’t want to throw crappy work out there, you want to make it shine.

I believe that you can start refining your approach by choosing what to do as well as what you are not willing to do anymore. When it comes to your brand and overall business, you can make a clean cut right from the start.

For instance, I genuinely suggest you to invest resources in crafting and maintaining your website relevant and up to date in the long run. This is where you have the full control of the experience you are providing to your community.

You can walk them through a digital path that they will love or hate. You can transform them into believers and ambassadors who brag about your work, or you can instigate them to share nasty messages out into the world.

The simple fact that you have the freedom to shape and pack everything in a way that resonates with who you are is already an essential tipping point that opens a full range of opportunities.

The role of the website for your evolution

The thing is that having a website is similar to owning a house. When you invite people over you would like them to feel comfortable, welcomed, maybe even joyful that you opened the door for them.

The same should apply when it comes to your digital crib.

People who land there have an authentic interest to discover more about who you are, what makes you, you, what’s your vision as a photographer, what do your customer say about the collaboration, how they can reach you to get in touch, and so on.

It might sound like the obvious, but believe me that most often, people miss it exactly because it’s in their face, so they take it for granted.

Therefore, your website is not just another URL, it is part of your digital identity, and it should look and work accordingly. Let me share with you a few central insights why this is crucial because it impacts how things will roll for your career:

1 — You offer an experience

A solid yet design-driven website is the place where you direct people (potential clients) to have a first contact with you, your work, your statement. No matter if they reach you through social media channels, you need to level up and direct them to your website to get the full pic of your photography work.

There’re no doubt that people will try to find all kinds of shortcuts and ping you on whatever media they have at hand, but that doesn’t mean that you need to play their game. You want to do business, not just add new friends on Facebook, right?

Stick to your interests because it’s the best approach to start building balanced professional relationships that will last in the long run.

2 — You qualify leads

By encouraging people to follow a certain digital path to get in touch, you not only bring a lot of clarity along the way, but you also start qualifying leads in a way that makes sense for you.

By qualifying leads, I mean filtering people so that you give your best chances to attract the right clients, not everyone willing to pay you some bucks.

You already know that there are tons of people who are just curious and ask a bunch of questions because it’s super easy to do and requires almost no effort from their side. However, they do not have a keen interest to close a deal with you; they’re just fishing around.

Therefore, if you’re saying “yes” to everyone and start running after money, they will catch you on the wrong feet. Once you invest in folks who have different beliefs, you will definitely make an entire chain of compromises that will damage your work and the overall personal brand.

3 — You create a community

I know no creative who doesn’t want to belong to a tribe. This need is so heavily rooted in who we are as persons, that we all need to be part of a community at a certain point.

If you put your website at the forefront of what you’re doing, people will start feeling like there’s more to discover. There’s also valuable knowledge published on your website, bold ideas about how to become a better photographer, proof of authenticity regarding the fears you face at the moment, or simply thoughts about side projects that you’d like to give it a try at some point.

Once you put yourself out there you also make an invitation to a constructive dialogue where people who appreciate your work can contribute in a meaningful way.

How to leverage social media on your terms

As I previously said, social media per se is nor good or bad, it’s up to you how you choose to build a relationship with these platforms.

What you need to keep in mind is that you can always change the way you are embracing them depending on the moment in life you are and how your values evolved along the way.

As a communicator with 10 years of experience, I’ve been noticing that creatives push themselves to be present on way too many channels, forgetting that more is not better. On the contrary, it often equals poor outcomes.

What I suggest to do with social media as a photographer who wants to make money out of this passion is to make a few steps aside and think more about who you truly are.

If you’re an introvert, super shy, and in love with solitude, then maybe it’s okay to be active only on one platform instead of five. On the opposite side of the spectrum, if you feel super comfortable to mingle between audiences and social channels, go with two pipelines.

No matter where you sit on the introvert-extrovert spectrum, there’s no doubt that by covering more media you will dilute your message. You can’t simply be fully present in multiple places at onces.

Here are a few tips about how to make peace with social media and wisely use:

1. Set a clear goal — what do you want to accomplish through your Facebook page, Instagram account, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on?
2. Write down your motivation for being active on each one — what gives you energy to post on each channel, what do you do different from one to another?
3. Put together a content calendar — once you’re confident with the why, start playing with content ideas that you want to publish on social media (do you plan to share only photos with the couples who are getting married, do you want to share articles that are relevant for your career, do you aim to be a bit more personal?)

These three points might seem like an easy thing to do, but if you’re truly honest with yourself and open to ask the hard questions, you will see that some pieces from the puzzle do not fit entirely.

Be gentle with yourself and take the time you need to put them in order in a way that makes sense for you. In the end, there’s no recipe written in stone that you should follow.

No matter how you choose to balance the effort between all these platforms, don’t forget that slowing down is always a good idea, especially because you are a photographer aka an artist.

You need space and time for wondering, for solitude, for signing out to spend more time in a way that fuels your energy and creativity. No great idea popped by speeding up everything.

I am here to help you make it happen on your terms, not just throwing out advice and acting like a teacher who has the answers.

The truth is that I learn so much from the brilliant conversations I have with the awesome photographers around me, and thanks to them I can reach this level of depth and authenticity within my writing.

However, I want to go the extra mile and make a step further by lending a hand with building your photography website.

Take a look over our portfolio of WordPress themes designed with your needs in mind, and if any of them seem like the right fit, just write me down at oana@pixelgrade.com and I will be your comrade in shaping a lovely digital experience that people will love and remember. Stay true!

P.S. I take proud in using a photo of Katerina, a local passionate photographer, where she captured another fellow who I admire: Oana. She’s the one featured in the image of this article. Thank you!

The post Where to grow your business as a photographer: site or social media? appeared first on Pixelgrade.

In the last year, we kept an eye on this tribe and talked with a bunch of bloggers from a wide range of industries and with diverse level of experience. From fashion to food, from lifestyle to DIY, from magazine to travelling, we covered them all. Some of them became our partners along the way and are providing actionable insights on multiple areas, helping us improve our products and also, giving us a chance to actually feel the struggles and day-to-day life of bloggers.

Today we’re sharing what we learned when it comes to developing results-driven collaborations between bloggers and brands. Let’s dive in!

🤝 What’s a Blogging Partnership in the First Place?

As in any other partnership out there, a blogging one is no different. Everything sums up to a healthy collaboration between creators (bloggers) and brands. Most of the time, it’s a transactional scenario where the blogger receives money, goodies, products, etc. for writing a promotional article, making shoutouts on social media or mentions in their newsletters.

It often starts with the brand’s need to gain exposure and reach new audiences, but it’s not always the case. The result should impact the sales, the awareness, the likability of recommendations and so on.

Bloggers of all kinds could increase and diversify their revenue streams and continue to do what they enjoy most, while brands have the opportunity to reach new audiences and create stronger bonds with the current ones.

However, there are blogging partnerships which stop at a trading point (I give you something because you provide me with something else in return), and some who go the extra mile. We’re going to focus on the last ones since we’ve always been huge believers in durable liaisons and this is what we’re striving to create at Pixelgrade on a daily basis.

🤳 How Do Most of the Bloggers Approach Brands?

We, as a brand, are receiving plenty of offers and media kits from all kinds of bloggers out there. Some of them are superficial, out of context, even invasive, while others are quite straightforward and transparent, two attributes that we highly value.

As a go-to buddy for such partnerships, what has always surprised me was the detachment some of them showed when it came to paid collaborations. They gave me the impression that they have a narrow way of thinking and often from one perspective only: what’s in it for me? The truth is that this attitude harms your credibility that you can deliver what we, as a brand, expect from you. Most likely your www address will end up on a NO list.

It has nothing to do with the fact that they ask for money — we all need them at the end of the day, right? — but the lack of a minimal business sense will almost always make me skip such a relationship.

On the other hand, at Pixelgrade we’re lucky enough to have discovered excellent bloggers who are not only delivering excellent results but are also on the same wavelength as us.

They take the time to explore our WordPress themes and learn more about who we are as a team. They care and want to build a robust liaison, not just to earn some extra bucks for hanging out quickly. These are the people who align with us as a brand regarding values and business perspective.

Everything lies in your core values, so make sure you always put them at the center of a brand relationship you are going to develop.

Working with them doesn’t even feel like an effort since both parties are sharing similar beliefs. Ieva is one of them and in the last couple of months she’s also been our ambassador, which I think it should be the next thing for bloggers regarding brand partnerships. Once you get there, you’re somehow part of the team, and that means that the relationship weights far more than a transactional interaction.

I even created a mini-handbook for those who achieve this stage, and this is how our promise sounds like:

❤️The manifesto:

• Together we can make the blogging world a better place one step at a time.
• We are genuinely interested in providing value through great design.
• We care about creating stronger bonds with bloggers and storytellers of all kinds.
• We deeply believe in the power of communities driven by the same values.
• We trust the people we work with.
• We are here to stay.

We don’t encourage superficiality, false statements, misleading arguments and nothing that would confuse the customer. Instead, we highly value the human touch in everything we do.

The above directions represent the baseline that you as a blogger should take into consideration if you want brands to notice you. Everything lies in your core values, so make sure you always put them at the center of a brand relationship you are going to develop. It’s what will help you decide who you want to work with, what type of partnership do you plan to nurture or how you make sure you are relevant in the long run.

👫 How Could Blogging Partnerships Look Like?

Although every relationship between brands and bloggers is unique and might have different goals, from our experience so far we have gathered a few helpful ground rules to consider if you’re thinking about embracing this path.

If you are a blogger:

• Create a relevant media kit and offer details behind those numbers (5K followers don’t say much, but 5K visual artists and graphic designers who spend a lot of time on Behance makes a lot more sense)
• Treat each partnership uniquely and try to adjust your offer and promo services by researching thoroughly everywhere you can and see if you can understand how the brand prefers to handle these relationships (what works for a brand doesn’t necessarily work for others as well or as good)
• If you pitch brands make sure your reason for reaching out is more than an excuse (I have some free days, and I’m working on my content calendar, so I was wondering if you guys have something to promote.) What you can do instead is to give them a context about why you think you identify with their brand and what made you reach them out
• Always keep your audience’s needs in the back of your mind and try to get some answers to the following questions: Will your tribe resonate with this particular brand? How likely is to engage with this brand? You need to make sure this deal will seem like a natural choice.

Let’s assume that you managed to get yourself a brand deal. However, the work is not finished yet, so here’s what you should do next:

• Trust the products or the services you are endorsing by getting your hands dirty and using or, at least, testing them (be respectful and honest with your audience, don’t mislead them)
• Use the best promo approach for your particular tribe and pack the message authentically and genuinely (avoid to sell a one-size-fits-all kind of strategy because it doesn’t bring results)
• Stay close to that brand by being an active listener and follower to fully understand the mission and which problems are trying to solve (don’t try to show up only when you have something specific to earn)

If you represent a brand:

• Picture a 360-degree image of the bloggers you are working with (most of the time, we had far more success with those who are having 3K followers on Instagram, not 300K); on top of that, the communication was more pleasant
• Start small by creating a deal with a hand of bloggers to see how things turn out and keep track on the results.
• Choose someone from your team to be a go-to buddy for any questions the bloggers have, no matter if they’re technical or non-technical.
• Work with people who have a clue about how a business works and they’re willing to create long-term partnerships, not exploring growth hacking strategies.
• Create a first draft of an ambassadorship program, kick-off with one single person and gather feedback to iterate as fast as possible.
• Offer your partners special perks, such as access to upcoming products before they’re launched.
• Make room for them to create their strategy, just let them know what you want to achieve, not how. It’s up to them.

⌛️ Conclusion

We’re huge believers that bloggers and brands can work together and achieve valuable results if the above basic rules are taken into consideration. This way, bloggers of all kinds could increase and diversify their revenue streams and continue to do what they enjoy most, while brands have the opportunity to reach new audiences and create stronger bonds with the current ones.

Everything can be summed up in a few common sense directions, but most often the obvious is the hardest thing to see. So next time you approach a brand or vice-versa, make sure you already have gone through this guideline. Best of luck!

The post How should bloggers and brands work together appeared first on Pixelgrade.

In the last couple of years, the blogging ecosystem grew tremendously on multiple levels: from how people have gotten in touch with this activity to how they’ve been developing strategies to make it a full-time job. Nowadays, there are a lot of folks that are investing time, energy, and money in creating something that’s called blogging as a profession.

As any entrepreneurial journey, blogging can be full of ups and downs. Lack of knowledge about how to grow an audience, demanding experiences in working with some brands, tons of efforts in building a name are just a few of them. Nothing valuable gets done by the blink of an eye or via a growth hack.

When it comes to creating a consistent personal brand there’s no shortcut. Forget about growth hacking strategies or any other nuclear tactics because it doesn’t work like that.

I talked with a bunch of bloggers about how they leveled up their digital game. They said that from a certain point much of their attention is focused on building and maintaining a consistent personal brand. One that people love and remember despite how jammed this playground is and will continue to be.

I’ve put together their insights next to our know-how of themes’ creators and here’s what you should consider:

#1 — Be true to yourself and to your audience

Everybody starts small. No matter how shaky is your traffic in your early days, make sure you deliver coherent messages all over the mediums. Express that you deeply believe in what you write, you pack words which define your core values and beliefs, and you would do the same if someone is going to meet you in the offline world.

Nothing is more precious than having folks supporting your blogging activity and act as proud ambassadors.

Assume the stage you’ve reached as a blogger and act accordingly. People appreciate transparency more than anything else, especially in the blogging sphere where there’s an alarming amount of fake and futility. 

By the way, it’s one of our core values which we strongly manifest it both internally and externally. It brought as plenty of advantages and peace of mind along the way.

How to do that?

• Write articles because you learned something that you think is valuable for your community and you want to share the takeaways to lend a hand.
• Share your struggles and challenges as a blogger, no matter where you stand on the ladder — beginner or a top-player — because it will help you create stronger bonds.
• Don’t accept partnerships which don’t align with who you are just for the sake of some money or for a superficial good PR wave.

#2 — Keep an engaging dialogue with your tribe

Make room to constantly stay in touch with your tribe, to understand their points of view and to empower healthy discussions. This way you create a great sense of belonging that will keep people close both in the short and the long run. Nothing is more precious than having folks supporting your blogging activity and act as proud ambassadors.

Most of the storytellers want to focus on what they’re enjoying doing most — expressing their ideas better.

Sometimes, bloggers tend to forget how they reached a particular stage and start ignoring their audience’s needs and requests. This attitude leads them to a lack of engagement from their audience because people don’t feel appreciated and valued anymore. Try to remember that thanks to those people, their attention, maybe even their money or word-of-mouth you’re here today.

How to do that?

• Create an editorial strategy and a content calendar with ideas that you’re looking forward to transforming into articles.
• Reply to each comment someone writes on your articles, despite the fact that a few are farfetched or lack a certain meaning.
• Invite avid readers to write on your blog, to share their trusted opinions around related topics in order to contribute.

#3 — Consider personal branding a long-term game

All the tangible and non-tangible assets define your brand: visual identity, verbal identity, colours, logo, photography, tagline, words, reactions, presence — all of them say something about the character behind the scenes.

If you want to achieve spectacular results with your blogging journey all of these need to be taken care of. There’s no doubt that most of the storytellers want to focus on what they’re enjoying doing most — expressing their ideas better — and less on the technical side of things. Please bear in mind that they are mandatory today, when blogging is such a crowded place out there.

How to do that?

• Do your research regarding the who are the right partners that can help you get the look-and-feel and the vibe you want to contaminate people with.
• Invest whatever resources you may need when launching a story in the world because you want to make sure it’s one that represents you.
• Keep everything up to date as you evolve and adjust your branding as you move from one stage of evolution to another.

I’m here to help you create a fabulous blog

Express your ideas better next to me.

Get started now

When it comes to creating a consistent personal brand there’s no shortcut. Forget about growth hacking strategies or any other nuclear tactics because it doesn’t work like that. You just need to be genuinely committed to the journey and take it one step at a time.

We can’t do the job for you, but we can definitely lend a hand to help you avoid a bunch of painful mistakes. We did that dozens of times and things worked out great. Kick-off by choosing a solution that allows you to win precious time to focus on your writing passion. Explore our shop!

The post How to create a consistent personal brand by blogging appeared first on Pixelgrade.