Melissa Burkenheimer is a graphic designer who after working for a design firm, realized that there was little room for growth… it was time to be resourceful and tap into creative ways of finding her own clients.

She started as an ambitious freelance graphic designer with nothing more than a few grassroots marketing strategies up her sleeve. She rush printed a stack of business cards and headed out to networking events and Chamber of Commerce meetings.

She rolled up her sleeves and did the work. Melissa built relationships, connected with other small business owners and really put herself out there. Eventually, her old school tactics worked and she gained steady traction in her business.

Over time, she expanded her offerings, grew her business and gained a handful of noteworthy clients such as Sean Malarkey and James Wedmore.

What happens when you get a few spectacular clients referring you to their friends? It’s time to upgrade your systems, up your game and work through some growing pains.

This week’s episode dives behind the scenes of Melissa dealing with recent growing pains in her business. Most of the things we chat about are great things to consider when working with clients at any phase in your business.

Be comfortable with putting yourself out there + sharing your story

Know your worth + Accept that you are worth the prices you charge

Figure out how you want to work with people. For instance: one-on-one, in a group or downloadable products. Do you want to work with someone for an hour, a month or a year?

Know where you get your customers… is it where everyone says they are? For Melissa, building a list wasn’t a priority- her bread-n-butter came from building relationships. How can you use your strengths to find customers?

Ask them how do they like to work? How do they like to communicate? Each customer is different… “You have to adapt to what works for your clients to get the results that you want”

Ask your customers for feedback… how can I do better?

Take your time and figure out the best possible way to do things, then act on them and put them into action.

Set business and money goals for growth. This can be tricky in the beginning, but setting goals makes you hustle and add structure to get your business to the next level.