Seriously in Business: Brand + Design, Marketing and Business

For some business owners the word Canva either means NOTHING to them... or it's something that strikes a little bit of fear and trepidation taunting them as yet another thing they need to learn!

I want to share with you in this episode why Canva is a MUST for every business owner - even you ;)

I'll go onto the what Canva is and the differences between the Free and Pro versions!

I also chat about all the epic things you can do for YOUR business on this design platform.

Free trial of Canva Pro: https://partner.canva.com/prodeer

Logo design in Canva episode: https://www.whitedeer.com.au/podcast/making-your-logo

Join DIY Design My Biz for half price: https://www.diydesignmybiz.com/

Dear business owner,

Your business is incredible.

What you offer is so beautiful.

I love your passion and your heart for those you serve.

But it's hard for people to FIND your wonderful business if you don't market yourself well.

And one of the biggest tools in your marketing toolkit is your graphics and branding.

AKA. How you LOOK to those around you.

And boy, it plays a huge roll in your success.

And so I want to share with you this message. This encouragement. This insight...

I hope you find it helpful.

Dream big and show up accordingly.

Love, your friendly neighbourhood graphic design coach.

PS. My online course to teach you design is almost 50% off this week (from 24th November). You can find out more here: www.diydesignmybiz.com

ATTN: All wonderful humans thinking of starting a business! THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU!

Starting a business is no easy feat and there are few MUST DO things that can make the difference between success and sad eyes.

So here are my top 5 steps you need to start working on if you're wanting to start a biz in 2023 (or sooner!).

- Choose your biz name, website and social handle

- Design your logo

- Create a powerful visual brand

- Map out your social media plan

- Create a tool to draw people to your biz - ie. freebie

I got DEEP into each of these points so grab a cuppa, put in your headphones and be ready to be inspired, equipped and ready to move!

Join the FREE "Seriously in Business" Challenge (22-24 Nov 2022).

Other episodes to listen to:
- Designing Your Own Lead Magnet
- 5 Mistakes NOT to Make When Making Your Logo
- Choosing + Pairing Your Brand Fonts: Top Things You MUST Know

I want to let you behind the scenes of my recent branding photo shoot!

How I prepared, what the day looked like, how I chose my clothing, how I made the most out out of the session... EVERYTHING.

Coz it can all feel a little daunting and mysterious some times so I hope this ep lets you in behind the curtains to the reality of a photoshoot.

You see - photos for a business owner is one of the BEST marketing tools. And certainly one of the BIGGEST things to make designing graphics easier.

Personal branding photos help you share your personality, communicate your brand vibe and help your audience connect with YOU.

It also helps you show up as a PRO and gives you a boost of confidence while you're at it.

I've recorded an episode with my photographer back in ep 31 too, so here's the link if you want to listen to more of her tips too: https://www.whitedeer.com.au/podcast/brandphoto

PLUS! I'd love to invite you to join my FREE 3-day challenge: Seriously in Business. Coz if you're ready to look serious about your biz, I want to help make it happen! 22-24 November! Join free now: https://www.diydesignmybiz.com/SeriouslyChallenge

There are 3 common traits I see in all the business owners I've taught that actually LAST and make GOOD graphics for their businesses.

Coz it seems DIYing might not be for everyone - so in this episode I want to share with you the 3 traits you need to be able to create your own graphics.

And thankfully - these traits are ALL ones that we can cultivate if we don't feel like they're currently strengths of ours!

1. Curiosity: Are you curious about how things work, about exploring new ways to doing things. Are you curious about YOURSELF and your audience and finding graphics that connect.
2. Creativity: And not just in the classic sense! Are you able to explore, to find solutions to learn to create graphics that are more than just plain text on a page. Do you love beautiful things!
3. Continue: Are you willing to try again? To not give up when things don't work the first time. Are you willing to try things a different way or brave enough to build on what you've done in the past?

Foster these 3 traits and you'll have skills that not only serve your business graphics but your business as a whole!

When we get to this time of the year it can feel like things are starting to wind down... but not over at White Deer! I wanted to share with you what I'm doing in these final months of the year to not only prepare for 2023 but to keep momentum rolling NOW!

This is a little bit of an insight into the backend of my business - enjoy listening to my plans, ideas, launches, things I'm changing and things I'm getting help with.

I hope it inspires you as you consider what actions you can take now to build your business and set yourself up for an incredible 2023!

If you're anything like me, numbers are one of your least favourite parts of business.

They're one of the jobs you tend to put off then finally get to later and regret you let your books get so out of order.

Well, I think it's time we change things around and take ownership of this less fun area of our biz.

In this episode I chat with money and business mentor Natalie Hall. She shares with us 5 numbers all biz owners need to be on top of and how we can practically do that through weekly and monthly money dates!

Natalie has seen too many businesses go under due to a lack on money management, but being a business owner herself she can see how tricky all the aspects of running a business is and her dream is to make the money side a little more manageable!

Here are some of my notes from our discussion:

5 numbers:

1. Your budget: plan out your money goals for the 12 months. Write down sales expected, expenses, investments, wage, super and forecasted profit. You can then make decisions on how you're going to hit those goals. (Look at profit and loss statement for past figures to gain inspiration for these goals)
2. Cash flow forecast: Cash is king. Weekly cash flow forecast - over 12 week periods. This is the cash coming in vs coming out.
3. Tax: Speak with an accountant about working out your income tax for the year. Make monthly payments into a personal tax bank account so you're putting it aside and don't get a shock when it's time to pay. Also looking at GST and putting it in a separate account too.
4. (and 5!) Sales and profit: Profit is what we end up with at the end of the day so it's important to know what our end profit is. Look at sales weekly/monthly and profit end of each month. Compare against your budget and see if you're on track.

WEEKLY: Have a weekly month date! ie. sit down on a Friday and check in on your numbers, reconcile your accounts, weekly revenue, expenses, cash in and out, bank balance and if you need to put any money into your tax accounts. Check invoicing, bills, etc. Look at your expected cash flow for the following week. And a check in on YOU - sleep, eating, family, self care - being aware of you and your mindset.

MONTHLY: Get your financial statements, maybe even print them off!! Profit and loss, cash flow, balance sheet - go through sales and then go line by line in your profit and loss expenses (check it's going to plan and check that it's all correct). Cross check your actuals with your budget. Check bank, cash, tax, super, GST accounts and Plan for the month ahead.

Don't be put off my this list! Natalie explains that once your weekly/monthly dates are set up they won't take long at all and will lead to far more success for your business in the long term as you make informed and wise decisions with your money.

ABOUT NATALIE:

Natalie Hall is a former accountant CPA turned money and business mentor based in Melbourne, Australia. She helps high achieving, 6-7 figure business owners grow their profit whilst prioritising their wellbeing and mindset. Educating women financially so they can learn the power of numbers to grow their profit, as well as supporting them to harness the power of their mind and wellbeing to create the business and life of their dreams. 

The end result? Unwavering self belief and trust so they can become the woman they were destined to be.
 

CONNECT WITH NATALIE:

Website: nataliejhall.com

Instagram: @natalie_j_hall

Your Guide To Growing Your Profit Freebie

It's the question EVERY business owner needs to tackle at multiple times in their business: Should I DIY my graphics, hire a professional, or should I get my VA to do it?

And there's no one right answer for everyone, but there will be one right answer for you in this season.

So in this episode I'm going to step you through the most important things you need to consider depending on your budget, stage of business and priorities.

When we first start our business it can be difficult to know how to infuse our personality and passion into it. Tara didn't have a bad brand, but it didn't quite match her deep caring nature or spiritual focusses - so, in The Co+Creation Club we changed that.

I'm so excited to share Tara's story with you. Discover just how empowering and impactful it was for her to update her branding herself and learn the skills to create promotional material for all of her offerings both during her time in The Club and well after it had finished!

Tara shares of a masterclass she's wanted to create for a year now but has only just now put it out into the world - in part helped by her ability to create her Instagram posts and presentation slides in a way that was fun and deeply resonates with her audience.

Tara even mentions that the kinds of clients she's drawing in now that she's designed her brand around HER are even more aligned.

Listen now to hear Tara's experience of working with me in The Co+Creation Club and if you're excited to join our October round (final round for 2022) then jump in here before doors close October 4th. https://www.diydesignmybiz.com/club

ABOUT TARA:

Tara Winters is an award winning life coach, soul guide, speaker, writer and mother of three children.

Her first career as a corporate accountant saw her working for large multinational corporations. After 20 years of hiding her spirituality while climbing the corporate ladder and playing down her money wisdom in the spiritual world, she now integrates her masculine and feminine energy to create a life of joy, freedom and abundance.

With deep wisdom, a loving heart and a treasure trove of spiritual and financial tools, she supports her clients to create an abundant relationship with money and with themselves. She strongly believes that people who feel abundant in their lives, financially and otherwise, have the power to change our world.

CONNECT WITH TARA:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarawinters.co/

Website: https://www.tarawinters.com.au/

I wonder if you can relate to Nivek...

"I jumped onto Canva late one night to start working on my brand but I felt so stuck. So uninspired. I felt like I was going to snap! I couldn't look at it all anymore. I need someone to guide me... I couldn't articulate what I wanted but I knew I didn't want to stay in this place any longer."

"Whenever I put anything into the world, I want to be proud of it. But I couldn't find that in the brand that I had or anything I could think of on my own. It was stopping me from launching the podcast coz I wanted to feel proud of it and to be able to shout it from the rooftops... but I didn't feel confident in anything I could create on my own"

Nivek is a wildly successful business owner but she wanted more, she wanted to grow, she wanted to feel proud of her brand. But her graphics were getting in the way (the opposite of what they're meant to do!).

Listen to this episode to found out what changed EVERYTHING for Niv.

Join The Co+Creation Club! Doors close October 4th.

www.diydesignmybiz.com/club

ABOUT NIVEK:

Nivek Harrison is an Online Business Manager and the owner of The Virtual Chapter, a virtual support agency for soul-led coaches, course creators and consultants who want to transform & elevate their business through the power of leveraged systems. Nivek is passionate about supporting business owners to show up and deliver their magic, with the support of incredible team, structures and systems.  

After training with the Beautiful You Coaching Academy and building a successful life coaching business, Nivek quickly found her passion in all things technology & people, and supporting other entrepreneurs to build their dream businesses. Her signature framework of Strategy, Systems & Soul is designed to create business and life-changing outcomes, all while taking care of the behind-the-scenes of business.

When she's not project managing like a boss in Asana, you'll find her spending time with her young family, reading a book or getting her nerd on with the latest tech news.  

GET IN TOUCH WITH NIVEK:

Download '70 Tasks a VA Can Do For You'

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thevirtualchapter

Website: https://thevirtualchapter.co

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-virtual-chapter/id1626957686