The Design Business Show 107: Get Clear on Branding with Gabby Woltz

Show notes:

As a brand and web designer, Gabby spends her days crafting brands that run deeper than pretty logos and fiery color palettes. She helps creative introverts defeat branding overwhelm, own their voice online, and actually get excited when talking about what they do. I’m talking conversations over whiskey spiked chai lattes that result in deep belly laughs and a web presence that gets her clients seen and paid like the experts they are. It’s a one-way ticket off the struggle bus and into a brand and website that connects you effortlessly with your true audience and has them lining up to buy.

 

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

• How Gabby and I met earlier this year at Kira Hug and Rob Marsh’s TCCIRL event

• Gabby explains how she knew in high school that she didn’t want to work for anyone long term and knew she wanted to spend her time being creative  

• What got Gabby started was her studies in photography which led her to figuring out how design and imagery works in communicating messages 

• Gabby shares that she stumbled into design by being determined to create her own website with the knowledge she learned from her classes

• How Gabby sold her first website design for $500 and then started receiving more projects 

• How Gabby did design off and on after school and actually stopped doing it for a while because she didn't have a process that made it easy for her to work with clients 

• Gabby tells us about the course she took at the end of last year which made her more confident in knowing what she needed to do in a web design project 

• Since completing the course, Gabby has done some copywriting work and incorporates that  into the work she’s doing now 

• Gabby shares the story of how she got the name of her brand, Bold Whisper Studio and what it means to her 

• How Gabby schedules her day and tips she has for people who are introverted as well

• Gabby shares that her balance and energy is super important to her so she can be on her A game for her clients and in her personal life 

• Gabby’s VIP Day offer that has to do with brand strategy, understanding who you are as a person, who your target market is and how you serve them 

• Gabby explains that she likes to do VIP Days with clients before they do any design work because if you’re not clear on your messaging or who your serve, the design won’t do anything positive for your business 

• The second step for working with clients is working on brand identity, working with their logos, color palettes and font pairings- then they can opt to go fully into design work for their websites 

• Gabby tells the story how how she got her first website design job and how she wasn’t sure what she should charge for her services 

• How after her first website she jumped up to charging $2,000 for her website design which also included branding and how now she charges $7,500 for brand identity, design, strategy and the website and charges more if it includes copywriting

• Gabby explains what she likes to do if clients bring in their own copywriter and how she likes to have a conversation with the copywriter and share her brand brief with them so they can see the tone they have set for the brand 

• Why Gabby believes communication is so important to a project and how establishing a rapport with other people helping your client on their project can help you 

• How a lot of the tips you get when you are starting a business to put yourself out there are in very extroverted ways and how that doesn’t plant off introverts strengths 

• Gabby shares that when she put herself out into the spotlight right away, she felt like she didn’t belong because she was doing things in a way that someone else told her she should, without thinking about who she was as a person 

• As an entrepreneur it’s hard doing everything yourself in the beginning and how it can be even more exhausting if you aren’t doing it in a way that’s supported by your strengths 

• Gabby tells the story of how she took a step back after realizing how burnt out she was getting by trying to put herself out there and figured out how her being an introvert played a role in the way she does her business

• How Gabby had to find ways to play off her strengths as an introvert and figure out who she was in order to figure out her limits and help her not push those boundaries

• Gabby explains how jumping into a website before understanding who your talking to makes it more complicated and how it can suck the energy out of your marketing efforts 

• While working by yourself you can miss a lot of blindspots and your own strengths and how working with other people can help shine a light on things you might not see  

• If you’re not clear on who you are, who your serving and the ways you’re wanting to show up, that will show through on your website 

• How gabby makes her website super clear so people who may not be in the industry can understand it- see example on her website 

• How Gabby tries to explain everything clearly because she understands that not everyone she’s talking to knows industry terms or understands it in the same depth 

• Why it’s important to regularly check in with yourself because things you defined for yourself early on may not be what serves you anymore and 

• Connect with Gabby on Instagram and send her a DM or invest in a VIP Day and work with Gabby one on one 

Links mentioned:

Bold Whisper Studio Website 

VIP Day Offer 

Connect with Gabby on Instagram

 

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