Raise your hand if you struggle to create the time and space in your calendar to work on your own brand, fellow designer! I know I’m not the only one over here with my hand raised behind my computer screen. 😉

After ten years of growing my design business—and all the years I’ve worked as a coach for graphic, brand, and web designers—I’ve learned how challenging it is to make your own business a priority when you’re incredibly busy serving your clients well. From my own personal perspective, as well as what I see designers struggling with inside my free Facebook group, it truly all boils down to how we prioritize our own business maintenance and growth while still showing up for our clients.

And I’m here today to share a few things I’ve learned over the years that have helped not just myself, but also my students inside the Brand Strategy School, so that you can work on your own business without burning the candle at both ends!

How to Schedule Time to Work on Your OWN Brand as a Designer

Put it on the calendar

Let me guess: you always have good intentions about working on your own business, right?

You tell yourself that you’ll do your quarterly goal setting or look at your numbers… later. When you have time in the ever distant future. Am I wrong?

But here’s the thing, friend. Later isn’t a day on the calendar. If we keep telling ourselves that we’ll work on our businesses tomorrow, inevitably tomorrow becomes incredibly busy. A client emails you with a question you weren’t expecting. A brand concept comes back with more revisions than you anticipated. And the time you thought you had for your own business is suddenly filled up with client work, emails, and more.

My solution? Regularly block off time on your own calendar, mark it as “unavailable” for meetings or calls, and then actually do the work when the time comes. If you have a weekly date with yourself to create content, review your bank accounts, or assess progress with your goals, then you know it will happen. You won’t have to find the time. The time is already there.

Don’t underestimate the power of 15 minutes

And just because you have that time on the calendar, don’t fool yourself into thinking that it has to be hours of undivided attention to your business in order to be meaningful. If you only have 45, 30, or even just 15 minutes to devote that day or week, then go for it! Having 15 minutes of quality time to focus is better than having no time at all to spend on your business.

Remember, you’re simultaneously growing your business as you serve your custom design clients. And that growth won’t happen if you neglect what it takes to move the needle forward. But that doesn’t mean that kind of meaningful, powerful work has to only happen when you have an entire afternoon free. Because who ever really has that kind of time available, right?

Take your business as seriously as you take your client work

The biggest mistake I see designers make when it comes to today’s topic usually boils down to this: they aren’t making intentional progress on their own business goals because they’re too busy pouring into their clients. And the reason why they’re so busy with clients? They aren’t taking themselves as seriously as they take their client work.

And I get it! Our client work pays the bills. Happy clients lead to word of mouth referrals, which lead to more money. Everybody wins!

But if you’re ignoring your own business in order to make your clients happy, is that really serving you well in the long run? And if we’re believing that even 15 or 30 minutes of quality work for yourself each week can lead to big results in the near future, then you don’t need to ignore your clients or let your client experience fall by the wayside, right?

You can absolutely serve your clients well and show up for yourself. But you need to take yourself just as seriously as you take your clients.

Adding value to your own brand with powerful brand strategy services

If you’ve been dreaming of working on your own business by incorporating brand strategy as a massive value-add to your services, then I’d love to invite you to join the Brand Strategy School, my signature course for graphic, brand, and web designers, today! Inside this self-paced course, I show you how to…

• supercharge your strategy process by following my signature brand strategy method
• elevate your client experience through done-for-you workflows and swipe files
• consistently captivate your dream clients through an intentional marketing plan

And you can start elevating your design business today for as little as $84/mo!

Take it from Ashley, a talented brand and website designer + BSS student, who said:

“I learned in just a few short weeks what would have taken me years to piece together on my own! After [the BSS], my confidence as a brand designer sky-rocketed and I now feel confident calling myself a brand strategist. I learned in just a few short weeks what would have taken me years to piece together on my own and my investment has been paid back already!”

Take her word for it and join us inside the BSS today, friend! I can’t wait to see you there 🙂

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE BRAND STRATEGY SCHOOL!

P.S. Curious about the method I teach inside the BSS that delivers such transformative results and how it can help your design business grow? Then grab your free seat to my on-demand brand strategy training where I show you how to leverage my signature method to exponentially grow your business without adding more to your plate!

GRAB YOUR FREE SEAT FOR MY MASTERCLASS!