January 17, 2024
Kris Hello and welcome to Design and Prosper episode 117. A quick heads up, it is the magical time of year where the Design and Prosper Academy doors are open. If you want our complete operating system, all the tools, templates and resources, plus the support you need to make great money in your business and live your best life, the Academy is the business school for you.
To find out all about it, head to designandprosper.co/theacademy.
[Intro Music]
Donna: Hello.
Kris: Hey everybody!
Donna: So today, we are highlighting the differences between designers who are struggling and designers who are successful. We work with a lot of designers and we make it our business to analyse everything about them, you know.
Kris: Everything about their businesses, what makes them tick. Mindset stuff, all the things.
Donna: What’s helping them to succeed in today’s market? That kind of thing. We want to know. We want to know it all. So we do a lot of analysis.
Kris: Yeah, so we see differences between designers who are really kicking all their goals, who are really succeeding and designers who just seem to be in struggle street, you know, they’re just struggling and can’t seem to get their head above water. So what, what’s happening? What is the difference?
And so we’ve got some thoughts about this that we want to share, and so we’ll run through them with you.
Donna: And we thought it would be really powerful to cut through. What is the difference?
I bet you ask yourself that. I bet you’re scrolling through looking at other designers going, what’s happening? What’s happening? It’s the analysis that’s enabled us to distill it down to key differences, and we’re sure there’s probably more but for us These are big pieces of the puzzle that might be missing for you struggling designers to flick it over into Being a successful designer. So let’s take a peek.
Kris: So difference number one, so intentional marketing, successful designers are intentional and consistent with their lead generation and marketing strategy. Struggling designers only promote when they are quiet and they have a throw spaghetti at the wall kind of technique. It’s just not even a technique. It’s an approach. And we’ll see what sticks kind of approach to their marketing. So there’s no kind of intention behind it. It’s just like, which way is the wind blowing? Okay, I better do some because I’m quiet. Oh I’m too busy. I’m not going to bother with that right now.
Donna: Yeah, it’s a knee jerk. Yeah. It’s an absolute knee jerk. And they’re being reactive rather than proactive, the successful designers are so intentional about every bit of that. They know. They’ve got the promotional rhythm. They know when it’s going to happen. They know how it’s going to happen. They know are targeting.
They’ve got it all sorted out. So there’s so much intention. Yeah, that’s a beauty. I love that one. Okay, difference number two. Expert messaging. Successful designers have expert messaging. That’s it. Boom. Mic drop.
Kris: Yep.
Donna: Messaging that positions them as an authority and as a leader in the industry. Whereas, struggling designers have me too messaging and don’t have a unique point of view. They don’t tap into that real deep desire and it’s more sort of surface level, look at my designs, they’re really good, you know, that kind of thing. But that’s not enough. It’s not enough to do that. It’s not enough to have a portfolio website.
Kris: Not anymore.
Donna: Clients are not interested in that. They want to know what’s in it for them and that’s where the struggling designer fails because they don’t speak to that that they’re offering, the results that they’re offering.
Kris: Difference number three, a clear vision. So successful designers have a really clear vision for what they want, their end game. And they are unwavering in their pursuit of that vision. Struggling designers don’t have a plan. They’re just floating along, hoping they will gain traction. Eventually there’s just no clear vision. And I think I’ve mentioned it before.
You know, a lot of designers will just sort of float and grow organically. And I was like that as well in my business. You need a plan, you need a clear vision.
Donna: Yeah, I was like that in my business as well. I think that’s the most valuable thing about working with Kris and I. Our hindsight becomes your foresight. Because we’ve made the mistakes, beautiful designers. We’ve been there and we’ve done that. And and we want to save you from it really. So, and this insight right here that we’re sharing in. To me, there are a lot of mic drop moments throughout. So just think about it.
We just want you to let these thoughts wash over you. If you are resonating at all with a successful designer, fantastic. We are so happy for you. If you are resonating at all with the struggling designer, as we go through more differences, then there is room to shift and pivot and move into that successful designer framework. Think about it. What’s missing? Where are the gaps?
Kris: A lot of this is mindset stuff as well. And you can shift into this way of thinking. Ok. Difference number four,
Donna: The right business model. So, successful designers have a business model that suits them, that lights them up, that supports their zone of genius and their lifestyle that they want to live.
They’re really living in integrity, working in integrity. So, the struggling designer on the other hand, they are being pulled around like puppets. Different clients show up and they do whatever work comes their way. There is no intentionality and they end up in a feast or famine cycle.
Kris: There’s a bit of desperation in that one. I’m just going to take whatever, you know, just whatever scraps you’ve got.
Donna: Yeah.
Kris: Just give it to me. So, often that comes from that previous point that we were talking about, the having that clear vision for what you want your business to be and then matching that to the right business model is really important.
Donna: Really important.
Kris: Difference number five, they implement boundaries. So successful designers implement boundaries, struggling designers have clients who are just bad bosses in disguise. A whole bunch of them.
Donna: Yes. That’s it. A whole bunch of them, like 10 clients who are bad with boundaries are 10 bad bosses. It’s awful. It really is awful to, to have a design business like that.
Kris: Yeah. And boundaries can be implemented with respect and kindness. They are mutually beneficial for you and your clients and so don’t be afraid to implement them. But it’s good idea to have a really lovely client portal to be able to implement boundaries and so that it’s really clear and they can see, you know, for example, how many versions of something they’ve got left and how how many proofs are remaining as per the contract and all that sort of thing.
But successful designers, they have to implement boundaries in order to make sure that the project is delivered on time, in order to make sure that the standard is really high. That’s what makes their work good as well, implementing boundaries.
Donna: Being in integrity with the project as well. And making sure that the project runs smoothly. Boundaries start at the beginning of a relationship with a client from the very starting point, from the price that you send off, from that very first touch point where they come in and they, and you take the brief and put together a beautiful design proposal your costings in there and your contract.
Your contract pops all of your key boundaries right there front and center for the client to see exactly who. Who is the boss and how it’s going to work and the way it’s going to work. And then you get another opportunity with your. Welcome guide to reiterate boundaries in a more gentle way. You get to reiterate boundaries on your client portal like Kris said.
All of these ways are there to assist and support you to really maintain that strong boundaries. We’ve got a couple of free resources to help you out with that. And we’ve got a contract and design proposal in our shop. All of which help you to be the most boundaried. designer out there. So check out our free resources and check out our shop.
We’ve got some really cool tools for you to pop into your toolkit.
Kris: Yeah. Alright, another one. Successful designers show up imperfectly. They just do the thing that has to be done. They don’t overthink it. Struggling designers drown, absolutely drown in perfectionism. Honestly, their perfectionism is their undoing.
It’s impacting their profits. It’s impacting their life balance. It’s impacting their happiness. Like we talk about this a lot about perfectionism and the impact that it has on design businesses. But check out episode 77: Done is good, where we do a deep dive into that as well.
Because honestly, this is the biggest lesson that a lot of designers need…they are thinking Of course I want high quality results, but I’m going to get it done, and I’m going to get it done, and I’m going to have a profitable business, and I’m going to live my life, and I’m not going to stay up all night trying to finesse something that doesn’t really matter.
Donna: Coesn’t matter.
Kris: And yeah, I’m going to be successful by being imperfect. Yep.
Donna: And look, full transparency, Kris and I are a work in progress with this. We have suffered with this for years in our businesses and to varying degrees. And, You might think you’ve kicked it to the curb, and then all of a sudden you’ll find yourself completely in a zone of fussing and obsessing over something.
And you’re like, I thought I kicked perfectionism to the curb. What happened? You know, but I’m I’ll fall off the wagon occasionally, you know, I’ll stay steadfast for quite a while and then fall off the wagon and have to remind myself. To come back on and Kris is the same and I think it is probably going to be that never ending issue that you have to work on.
But here’s the thing, it’s in that first line, successful designers show up imperfectly. Like, that is literally pop it on a sticky note and pop it, you know, on your desk somewhere. Pop it on a mirror because if that’s a trigger for you, if that’s something that you’re dealing with that you are, you have full permission to show up imperfectly.
And here’s the thing, be successful. You will be successful.
Kris: Yep.
Donna: Difference number seven. Flops are just lessons, right? Successful designers don’t give up if they have a setback. They find the treasure in the negative experience. They analyze the data, they pull another lever, they move into a new direction, they do whatever it takes.
They’re like, okay, thank you for that intel, what’s next? Struggling designers give up. They don’t see failure as an opportunity for growth. If there’s one thing we know for sure, if we stick our necks out and push outside of our comfort zone, there are going to be things that don’t go to plan, definitely.
They won’t, they just won’t. And if you’ve failed, it means you’ve tried something out, way out of your comfort zone, which is really brilliant. And we want to encourage you to do that. But sadly, struggling designers give up. They think it’s all too hard. They think it’s a sign that they shouldn’t be doing it.
They just give up on themselves. And it’s really sad.
Kris: Yeah. Failures can be celebrated, for sure.
Donna: Yeah
Kris: It’s just setbacks. Thank you for that intel, now I know what I’m going to do differently. I’m going to make sure that never happens again. New system required! That often happens.
Donna: Enter the new system. Yeah.
Kris: Another one. Successful designers trust their gut. They don’t seek external validation, so they trust their instincts and they stay the course with that, you know, they’re aligned to their vision and they, you know, they really tap into their intuition because it’s important in some ways.
You’ve gotta have your blinkers on, you’ve gotta have your vision, you’ve got your blinkers on. It’s like, I’m not going to, I’m gonna cut out all the noise. I’m just gonna stay on my path. Yeah. And. Successful designers, they don’t need the approval of others. Like, you know, they’re not getting everybody else’s opinion on everything.
They’re like, I’m going to stay in my own lane here. And also if they get critical feedback, if they get any negative feedback by a client, for example, they’ll take it on board and do something about it. That could be similar to the previous one. It’s a setback, but it’s like, okay, I’m going to implement change.
I’m going to take accountability. That is key. Accountability.
Donna: Yeah. I almost wanted to clap that bit. I was like, yes, Kris! That’s so true. Yeah.
Kris: But on the flip side, a struggling designer, well, they’re going to poll everyone else before they decide their next move. So if you’re finding yourself over polling. I tend to fall into that sometimes. Like I lose, like I have really good gut instincts and then all of a sudden I’m like asking every Tom, Dick and Harry about everything, you know, what do you think?
What do you think? Is this a good thing? Well, I’m not asking Tom, Dick and Harry, I’m asking my family, I’m asking my friends, but it’s like, you get into this like, I don’t know what I think, but it dilutes your vision, that kind of overthinking. And it comes with. overthinking. Be careful about your overthinking.
Constantly seeking other’s opinions because it leads to decision paralysis where we’re just not doing anything. We could just come to a full stop. So it can be really overwhelming. You can get completely conflicting advice as well, which then is like, okay,
Donna: What happens then?
Kris: Person A says this and person B says that and oh my goodness, I don’t know anymore. It’s time consuming. That’s the thing with designers who trust their gut. That’s very time efficient.
Donna: It is so time efficient. Yep.
Kris: I’m just gonna do it. I’m going to be decisive.
Donna: Mm-Hmm. . Yeah. Get it done. That’s right. Absolutely. It feels for me that this is a worthiness thing as well. When we are seeking validation in this way. So I love that. Again, come back to the core, beautiful designers, like successful designers trust their gut. You have permission. It’s almost like every positive difference that we were outlining today is an affirmation. Right? You could create a beautiful list of affirmations from today’s podcast because you have the right to trust your gut.
You are worthy. You know? It’s an interesting paradigm shift for designers. It’s like Kris said, it’s a lot of mindset stuff. You are worthy of all of these things.
Kris: Like the next one could be an affirmation. I am decisive.
Donna: Yeah, love this one! So successful designers do n’t deliberate over decisions that don’t really matter in the scheme of things. They really don’t what needs to be right for the rest to matter. We say that a lot.
Kris: We do. So, I just want to pause on that. Because the first time I heard that I didn’t quite get it. And we know it so well now, that it just really makes sense. It’s like, what is the next right step?
It’s a little bit similar to that, because there’s all this noise and there’s all this stuff. But, what needs to be right for the rest to matter? So, there’s this A, B, Z idea, and I forget who came up with it, but hopefully I’ll have it by the the time the show notes are done.
A, B, Zee, or A, B, Zed depending on how you pronounce your Zedss and Zees. But A is where you are now, Z is where you want to be, and B is the next step.
Right? So it’s like sometimes you just need that first little step. So, yeah. Successful designers are decisive. They take massive imperfect action. I can’t remember who came up with that either, the massive imperfect action.
I don’t know if it’s a book or something, but it’s bandied about a bit, that massive imperfect action. They don’t wait until they feel ready, like I’m not ready, or have researched the eyeballs out of it. Now, how many of you are feeling that one?
Donna: Yeah.
Kris: Because that is a big thing that designers, a lot of us, designer types do. We over research. They just do the thing and then momentum kicks in and takes care of the rest.
Donna: Exactly, They just do the thing. They just get on with it. They really take massive imperfect action.
A little commonality here is that time is being saved hand over fist, right? We’re saving time. We’re saving time. We’re saving time. And one of the reasons that we go into business for ourselves is to have the freedom and flexibility of time. And so successful designers, really hold in high regard their time.
It is like a sacred thing that they go, we are not impacting on that too much. I’m going to get through this next task. I’m going to get through this next thing. quickly and I’m going to save a lot of time doing it. So the flip side of that, struggling designers sweat the small stuff, right? They just stress about the whole. of everything. You know, they over research, they get sidetracked on many, on multiple, multiple quests.
Kris: Yes. Side quests
Donna: rabbit holes, if you will, you know, you know, and none of these ultimately bring in success factors for their business.
They’re just time vortexes. So, for example, deciding which project management tool to use, instead of just going, I just need a project management tool, I’m just going to get on with it. Deciding which website platform to use.
Kris: Email platform, you know, you can change them!
Donna: You can change them.
Kris: You can change them later. Just pick one, go for it. They’re all good, pretty well. They all do all the good things.
Donna: Yeah
Kris: You can’t really get this stuff wrong. You just got to pick one and go for it rather than researching and researching.
Donna: yeah, yeah.
Kris: So if that relates to you, it’s like it’s time to just and, and a lot of these are tied together, like massive imperfect action or being imperfect. Okay, I’m just gonna go for it, and if it’s wrong, I’ll figure that out later. But chances are it’s gonna be great and you can just keep on going with it.
Donna: And if you can’t help yourself, and you want to do your due diligence, and you want to do a little bit of research, then put a time cap on it.
Kris: Yes, very true.
Donna: Literally, pop an alarm on that thing.
Kris: Alright, last one we wanted to talk about was taking responsibility. So, successful designers take responsibility and step into their role of being a CEO.
We talk about this a lot, don’t we? You know, putting on your CEO pants and not just being a freelancer. Not having that mindset. It’s like, I’m a business owner and I have strategic decisions I have to make in order to make this thing successful. And they blame the system. This is what successful designers do.
They blame the system, not the person. And they are proactive rather than being reactive.
Donna: Absolutely. This happened in our business just the other day. I stuffed up. Now we have a system that I didn’t use. Okay, I didn’t use the system, but I took responsibility. I took responsibility for the fact that I didn’t use the system. Perfectly good system that we have in place. I didn’t use it. And kept Kris in the dark.
And so as a CEO, I could have gone, well, you should have known, you know, this was happening and this was, you know, and it could have got all blamey and crazy, but I was like, Oh no. I knew exactly what had happened. I didn’t use the system and I was responsible for that. So you have to remember when you’re a CEO, it’s important if you put systems in place, use them.
Kris: Yeah.
Donna: And then you know, if you’re using the system, you can blame the system, not the person then. But in this case, I had to blame myself because I didn’t use the system.
Kris: Well that’s taking responsibility.
Donna: Yes it’s taking responsibility.
Kris: And I tell you now, like a lot of people want to deflect. They want to deflect and blame and become the victim and that’s what struggling designers do.
They get the victim mentality, but there’s no power in that. You can’t feel powerful being a victim.
Donna: Mm-Hmm.
Kris: So why be a victim to the circumstance? And I think that’s what a lot of designers do. Like, I can’t succeed because the economy sucks. I can’t succeed because the industry is too competitive.
You know, there are actually countless designers in the world who are successful right now, and the industry is worth billions per year. Absolute billions. And I can focus in on my unique strengths. I’ve got this. I can trust that my ideal clients are waiting for me.
Donna: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. That’s it. It’s so powerful when you actually look inward.
Kris: Yeah.
Donna: Take responsibility, be accountable, be. proactive instead of reactive and yeah you will be so surprised at how things shift into place in a positive way and also shifting in a positive way quickly because there’s no resistance there, right?
Kris: So, if you feel like this is ringing a bell with you, any kind of this victim talk, it’s totally going to disempower you. And we really encourage you to flip it to the opposite, like, like other people have all the skills or they have better skills. You know, I’ll never be as good. Well, no, I’m going to celebrate. I’m going to celebrate their success. I’m going to look at that thing that I love and look so beautiful and go, Ooh, I celebrate that. I honor you! And I’m going to use it as inspiration for where I want to be and for how I’m going to grow, because I’m going to get there.
Donna: I love that. I love that little swap around. Another little swap around could be, it’s not my fault this project went badly. The client was difficult and everything went against me. Right? It’s all their fault.
Instead, you could possibly say, I’ll assess what went wrong, learn from it and take responsibility for my role in this.
Kris: What was my role in this?
Donna: What was my role? What went wrong as well?
Kris: Yeah, was it a system flaw?
Donna: Yeah. Was it a people flaw? Was it a system flaw? And if it was a person flaw, what system could we put in place to make sure that it doesn’t happen again?
Kris: Blame the system, not the person.
Donna: Exactly. Yeah.
Kris: And even just like being overwhelmed, like the industry is changing too much. I can’t keep up. It’s too overwhelming. That’s a victimy. It really is. Instead, this industry is evolving. There’s new things happening all the time. I’m going to embrace it. I can embrace it and I can stay adaptive. I’ve got this.
Donna: I love that. That’s a good one.
Kris: That feel like a good place to end.
Donna: That’s a nice one. You have got these beautiful designers. If you are resonating more so with a struggling designer, you are merging into the successful designer. Highlight the gaps and obliterate those and move into that.
Kris: It’s so, so important that we recognize these patterns in ourselves, because only when we recognize them can we shift into a more empowered mindset. if you’re seeing any of these struggling designer patterns, you can flip them, you know. And so much of your design business success is going to come down to mindset stuff all day long. It’s these kind of blocks that hold designers back. This is the stuff that we cover a lot in our group coaching sessions in the academy because it’s mindset. That’s what’s blocking people from success.
Donna: Absolutely. And the thing is, when you’re inside group coaching like the academy, you will realise you There are so many feeling similarly to you.
Kris: brave and they’re vulnerable and they share something, it’s always like the chat goes off like, me too, me too, oh my gosh, I’m feeling this, you know, you’re never alone in this.
Donna: Yeah, never ever. Alright. If you are interested in the academy, that’s probably a good point to say, Kris.
I always get a little bit misty eyed when we talk about the academy in that way, because the group is so important to us, to you and I. And so much happens inside that space. It’s such a safe space where We know that there is a massive difference to designers lives and that this mindset stuff is getting shifted every day.
And that’s exciting because designers are moving into that success model literally on the daily. It’s kind of cool, you know, makes me happy. Join the Academy people if you’re interested, reach out.
Kris: Because it’s not just the resources. You get all the resources and you get the operating system, but it’s like, it’s that extra helping hand to get through any, you know, blocks, mental blocks and things that are coming up.
Vulnerabilities that you have and you know, when you’re in that, it’s okay, you can show up and say, look, I’m feeling like a victim. You don’t have to use that language, but you know, these sorts of statements that we’re talking about, this is not working, this is not happening. And this client was mean to me and all those sorts of things that happen. We’re going to support you and help you figure it out.
And sometimes that’s all anybody needs is somebody to believe in them. And And to know that they’re not alone and just a little bit of a confidence boost, we can give you that confidence boost. Come on, you can do this.
Donna: Yeah. Absolutely. And it’s kind of like you have a team.
Kris: Yeah. We’re part of the team.
Donna: it’s like, okay, my business is Donna Pinter Solo Design and my team, I have a team, I have a very big team behind me, they are the Academy.
Kris: The whole community.
Donna: It’s kind of like what it’s like, right? It’s like, Let me consult my team.
Kris: Yes. The brains trust.
Donna: The brains trust. You have 36 opportunities every year to consult the Brains Trust consult the team. When things get sticky or hairy or confusing. Come on and be a part of the community.
Kris: Yeah. All right, everybody. We’ll leave it there for now. And we hope you have a beautiful rest of your week as always be brave.
Donna: Yes, please do. See you next time. Bye!
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