Calligraphy Biz Corner

4. Part 2: Mistakes to Avoid When Growing Your Calligraphy Business (and What To Do Instead!)

• Alane Gianetti, Shaochen Wu • Season 1 • Episode 4

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As a follow-up to Episode 3, we're sharing the mistakes we've seen and made when growing a calligraphy business, and what to do instead!

In this episode, we talk about three key mistakes that calligraphers should avoid in the growing phase of their business, such as not niching down and not having proper systems in place. We also chat through actionable things to consider during the growth phase to help set your business up for maximum success. These include the importance of getting clear on personal financial goals, identifying what you want your business and personal life to look like, investing in professional growth, finding community, and outsourcing.

If you're ready to take on more clients, increase your revenue, or expand your services, this episode is for you! 

🔗 Links to resources mentioned in this episode:

💻 Software Programs Mentioned

🎙️ In this Episode:

  • 00:00 Introduction
  • 02:47 Mistake #1 - Not Niching Down
  • 06:23 Mistake #2 - Comparing Your Biz Growth to Others'
  • 12:08 Mistake #3 - Lack of Systems 
  • 21:14 Do #1 - Get Clear on Your Financial Goals
  • 26:37 Do #2 - Build Your Business on What You Want Your Life to Look Like
  • 30:05 Do #3 - Lean on Community to Accelerate Your Business
  • 39:14 Do #4 - Invest in Your Professional Growth
  • 48:37 Do #5 - Outsource to Maximize Your Money-Making Time
  • 01:00:35 Final Thoughts

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Alane:

And you see the countdown.

Shaochen:

I got, the little red bar and

Alane:

Great. Okay. We're good to go.

Shaochen:

Yeah, yeah. I know. Yeah, we learned some lessons the last time because this is our second take of this episode because our, our last recording just didn't quite work out, I guess.

Alane:

Yep. Just didn't wanna record it. Recorded to the cloud, we realized, but that's still not as great quality as like what we were supposed to get out of it. So

Shaochen:

track wasn't, wasn't quite there. So we want only the best for our podcast listeners. So we're gonna do a do a take two. I think it'll be even better than the first time.

Alane:

it will. And also, my heat is on in the studio today, finally. So instead of me sitting here freezing because I can't feel my fingers, I'm nice and cozy, I'm more comfortable.

Shaochen:

It's definitely a.

Alane:

Yeah. All right. Well welcome back to another episode of Calligraphy Biz Corner. In our last episode, we shared some mistakes to avoid when starting a calligraphy business and what to do instead to help you set your business up for maximum success.

Shaochen:

If you haven't listened to that episode yet, make sure to tune in at some point because there's some great tips in there that'll be helpful no matter where you are in your business.

Alane:

Yeah, absolutely. And today we are bringing you part two and we're gonna be chatting about mistakes to avoid when you're in the growing stage of your calligraphy business and what you can do instead.

Shaochen:

And when we're talking about the growing phase, um, we're thinking about it more by the characteristics of where you are in your business rather than how long you've been in business, just because that differs for everybody based on how much time you have to spend on your business. So in the growing phase, we're thinking about things like being ready to take on even more clients, wanting to increase your revenue or increase the amount of spend from each client, um, or you could potentially be expanding your services.

Alane:

Yep. And just like with our last episode, our guidance is going to be based on our own experiences as well as from talking with other calligraphers. So Chen, do you wanna kick things off for us? What is the first mistake that Calligraphers should avoid when they're looking to grow their business?

Shaochen:

Yep. So in this episode we'll have three mistakes or things to avoid, and then we also have five things to do instead. So the first mistake we're gonna talk about is not niching down. Um, in our previous episode, episode three about starting your business, we had talked about spending time exploring all of the things. And once you've had a chance to do that, um, you wanna pick one to two areas of focus so that you can get to know your audience really, really well, and then market your services in a targeted way. So, just to give an example, my niche, I am an educator for creatives, specifically for calligraphers, and then within that for calligraphers who wanna work on weddings. And I feel like by being so specific with my niche, I'm able to know my audience really, really well, especially being a wedding calligrapher myself. Um, so I know what some of those pain points are. I know what. It feels like to have a really great thriving business as well. So it's easy to kind of speak to those things. And I feel like when you're known for something specific, it really helps to drive more demand for those services and it helps you to charge more for your services. Um, for example, I feel like there's definitely a few people that come to mind when I think of like watercolors or bottle painting. And immediately if I got an inquiry for that, since that's not my specialty, I know exactly who to send those inquiries to. So when you're known for something, other people are gonna naturally refer that kind of work to you as well. Um, once you've mastered those focus areas, you can always develop additional service areas or even change your service offerings. Just remember that as a business, you're constantly evolving and exploration. Like we were saying last time, is this iterative process that's on ongoing. And so the point we're making here is just calling out that you're gonna be a lot more impactful with your time if you aren't spreading your attention and your energy too thin.

Alane:

Absolutely. I think back to 2020 when I decided to really only focus on weddings and like go all in on marketing weddings only in my business and how impactful that was on my growth. Um, even though I made that decision in January of 2020. And then we all know what happened in March and weddings just kind of stopped, but once they started to pick up again. I was able to see how really talking to couples, to brides, having my website mainly focused on weddings as opposed to like calligraphy for any event or any custom project or special gifts. Being able to narrow my focus down to just weddings. And being able to market myself that way, brought in much more qualified leads. My skills at creating for weddings improved my client management and the whole like client experience journey drastically improved. And I was kind of able to establish myself as like a, well-known calligrapher in my area and create demand around my services and raise my prices. So even though like I would still offer, you know, say a custom gift here or there, maybe somebody came to me for a different event or, you know, an onsite event. I still accepted that type of work, but my like outward projection was focused solely on trying to attract wedding clients.

Shaochen:

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense because it impacts like your marketing strategy, what you post on Instagram, all of that stuff as well.

Alane:

Exactly. Okay, so the next mistake to avoid is comparing your business to other people's businesses. So this is a little bit different than the comparison that we had chatted about in part one. When you're in the middle of growing your business, it's easy to look at another business. That's where you potentially want to be and think that you need to take the exact same steps that they took or do the same things that they are doing in order to get to their level. But the reality is that you don't need to grow in the same way that another business is growing, and chances are that what worked for them probably won't work for you because you have two very unique businesses. So for example, it's easy to think that growth equals hiring an assistant or a part-time employee. I feel like when I was in the growing stages and I saw people who like could have an assistant or have an employee that meant that like they were more successful and they were at the next level in their business. So maybe you're seeing a calligrapher who has a team and you think that in order to get to where they are, you also need a team. But that business model may not be right for you. Or as another example, maybe you see another calligrapher who's added large scale signage to his or her offerings, and you think that you need to do that in order to get to the same level in your business. But again, what works for one person doesn't always work for another. You have to figure out what's going to work for you specifically and just tune out the noise of what everybody else is doing.

Shaochen:

Yeah, I mean, let's double click into that example of doing like the large signage, because that's actually an example that's very applicable to me. I feel like after I've been in business for a few years working on wedding signs, there are more and more requests for larger and larger signs, and then like. Bigger installations and displays. And I think those things are super cool. They're just not really in my wheelhouse and I don't quite have like the level of interest and drive to figure it out, or I'm not really like desiring to invest in a glow forge right this second or anything like that. But it does make it really hard to say no to those inquiries because it feels like this is how other people are growing. And so if I'm not doing that, maybe I'm not growing my business. So actually if Elaine we're, you know, both in the similar industry, I'm sure you get those kinds of requests too. How do you say no to those?'cause I honestly struggle.

Alane:

Yeah, it's hard. And I have definitely gotten those requests and I have also fell into like the trap of saying yes and doing it and then being like, oh, this just doesn't work for me.

Shaochen:

Mm-hmm.

Alane:

Um, it's hard because, like you said, I have seen a lot of other calligraphers in my area too, offering that large scale signage. It's also been trending in weddings recently, so I feel like a lot of people see it on Pinterest, but don't necessarily think through the, the logistics of like what it takes in order to create that and bring it to life. So I can't blame them for asking, but all I can do is. You know, be honest with them about what I am and I'm not capable of doing so. Like I said, after doing a few larger pieces, I quickly realized that that service is just not for me, and it's not adding anything of value to the growth of my business. I don't have the production capabilities, I don't have the space, I don't have any additional labor that would be needed in order to bring these pieces to life. And I also don't have the delivery capabilities. So on top of not having any of those things, I also don't wanna add those expenses to my business because those get really expensive. Right? Like to add on, like the production or to hire extra people or to get a bigger space. Um, I just prefer to run a smaller, like lower overhead cost operation. And then not to mention like I don't wanna be required to be on site every weekend. So to answer your question of how do I say no when clients ask, I am now just very confident in sharing with them like what I do really well and what I just don't do. And if I don't do something, then I'll provide recommendations on other people who may be able to help them with X, Y, or Z, and then they can decide what to do from there. And if they choose not to work with me because I can't offer that, then like I just feel confident in the fact that they were not a good fit for me and my business and they're gonna be a great fit for somebody else who actually offers that.

Shaochen:

Yeah. I love that. And one thing as you were talking just brought to mind is like. When you're doing something really big like that, it can be easy to be sucked into the, the, the desire to do like a four or$5,000 proposal for a big install like that. But you have to remember all those added costs that you just mentioned and actually really look at the margin like we had talked about in episode two, like your margin after all of those costs with, you know, renting the trucks or the time for delivery and all of the materials to build it might actually not be as big of a profit margin as you think. Um, and, and it's also easy to like undercharge because you don't realize there's all those added costs as well.

Alane:

Yep. Exactly. Yeah, that's a really great point. And that's where I was realizing that like, this just doesn't make sense for my business because even if I'm charging what I think I should be charging for something like that, at the end of the day, it's still not like putting enough of a profit into my pocket to go all in on that service, but, and that's just me. Like that model can work very well for other people and other people may absolutely love doing those larger things. So again, it just comes down to like figuring out what you actually enjoy doing and what you're really good at. And then. Helping, you know, figuring out what's gonna help your business grow from there.

Shaochen:

Yeah. And setting those boundaries. Yeah, I love that. The third mistake we're gonna talk about is not having proper systems in place. As you grow, as you are growing your business, you really want to have systems, basically be your assistant and take away some of the repetitive or low value tasks off your plate so that you can spend your time and energy doing the things that only you can do and where you add the most value. So a lot of times in, in my business, I found that I can actually use like free plans of different softwares and I'm not even having to pay. So I'm basically getting like a free mini assistant out of those. So I wanted to share a couple of my favorite free automations that I'm using in my business. Um, the first one is called Calendly. It's for scheduling meetings, where you can basically avoid the back and forth of like, are you free on Wednesday at this time? No. What about Thursday? You can literally just have somebody click the link and they can see the available slots on your calendar and they can book something directly with you. We'll link some of these tools in the show notes too. Uh, for, for emails. I love setting up email templates and one. Pro tip that a lot of people aren't aware of is that if you have Gmail, you can actually enable templates in your settings., and you can build email templates directly into your Gmail. This is a huge time saver and a game changer. Think about the emails that you are, um, writing. Maybe like every time someone inquires with you, it might be a similar message, or every time you're trying to follow up with somebody that hasn't responded yet, you don't need to like, think about that every single time. You don't need to recreate the wheel, you just have a template ready to go. Another thing I like that's related to this is I'll set up some keyboard shortcuts. So maybe there's some phrases that aren't necessarily like a full template. Maybe I need to send, like my word that can pick up from, so I'll save my address as a shortcut, or I save my Calendly link as a shortcut, things like that, that I can just type a few keystrokes on my computer and I'll just drop it into any email. So I love that as well. That's just, I have a Mac and that's just something that's built into my computer. The third free, and of course you can go premium as well on, on any or most of these tools. Um, the third one I'm gonna talk about is Zapier. And Zapier is basically like, um, a connection between your different systems to get them to talk to each other so you can connect so many kinds of apps. If you go to their website, you're gonna see a full list of the different apps that they can connect to each other. One example that I use Zapier for is when somebody signs up to be a student in my course system, I use Zapier to add them into my email system, float desks so that I can keep in touch with my students and send them important messages about the course. You can connect like a Squarespace form into Google Sheets. I mean, there's lots and lots of things that you can do, and like I said, there's a free plan so you can get started on a couple of connections right away.

Alane:

Yeah, I love Zapier. I use that in my business too. And it actually will hook up to like your CRM as well. So like HoneyBook is integrated in there. So I have a Zap where it's like every time somebody signs their contract and submits their first deposit, like their wedding automatically gets added to my Google calendar. So that like, I don't have to worry about adding that and like I have a Google Drive folder created for them. Um, so it just takes some of those like small little mundane tasks off of your plate that you're like, I just don't have to worry about like, doing these extra steps in the process. In addition to that, as you mentioned, like having those systems allows you to regain your time so that you can spend it on your money making tasks and the things that you actually enjoy doing the most. But they also work to increase your revenue and boost your confidence needed to take your business to the next level. So by saving you time, you can take on more clients and make more money, or you could work on new business ideas, launch a new service, things like that, that will generate additional income into your business. And then they also, like I said, make you look more professional, enhance your perceived value, and really help position you as the expert and the guide within your client's journey. So one of my favorite systems that I use in my business is HoneyBook, which is my C-R-M-C-R-M stands for customer relationship management or manager. And HoneyBook allows me to track my projects, save email templates, and set up these automations in my business. So I'm also able to create and send beautifully designed proposals for my clients that help show my unique talent and my value, and I can send that along with like easy to sign contracts and automated invoicing so that my clients are able to just seamlessly book with me. Something that I learned earlier on in my business journey is that you wanna make it as easy as possible for people to do business with you. So when I first started, I was using Google Sheets for invoices and Google Docs for contracts because they were free, but they really weren't doing me any favors in the booking process because it was asking my clients to go through too many steps in order to actually book me. So now with HoneyBook, my Booking Pro process is an all in one file that is super easy for my clients to navigate, to sign the contract and to pay their invoice. And this gives them just a much more user friendly experience and adds to the overall pleasure of working with me. Um, I know that you do the same with Dato, right?

Shaochen:

Yeah, I was gonna say, you know, I talked a little bit about free tools, but I totally agree with Elaine here, is that as you're growing your business, you need to think about where it makes sense to invest. And there are some systems that it does make sense to pay for. And I pay for Dip Sato, which is another, client relationship management tool. Um, and I bought it for the same reason, like the most compelling thing for me was being able to have my proposal, my. Contract and my invoice all in one place because before I had like no proposal. I think I had my contract in Hello Sign, and I had an invoice in PayPal. So if I wanted something that was more visual, which being in the wedding industry and a lot of the calligraphy businesses that we have, it's like a very visual world. Um, I would have needed to create like a separate mood board or use Canva or something like that just to give them a sense. Um, or sometimes it would just be like inspo images in an email, you know? And I really wanted to streamline what I was offering and show the client it all together in a package. And I just love that. Once they accepted the proposal goes to the contract. Once that's done, it goes straight to the invoice and they can see what all the payment plan is and when the dates, uh, the payments are due and things like that. It's just elevated the experience so much more. And that alone to me is worth paying for that system. Um, so I mean, Elena and I both really believe in these tools and we actually have our, um, affiliate links as well that will include in the show notes where you can get a discount, off of your CRM subscription.

Alane:

Yep. And it's also important to remember that though it could be tempting to stick to free tools as your business grows, it can actually start to be harder to like make the switch from the free to the paid. Um, because you may have more clients that you have to migrate over. You might have new workflows that you need to build. So if you can find something that's able to grow with you and support that growth, it's really not an expense, but it's just an investment in taking your business to the next level. And one that I feel like we both are very confident that you will make back because we've made that back, right?

Shaochen:

Yeah. Yeah. If you're in the growing phase, then I think it definitely makes a lot of sense.

Alane:

Yeah. So speaking of systems, if this is an area where you feel either overwhelmed or you feel like you could use improvement and support in really building out your systems, then I'm super excited to share my brand new one-on-one mentoring program with you. This is a 12 week program. Um, it's focused on creating and implementing systems, workflows, and automations in your business that will do all the things that we just chatted about. It will give you back more time, help you make more money and boost your confidence. So we're gonna link in the show notes, more details on that program and information on how to apply for a spot.

Shaochen:

Yeah, and just having worked with Elaine on this podcast for the last few months, I've already gotten a peek into her system brain, like we use Clickup for managing our podcast, and she's creating all these ways to streamline, like how we write our episode notes and have episode templates. We don't forget any of our tasks and they all have dependencies and assignments and all this stuff, so it just makes it really clear on what we need to get done. So I absolutely trust her systems brain.

Alane:

Thank you. I love it. I'm all about working smarter and not harder, so, okay. So now that we know the three mistakes to avoid, what are some of the things that we should do instead to help our business grow?

Shaochen:

Okay. So the first thing that we want to focus on as our business grows is to get really clear on our personal financial goals and then use that to help dictate our pricing in our business. So, as much as we may or may not like it, business ultimately is math. Um, so it's easy. Just throw out a number, say I wanna make a hundred thousand dollars in, in my business this year, and that's fine. If you do that, you wanna make sure that you're also breaking down the different service offerings and how many clients you need to actually have the math add up to reach that goal. And you also wanna make sure you're clear on is a hundred K how much revenue you wanna make, or is a hundred k how much you wanna take home to support your life, right? So you wanna understand like. First, what kind of expenses you have in your personal life, how much you wanna take home every month. And then you wanna kind of understand what revenue number you need to reach that because your take home pay is obviously after your expenses, right? So if I wanna take home a hundred thousand dollars that my revenue needs to be higher than that because it needs to cover all of my business expenses as well. And of course there's taxes to throw in there. So everybody's tax situation is different, and it is just something that you're gonna wanna keep in mind. Um, so you wanna make sure you're evaluating your pricing every year. You're evaluating your personal financial needs and goals every year, and you're adjusting your pricing in your business to match that. And you can even evaluate it more than once a year. You could do it quarterly or you could do it twice a year. Just a reminder that this isn't, pricing is not a stagnant thing. Um, don't just think, oh, well it worked last year, so let's keep doing the same thing this year because your situation might be different this year. Um, and make sure you're also raising your prices as your experience grows. Presumably as you're working in your business, you're, you're gaining more experience with every, every year, every project. That, that you complete. Um, one thing that's also worked for me is that I'll reach out to clients who inquired before I opened my, bookings for the next year. And, and once I open those bookings, I'll offer them my pricing for the previous year just to give them a little bit of incentive to book with me, um, kind of earlier before I raised my prices again for this coming year.

Alane:

That's really smart to reach out and incentivize people.

Shaochen:

Yeah, it just kind of helps get the ball rolling, I think on, on your inquiries too, for the year. And the other thing you can do is to raise your minimum or at least evaluate it every year because that can help you to achieve your financial goals as well without having to take on as many clients. So again, having more experience, having a, you know, your portfolio updated, all of that helps you to be able to raise your minimum, raise your prices, and, um, hopefully have to do like less work, right? Because you can, you can make the same amount of money with fewer clients.

Alane:

Yeah, these are all really great tips. Especially when it comes to pricing. Like I also, recently, I didn't raise my pricing, but I raised my minimum because I'm starting to get close to like, the number of weddings that I wanna book for this year, and I want like, the average value to end up being a little bit higher. So while I'm not adjusting my, like individual line item pricing, I am raising the minimum required. To book with me as like the demand has been increasing throughout this engagement season, right? So like part of reevaluating your pricing is also looking at what is your demand? Like, how far are you booked out? How many leads are you converting to paid clients? You know, if you're, if you're converting like 80% of your leads, that's probably a good indicator that it's time to raise your prices. If you're turning down a ton of work because you're already booked, that also shows that like your demand is higher. And that's another good indicator to say, maybe it's time to reevaluate your pricing, raise your pricing, or raise your minimum, things like that. So I know the tendency is like at the end of the year, or during our quote unquote slow season, we do our, you know, price raising, reevaluating, et cetera. But you could also even do it, like you said, quarterly or in the middle of your busy season as you're starting to really evaluate your conversion rates.

Shaochen:

Yeah, that's a good point. And also when we say like, raise your minimum, it doesn't necessarily mean you don't need to do more work. Like raising your minimum doesn't mean you're typically taking on a bigger project or there's like more pieces or something like that. But I do find that there's just so much overhead with taking on a brand new client that when you can work with fewer clients and dedicate your attention to like, not spread your attention around to so many different clients is every client's gonna have very different, um, what they're looking for for their wedding's gonna be very different or the vibe they're going for is very different. And context switching is this like invisible cost right there, you know? And so if we can take on larger clients and fewer of them, it's generally gonna help us to be a little bit more efficient.

Alane:

Yep, exactly. Now we know that pricing is like a really big topic, so if you feel like you need more help with your pricing strategy, then we encourage you to check out our creatives pricing toolkit, which will link in the show notes. Okay, so do number two is to get clear on what you want your business and your life to look like. So this means identifying your values, what's most important to you, and using those to really guide and inform your business decisions. For example, when we were talking about large scale signage, I realized quickly that I didn't wanna offer that because it didn't align with my desire to keep my overhead costs low, like I chatted about. And then it also just doesn't align with my values of family quality, time, and travel, because it does require giving up my weekends in order to deliver said signage. That helped inform my decision of saying no and feeling really firm in that decision to say no to anybody who is looking for large scale signage. Um, on the flip side, my desire to travel more, to be able to spend more time with my family and be a bigger part of my niece and nephew's life, and to have the ability to work remotely more often, those are guiding my current decision to explore and focus more on things like this podcast and the business education side of my business.

Shaochen:

And I think it's so important to be thinking about what you want in your life, because that's what keeps business sustainable. It keeps it to be something that you love, that you wanna keep working on, that you feel motivated by. Because if you start doing things that aren't driven by what works for your life, that's, that's the start of burnout. You start going down the path of like, dreading things and feeling like it's work. I mean, of course it's work, it's hard work, but you know what I mean, like, your business shouldn't become such a burden. Um, and so we wanna make sure that the, the things that you are doing in your business are aligned with, uh, things that support your life and what you want your life to be like. One example for me would be. Doing live events. So as an extrovert, I love being at live events. I love being in front of guests. I love interacting with them. But the reason that my, part of the reason why my business isn't focused on live events is that they're usually in the evenings or on the weekends or during holidays, um, often holidays that I wanna be celebrating and enjoying, you know? And so a lot of those times I'd rather be spending with my family. And then also sometimes it's just hard to get, coverage for someone to watch Emmett things like that. And, and so I gravitate more towards the kinds of services that I can do that support what I want in, in that personal sense.

Alane:

Yeah, that's a really great point too. If you're able to really identify what you want for your life, then it helps keep your business in motion of supporting it rather than working against it.'cause you really want the two to be working together, not like trying to pull apart, right? Because that is when you start to feel like, do I really wanna do this anymore? Like this? Like you said, this feels like a burden. And we started our businesses because we love what we do. And it's also important to remember that like, that can change, right? Like, uh, you talked about this in the second episode about how, you know, your values and what's most important to you has shifted, especially as you've become a new mom. So you know, it's good at the end of every year, what, whenever you feel like you're in a me in a period of reflection, but to kind of check in with yourself on a regular basis and see like, is this working? Is it not? Is it aligning, is it not? And then decide, you know, what to do from there.

Shaochen:

So the third thing that we encourage you to do as you grow your business is really find your community. I know sometimes you hear it a lot, maybe it feels like, it's kind of like we overuse community over competition and stuff like that, but this is just such an accelerator. I feel like as you're growing your business, I remember that one of the biggest struggles I had when I first started was feeling like all of a sudden I don't have coworkers, I don't have a team, I don't have people to bounce ideas off of or brainstorm things. And this only becomes more needed as you get further and further into your business and you are learning like harder things, like solving harder problems. You know, like you really need somebody who can kind of like. Talk, you talk with you, understands that journey that you're on and you guys can kind of like brainstorm together. Elaine is that person for me. Um, and just being able to have, yeah, just being able to have that community. The discussions and questions that we're asking each other are definitely like even more. Complex than they were before, and I'm really glad to have somebody to think through those things, you know? Um, so let's actually talk a little bit about ways you can find community. I know that sometimes it can just feel very ambiguous. So the first idea of how to do this is, you know, can just connect with people, other people in a genuine, organic way. I know a lot of calligraphers are on Instagram. That's a really great platform to build connections. Um, I like to just start by following people, following other people I wanna be in community with that I'm inspired or intrigued by. And then I kind of start a conversation just by replying to a story. I mean, it's all very. Very organic. You know, when I see something that I actually want to comment on, that's when I'll like respond. Um, and once you're kind of on the DM basis and get to know them, maybe you can ask if they wanna do a chat over Zoom, because at that point you already have a bit of a relationship, you know, and you, I feel like it's more likely that you have the mutual desire to like deepen that relationship and eventually maybe even meet in person. I know that this is actually how a lot of my relationships with other calligraphers have started and when I was starting in the first. I think year of my business I had, I did this exact thing and just reached out to different people and kind of put together a group of four calligraphers that we ended up having a monthly business chat. And it was just so great, especially through the pandemic. I felt like it really got me through the pandemic here and we were just brainstorming like, okay, what's everybody else doing in this weird time in their business? And sometimes it would just be some venting, you know? Other times it would just be like hearing what everybody's working on. And that alone was very inspiring. So, and then you can also like take the lead, you could organize a meetup for calligraphers in your area. Like I said, we're all on Instagram, so just putting up a story, seeing who might be interested. That's a great way to kick that off and get it started. Another, maybe more formal way you can build community is to look for groups that are for creative business owners. So one that I'm a part of is called The Rising Tide Society. They connect and support small business owners. They have chapters all over the us. Probably most of you have heard of Natalie Frank. I feel like she's kind of a celebrity in the small business world. She was one of the founders of the Rising Tide Society. Um and so they host meetups on different topics. They do goal setting sessions. Some are virtual, some are in person. So definitely check out to see if there's a chapter in your area in the us. And also I think they have Facebook groups for, for a lot of the chapters as well. Another tip here is really thinking through what you wanna get out of the community, because that's also gonna help you figure out where to look for groups or look for community. So let's say for example, you would like to get more into like the wedding scene. And since weddings typically come through, like referrals and they're very like local referrals because, um, typically other vendors are gonna be on site at the wedding. And so most of your connections you're gonna wanna build in the wedding industry are gonna be local. There's a group here in Denver called wipa, the Wedding International Professionals Association. They're also all over the us. They have, uh, I think a paid membership and you get paid to attend events. So paying to attend events is actually another really great way to meet like-minded business owners because especially when you have to pay for a ticket, you know that everybody there has some skin in the game too.

Alane:

Yeah, that's a really great point that sometimes community is going to be an investment, but you know that you're all making that like emotional, mental investment and commitment to be there. Right. And I think that your point of knowing what you want out of the community is really important as well, because Yeah, you could be like, it could be different things, right? Like we have our relationship, I have like a WhatsApp group chat with like New York City, New Jersey calligraphers, and that's a lot of like. Price reference, you know, kind of gut checks, but also like passing along work if somebody's already booked. Like people are always sharing like, Hey, I got this inquiry. Is anyone available? So that's really nice as like a networking group. But then a few other ones that I wanted to chat about too. Community could be things like attending conferences or retreats. I know like you and I right now are trying to find a conference that we can attend

Shaochen:

Yes. Yes, we are.

Alane:

Yeah. Um but I also attended my very first business retreat at the beginning of this year, and it was such a great way to kick off 2024. It was a paid retreat, but again, like I. Was ready and willing to make that investment because I knew the type of female entrepreneurs that were going to be there and like I wanted to surround myself with those people. I really wanted to do like goal setting and business brainstorming for the year with other people who are not necessarily in the calligraphy community, but have, you know, flourishing businesses in other areas and start to see like how other people have built businesses and made transitions and how they, you know, kind of just embody being an entrepreneur and connect their business and their life and things like that. So that was really impactful of just like being in a room with six other, like I said, fellow female entrepreneurs who share the same values as me, and being able to expand my network in that way.

Shaochen:

Yeah, I'm glad you brought up conferences because it made me think about how knowing what we're looking for is so important because my goodness, there are a lot of conferences out there and there are fewer, when you think about the ones that are targeted specifically for like creative businesses, like there's a lot of ones that you would attend as part of like a corporate, um, you know, like part of a company that your boss would send you to. And I think that's a little different than what I'm looking for, but it just kind of goes to show that you really have to be clear on what you're looking for so you can like, tune out all of the ones that aren't gonna be what you are hoping to achieve. Because these investments can add up. Like the conferences are all like couple hundred dollars for a ticket. So like, there's one coming up, called ALT Summit. Which might be great for, for any of you listeners that might be interested in kind of a community of creatives. That one could be a really great one. But for me right now I'm looking for a little bit more of like focused learning on specific topics, you know, that I'm trying to like enhance my business. So just getting really clear on those goals is, is really great as you're looking for a paid community specifically. Oh, I remember now. I was actually gonna circle back and ask you how that WhatsApp group started, because that sounds really cool. That sounds like a really great way to get connected to other calligraphers.

Alane:

Yeah, it is. I forget who actually took the lead and started it, but it kind of just started with Instagram. Like we all kind of followed each other to begin with. Um, and then one or two of the girls like decided to take the lead, organize an actual meetup in New York City. I think that was maybe last year at this point. Um, like end of 2022. I mean by last year. Um. And then we've just like added a couple people to the WhatsApp group here and there. And I feel like there's maybe 10 or 12 people in it now, so it's really grown. But it is really nice just to be able to like, have that group to, you know, ask questions to, or bounce pricing or whatever off of, and then also have it as like a resource for, you know, if I get an inquiry that I'm like, I either this is not aligned with what I offer or I'm not available, like I can, you know, screenshot it, put it in the group and say who's interested? You know, send me your emails and I'll get back to this person with referrals. So yeah, it's been a really nice group to have, especially since it is like more local based, right?

Shaochen:

Yeah, I feel like we should all have that for our respective metro area, so so everybody listening, you know, let's get on it.

Alane:

Um, so all of this actually brings us to do number four, which is invest in your professional growth. So early on in my business journey, a friend said to me, scared money don't make money, and that has stuck with me all these years later. Basically, if you're afraid to spend money in your business, then you won't necessarily be making a lot of money. Like creating and growing a business does require. Monetary investment and I have now seen the power that investing in your professional and personal development can have on the growth of a business, over like the past, you know, five plus years that I've been running mine. So we wanted to go over like a few different ways that you can invest in your professional growth. The first one could be learning new skills so that you can add or expand to your offerings. For example, last year I invested in engraving equipment and took the time to learn that skill, which was super fun. It was something that had been on my to-do list for like a while, and then I finally had some time at the beginning of last year. So. I did that. And then that has been a really fun add-on for some of my couples, like to do, you know, mother of the bride, mother of the groom perfume bottles as gifts or gifts for like their bridal party. So that's been a way that I've been able to add to and expand my offerings. You could also take a course that will help you develop a specific business skill or learn about a certain topic. For example, you could take a course on Instagram marketing or email marketing. You could take a course about like teaching yourself SEO or blogging. Something that, like I try to think about when I'm signing up for a course is what are the skills that I'm looking to learn or improve that I may not necessarily be ready to outsource yet. Right? So like. I think it was maybe two years into my business and I was like trying to redo my website, like actually put a real website together. Not like my very first iteration of just like a portfolio page. Like I wanted to list out my services and like who I'm and who I serve, all of that. I took a, um, copywriting class from, I think her business name is Ashlyn Wrights. She does a lot of like copywriting stuff. Um, but I signed up for a course from her, or I bought a course from her because that was something that like, I knew I didn't have the financial investment to outsource'cause that would be like several thousand dollars, but I could take a course for, you know, several hundred dollars instead and just learn how to do it and, you know, get it done myself. So. Those are some different ways that you can expand your skills or, you know, learn something new. And then currently, like the biggest investment that I have made in my business recently has been one-on-one business coaching. And the impact that that's had, not only on my business, but also on my own personal growth, has really been invaluable. Working with a business coach has like helped me move through mindset blocks more easily, and it's armed me with strategies to actually reach my goals. I feel like a coach is great because they can really help you gain clarity around what you actually want in your business and what you actually want your life to look like. And then like. Put the action plan together to actually get there. Like I think as business owners, like we always have so many ideas bouncing around in our head, right? Like, you could go in a ton of different directions when it comes to running your business. So to have somebody like really pull out of you like, well, what do you actually want? What is of most importance to you? What are your strengths? Like, what are your weaknesses? And help you make business decisions and like carve a path based on those things, um has been super helpful. And it's like I can now actually see how those strategies are actually helping me to like make my dreams that I've had reality, which is incredible.

Shaochen:

Yeah, I was gonna say, sometimes it's like not that easy to even know what you want out of your life, much less your business. Like that question alone can be a, a big one to untangle, you know? Um, so I mean, you talked about courses, you talked about coaching, we talked about conferences just now in the last point. So there's, there's obviously a lot of different places that we can invest our money. How do you think through where to put the money? Like how do you make that decision?

Alane:

That's a great question. I think it depends on where you're at in your business, um, and like where you are kind of in that journey. So, for example, for me specifically, in the earlier years, I found that courses were really helpful while I was trying to learn a new skill or educate myself on things like marketing strategies or like copywriting, because I didn't have the financial means to outsource during that time. So in order to like help make progress in my business, I knew that I had to learn how to do those things myself. So courses were really great for that, right? But as my business has grown and I'm like. Trying to reach a new level. I have realized that direct guidance, support and accountability that's like tailored specifically to me and my business are really key in helping me navigate that growth and achieve those next level goals. And like the other thing that. Is important to remember when considering what kind of investment you wanna make in your business, whether it's, you know, a course, a conference, a coaching, like regardless of what it is, literally everything is going to come with a cost. So it's either gonna cost you time,'cause you're either gonna have to take the time to learn something or to research or to experiment, or it's gonna cost you money, right? As my business has grown, I've come to understand how valuable like my time is. And so I'm at a point where I would rather invest more money in something if it's going to end up saving me time in the long run because I know that I will eventually make that monetary investment back, but I'm never gonna get my time back. I definitely didn't start right away with that mindset. So like, it's taken me a couple years to get here, but over the course of my, you know, five, six plus years of owning my business now, I recently had to like tally this up for something that I'm doing with my business coach right now. Um, how much I've invested in education, again, whether that be like courses or webinars, books, direct coaching, all of those things. And my total was like well over$20,000 that I've invested in my business over the years. But I have seen how I've gotten that ROI back on that money that I've spent. And like I said, now I'm just at the point where like, especially, you know, one of my decisions to be working with a business coach is like. I know that I could eventually get to where I wanna go, right? Like I've made it this far. I know that eventually I can get myself to the next level. Like I've done it once, I can do it again. But having a business coach at like this moment in time and like trying to get from where I am to where I wanna go, I know that she's going to help me do that way quicker than I'd be able to do that on my own. And I know that like by not doing it, I'm actually gonna be leaving a ton of money and growth on the table and I'm going to be spending way more time. So like I don't want that lost opportunity, and I also don't want to lose that time. I'd rather invest in myself now knowing that it's going to pay off much quicker than if I were to do it on my own and save me time.

Shaochen:

Like you get there faster, which gives you the ability to make more money faster and that's how you kind of make back that investment. But I really admire that money mindset and something that I feel like I need to, you know, just put more attention to building that muscle on as, as somebody who grew up as a first generation immigrant, I think just growing up it was all about saving money all the time, being frugal with everything. And obviously I'm at a different point in my place now,, which is like a very great place to be in terms of not having to. Be in the save, save, save mode all the time anymore. And now it's about like developing this money mindset. Like you were talking about this abundance mindset where it's like the investment is gonna pay off and not be like, the investment might pay off, but just like, yes, it's going to pay off if I'm investment in myself, you know? Um, well, speaking of investing in yourself, um, I, I actually have a course if you feel like investing in growing your business skills for becoming a wedding calligrapher, if that's what you're looking for, I have a course called Pro Wedding Calligrapher, and it's a comprehensive course that goes step by step through the full life cycle of marketing, sales, and the client experience of working with wedding clients. It'll help you raise your pricing, um, streamline your processes and book more wedding clients as you are in this growth phase. So I'm gonna go ahead and link that in the show notes. Our last suggestion for things to do during the growth phase is to look for areas where you can outsource. So similar to what we were talking about before with like using systems to get repetitive tests off your plate., you really want to think about where you need to be spending your time as the business owner, as the CEO, as the head creative and really focus on those strengths and unique skills. So if you're in the place where you can pay someone to outsource your tasks, or honestly, there are also some times that people want to work for you and help you because it's just they wanna learn from you and your business. I've actually had somebody volunteer to help me with things since she was essentially like an unpaid intern. Um, so I think that. You should definitely consider it if you either have somebody that is willing to do that or you're in a position where you could pay somebody to take some of the tasks off your plate, because we wear so many different hats as a business owner. I wanna talk about a couple ways that you can identify something that might be able to be outsourced from your business. The first type of task is things that have to be done, but they don't require a lot of your expertise. So I think about things like, um, in social media marketing, maybe you need help creating like some pins from content you already have. Like you have a blog post, you just need to create a pin for it, or you have some photos and you wanna create pins for it. I've also outsourced some of like my Canva designs. Um, So someone created like a custom template for me that fit my branding and then I could just kind of go in and use that every time. Or they've created some design templates for different types of assets like presentation templates and things like that. The second area that you can look forward to outsource is areas where you lack the expertise and it makes sense to hire an expert rather than. Acquiring those skills yourself. So maybe it's very technical, like accounting or even like web design, like you have to learn a whole new web design platform. It might make sense for somebody else to take that task on who's already an expert rather than learning it. And then the third area that you can look to outsource are repetitive tasks that are important to your business, but they kind of follow a formula or like a script that somebody can replicate. Um, so maybe this is like proposal writing. Maybe you have all the details from your client already. It just needs to be put into a proposal and you just need to add some pictures and you can drop in pricing from your packages pretty easily. Maybe somebody can take that over or maybe you have a fairly, um, repeatable sales. Call process and you could train up somebody to take on sales calls if that's taking up a lot of your time. Um, so just some ways to think about where you can take something off your plate, because I think as a business owner it's definitely hard to like delegate these types of things or anything in general.

Alane:

Yeah, I was gonna say, it can be hard to delegate literally anything. Um, I have outsourced in my business, so if it's helpful to share some examples of like what I have outsourced and why I have made those decisions, I'm gonna share those now. I'm gonna kind of follow like your buckets'cause I feel like that would be helpful for like, how these examples match up to those. So like the first one that you had said, were tasks that need to be done, but don't require a lot of your expertise. So. For me that looks like blogging and my Pinterest marketing. So basically what I'm able to do is share like high level topic ideas with my blog writer. And then she has the expertise of writing them and turning them into like an SEO friendly post that will generate more traffic to my website, right? And like help bring in more qualified leads. Like that's not my expertise. Like I can kind of talk about, you know, why you need calligraphy for your wedding. Like I can come up with that topic idea, but then she can really help me build that out into like a well-written post. That also just saves me time. And I don't think we talked about this either, but blogging was actually something that was on my to-do list for like years. And I, I always wanted to do it, but it always fell to the back burner because client work is always gonna come first in my business. But I finally decided like, I, I wanna prioritize this. I think this was back in. Towards the end of 2020 that I decided like this was gonna be a priority, but I, I just knew that I wasn't going to be, not disciplined enough isn't the right word, but like I wouldn't be able to be consistent with it enough given the ebb and flow of weddings, right? Like even when I try to get myself ahead, it ends up falling by the wayside. So I knew that in order to get blogging off of my to-do list once and for all, I had to hire somebody for it. And like, it was important to me because I wanted to build up, you know, my SEOI wanted to build up my Google leads, things like that. So I decided to outsource that. And then she also offers Pinterest marketing, like, as part of her blogging package. So I'm able to do all of that with her.

Shaochen:

Adding onto that, I was gonna say that, um, that's another good way to identify something you could outsource is the things that keep falling to the bottom of your list and you aren't able to be consistent with it. Like, you know that it's important that you wanna do it and you're just not getting to it. That's a great way to identify it as well. And you're right with, you're so smart with doing that for the blogging because that's kind of something that takes a lot of time to build up. So by hiring someone, instead of like losing all the time where you just didn't do it because it was on the back burner, now you like gain a bunch of momentum because somebody else was doing it for you.

Alane:

Exactly. And like the great thing about blogging, like if blogging is just not at the, you know, top of your to-do list, you don't have the time for it, but it's something you think you wanna add. What's nice about having somebody else help you with the blog writing is then you like, have that content to then use for social media marketing, right? So maybe you can't afford to outsource both of those things, but it helps make one of those things a little bit easier on you because you don't necessarily need to come up with new content ideas like every single week or every other week. So, um, Yeah. also like whatever you're outsourcing, finding ways to make it work in favor, like in your favor and still help save you some time rather than just like constantly reinventing the wheel. Right? Um, another example of like a task that I needed done but didn't require a lot of my expertise was a couple years ago I had an assistant working for me. And she was able to help me with things like invitation assembly. So like I didn't, you know, that doesn't require my expertise, right? Somebody can like tie ribbon and stack cards and glue liners and like, that's not specific to me. But by her doing that, that was able to free up my time to do like the envelope dressing for that job, you know, or to get started on like a seating chart for somebody else. So that was super helpful. Um, for areas where you lack expertise, accounting is me, so I outsource my accounting. I always have and I always will because that is just not my strong suit. And recently I went through a complete like rebrand. And this is also like tying in how it can be so hard to delegate, right? Like, I have never outsourced my brand design or my web design. I've done it myself. My, like last iteration of my website that I launched in 2020, I had purchased a. Squarespace template. So like at least I had a starting point and then I could build it out for my business. But this past, I guess last year, last spring of 2023, I was feeling like it was time to update my visuals. Like I feel like I was serving a new level of clientele and like my visuals just weren't matching up with the level that I was looking to attract. So I was like, well, do I try redoing this myself or do I just hire somebody and I decided to hire somebody? And I'm so glad I did because it just saved me so much time. Even just like I know the way I am and I can get like really nitpicky about things or like. If I'm trying to design my logo, like I will continue to pick it apart and pick it apart and pick it apart and redo it and redo it and redo it and like literally never come up with something because I'm like, well, this could always be improved. But at least by having somebody else do it and be like, here are like 10 logos to choose from, like, which do you like? It's like, okay, great. These all look fantastic. You know? And like it, it forced me to like actually make decisions to continue moving the needle along. Whereas I feel like if I were left to my own devices, I never would've gotten anything done. So that was super helpful for outsourcing.

Shaochen:

love, I love this example because I feel like we took different tracks. So Elaine hired somebody, whereas I decided to move my website from Squarespace to show it just because it's such a friendly, like flexible platform. And I bought a template, but I didn't hire someone I think it took me like a year and a half from the time I actually bought the template and like maybe even started my show at subscription till launching it. You know? And I am just kind of, I think I do fall into the category where I just love to try to do everything myself. I like learning new things, but then as a business owner, I have to balance that with like, this is a non-monetary generating activity, you know? So I'm basically putting my time on an activity that's not generating money, or I could pay somebody else to do it while I generate money. Like that's kind of the way to think about it. Ultimately, I'm still really happy with how everything turned out and I think I did have a very specific vision that I wanted to execute on. And so maybe in that way it was a little bit better that I just did it myself.'cause whoever I would've worked with would've probably been really annoyed at me. But it's just like good to always be weighing those decisions, you know, because sometimes it's worth it just to pay the money.

Alane:

Right, exactly. Yeah. Going back to what we said before, it's like it always will cost you something, time or money. So you just gotta figure out which can you part with or which do you need more? Or you know, what makes some the most sense for you in that moment. Um, your third example of repetitive tasks that someone can replicate again, I did have an assistant a couple years ago, and so she would handle things like emails, creating proposals, onboarding new clients because I had processes in place for all of those. So also that's why it is important to have systems in your business because if you do ever wanna bring on team members, assistance contractors, it's way easier to bring them in if you have some sort of a process or template that they can follow. But she was able to like easily follow my steps or, you know, build out my templates for various clients, things like that. So like I didn't need to be involved in those tasks. Like you said, those really aren't necessarily my moneymaking tasks, right? Like what creates money in my business is me doing calligraphy. Not necessarily like writing an email.

Shaochen:

Mm-Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. An email that you've written 10 times plus already, right.

Alane:

exactly. Exactly. So I know it can be really scary to outsource, like we said, like it does come down to also just being okay with delegating things and like being okay with somebody maybe not doing something exactly the way that you want it to be done or the way that you would do it. But like, if it's good enough and it's saving you time, then like that's helpful and that's getting something off your plate. Right? So, um, the way that I always just like to think about it is like. How much time is this saving me by outsourcing it? And then what can I do with that newfound time?

Shaochen:

I love that.

Alane:

As we wrap up, we also just wanna point out that we realize that some of these dues do require a financial investment. It is just important to remember that everything does come with a cost. It's either gonna cost you your time and your money. So the key is to be intentional and strategic about where you're investing your time and your money and why.

Shaochen:

Yeah, and being in this growth phase, which I feel like we're both in now, it is less structured and kinda less formulaic than when you're just starting. So keep experimenting, keep learning what works for you. Keep pulling these different levers. I know that as we talk through this episode, there's areas where I'm like, I need to do more of this. I need to focus more on that, you know? So I hope that these do's and don'ts give you some ideas on the actions that you can take in your business as well. Be sure to check the show notes for resources that we mentioned in this episode, and we'll see you next time.

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Alane Gianetti

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Shaochen Wu

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