This episode means the world to me. I want you to understand that the $32,000 isn’t about bragging – it’s about showing you what’s possible. Trust me, I’ve been there, starting with those $65 logo gigs on Craigslist. It wasn’t a quick journey, and yours won’t be either. But let me tell you, it’s doable. What used to be a massive accomplishment for me is now just another day in the office, and that’s something I’m truly proud of. On this episode of The Profitable Graphic Designer Podcast, I’m thrilled to share how you can start landing those high-paying clients too. From where to find them to understanding exactly what they need, I’m going to spill all the beans.

 

Listen to the episode here:

Spotify  –  Apple Podcasts  –  Amazon Music  –  Google Podcasts

 

You will learn:

• Strategies for acquiring high-value ($20k or so) clients, whether through networking events or online platforms.
• The importance of setting the right prices and how to gradually increase them as your business & expertise grow.
• Tips for effective project management, including tools like Trello for internal communication and Notion for client portals.
• How to build a strong reputation that attracts referrals and fosters long-term success.

Grab a cup of coffee and tune in!

 

Resources:

The Wealthy Client Blueprint: ⁠https://aventiveacademy.com/wealthy-client/

12-Week Business Program for Designers: https://aventiveacademy.com/profit

The Creative CEO Accelerator: https://aventiveacademy.com/accelerator

 

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TRANSCRIPT:

TRANSCRIPT:

0:00 No, really, they just approved the whole proposal. So one was $13,500 and the other one was $18,500. The latter on was even more as the client needed some add-ons, but that was the initial proposal.

0:17 They each included brand strategy, visual identity, and the website. But the cheaper project could also include a label and box packaging design, and I’ll explain in a second why. But I was able to get both these clients because I made some decisions in terms of who exactly I want to work with.

0:40 And so once I knew who I wanted to work with, I went on and found them. Actually, I didn’t even look for them, I just did something and then they found me. So let’s talk about that something.

1:10 Welcome to the Profitable Graphic Designer Podcast, brought to you by Aventive Academy. I’m your host Kady Sandel. I’m a brand strategist, designer, creative director, and the CEO of a successful 6-figure design agency based in Austin, TX, serving clients worldwide.

1:28 After mastering the art of building a profitable and sustainable design business, I decided to help you achieve the same success. I teach brand, graphic, and web design business owners how to attract more clients, increase their pricing, and develop design businesses that provide the financial freedom and time flexibility you’ve always dreamt of. We offer online programs, courses, and templates that you can use along with our Coaching Accelerator and Mastermind high-touch experiences for creatives. You can learn more about starting and growing your design business at eventiveacademy.com, but for now, grab a cup of coffee and join me in today’s podcast episode.

2:06 I know what you’re thinking. You probably saw the title of this podcast episode, “$32,000 in a Day.” Yay, you want to do that too.

2:22 But let’s start from the beginning, because this definitely wasn’t an overnight success, and yours probably won’t be either. But I know you will be able to get there. So first things first, as mentioned, it wasn’t like I woke up one morning and magically had $32,000 worth of projects lined up.

2:45 You may have heard my story of how I started my freelance career by charging $65 for a logo design on Craigslist. And oh my God, I remember sitting in the living room in an apartment that I was barely able to afford, thinking how it all doesn’t make sense.

3:07 I was freelancing but secretly looking for a job because I knew that I can make it work, right? I just didn’t know how to do it and it was too hard. It was so difficult. I was spending so much time working on my business and trying to find clients and really hustling.

3:31 I would even work, I don’t know, like 20 hours a day. It was crazy. I don’t know how I didn’t need more sleep. And now that I’m back in, I would constantly go to networking events, write blog posts, post on social media, post on Craigslist, ’cause that’s where most of my clients were coming from and I was just putting so much effort.

3:55 But then also, I was secretly not 100% like working on my resume, but I was collecting data to put them on my resume. And I know I would go to Indeed and look for a job.

4:10 Not really like a job that I would apply for, you know, that day, but more like, hey, what’s out there? Maybe this whole freelancing and running my own business isn’t as smart and as good as I thought it would be.

4:26 So you know, just thinking about who I was and where I was and what was that like 8 years ago to where I am at the moment. No, it was last seven years ago to where I am right now. I, you know, I’m so grateful and thankful for everything that I did at that time so that now I can work with these high-profile amazing like dream clients while working only about like 3 hours a day.

4:56 Two and a half, 2 1/2 is my goal. Not in a sense that I work more, but sometimes I don’t have time to work even those 2 1/2 hours. And by not having time, I mean that I’m prioritizing my family and friends over my work.

5:12 Meaning that I had a baby a few months ago and I am and stay-at-home a working parent right now because that is something that I simply want to do. And my business allowed me to be able to, you know, watch my baby while also working. 5:32 And don’t get me wrong, I love working. I like my business is like my hobby that makes me money. I, you know, when people talk about like, work-life balance, they’re mostly talking about like, oh, you have work and then you have life?

5:49 No, to me, it’s all mixed in. So, you know, in the morning I would watch the baby play with a kid, ’cause I have two kids and once the older one goes to daycare, I stayed home with my baby, who’s four months now.

6:07 And by the time of releasing this episode will be 5. And then I would work a little bit, respond to a couple of emails, then watch the baby, then work on maybe some designs or talk to my team, communicate with my team, watch the baby, you know. So it’s that is what I mean by balance.

6:24 That is what balance means to me, where my business is a part of my life and my family is a part of my life. Of course, it’s all like mixed in. I don’t really like to separate it. And while I know that some people prefer to separate it and maybe feel more productive, that is totally fine.

6:46 OK, I think that this episode is now going in a different direction, but let’s go back to how exactly I was able to book $32,000 in projects in one day. One day I remember sitting in a co-working space.

7:02 Many of you already know, but I owned a co-working space in the past and I sold it in. I sold the office building in 2021 and that’s when we closed the co-working space. But I remember sitting in that co-working space thinking, Oh my God, I can’t pass the $5000 mark.

7:20 I was consistently already making, you know, 3 to $5000 per month, which was good. But living in Austin, that’s just not enough. Like, yes, it’s fine. It’s OK to pay rent and have for food and all of that, but there is, you know, no savings and no extra.

7:37 My business wasn’t profitable so I was really looking like how can I get there. So I made a decision and again it wasn’t an overnight decision. It took months to make that decision, but I made a decision to work with high-value clients. So what that meant is working on projects that are over $10,000. So I decided to hire a marketing agency to help me after realizing that I just can’t do it by myself. I mean, I believed that I can get there again, like that I can run a design agency and make it profitable, sustainable, and simple. But I just didn’t know what my next steps should be. So I hired that marketing agency because I thought that I would need some ads and more leads, but in fact they came back to me and told me it’s very hard for you to stand out because of your positioning.

8:36 My positioning was non-existent, so I was just a graphic and a web designer that can work with anyone and everyone. So after working with that marketing agency, I chose a niche. I chose an ideal client and I set the price at $10,000.

8:56 Now, how I chose my ideal client, I literally wrote down who I would like to work with and what I want to work on. I imagined this ideal project. You know you always hear people talking about. You need to figure out who your ideal client is, their demographic and their psychographic like how old they are, where they live, how much money they make. But how about you figure out what projects you want to work on.

9:27 So if you want to do rebranding for a hotel, then develop a passion project, put that in your portfolio, talk about rebranding for hotels on your social media, on your blog, on your website, and eventually you will get that kind of project. And then you know from there you will figure out what your next project is going to be. Either you can find your niche, like, I don’t know, fitness industry and then you work on websites for the fitness industry only or something like that.

10:01 Or you know like whatever that is or like branding for interior designers. I know someone who does that very successfully and it’s really just about you knowing what you want to work on and then putting a price tag on that. As mentioned, at that time, I set the price to be $10,000. Right now, my average is about $20,000.

10:34 Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I get a project for $20,000, complete it in a day, and put those $20,000 in my pocket. No, I have a team we complete it over a couple of weeks. Of course, it’s not that we work full time on one project at a time only. I also hire people based on the needs. So let me give you just an example.

10:57 A few days ago, I shared on my Instagram profile how I just got a client for $29,000. So what’s included in $29,000 is visual identity that includes logo design, colors and fonts, brand strategy, and the website design and development. Of course, I will be the one working on their brand strategy and then I have a brand designer who’s going to do the visual identity, brand guidelines, and all of that.

11:43 And then I have a website designer and a web developer who I need to pay them all. So they’re part of my team and they will work with me on this $29,000 project. However, since I decided to hire a team and to grow into a small design agency, I was able to raise my rates, start getting better clients, and become really profitable. Really build that profitable and sustainable design business.

12:03 Because now I no longer have to do everything and anything in my business that I don’t want to do or don’t have time to do. So I can focus only on the things that really matter and that I’m really good at, and then everything else can be outsourced and everything else my team can cover up.

12:25 So I no longer have to design every single logo and work on every single typography, even though I do miss that sometimes and I sometimes work on it. But the point is that I get to choose what I want to do in my business, how much I want to work, and all the good things that come with being your own boss, right?

12:53 So what I did to book $32,000 in a day as a brand and web designer was really positioning, knowing who I want to work with and also knowing where my ideal clients hang out.

13:32 Now you may be wondering, but you did more for this smaller project. Yes, that is correct. And that is because we do value-based pricing. Value-based pricing is when you charge based on the value you provide to your clients, meaning you charge them based on the size and the impact your designs are going to have on their company.

13:54 So the smaller project that was, let’s say $13,500 and now I’m looking into the numbers and I think that’s correct. So $13,500 and that project was for a startup, it was a woman and her husband. So basically two of them are just starting a skincare line and of course, they don’t have a lot of funds.

14:33 And the second project, the other project that was $18,500 was an app also for a startup. But it’s again, totally different. It was an app in the health industry and so they had first of all more funds.

14:49 They also had many decision-makers involved, and I just knew that this project was going to be different, right? So again, we do value-based pricing, and if that’s something you want to learn from me, you can sign up for the Profitable Designer program on eventiveacademy.com and just learn more about value-based pricing.

15:14 Both of these clients found me through Google, meaning that my SEO, which stands for search engine optimization, is really good because we write blog posts. So basically, they found me because we blog and I have a blog writer.

15:33 So it’s not like I sit down and write articles. I mean, I did at the beginning, but right now we have a blogger and we post two articles per month, and that’s how a lot of clients, a lot of people find us. And all these blog posts are very strategic; they target people who we want to work with.

15:52 And then people, you know, they type that in, they Google, they get to our blog page, and then from there, we send them to our services page, and then from our services page to our portfolio page. And that’s where we have a call to action to send them to our contact form, and that’s how they contact us.

16:13 So basically, there’s a whole website flow where we walk them through the whole website intentionally, right? And then when they are ready to hire us or to work with us or to contact us, then they reach out.

16:33 Before we continue with this podcast episode, I just want to quickly remind you that if you’re a design business owner whose dream is to have a successful and profitable career so you can enjoy the freedom and flexibility that comes with it, then I have something for you.

16:49 The Profitable Designer Program is my signature 12-week system that will help you improve your business, sign amazing high-paying clients, and truly achieve your financial and lifestyle goals. Visit eventiveacademy.com/profit to check if you can join us now or if we are currently not accepting more designers into the program.

17:11 In that case, you will be able to join the waitlist and be the first to know when we open the doors again. Now we’ll go back to the episode in a second, but I just want to add that designers who completed the program were able to sign five-figure design clients, ten times their pricing, reach six figures and beyond, make $20,000 per month while working only a few hours a week, and more.

17:37 Here’s what Julia said: “It really has everything you could ever ask for to build a six-figure business that will allow you to have financial freedom, and that’s why I personally did it. I wanted that flexibility. So if you want to be my next success story and achieve results like these, visit aventiveacademy.com/profit.

17:59 Now let’s go back to the episode. Okay, so I kind of gave you some backstory on how I got this client, where they were coming from. Now let me just tell you that I also have to really focus on effective project management because with high-value clients, like onboarding and absolutely everything has to be really top-notch, and it really helps us then get referrals.

18:28 So by delivering exceptional results, like on time and communicating with clients effectively, and not just effectively, but in a way that they understand and prefer, they will send you referrals for sure. So we use Trello for our internal communication, and then we have Notion for a client portal.

18:52 You may have heard me on Instagram the other day talking about our client portal on Notion because that is something that we are now improving and we are adding more value to it. I really want my clients to be able to open that client portal and be like, “Okay, so this is what they’re working on right now.”

19:12 And so I think we’re there. I mean, I’m constantly improving and making changes in our business, which I’m sure you can relate to. I know that you may be adding things to your portfolio, making changes to your content, and that is perfect. However, I don’t want you to be stuck in that circle of constantly improving and making changes.

19:29 So to go back to how exactly I got these two clients that are a total of $32,000: Long story short, I decided what kind of project I want to get, how much money I’m going to charge for that project, what exactly is going to be included, who my ideal clients are. I found my niche, my specialization.

20:02 I chose my ideal client again and really set the price as a minimum of $10,000, and then I decided to go for it. Many designers are like, “Oh, I want to charge $20,000 or $10,000 for this type of project.” But then they don’t know what’s next. Where are you going to find those clients? How and why will they decide to go with you? Why you?

20:18 There are many, many talented designers and creative agencies out there. So why you? You have to really nail down your positioning, your specialization. If that is, you know, I know that also you may be thinking like, “But Kady, I don’t want to put myself in a box and, you know, work with one type of client for the rest of my life.”

20:48 Well, you don’t have to. And your niche doesn’t have to be super narrow. It can be very broad, and I already mentioned the fitness industry. So if you decide to work with businesses that are in the fitness industry and let’s say you do branding, that can be everything and anything really.

21:07 You can do branding for a gym, you can do branding for a yoga studio, you can do branding for yoga mats. So that is a product-based business. You can do gym equipment, you can do a running club, like so many different things that are under the umbrella of fitness.

21:27 So it’s not that you will put yourself in a box. I really don’t think you can put yourself in a box, but by having a niche, you will be able to grow your business because all of a sudden, you are eliminating all the competitors, and you are the expert in this one thing, and people will always go to you.

21:50 Everybody will remember what you do, who you work with, and what exactly you can help them with. For example, the other project that I also mentioned in this podcast episode that was $29,000. They literally told me that when they sat down.

22:06 So the owner of the company said when I sat down with my team, it was a no-brainer that we will move forward with your design agency. He also told me that they talked to a few creative agencies but decided to go with me because I am in their niche.

22:24 Because everything we talked about seemed like I know exactly what I’m doing because I have a lot of confidence, to be honest, and I know I can help them. I know I’m the best fit for this project. So when I talked to them, I literally said that I told them I am the best fit for this project because, and then I listed the reasons, and they were just like, “Oh yeah, that makes sense.”

22:49 And so when they talked to other creative agencies, I mean who knows how they were on their sales calls or informational calls. Call them however you want, but you still have to sell your design services. So you know, I just have a lot of confidence.

23:05 I know I can help them, and I know I’m the perfect fit, and they saw that as well. So they decided to go with us. OK, so I really hope that this podcast episode was helpful. I really wanted to share this story of how I booked $32,000 in design projects in a single day.

23:25 And what I mean by “in a single day” is I literally had both sales calls the same day, and that is when I sent them a proposal, and they both approved it and signed, paid all of that. You know, it wasn’t easy, and it certainly didn’t happen overnight.

23:41 But I want this story to serve as an inspiration of where you can be as well. Maybe right now you’re probably not charging $65 for a logo on Craigslist like I was, but maybe right now you’re making three thousand, five thousand dollars per month, and maybe you want to grow into a small design agency.

24:03 Maybe you’re a solo designer. So like, I really want this to be like, I want you to look at this episode and be like, “Oh wow, I want that too.” And I know I can get there because she was able to get there as well, starting literally from nothing.

24:20 I was working for a sign and printing company for $10 per hour in Las Vegas when I first started freelancing on the side to now running my team and design agency here. Now I’m in Austin, TX, and booking $32,000, $29,000.

24:36 Like you hear all these big numbers, but don’t let them scare you. It’s a gradual increase in price to get there, right? So right now, maybe you’re at $5,000 in a month; in a few months, you will be at $7,000, and then $10,000, and then $15,000, $18,000, $25,000, $29,000. You know, the sky’s the limit. It really is. So just really focus on you and your vision, your core values, and where you want to be in the next two to five years.

25:27 And again, I really hope that this story inspires you to aim high and really chase your dreams and never settle for anything less than your worth or what you simply want to have in your life and in your business. If you want to make a ton of money while working 2 hours a day, you definitely can. And again, it’s not an overnight success. You will not get there tomorrow, but you can get there in the next couple of years. You just have to be persistent and consistent and really focused on who you serve and how you can bring value to the table.

25:49 Okay. I hope that this was helpful and inspirational, and I’ll see you next time. Thanks for tuning in to the Profitable Graphic Designer Podcast. But wait before you go, if you enjoyed this podcast episode and want the chance to access one of our online courses for free, simply leave us a review on Apple Podcasts each month. One lucky reviewer gets to pick a course as a token of our appreciation.

26:11 And here’s a reminder, we are here to help you build the design business of your dreams. Whether it’s creating compelling proposals, attracting $10K clients, pricing your design services, improving your portfolio, reaching 6 figures and beyond, or helping you stand out, we’ve got you covered.

26:35 I invite you to join over 1000 designers in my signature 12-week program, The Profitable Designer. Visit eventiveacademy.com/profit. And also don’t forget to hit that subscribe button. That way, you’ll be the first to know when each new episode drops so you never miss out on future content.

26:57 Until next time, be sure to connect with us on Instagram at Aventive Academy, where we share valuable business tips, stories, and resources for brand, graphic, and web design business owners. Bye for now, your host, Kady Sandel.