Do you tend to end the year with a purge so that you can start fresh in the new year?
You do a deep clean of everything from the pantry to your wardrobe, donating, gifting, and/or tossing as needed, and when you're done you feel freer, lighter, and excited that you've made room for all new things.
‘Tis the season of decorating & entertaining, and while people’s time (and money) may be wrapped up in all the festivities the season brings, as an e-designer you can step in an offer affordable, convenient, and unconventional alternatives to many of the things they’ll already be doing and/or need done.
Read MoreIf you listened to the last Q & Albie episode of the season, then you know it was all about batching with e-designer and content creator, Heather Hess. After a long season of sharing insights and tips for elevating your design business, it seemed only fitting to end with an episode all about productivity.
As we addressed productivity hacks on the show, there was one that we both agreed cold save a ton of time with clients, vendors, or other partners:
A few months ago the internet blew up with news about the Fyre Festival documentaries that were premiering on Netflix & Hulu — same topic, different documentary. In case you missed it, the Fyre Festival was slated to be a massive music festival intended to be the modern-day luxury Woodstock.
What it was, instead, was a clusterfuck of poor planning and even poorer execution that resulted in social media going crazy over how hundreds of people lost thousands of dollars to attend an event that never came to pass.
The documentaries, each in their own unique style, illustrated how this event, and the aftermath, played out. After watching both, and having a hearty laugh, it hit me that there were many lessons to be learned from what transpired, especially for those of us in the entrepreneurial space.
Read MoreLet’s talk about that time in 2018 when, four months into the year, I returned from a yearlong social media sabbatical and over the next eight months spoke on a panel at High Point Market, appeared on four interior design podcasts, launched a virtual conference, secured sponsored collaborations with six brands, and put into motion launching a brand new podcast with sponsorship.
I share this with you as a sort of humble brag because, while I am immensely proud of those accomplishments, what I am most proud of is the circumstances under which I hit those milestones — I did all of the above with less than 1,000 followers/subscribers across any of my social channels. While we often hear about the pressure to have high numbers as social proof, there is something to be said for the micro-micro-influencer who, as the saying goes, is small but mighty!
We’ve all heard the debates on whether or not you should go to school & get formally trained as a designers, or if being self-taught will suffice. While I can’t answer that for anyone but myself, what I can say is that no matter which path you choose, you never really stop learning.
A lot of that learning can come by way of doing — there’s no substitute for experience — but some of that learning you have to actively pursue, whether it’s taking CEU courses, watching webinars, listening to podcasts, or good ol fashioned books!
Read MoreFrom new platforms that needed decoding to new resources we didn’t even know we needed, 2018 was definitely the year of a lot of tech! After 12 months of continuing to use old faithfuls from 2017 and diving into the new goodies of 2018, here are the resources we loved from 2018 that we’ll be taking into 2019.
Read MoreIn spring 2018, The E-Design Experience was launched as a passion of mine because as an e-designer I noticed very early on that there was a huge void in the industry when it came to dealing with e-design.
While the name made perfect sense for a conference, as the mission continued to evolve, we quickly realized that "e-design" wasn't just about designing online. Yes, it will always, first & foremost, be about the online designer, but the bigger picture has always been about being better online — as a designer, as an influencer, as a brand.
Changing the name allowed us to get back to this objective of decoding this new landscape so that it made more sense for you, whether that specifically meant e-design, or if it meant figuring out how to build your email list. The conversations weren’t being limited to just e-design so the name needed to start reflecting that.
Read MoreWhether you’re going to market for the first time, still pretty new to market & getting your feet wet, or a seasoned market veteran going for the umpteenth time, navigating which events are happening when & with whom can be a pretty daunting task. As an e-design community and designpreneurs looking to elevate in the online space, it was amazing quite a few events that really catered to the current industry landscape — tech savvy, social media inspired, systems driven, influencer friendly, and overall really future facing.
Read MoreNo matter if you're an in-person designer or an online designer, deliverables are a huge part of our client experience, and for many of us, rendered designs are often part of those deliverables. For creating renderings there is no shortage of amazing resources. There are also two web-based platforms that are super affordable (how does free sound?) and all things considered, easy to use.
Read MoreWith thousands of deals all over the site, most people prep early to plan ahead for what can be potential savings via Prime Day. Here are some business favorites that you should look out for during the 36 hours shopping bonanza!
Read MoreFor many, a business checkup may come by hiring a business coach or business manager or some other expert to help in the areas that need attention in your business; but maybe you're not there yet, so here are 5 steps you can take on your own towards giving your business a self checkup:
Read MoreWhen you're working for someone else, there are a lot of business responsibilities that you don't necessarily have to worry about -- things like administrative systems & back-end operations -- but as an entrepreneur, all of these are up to you to coordinate, which can be overwhelming & intimidating. As part of our initiative to educate designers & provide them with curated resources, we hosted our Savvy Systems Week with 5 platforms that could suit your unique business model.
Read MorePutting together The E-Design Experience was not something I took lightly. It was a beta launch, yes, but I knew I wanted this to lead to bigger, better, and more beautiful opportunities & so I jumped all in! Now that a launch is in the books, I can truly say I’ve learned a lot up to this point.
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