Best Investments I’ve Made For My Biz

As a business owner, it’s important to be willing to invest in your business to grow. It may be scary at first to dive in and spend, but that’s why you should think of it as an investment. Most of the time, you’ll even earn back what you spent on a single course in one client! Your investments, whether it’s courses, a coach, or tools/resources, will help boost your confidence, learn new or improve your skills, save you time, and most importantly, provide more value to your clients which in turn, will allow you to raise your prices.

I’m sharing with you the best and most valuable investments I’ve made for my business, the ones that helped me hone my skills, elevate my client process, and charge the rates I do now.

PRO DESIGN PROCESS by Foxtrot Branding

I knew I wanted to take a course about design processes before launching Seven Stars Studio so I can start out organised and with a bang. I had been following Foxtrot Branding for a while and loved their work, so when they announced they were coming out with a course, I jumped on the waitlist and joined right away!

This course seriously helped me set up my business and processes from the ground up and I ended up fully booked once I launched! You’ll learn how to find clients, set up your contracts & invoices, develop your workflow, and more! It also comes with templates for each step of the process so you’re ready to go! There are coaching calls too so you can ask any questions you have, and Amanda and Cassidy are so amazing and nice. I stayed up in the middle of the night just to catch the calls!

If you’re a designer in your first few years of business, and you want to start booking your ideal clients, raising your rates, and feeling more confident in your services and process overall, then you don’t want to miss this.

Enrollment is open through August 30th, click my affiliate link below to learn more and receive $100 off! Don’t miss this chance to invest in yourself and level up your business!

BRAND CLARITY ACADEMY by Quill & Co.

After scouring the internet for the best courses on brand strategy, I decided to go for Marisa's Brand Clarity Academy, and I have no regrets! I had a solid understanding of brand strategy and my own process, but this course improved and tweaked how I approach strategy and I believe the strategy documents I send out to my clients are mow more valuable to them.

Marisa breaks down each step of the process in such a simple way and she clearly explains how to sell strategy, exactly what to do and how to do it. The best part of the course is the included real life example of the whole process from the workshop to presenting the final strategy to your clients.

The course comes with templates and scripts so you don’t need to start from scratch, and there are bi-weekly coaching calls for 12 months.

BURNED OUT TO BOOKED OUT by Sarah Buckland Coaching

This is the last week of my Burned Out to Booked Out coaching programme with Sarah Buckland and though it's not over yet, me and my business has benefitted from Sarah's expert knowledge so much! I've gained much more confidence in raising my prices, nailing down my ideal client and how to speak to them, stepping into my CEO self, and I'm working on my offerings as I write this. There's only a few slots in the programme which means you truly get 1:1 support from Sarah and you get to chat with amazing ladies every week.

Sarah provides you with all the knowledge and resources you need to attract and convert high-ticket, quality leads. She's given us a wealth of information I'm still continuing to process and I can't wait to implement into my business.

BLOGGING WITH PURPOSE by byRosanna

The Seven Stars Blog has been in the making for more than a year (before this biz was even named Seven Stars Studio!), but blogging is not my strongest suit. I wanted to learn more about it from an expert so I can properly write and brainstorm blog posts that are intentional and valuable. Enter: Rosanna’s Blogging with Purpose course. This course was filled with amazing tips and guidance in a digestible format that allowed me to really understand the blogging landscape and how SEO works. The course has given me an incredible foundation for this blog

Resources

CSS CHEATSHEET FOR SQUARESPACE by Inside the Square

Finding the right Squarespace codes can be a bit tricky and time consuming and Inside the Square’s CSS cheatsheet has been a lifesaver. It’s a huge, comprehensive pdf document containing all the CSS codes you’ll need, and it makes it easy to find the code for the blocks you want to customise. Say goodbye to trial and error and wondering if you’re using the right code!

QUICKER CONTENT FRAMEWORK by Melanie Lea

Melanie’s framework for collecting content from your websites for their websites was a huge game changer for my business! It allowed me to offer copywriting support and provided me with a framework of prompts to give to my clients so they can write their own website copy with ease. Melanie also gives great copywriting tips so I can edit and form the final copy (if needed!)

I’ve used this with all my website design clients so far, and my clients have been loving it! It’s definitely streamlined my process and saved me and my clients tons of time.

Miscellaneous

LOOM

I have a yearly subscription to Loom and it’s probably one of my best purchases EVER. I use it almost every single day, recording walkthroughs and tutorials for my clients and resources. Recording with Loom is a breeze and all you have to do to share it is send a link!

It’s so much easier to explain things verbally than through writing and my clients appreciate it and love my Loom recordings!

SKILLSHARE

I’ve been a Skillshare subscriber for years and still continue to use it regularly. It’s great when you’re looking to learn something quick like how to illustrate something, how to create seamless patterns, etc. I’m currently learning more about Procreate so I can integrate it into my workflow for future projects.

BOOKS

I’m a huge reader and often share my current reads and book reviews on Instagram. I invest a ton in books about design, branding, business, marketing, copywriting, and books for designers in general. Reading books is such a great way to gain knowledge and they’re much more affordable than full courses.

Learning and investing in your business is necessary to grow and scale, and it’s something that never really stops. There’s always room to learn and improve! If we won’t invest in ourselves, how can we expect our clients to invest in us?

Interested in any of the courses/resources I mentioned? Send me a DM on Instagram and I’ll answer any questions you have!