2022: A Year-in-Review
In many ways this year felt like a ho-hum regular year, but when I stop, step back, and reflect, this year in the studio was extraordinary. Here’s five changes I made made and the reasons why they made an impact:
This was my first full year with a studio manager. I remember a Peoria Open Coffee Club long ago where business friends challenged me to find someone that would help me go farther, longer. Katie started in late October 2021 and since then that has definitely been the case. In fact, the subsequent bullet points probably wouldn’t have happened without her.
Pricing is a beast. We all know that. But 2021 was my first full year of time tracking which produced a lot of value data as we entered 2022. This helped me to write realistic proposals based on facts vs. arbitrary numbers that weren’t evidence based. This allowed me to feel like I was actually getting paid for the time and energy invested, resulting in a significant revenue increase.
I leaned into retainer contracts. What this afforded me was the freedom to better estimate how many additional projects I could take on without feeling overwhelmed or like I had to take on everything that came my way, even if the fit was poor. I think sometimes the industry can criticize retainers, or view it as “selling out.” But I’ve found it provides so much value to clients, and can take a weight off your shoulders, so you aren’t wondering when and if another big project will land itself in your lap.
One-on-one client work is my favorite, but over time I have realized that there can be clogs or hang ups to moving clients or potential clients through a customer path. Through the year we made changes and built additional automations to keep things going without too much work on our end. It’s the first year I experimented with an automated email with an attached rate sheet that goes out as soon as anyone fills out a contact form. There are definite pros and cons to this, but for now I think it’s been a helpful system. We create all of these forms and pathways in Dubsado and I would recommend it to anyone juggling more than three projects at a time.
Creating additional income streams was a goal that I had made at the outset of 2022. They say millionaires have at least seven! Two that I gave the most attention to were the print shop we set up and becoming an affiliate of products and services we love whether it be Dubsado, Flodesk, or Jen Wagner fonts.
Not included in this list above was teaching at Bradley University spring semester and various other opportunities to speak and teach, one of my favorites being the 8th grade Leadership Camp at St. Philomena’s.
As I’m writing, I’m preparing for another semester of teaching this spring, supervising an internship, focusing on art and pattern licensing, considering a new day rate offer, and making one-on-one work with many amazing souls who are generously birthing innovation into the world even better.
2023 is looking bright and hopeful — I’m so grateful you’re here!