Where the Magic Happens

When the box is opened, the outfit is worn, or the photos are framed—whatever your creative element—having clients select, share, and celebrate your work is one of the most fulfilling aspects of running a business.

Most people quit before they reach this moment because getting here means talking to people they’ve never met and facing rejection. It also means fulfillment, satisfaction, and pride.

As you look to build your business, I encourage you to stop spinning in the comfort of the creative process and step into the power and growth of making client connections. Imagine the impact of your work helping one family today, inspiring one person, or elevating one customer’s experience.

Meeting future clients allows you to talk about your product, see what flows naturally, and determine where you need more thought and practice. You’ll hear questions that never occur to you. Why? Because we’re too close to our work. You don’t know what assumptions you’ve made until someone comments or inquires about something you thought was obvious. This is how we learn. This is how you make your offer more succinct. It’s how you get to your big dreams.

When the voice of doubt creeps in, be proactive and redirect that noise. What if it all goes great?! You’ll meet new people and glean valuable feedback no matter what happens. Like it or not, it’s all tied together. This is the road to success. Be willing to make the video, have the call, and go on the appointment.

From your client’s perspective, they appreciate a genuine conversation over a slick sales deck. They know when you’ve done your research and hear the passion as you share how your product adds value to their life or business. Even if they don’t buy today, this is how long-term relationships are built.

Connection is where the magic happens.

How to Design a Message that Moves

When your print piece moves organically, you see it clipped behind a magnet, repurposed as a bookmark, or tacked to a bulletin board; you know it captured someone's attention with a message that meant something. We recently designed a card with the dual purpose of sharing a positive message and with a mission toward movement. Based on the fun calls and texts we received, we're sharing a few key details that went into the card design to inspire your next piece.

The Big Picture. The first consideration for any custom piece is understanding the ultimate goal. How do you want people to feel when they see it, open it? Is there an overarching message you want to communicate? In our case, we wanted to share the word “Joy” intentionally. It was a specific choice, one we felt was better suited to us than the words, Cheer or Celebrate, as an example.

Pass It On - Having the card move and be shared between people was a central theme. In social we see it happen with reposts, tagging, and shares, but we forget this can occur with a physical piece too. Creating a voluntary hand-off, a reason to share, was the most challenging part; encouraging movement without making it too complicated. Our choice was a perforated card that included a postcard mailer, something our recipients would tear off and want to mail to their person of choice. (Access to a talented print team comes in handy. We work with Schmitz Press.).

Engaging and Interactive – When people think of interactive, they often go right to a digital or online platform; however, you can accomplish this in print. How can you get people to interact and do something fun with your mailer? We created three different checkboxes with whimsical fill-in-the-blank lines for people to complete.

Pick your Postage - We affixed the postcard stamp as part of the mailing to encourage people to address and mail the tear-off postcard. It was an added expense, however, worth it when our recipients sent their postcards, which was the whole point. On a funny note, the Post Office only had fish postcard stamps; they told us no holiday postcard stamps were coming. Not exactly a traditional choice, but we didn't get hung up on it. The envelope stamps for the entire card were holiday-themed, and that was more important.

Creating unique elements that make an impact with clients is a priority in our business. Yes, we do all the online things; however, creative, non-digital communication is a welcome reinforcement and bonus to email and online outreach. Let's face it, this is a process that anyone can do, but few people will. That’s why it’s a smart move.