In 2017, after doing graphic design for 9 years, I discovered the missing piece I had been looking for throughout my entire design career: brand strategy.
This new found treasure enabled me to solve big brand and business problems utilizing the very things that brought me to design in the first place-creative problem solving, storytelling, and meaning making.
I was finally doing meaningful work that made an impact. And I was hooked.
In addition to client work, I also consult for design agencies and creatives, helping them add brand strategy to their services and position themselves as a valued partner instead of an order taker.
The explanation is clear and I thank you for that, just don’t agree about that the branding strategist failed to helping to motivate people 9:25 . A person who has a brand is an adult. This person should already know to motivate themselves without having a “babysitter”, to them in order to do their job and make things happen to their own business…
Really down to earth story and conversation, this video gives me so much hope to get to where I am trying to get and I''m no where near. Thank You for this video! I would love to hear more stories of successful freelance designers.
This was great so many gems in here going to deep dive into more of your content. Explaining branding has been a learning curve for me this is very helpful.
Chloe's former mindset is where I'm at right now, she experienced all the things I'm experiencing at the moment and it's refreshing to see that she could break out of that and grow her business so much. This video gave me some hope. I hope someday it happens for me too. Thanks Melinda 😊
Thumbs up your the first out of 5 videos that doesn't consume or start the videos with rambling and the life story of someone else but you get to and stick to the point. Time is money and you get that. Also the video makes sense in plane language. Thx.
Hi! I don't know. I know people who've charged $10k their first time doing it and others who practice with clients for free the first few times or charge very minimally.
Hey Melinda, I am a great fun from Ethiopia. Yes from Ethiopia !!!...lol..I was wondering if it is possible to enroll to your brand strategy course with a grant ?
Hi there! Yes, it is possible. The grant is something that you'd receive from an institution, government, or other organization. If you get the grant, the money would go straight to you, and you could use it for something like the Bootcamp or other business expense (depending on the type of grant). That's how Kimberly was able to join our Bootcamp-she received a grant that covered the amount of it. :) Does that help?
@@melindalivsey1 Probably a lack of confidence, mostly. Also needing the money. I also don't like feeling as if I'm always trying to convince people I'm worth more than minimum wage. Like you, I've also been an 'order taker' - for a long time now. I feel like I've been in a vicious cycle - and I'm starting to see my way out of it, and into something that feels (and actually is) more rewarding. I love your content so much - thank you for making it and thank you for replying.
Chloé, Melinda, I loved the whole conversation and hearing where Chloé is now! I loved reading in the comment section, what this win meant to Chloé and especially I really LOVE what she said in the end: Melinda gives knowledge to help people help themselves. Thank you both for sharing this valuable conversation!
I love this explanation! Brand strategy has always been such a nebulous topic to me, but that pyramid makes everything super clear. I too tend to get creative strategy and brand strategy mixed up.
Thank you Melinda , you really broke this down for me in the best way possible , could very much be an ego thing also , but most importantly trust and delivery are key components
I was smiling through this whole video🔥got me fired up🙏🏻Thank you both for sharing and congrats to Chloe😁I'm happy for you! 🔥This video really answered that very polular question thank for posting Melinda🥇
This video brings up an interesting question for me. Chloe's response to receiving these rates makes me feel like she's been taught to sell at higher prices regardless of the circumstances, but not how to properly quantify her actual value. If her work brings returns of much higher than $22.5k, then her response to receiving that amount of money does not seem to match. This observation is not specific to Chloe, and I took a look at her work and it looks very nice so I'm actually surprised to hear her say she had/has trouble with design. Maybe I missed it, but if she were to look back at a prior client, could she quantify how much value her work generated, or simply report how much she got paid? If she got paid $10k and generated $500k, then she should feel underpaid. But if she got paid $10k and generated $5k, then she should feel overpaid. In contrast to that approach, it seems (Chris does this too, but not all the time.) that figuring out whether you were over/underpaid is tied ONLY to if you could have asked for and received more. $22.5k seems like a ton of money to her, but that is only because she is comparing it to what she was charging before. But in.comparison to the results she's been able to procure for clients... is it a ton of money or has the client actually ripped her off? The reason this has been a growing thorn in my mind is not only because of reactions like these to being paid, but because I come across these clients (obviously not Chloe's specifically) after they have worked with people who have been trained to extract as much cash as possible, but then their results simply don't live up. Sorry for the wall of text. I'm on a lot of caffeine.
I'm not quite clear on the sum of your thoughts; are you saying her rates can only be based on how much her client's income grows in connection to the new branding? Ultimately the client drives their own marketing and visibility so unless she's also offering the ads & social media & advertising approach her responsibility ends on delivery of the new brand. (I'm assuming that's the package she offers). She also mentioned positioning- so I have to assume she made the switch to valuing her own brand and her work as highest level, so her clients by default will only be the ones with high budgets and are used to paying (or have deeper pockets for) these higher amounts. The point being: Chloe can now charge what she likes. And why? Purely because she's confident in the work, understands there is money out there for services, & mostly- she's decided her company & talent is worth it.
@@studiocelestedesign The sum of my thoughts is that we should be charging based upon an honest evaluation and comprehension of what our work is worth. That takes into account results. It stands in opposition to the idea of just charging however much you CAN charge for it. I am certain I went out of my way to express my comments are not specific to Chloe, as I don't know what her results have been. I am speaking to the mindset of having your mind blown by charging a certain amount. If you know that your work is worth a certain amount, then why would you be surprised that you could charge that amount? It seems that the "worth" of work is not being determined by what it accomplishes for clients, but on nothing more than how much we can convince people to pay for it. I'd argue you can make much, MUCH more if you have a grasp on the measurable results of your work (and if those results are good), as opposed to smash and grab and move on to the next client to charge $5k more because you got the $22.5k so easily.
@Andrew Hersh What an interesting thought! I'd love to chat more about this at some point (yes, tis I, Chloé)! So here are my quick and dirty thoughts based on my understanding of what you've said: 1. Quantifying the direct effects of branding and positioning work isn't an exact science since there are so many variables to account for as well. I've definitely attempted to do so, so I know it can be a great internal tool. But because it's not an exact science, I always tend to be extra careful with the external promises I make once I've done so. 2. On my excitement, I've got to draw your attention to who I am. Despite all the accomplishments I can quantify I am also a young, black, American woman. So what I get paid isn't just a neutral accounting of how successful my work has been in the past. It's also an accounting of the biases I navigate everyday. So that excitement isn't just because of the number. It's because that number was unflinchingly agreed to despite those biases. Does that help? (Edited to attempt to tag the original poster)
@@n.chloenwangwu3828 Congratulations on your success. Your website and branding are top class. Putting myself in the place of a client, I'd feel confident that my money would be well-spent with you for brand strategy. You have articulated the process perfectly, managed expectations - and presented yourself as fun, caring, whip-smart and a great designer.
Her story really inspired me. I love to help people and the fact that strategy allows for exactly that is such a huge inspiration to get up and to go find clients. Increasing percieved value and hitting the client's mark is the end all and be all, thank you for sharing Melinda🙏🏻💪🏻this was great🔥
It get's even better! We chatted a month ago, 1 year after recording this video, and have lots of updates to share. Can't wait to post the new video =)
@@melindalivsey1 That's so exciting! Can't wait! I'm so thankful for strategy and the opportunities it creates for us designers. And thank you Melinda for showing us how🙏🏻
