4 Simple Ways to add more Income to your Design Business
There are many ways to add more income to your design business but we recommend keeping things as simple as possible, especially in the early stages of your business. Keeping your business simple protects you from the burnout of doing too much too quickly. It also keeps your offerings simple & easy for your dream client to understand.
For this post, we have chosen a few simple strategies to focus on that don't add a ton of extra work to your plate OR confusion within your offerings..
1. Raise your Prices
I know, duh. But hear me out. Most designers I talk to are significantly under-charging. Raising your prices is often the quickest and easiest way to bring in more income, and it's the first place I would start.
Raising your prices also allows you to take on significantly less work. This will free up time and headspace for other things like traveling, spending time with family, or adding additional income streams to your business.
SOME TIPS FOR RAISING PRICES -
Do you have branding clients booked out for the next month or two? This can be a great sign that it's time to raise your prices.
Another easy rule of thumb is to raise your prices after each project. While this may not seem like much, I followed this rule at the beginning of my business and was amazed at how quickly I could scale.
*If you are looking for more pricing resources, join the collective to access our pricing lessons, the BMP Calculator & Proposal templates.
2. Consider Day rates for past Branding Clients
When your past branding clients come back to you for collateral design work, brand refreshes, or new projects, this can be a great time to utilize day rates.
What are day rates?
Day rates (Also often called intensives or VIP days) are when your clients can book you for just one day at a time. You would then dedicate your entire day to working with them on whatever design tasks they needed. When the day ends, the project is over, you get paid, and the client can walk away with the new designs.
Day rates are super profitable and can be a great additional income stream. The industry standard for a day rate project is anywhere from 1k-3k+.
2 Day Rates a month at $1250 = an extra $2,500/month.
We also LOVE day rates because they help us protect our time and schedule. Our clients also love them because they know what to expect and when to expect it.
Want to learn more? We wrote an entire blog post dedicated to how we use day rates for recurring clients.
3. Passive Resources
Is there a resource you've already created that others can benefit from?
In the early stages of your design business, I don't recommend creating and marketing a brand new resource from scratch because it could confuse your audience. However, utilizing a resource that you've already made to help your audience could be a great and relatively simple way to make some passive income.
Some Questions to think about when it comes to passive resources:
What resources have I already created that can benefit my audience?
Will this resource be confusing to my audience?
How much time will this take, and will the return be worth it for me?
4. Affiliate Income
Utilizing affiliate codes for resources you already use and love is an easy way to add an income stream to your business.
Make a list of some of your favorite business resources and then check and see which ones offer affiliate programs.
You can then share these resources whenever you find that it would be helpful for your audience. Creating content like social posts or blog posts around these resources is a great way you can point traffic to your affiliate links.
Some Affiliates I use in my Business:
Dubsado & Honeybook, Flodesk, Shopify, The Contract Shop & More.
*Here is an example of a resource I created for the affiliate links that I use and love!
Lastly, remember that seeing huge financial growth usually doesn’t happen overnight. Keep your offerings clear, have patience, and know that your hard work WILL compound. We believe in you & are cheering you on, always.
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