Well, here we are! The grand finale! And once again, we have a “tough love” topic on our hands…

How to Get Started in Digital Design – Part 5: Discipline

If you want to get ahead in the digital scrapbooking world, there are some good habits you’re going to have to add to your routine, like it or not!

How to Get a Gold Star

Once you’ve been through the process of creating something you’re all excited about, it’s time to spread the word! Currently, there are four great ways to do this—and all of them are FREE! That’s good news, isn’t it? The part you may not be too excited about is that you really need to be covering all four bases…

So, what are they?

1) Blogs:

First, you need a blog—a pretty one. Tweak it (or hire someone to tweak it for you) and make sure it can handle images that are 600 px wide. This is the standard size for previews and layouts around the digi world… and you want your stuff to be seen, right? Don’t settle for 450 px or 500 px in width. You need 600 px!

You also need to have great content! No one is going to want to read your blog if you just post your new releases and say “Well… here they are! Buy them!” They want to read a little bit more. You blog should be a destination, right? People like getting to know you a little bit. So let your personality shine through! Tell people why you made a kit or why you’re so excited about this new item.

Consider combining your personal blog and your business blog if you live a crafty and interesting life. People really like getting a chance to know you! I keep my personal blog separate from my business blog because I have so many various things to talk about (when I get the chance, that is!). I love writing about my cute kids, our homeschooling experience, my other hobbies like knitting, papercrafting, scrapping and quilting… I think it would be too much to share here, so I don’t! But I know many girls who pull it off without a hitch. They talk about their day and then squeal with delight over their newest items (and their readers squeal along with them!). So, don’t be shy! Hang out with us and tell us all about your thoughts… and your new releases!

Also consider having tutorials and articles on your blog! I know some girls do fun things like recipe posts, too. And I love posts that are full of hybrid projects and layouts. It’s nice to offer people something fun to read!

These days, I feel a little guilty because I’ve not been so great at following my own advice about having lots of great content on your blog. But I do at least offer inspiration here every week with our Creative Monday posts with beautiful layouts from the team! My problem is that I’m also busy running a store and making sure everything is okay on that front. I don’t have a lot of extra time to think about running cool series on my own blog these days because I’m pouring out that energy on the Digichick. But back in the day though I had tutorials, challenges, articles and blog parties here! Good times. It’s fun stuff!

2) Newsletters:

Yes, you need one. Why? Because not everyone likes blogs.

There are several designers who’s things I love… but I don’t follow their design blogs. In fact, I don’t follow anyone’s designer blog (my only feeds for digi are for The Daily Digi and Simple Scrapper). I do get my favorite designers’ newsletters, though!

People love options. People want to be able to chose between different ways of getting your information. And a newsletter is an especially good tool for reaching your customers quickly. When I have a new release, I blog, I tweet, I post to my fan page… and still I have a noticeable jump in sales just moments after I click send on my newsletter.

Consider offering specials to newsletter subscribers! I have a friend who sends out the hidden link to her newest releases to her readers with a special coupon code the day before they come out. And I have another who always gives an additional percentage off her new items for all her subscribers. Designers will often give out freebies that are just for their readers, too! It’s nice to feel appreciated like that, isn’t it?

So, don’t put if off, claim it’s too confusing or ignore it. Just do it! There are several affordable services out there. And if you know a bit of code, PHPlist is free! Dive in. It’s an extremely effective way to spread your news!

3) Facebook Fan Pages:

I think Facebook killed the digital scrapbooking forum scene! About a year ago, people in the digital community moved over to Facebook in droves and started talking over there. Then they discovered Facebook’s fan pages and there went advertising on message boards! And I think it’s a great thing, not only because it’s free, but also because it opens you up to a totally new audience. It’s very easy to share you new things on Facebook… and easy for your friends to tell their friends, too! So, go and get a fan page. You’ll be glad you did!

Once you’re all set up, start sharing your links, posting about freebies and have a few RAKs! (Random Acts of Kindness, i.e., coupon giveaways). Just be sure NOT to host a promotional contest on your fan page asking people to follow you. This is against Facebook’s terms of use and you could get your page deleted! You are allowed to host that sort of contest off-site (on your blog or in your newsletter, for example) and then link to the promotion on your fan page. Just be sure not to host it solely on Facebook.

4) The Twitter:

Twitter confuses some people. They just don’t get it. To me, it’s just one big, long instant messaging conversation and I think it’s lots of fun!

What’s even better is how easy it is to share something cool you’re looking at with all your friends on Twitter! You just type, “Hey! This blog post is awesome: LINK” and then everyone else can check it out, too. And just like with Facebook, it’s incredibility easy for your friends to share your links, too! (That’s called “Re-Tweeting” or just RT.)

Twitter is great for promoting your freebies, giveaways and other events. You say something, post a link and your friends will pick it up and spread it to their friends! Word of mouth—the best kind of advertising!

Should You Hire a Promotional Assistant?

One last note: there’s a trend right now with busy designers. They are hiring people to manage their blogs, newsletters, fan pages and tweets for them.

While I think it would be a cool concept to have a team blog that’s full of inspiration, challenges and other articles from your creative team, remember that people like YOU. They want to hear from YOU. They are glad to hear that you have a new release, but they are looking for your face to pop up… not the face of your promotional assistant. If you’re going to go this route, do yourself a favor: hire someone that you trust implicitly, write your own content and announcements and have her manage the actual posting for you.

There are just some things that are really best left to your supervision, even if you don’t really like to do them or they seem like just another a boring chore. And I think writing up what you want said should be one of them. Even better, post it yourself. I have a few over zealous creative team members for some of our designers at the Digichick who’s posts I’m always moving because they put them in the wrong section. And even though I know their designers have told them where to post, they forget. Hey, to err is human! That’s why I like to stick to doing things myself.

Yeah, maybe I’m crazy. I do everything that I can do myself. Not only do I handle all blog posts, newsletters, fan page postings and tweets for Sugarplum Paperie and {girl friday} Studio, I also handle all promotions for the Digichick as well. We have staff and creative team members who post on our blogs (which I do my best to proofread ahead of time), but other than that, I’m the one drafting [the beast that is known as] the Digichick’s newsletter, all our fan page posts and tweets. I guess I’m all old fashioned and I think, “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” Plus, when I mess up and forget things, I can just be angry and kick myself. (Thankfully, that doesn’t happen too much because I make lots of notes to help myself stay on top of things.) Doing things myself seems much easier to me than having to go in and fix something that someone else wrote, write to them detailing why it was wrong and then spend time reassuring them that you still love them. LOL!

Be Committed

So, besides promoting your new goodies, what else to you need to be a good digital designer? Well, you need to be dedicated to your business venture. What does that look like?

If you are in a store and that shop has a deadline for your new releases to be submitted, you need to make yourself a plan for working under that system and meeting the deadline. Chances are that those rules are in place for a good reason and if you work within it, you’ll find that you have more time for the proper promotion of your items. One of the main reasons we ask for items to be in the shop early at the Digichick is so that our creative team can work with the new releases for the week both for our newsletter and for the designers to use their work in their product descriptions. (People need to see layouts when they are deciding whether or not to press the add to cart button!)

When you work on a schedule, you find you have time to think of promotional events, like giveaways and special coupons. You can handle the drafting of these announcements while your creative team is working with your new kit! You also have the time to make little tweaks to your items (like writing a great description) or even make additional items. Many designers will offer little freebie samplers on their blogs on new releases day. That’s something the community loves!

If you’re in a shop that offers you total freedom to release you own goodies when you feel like it, you still need to have a system in place for the efficient running of your business. In fact, it’s even more important because the temptation to just hurry up and get your item out there on the market is even greater!

Here’s what you need to do… and it involves paper and pen once again! Make a list of all the things you’d like to do, want to do and need to do when it comes time for a new kit. Write out a schedule that includes a few days for designing your kit and/or a freebie or other add-on, time for previewing it, time for getting it uploaded and in your shop, a few days for your creative team to play, a day for sneak peeks or giveaways, and a day for announcements, posts and newsletters. Now, start at your desired new releases day and work backwards. This can be very insightful when you actually put things on paper and see that on average, you need a lead time of 10 to 15 days before you release a new item! It also will help give you a reality check when are 6 days from your new releases day and you optimistically think, “I can do it! I have time!” Maybe you don’t. It’s always (always!) better to take your time with your new products and not rush through things. But designers are known for doing things last minute. Save your sanity—have a plan!

But What if I don’t Feel Like It?

As with everything, there is a fine line here and you need to walk it carefully so that you don’t fall off the tightrope on one side or the other.

This is your business. Sometimes you need to “make it a job” and work when you don’t feel like it. But there are other times when you just can’t force things, especially when it comes to creative thinking. There are times when you really just need a mental break or some time off!

Yes, you should push yourself—but not so hard you end up burning yourself out. So, don’t whine! Just get yourself set up with a system that works for you. I’ve given you the tools to do so here. Now it’s up to you to actually follow through and do it!

So, what does it take to be a digital scrapbooking designer? Passion. Ability. Originality. Vision. Discipline.

Now that you know more about it, what do you think? Still up for the challenge? I wish you luck!

(Thanks so much for reading! And thank you so much for all your kind comments as well. I’m glad to hear that you’ve enjoyed these posts.)

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