It's important to reflect and re-evaluate your business from time-to-time. What's needed that you may have overlooked? What are some things you've put on the back burner that you'd really like to achieve? Are you stuck in a rut? These are all questions I've been asking myself lately. With my recent wedding in October, I cleared up all jobs in queue and close shop for a few weeks. I had a great time relaxing and taking time off with my fabulous new husband, but found that when my vacation came to an end, I was stuck in a bit of a rut waiting for the next job to land in my inbox. I did what most business owners would do when booking their calendar with work. I sent out a few emails, touched base with some of my favorite clients, and scheduled a few face-to-face meetings with new potential clients to...
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I'm back! What a great break! I recently closed shop to take care of the final few weeks of planning for my recent wedding and let me tell you, it was truly the most wonderful day! My husband and I are a little bit (well, a lot) untraditional and different. So, our wedding was a mix of old Hollywood glamour, speakeasy, and burlesque! Yes, that's right. Burlesque! We had our favorite troupe, The Peek-A-Boo Revueof Philadelphia, PA perform at our wedding. It was SO MUCH FUN! In addition to the outstanding performance, we riddled the day with lots of fun elements of the era; bottles of absinthe as the favors, our top hat wearing emcee/DJ full of personality, Mr. Joey Martini, an art deco cake, as well as popular music of today performed in the style of the 20s/30s. I'll remember it forever. Which brings me to what's going on with Nicola...
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It's been ages since I've posted! I'm currently planning our wedding and it's just under one month away! I'll have tons to post about afterwards - projects I've been working on, wedding stationery, and lots of other fantastic stuff. But I thought it would be a good idea to let you know that I'm still here. Just busy, busy, busy! I also wanted to post about an event I support full-on, Dr. Sketchy's Philadelphia! Since Candy Mayhem has taken the reigns, there have been some extra special sessions happening and there are some coming up you WON'T want to miss! Here are a few of the upcoming listings. Hope to see you there! Friday, September 30th at 7PM Dr. Sketchy's and Zuzu Studio Gallery present, A Tribute to Elvira with Kiki Berlin! BUY TICKETS HERE!. Zuzu Studio Gallery 577 Haddon Avenue Collingswood, NJ 08108 Wednesday, October 12th at 7:00pm - 10:00pm Dr. Sketchy's Philly presents, "Speakeasy of Terror!" BUY TICKETS...
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Every once in a while, things drastically change in an independent contractors world. You may lose a client or two due to uncontrollable circumstances who provide a significant part of your income. While you weren't laid off or fired from a full-time gig as it would be if working solely for that specific company, it still affects your bottom line and it's time to change gears... quickly. I've been in business now for just over 3 years. Before that, I supplemented my in-house career with freelance here-and-there finally taking the plunge and opening my business once my client base was big enough. That was step one. Although nerve-wracking, it went relatively smoothly for me. Included in my start-up client base were 2 different clients that paid a significant chunk of my salary. I feel it makes the design business a bit easier to navigate to have at least one steady client...
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Some great news! Nicola Black Design, LLC will be one of the featured designers in Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design set to be published this Fall! I'm so excited and honored to be a part of the project! Here's an excerpt about the book from visualmarketingbook.com: A compendium of winning ideas that will inform and inspire creative professionals and students. A must-have resource for the small business owner or marketing executive looking to build business with effective creative strategies. A compendium of winning ideas that will inform and inspire creative professionals and students. Successful marketing campaigns will be organized in three modes of communication: Online, In Print and On site. The book will celebrate campaigns that capture the attention and hearts of audiences by building buzz and awareness to increase sales. For small business owners, designing a creative program that goes...
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UPDATE: My new wedding stationery collection is live! Have a look at the suites available here. This Save-The-Date is also available if you're interested in ordering. Just let me know via my contact form. Whew! Running a business and planning a wedding is hard work! How do people do it?! Although it's all keeping me VERY busy, I have to admit, I'm really enjoying it. It's so much fun! All of the details, arrangements, pretty things, etc. etc. I never realized just how girly I am until I was fully submerged in the planning. I can finally admit that, yes, I do like things that sparkle! So, my fiancé and I just sent out our save-the-dates and I'm very excited about them! We made vintage telegram messages in the style of the old Western Union telegrams. It fits in perfectly with the era of our theme (1920s-1930s). Todd had a ton...
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