Strategic Switch: 4 systems that help designers build profitable businesses fast

Welcome to Strategic Switch!

Throughout my freelancing journey, I’ve managed to connect and become friends with a bunch of designers, and I’ve found that pretty much all of them started freelancing for the same reasons.

They wanted to:

• take back control of their time,

• increase their earning potential, and

• ultimately unlock creative freedom!

But the sad reality is very few have actually achieved this.

And this isn’t just in my friend group. So many designers (who are amazing at what they do) struggle to land clients consistently, hesitate to raise their prices, and never start making the money they actually want.

Why does this happen?

What’s the difference between a designer managing to build a sustainable living with their business, and one who’s equally skilled but stuck in feast-or-famine cycles?

A lot of the time the difference is Systems.

So in today’s newsletter, I’ll gonna give you an insider view into the 4 systems Strategic Brand Designers use to build freedom-based businesses that actually work.

Let’s dive in 👇

Most of you are probably pretty good at “winging it”.

You can think fast on your feet.

If a client comes to you and says, “Hey, I want this type of a design”, you can jump right in and deliver a good standard of work. And you can do it while kind of shooting from the hip!

That’s a good skill to have, but it’s also a trap.

Because when you’re great at improvising, you never feel the need to systematize anything. Why document a process when you can just figure it out again next time?

Every project becomes a first-time project - even when it’s not.

That means you’re constantly solving the same problems again and again.

Everything lives in your head. No documented processes. Just “winging it” project after project.

And here’s what that typically leads to:

Problem #1: Stuck in feast-or-famine cycles

One month you land 3 clients and you’re on top of the world.

The next month… radio silence.

You’re refreshing your inbox every 5 minutes wondering where your next project will come from.

This happens because you have no predictable way to generate leads. When one project ends, you’re starting from zero all over again.

Problem #2: Always putting out urgent fires

Without systems, everything becomes urgent:

• Clients waiting for responses because your inbox is chaotic

• Contracts that need to be written from scratch (again)

• Invoices that are overdue because you forgot to follow up on them

• Project delays because you didn’t gather the right information upfront

You spend your days reacting to problems instead of preventing them.

Problem #3: Can’t scale beyond your personal capacity

When everything depends on you remembering it, doing it, and managing it personally, you hit a ceiling fast.

You literally cannot take on more clients because you’re drowning in the operational chaos of the ones you already have.

And because of this, you CAN’T make progress in your business.

Now, you might not realize it, but you already have everything you need to build a successful design business.

You’ve got the skills. You’ve got the drive. And you’re gaining experience with every project.

So what’s missing?

It’s not more talent or time.

It’s a system. Because everything changes when you stop winging it and start building one.

See, when you’re running a design business, you’re not just the designer - you’re the CEO.

That means you need to stop figuring things out on the fly and start thinking beyond the design work itself.

It’s time to shift your approach.

You need to create systems and repeatable processes that make each project smoother, more professional, and easier to manage than the last.

Let me give you some examples:

Strategic Brand Designers document everything

Generic Designer:“I’ll remember how I handled this for next time.” (Spoiler: They don’t.)

Strategic Brand Designer:“Let me document this process so I can replicate and improve it.”

The focus is simple:

Every successful project becomes a template for the next one.

Every client interaction gets systematized.

Every workflow gets optimized.

Strategic Brand Designers prevent problems

Generic Designer: Client says, “I don’t understand why you chose this direction.” Designer scrambles to explain.

Strategic Brand Designer: Has a documented presentation framework that explains the strategic thinking behind every design decision, preventing confusion before it starts.

Strategic Brand Designers build systems that work with/without them

Generic Designer:“I need to personally handle every client touchpoint.”

Strategic Brand Designer:“My systems guide clients through the entire experience, so I can focus on strategy and design.”

This, all of this allows Strategic Brand Designers to solve bigger (and better) problems over time.

Stronger the systems, more powerful the business.

Here’s your blueprint to create 4 systems that unlock consistent $$$$ months!

And before you feel overwhelmed, the best part of these systems is that you can build them one at a time, and each one unlocks the next level of your business.

System #0 (Pre-requisite): Your Irresistible Offer

If your systems are gasoline, your offer is the fire.

For any of the systems to work, you need to crystallize your offer:

• 1 specific person you serve

• 1 clear transformation you provide

• 1 unique differentiation that sets you apart

Once you have clarity and confidence on your offer, it’s time to start diving into the 4 systems.

System #1: Lead Generation System

Most struggling designers have NO process for generating leads.

So many times, I see them saying things like:

• “I’m posting on Instagram. Why aren’t clients magically reaching out?”

But when I ask them:

• “Did you send any DMs?”

• “Did you ask anyone about their specific problems?”

• “Did you educate anyone about how you help clients get results?”

…crickets.

Getting leads is your responsibility, and there IS a step-by-step process you can build to generate leads on demand.

Strategic Brand Designers invest time in building this system early, so they unlock full control over their business growth!

System #2: Client Delivery System

This system starts when a client says “YES.”

• What’s your onboarding process? – Clients trusted you to solve their problems. You want to reinforce their decision and show them they made the right choice, right? What do you do?

• What information do you gather? – To deliver on your promise and get clients results, you need specific details. How do you ask for it systematically?

• How are you tracking progress and results? – How do you make it easy for yourself to prove (and improve) the impact of your work?

• What’s the order of your work? – What’s the schedule and what phases will you work through?

The more strategically you think through your client delivery, the better your client experience will be. And the better your results will be, because you’re making sure the client does their part too.

With a client delivery system, Strategic Brand Designers know exactly what to do, how much time it takes them, and which parts of the process they can improve!

System #3: Client Growth System

What do you do AFTER you complete a project successfully?

Here’s the amazing thing about design business: whenever you solve brand problems, you unlock bigger (and more profitable) problems. So when you complete your project and delight a client, you unlock what I call the Strategic Designer scaling choice:

• Do I earn more by getting the next new client?

• Or do I earn more by making this client more valuable with additional services?

If you choose (1), you’ll go back to your lead generation system.

If you choose (2), you’ll need a system to present them the next offer!

Client Growth system is one of the highest ROI systems you can build. As a Strategic Brand Designer, you can close $2k-$5k retainers for ongoing social media posts, brand management and expansion work!

System #4: Business Review System

This final system is specifically for your “CEO” mode.

Running a design business pulls you in all directions at the same time. You face questions like:

• “What should I prioritize next?”

• “How am I spending my time? Can I spend it better?”

• “What should I delegate/automate/eliminate?”

• “When should I look for new clients? How many do I need?”

To confidently answer these questions and build a business that serves YOU, you need a system that helps you make strategic decisions.

With a business review system, Strategic Brand Designers track important metrics, generate insights from the clients they’re working with, and set priorities for short and long-term growth!

This system ensures YOU, the CEO, run the business (and not the other way around).

Next steps: How do you start incorporating systems into your business?

Don’t overcomplicate it. Don’t try to engineer the perfect system from day one.

You don’t need to make them flawless right from the start. And you definitely don’t need to replace taking action with building systems. That’s just a form of productive procrastination.

Instead, shift your mindset to “thinking in systems.”

Start here:

• If you complete a task, think: “How do I systematize this for next time?”

• If you get a lead from Instagram, think: “What worked? How do I repeat this process?”

• If you create a brand strategy presentation, think: “How can I turn this into a reusable template?”

Build in order of impact.

Over time, the mindset shift helps you build something INSANELY powerful.

But if you want to fast-track your systems, I’ve got something you can use.

Instead of figuring out the documents, processes, and frameworks on your own, you can get everything I use to run my 6-figure design business.

Check out my newly launched and revised:

Strategic Designer OS

For the first time ever, I’ve included detailed video walkthroughs where I show you exactly how I use each component in my actual client work.

Here’s how Alena felt after buying the bundle (now known as the Strategic Designer OS):

Either ways, I hope you start with putting together at least one system this week.

Anything over zero compounds.

Chat soon,

Abi 😊

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