Hi Reader
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Many designers struggle with making a portfolio and effectively reaching out to clients. In this week's newsletter, I tackle both so you can get consistent work that inspires you.

If you enjoy this newsletter, let me know! I would love to hear if the topics resonate with you just hit reply.

If you want to suggest a newsletter topic, you can do so here.

In this week's newsletter

📽 Industry Experts Reveal Their Portfolio Secrets​
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✍️ Warm Email Outreach: How to Build Trust and Connect with Clients

🎉 Student Wins of the Week

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Industry Experts Reveal Their Portfolio Secrets

Get your notepads ready folks! 📝

Whether you're a seasoned motion designer looking to refresh your portfolio or just starting on your creative journey, this week's video is a goldmine of knowledge.

I've gathered invaluable insights from industry experts about creating an amazing portfolio with real examples of their favourite portfolios.
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Watch the Video

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✍️ Warm email outreach: How to build trust and connect with clients

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To reach out effectively to clients, you must warm them up first!

Make your emails less cold using this strategy:

Reaching out to potential clients can be difficult, especially when sending a cold email. These emails will often go unanswered, but there's a way to warm up your outreach strategy and build trust over time.

Step 1: Choose a platform where your clients hang out.

(hint: most of them are probably on LinkedIn)

The first step is to choose a platform where your clients hang out. This could be LinkedIn, Twitter, or even Instagram. Do your research and try to find them on different platforms. You don't want to be commenting on their personal Instagram, so I recommend starting with LinkedIn if you're unsure.

Step 2: Engage with them on that platform.

Engage with them by posting thoughtful comments on their posts, sharing their content, and liking their updates. Show genuine interest in what they're doing. This will help you build a relationship with them, and they'll start recognising your name and brand. You don't need to comment on every post but follow them so you can naturally comment on a few posts.

Step 3: Be consistent to build trust over time.

The key to warm email outreach is consistency. Keep engaging with them without pitching your services. The goal is to build a relationship, not to sell them something. This means you need to be patient and keep engaging with them for weeks if not months. This is a long-term strategy, and you need to be committed to it. Over time, you will build more trust with potential clients and, in turn, get more responses to your outreach emails.

Think of it as building deeper relationships with fewer people.

Step 4: Send them a friendly DM.

If they follow you whilst you're engaging with them, send them a direct message thanking them and maybe include something about their work, but don't pitch them. Show that you're genuinely interested in them and not just trying to sell them something.

You can also share others' content with them. If you have a blog post or a video that would be helpful to them, share it with them.

Even if they don't follow you after a while, you can send them a DM.

Step 5: After engaging with them for a while, email them a link to your work.

This is the warm email outreach. By this point, they should have a good idea of who you are and what you do. Your email should be personalised and show that you've researched them.

Here are some tips for writing a warm email:

1. Make it personal. Use their name and reference something you discussed on social media or a recent piece of work they made.
2. Keep it short and to the point. Don't write a novel.
3. Show your expertise by including some names of brands or companies you have worked with.
4. Clearly display your work or showreel with space around it so it's easy to click on.
5. Don't ask for a response. Add a soft call to action like, 'Let me know if you have any questions about my work.'

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Remember, warm email outreach is about building relationships and trust over time. By engaging with potential clients, you'll build a network of people who know, like and trust you, making it easier to get projects and grow your business.

So, try out this strategy and see how it can work for you. Happy emailing!

In my course, Balanced Business Bootcamp we are working through this warm outreach strategy for June and July with our students.

If you would like my direct help and accountability to implement this strategy to help you grow your business, hit reply to this email.

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🎉 Student Wins of the Week

Mark Bottler

We are thrilled to announce that Mark Bottler, a talented member of our alumni community, has released his very first digital product.

Limo, the fun and playful font created by Mark, is now available for you to buy.

​Check it out here! ​

Ryan Meader

One of our current students, Ryan Meader, has recently unveiled his revamped showreel intro, and it's a definite must-see!

​Check it out here! ​

Kelly Kurtz

The first prompt has been revealed from Kelly's Cocktails and Mocktails Illustration Challenge! 🍹

​Join the challenge here. ​

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If you have a job or other opportunities you would like to feature in this newsletter, check out this link for more details.

Thanks

Hayley