Canva and the G.O.A.T. 🐐

It's Tuesday already and we're counting down the days to the holiday break. We can't believe this is our second post. It's exhausting but exciting!

For those in the know, you can appreciate the challenges of working with two high-performing perfectionists. In fact, pushing Ambreen and Rebekah out of their pixel-perfect comfort zones will become a topic in itself.

We're probably not ready for prime-time yet, but who cares? It's been said that if you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you shipped too late.

So we're embracing that. We're also psyched to have our moms on standby manipulating our open and click rates as we warm-up our sending domain.

And so it continues...

No, it's not an awkward urinary condition.

It's one of the most important Legos we have to offer you. It's a topic we'll be writing about a lot.

Slow to Flow is a way of thinking, a way of life. It's intentional. It boils down to:

Sounds pretty generic right? But think about how the world has changed since 2020. For a while there, everything stopped. For many, everything changed. For some, it got worse.

For us, our reliance on technology and devices increased. We had to be in "always on" mode. We never unplugged, we didn't disconnect. Then came the burnout. Not to mention the $1,424 in Apple Store charges we racked up for Candy Crush level 177.

What we did next may surprise you, unless you've been paying attention.

We slowed down.

Over the next few weeks, we'll share more about our observations, journeys, and progress. Of course it's unique for everyone, but maybe you'll relate to one of our stories. If you think this is just 💩, reply to this email and let us know.

We were first introduced to Canva in 2013 by one of our most amazing friends, the one-and-only Peg Fitzpatrick. 🙌🏽

Canva makes it easy to create and share professional designs. We love it and it's made our lives as professionals easier.

It's been mind-blowing to see their growth and the transformations they've caused within the design industry. But over the weekend, we were staggered by how ubiquitous their design templates have become.

While watching the FIFA World Cup on Sunday, our eyes were drawn to the flashy display ads nested conveniently behind the on-field players' butts. It was the who's who of global brands. As we were trying to keep track of maneuvers made by Messi and company, we felt a strong sense of déjà vu.

From flat vectors of cars racing across the screen in the background, to ads displaying cups and balls, déjà vu. Then it hit us, holy $#!t, we've seen these designs—or very similar—on Canva!

Regardless, designs created on Canva are everywhere. We felt a sense of relief seeing them on a global stage to be honest. Kind of like when you hide the take-out boxes in time for that delicious "home cooked" meal you just made.

Festivus is a holiday that we embrace. It's a chance to gather with your loved ones, friends, and family to air your grievances. 🤔You should engage in a bit of good old-fashioned feats of strength, and top it all off with a nice aluminum pole-centric decoration.

Don't worry about buying gifts or getting all dressed up, because Festivus is all about being authentic and embracing your inner grinch. Something we thrive at.

So ahead of the arrival of Festivus on December 23, 2022 we invite you to:

Reply to this email and air your grievances to us.

The year-end is upon us. Inflation is skyrocketing. Like seriously, according to Reddit u/owns_dirt, frozen chicken wings are a $1.33 each!

It's a good time to revisit your pricing for 2023.

It doesn't matter if you charge by the hour or on a fixed-price basis. At the end of the day, you're charging for your time.

Whether it's future time or time you've already spent productizing your service. It's time. We believe time is the most valuable commodity we have. Sec...just remembered, need to delete browser history...

That brings us to how you value your time and the importance of doing it right.

At a high level, this is how we'll complete our annual review for our Creative Director pricing, currently at $85/hr:

First, we'll compare our current pricing to competitive/market benchmarks. It's a good idea to refer to a credible source. In doing so, we not only compare the current rates being charged by self-employed professionals, but also what our clients pay for the same services in house.

This is a great find. It's a huge open-sourced Google Sheet of salaries and demographics. When we review the data (sheet above + our completed jobs + public job postings) we find a wide range of market prices.

From $60,000 full-time to $270,000. Our rates fall well within that range, towards the lower high-end at $175,440 per year on a full-time basis ($85 x 172h a month x 12) including benefits etc.

This may seem subjective, because it is. But here we go. We first assess a value on our time. Beginning with our personal time. This helps define the perceived value of our professional time.

For us, the assessment is, high! It probably should be the same for you too.

Then we have to rationalize that against client perception. I mean Ambreen's mom thinks she's the best and her time invaluable. It doesn't mean people are going to pay a premium for it. This comes down to the simple metric of "What's a client willing to pay me?"

The final variable to consider here is ROI. Is it tangible? Is it perceived? Meaning, does my time—that my client pays for—lead to a measurable benefit for them?

Do they realize it? E.g. if my services are performed overnight vs. my client's time, then there's a perceived performance benefit because they're getting results before the start of the next day.

We've understood the market, the competition, assessed our value on time, and determined whether or not that value is perceived by our clients. In light of which, we've decided that an increase to our pricing for the Creative Director of $10/hr. is fair and reasonable, considering the fact that hot dogs in the latest episode of Yellowstone cost 9 bucks. New rate: $95.

Next steps, inform all active contracts of the increase with reasonable notice, because we love us some 🌭!

We're building an open-sourced tool to help you with pricing. Until it's launched, don't hesitate to reach out to us with any questions. Just reply to this email, we read each one and will respond.