My secret to higher paying clients might surprise you. It’s not to work with those dream clients for free first, then raise your prices, and it has nothing to do with working 60+ hours a week to hustle your way to the top either.

My first secret to higher paying stationery clients? Demonstrate the results they want FIRST.

What do I mean by this? When I was designing custom wedding stationery, my goal was to understand my ideal clients as best as I possibly could: Where do they shop online for clothing? What aesthetic do they gravitate towards? What types of wedding planners do they work with? Are they into destination weddings with all the bells and whistles, or want something more low-key?

Before I could show them I was the perfect designer for their needs, I had to understand their needs FIRST! And that means you gotta do the research — go to Pinterest, Google Trends, Uber Suggest and see exactly what people are searching for in your niche and when. 

I was able to grow a six-figure a year stationery business in under 3 years because I understood what my clients were looking for. And because I knew what they were looking for, before even booking me, I showed my ideal clients what I could do.

Related: How I Grew a Six-Figure Stationery Business

I would create realistic looking mock-ups in Photoshop of the perfect invitation suite for an Italian countryside wedding and post it on Pinterest. I’d mock-up dance floor decals for the couple who wanted their wedding crest posted all over the place on Instagram. I sold them on the ideas of spending more money with their stationery designer, without having to outright sell to them. I was attracting clients who were brainstorming ideas for their wedding, before booking their designer!

I knew that engaged couples were looking for ways to “wow” their guests and, even though I didn’t have actual work to show or photos to show, I could still attract them and show them what could be possible through hiring me!

Creating mock-ups was the gateway to my clients saying “Yes! We absolutely need this!” to some of the craziest things like:

• custom cigars with their wedding logo
• watercolor tissue paper and gift bags for each guest
• laser cut acrylic with their crest I designed
• …and MORE!

Had I not shown my clients what could be possible with stationery or with working with me, we would’ve just stuck to their plans. They’re not designers!

Show them extra ways they can make their stationery or day of items special by demonstrating it to them. You’ll get some people who don’t add on these crazy details, but you will get a few! And imagine the extra income you could be making when someone says yes to a dance floor decal or invitations in a box vs. an envelope, etc.!