We talk a lot about working on the business rather than in it. Problem is most of us struggle to put aside a chunk of time, so we stop looking. Instead, put aside one laser-focused hour. You will be amazed what can be achieved in 60 minutes.
1. Write your AI protocol
Clients are asking how designers are using AI — not if they are using AI — it’s just expected you are. And if they are not asking, you should be telling because they need to know. Transparency is protection.
The easiest way to document usage is by writing an AI protocol. Good news is we’ve done the hard work for you … download our AI protocol for design studios factsheet. In less than an hour you’ll have one of your own.
Why you should: the agencies winning work aren’t the most AI-savvy — they’re the ones who can explain their process in one sentence when a nervous client asks.
2. Write one LinkedIn post about a problem you solved
Not a project you completed.
Not a beautiful piece of work.
A problem you solved.
“We helped a healthcare client reduce form completion errors by 42% through a redesigned patient information system” is infinitely more compelling to a potential client than “here’s our latest brand identity.”
Your work can’t speak for itself if nobody knows what problems you solve.
60 minutes to write one post which directly addresses your ideal client’s challenges gives you the resource needed for your next pitch, on your website and on LinkedIn. Winner winner chicken dinner.
If you can’t write, ask AI to start the process; editing is much easier. Or share a graphic.
3. Research an insight worth a coffee
Pick one client who’s only ever given you transactional work — the update, the brochure, the newsletter. Spend 60 minutes researching their sector: a competitor, a shift in their customers’ behaviour, a regulation change, a global trend.
Then ask for a coffee and share it.
Not a pitch. Just an insight.
Why: clients don’t move up the design ladder because you tell them design is strategic — they move up when you show them, unprompted, that you understand their business better than the work they’re currently giving you.
A small, lo-fi example
For years we ran an invitation-only annual report show. Reports sourced from all over the world, feedback shared via handwritten Post-it notes stuck directly onto the work. Genuinely low-fi, no fancy production, no glossy event styling. But the invitation itself became something people wanted. That alone drove loyalty and quietly built our authority in the sector, far more than any amount of general marketing could have.
The why
None of these require a strategy day, a consultant or a complete business overhaul. They require an hour and the discipline to treat your business like a client.
Pick one. Do it this week and let me know how you go.
As always, happy to discuss further, just email.
Carol Mackay
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