Episode 196: 4 Ways to Position Yourself as an Expert Designer and Strategist

If you’re feeling uncomfortable or insecure about how you’re positioning yourself as an expert for your clients, what’s holding you back? In this episode of the podcast, I’m sharing four steps that you can take to begin to position yourself as an expert designer and strategist! Whether you’re looking to build confidence as a designer or call yourself an expert, it all starts with better understanding your clients, believing in yourself, and marketing yourself to your clients. Building Confidence as a Designer As designers, we’re creating from a very vulnerable place, by bringing our client’s a vision to life. This can be challenging, especially as a new designer. This puts a lot of pressure on us in addition to the competition we face with the mass amount of other designers in the industry! To remove this insecurity and build confidence, we must first understand what it means to be an expert designer and strategist. What It Means to be an Expert Designer and Strategist The term “expert” is often glamorized into something it’s not—what does it actually mean? It’s easy to believe that only a handful of people in the industry get to use. The reality is that there are so many opportunities and fields of expertise that we can consider in the industry. You may be more skilled in one area than other designers. Stop looking to other designers and industry peers for validation of your expertise. It’s so important that you look at what you can offer, know your strengths, and recognize how brightly you shine on your own. How to Position Yourself as an Expert Validate Where Your Ideal Client is Struggling When you can communicate the answer to the struggle that you’re ideal client has, you hold the key to understanding what services you should offer and how to convince them that you’re the solution to their problem. Not only does it help your navigate their problems, but you’re also able to identify your ideal client. Show that Transformation is Possible When someone comes across your work, you don’t just want them to see you someone who shares that they’re a solution, but they need to be able to see examples of the transformation you can provide for them. Leverage the Results that You Have It’s so effective to market yourself as an expert if you’re letting your past clients sing your praises. If you have a past client that you took from pain point to solution, leverage that testimony. Use it on your website, highlight the case study in a blog post, share the testimonial on your website and social media. Take Yourself Seriously The way you view yourself and carry yourself will impact the way potential clients view and respect you. This step may feel overly simple, but it’s important to stop downplaying your work. If you don’t act like you believe in your work, how are they supposed to respect your knowledge and value. Believe in every single thing you say you are! Join the Free Training If you’ve enjoyed this episode and are ready to position yourself as an expert, kick insecurity to the curb, and triple your income as a designer without taking on more design clients, I have a free training just for you! Head over to