When I was in the middle of my first year of business, I needed some help. I reached out to a fellow designer to ask if they had taken any courses to help them with their business. She recommended I look into Elizabeth McCravy’s Booked Out Designer.

As I was narrowing in on my offerings, I knew I needed some help on marketing myself as a Showit Web + Brand Designer. So I began looking into Elizabeth’s course.

Elizabeth is a fellow Showit Designer and created this course for others like me. Someone starting out in the industry—or someone who needs help as they have been slowly building out their business. I emailed Elizabeth to talk more about BOD. What stood out to me about the BOD course was that she had more than 8 modules, each with several lengthy videos that walked through client communication, marketing, setting up the backend of the business, and navigating discovery calls.

Booked Out Designer Highlights

After emailing Elizabeth, I realized that her BOD course was for me because I needed help setting up a lot of the back end of my evolving business. I needed someone who had been in my shoes exactly and who could help set me up for success.

Booked Out Designer helped me grasp a better understanding of running a design business. The helpful how-to videos and real client walk-through videos Elizabeth shares were truly AMAZING. I loved being able to listen to her walk-through discovery calls with clients and see her process. This in turn helped me uncover a way to do things on my own.

The BOD course included topics that were genuinely helpful for me as I started out. Elizabeth included niching down, how to make a sale, creating a wow-worthy client process, and gave insightful tips on how to market my business.

She gave SO much information, that I rarely had any questions. I was left with a solid understanding of best practices and creative ways to help me and my business stand out.

What It Taught Me

BOD is a work at your own pace course. And I found myself listening to Elizabeth teach throughout my day, frequently pausing to take notes—I even listened a few times while I was exercising. I was soaking up information from Elizabeth like a sponge. She provide in-depth help that I wasn’t seeing in any other courses I looked into.

The breakdown of content in BOD truly gave me confidence in my abilities. There were things I had picked up from watching other entrepreneurs, but Elizabeth was able to share practical examples that led to the light-bulb moments for me. Seeing her talk with clients, and having her share her screen on projects truly helped.

I was eager to navigate the course, so I finished it within two months. I watched every module and even looped back to rewatch a few. And to this day, I still reference it when I’m stuck on something.

BOD taught me a lot of systems and best practices to implement into my business. Elizabeth shared helpful tools, gave LOTS of examples and some personal resources she made—like an AMAZING financial tracker (affiliate link).

I’ve gained so much more confidence in my overall process and have been able to successfully sign-on and complete five website clients, and three brand clients within a few short months of finishing the course!

I feel very prepared to tackle discovery calls with potential clients, as well as provide them with an organized and streamlined project.

Added Bonuses to the Course

Along with the course, Elizabeth has been generous enough to offer several coaching calls with a business coach throughout the year. This is an ongoing offer, and available to all BOD students—regardless of when we purchased the course. These have been really great to sit in on and learn from Elizabeth and the coach, Becky. I’ve found a lot of help from listening to stumbling blocks from my fellow designers, and the advice from the calls.

The members of BOD have an active Facebook group where we build community, answer questions, and refer one another for projects. I’ve met some amazing friends, and have built a strong community of like-minded women who are cheering me on in the business.

Like I mentioned above, Elizabeth has included several templates for us to use that she has made and implemented in her business. We’ve been able to use her financial tracker, questionnaire templates, gathering testimonial questions, and more. I’ve been really grateful to have those added items as they’ve helped me feel more prepared for my business.

These were a few things that also stood out to me when I was looking at courses to purchase. I wanted to make sure I had some support once the course was complete. And having a community of supportive designers has been wonderful.

Overall Feedback on the Course

Truthfully, this course could not have come at a better time in my business. I needed direction as I was narrowing down on my offerings and Elizabeth showed up. Her course has helped me reach some of my highest-paying months. And the skills I’ve learned from her are invaluable to how I now run my business.

I’m so thankful for the BOD course because, without it, I was feeling lost, and unaware of where to start. Elizabeth lays out the course in such a way that is easy to implement and not intimidating. She walks with us through each module giving us practical tips to become a Booked Out Designer.

I’d have loved to have some more examples of client calls, and a few more examples for when we interact with a difficult client. But I’ve been able to gather information on how to handle that through the BOD group.

There were also some pieces that I didn’t necessarily apply to my business, as I had picked up most of my marketing tips from past work, my undergrad, and other entrepreneurs. But, if someone had never known some principles of marketing, I know they’d find value in this.

Becoming a Booked Out Designer

Friend, I don’t know if you’re struggling with starting your design business. Or if you’ve reached a lull in gaining new clients. But you’re definitely going to want to invest in Elizabeth’s course. It has truly changed my business for the better. I have an affiliate code for her course that I’d love to share with you.

I know that this course can benefit you and your business. What are you waiting for?

If you have any other questions about my experience, please let me know. You can email me at maggie@hoffmancreativeco.com to chat more about the BOD course.