My spam folder seems to be overflowing with marketing emails from businesses I’ve never heard of. Every day there’s another message promising me more leads, more sales or the latest miracle marketing strategy. The problem is that I never signed up for any of them. As a graphic designer and marketer working with small businesses, […]
If you’ve been part of the Black Bee Creative community for a while, you’ll know that I’m passionate about creating a business that supports your life, rather than the other way around. And recently, I’ve stepped into a new chapter that feels like a perfect example of exactly that. Following an unexpected opportunity For many […]
Have you ever opened Canva thinking “this will take five minutes”… and before you know it, it’s an hour later, and you’re still moving things around trying to make it look good? You get stuck tweaking fonts and colours, wondering why it still doesn’t look quite right.This is exactly the kind of thing that can […]
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the noise of people telling you how to market your small business. “THIS know the best way…”, “THIS is the secret recipe for success…”, “Sign up for THIS programme, and you’ll make a squillion in 3 weeks…” In my experience, most small business owners aren’t doing things wrong. […]
If you run a small business, you might have experienced this… You need some help with your branding… Your website might need a refresh… Maybe you need a proper logo or some marketing materials that look more professional… But when you think about contacting a designer for a quote, it suddenly feels a bit, well, intimidating. […]
When I first started Black Bee Creative, business advisors talked a lot about building business networks to get work, find clients, and grow. “You must go to networking groups, network, network, network!” That advice isn’t wrong, but I don’t think it’s the whole story. When it feels wrong Networking can feel pants if you’re just going […]
At certain points in life, we naturally pause and reflect. Maybe it’s during an illness, going back to work after having a baby, facing redundancy, or approaching retirement. Sometimes it’s because of a sense of misalignment, a growing tiredness, or noticing that your work no longer fits the life you want to live. In these […]
Running a small business is super-exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming. There’s always so much to do – managing your workload, branding, planning marketing campaigns, and trying to reach the right audience. That’s where my services come in. I help small business owners take the stress out of branding, graphic design, and marketing, so […]
The other day, I was helping someone brush up on their Canva skills. As part of our session, we created a simple example poster inviting customers to leave an online review. It wasn’t an award-winning design (that wasn’t the goal), but it was clean, clear, and got the message across. Then she asked a great […]
Recently, I gave one of my regular talks at Leeds Business & Intellectual Property Centre (BIPC) about selling online. The session was called “Choosing the Right Platform for Selling Your Makes (There’s More Than Just Etsy!)”, and it’s a topic I get asked about a lot. A little background about me – I was Etsy […]
