For this episode, we’re doing something a little bit different. If you guys listen to episode number one, which I called ‘The Opener’, I brought in my friend Kira Hug who is one of the only people I know who’s better at asking questions than I am, to ask me questions about my story.

I have given her a list of questions to ask me, just as a sample for reference, but she also hosts her own podcast called, The Copywriter Club with Rob Marsh, and I’ve been a big fan of the community they’ve built, the podcast that they’ve created and I joined her group just kind of like as a body in you know, full supportive what her and Rob are doing for copywriters.

This podcast was originally inspired by what they were doing but just I wanted it to be on the design side. So, if you don’t know her, she’s a conversion copywriter expert who is really great in infusing your weird personality traits into all types of conversion copy. They run a ton of mentorship programs and masterminds over at the Copywriter Club Group and I recommend the podcast really heavily. So I’ll introduce you to my friend Kira Hug and then let her ask the questions!

Here’s what we covered on the episode:

• I discuss how my perspective and my passion for design has grown immensely over the last 100 episodes
• I explain how I’ve falling more and more in love with design because of how it’s used in our world, how it helps people, and has led me to know a bunch of amazing people in this field
• How I created the podcast to be a resource for designers, creatives and businesses who want to learn about the world of design without someone pushing their viewpoints and designs at them
• I give insight on what surprised me most about running a podcast and how it’s a privilege to connect with people I don’t know weekly.
• Why the podcast has allowed me give my clients a different perspective and build relationships in my business with people who I normally wouldn’t have connected with
• Why I think if you’re thinking about having a podcast, you should find a way to monetize it and build a system that works for you
• How I love being able to have something that is my own and having complete creative control over it makes me feel like I can make my own difference on this side of the world
• I get real and share my personal struggles of 2020 which include my mindset, everyone being home with me during this time, putting time and money into something and wanting the reward right away, and more
• How I deal with the struggle of ‘I’m not good enough’ and how even creating Conversion Design School™ was also a struggle, not because of the content but because of my mindset at first
• How I view myself versus how other designers view themselves and how my project management skills have set me apart and helped my clients
• Kira and I discuss how you might look at a person and think they have it all figured out when they don’t and how I want to be known for my work individually and not because I worked with a big client so many years ago
• The best thing you can do is go all in for what you want, believe what you offer, be committed to the end result, and changing your mindset to believe it will happen
• For listeners wanting to go all in, find what you are an expert in, what people ask you about, consider investing in a mentor and just put your stuff out there and see if people are interested
• How I started teaching college classes because I wanted to become a better teacher and learn how to create the best course I can
• Why I think creating multiple sources of revenue within your business is very important because if plan A doesn’t work out, at least you have plan B, C, D
• How being able to adapt to changes in the field, believing what you’re doing, making sure you have support and revenue always coming in is where to start if you’re looking to start
• My advice for designers who want to have multiple sources of revenue is to reach out to 20 people you know and tell them what you’re up to; use the people you know to do business with and create a constant flow of income to invest back in your business
• I explain how the biggest and most impactful investment I’ve made would be my mentor Erika Lyremark
• I share some core lessons I learned from Erika including that I could create Conversion Design School™ without teaching development, finding my viewpoints and using them over and over again and the fact that I had Voxer access to her was huge to me
• How being a designer in 2020 takes a belief in your skills, understanding the customer journey, and takes knowing more than just opening up the Adobe programs
• Why thinking critically, taking feedback in a good way, be willing to listen, always working on your skills and finding your niche will only benefit your business
• How I think the world of design will go more digital in the next few years and how understanding what all really goes into a design with the copy, marketing message, placement, timing etc. will set those apart from who don’t understand that
• Why you should consider the work you’re doing and ask the questions: does this feel right to me, is this a good or bad fit for me, and is this good for the world? Instead of making it a PR movement
• I discuss how being involved in the community has made me an overall better person which is important when you run a personality driven business because people crave the connection
• How I want all people to feel included, especially when it comes to the podcast and how I believe every designer has something to share and can make a difference in someone else’s life
• I discuss how we can make make sure our businesses are not exclusive and to make sure people always feel welcome and wanted
• How I want to better than a good person, I want to be making a difference
• Why having an end goal in mind and understanding that people may not buy from you is where you have to start when thinking about starting a community
• I share why I created my Facebook group as a safe place for designers to ask questions because there is so much judgement in this field and how if you want to create a community, you should do it with a bigger mission
• My goal and the goal of everyone should be to create a bigger impact in the design world, that’s why I created my podcast – to give designers a voice, that’s why I created my community
• Looking ahead I have a lot of great guests scheduled to be on the podcast who’s fields are complementary to design
• Conversion Design School™ is brand new as of this month, how I updated the program and how you can check it out and learn more at melissaburkheimer.com
• How for the next month I’ll be doing a lot of focus groups, surveying and getting on the phone with people to figure out my next steps
• I share that I will be opening up launch direction services again, and will probably be opening up some programs for design mentorships that haven’t been done in over a year
• My bigger mission in life  is to get conversion design out there and educate people on how it can help them
• How designers, marketers and copywriters need to connect, communicate and collaborate together in order to have successful projects
• How I’m taking care of myself during these times, especially with being at home all the time

Links mentioned:

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Episode 001
The Copywriter Club Podcast
Conversion Design School™
Erika Lyremark’s episode on The Design Business Show
My sister Amanda’s GoFundMe Page

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