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Costing & Pricing Your Creative Work Confidently – Spring 2024

Costing Pricing your creative work confidently course logo Feb 2022

Are you charging enough for your creative products, commissions or craft training? Do you know how to calculate your cost price, daily rate or wholesale prices? Do you need to increase your prices but are you worried about losing clients?

Is your business profitable and making you enough money to cover your business costs and salary? Want to become more confident around money & pricing?

We created this practical but strategic and thought-provoking one-week online course for creatives like you!

We will take you step-by-step through the various stages to cost & price your creative products and services confidently.

Over 5 consecutive mornings (12 hours in total), from Monday 29 April – Friday 3 May, you will go into depth about how to calculate your cost price and hourly rate, how to price for wholesale, how to increase your prices and (finally!) charge what you are worth AND you will create a financial forecast to make your creative business viable and profitable. In the final session, we will focus on how to cost & price workshops and commissions and two participants will get a ‘hotseat’ coaching session and you can ask any costing and pricing questions you may have.

With the increase in costs and the Cost of Living crisis it’s even more important that you charge properly for your hard work!

Want to get confidential one-to-one advice about your costing & pricing challenges? Then choose the upgrade to get an expert session of 45mins with Patricia which will take place online after the course in May – July. We have only got 10 places for these 121 sessions.

Money a little tight? You can pay in 3 monthly instalments. Pay 1/3 today, a 1/3 in 30 days, and the final 1/3 in 60 days.

Get your costing & pricing sorted this spring!Sign up to this powerful course below:

the key facts:

  • 5 online live workshops in one week – Mon 29 April until Friday 3 May from 9.30am – 12noon (UK)
  • Especially for creatives, incl. products, art, freelancers, illustrators, craft workshops, commissions
  • Tutor: Patricia van den Akker, award-winning creative business adviser, trainer and coach
  • Time commitment: There will be 2 x 1 hour homework to calculate your own cost price, retail price, and do your financial forecast.
  • Do you want private advice on your costing & pricing? Make your business profitable? Upgrade to get private coaching from Patricia
Creative woman getting organised Image by Bruce Mars via Unsplash

THE COMPLETE COURSE FOR CREATIVES TO COST & PRICE YOUR WORK … CONFIDENTLY!

Back by popular demand! Our Costing & Pricing Your Creative Work Confidently workshop has been one of our most popular courses in the last 9 years.

Especially created for creatives, this live online course shows you EXACTLY how to do the calculations to cost your work and time, shows which common pricing mistakes to avoid, and gives you the skills and confidence (!) to actually increase your prices or design fees and make your business profitable.

This course is full of creative practical exercises and expert advice to help you charge the right prices and fees for your products, art, illustrations, design services, commissions, craft workshops and more.

Whatever stage you are at with your creative business, costing and pricing your work professionally and confidently is crucial for your success.

This Costing & Pricing for Creatives course is hosted by Patricia van den Akker, the Director of The Design Trust, an award-winning creative business adviser, trainer and coach who has worked with 1,000s of creatives for over 25 years. This is a live course that will run over 5 consecutive mornings from Monday 29 April – Friday 3 May from 9.30am – 12noon (UK).

In 5 sessions of 2.5 hours each, we will take you through the key steps for becoming more confident in charging confidently – from costing and pricing your work, to what to do if you are too expensive or too cheap, to how to charge what you are worth.

session 1: Do you charge enough? Costing your creative work – Mon 29 April 9.30am – 12noon (UK)

In this introductory workship we will focus on costing your products, services and time:

  • Why is costing & pricing your creative work so difficult?
  • How to calculate your cost price, wholesale price and retail price (with the easy 7 step calculation which shows you exactly which costs to include)
  • How to calculate your daily/hourly rate (as a freelancer)
  • Homework: Calculate your cost price or hourly rate
  • Why charging an hourly rate might be a mistake for your creative business
  • Why keeping time sheets is so important (with examples of time sheets)

BONUS: Get Excel templates to calculate your cost price, wholesale price, retail price and hourly rate

session 2: Pricing is an art form – tue 30 april 9.30am – 12noon (UK)

In this 2nd workshop we will focus on pricing:

  • What’s the difference between costing & pricing?
  • The 5 most common pricing mistakes creatives make
  • 15 ways to price your creative products & services. Which ones are best for your creative business?

Homework: Decide on the right pricing strategies and start to price your creative products or services properly.

session 3: Pricing for wholesale + what to do if you are too expensive – Weds 1 may 9.30am – 12noon (UK)

In this 3rd workshop we will focus on costing and pricing for wholesale (e.g. for galleries and shops) and what to do if you are too expensive (which is often the case when you start selling wholesale)

  • What are the 3 major challenges when you start selling wholesale?
  • Why do shops and galleries charge so much commission?
  • Homework: Create a visual price list (for trade)
  • 16 different ways to increase your prices confidently and charge what you are worth! From strategic decisions to really practical ideas

Homework: Create a mini-action plan to increase your prices

session 4: make your creative business profitable – thu 2 may 9.30am – 12noon (UK)

This is such an important strategic session that will open your eyes to how to make your business viable and profitable!

  • We will start with The big 3 Financial Questions Exercise to make your creative business viable!
  • Homework: Set a financial goal for 2024 and create a financial forecast for 2024. Patricia will take you through this process step-by-step so you get clarity on what you need to do to create a financially sound business.
  • What to do if your numbers don’t stack up? Practical and strategic solutions to make your creative business profitable.
  • How to become more confident and charge what you are worth.

Homework: Create a mini-action plan with practical actions & strategic decisions to make your business profitable and you more confident!

session 5: pricing of commissions & workshops AND q&a – FRI 3 may 9.30AM – 12noon (uk)

In this final session, Patricia will explain how to cost and price (craft) workshops and commissions, and she will work with 2 – 3 students on their specific costing or pricing challenges. A great opportunity to get specific expert advice!

  • How to create a quote & proposal for a creative service or commission
  • How to budget, cost & price (online) workshops
  • How to talk about money with your clients
  • Costing & Pricing hotseats: Patricia will work with 2 – 3 students on their specific costing & pricing challenges.

want to get private expert advice on your costing & pricing challenges?

You can upgrade and book a 45min online coaching & advice session with Patricia to discuss any of your costing & pricing questions or challenges. She will give you honest and practical advice, looking at your goals and motivations, your specific products and services, and much more!

Your 121 session will need to take place by the end of July 2024.

meet your tutor

patricia quote

Patricia van den akker

director

Patricia has developed this practical Costing & Pricing your Creative Work Confidently course over the last 9 years.

She knows why costing and pricing your creative work can be so difficult … because it’s often a combination of things: You need to know what your costs are and how much time it takes to create, so there are maths and calculations involved. (She will give you those calculations in this course!)

But then there are ‘softer’ and more psychological elements like what is the perceived value for the client, how well known or unique are you, and what are your clients prepared to pay for your creative products and services? Plus … how confident are you to charge what you are worth?

In this step-by-step course, Patricia will tackle all these different elements around costing and pricing your creative products & services so that you know how to charge properly in the future. She will give you the knowledge to calculate your cost price and hourly rate, how to avoid common pricing mistakes, how to raise your prices and influence how your clients might see you and position you, and … she will give you a confidence booster too!

Patricia has been a creative business adviser, trainer and coach for over 25 years, and has worked with 1,000s of creatives. She loves talking about money and challenging creatives to get them to tackle their finances! To get them into action to charge the right amount, and to create a more profitable business.

Be prepared to do the practical homework exercises in between the sessions to make the most of this course.

Got any questions about this practical online course?

Click on the arrow in the circle to get your answers

  • Who is Costing & Pricing your Creative Work Confidently for?

    This 5-half day live online course is designed specifically for creatives at any stage of their business who want to cost and price their creative products and services properly, and confidently!

    Whatever your creative skills or products (from handmade jewellery to giftware), craft workshops, creative services and beyond, we will help you charge the right amount for your creative work.

    You might be a recent graduate, a part-time maker or you might have been selling for many years … if you want to learn how to calculate your cost price or hourly rate, how to increase your prices, or why shops charge so much, or you want to create a more profitable business in 2024 this practical online course is for you.

  • This is an online course. What if I am not very tech-savvy?

    The Design Trust is an online business school and Patricia has been teaching online for over a decade now, and has worked with 1,000s of creatives, so she knows how to create engaging online courses.

    We make it as easy as possible for you to join the live 5 workshops, and to access the private online learning hub for this course which is available until 1 November 2024.

    We will give you clear and simple instructions, and show you how to sign up for the live sessions and access the private course hub.

    You can post your costing & pricing questions and your homework at any time in the private hub … up until 1 November 2024 to get a personal answer!

    The 5 online workshops will take place on 5 consecutive mornings, between Monday 29 April – Friday 3 May. You will have to sign up in advance for each session individually if you want to join us live. You will get a reminder email and then two reminder emails if you can join us live.

    During the live sessions you can ask questions via the chat or unmute. You just need to have access to a computer with reliable WIFI to join our online classes.

    Can’t make it live? No problem at all! You will have access to the recordings until 1 November 2024, so you can do the course at your own pace.

  • Can I get extra support if I get stuck?

    We have loads of different ways to help you succeed!

    We recommend that you join us live so that you can ask questions immediately. Also do the homework exercises to help you, and you can post any additional questions on the private course hub at any time till 1 November 2024. We will give you individual written feedback till then!

    During the final session on Friday 3 May we will have ‘hot seats’ where we will invite 2-3 participants to share their specific challenges around costing and pricing their creative work. Any participant can put themselves forward for these live online coaching.

    We will finish the final session with a Q&A, when Patricia will answer as many questions as possible.

    Need more? Want confidential & private advice? Then upgrade to book a 121 coaching session with Patricia after the course has finished.

  • Can I share this course with a friend or colleague?

    Sorry, you can’t.

    When you purchase this course it’s for you only. You will get a single use license.

    If you work in a formal partnership then you can share it, but please do not share with others who have not paid for this course.

    Like you, The Design Trust is a small creative business and this course is based on our 25 years+ experience. It’s full of our proprietary knowledge and copyrighted strategies. Please do not share it with others.

    We can provide access to the Costing & Pricing Your Creative Work Confidently course as a group course or offer a bulk discount. Get in touch with us at [email protected] to find out more.

  • Can I get a refund if it’s not for me?

    Yes! We want you to be completely happy with your purchase. That means that if you decide the course isn’t for you, you can claim a full, no-quibble refund any time BEFORE your first scheduled online workshop on Monday 29 April 2024. All you have to do is request your refund in writing to [email protected] before that date.

    If you suspect you might change your mind about the course, please make a careful note of the date of your first workshop.

    Once the course has started we are unable to give you a refund.  This also includes your 121 coaching session, which needs to take place before the end of July 2024.

    Remember that if you are unable to attend the live sessions then you can catch up with all the recordings on our private course hub till 1 November 2024.

join today … and start charging what you are worth!

Costing & pricing your creative work confidently – spring 2024

Costing Pricing your creative work confidently course logo Feb 2022

Dear , a very big welcome to your ‘Costing & Pricing’ hub home page

We hope you are super excited to get started with this course consisting of 5 consecutive online morning sessions:

  1. Do you charge enough? Costing your creative work – Monday 29 April 9.30am – 12noon (UK)
  2. Pricing is an art form – Tuesday 30 April 9.30am – 12noon (UK)
  3. Pricing for wholesale and what to do if you are too expensive – Wednesday 1 May 9.30am – 12noon (UK)
  4. How to make your creative business profitable – Thursday 2 May 9.30am – 12noon (UK)
  5. Costing & pricing of workshops and commissions, and Q&A session Friday 3 May 9.30am – 12noon (UK)

I recommend that you make a note of these dates and times in your diary asap, and try to join us live.

You will also get about 30min homework each day, so you might want to reserve some time for that as well in that week.

You will need to sign up for each of these sessions individually. We will give you the links and sign up details 1-2 weeks prior to the workshop starting.

WHAT’S NEXT?

We recommend that you do this course in the order we present it in, so start with workshop 1, then do the homework and post it here in the hub. Then watch workshop 2.

Once the course has started you can use the private hub here to post any questions and your homework to get additional feedback and suggestions.

On the course pages below (which are accessible once the course starts you will find the video recordings) you will find two ways where you can navigate through the course: at the bottom of the course pages, and on the right hand-side in the mint column. That’s how you move to the next page.

You can also click the button ‘course completed’ to keep track of what you have watched already.

If you get lost then click the ‘course home page’ at the top under our logo to return to this home page.

You will have access to this course until 1 November 2024.

We love to hear from you!

Patricia van den Akker – The Design Trust

The design trust A2 wall planner/planning tool for 2024, incl. 1-hour online training

2024 wall planner date side top half

The Design Trust a2 wall planner for 2024, including 1 hour one-year-one-page business planning training

Our popular A2 wall planner poster for creatives is back!

The Design Trust 2024 wall planner shows on one side all the dates of 2024 to put your most important meetings and events. PLUS it includes the most popular craft & design events in the UK and overseas, holiday dates and awareness days.

On the reverse you will find a handy planning tool to create your own one-year-one-page-business plan. Set your annual, quarterly and monthly goals for yourself, your finances, marketing, creative production and your juicy projects to move your business forward.

This year our A2 wall planner is colourfully designed by Brighton-based designer Laura Danby.

The Design Trust 2024 A2 wall planner includes a one hour creative business planning training video recording, which will take you step-by-step through creating your own one-year-one-page-creative-business-plan for 2024. (Training will be available online from mid November 2023 – 31 December 2024).

Our 2024 wall planner is a simplified version of our 2024 diary and journal, which provide a complete planning system for creatives.

Postage & packaging in the UK is included. Your wall planner will be send folded to A5 in a carton-backed envelope.

the key facts:

  • A2 (59.4cm x 42cm) horizontal poster on matt paper, folded to A5. 150gsm
  • Full wall calendar with all dates of 2024 + the main craft fairs + design event dates + public holidays
  • Creative business planning tool to set goals for the year, per quarter and month
  • Includes postage + packaging in the UK, will be folded in hardback envelope
  • With free 60 min business planning training recording to use the planning tool with Patricia van den Akker

Get organised and get more done in 2024! Get The Design Trust 2024 wall planner & planning tool here:

what’s THE DESIGN TRUST 2024 WALL PLANNER & PLANNING TOOL?

The Design Trust wall planner for creatives is a really handy A2 wall planner, developed by Patricia van den Akker an award-winning creative business adviser, based on her experience of working with 1,000s of creatives over the last 25 years.

On one side of this beautifully designed wall planner you will find:

  • all the dates of the year for your appointments
  • all the dates of the main craft and design shows in the UK and internationally
  • all the key holiday dates and awareness days

Super useful if you work in design or craft in the UK or abroad.

The wall planner is designed and printed in the UK.

2024 wall planner date side top half 1

create your own one-page-one-year-business-plan for your creative business

On the other side is a practical and visual planning tool, developed by Patricia van den Akker, for creative business owners, freelancers, Etsy shop owners, bloggers and other creative professionals.

Create your own one-page-one-year business plan! Set annual, quarterly and monthly goals for your finances, marketing, and creativity. This unique planning tool will give you an immediate overview of what is going on throughout the year across your business, and will help you to set goals and identify better actions to work on, including your finances, marketing, products and special strategic projects.

Prioritise what to work on each quarter and month, connect related actions with arrows, or use different coloured pens to highlight what’s important or urgent. We recommend that you use small Post-it Notes to plan 2024 for your creative business.

The wall planner will help you to make the most of the quiet and busy times in your business or creative practice. Perfect for seasonal creative businesses.

Never got time for projects such as your branding, website, or developing new work? Then make them special juicy 90-day project. It’s how we can focus on the important jobs and get them done!) On your wall planner you have got space for these Juicy Projects each quarter too.

This unique creative business planning tools comes with printed step-by-step instructions. Plus, you will have access to our exclusive one hour video training to create your own one-page-one-year-visual-business plan for 2024 with our guidance.

2024 wall planner planning side entire

This wall planner for creative businesses will be sent folded in a hard-back envelope. Postage in the UK is free.

It is A2 size (420mm x 594mm or 16.5inch x 23.4inch). The side with the dates has a vertical/portrait position, and the planning tool has a horizontal /landscape position.

We are currently shipping within 3 working days.

2024 wall planner date side detail of events in square
2024 wall planner planning side top left as square

The 7 lessons I learnt about intellectual property for creatives

Many creatives are concerned about intellectual property – How do you protect your work online and on social media? How to stop people copying your best ideas (especially if you teach craft workshops!)? How do you avoid big brands copying your latest products or ideas.

Throughout July 2019 we have been talking about intellectual property for creatives in our Business Club with exclusive sessions with Dids MacDonald of ACID (Anti Copying in Design) and IP lawyers Briffa & Co. We published a blog post with useful resources about intellectual property for creatives, and textile & paper artist Jennifer Collier talked frankly and inspiringly about how to respond if somebody copies you, plus we published ceramicist’s Amanda Banham’s experience when somebody copied her – with practical tips of what to do and not if somebody steals your ideas by intellectual property lawyer Margaret Briffa.

We anticipated that intellectual property was going to be a big topic. But we have been overwhelmed by the response! Sometimes very emotional responses. We received many many emails about intellectual property problems from creatives who wished to stay anonymous. Thank you for sharing with us. And for trusting us.


This blog post is my personal take (Patricia van den Akker, Director of The Design Trust) on intellectual property for creatives, and what I have learnt in the last month but also in the previous 20+ years as a creative business adviser about intellectual property for creatives:

Lesson 1: Intellectual property is (surprisingly) emotional

Although many creatives prefer to put their head in the sand when it comes to anything to do with law, the reality is that many creatives have quite strong opinions and emotions around intellectual property, and especially when it comes to protecting their creations.

Over the last few weeks and years we have heard from many creatives whose work was copied or at least very strongly influenced by.

But we have also heard from creatives who have been wrongly accused of copying others.

And that’s very painful too.

Last Autumn I spotted on Kickstarter a campaign for a planner called Dream Plan Do. For anybody who knows what I do – I have been self-publishing the Dream Plan Do planner journals for the last 3 years. I was so furious when I found out! Although … it very quickly turned out that the design, audience and quality was rather different than ‘my’ planner. But I still was out on revenge!

However, when I digged a little deeper it turned out that this lady in the USA had been self-publishing her Dream Plan Do planner … since 2015! Two years before I launched our Dream Plan Do planner. Oops. I had to calm myself down very quickly. Sometimes it’s true: people come up with the same names or ideas (more about that later!).

On the other hand, there was also a planner designed in Italy with a very similar name, feel and audience as ours, which we got removed from Kickstarter. And there are at least two very similar business planners for creatives around that look remarkably similar to our concept, but we can’t really do anything about. We just hope that clever and professional creatives spot the one that’s the best! 😊

Being copied really hurts. It’s not flattery at all.

Many creatives have told us how it really hurt them deeply when they found out that they have been copied. They often put their soul into their work, and have developed very personal techniques and quirks over many years and sometimes decades. If they are known for a specific technique then their identify is often closely aligned with it.

When somebody then just copies that they feel really lost.

As if somebody has stolen their identity.

Something that was deeply ‘theirs’ got taken away.

Unfortunately, the reality is that unless your work is copied in detail and you have proof that you were the first to develop this, then it’s unlikely that you have a legal case. The difference between imitation and inspiration is very small indeed. Although you might feel like it’s a copy, most specialist IP lawyers would need to see clear evidence and would probably disagree.

You might feel that you have the moral right. But unfortunately, you have often limited legal rights. And many creatives know that and feel very powerless. Especially if it involves big brands or other small creatives.

You can read here ceramicists Amanda Banham’s story about what happened when somebody was heavily inspired by her ceramic rainbows and houses – with very practical tips on what to do and what not by IP lawyer Margaret Briffa of Briffa & Co.

Lesson 2: The dubious role of social media in copyright infringement

Increasingly we see social media guerrilla campaigns to point out and often have-a-go at copycats, attracting regularly 100’s of comments and shares. Such as in the case of jewellery brand Tatty Devine accusing Claire’s Accessories of stealing their unique dinosaur design and other icons, which quickly got them mainstream press interest and the case was indeed swiftly settled out-of-court afterwards.

However when we spoke to various intellectual property experts they all were very cautious about using social media. It might help as a last resort tool but it is strongly adviceable that you get specific legal advice of what to do and write exactly. If your case comes to court then your social media actions might work against you. If you accuse somebody of copying your work while this isn’t (entirely) true then they might sue you for defamation. Use specific words and avoid others. Be careful.

Lesson 3: Unfortunately many amateurs start with copying

When you are learning something new then you need to start somewhere. And as crafts and handmade are super popular right now, many new creatives look for ‘inspiration’ on popular social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. Often copying the work of professionals who have developed their styles and techniques over many years.

It’s one thing to copy a design for yourself, your own use or as a gift. It’s something very different if those copied pieces than appear online or on social media for sale.

If you want to be a professional creative then please be original. We all need inspiration, but make sure that you add your own unique take on what you create. Especially if you are promoting and selling your work.

Many new creatives are not aware of intellectual property or copyright. If your work is copied (but make sure that you have got a case – see Margaret Briffa’s tips here!) by a fellow (new) creative then a good first action point is to get in touch with them by email or letter, and explain that you believe they have copied you, you clarify your rights, and very often they will take it down immediately.

For example: a couple of years ago our software alerted me that nearly 40 of The Design Trust’s blog posts had been copied on to another creative business support’s website. They had removed all our links to our site and referred them back to their own pages. I got in touch with them in writing immediately, explained that it was my copyright (and very hard work to write these original blog posts based on over 20 years experience … “thank you very much …!”) and requested that they were removed immediately. I suggested that it was fine to refer to short quotes and refer back to specific pages, but that copying 40 blog posts in their entirety was an infringement of my copyright. They apologised and removed them immediately.

This is very often the case. A simple letter explaining and confirming your copyright is all that it takes. Many people do not know what copyright is and how it works, and might infringe your copyright without realising it. If a stronger letter needs to be send then a formal cease and desist letter from a lawyer can work well too.

This takes us neatly to my next intellectual property for creatives lesson:

Lesson 4: Educate yourself. And other creatives.

Many creatives are very scared about intellectual property and prefer to put their head in the sand. Although IP law should be really straightforward, it’s actually one of the most complex! (Hence, we as The Design Trust do NOT provide any legal advice. We are not legal specialist and we suggest you get in touch with any of our recommended intellectual property organisations here.)

There are many myths around intellectual property for creatives, and it’s rare that art colleges teach the basics around intellectual property (more about that later).

Many creatives are very worried about being copied, but then often do the ‘wrong’ things such as leaving samples or send high res files to potential large clients or manufacturers, or ‘free’ competitions (in any of these cases your work can be very easily copied!).

Not knowing the basics of intellectual property might stop you from pursuing potential opportunities with bigger retailers or clients, or for undervaluing your worth in licensing agreements.

But this is also about you NOT infringing somebody else’s intellectual property! Do you know that your photographer is very likely to have the copyright on your images (unless stated clearly in your contract!)? Did you know that you can’t use quotes on products and books, unless you have explicit written approval?

Indeed, a couple of years ago we fell unknowingly foul of the latter. We had commissioned 3 designers to illustrate quotes from creatives and business owners for our first Dream Plan Do planner journal to be included at the start of each month. I wasn’t aware that I needed explicit written confirmation and we had to change and delete these illustrated quotes the week before we went to print. Very stressful indeed, but at least we didn’t run into problems later on, when we potentially would have had to stop selling our planners. You can read here a useful article on the Etsy website about intellectual property infringement and how they deal with it. 

Another example is my own sister who started her fashion-for-disabled-children business 12 years ago and received within 3 days of her opening her online and bricks-and-mortar shop a very threatening letter from an IP lawyer. It turned out, that although she had done some basic trademark research, she hadn’t checked out the trademark register in the Netherlands in detail when launching her new business.

It turned out that a trademark had been registered in the fashion category and hence this business had a claim on ‘her’ business name. She had to change her new business name immediately, and completely rebrand her website and all promotional material including business cards and brochures – immediately. The cost of replacing everything was huge, and of course this wasn’t the business launch she had had in mind! To avoid a similar issue for your business you might like to check out this blog post by the IPO on trademarking your business name.

Indeed, it’s very easy to become more ‘IP savvy’ and educate yourself about intellectual property and how to protect yourself. Use the copyright icon. Be careful what you share with whom.

We reviewed the most useful books and resources around intellectual property for creatives in this blog post. Feel free to share!

Lesson 5: Be extremely careful when you teach

We have had many creatives contacting us about copyright infringement as a direct result of teaching craft workshops. Our advice to anybody who teaches:

  • Do make it clear in writing before and during the course that this work or design is your copyright and explain that that means that your students can’t copy and then sell it as their own. When sharing any templates or patterns then it’s recommended that you include the copyright icon with your name and the year. Make it clear in writing that it is for their own personal use only, and not for commercial use. It might be good to have a conversation about it during the class, and even have this included as part of your terms and conditions.
  • You might also consider to teach certain projects that are easier to make, but not offer similar projects for sale. This will avoid any painful situations in the future.

You can read here the personal story of ceramicist Amanda Banham about what happened when she taught friends her raku ceramic techniques.

Lesson 6: The role of the bigger players, journalists, art colleges and (trade) fairs

It’s extremely frustrating when any of the ‘big boys’ steals from a small creative business. There seems to be a certain group of big brands that tend to copy from smaller businesses, sometimes by buying their products, sometimes by inviting them in for a meeting or through ‘free’ competitions. Be aware of the companies that have a bad reputation in this case. Do ask more experienced creatives about their experiences. And be careful to jump happily into meetings without being IP savvy! ESPECIALLY with some of the big names. 

Many small creatives feel very upset when they get copied by big brands. It does often feel like David and Goliath.

Not just does it feel extra unfair, but also are they missing out on a potential lucrative deal.

Plus small businesses often don’t have the capacity, energy, money and knowledge to fight cases against much more powerful big companies.

A few years ago a very small knitwear company on the Scottish Fair Isles managed to win a case again copyright infringement by French fashion giant Chanel. I had the pleasure to meet the very inspiring Mati Ventrillon a couple of years ago, and I was amazed how she personally dealt with such a big case like this.

If you experience a copyright infringement by a big company like this we strongly recommend that you get immediate professional advice as copyright law is more complicated than you think. See here our list here for recommended organisations for intellectual property for creatives.

I am also very pleased to hear about the lobbying work that membership organisation ACID (Anti Copying in Design) is doing with the big UK companies around intellectual property and how they are working with big companies to make it part of a broader ethical stance on doing business. As individual companies it’s very hard to fight big companies, but together we can achieve much more. I would love to see organisations like the Design Council and the Crafts Council do much more in this regard. Although the Design Council has some basic information about intellectual property for creatives on their website, it’s not at all mentioned on the Crafts Council’s website.

However, I also would call out to journalists, awards organisations and (trade) fair organisers to be more vigilant around work being copied. I regularly visit events or are part of a judging panel and notice then regularly work that’s very strongly influenced, in particular at graduate events. Recently I was a judge in a graduate show where I spotted a series of woven pieces that were very reminiscent of a well-known British weaver. I was very surprised to see that this young weaver then was selected for a large article in a major design magazine by a journalist who should frankly have known better. Stop supporting copycats please. And dare to call people out on it. Especially if you are in a place of influence. 

I also strongly believe that art colleges and universities in particular have a much stronger role to play in combating intellectual property infringements.

I strongly believe that universities can provide much-needed advice early on, by:

  • teaching their students the basics of intellectual property for creatives,
  • but also to teach them more about the history of their craft (so they know their roots!),
  • and a far stronger focus on being original and where you can find your own inspiration (away from the internet and social media!).

The University of the Arts London used to have a specialist intellectual property department called Own-It, which was very useful and pro-active in providing intellectual property advice. They have a useful two-page resource on intellectual property on their site here now.

Lesson 7: Sometimes similar ideas happen at the same time

Yes, sometimes similar ideas happen.

A couple of years ago my husband, who works in advertising, was part of a team that was about to launch a mega-big advertising campaign. Then a week before their multi-million pound launch a close competitor launched their own campaign with a very similar idea. They checked, but nobody was to blame. They pulled the entire campaign (at great cost) and came up with a  new idea.

The thing is with intellectual property: You can’t protect ideas.

You can only protect the finished thing.

It’s the execution that counts.

But if it feels too close to what others have been doing, and potential clients could confuse you, then do walk away.  It’s the professional thing to do.


Did you find this article about my lessons about intellectual property for creatives useful? Then please share it so that more creatives are educated and know what to do. We would love to hear your comments, and especially if you learnt something in this post or from the resources we shared above. Or if you know of any additional intellectual property resources then let us know too.

Making It work – London Potters & The Design Trust

Dear , welcome to Making it Work!

Making it Work professional development programme The Design Trust

Thank you so much for signing up for the full ‘Making It Work’ programme!

This new professional development course was developed in partnership with London Potters, and it’s a great course that will boost all the important parts of your business.

We recommend that you bookmark this page to make it super easy for you to return, as this is an important part of the programme.

‘Making It Works’ exists of 5 online workshops:

  • Fri 9 Feb 10am – 12noon : Create a Business Plan for 2024 incl. create a visual one-page-one-year business plan with specific actions for yourself, your marketing, finance & creative production. Plus goal setting & time management tips and how to overcome procrastination etc. ​This session has now taken place. You can find the recording by scrolling down to the bottom of this page under ‘What you’ll learn’ and click on the black text to access the recording + presentation + homework there now.
  • Sat 24 Feb 10am – 12.30pm : Marketing Fundamentals for Ceramicists & Makers incl. Create a mini-marketing plan, get to know your ideal clients, and most useful … what the exact marketing activities are to focus on to get more online sales, galleries, events, commissions, workshops, … This session has now taken place. You can find the recording by scrolling down to the bottom of this page under ‘What you’ll learn’ and click on the black text to access the recording + presentation + homework there now.
  • Fri 15 March 10am – 12.30pm : Create a brand & a better website to stand out incl. What do you want to be known for? Identify your brand values and turn that into a better brand that attracts your ideal clients. How to improve your website design & navigation. This session has now taken place. You can find the recording by scrolling down to the bottom of this page under ‘What you’ll learn’ and click on the black text to access the recording + presentation + homework there now.
  • Mon 25 March 10am – 12.30pm : Get More Online Sales incl. What sells well online?, drive traffic to your website incl. SEO keywords product titles & descriptions, beautiful & useful email marketing, make your social media work and local marketing. And AIDA: How to turn visitors into buyers! This session has now taken place. You can find the recording by scrolling down to the bottom of this page under ‘What you’ll learn’ and click on the black text to access the recording + presentation + homework there now.
  • Mon 15 April 10am – 12.30pm : Making Money – How to create a profitable ceramic or craft business incl. costing & pricing intro, pricing options for ceramicists / makers (incl. licensing), is your business viable and what to do if your numbers don’t stack up, how to charge what you are worth? To register for this 5th and final session click here.

We highly recommend that you try to join these sessions live if you can. Make a note in your diary now of the dates and times so that you don’t miss them!

However, if you are unable to attend live that’s not a problem at all as all 5 sessions will be recorded. Once the programme has started you will be able to find the recordings and presentations at the bottom of this page.

You will have access to this course hub with all the recordings + presentations till 1 October 2024.

bonus because you signed up for the full programme …

  • You got an extra 25% discount because you signed up for all 5 sessions at once! And if you are a London Potters member or The Design Trust Business Club member you got even more money off!
  • You’ll get access to this private course hub, where you will be able to post your questions and homework till 1 October 2024. We will show you how to acces the course hub once the sessions have started.

I am really looking forward to work with you this spring to boost your business, finance, planning + marketing skills and make positive changes to your craft business!

Patricia van den Akker – The Design Trust – the online business school for designers, makers & other creative professionals www.thedesigntrust.co.uk @TheDesignTrust

The Design Trust x London Potters – ‘Making It Work’ – 5 professional development workshops for new & established ceramicists & other makers

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‘making it work’ – 5 professional development workshops for new & established ceramicists & other makers – a partnership between london potters & the design trust

The Design Trust is proud to announce a new partnership with membership organisation London Potters to host a series of 5 short but in-depth online professional development workshops for ceramicists & other designer makers at any stage of their career throughout spring 2024.

From creative business planning and setting goals for the year, to fundamental marketing for makers, branding & websites to getting more online sales and creating a more profitable ceramic business … we will cover it all!

You can join us for one or more sessions, or get a discounted ‘package’ price if you sign up to all 5 sessions at once.

Each session will be hosted by Patricia van den Akker, the Director of The Design Trust, an award winning creative business adviser, trainer and coach who has worked with 1,000s of creatives in the last 25 years. She has been teaching the professional development programme for the Ceramics department at Central St. Martins for the last 7 years, and used to be Studio Manager for Studio Levien, a well-known ceramic design agencey.

This professional development programme is created especially for London Potters members who will get a discount when they use their discount code. Any other ceramicist creating or designing functional products or art is welcome to join and the course is also suitable for other craftspeople and designer makers too.

All 5 sessions will be recorded and you will have access to the session(s) or course programme until 1 October 2024. If you sign up to the entire package then you will get access to a private course hub, where you can ask us any business or marketing questions too.

PLEASE NOTE: Although this programme has started already you can still book the full programme as you can watch the recordings in the course hub whenever you like till 1 October 2024.

Sign up for the Making It Work full programme now for the best price, or sign up for individual sessions!

the key facts:

  • 5 individual short online workshops, each 2 – 2.5hours long which can be booked individually or as a series (for an extra discount)
  • Outcomes: Improve your ceramic or craft/designer-maker business & marketing skills, incl. goal setting, marketing, website, social media, email marketing, costing & pricing.
  • Especially created for: London Potters members and other ceramic artists or designer-makers and other crafts people
  • Tutor: Patricia van den Akker, Director of The Design Trust
  • Time commitment: Each online session is 2 – 2.5hours long. To make the most of the training you will need to take action! We recommend between 4 – 20 hours depending on what you want to do.
  • All sessions will be recorded and you will have access to individual sessions or the private course hub until 1 October 2024.

Want to get more organised, boost your marketing skills & improve your website? make your ceramic or craft business more profitable?

Do you find it difficult to promote your ceramic products or art or know how to charge professionally for your hard work?

Would you like to get more online sales, do better at craft fairs, and get better commissions?

Does your website need an update or do you want to learn how to write better product descriptions and titles to get found online?

We created this MAKING IT WORK online programme especially for makers, artists & designers working in ceramics, but it’s open for any designer maker or craftsperson!

You can just join one short 2-hour online workshop, or book the whole package (you will save $£$). We highly recommend that you book all 3 marketing & sales sessions to make the most of them as they are really connected.

Can’t make it live? No problem at all! All sessions will be recorded and you will have access to them until 1 October 2024.

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making it work – 5 short business development sessions for ceramicists & other craftspeople. 9 february – 15 april 2024

workshop 1: ‘create a business plan for 2024’. fri 9 february 10am – 12noon (UK time)

Do you find it difficult to juggle all the different parts of your business? Are you not really sure what to focus on when it comes to marketing or making your business more profitable? Do you never have time to work on the important tasks in your business? Do you want to get back in control of your business by focusing more on the important goals and creating project plans that will make your life and business easier to run?

In this first online morning workshop you will create your own visual business plan for 2024, setting juicy goals for yourself, your creative practice & production, marketing & finance (incl. a financial forecast). It’s the perfect start to the new year!

Patricia will advise you on which specific actions will improve your finances and marketing and how to make the most of the quiet and busy times in your seasonal ceramic or craft business.

You will finish this session by looking into time management and how to minimise overwhelm and procrastination.

This is a very practical and interactive online workshop. Throughout this online workshop you will be working on creating a one-page visual business plan for 2024 with specific goals incl. finance, marketing and looking at your creative work, identifying strategic projects to focus on to move your business forward, and specific business, marketing and organisational actions to do in 2024.

workshop 2: ‘marketing fundamentals for ceramicists’. sat 24 february 10am – 12.30pm (UK time)

Would you like to do more marketing in your business but aren’t really sure what works or what to do? Do you really know who your ideal clients are? Do you want to get more online sales, event sales, better commissions, and orders from galleries or interior designers? Of course you do!

In this practical but strategic marketing workshop, we will dive into the fundamentals of marketing. This is a great session for both emerging and established ceramicists and other designer makers, who want to improve their marketing skills and knowledge, and get more confident and creative with their marketing.

Even if you have been in business for a while it’s always good to return to the fundamentals some time!

We will start this online workshop with an introduction to marketing: What is marketing? What are the marketing myths? What stops you from marketing yourself better? (You are not the only creative who finds this difficult …!)

We then move on to what do you create & sell specifically as a ceramicist or designer maker (incl. functional ceramics, design or art, but we will also look briefly at commissions, licensing or workshops) and connect that with who are your ideal clients? How can you identify specific client groups and get to know your ideal clients better? Patricia will share some really great creative exercises and questions to help you get to know your ideal clients at a deeper psychological level.

“People only buy from people they know, like & trust”. This is our marketing mantra, central to all our own marketing strategies and activities, but also what our marketing teaching is based on. Before you can get any sales, orders or commissions you will need to build your profile, credibility & trust. But how exactly will you do that? Patricia will give you loads of ideas and actions for you to do after this practical marketing workshop!

In the final part of this marketing workshop, you will start to create your own mini-marketing plan for the next 6 – 12 months. You will identify a specific marketing/sales goal for your professional ceramic practice or craft business, with specific marketing projects to work on to make you feel more professional and confident (What’s missing right now?), and we will focus on specific marketing/sales channels too (e.g. online, events).

Best of all … Patricia will share exactly what marketing activities to focus on if you want to a) get more online sales, b) sales at selling events such as Ceramic Art London or PotFest, c) orders from wholesale & trade (incl. galleries & licensing), d) commissions & higher end sales, and e) workshop bookings! This will be super helpful so that you can focus on those marketing activities that actually work! Yes, there is a lot more to marketing than doing social media …

Throughout this intensive Saturday morning workshop, you will be working on your own mini-marketing plan to promote yourself and your work to the right people in the right way for the next few months. This session will focus especially on what ceramicists can create & sell and who your ideal clients are for these types of products or services. Patricia will share really practical homework exercises and creative examples so that you can make the most of your new marketing knowledge and implement it in your own business afterwards.

planning and writing by hand image unseen studio via unsplash

workshop 3: ‘create a brand & A better website to stand out’. fri 15 march 10am – 12.30pm (UK time)

Is your website as good as it could be? Does it clearly show what you are *really* selling and make you stand out from the competition? Is it easy to navigate and buy from you online? Are your images showing your work at its best and doing the hard work of selling for you? Do you have a professional brand (no need to pay loads!) that makes you stand out and attract your ideal clients?

Having a professional website and recognisable brand is essential if you want to run a small successful ceramic or craft business. It will help you to stand out and attract your ideal clients (and frankly put the wrong ones off!), educate your audience about what you do and what you can do for them. Your website is the best and most creative (!) place to get to know you and your work, and of course it’s the best place to get sales, retail orders, and commissions.

This online workshop is especially aimed at ceramicists and other craftspeople who want to rebrand or improve their existing website or Etsy shop. It’s NOT suitable for ceramicists or makers who do not have a website or who only have a social media presence.

This will be a very visual workshop with loads of craft/ceramic examples to inspire you & with very specific advice on improving your creative brand and website. We highly recommend that you sign up to all 3 marketing & sales workshops.

We will start this workshop with some great creative exercises to identify your brand values AKA what do you want to be known for? Patricia will then show you how to turn your unique brand values into a more consistent brand (on a shoe string budget!), incl. your website design, photography & film, social media, packaging, display at events etc.

We will then focus on improving your website to get more online sales with better design and images, by creating better collections, improving navigation and categories, and building your profile, credibility and trust online with a better home page, about me pages, blogs and videos.

Throughout this workshop you will create your own action plan to improve your brand and existing website. We recommend that you spend between 7 – 21 hours after this session to implement these improvements.

workshop 4: ‘Get more online sales’. Mon 25 March 10am – 12.30pm (UK time)

Do you want to get more sales, wholesale orders, commissions or workshop bookings from your website or Etsy shop?

Once you have improved your website (we highly recommend you join the previous workshop) then it’s time to start driving traffic to your updated & rebranded website, and turn those new extra visitors into buyers!

We will start this session with what sells especially well online and what doesn’t. You will get homework to check your own online best sellers and find out more about your visitor numbers and your conversion rate.

We will then look at the 4 main ways to drive traffic to your website:

  • SEO and keywords to help your site get found: Including how to identify the right keywords and use them in your website. Learn how to write better product titles and descriptions using them.
  • Email marketing: Why this is such a powerful tool for small creative businesses. How to get more signups and write beautiful & timely emails.
  • Social media: How to make it work better, with inspiring creative examples.
  • Traditional marketing: Including local and event marketing

We will finish this in-depth session with a quick introduction on how to turn visitors into buyers and what stops people buying from your website.

Throughout this workshop you will create your own action plan to get more online sales. We recommend that you reserve some time to make these changes happen from April – June to make the most of this workshop.

Please note: This workshop is aimed at ceramicists and other crafts people who have got a website or Etsy shop. It’s not suitable if you do not have a website yet.

workshop 5: ‘Making money – How to create a profitable ceramic or craft business’. Mon 15 April 10am – 12.30pm (UK TIME)

Do you find it hard to make a living from your ceramic or craft practice? Do you put in a lot of effort but don’t really generate enough money to pay yourself? Functional ceramics are indeed one of the hardest craft areas to price!

In this final workshop, we will focus on costing and pricing and making your ceramic or craft business profitable. This is a very practical but strategic and thought-provoking workshop!

We will start with costing & pricing. Patricia will explain how to calculate the cost price, wholesale & retail price of your products, and your daily rate as a ceramicist or maker. Patricia will share the most common pricing strategies for ceramicists and other craftspeople, with specific tips for pricing your products, workshops, commissions and licensing better.

We will then move on to making your business viable and profitable, and what to do if your numbers don’t stack up. Patricia will share her specialist expertise to change your prices or price points (without losing any clients!). Functional ceramics are hard to price, aren’t they?!

During this session you will start to work on creating a financial forecast for the next 2 years to make your craft business viable and ultimately profitable, with a specific financial goal, different income streams and price points.

And of course we will be working on how to become more comfortable & confident around charging what you are worth!

This workshop is for both new and mature ceramic and other craft businesses who want to make more money from their products, commissions, workshops and skills, and get insights into the financial side of their business.

PatriciavandenAkkerDirectorofThe Design Trust 1
Creative business adviser, trainer and coach Patricia van den Akker will be hosting each session online.

can’t make it for these live online workshops ?

Too busy right now? Got another job? Live in a different time zone?

No problem at all!

You will have access to the recordings & downloadable presentations of each of the 5 workshops until 1 October 2024. You can watch the training video recordings whenever you like, as often as you like.

If you book for an individual session then you will get access to the recording and presentation within 1 day of the live session.

If you book for the entire course package then you will get access to a private course hub with all recordings and presentations in one place. You will also be able to ask us any questions at any time and get feedback on your actions and homework.

who is ‘making it work’ for?

We have created this practical but strategic programme especially for members of London Potters. However, it is suitable for other ceramicists, craftspeople, designer makers, Etsy sellers, and artists too.

You can be a new or more established maker, although we expect that most will have been in business between 2 – 10 years. We expect you to have a website, Etsy shop or something similar, especially if you want to join the 3 marketing & sales workshops. All sessions are online so you can join us from anywhere in the UK or abroad. These sessions are not suitable for pre-startups.

You are busy or feeling a little stuck or at a cross roads. You love what you do, but you need to work on your business and marketing skills to make it work even better.

You want to make more from your creative skills and get more sales, commissions or other work. You want to take charge of your business, improve your marketing skills and update your website and positioning too! You know that you need to work on getting more people to visit your website, to buy from you or commission you. You want to charge better for what you do, and boost your confidence around money and marketing, without selling your soul.

You want specialist training from somebody who really understands crafts businesses, and who will inspire you to make changes and take action.

YES! This is an intensive and action-orientated programme … throughout each session you will be creating your own action plans that you can implement afterwards. You will get the most out of the individual sessions or the whole package if you make time in your diary to make it happen!

if you never were taught basic business & marketing skills at art school … then this is the programme for you!

planning with computer image firmbee via unsplash

make your craft business work for you!

Kickstart the new year with better business & marketing skills … and boost your confidence too

MEET YOUR TUTOR

Patricia van den Akker The Design Trust portrait 3

Patricia van den Akker

Director

Patricia van den Akker is the Director of The Design Trust. She has been a creative business adviser, trainer, and coach for more than 20 years and has worked with 1,000s of creative businesses at all stages of their career.  She lives and works in North London with her 2 daughters and husband.

For the last 7 years Patricia has been running the Professional Development Programme for the final year Ceramic students at Central St Martins at the University of London. She was also the Studio Manager of ceramic design company Studio Levien for 3 years so knows both about ceramics from the perspective of a designer maker, a designer and an artist.

She wrote The Design Doctor column as a ‘business agony aunt’ for 5 years for the Crafts Council’s Crafts Magazine. She regularly teaches at art schools, and works closely with many of the main craft fairs and trade shows.

Patricia is known for her practical and honest approach to creative professional development training. She will inspire you with loads of ideas, but also help you to get focused on those actions or decisions that you need to make.

FAQ

  • How does this online course work?

    All our online workshops take place on Zoom so you can join from anywhere in the world. From the comfort of your own home or studio!

    You can choose to sign up for one session, several or for the whole package (at a discounted rate).

    These are live online sessions, and we recommend that you join us live as they are very action orientated, and you will be able to ask Patricia questions too.

    Our training is very interactive as you will be creating your own action plans and working on your own ceramic or craft business throughout these sessions. Join us from a quiet space where you can work and think.

    Each session will be recorded and you will get access to the recording and the presentation till 1 October 2024.  You can do this at your pace, and watch any of the sessions as often as you like.

     

  • Money is a little tight … any discounts or payment plans?

    This course was especially created for members of London Potters. If you are a member then please see the membership page there for the coupon code to get the discount.

    Business Club members from The Design Trust also get a 20% discount on our online courses. See the Business Club homepage for details on the coupon code.

    You can also pay in 3 monthly instalments by choosing PayPal Later as your payment option.

  • How much time will this Making it Happen course take?

    Each of the 5 sessions are between 2 – 2.5hours, so they are short but intensive workshops.

    The Design Trust courses are very action-orientated and results-driven. During each session you will be creating your own action plan to implement afterwards. You will get the most out of them not by just coming to the training … but doing something with your new knowledge + inspiration!

    Depending on the kind of changes you want to make you will need to make time in your diary … anything from half a day to maybe one day/week for the next quarter! It really is up to you. But the more you put in, the more you will get from your training!

     

  • Is this course only for ceramicists?

    This professional development course was created in partnership with London Potters, and is highy focused on specific advice for creatives, designers, makers and artists working in ceramics or with clay.

    For example costing & pricing for functional ceramics is particularly hard, so we will dive deeper into that.  We will look at the different career paths for ceramicists (designer, maker, artist) and different market channels (online, events) and differnt income streams (products, art, commissions, workshops, licensing) too.

    However this programme is very accessible for any other ceramicist, designer maker, crafts person, handmade maker, visual artist too. 

  • What if I am not very tech-savvy?

    We use Zoom for our live online workshops, which is now a very common communication tool that most people are familiar with.

    If you sign up to an individual session you will get access to the recording and presentation via a password-protected page after the live session has finished.

    If you sign up for the entire programme we will give you access to our private course hub where you will find all the 5 recordings and presentations, and you can also ask us any questions there or get more feedback on your homework.

    We are always here to help with any questions.  You’ll need basic computer literacy in order to navigate it.

  • I can’t make these workshops live. Is that a problem?

    We recommend that you join our online workshops live, so that you can ask Patricia any questions, and you will be more engaged to work at the same time as other creatives.

    However, all sessions are recorded and you will get access till 1 October 2024.

  • How long will I have access to this course?

    Till 1 October 2024.

  • Can I share this course with a friend?

    Sorry, you can’t.

    When you purchase this course you get a license  for your own use only.

    If you work in a partnership then you can share it with your business partner or any employees, but please do not share with others who have not paid for this course.

    The Design Trust is a small creative business and this course is based on our 25 years+ experience. It’s full of our proprietary knowledge and copyrighted strategies.

    Please do not share it with others. If we find out that you have shared with others then we will remove you immediately from the course and might refuse you in the future for other courses or memberships as well.

    If you are interested in purchasing this course for a larger group, or want us to run something similar then get in touch with us at [email protected] to find out more.

  • Can I get a refund if it’s not for me or if I run out of time?

    You can cancel in writing to [email protected] till 48hours prior to any of the sessions starting for a full refund.

    Once the session has started you can’t get a refund.

    Remember that if you are unable to attend the live sessions then you can catch up with any recordings till 1 October 2024.

  • I have another question!

    If you have got any questions about this or any of our other online courses then please email us on [email protected]

let’s kickstart 2024 with a healthy dose of inspiration, knowledge & confidence

The Design Trust 2024 one-page-one-year business plan (free with our wall planner)

Dear , a very big welcome to your one-page-one-year business planning workshop

welcome to your free one-page-one-year-business plan session

2024 wall planner planning side top left as square

Thank you so much for the purchase of our popular 2024 wall planner.

On one side of your wall planner you will find all the dates of the year, with space for your key appointments and events, and all the public holidays and the main craft & design events in the UK and abroad.

On the other side you will find a very handy creative business planning tool that Patricia van den Akker, the Director of The Design Trust has developed over the last 15 years working with 1,000s of creative professionals.

As part of your purchase you get access to a 98mins creative business planning video training: to take you step-by-step through the stages to create your own one-page-one-year business plan for your creative business.

You will have access till 31 December 2024 so you can come back whenever you like.

You can watch this recording by clicking on the triangular button. If you want it full screen then press the four-arrow button in the bottom right of the recording. If you want to go back again to small screen then press the Esc button on your key pad.

We have annotated this session (see the broken line at bottom of the recording) to seperate the recording into different ‘chapters’, to make it easier for you to stop/start the session. or return quicker to a part you want to watch. Hover your mouse over the broken links to show the titles.

You can download the presentation of this session here below. Please note that this is for your own personal use only and should not be shared with others who haven’t paid for the wall planner + training. Thank you!

Download “The Design Trust One Page One Year Business Plan workshop – 2024”

the design trust 2024 one-page-one-year business planning workshop

In this 98mins practical workshop Patricia van den Akker, the Director of The Design Trust and the ‘inventor’ of the business planning tool for creatives, will explain step-by-step how to make the most of the planning tool side of your A2 wall planner. She also shares some really useful goal setting, time management and how-to-get-stuff-done tips in this session!

A couple of things before you get started with this training:

We have created this training to help you create your own one-page-one-year business plan, so we recommend that you bring your A2 wall planner, some Post It notes and also some coloured pens to start creating your own creative business plan for 2024.

We recommend that you need about 2-4 hours to create your own plan with our guidance. Make some time to work ON your business and find yourself a nice & quite space where you can dream, think, reflect and make some decisions on where you want to get to by the end of 2024, and what you want to do, create, learn and focus on next year. Enjoy!

This is a 98min session, but you can stop and start the session whenever you like and return to it as often as you like too!

Watch this session on a computer screen, not on your phone or ipad as the screen will simply be too small to read the slides.

In this session Patricia will share with you:

  • Why is our one-page-one-year planner so useful?
  • What kind of business plan do you need for your creative business?
  • How do sustainable creative businesses spend their time? Ohhh this is so useful!
  • How to juggle all these different parts of your creative business? Without dropping too many balls?
  • Step 1: Start with the end in mind … what do you want to do, create, learn in 2024?
  • Step 2: Are your goals juicy & SMART? How to turn your ideas into more specific & realistic actions.
  • Step 3: When are your clients most likely to buy from you? How launching at the right time can make a huge difference, and how to become more strategic about your product development throughout the year (super useful!)
  • Step 4: What are you committed to already? And how to commit to YOURSELF too!
  • Step 5: What needs work? Your strategic 90-day projects and how seasonal/quarterly planning can make all the difference to get the IMPORTANT jobs done too!
  • Step 6: Get into action … break big jobs down into smaller tasks and other time management ‘tricks’.
  • Stage 7: Use the quiet times to get ready for the busy times. Become more clever with what you do and when. Including our recommendations on how much time to spend in your creative business on different jobs. (Very useful!)
  • Step 8: Making time to do the work … Planning is step 1, but executing is step 2. How to stop overthinking and procrastination and start taking action.
  • Step 9: It’s a work in progress … how to keep your business plan alive.

Enjoy!

got a question or want to share your 2024 goals with us?

We love to hear about your plans for 2024! Or have you got a planning, goal setting, time management question for us? Then do post it below in the comments box.

2024 Dream Plan Do course (incl. 2024 diary or journal)

Dear , a very big welcome to the 2024 Quarterly Dream Plan Do Club

2024 The Design Trust club with stack of diaries diary pages palm computer

We are very excited that you have decided to join our Quarterly Dream Plan Do Club for 2024.

And that you have made the decision to deliberately make time for you and your business at the start of each quarter.

the 4 quarterly dream plan do workshops

The 4 Quarterly Dream Plan Do sessions will take place live on the following dates:

  • Friday 19 January 10am – 1pm UK time – Scroll down to the bottom of this page to the grey area ‘What you’ll learn’ to access the presentations.
  • Friday 22 March 10am – 1pm UK time
  • Friday 28 June 10am – 1pm UK time
  • Friday 27 September 10am – 1pm UK time.

You will receive an email about 2 weeks before each Dream Plan Do day with details of the preparation homework & how to sign up for the 3 individual sessions.

Remember that they will be live only, and that we will not be sharing any recordings as these sessions really are very practical with you doing, planning and working on your own business, facilitated by Patricia van den Akker.

2024 diary & journal hub … access 8 hours of business planning training

Everybody who purchases our 2024 diary or 2024 journal planner was invited to two live online planning, and finance/marketing planning workshops. The recordings of these two sessions are now available in the course hub for the 2024 diary & journal planners.

You will also find there sessions on

  • the End of Year Review
  • One-Page-One-Year-Busines-Plan which is a great intro if you want to make the most of your A2 wall planner!
  • Quarterly Reviews & Plans – this is a great session to show you exactly what to do each quarter.

You can watch all these sessions now here in the private course hub for the 2024 diary & journals here. These sessions are great to help you get started with the diary or journal planner!

Thanks so much for joining us. We are really excited to be working with you!

Patricia van den Akker & Anne-Marie Shepherd

The Design Trust – the online business school for designers, makers & other creative professionals

www.thedesigntrust.co.uk @TheDesignTrust

The Design Trust 2024 softback diary, incl. 8 hours online business training

2024 The Design Trust diary cover square

The Design Trust 2024 diary planner + 8 hours online business training

WE ONLY HAVE 18 DIARIES LEFT … SO BUY NOW!

Our popular ring-bound, colourful diary planner is back for 2024! Especially created for creative professionals.

This beautifully designed 2024 diary for creatives has 264+ pages.

  • It is the dated diary with 52 double weekly pages for all your meetings and appointments (between 8am – 8pm), a weekly action question and daily ‘3-actions-to-get-done’ productivity tool.
  • It is ring bound so it will sit perfectly flat on your table. It comes with a flexible bookmark.
  • It has 50+ pages of ‘Business Handbook’ full of creative business advice on your future vision & setting goals, tips & tools to manage your finances & marketing.
  • It has annual, quarterly & monthly planners, incl. The Wheel of Life & Business exercises, your 90-day action plan, your 90-day juicy goal & plan, and quarterly content planners (with our suggestions!), and an End-of-Year-Review-and-Plan.

The Design Trust diary planner is created by Patricia van den Akker, award-winning creative business adviser, trainer & coach and the Director of The Design Trust, based on her 25 years of experience, and it is designed by Laura Danby in Brighton.

This year we are offering one multi-coloured cover for our 2024 diary. It has a soft back, ring-bound cover, and is printed on 120gsm matt recycled paper.

this 2024 diary is so much more than ‘just’ a diary …

It’s a complete planning system for creatives created by Patricia to turn your vague business ideas into annual goals, and then into quarterly projects with monthly & weekly actions.

PLUS it comes with 6 hours of online creative business planning training, including time management, goal setting, financial and marketing planning. And you can join our private Facebook group in 2024 to ask any business or planning questions.

We are currently shipping within 3-4 working days.

the key facts:

  • 264+ pages, beautifully designed and printed in UK with flexible bookmark
  • Size: 17.5 x 21.5cm Printed on 120gsm matt recycled paper
  • Includes 6 hours online training incl. business planning, goal setting, finance + marketing planning in January 2024
  • 50+ pages ‘Business Handbook’ with specific business planning, finance + marketing advice for creatives professionals
  • Week-to-view diary for appointments, meetings etc (8am – 8pm) and double page month-to-view calendar
  • Annual, quarterly + monthly finance + marketing planners + trackers
  • Quarterly reviews + visual planning tools to reflect and plan ahead each quarter + month
  • Quarterly content plan for your email marketing + social media. With our timely content suggestions!
  • Monthly planner + timely to do’s each month + weekly action tips
2024 The Design Trust diary cover front back angled square
The Design Trust 2024 ring-bound, softback diary has a multi-coloured front cover, and different back cover.

the design trust ring-bound 2024 diary planner includes …

  • A dated diary for 2024, with two-pages per week (Mon – Sun), with space for all your appointments, meetings etc (8am – 8pm), a different, timely action question each week, and space for your notes. Each page has clever time management & productivity tools too.
  • A complete planning system, especially created for creative professionals – to focus, get clarity and turn big ideas into action – all together in one place. Turn your 2024 annual goals & financial forecasts into quarterly 90-day juicy project plans. Reflect on and plan your quarter and months to stay on track of your goals. And plan your weeks and days to create the life and business you want.
  • 50+ pages of ‘The Business Handbook’: Packed with visual exercises and thought-provoking questions to work on your business growth, with Patricia’s expert tips and tools to work on You, Your Marketing & Your Finance.
  • Space to review each quarter and plan the next 90 days with two visual Wheel exercises, the 90-day Juicy Goal and action plan, and quarterly content plans for your social media & marketing – with our timely topic suggestions!
  • Monthly and timely task tips on what to work on that month in your business, and a two-page-to-view-calendar to give you an overview of your key events and your monthly goals and actions.
  • TRAINING BONUS: The Design Trust 2024 diary comes with 6 hours of expert online business planning, goal setting & time management training: 2 hours of pre-recorded time management & goal setting sessions will be available in mid/end November 2023, and 2 live online workshops of 2 hours each on business, marketing & financial planning will be delivered by Patricia van den Akker in January 2024. You will get an exclusive invite for these live online workshops.
  • A lively, friendly & private Facebook community throughout 2024. A place to ask any business & planning questions, share your wins, and get accountability by answering the weekly question.
  • The prices includes 20% VAT (not payable for clients outside of EU and UK) and first class Royal Mail P&P in the UK.
Whats New for 2024 mint Sales Page
2024 The Design Trust diary open weekly overview 2 1

what is the difference between the 2024 diary & the journal planner?

Whats the difference mint Sales Page 1

The 2024 diary and 2024 journal planner both have: The 50+ pages Business Handbook + the Quarterly Review and Planning tools + End of Year Review.

What’s different is …

  • This diary is a dated diary! It has 52 double pages for all the weeks of the year (see image below), with space for your appointments & meetings every day and hour (8am – 8pm). It also has a weekly action question, and ‘3-things-to-get-done-today- tool and a daily focus. You can see how to use the diary in the image below.
  • The journal planner is for creatives who don’t need or want a paper diary, but want to plan regularly and get specialist business advice. The journal planner has everything that the diary has got (see above) except for the 52 weekly/daily diary pages. It only has one double-page per month for the key activities that week.

Therefore the hardback journal planner has only 182 pages, and the ring-bound diary planner has 264 pages.

Diary Page 89

THE DESIGN trust diary & planner is much more than ‘just a diary’ …

The Design Trust diary & planner is the must-have creative business planner, goal setting, productivity and time management tool for creative professionals (designers, makers, visual artists, Etsy shop owners) and freelancers who want to make time to reflect, plan more strategically and … to take action.

This is the 9th consecutive year that The Design Trust has self-published this diary and the journal planner. We have sold over 8,000 copies to more than 37 countries.

The diary planner is a proven visual planning tool for creatives based on Patricia’s 20+ years experience as an award-winning creative business adviser. It will help you to visualise your business ideas and to make you accountable to take action.

Patricia created The Design Trust diary planner specifically for creative professionals to reflect, to plan the entire year, and most importantly … to take action! The planner’s structure will step-by-step help you to turn your big ideas and goals into 90-day juicy action plans (especially for projects that you want to work on but never have time for!).

A big part of the concept behind the diary is focusing on quarterly planning and the seasonality of many creative product-based businesses. How to make the most of the feast-and-famine cycle and get ready in the quiet times for the busy times.

Are you doing the right things at the right time? Are you feeling ‘behind’ or overwhelmed with what to do? The diary, along with the online workshops, will show you what to focus on and when, so you make the best use of your time and energy.

You can then turn those quarterly goals into monthly plans with more detailed goals and actions, and ultimately making time in your diary each week or day to work on those goals.

The diary has financial and marketing trackers to keep a close eye on your results, monthly planners and overviews for what’s going on, suggestions for monthly actions to work on in your creative business, and week-to-view for all your meetings, tasks, and appointments. The daily ‘get done’ focus is one of my favourite (and very old!) time management tools.

Throughout the diary and the training we use scientifically-proven time management and productivity techniques, based on Patricia’s vast experience of working with 1,000s of creatives.

2024 The Design Trust diary open contents page
What’s in The Design Trust 2024 diary? Starting with 50+ pages of the ‘Business Handbook’, Quarterly Reviews + Plans, and each of the weeks, and End of Year Review
2024 The Design Trust diary open finance chapter lifestyle
Get your finances sorted in 2024! With creative expert tips to make your business profitable, set financial goals for 2024 + create a 5-year forecast
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What business do you want to create? Create a financial forecast to make your business profitable!
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It’s much more than a diary! Each quarter make time to review + plan ahead with our special 90-day planners + visual tools to take stock + plan ahead.
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One of my favourite exercises: The Wheel of Life & Wheel of Business … to quickly see what’s working in your business + life, and what needs work.
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Create a quarterly action plan … to work on ALL parts of your business (finance, marketing, products + yourself!)

HOW DOES THE DESIGN TRUST DIARY PLANNER ‘WORK’?

  • The Design Trust dated diary planner is based on Patricia’s 20+ years of experience working as an award-winning creative business adviser, trainer and coach, working with 1,000s of creatives throughout the UK. It’s based on her extensive research and real-life experience of scientifically-proven time management and productivity tools. Not to get you to do ‘more stuff’, but to give you the strategy, structure and accountability that really works to create the best life and business for you. Helping you make the right decisions for you and your business, every single day.
  • This diary & planner starts with a ‘Creative Business Handbook’: 50+ pages full of creative and strategic exercises and thought-provoking questions to create the life & business you want. You can do these exercises at the start of the year, or whenever you need to get more focus, productivity or accountability. From focusing on your business dream to your values and talents, to getting to know your ideal clients and competitors. With an example/template for a financial forecast and 3-steps-marketing plan to get more sales.
  • Every quarter is printed in a different colour (see the side views) when we invite you to make deliberate time to review how your creative business is doing. Set your own 90-day juicy goal and create your own quarterly action plan to move your creative business forward. Do the Wheel of Life and the Wheel of Business exercises to see what needs work in your life and business, and identify specific action steps. Stop talking and procrastinating. Start doing.
  • We love quarterly goals & plans! To work on bigger strategic projects and because the seasons work well with the natural flow of most creative businesses too.
  • 90 day strategic projects are perfect … as it’s long enough to make a strategic difference, and short enough to keep momentum and focus.
  • Every month you can then plan to stay on track of your bigger quarterly & monthly goals: With suggested actions for that specific month (in finance, money, creation, organisation) and a month-to-view calendar page for your key dates, and to identify your own monthly business & personal goals and actions.
  • With the diary planner you can plan & review your progress every week: choose what to focus on each week and even at the start or end of each day. Each week there is a different but often timely thought-provoking question to get you into action. Plus each day you will focus on getting just 3 things done – using one of the oldest but best time management tricks in the world!
  • BONUS: If you purchase The Design Trust diary planner 2024 then you also get access to 6 hours of online business planning training, and access to our exclusive Facebook group all year round – managed by The Design Trust team.

2024 The Design Trust diary open January monthly overview 2 1
Quick monthly overview with all the dates of the month at the start of each month … for all your most important events, meetings + deadlines.
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Are you doing the right thing at the right time? Each month we will give you our tips on what to focus on that month in ALL parts of your business. Become more strategic.
2024 The Design Trust diary open financial forecast with blue hands lifestyle
Make your creative business profitable! Create a financial forecast for the next few years, and build a business that works for you!

what will you achieve in 2024?

The last few years have been tough for many small business owners. And the future is uncertain … with increased costs, ongoing high inflation, and the impact changes in our environment will have on our lives, businesses and the wider world.

Many people are at a crossroads, re-evaluating their lives, values, purpose and their talents.

It’s much harder to get sales now so you’ll need to be more creative and strategic about choosing the right income streams, marketing channels, and a business model that will work for you and your business.

Let The Design Trust 2024 diary planner be your guide to create a more sustainable, creative business throughout 2024, and beyond!

Not to get more done, but to focus on what’s really important to you and your business, to make the most of your unique talents and creativity based on your purpose and values, to get clear on what needs work in your creative business, to focus on creating the best life and business for you and your family, and to attract and work with your dream clients.

The 2024 diary planner is packed full with practical business and marketing tips to start and grow your creative business, goal setting and visual planning exercises, quarterly juicy goal action plans and monthly planners, quarterly social media plans with timely content suggestions, weekly thought-provoking questions and what-to-focus-on-actionable-ideas.

Created by the award-winning creative business adviser Patricia van den Akker, the Director of The Design Trust, with over 25 years’ experience as a creative business adviser, trainer and mentor for 1,000s of creatives. Based on the success of the Dream Plan Do planners, she created this dated diary to help you turn your ideas into actions every day, to help you to prioritise and focus on what’s really important, and to move you and your business forward throughout 2024.

Join over 3,000 creatives in more than 32 countries who have used The Design Trust diary planner in the last 3 years (when we started publishing the diaries) to turn their ideas into reality.

get more organised & focused in 2024 …

Your questions answered …

  • When will I get my diary planner?

    We aime to send your order within 3 – 4 working days.

     

  • Is the diary dated? Has it got dates in it?

    Yes, The Design Trust 2024 diary planner is dated for each day with a two-pages-per-week-view so you can include your own daily and hourly appointments and meetings (from 8am – 8pm), and also have a good overview to plan your week ahead. Each weekly overview starts on a Monday.

    It also has month-to-view plan at the start of each month with the most important holiday days.

    NOTE The journal planner is not a diary, so make sure you order the right one!

  • What’s the 2024 Quarterly Dream Plan Do Club? Do I need that if this planner comes with 6 hours training anyway?

    Do you want extra support & accountability throughout the year to turn your plans into reality? Would you love to get some extra inspiration from Patricia and other ambitious creatives?

    Are you feeling stuck or do you need to work more strategically?

    Do you want to make REGULAR +  deliberate time to dream & reflect, to plan properly, and to DO?!

    We are introducing the 2024 Quarterly Dream Plan Do Club for creatives like you!

    The 4 Quarterly Dream Plan Do half day sessions are facilitated sessions by Patricia, so there is very little ‘teaching’ (which will happen in the free business & marketing planning sessions) as the focus is on you doing the work – to reflect, to plan, to do the exercises, discuss the questions with others, write down your own answers & actions.

    NOTE: the 4 Quarterly Dream Plan Do sessions will take place on Fridays 19 January, 22 March, 28 June and 27 September 2024 from 10am – 1pm (UK time).

    We want you to commit to working on your business regularly, and due to the very practical nature of these guided sessions we have decided NOT TO OFFER RECORDINGS of these sessions, so you will need to attend them live.

    Note that the diary planner + our popular A2 wall planner (worth £10,-) are included in the price of the 2024 Dream Plan Do Club!

  • Is The Design Trust 2024 diary available as a download?

    The simple answer is: No.

    Of course we did consider this option, but … we strongly (!) believe that it would really change the experience of using The Design Trust creative business diary planner. 

    Firstly, printing off 264 pages is no mean feat (!) and quite costly too.

    Secondly, I don’t think you will then actually use it how we intended it. We created this beautifully designed planner as the perfect planning tool to scribble notes & sketches in, and as a deep-but-practical reflective experience – especially for creatives – to create the much-needed time and space for you to work ON your business. Away from a computer!

    Deliberately non-digital and ‘old-fashioned’! A beautiful diary that becomes truly yours over time, and that you treasure to use.

    A diary full with your hand-writing. That you’ll pick up again in years from now, to see your progress, challenges, and successes again.

    Where you can write your dreams and ideas, to sketch and doodle in (all impossible with an online diary!)

    Creating a reflection and planning habit to get out at the start or end of each quarter, month, week and even daily to plan ahead. That helps you to get organised and make better decisions. Especially if you create some distance and take it away from your workspace to work on.

    Use it on your sofa or in your favourite café to reflect and work ON your creative business. Or on journeys or holidays.

    To use as a record of what’s going on in your life and business.

    Yes, I love paper and stationery! I studied Graphic Design and married a graphic-designer-turned-Head-of-Art. We both love the smell of freshly printed books. The tactility of holding a good book in your hands. We love good typography and #printisnotdead and good magazines.

    We love a good planner. I am proud to be a bit of a stationery geek.

    And I just know that printing out copies isn’t the same experience. I hope you understand. If you ‘get it’ then you will love The Design Trust diary’s quality. And the true soul of it too.

  • I haven’t started my creative business yet. Is The Design Trust diary for me?

    Yes!

    The Design Trust diary planner will help you to look at ALL aspects of your fledgling business, in a more strategic way … not just the making part that you love already!

    The Design Trust diary planner will help you to get your new business (idea) off the ground quicker and to build the best business foundations for now and the future.

    The diary starts with “The Business Handbook”: 50+ pages of creative business planning tools, financial forecasts and marketing exercises that Patricia has developed in the last 25 years as a creative business adviser, trainer and coach with 1,000s of creatives.

    It’s a bit like having her as your personal business coach (at a much better price!)

    You’ll set goals for the year, create a (simple) financial forecast and marketing plan, and use the planner’s practical business tips and monthly recommendations as guidelines for what to focus on that month.

    Your goals will not just be about making (a common new creative mistake!) but also include your finances, marketing, social media and learning.

    And they will be based on your values, your strengths and talents.

    The diary planner is so much more than ‘just a diary’ … it will help you to break down big goals into smaller, do-able steps, with quarterly projects to work on, and monthly goals and activities. Each month you get practical tips on what to work on right now, and topical business tips to boost your creative business and marketing knowledge.

    The Design Trust 2024 diary planner also comes with 6 hours of online business planning training, including 2 live workshops in January.

    The Design Trust diary can save you a lot of money, energy and time.

    Because it asks you the big business questions you need to work on and start finding your own answers.

    Because it breaks big jobs into smaller actions, so you move forward rather than worry or procrastinate about what steps to take next.

    Less (over) thinking, more doing!

    And … why not upgrade and join our 2024 Quarterly Dream Plan Do Club too for extra support + accountability throughout the year?(Recommended for businesses that have been selling for 2 years or more!)

  • I have been a creative business for a long time. Is The Design Trust diary planner just for new creative businesses?

    No!!

    Our diary planner is for ANY ambitious creative professional – from recent graduates or part-time creatives, to established designer makers and businesses selling at trade shows and internationally.

    Many very established professional creatives have purchased and used the diary to work on their business in the last few years! (Big names that you will know from shows and TV!)

    Patricia created The Design Trust diary planner especially for creative professionals who create and sell products and services, who want to get better organised and more focused – from handmade items on Etsy to multiples sold through stockists, from giftable items sold at craft fairs to exclusive high end one-off luxury items sold in exclusive galleries in New York or Dubai, from craft workshops to popup organisers, gallery owners, event organisers and creative bloggers and foodies.

    It’s a lot more than ‘just a diary’ … it is a complete business planning system and time management / productivity tool. So, especially if you are stuck, got loads of different jobs and responsibilities to juggle, are starting again after a break, or need a boost to stop procrastinating and wasting your time, then this diary for creative professionals is for you. It’s a must-have time management tool to make the most of your limited time, money and energy!

    Using The Design Trust diary planner regularly enables you to make the time and space to reflect and plan ahead.

    And especially if you have been going for a while it might be really healthy to take some distance and wonder if you are still doing the right thing? Especially after the last 3 years with so many changes to our lives and businesses!

    You are also very welcome to join our 2024 Quarterly Dream Plan Do Club! To get more support and accountability, and to make sure that you deliberately make the time and space for yourself to dream & reflect, to plan ahead, and to commit to doing!

    I have worked as a creative business adviser, trainer and coach for more than 25 years. This diary planner combines many of the coaching questions, practical planning tools and marketing/social media planners that I have developed over all these years.

    What’s great about The Design Trust diary planner is that this is a very personal journey and reflection.  The diary will guide you through questions and creative exercises for you to create a more purpose-driven business and life.

    Creating a business you will be proud of – in every sense of the word!

  • I am not based in the UK. Can I still buy your diary planner? Will it be relevant to me?

    We love connecting with creatives all over the world.  In the last 4 years our diary & planners sold over 3,500 copies to 35 countries, so yes we would love to send you our diary or planner too!

    The UK is a booming market for creative products and design, and Patricia is one of the leading UK experts in providing specialist creative business advice & training for over 25 years.  Many of our strategic planning and time management tools, practical finance and marketing advice is relevant to creative businesses around the world.

    There might be some slight differences in terms of legal issues or finances, but these are often minor and we always advise that you check in with local experts in these areas.

    Of course there are differences in the way creative products and services are sold and purchased in different countries, but many of our marketing and social media tips will be relevant to your circumstances too, especially if you are selling online in a global market!

    As part of your diary planner purchase you will automatically get access to 6 hours of online training, and all year round access to our lively and friendly Facebook group. Easily accessible wherever you are in the world as you can access both from your own computer. The online training will be recorded and you will be able to access that throughout 2024.

    If you are outside the UK and the EU then you will get the diary planner a little cheaper … as you will not have to pay 20% UK VAT. You will be charged a discounted rate for international post, depending on where you live. Your diary planner order will be sent ‘signed for and tracked’ (wherever possible!) by British Royal Mail. You will receive an email with your tracking number when your order is processed. Please keep an eye out for our confirmation email with this number. Normally it takes around 5 days within Europe, and up to 14 days in the rest of the world to receive your order. This might be slightly longer at the end of November or December due to the Christmas busy-ness.

    We had some issues with some EU countries last year (especially Belgium, Portugal and Ireland) and please get in touch with us directly to find out how we can send the planner diary to you without too many issues around post-Brexit paperwork and duties. IMPORTANT: Please enquire within 14 days of receiving our confirmation email if you have not received your international order so that we can investigate. Do not wait for more than 30 days as it’s likely that the order will then have been returned to us, and you will be required to pay for additional international postage.

    Note that post-Brexit you as the purchaser are responsible to pay any duties or additional taxes charged by your national tax office or postal service.

    We will refund you any double-paid VAT asap.

The Design Trust 2024 diary + planner FREE business planning course

Dear , A big welcome to The Design Trust 2024 diary + planner free course

2024 The Design Trust planner diary 4 front covers horizontal banner 2
The 2024 hardback journal planners and the 2024 ring-bound diaries

are you ready to make the most of your 2024 diary & journal planner?

Welcome to your FREE 6-hour online business, finance & marketing planning course with The Design Trust, which is part of your purchase of the 2024 diary planner or journal planner.

I hope that you are really looking forward to 2024 and to make your creative business even better. With the help of our diary & journal planner and this free course!

You can find the recordings of all the pre-recorded and the two live workshops in January here below. Simply scroll down to access all the recordings and presentations as well.

You will have access to this course page till the end of 2024, and you can return to this page as often as you like.

We recommend that you make a note of the URL at the top, or bookmark this page to make it really easy to return later.

We hope you will get so much from these training session that will boost your business, planning, finance & marketing skills, knowledge & confidence!

Patricia van den Akker & Anne-Marie Shepherd – The Design Trust – the online business school for designers, makers & other creative professionals


video training: one-page-one-year-business plan (1h38″)

You can watch the recording of this session by clicking on the triangular button. If you want it full screen then press the four-arrow button on the recording. To return to small screen press the Esc button on your keypad.

This recording has English subtitles, that you can switch on/off by clicking on the cc icon in the bottom right of the recording.

This recording is annotated which means that it’s divided into ‘chapters’. Hover your mouse over the bottom of the recording on the broken links to see the chapter titles. This makes it easier to stop/start the recording whenever you like.

You can download the presentation of this recording here below. Please note that this is for your own personal use only and should not be shared with others who have not purchased the 2024 The Design Trust diary or journal planner.

Download “The Design Trust One Page One Year Business Plan workshop – 2024”

This training recording will help you to create a business plan for 2024, and uses The Design Trust 2024 A2 wall planner. If you pre-ordered our 2024 diary or journal planner then you will have received this as a free gift, and many of you have purchased this too. Alternatively use a large piece of paper to create your own one-year-one-page business plan for 2024.

In this session Patricia will share:

  • Some very useful goal setting, creative business planning and time management techniques to help you set better goals for yourself and your business.
  • The 9 steps that you need to go through to create an annual business plan.

We recommend that you spend 2-4 hours on creating your own business plan for 2024. You can stop/start the session whenever you like


video training: end of year review (38″)

You can watch the recording of this session by clicking on the triangular button. If you want it full screen then press the four-arrow button in the bottom right corner. If you want to return to the regular screen then press the Esc button on your key board.

This session has been annotated (see the interrupted link at the bottom of the recording). Hover of this with your mouse to make the various chapters visible. This will make it easier for you to start/stop this session or to watch a specific part again.

This session has English subtitles that you can switch on/off by clicking the cc button on in the bottom right of the recording.

You can download the presentation of this session here below: We recommend that you change the printing settings so that you get 4 slides on one page. Please note that this is for your own personal use only, and should not be shared with others who didn’t purchase a 2024 diary or journal planner. Thank you.

Download “TDT 2024 diary or journal planner / End of Year Review 2023”

This is part of our tradition at the end of the year … The End of Year Review. In this reflective session Patricia asks 7 big questions to reflect, review and celebrate 2023! Each have several layers. Some questions will be easy to answer, some might need some more work or research into your numbers. Some are thought-provoking others are inspiring. Do all of them or choose the questions that work for you!

Patricia also asks questions that might help you to get ready for 2024!

To do the full End of Year Review we recommend around 2-4 hours. But of course you can decide to only focus on 1 or 2 questions, and still get a lot out of working on those! The big advantage of learning online is … that you can stop / start this session whenever you like so that you can write down your answers in your own time.

You can use the End of Year Review pages at the end of your 2024 diary or journal planner with this training, or you can use a notebook. We recommend that you might want to do this review away from your usual workspace … and it’s perfect for that quiet period between Christmas and mid January.


video training: Quarterly planning & reviews (1h38″)

You can watch the recording of this session by clicking on the triangular button. Press the four-arrow button on the bottom right of the recording to make it full screen. Use the Esc button on your keypad to return to regular screen.

This recording is annotated which means it’s easy to stop/start the recording or to watch a specific session again. Hover your mouse over the broken line at the bottom of the recording to see the different chapters/exercises.

This recording has English subtitles which you can switch on/off by clicking on the c/c button in the recording.

You can download the presentation of this session here below. We recommend that you change the printing settings so that you get 4 slides on one page. Please note that this is for your own personal use only, and should not be shared with others who didn’t purchase a 2024 diary or journal planner. Thank you.

Download “TDT 2024 diary journal Quarterly Reviews & Planning – free course”

This video training explains in detail how to do the full Quarterly Review and Planning, with every exercises in the recurring quarterly planning explained in more detail. Patricia gives more detail about each of the different exercises and shares examples too of full plans, specific activities that you can do to improve your marketing or finance or other aspects of your business. She finishes this session by explaining the Quarterly Content Calendar with top tips on social media & email marketing too.

We highly recommend that you watch this session to give your planning, finance & marketing a boost and to get more examples.


video training: live workshop business planning (2h28″)

You can watch the recording of this live session by clicking on the triangular button. If you want it full screen then press the four-arrow button. To return to a regular screen press the Esc button on your key board.

This session is annotated (see the unbroken line at the bottom of the recording) to make it easier to stop/start watching this session. Hover your mouse over the line and you will see the different chapters.

This session has English subtitles that you can switch on/off by clicking on the cc button.

You can print off the presentation of this session below. I recommend that you change the printer settings so that you can print more slides on one page. Please note that this is for your own personal use only, and should not be shared with others who have not paid for the diary or planner as it’s our copyrighted materials.

Download “TDT 2024 diary planner free business planning workshop Jan 2024”

In this first free live workshop session for 2024 diary & journal planner buyers we will look at creative business planning:

  • How to access the course hub.
  • A quick intro to how the planning system works that Patricia has created. How often and when & what to plan? From big goals to annual goals, quarterly projects to monthly plans, to weekly & daily actions. Turn big ideas into do-able activities to make them possible!
  • The foundation:
  • 1) What’s your business dream? (p. 11) Your bigger purpose and longer term.
  • 2) Why do you do what you do? (p. 14)= your motivation = where do you come from?
  • 3) What are your values? p. 15 – 19) = What’s important to you? The glass jar exercise (p. 17)
  • The core 4 business areas to create a sustainable creative business – you, finance, marketing & creative production
  • What are your business goals for 2024? p. 12-13
  • What do you want or need to work on … for your mental & physical health? Your finances? Marketing? Creative production? Set goals and SMART activities. How to spend your time?
  • The big challenges …
  • 1) How to stop procrastinating? The 6 reasons why we procrastinate and what to do about them?
  • 2) How to stay on track?
  • 3) How to plan for unpredictability?
  • Want more support? Join our 2024 Quarterly Dream Plan Do Club!

video training: live workshop finance & marketing planning (2h29″)

You can watch the recording of this live workshop by clicking on the triangular button. If you want it full screen then press the four-arrow button. If you want it regular screen again then press the Esc button on your keyboard.

This session has been annotated (see the broken line at the bottom of the recording) to make it easier to stop/start the session or to find a specific chapter to watch that again. Hover your mouse over the broken link to see the chapter names.

This session has English subtitles that you can switch on/off by clicking on the CC logo on the recording.

You can download here below the presentation of this session, as well as the Excel template to create your own financial forecast. Please note that these are for your own personal use only, and should not be shared with others who have not paid for the diary or journal.

Download “The Design Trust 2024 diary planner Finance & Marketing Planning workshop – Jan 2024”

Download “TDT Financial forecast in 3 steps”

In this 2nd and final free online workshop Patricia shared:

  • How to get back in charge of your finances …
  • Is your creative business viable? The very useful and strategic 3 Question exercise (see p. 28-29) And what to do if your numbers don’t stack up? (p. 29)
  • Have you set a financial goal yet? (p. 24-25) Why this is so important (especially if your turnover is low).
  • Creating your financial forecast (p. 26-27)

Real client questions around finance (from the registration form):

  • “How do I do a realistic budget in these unpredictable times? Or if I have never done one before?”
  • “My costs are going through the roof! What do I do?”
  • “How to price my time when a product takes a long time to make?”
  • “Is there a formula on how to spend my expenses?”
  • “How do you balance pricing your work when most galleries take a 50% cut?” We highly recommend you to read this blog post on our website.

Fundamental marketing:

  • What do you want to be known for? (p.33) and identify your brand values (p. 33)
  • Our marketing mantra: “People only buy from people they know, like & trust” (p. 34) How to build your profile, credibility & trust.
  • Who are your ideal clients? (p. 38-39) How to identify them & get to know them.

Real client questions around marketing (from the registration form)

  • “How do you make time for marketing? I am so busy already?”
  • “How do I find my ideal clients for my jewellery workshops?”
  • “I am not very good at writing. What’s the best way to do email marketing?”
  • “How do I encourage my clients to stay with me, even though I have increased my prices?”
  • Create a marketing plan in 3 steps: Set a financial goal, what are the marketing projects, what to do … if you want more online sales, trade orders, get higher end commissions, more from event sales, local sales and workshops.
  • How to keep your finances & marketing on track?
  • Patricia answered even more finance & marketing questions at the end of this session.

*BONUS’ video training: live workshop ‘planning with adhd’ with amanda perry (1h17″)

You can watch the recording of this session by clicking on the triangular button. To get it full screen press the four-arrow icon in the bottom right of the recording. To get it full screen again press the Esc button on your keyboard.

This recording has English subtitles that you can switch on/off by clicking on the CC logo in the bottom right of the recording.

We have annotated this recording – hover your mouse over the broken link at the bottom of this recording to see the titles of the different chapters. This makes it easier to stop/start watching specific parts of the video.

We invited ADHD expert Amanda Perry to talk to our Business Club members, but as we thought that our 2024 diary & journal users would find this session useful too we extended the invite, so this is a BONUS session for you! And I think a very useful one indeed. In this session Patricia interviews Amanda, and they discuss the following:

  • What are the specific planning challenges for creative business owners with ADHD (traits)? From time blindness and seeing time in a differnt way to executive decision making to impulse and perfectionism.
  • What are some of the bigger and practical solutions to manage your ADHD. (And yes it’s very personal for each person!)
  • Is being employed or self-employed better suited to people with ADHD? The structure versus the flexibility …
  • How to manage finance & marketing (two specifically challenging areas for business owners with ADHD)
  • Dealing with the extremes of ADHD – the hyperfocus vs procrastination and burnout, and the very low self esteem and even self-loating versus very high expectations (God mode as Amanda calls it).
  • What are the positives & strengths of ADHD?
  • Questions from the audience around managing ADHD.

Find out more about Amanda Perry and how she works with founders and business owners on her website. Her Instagram account is very useful too.