The Design Trust 2024 softback diary, incl. 8 hours online business training
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
I’ve found the planner to be life changing, following the guidance and advice I’ve managed to double my income within the first six months, I am absolutely over the moon.
Julia Crossland
A great planner for blocking out time to properly get things done with helpful hints and tips and questions to keep you thinking critically about your business. (And yes, that’s me using the diary planner!)
Jessica Newby
The diary planner has become my best friend because once I have scheduled something, either client design work or time for the development of my business, that means it will happen and I don’t have to do lists cluttering my brain. I am able to organise myself, my workload and my business planning all in one place. As a digital interior stylist I really love having some thing physical to write in, pencil only (!) probably because I’m of the Filofax generation!
Sarah Burghard
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.
what is the difference between the 2024 diary & the journal planner?
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.
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.
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.
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.