Elizabeth Creighton - Scaling Your UX Consultancy: Newsletters, Courses, and Deliverables

The UX Consultants Lounge

In this episode of the UX Consultants Lounge, host Kyle Soucy sits down with Elizabeth Creighton, the owner of Brazen, a consultancy that offers UX research and training services. Elizabeth shares great tips about scaling your UX consultancy through newsletters, online courses, and investing in deliverables. Plus, they discuss the emotional journey of having to pause your consulting practice in order to take a leave of absence and how to bounce back.

Key Topics Covered:

• The Power of Newsletters: Elizabeth discusses how starting a newsletter helped her connect with clients, maintain visibility, and generate new business. She shares practical tips on managing the workload and gaining subscribers.
• Creating Online Courses: Elizabeth explains her experience developing a user interview skills course on Maven. She provides insights on choosing a platform, balancing course creation with client work, and the impact of teaching live cohort-based courses.
• Enhancing Deliverables: Elizabeth shares her experience in hiring a presentation designer to elevate the quality of her client and course presentations. She shares the value of investing in high-quality templates to improve professionalism and efficiency.
• Managing a Leave of Absence: Elizabeth and Kyle also touch on the challenges consultants face when needing to taking breaks for personal reasons, like maternity leave, and how to bounce back afterward.

Notable Quotes:
“Starting a newsletter really helped me stay top of mind with past clients. It’s about building that direct line of communication that social media can’t always provide.”

“Investing in a professionally designed presentation template has completely changed the way I present to clients. It’s not just about looking polished; it’s about delivering more impact.”

Connect with Us:

• Host: Kyle Soucy | Usable Interface (www.usableinterface.com)
• Guest: Elizabeth Creighton | Brazen (www.brazen.io)

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Links and Resources Mentioned:

• Elizabeth’s Newsletter: https://newsletter.brazen.io/
• Elizabeth’s Maven Course (with a 15% off promo code - ‘CONSULTANTS15’): https://maven.com/brazen-ux/user-interview-skills-designers-pms
• Elizabeth’s Presentation Designer: https://marikedesigns.com/
• ConvertKit (now Kit) Email Marketing Software: https://kit.com/
• Lex Roman’s Low Energy Leads Newsletter: https://read.lowenergyleads.com/
• Company of One by Paul Jarvis: https://www.amazon.com/Company-One-Staying-Small-Business/dp/1328972356

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I can’t wait to have you back in the lounge for our next episode!

Rozdziały

1. Elizabeth Creighton - Scaling Your UX Consultancy: Newsletters, Courses, and Deliverables (00:00:00)

2. Introducing Elizabeth Creighton (00:00:41)

3. Elizabeth tells us about her consultancy, Brazen, and the services she provides (00:06:36)

4. Elizabeth's journey starting Brazen (00:08:22)

5. The story behind Elizabeth naming her business 'Brazen' (00:09:41)

6. Elizabeth's experience creating her newsletter (00:15:05)

7. How much time it takes to create a newsletter and the impact on Elizabeth's workload (00:21:05)

8. Sending holiday cards to clients (00:26:33)

9. Sending a mid-year email to clients (00:27:21)

10. How Elizabeth promotes her newsletter (00:29:49)

11. Elizabeth's experience creating her online training course on Maven (00:32:43)

12. Why Elizabeth chose Maven for her online teaching platform (00:37:18)

13. How much time it takes Elizabeth to create and teach her course (00:38:31)

14. How much Elizabeth makes when teaching a Maven course (00:44:42)

15. How Elizabeth promotes her course (00:46:03)

16. Elizabeth's experience hiring a presentation designer to create a new template (00:48:51)

17. Pitch decks vs Word documents for proposals? (00:53:16)

18. Elizabeth and Kyle's experience managing a maternity leave (00:55:25)

19. How Elizabeth would describe consulting in one word (01:01:46)

20. The best business advice Elizabeth has ever received (01:02:03)

21. Elizabeth's recommended consulting resource (01:03:15)