Where do I find my very first client? This is my answer

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Blog #136: Where do I find my very first client? This is my answer

Once you’ve decided to start your side hustle or freelance business whether it is web design or anything else, you are likely to have one important question.

”Where do I find my first client?”

Ways to find clients are countless. My advice: Pick one method that feels right. Then follow-through.

My first client came via my network. But I had no network. I had to start from scratch. This is what I did to get started. (In a recent article, I shared the one thing I wish I had done early in my web design career. ​Read that here.​)

Back in 2018, I decided that web design was going to be my path to being financially independent. I was looking for my very first client. I had read that one needs to begin with their network.

The problem: I had none. I had just moved to a new town. I knew my neighbors. I knew the grocery store clerk. That’s it.

So I joined a local writer’s club.

Writing a book one day had been on my bucket list for a long time. This group met every week to discuss writing, publishing, and marketing. So I attended the weekly meets. Each time I introduced myself as a “Squarespace Web Designer”. Anytime someone asked me what I did, that was my go-to answer.

Eventually, I became known as the Squarespace Web Designer.

Then one day, the Ex-President of the club and I were chatting about the recent guest speaker when she said, “You know, we need to update our old WordPress site. It’s stuck in the 1990’s. Can you help? Ah, but we don’t have any funds for a web designer.”

I gulped and with googly eyes said, “Yes, I can build it for you but on one condition: You’ll need to write me an awesome testimonial and give me permission to use this site as my portfolio piece.”

“It’s a deal,” she said and that’s how I got my first client.

Okay, I know, I know. You are saying: hey, that’s not a paid client. Hold your horses, my friend, you’ll see!

Yes, you are right. This was not a paying client but she was a client nonetheless. And I had only made websites for my family and friends so far. This was more valuable as an experience for me than money at the time. Plus, I wanted to add a real project to my portfolio. Besides I was a member of the club which was run by volunteers. This was going to be my pro-bono contribution to the group.

Over the next few weeks whenever she had time in her schedule, we met at a local cafe and we got a beautiful Squarespace site for the non-profit writer’s club completed.

But that’s not where the story ends. (That’s why I asked you to hold your horses!).

At the next meeting, the Ex-President looked at me and announced that the new website was completed. Many members of the club approached me and congratulated me on a job well done. This is what was so powerful. All 500 or so members of the writer’s club (some via email) now knew there was a web designer in the group.

That’s when the Program Coordinator approached me and asked me to do a presentation for the Marketing slot on web design. I made a 45-minute presentation on how authors can use websites to get visible and build an email list that’s their own. I showed websites of leading authors, highlighting what worked well and what didn’t.

At the end of the presentation, several people came up to me and asked for more info on my design services. Out of them, one was super interested. A few weeks later, she hired me to build her website.

This took several months.

But I finally had my very first paying client.

Moral of the story:

1. Get your first client from your network.

2. If you don’t have one, join a group with shared interests.

3. Introduce yourself as the thing you want to get hired for (ex. Copywriter, Graphic Designer, etc).

4. Show up and contribute to the group weekly.

5. Say yes to pro bono work at first, especially, work for the group itself.

6. Because that's how your work can quickly be shown to hundreds of people in that group.

7. Take the opportunity to present or teach your area of expertise as relevant to this particular interest group. Become known as the go-to person on that topic in this specific group.

Again, there are countless ways to get your first client for your side hustle. Eventually, I also added other client acquisition avenues. But this is how I got my first web design client.

Find a way that you resonate with. Then, follow through.

PS: If you are on LinkedIn, I invite you to ​connect with me​ there for more conversations and connections. If you want more tips and invites to trainings on how to grow your freelance online business, join the Abundant Creative Newsletter here.

Don’t move the goal post. The art of being content.

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Blog #135: Don’t move the goal post. The art of being content.

Don’t move the goalpost. … for you to be content.

Being content is an art. We weren’t all born with it.

But we can all cultivate this art of contentment.

Recently, I was watching a YouTube video in which Gary Vee is being asked questions by the event participants. One by one they ask their questions until a boy steps up to the mic and asks, “What do I do if I don’t know what I want to do in life?” Gary asked him how old he is and he replied “I am 14 years old”.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Who has not been asked this as a child! Every time this question is asked, a child is zapped out of the present moment and transported into a future that doesn’t exist.

It makes them realize there is something else than being a child at this moment, something to work towards, something other than “now”.

Do you remember that moment for you?

I remember. I was maybe 10 or 11 and visiting my grandmother’s place. A neighbor was passing by and started to have small talk with me. And then she asked me the question, “So, Sophia, what do you want to do when you grow up?” I had not thought about this question before but I felt the pressure to give a “smart” answer. I blurted out, “Hmm, I want to be an environmental engineer.”

This story took place in the 1980s in Mumbai where, like elsewhere in the world, there’s a huge pressure for kids to do good in school and “make their parents proud”. So I said the smartest sounding thing I could think of, not even knowing what an environmental engineer does. She said, “Good, good. I knew you would want to become an engineer or a doctor.”

I never wanted to be an engineer or a doctor. And I had no intentions of becoming either even though I didn’t know what I wanted to major in college. Even when I had a major selected, I was not sure if that was the thing I wanted to do. All the way right into my early 40s I have from time to time asked myself, “Is this what I am meant to do with my life?” And each time I was not satisfied with my current output or contribution to the world.

There were days when people just did the job that their fathers did. A shopkeeper’s son would become a shopkeeper. A school teacher’s daughter would become a school teacher or a professor. And so on.

But in today’s times, changing your career path once or even multiple times is not that unusual. In fact, according to a statistic by the US Department of Labor, the average American changes careers 5-7 times during their working life. (Source: https://novoresume.com/career-blog/career-change-statistics).

I can attest to that statistic in my own path. My first job when I was a high schooler was restocking bookshelves at the local public library and then several small jobs to help during college. After I graduated from college, I worked at the ticket counter at the Natural History Museum in NYC. My first full-time job was as a tour guide at the United Nations headquarters in NY where I worked for 4 and a half years. Then again did some smaller jobs during graduate school. After I graduated, not having found a job in either of my degrees, I started a small business designing photo books. Then, I taught visualization and meditation. After that, I did freelance email marketing consulting for solopreneurs. Then I became a self-taught web designer and started my web design business. And now I am again discovering what my next phase will be all about.

Talk about career changes!

So to think that a 14-year-old should now know what he will be doing for the rest of his life is, to me, pretty insane.

Okay, of course, some were born knowing that they wanted to be a cellist already while in their mother’s womb. Or they know they want to be an athlete. Or they know singing is the only thing they want to do. If you are one of those, fine, this article may not reflect you but it will inform you about the rest of us mortals and our career struggles!

Being a child as a child

Gary Vee in his answer reminded the 14-year-old that with the progress in technology, he might live to about 150 years. And that almost everyone in this room would have wanted in their childhood to have played more, hung out some more, did more of the “childhood” things.

We look back and can see that our time as a child was precious. He then asks the kid to follow his curiosity. See what sparks his interest. What makes him jump up with joy? And he reminds him to try different things before making up his mind. To make a point, he asked his audience, “Who in the audience doesn’t like oysters?” Some hands go up. He then asks, “Of those who raised their hands, how many have not tried oysters?” Some of the hands stayed up. Gary reminded the kid to try things out before making a decision or ruling it out.

As I watched this exchange between Gary and the kid, I felt like this message was for me and a lot of us out there who are wondering about our life path.

Ambition, aspiration, goals - these are wonderful things that keep us moving forward.

And then there are times when those same ambitions, aspirations, and goals keep us stuck, suck the life force out of us, and leave us questioning and doubting ourselves; asking what we are meant to do with our lives.

So that’s the dilemma. We have aspirations and ambitions. Then we have curiosity and finding meaning or leaving a legacy. And then we have contentment. How do we navigate all of that?

I have a couple of suggestions on how to make sense of this. And I want to share two key aspects that tie all of it together.

#1. We need to let our curiosity and delight guide us.

What if you allowed yourself to try new ideas that you were curious about? Things that don’t make sense for your career progression or professional growth but simply interest you. Perhaps, something that sparks joy for the inner child within you. What if you were to take some time and go do that? To see what happens.

#2. We need to learn to be more content with our lives.
Being content doesn’t necessarily mean not having aspirations or goals or being complacent. It means being satisfied and humble about our progress so far. It means looking back and seeing how far we have come.

For instance, if my aim is to lose 15 pounds, and I check to see that I have lost 2 pounds since I started the path of becoming healthy, then I am celebrating and being happy about the progress made so far, instead of bemoaning how far I am from my ideal of losing 15 lbs.

This way of thinking is a new thinking habit. We have to wean ourselves out of the constant future-goal seeking. Yes, the future goal can be motivating and can inspire us to make changes and to take action. But it should not demolish our well-being because we realize we are so far away from achieving the ideal. Every small step is a win. Drop by drop the whole ocean is filled up.

So combining these two ingredients of curiosity and contentment, we can chart our path. Being present to the good that is already here. Being curious about where our next evolution is emerging. Allowing and receiving, observing and growing, creating and sharing.

So, how does one cultivate the art of contentment?

What I have found is that I would set a goal in my life or business. Then, work diligently to achieve it. Once I got there, I was happy for a moment. And then I set up the next goal. This cycle is exhausting, never ending and only brings a fleeting sense of joy or pleasure. Winning feels good. But it’s tiring to always be chasing that goal. And then once the goal is arrived at, I would move the goal further. Phew, I am out of breath just thinking about this.

Don’t move the goalpost and think that’s where your next source of contentment lies. That would be a lie.

This is certainly the case with earning more income. Princeton University researchers have put data behind this statement, “Money can keep buying happiness for already happy people, but among the most unhappy, the money helps stave off unhappiness only to a point.” (Source: https://behavioralpolicy.princeton.edu/news/DK_wellbeing0323) In other words, moving the income goal post higher will only solve some of the unhappiness, and then after reaching a point, its happiness-benefit declines.

I am not saying you shouldn’t aspire to earn more. No, please go ahead, and earn millions. We need more of you to become high net worth individuals and create wealth; generational wealth for our families.

Move your goalpost to get to the next level. But not to feed your contentment.

And if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. That’s okay. Follow your curiosity. Be patient. And try different things. Maybe the trying of different things is where your source of contentment resides.

How do we get out of this cycle that gets us out of breath, out of soul, and out of alignment with who we are?

Decouple contentment from aspiration.

We need to decouple our contentment from our goals and aspirations. We need to recognize what the purpose of goals is and we need to identify what the source of our contentment is. Again, that doesn’t mean letting go of the goals and aspirations. Not at all. Let me explain what I mean.

The goals and aspirations that you have about your life, business or relationships are for one purpose - helping you to determine your actions and your habits. It helps you define what you want to do to experience the fruition of your goals. So if my goal is to lose 15 lbs., this goal determines the key actions and habits that I need to develop: eating healthy and moderately, doing some walking, strength training, or cardio every day. The goals help me craft my plan of action.

However, the goals or the reaching of the goals is not where I get my contentment. Your goals are not there to feed your sense of contentment.

Your source of contentment can come from a combination of things: Gratitude is a great starting point. But if gratitude is cursory, superficial, or forced, then it will not lead you to your contentment. Add these other elements to your contentment recipe, while deepening gratitude:

1. Self-appreciation: appreciating yourself for every action step you take towards your goals.

   So taking the same example of weight loss, I appreciate myself when I do eat moderately or do go and get my 20 minutes of strength training done.

2. Humility: acknowledging that the goal is important and aspirational but you’ve already taken baby steps and are doing the best you can. This includes being patient with yourself as you make progress. Being aware that you are doing your best and have already made efforts and progress despite challenges and setbacks.

3. Enjoying the process: actually enjoying the path towards the goals.

   In my case, enjoying the movement and the experience of the machines when I do strength training. Actually enjoying what I am doing right now, right here.

4. Contextualizing Setbacks: We often look at setbacks on our path as a way of determining that we are not good enough in the thing we want to achieve. But by looking at setbacks as a status report, we can relieve the pressure and the gnawing mental pain and suffering that losing or having a setback can cause us.
   
   So if the goal is not being achieved or you’ve experienced a setback of any sort, assess it, and study it to find the meaning or the lesson within it. The setback is not to be used to define you as a “loser”. But it’s here to guide you to the changes you need to make. This is how you can turn a setback into a winning ingredient and a deepening of your self-recognition as someone who keeps going and perseveres.

5. Assessing from the past, how far you’ve come: Deriving your joy and contentment by looking back and seeing the progress made so far. I can celebrate my efforts and the progress that I have made since I began this journey. It helps me to stop comparing my present results with a future ideal. But look at the past and see how much change I have made. And this looking back is not connected with the results. I may have gained 2 pounds since I started, but I notice the changes I have made, the challenges I have overcome, and the lessons/insights I have gained. This is not about tracking results. It’s about looking at inner transformation and change within.

So we use goals to chart our course forward.
We unlink our contentment from the results.
Not postponing our joy to the future point when we think we will arrive at our goal.
We get clear about our true source of contentment.
Recognizing the joys of the process right now, enjoying the thrill of doing the work now, and experiencing the benefits of your progress now not later.

It’s a practice.
Make the click in your mind of where your true source of contentment comes from.
And then you can still pursue your goals but you experience contentment already now long before the goal materializes as your experience.



PS: If you are on LinkedIn, I invite you to ​connect with me​ there for more conversations and connections. If you want more tips and invites to trainings on how to grow your freelance online business, join the Abundant Creative Newsletter here.

One Thing I Wish I Had Done Sooner for Building My Freelance Web Design Business

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Blog #134: One Thing I Wish I Had Done Sooner for Building My Freelance Web Design Business

Fix this early on in your freelance business journey.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a manual on how to start your freelance business or side-hustle that was customized to you specifically? Like so many newbies, when I began my web design business in the Fall of 2018, that’s exactly what I was in need of.

I wished for a custom blueprint that fit my personality, my specific goals and aspiration and the exact challenges that I was facing in my business.

There was none.

I did read a few blogs of other freelancer journeys but had not fully found the answer for myself.

So trial and error was to be the path.

I made many mistakes or what I now lovingly call “learning lessons”. This is just one of them:

Learning Lesson: Build a Portfolio of Showcasing Your Skills Early

Had I resolved this sooner, I would have made faster progress in building my $100K freelance design business, a milestone that I reached at the end of 2022, four years after my very first paid web design project.

The biggest challenge in getting a new freelance business or one-person business off the ground is getting hired by clients, getting revenue into your business. As a newbie, having built some websites for friends and for my personal projects, I would be looking for a new project but had no real portfolio of work that really showed off my design skills.

There’s one thing that I had to understand about getting hired for a job vs getting hired for freelance projects:

Clients hire based not on your resume or how many degrees or where you worked previously, but a clear demonstration of your skills.

There are two ways in which you can show that you’ve got the skills:

1. You can do this through content you have online

   You can have blog articles, video tutorials or podcasts showcasing your skills, depending on your niche. For web designers, having a youtube channel with design tutorials or a series of blogs presenting your past works as case studies can be a great showcase of your skills.

2. Or you can show this through a portfolio of work.
   Having a portfolio page that has visuals or examples of your past work where potential clients can see your work is very helpful. For some niches, the actual work may not be “showcase-able” but perhaps you can do a case study of before and after of problem/solution/results.

I did both. I started a YouTube channel with tutorials and talking head videos. And I created a little showcase of my design projects.

But what got me faster results was building a portfolio.

This meant doing pro-bono design work. I built a new site for a writer’s group so that I could showcase their website as my first example.

I got my first couple of clients by showcasing just that one site. But it was only months later that I built 5 more pro-bono websites to add to my portfolio.

Doing this, did 5 things for me:

• First, I got 5 really awesome testimonials

• Second, I had 5 awesome examples to add to my portfolio of work.

• Third, I now had experience working with 5 very different people with very different businesses which boosted my confidence in working with clients.

• Four, I now was able to create a template for my project workflow that was derived directly from these five projects.

• And five, I had a better understanding of some of the common needs of clients despite different businesses and goals. It gave me the fodder I needed to eventually create my first package.

If you don’t have a body of work for which you want to get hired, go out and create a portfolio to showcase. This can apply to most side-hustles and one-person businesses offering services you want to get hired for.

As a web designer, I’d recommend building between 3 to 5 websites for your portfolio.

What about the Catch-22: “I don’t have a portfolio because I have no clients”

That is a valid argument that people have faced before. How did they solve it? In the past, newbies would become an apprentice of a master and learn under them first. In today’s world, you can still do that but you have more options.

One way to do build your portfolio if you are just starting out is to do pro-bono work for real people right from your friends and family circle. The other way is to create demo websites for made up businesses.

If you are already a designer getting hired for projects but are not yet attracting the kind of projects you really excite and inspire you or the type of clients you want to work with, you can also use the above method. In your portfolio, showcase only the type of projects you want to do in the future and leave out the rest.

In either case, add a caption below your portfolio letting your future clients know that these are example sites that showcase your skills and that they are not real client projects. No matter what you do, being integral and honest will bring you better results and let you sleep well at night.

So, get started on this as soon as you can. Building a good portfolio of a handful of sites will increase your opportunities to get hired when you finally speak to a potential client or apply of a possible project.

Once you have your portfolio done of 5 sites, add a link in the comments and let us all know!

Action Task: Build a portfolio of work showcasing the skills you want to get hired for.

You got this!

PS: If you are on LinkedIn, I invite you to ​connect with me​ there for more conversations and connections. If you want more tips and invites to trainings on how to grow your freelance online business, join the Abundant Creative Newsletter here.

133: Where Have I been + an update

Where have I been? As you may have noticed, I have not been creating any new content or been writing any emails to you for a bit.

I have been MFCCA (missing from the content creation action)!

This happened after hitting my highest rev month
Earlier this year, I hit my highest revenue month at $22K which was a celebratory milestone only until it led to a burn-out. After delivering on all the big and small web design projects, I decided I needed to slow things down before my body breaks down making it a necessity and not a choice.

So, I took a couple weeks off, did an at-home 10-day online meditation retreat and filled my calendar only with a select few projects that I enjoy working on and the clients with whom I enjoy working with.

I also decided I will go on a 10 day in-person retreat near St. Louis this Fall and spend more of my weekends relaxing, hiking (haven't gotten to this one yet! #loftygoals), reading fiction (haven't done in years: now reading ​"Hell of A Book" by Jason Mott from my home state of North Carolina​, not an affiliate link) and net-flixing (I really enjoy Saturday matinees).

That sweet spot between growing my business and figuring out what's "enough" is something I am still tweaking and figuring out, while also mixing-in spaciousness and ease into my calendar—one of my high values!

Content creation had to take a back seat.

If you joined my email newsletter during this lull, and haven't gotten to know me yet, let me introduce myself:

Hi, I am Sophia, an Indian American (first generation - lived in Mumbai till I was 14!) web designer and coach to web designers, based in the Blue Ridge Mountains, NC. I design websites on Squarespace and help other designers/freelancers build a thriving freelance business. It’s lovely to meet you. :)

And if you've been with me for a while and till here, a heartfelt thanks - thank you for coming along this journey as I figure out how to serve you better and how I can contribute meaningfully to help you reach your goals.

Now I've taken a few slower months — less clients, more reflecting and resting. I am not jumping back on the content creation wheel in full force, just yet, but you will begin to see some more action here in my newsletter and on my YouTube channel, starting with this update:

The 14 year journey
I started my freelance journey in Germany back in 2009 with a small business creating photo books for individuals and families (Quinceaneras, Nature photo collection, Father’s/Mother's Day, South Africa trip photos, photo memoirs and so on).

Now it’s 2023 where I build websites for a living. I have time freedom and make a living with my creative (plus some left-brain) talents. It’s taken 14 years to get here — at times very hard emotionally and financially. I have tons to learn still of course and have a fire for much more to create and contribute and experience. At the same time, I am feeling content with my journey so far.

Something keeps me up at night
Not literally! I can easily fall asleep anywhere, haha. But figuratively, that's true. Seeing freelancers going through the struggles that I went through settles not very well with me.

I have had this burning desire to help other designers/freelancers, be seen, get clients and grow their freelance business. That’s why in the last few years, I created the Millionaire Web Designer Coaching Program and the Empowered Communications for Web Designers Course (both programs are retired now). With these efforts, I've wanted to help freelancers solve the question of getting traction and building something for themselves on their own terms, as I myself struggled in getting a footing as a self-employed web designer in the early days.

Plus, as I learn more about building our family's net worth, I also want to share what we know about building a nest egg which is actually an expertise of Cristof, my husband who is a registered Investment Adviser and a genius in personal and business finance while being a compassionate communicator, especially when it comes to money-talks. We don't have all the answers, but we do have some solutions and can bring together others who can solve the other questions.

This is what's new
Cristof and I are working behind-the-scenes to launch a brand new video podcast which will be focused about helping freelancers both grow their business AND keep and grow what they earn for a rich nest egg for retirement.

We will share tips and strategies on become a person who brings value, finding clients, giving a red carpet experience to clients, how to manage our business finance, how to pay ourselves, how to start investing, getting out of debt and many more such topics around financial freedom.

Update: Cristof will create content on PineRidgeWealth.com and instead of doing a joint podcast, we will appear on each other’s YouTube channels whenever our topics align. So yeah, no joint podcast for now! This feels best to both of us and we are still very closely working on some collaborative articles and presentations for freelancers.

As for me, I will continue to design websites for clients and keep creating how-to videos while building this video podcast in the coming months/years. More full-fledged detail on this is coming up in the next few weeks.

Keep an eye out for...
I want to interview freelancers/designers/ anyone who has a tool or an idea to help freelancers on their journey to build a thriving business (btw, you don’t have to be a mega expert or have hit any specific revenue numbers — if you have 2 or 3 useful ideas from your own journey, let’s share it with the world, someone or the other is surely to benefit).

I will have more details on the name and the project soon but if you want to add value and share meaningfully, write me a note and let me know you are interested. We will be starting to record interviews in the last part of October so know that this won't be anything immediate like next week!

And now I want to hear from you
What “problem" or "situation” are you trying to currently solve in your freelance business? Drop me a line or comment below and let me know what resource/solution you would love me to share with you?

Kind regards,

Sophia

PS: We consider freelancers to be anyone who is working for themselves, wanting to add value to clients/audience with their skills (from web design, graphic design, marketing, virtual assistant, photographer, copywriting, consultant/coach in any niche, content creator, to an artist in any medium and so on).

Why Meditate? Many practical benefits in everyday life

Short Talk + Guided Meditation

Why I closed down my Abundance Through Imagination Project on YouTube

Yes, I am closing down Abundance Through Imagination YouTube channel and website.

In short: I've just been on a 10-day meditation retreat and many insights have come my way. This has led me to make some changes (again!). I will keep it short here but I share more on why I've come to this decision in ​my last video for this channel.​

What does this mean for you? If you enjoyed the videos on the Abundance Through Imagination channel but had hoped to watch some other videos I've made, please do so now; as I will pull down all the videos there by the end of this month.

What happens next? I have revived the old Reflection Pond channel (some of you know that was my old channel where I made videos on intentional living, mindfulness and meditation). But it has a new name: Create Uplifting Thoughts. You can find it here. Please subscribe to it, if you like. Update: It’s now called Be.Do.Have.Life and you can find it here: youtube.com/@bedohavelife

I will be creating new articles and video content focused on cultivating inner-peace through loving-kindness meditation, introspection exercises, events and programs that help us creating a calm, peaceful and uplifted mind. I will also make videos around acceptance, letting go, and generosity. You will see more on that in the coming weeks through my new content (I will send you the weekly emails like this one).

What do you need to do?
1. Nothing. If you are enjoying being on this journey with me, even as I change and transform and pivot over the course of months and years, do nothing (or subscribe to the new channel). Some of you have been with me for years and I thank you for coming along with me. I will move you to the new Create Uplifting Thoughts email list and you will continue to get weekly Thursday morning emails. You don't have to do a thing.

2. Starting next Thursday, please look out for the new emails coming from this email: hello@createupliftingthoughts.com.

Also, the old emails sophia@abundancethroughimagination.com or sophia@abundancethroughvisualization.com will no longer be in service.

3. I will talk about abundance but from a "letting go" and "acceptance of what is" point of view rather than "acquiring" and "having" point of view (​see the video​ for clarification on what I mean). Or you are welcome to stay on and see what I create next - it may be helpful to you still.

Finally, I thank you for your patience and understanding as I figure this journey out. My intention through these changes is: to help you create greater inner-peace and calm in your life and to understand the workings of the mind through meditation and introspection to create a life free from stress, anxiety and worry and eventually, ultimate freedom from suffering.

As always, feel free to email me here. I read and respond to every email you send me.

Peace, Sophia

New Name — Why I’m Naming It Abundance through Imagination?

Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve seen a message like this before — “I’m changing the name of my website and YouTube channel!”. Now it’s happening again!

Lately, I have been going through many realizations and as I learn more, I am applying that understanding to my website and business, even at the risk of seeming to change my mind too often. But if I am not applying insights gained from new understanding, then the learning is not being put to use. It just stagnates as information or knowledge but not applied wisdom, right?

And so here it is…I am changing the name of my website and YouTube channel.

It’s now going to be called: Abundance Through Imagination

New website name: www.abundancethroughimagination.com
New YouTube channel name: https://youtube.com/@abundancethroughimagination

Back Story
Over the last six months, the site has gone through many name changes. Back in 2010, we first began with “Reflection Pond”. The focus then was all about mindfulness, creative visualization and sharing of Buddha’s teachings as we (my husband and I) understood it.

Then in the fall of 2022, I decided to pivot and focus more on visualization. So the official name became “Queen of Visualization”. Soon I realized that this name put unintentional focus on me as the self-proclaimed Queen of Visualization when what I really wanted to convey was that we are each our own “royal” of our own world. That’s when I moved on to “Abundance through Visualization” because it expressed two important things:

1. the goal of the website = creating abundance and
2. the tool for achieving it = visualization methods.

Now we are in spring of 2023 and I have yet another realization which compels me to change the name to “Abundance through Imagination”.

Why the Change from Visualization to Imagination?
In the last few months, I have been deeply studying the work of Neville Goddard, especially through the mastermind I joined that’s run by Niclas of UpgradetoLife.com and some things have become clear to me.

When it comes to creating real changes in our lives, we have to become the person we want to become now and then our actions and our outer world changes out of that transformation. It’s about assuming the person we want to become first. And for that we have to experience what it feels like to be that person. We need to experience in our mind’s eye what it is like if our desires were already a reality. We enter and embody the feeling of that new person here and now.

To do all of that we rely on the power of our imagination.

And yes, through our imagination we can visualize. But visualization is a term that reflects only one aspect of the process. Although I have used the word “visualization” to be an umbrella-term for all our senses, one doesn’t infer that same meaning just by seeing the word. Visualization itself means using the sense of vision or our eyes to “see” things. But imagination goes beyond visualization. It’s using all our senses. We can use our imagination to hear, smell and even feel the touch of something. We can use our imagination to see things but also rely on our sixth sense to simply get a feeling. Imagination is so much more all-encompassing than visualization.

That’s why I felt compelled to change the name. And it feels right.

I am glad I have the ability to apply what I am learning and not shy away from making changes even if from the outside it may seem I am not settling on one thing, being restless or changing my mind too often. I guess those are simply my fears of how I will be perceived. But I am not letting those fears get in the way! And I know that if you are reading this and are on my email list, you will perceive this change kindly and be curious of what it all entails.

I invite you to explore the significance of the new name on your own manifestation journey as well as remind yourself that you have the permission to change your mind based on new information!

I’d like to take this moment to thank you for reading my blogs, watching my videos and being on my email list. To another new start!

Peace,

Sophia

Film Sachertorte and the Law of Assumption — Application for Love & Romance

Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass

I share with you a beautiful message in the 2022 film, Sachertorte, a romantic comedy. It carries some real messages about applying the Law of Assumption in our every day lives.

In this live, I explore the idea of “being loyal to your vision” and how to live in flow and reception of life based on the love story in this German-Austrian film. If you are imaging being in a relationship or even if you already have a significant other, this session is a fun one.

I extrapolate the message as it applies not only for romance but it has implications for life in general. Watch this fun conversation about applying the law of assumption to romance.

Peace,
Sophia

How Neville helped a friend find his lost piano using an imaginal act — Neville Goddard Success Story

Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass

Neville Goddard - author, speaker and some call him a modern mystic shares many “success” stories of how he used the law of assumption to create results in his life and those shared by his students.

This is the story of how he helped a friend get back a piano that was lost after he sent it in for repairs.

He got the piano delivered back using an imaginal act, without lifting a finger!

Peace,
Sophia

Without lifting a finger, he got out in 9 days using his mind — Neville Goddard Success Story

Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass

Neville Goddard - author, speaker and some call him a modern mystic shares many “success” stories of how he used the law of assumption to create results in his life and those shared by his students.

This is the story of how he was drafted in the US military during the Second World War but he wanted to be back with his wife and daughter who was not even a year old.

He got out in 9 days without lifting a finger.

Today, I am super excited to share about how Neville Goddard applied the law of assumption in his own life.

Watch my first YouTube Live to get the deets on Neville’s own success story.

Peace,
Sophia

Are we ill-equipped to deal with life?

Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass

Often I’ve wondered about this while pondering about our world.

Why are so many people suffering? Why are they experiencing all kinds of misery? Why does life bring us into this world of suffering, at all?

This line of thinking inevitably leads to feelings of sadness for the state of the world. And thus, I too, slip into a form of suffering - a suffering that comes from seeing others in pain and misery.

Then, I saw an interview of Jenifer Lopez by Oprah as part of Oprah’s 2020 Vision Tour Visionaries. In this interview, J Lo was describing how she feels that life is just beginning at 50 while Oprah accentuates the point that life doesn’t even begin to get good until we are in the 40’s and 50’s.

I get the good intention of that statement - it’s about reminding us that things are still good and will get better when we turn 40 or 50.

But why do people have to go through years and years of being lost and struggling till they get to the “good part”. Why “waste” 40 or 50 years before we get to realizations and insights and begin to enjoy life? (Nothing is a waste, I am using that word to exaggerate the point only!)

So while all this pondering and wondering was going on, I listened to a lecture by Neville Goddard. In it, he was talking about our human capability to imagine. He said that we don’t ever have to create our imagination; it’s always with us. We may not be good at using imagination. We may not yet have mastered the art of imagination. But we don’t have to invent it. It’s already something we know how to do.

That’s when it clicked:

We are already birthed into this world with all that we need. We are already given the tools to navigate this life.

I used to wonder why we are so ill-equipped to deal with this life. It seems like everyone is going through some version of emotional, physical or mental hurdles. But I realized that it’s not that we are ill-equipped; we are unaware of all that which we are equipped with. In fact, not only are we well-equipped to deal with this life, we have the best tools already within us.

If you know the movie, The Matrix - there’s a scene where Neo, the protagonist needs to fly a helicopter but doesn’t know how. He calls up control room and asks for the helicopter flying program to be uploaded to his mind. Then instantly he knows how to fly the helicopter!

I think that’s how it is for us. We already have the program we need. We just didn’t know.

The two tools that we are equipped with:
1. Awareness
2. Our Creative Imagination

We just need to use our creative imagination and we need to begin applying our awareness to life.

We have it all!

Peace,
Sophia

How I went from $32K to $100K in one year using simple mindset shifts | Neville Goddard + Florence Scovel Shinn

Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass

Money mindset shifts are powerful. I used simple shifts to triple my business revenue in just one year. And I did that not by changing the marketing, the website, content creation or such things in the external world. What I did change was my internal world.

These are simple practices that I have learnt from Denise Duffield Thomas, Rachel Rodgers, Neville Goddard, Florence Scovel Shin, Wallace Wattles and others.

Today, I am super excited to share these simple yet powerful practices with you so you can get results too!

1. A little background of my biz journey

2. A moment of real low that helped bring about a big shift in me

3. Actual results in numbers

4. 10 practical money mindset shifts 

5. My assignment for you 

6. True abundance & how all this applies to you individually

Watch this YouTube Live to get all the juicy details including insights, anecdotes and actual revenue numbers. Plus, I have a free gift that I share about in the video that you can download.

Peace,
Sophia

Congratulations Scene: Manifestation Method of Neville Goddard

Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass

Today, I am super excited to share about this Neville Goddard method that helps you create results in 3 seconds.

1. What is the Congratulations Method

2. What it is not

3. How I first began using it and my first success

4. How I am currently using it for my next goals

5. Tips on using this method successfully 

6. 4 examples of how you can apply it in your life

Watch my first YouTube Live to get all the juicy details about this method.

Peace,
Sophia

How to get guidance from your future self | Visualization

Written by Sophia / Abundance Through Imagination
I help you create abundance in your life using the law of assumption and Neville Goddard teachings.
About | Contact | YouTube | Free Masterclass

In this visualization, I guide you through a visual journey so you can meet your future self. Ask questions about a particular problem you are facing right now or insight about your next step.

132: Designing an Online Summit Landing Page on Squarespace

Squarespace has versatility in its uses. Recently, I designed a summit landing page for a client on his existing Squarespace website. In this video, I walk you through the site and share some tips on how to design a summit landing page.

Click the image below to play video:

I designed a summit landing page on Squarespace. Here’s a walkthrough of the sections.

See these resources mentioned in the video:

Summit landing page: https://www.mindfulfx.de/eathon
Blog + Video 131: How to link main navigation to a section on page (anchor links on Squarespace)
https://www.sophiaojha.com/blog/131-link-main-navigation-to-section-on-the-page-anchor-links-on-squarespace

Your Turn:

What question do you have right now about Squarespace or email marketing or any of the apps out there for online business that you are using. I might answer it in an upcoming video/blog tutorial.

Cheers to you and your abundant creativity,
🦄🦄🦄 Sophia

131: How to link main navigation to section on the page (anchor links on Squarespace)

The main navigation of your website are usually pages. But in some cases you might want to link to a section on your page instead of a separate page. For example, you might want to have a link that goes to an about page or the contact page as I have done on my client’s site here: https://www.paperplanevideo.com . Or you might want a link that jumps straight to a section of you page to help returning visitors cut to the chase, so to speak, like here on my client site https://www.dogswelcome.net where the search button in the top navigation jumps to the filter section.

In the video below, I show you two different ways of achieving this feature. Also watch toward the end because to make the links work from all pages on your site, there’s a little tweak that’s important.

Click the image below to play video:

Anchor Links on Squarespace

Also see two more blogs on anchor links:

078: How to add anchor links within blog posts
077: How to present a collection of pages using anchor links

Your Turn:

What question do you have right now about Squarespace or email marketing or any of the apps out there for online business that you are using. I might answer it in an upcoming video/blog tutorial.

Cheers to you and your abundant creativity,
🦄🦄🦄 Sophia

130: New Artist Website with Shop on Squarespace 7.1 for Stephanie Ruble

Update: This site no longer active shows my design. From time to time clients will move on to other platforms or even shut down their business. This is such a case where my original design is no longer visible on this client site. That happens. And it’s okay. I am leaving this blog post for SEO and to give you ideas and as a record of my work!

Type of Project: New Website Build - Website In A Day + bonus 2nd day
Client Site: www.sruble.com
Platform: Squarespace 7.1
Niche: Art & Design
Location: Delaware, USA

Color Scheme:
The colors palette includes the blue from the logo for accents and highlights and bright orange for links and navigation.
White: #fff
Black: #000
Green: #3aa251
Blue: #2c71b6
Orange: #ff9933
Purple: #794f99

Fonts Used:
Headings: Acumin Pro
Paragraph: Poppins
Miscellaneous: Poppins

Fresh off the website oven! Last week, I was on a two day project to create an artist website for Stephanie Ruble. The project was over Monday, Tuesday and because of some unexpected scenarios, I needed an extra day to complete the project. Through it all, Stephanie, was calm and composed and readily supplied any new materials or info I needed for the project.

Usually, I tell my clients that we have only three main checkpoints on any day we work together. But on this project, we had multiple email threads to get some things taken care of and my client was very attentive to my requests responding in light speed throughout the two days of our project. The main issue was the size of the images and renaming all of them. This is an important point to consider if you are designing an image heavy site to make sure the site does load fast despite lots of images: ask for both jpegs and pngs of the artwork and ask for both the original and small sizes. There are a lot of tips around image prep that I can possibly put into a separate blog post. But for now, suffice to say, that we have a lovely site with fun, creative artwork in different categories that showcases Stephanie’s versatile artistic skills.

The site showcases a home, about, commissions, portfolio and a shop with three products. My client has already begun adding new elements and started a blog. This is always a good sign telling me that my handover Squarespace training was good enough to build confidence in my clients to start working on their site and developing it further.

This was a Website In A Day + Bonus Day project built on Squarespace 7.1 with the new Fluid Engine.

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Trivia: Stephanie’s artwork is fun and creative. I enjoyed so much working with her art on the website. A lot of her work is adorable but the frog in the pond is my absolute favorite. While Stephanie has illustrated children’s books, she has a vast skill set including creating fun patterns. And oh, she loves cows (her about page bio will make this obvious!).

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Kind Words from the Client :

“Sophia was wonderful to work with and went above and beyond to make my site come to life. She patiently answered all my questions, found solutions for the complicated things I requested, and came up with a design idea I absolutely love.” ⏤ Stephanie Ruble, sruble.com

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Here you can see the frog that I love so much.

Your Turn:

What’s something amazing you’ve noticed about your clients while working with them on their websites? Let me know in the comments.

Cheers to you and your abundant creativity,
🦄🦄🦄 Sophia

129: 15 Ways I Use Zoom to Run My Web Design Business

There was a time back in 2018-2019 when I was running my live Squarespace Fundamentals workshops, that I had to explain to my participants what Zoom was. Once they registered, I would send them links to tutorials on how to download Zoom and how to troubleshoot if it was not working. Plus, I would ask them to come 15 minutes early so I could help them with any technical difficulties on Zoom.

Fast-forward to 2022, thanks to the pandemic, Zoom has become a household name and there’s even a Zoom-fatigue that folks are experiencing through too much use of the app for communications.

Still, I use Zoom several times a week and on my consult call days, several times a day. It has made communication with my students and clients real easy. And so I thought I would round-up the many different ways I use Zoom to run my web design business.

1| 30 min Complimentary Client Calls

The first touch point with a new potential client is a complimentary 30 minute call over Zoom. In this call, I get to learn about the client’s needs and also share about my design workflow and packages. It’s a real conversation where the client gets to ask any question about the process and prep involved in building a new website.

2| 60 min Design Consult Hour - Day 1 of all of my design projects

This is an hour filled with in-depth review of all the content the client has put together as well as the time for us to get on the same page in terms of the visual aesthetic of the website I am building. We look at several example sites and discuss both design and functionality needs. This is one of my favorite parts of the design process as it is truly collaborative and I really get to feel into what the client is envisioning for their new site.

3| 10 min Design feedback during the course of the project
These are quick check-ins that I do with my client during the course of a project - whether it’s a two week project or a Website In A Day project, a 10 minute touch base makes communication flow much faster than several email threads.

4| 45-60 min Design Training + Website handover call
This is the magical end of the project call where I go over the final design of the site, do a live training of the Squarespace platform and officially handover the website to the client. This is when the final oohs and aahs are released and I see a wave of satisfaction on my client’s faces, which is truly fulfilling.

5| 90 min Squarespace 1 to 1 Training
Clients can hire me for a one-to-one training where I can give a custom training on using Squarespace. This training is super unique each time as each client will have different needs and are stuck at different parts of the website building process.

6| 60-90 min Paid Client Consult Calls
These are more of a strategy call that client can hire me for. They are dedicated for return clients who want to touch base about a new task or want to brainstorm a new product or strategy for their online presence.

7 | 90 min Squarespace Fundamentals Workshop
This is my 90 min live workshop for Squarespace beginners or those who want to refresh their knowledge of Squarespace. We go over the foundations such as creating new pages, adding galleries and links and so son.

8| 60 min Webinars for launching my courses and coaching program
I have done several webinars over the years for various courses and coaching program that have offered to my email list. I enjoy doing webinars very much and Zoom has been a reliable platform for that.

9| 60 min Coaching call for my MWD students
These are my weekly calls I do for coaching my students in my coaching program. And Zoom is my go to choice.

10| 90 min course delivery calls during live cohort for my course
When I deliver my course live, I use Zoom. These 90 minute sessions are perfect for screenshare where I teach a certain topic inside my course. Live courses are quite more fun than a pre-recorded course I think for my students as they can ask questions and see each other through out the program.

11| Personalized Assessment Delivery for my MWD students
Inside my coaching program I (or my team) make video assessments of any asset that my students submit. This way each student gets personalized feedback on everything they create as part of the coaching program. I use Zoom to record these as I can make the recording easily available to my students (instead of downloading and then uploading large video files separately).

12| Website Walkthrough Videos
Rare but once in a while walking through my first draft of the website if client is not available for a live call (often use Loom instead). I like making a video instead of sending an email because the client can see the site and hear my voice and understand the reasons behind my design choices. I highly recommend making a video if you cannot show the client the site in a live screenshare call.

13| Interviewing new hires for graphic design or team
Of course, for interviewing new hires, Zoom is my go-to tool.

14| Interviews for my YouTube Show (coming this fall)
I will be using Zoom for doing interviews for my new YouTube Show that’s coming this fall. I am researching other broadcasting apps so this is likely going to change but for now, Zoom it is.

15| Talks with my Business Mastermind Buddy
Since 2015, I have been chatting monthly or sometimes several times a month with my business mastermind buddy. We share a Zoom link with each other and it helps us keep in touch and share our learnings with each other with ease.

Things in the tech world are always changing and developing rapidly. But so far I am happy with Zoom. This app has become an important part of my business and writing this list makes it even more clear how much I rely on this one app for so many different aspects of running my web design business.

To your success,

Sophia

Your Turn:

For which of these 15 things do you use Zoom for? Do you have other apps that you have found more useful? Let me know in the comments.

Cheers to you and your abundant creativity,
🦄🦄🦄 Sophia

Note: There may be affiliate or paid links on this post and/or other pages throughout this website.

128: New Website for Dog-Friendly Vacation Rental Listing on Squarespace 7.1

Type of Project: New Website Build - Website In A Day + hybrid
Client Site: www.dogs-welcome.net
Platform: Squarespace 7.1
Niche: Travel - Vacation Rental Directory
Location: Northeast USA

Color Scheme:
The colors palette includes the blue from the logo for accents and highlights and bright orange for links and navigation.
White: #fff
Black: #000
deep Blue: #152982
light blue: #dae8f7
Beige/Brown: #dd9159

Fonts Used:
Headings: Cormorant Garamond
Paragraph: Adelle Sans
Miscellaneous: Adelle Sans

A few weeks ago, I got an opportunity to serve dogs through my web design service. Actually, I got to serve travelers who want to bring their dogs along wherever they go. Sara Sokol who owns a vacation rental herself and is an accomplished dog trainer herself, got the idea of creating a resource for people who want to travel but are heart-broken when they leave their dogs with friends or at a kennel. They would rather travel along with their furry companions. Thus, Dogs Welcome was born - a directory of North American vacation rentals that welcome dogs on their property. She asked me to create a website that includes a directory of vacation rentals that welcome dogs (and cats) along with their human companions.

The color scheme for the site was derived from the logo which was created by Garry Atkinson. Garry is not only a graphic designer but also a Squarespace web designer and you can contact him here for your graphic and web design needs: https://www.texplora.media/

The creation of the directory itself was quite a technical process and I used two different plugins (pre-designed code) to make it happen. My client was a delight to work with and we had a few outbursts of laughter (especially when co-creating the fun lines of moving text at the bottom of the home page). How can you not when you are writing about Sarah Jessica Barker and Dumbledog!

This was a unique project (was outside of any of my packages) on Squarespace 7.1 with the new Fluid Engine.

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Trivia: My client Sara is the owner of Mr. Dog Training, a positive reinforcement dog training facility that has been voted best dog trainer in Maine for the past seven years!

And she has authored all of Coastal Humane Society’s behavior handouts, training class descriptions, and their “Caring for Your Newly Adopted Dog” packet. Her wealth of experience and love for the furry ones is truly admirable.

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Kind Words from the Client:

“Perfection! One of the best decisions I've made was hiring Sophia for my project. Sophia is easy to work with, beyond helpful, supportive, and fun. I look forward to having a chance to work with her again!” ⏤ Sara Sokol, Dogs Welcome

Your Turn:

What’s something amazing you’ve noticed about your clients while working with them on their websites? Let me know in the comments.

Cheers to you and your abundant creativity,
🦄🦄🦄 Sophia

127: Website In A Day - Video Production Company Website on Squarespace 7.1

Type of Project: New Website Build - Website In A Day
Client Site: www.paperplanevideo.com
Platform: Squarespace 7.1
Niche: Art & Design: Video Production Company
Location: NYC, USA

Color Scheme:
The colors palette includes the blue from the logo for accents and highlights and bright orange for links and navigation.
White: #fff
Black: #000
Light Beige/Neutral: #F5F3EB
Blue: #1498D5
Orange: #D55114

Fonts Used:
Headings: Europa
Paragraph: Proxima Nova
Miscellaneous: Proxima Nova

In early September, I had the chance to create a website for a video production company run by Christopher Nuut of NYC.
It included a Squarespace 7.1 walkthrough training (recorded) and moving the domain from his old 7.0 site to the new one. This project involved a lot of gifs, multiple video embeds for the portfolio as well as a full-bleed video on the home page banner. Although the Website In A Day package includes 3 pages, I built only two pages (Home and Social Media Ads) as each page contained multiple sections (9 and 7 respectively). Christopher was able to use those two pages as templates and went on to build some more pages on his own. He was super easy to work with because of his prompt response and availability throughout the day and sending all the visual assets and web copy well in advance of the project start date. And by the way, his videography is truly outstanding and makes this website shine.

This was a Website In A Day Project built on Squarespace 7.1 with the new Fluid Engines.

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Trivia: Christopher’s videography is really outstanding and after the site was built I went on to watch a lot of his example videos on the home page and the Social Media Ads page. When I get a video made about my business down the road, I hope I can get Christopher to create one for me!

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Kind Words from the Client :

“Sophia is very friendly, professional, and talented. She worked with me to understand exactly what I wanted beforehand, and provided a new website in just one day.” ⏤ Christopher Nuut, Paper Plane Video

Your Turn:

What’s something amazing you’ve noticed about your clients while working with them on their websites? Let me know in the comments.

Cheers to you and your abundant creativity,
🦄🦄🦄 Sophia