We were lucky to catch up with Madeline Wiggins recently and have shared our conversation below.

Madeline, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today The first dollar you earn in a new endeavor is always special. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client that wasn’t a friend or family.

My first client as a freelancer was a friend’s wedding photographer who was looking for a virtual assistant to help with creative tasks during the pandemic. I wanted to be doing graphic design but didn’t have a lot of room to be picky about what types of work I took on. She was willing to pay a pretty low hourly rate, but I needed the money and wanted experience working with entrepreneurs. I’m so glad I worked with her, and continued to for a couple of years, because she helped me carve out a niche in doing branding and web design for wedding professionals. A few years later, she came to me as a branding client and hired me to do her rebrand and web design. She connected me with lots of other wedding photographers and entrepreneurs, as well as recommending me to industry friends, and these people have all played a role in helping me build the career I have today.

Madeline, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a freelance graphic designer and the mission of my design business is to elevate authentic small business owners through bespoke branding + web design. I offer brand strategy and identity for small businesses as well as custom web design through Showit and Squarespace. My client base is primarily made up of small business owners in the services and wedding industries, so I work with a lot of photographers, videographers, hairdressers, florists, event planners, caterers, and makeup artists. I love to work with other creative business owners and help them level up their businesses through strategic and beautiful branding and custom websites.

I really cherish the ability to make a real and lasting impact on the business owners that I work with. Most of my clients are solo entrepreneurs or run very small teams, so a rebrand or website can really change the game for their business, helping them clarify their target audience and their message while also helping them get seen and attract their dream clients. Having that clarity, the basis of an aligned brand and web experience, and the tools that I provide empowers my clients to show up confidently in their business and resonates with their audiences.

I don’t take any formulas or shortcuts to my approach with brand strategy or web design. With every project I take on, I go in depth uncovering the business’ goals and challenges, and every brand and website is completely custom and original. I have a sincere passion for creating beautiful work that creates results for my clients.

Most of my clients are suffering an “identity crisis” when it comes to branding, or have tried to DIY their branding and websites but don’t have the time or energy to put into this huge part of their business. They often can’t verbalize what their vision for their brand is, I think it’s my superpower to step in and bring clarity, strategy, and life to their brand, bringing their vision to life. I also take this huge weight off their shoulders and bring in an expert eye to their brand and website experience, freeing up time for them to spend doing what they’re passionate about, and that is an empowering thing.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I started out doing graphic design as a side hustle in college, so I had a lot of experience with the world of freelancing before I even technically got into the workforce. I graduated college in the spring of 2020 and moved to an incredibly competitive and corporate city (San Francisco) during a time when finding work was extremely difficult. I decided to work freelance part time while applying for jobs part time. I applied to tons of jobs for almost six months, and a few months in I took on some ongoing freelance work as a virtual assistant. I was then approached by a budding marketing agency to do contract work for their clients, but it was only when I got a THIRD gig doing one branding project a month for a branding studio that I decided it was safe to quit my job search.

What truly convinced me to stop applying for jobs was when I sent in an application to an outdoor/sports company for a junior graphic designer position. The job description explained that the entirety of this job would be designing packaging for bike helmets. BIKE HELMETS. Nothing could possibly sound more boring to me, but I found myself BEGGING for this job in a cover letter. I checked in with myself and realized I had to stop with this job search and that I was more suited to the freelance life.

I continued on freelancing part time while babysitting part time, and eventually I finished babysitting and began to focus on my freelance career full time. I still wasn’t doing 100% of what I wanted to be doing — I said yes to a lot of hourly work and things that were outside of my actual passion. But I needed money and I appreciate that work for building up a diverse array of experiences, so I have no regrets! It was a huge milestone for me when, one by one, I was able to quit all of those hourly gigs and commit solely to my OWN business.

I remember rewording all of the copy on my website to speak to my current client base of creative small business owners, instead of corporate businesses I wanted to hire me as an entry-level designer. It was so empowering to speak to an audience of my own dream clients who were lining up to hire me for my services, instead of begging for a hiring manager to hire me for a job I didn’t even really want. Since going completely full time with my own business, it’s been almost two years and I have kept a steady client flow with dream clients and businesses that I’m honored to serve, and I love what I do every day.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

I am super active on Instagram because it’s where most of my clients spend their time. Not only has being present on Instagram been effective for my marketing efforts, it also allows me to see my clients’ day to day lives and keep up with all of the big and small things that happen in their businesses.

After finishing someone’s branding and web design project, I love to see how they implement it in their social media presence and beyond, giving them any guidance and cheering them on in their business milestones and wins.

I also find that, because MY personal brand is very entangled with me (because I’m a solo entrepreneur and I essentially AM my brand), that showing up authentically as myself and sharing more of my life fosters deeper connections with my clients and grows brand loyalty. A lot of my clients become my friends as we keep up with each other’s lives and root for each other inside and outside of business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://madelinewiggins.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madelinewiggins.co/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madelinejwiggins/