Introducing Hang Your Shingle Studio
HANG YOUR SHINGLE STUDIO
Start a new chapter in your story.
Let’s Work Together
About ten years ago, I heard someone ask the question, “What are you working on when you find you’ve lost track of time because you’re so in flow?” I immediately thought of the websites I had been designing during my free time, when I wasn’t teaching at Caltech or running Writing Workshops Los Angeles. I liked both of those jobs—they helped me learn how to help writers of all stripes—but something about the design element of building websites brought me so much joy and satisfaction.
Since then, I've designed websites to accompany publications from Simon & Schuster, Pantheon, DC Comics, Random House, Hachette Book Group, Counterpoint Press, W.W. Norton, Flatiron Books, Hogarth, and more. The authors were always embarking on the next stage of their career: a new project, a new publication, a newfound desire or reason to promote their work. Then I also designed some websites for small business owners at a similar stage in their development.
I found that I loved working with people on the cusp of making a positive change, moving forward, taking a risk.
At the same time, once I stopped teaching after many years, I started expanding my coaching business. I always enjoyed one-on-one meetings with my students, and now I was able to meet with creative professionals who were writing books, growing their own businesses, querying agents, and generally looking to up their game.
Back when I launched my website business, a friend helped me promote it on social media and told her followers that I had “hung out my shingle,” a wonderfully old-timey phrase that I’ve thought about ever since. I realized that through the websites I was designing, I had been helping other people hang their shingles—the beautifully ornate signs outside a store or other venture that announce “we are in business!” I wanted to combine my enjoyment of website building with my love of coaching people while they start the next chapter of their story—and Hang Your Shingle Studio was born. (Follow the Hang Your Shingle Instagram to enjoy some of the shingles I find around Paris and learn about the latest developments.)
The Hang Your Shingle package below takes you through four stages: coaching to firm up your ideas for what’s next, branding to nail down the visuals and copy that will help distinguish you from the crowd, website design to hang your shingle, and consulting to help you promote your new chapter through newsletters, social media, ads, and more.
I currently have four open spots for Hang Your Shingle Studio beta testers. If you get in touch in time to claim one of the spots, you can get $200 off the total price. Also, feel free to reach out to me for coaching, branding/marketing consultation, or website design à la carte. I want to help you start a new chapter in your story!
How We’ll Work Together
Coaching (usually two hours)
We will discuss what you hope to achieve from this new venture, including questions around why you’re doing this now, with whom you would most like to work, what unites the services you’d like to offer, and more. We will emerge with enough clarity to move to the next step.
Branding consultation (two hours)
We will meet twice for an hour to discuss how we're going to present your brand. In the first meeting, we will brainstorm copy and visuals and general strategy. In the second meeting, I'll come with more concrete suggestions like possible logos (if appropriate), a palette, a landing page prototype, or other assets for us to discuss.
Website design & build (two to four weeks)
Once I have the materials I'd need from you, I'll build the website (process described below), which usually takes two to four weeks.
Marketing consultation (two hours)
Once the website is built, we will meet twice for an hour (or once for two hours, whatever seems best) to discuss strategy to share your work with the world (my logline :-). We can go over possibilities for social media, newsletter content, ads, networking, etc.
