We frequently receive emails from aspiring calligraphers looking for advice on where & how to get started with their calligraphy business. When I started Laura Hooper Calligraphy over 15 years ago, it consisted of a LOT of googling for useful information, trial and error and just figuring out what worked and what didn’t.
Luckily for today’s creatives, there are many options to help you get your business off the ground in those difficult, early stages of business development. Below are some of our favorite resources to consider:}
Patreon
Over the past few months we have been housing our calligraphy tutorials, skill & project-based videos, and business tips exclusively on Patreon. We post new content 3-4 times a month and share all the resources needed for each project. This space allows for a more direct line of communication between us, where we can take requests for content in order to best serve our Patrons and their current calligraphy needs. Patrons even have the option to join at a level where you get monthly virtual office hours and critique submissions. Since we’ve joined we’ve helped our Patrons at this level with logo design, photo staging, envelope layouts, business advice, technique tweaks via video chat and more!
Private VIP Virtual Sessions
Private virtual session(s) with Laura to review any course homework or discuss any personalized questions you have regarding calligraphy technique, calligraphy as a business, social media for your business, etc. These are catered to you and your specific needs.
Modern Calligraphy Summit 1.0 & 2.0
Modern Calligraphy Summit is an all online calligraphy & lettering experience created by Ashley Kelley. We were instructors in MCS 1.0 and can tell you first hand that the value in these courses is well worth the investment. Both versions (1.0 & 2.0) of the summit offer outstanding online courses touching on a variety of topics {envelope layouts, beginner calligraphy, developing your own style, classic Copperplate, digitizing your work, watercolor lettering, floral embellishments, marker lettering, invitation design start to finish, and so much more}, but the aspect that makes the investment 110% worth it in my opinion is the private Facebook group where over 3,000 peers share resources, knowledge and other invaluable information. Even if you don’t care about any of the classes, which is silly, we all have something to learn!, the FB group is worth it alone.
Modern Calligraphy Summit Business Bootcamp
An extension of the MCS brand, the business bootcamp is a 6-week online course that walks you through the basics of getting your business up and running. Week 1 covers setting up legally, weeks 2-5 cover day-to-day operations such as setting up your workspace, pricing, scheduling, finding and working with clients, growing your business & more, and the final week talks about printing, which even if you don’t plan to do printing personally, it is still really helpful to understand the process for when you are creating your files or looking for a printer to work with on your client projects. There are also four live Q&A sessions for direct contact with the instructors to get your questions answered.
The Calligrapher’s Business Handbook
This handbook by Molly Suber Thorpe is a fantastic resource for those looking to garner seasoned information regarding pricing and policies for calligraphy and lettering.
The Contract Shop
If you want to be sure you are getting started on the right foot with client agreements, you might consider the contract templates offered in Christina’s shop. Christina has worked with many creatives and developed this contract shop specifically to address the needs of creative businesses. We talked about the Contract Shop in last weeks post so definitely check it out!
Being Boss & Pursuit with Purpose
These are some of our favorite creative entrepreneur podcasts. They validate the hardships of owning and pursuing your own business as well as the much needed encouragement and insight to keep going. Highly recommend listening to these while working on calligraphy envelopes.
Personalized Consulting
If you are looking for advice in specific areas or would like to have direct contact with us to address the questions for your business, email us at hello@lhcalligraphy.com. We offer personalized consulting and would be happy to share our knowledge and expertise with you!
Lastly, remember that great things take time. It is so easy to look at everything you have to do to get where you need to be and become paralyzed by it all. Take it one step at a time, give yourself a lot of grace and remember you aren’t alone with feelings of inadequacy and fears of not “making it”. Keep going, keep creating!
