Crafting a business - Brand and Web Designer Salma Sheriff
About this episode…
Crafting a business - Brand and Web Designer Salma Sheriff
Salma made her first $3 online by selling a digital planner on Etsy. As she worked to grow that product-based business, Salma fell in love with design and began developing her skills. In time, she built a portfolio and a second, service-based business.
Salma chats to Steve about setting up processes, staying organised, and using content and social media to demonstrate expertise and bring clients to you.
Read highlights from the episode in the next tab.
Having clients reach out to you
Salma was blogging and selling products on Etsy when she decided to begin developing her design skills.
She got to work learning and building her network and, soon after, Salma found clients via the Facebook Groups she’d joined to meet people.
And as Salma’s experience and confidence grew, she found other ways to meet clients.
“Instead of just waiting in Facebook Groups to find clients, I started creating content that speaks to my potential clients. I went from waiting behind the line and just replying, to positioning myself as an expert and having clients reach out to me.
“I’ve learned along the way, and during that period of blogging and selling my products, I learned so much about how important branding is, how important an online presence is.“
One of Salma’s best moves, she says, was creating her own website.
“I would definitely say that having a website has helped me because when I look back and compare where I was before to now... My clients get on a call with me and they say, 'Salma I had a look at your website. I'm very much happy to move forward with you. How do I get started?'“
Making friends and finding community
A big priority for Salma is community — she enjoys being connected to like-minded people online, where they talk about business and other common interests.
“I'm so grateful for all of my online friends that I've made along the way, learning and growing along with them has been an absolute pleasure.
“Having people around you who are in the same phase as you are, or someone who is already where you want to be — that is where I love to be and where I love to hang out.”
Learning to delegate for better balance
Salma says that health is now her number one priority.
“I need to start concentrating on the little things and focus on self-care and health, because only if you are well enough will you be able to support your family — and also your clients, for that matter.
“I've realized that I need to start delegating tasks so that I can also have time for myself. To take good care of myself and make sure that my clients are being served as well.”
“Just keep going and follow your heart."
“It’s not an easy ride. You will face difficulties, like finding clients or even managing clients, or shifting your business ideas and growing from there. But all you need to know is not to quit. Just keep going and follow your heart.”
Salma Sheriff, Freelance Brand and Web Designer
More from Salma Sheriff
Transcript of the Being Freelance podcast with Steve Folland and freelance brand and web designer Salma Sheriff
Steve Folland: We're heading to India and chatting to brand and web designer Salma Sheriff, hey Salma.
Salma Sheriff: Steve, thanks so much for having me.
Steve Folland: Thank you. As ever. How about we get started hearing how you got started being freelance?
Salma Sheriff: So I would say it was right about when I was in my post-graduation and I was always fascinated with everything art and crafts and especially crochet. I wanted to do something of my own and I've always wanted to have a business of my own. So while I was in my computer lab doing the lab work and my post-graduation, I thought, okay, why not start blogging about it? So right during my class, during my project, I started a blog platform. You have those free blogspot.com sites from Google, right? So I created that. I named it Craftedise, crafting and paradise together, and I started my first post, how to DIY like a table mat or something like that. And slowly and steadily as I was doing my post-graduation, I also was, you know, like from time to time posting about it and blogging about it.
Salma Sheriff: And then now this passion turned into a business idea and I was super good at crochet. And someone had looked into my work and said, okay, so now why not do something for me? Because I used to do it for myself, for my family. And I started selling crochet products only for my friends. And then I started selling it online as well. So I had been doing this for three years, so blogging plus crochet. But during that time I researched on how can I start selling this internationally? And that's when I came across Etsy platform. So at that time it was like pretty new to someone from India. So I researched all about it, like everything about, you know, what banking information you need everything about PayPal. Because before that I had no idea what PayPal was. And I posted a few of my craft products into that. While I was researching, I also came across this idea of selling digital products like daily planners, weekly planners, home improvement planners.
Salma Sheriff: So, you know, I started creating planners and I also started adding those in addition to the crochet products that I had in Etsy. And the very next day I got my sale and I ran to my mom saying that mom, I made my first international sale. It was for $3. I still remember it. So during this period is when I realized, okay, I have an engineering degree. Okay. And postgraduate actually, I'm really good at, you know, everything tech and design and I'm super, super organized. So I thought, okay, let's make this a little bigger. So I started social media marketing. I started branding my own business. So with the skills that I had and the skills that I learned online, I learned more about Illustrator, about Photoshop. Even though I had little knowledge about it. I still improved myself by learning online, getting books and taking a few paid courses as well.
Salma Sheriff: So I learned along the way, and during that period of blogging and selling my craft products, plus digital products, I learned so much about how important branding is, how important an online presence is. Especially if you want to reach out to a large number of audience and also grow your business on an international scale. So it was like around like three years at that time, I realized, okay, I need to do something for someone who is in a place. Like I was three years back, like someone who has an idea, but don't know how to start a business who hasn't this extremely, you know, like an abundant thirst to showcase their expertise, their knowledge, and to help others online. And that's when I realized I needed to convert this and pivot into a business, that's something I really love doing. And also, which helps others as well. So alongside this business, I started my branding and website design business, but by the end of 2016, uh, I think around December and I was determined to help other women entrepreneurs just to bring out their voices and help them build their brands and websites online so that they can showcase their expertise and start selling online and also, you know, help others. So that's how it began and how it started, how it pivoted. And it's been going really good since then.
Steve Folland: Wow. What an opening story from just a bit of crochet to suddenly helping other people sell theirs to the world as well. So when you decided to start doing branding and websites, designing websites, not necessarily being a web developer, when you decided to do that, how did you find those clients? You said they were people like you were three years ago. How did you get them on board?
Salma Sheriff: So I was quite active on Facebook at that time. I was not on other platforms like Instagram or even LinkedIn in that matter. So I found my first client, my first design client on a Facebook group, a local Facebook group. So someone had asked is someone available to design a logo for my boutique store. So I jumped right off to the chair and I was waiting for an opportunity. I had shifted this business, so I said, I would love to help you. I don't have a portfolio yet, but I do have great skills. I do have a couple of passion projects that I did, if you'd like to see, I'd love to chat with you and learn more about your business and yeah, of course your budget as well. So since I was starting at that point, and I absolutely had no idea how much to charge and how long it's going to take.
Salma Sheriff: So I was ready to do for anything as long as she had paid. And I also wanted to start building my portfolio as well in that case. So I was happy enough that I got a client and I worked for her and she was extremely happy with the results. And then I knew that, okay, like Facebook groups is somewhere where people of the same maybe industry or someone who's trying to find something will post. And I went on a hunt for Facebook groups similar to that, of my interests or my potential clients, not just for getting clients, but also get to learn more about how they work in their business. So through that, I got my first international client for my design business and we are friends since then. I'm so glad that we could connect. And since then I grew my business potentially through Facebook and Facebook groups. And now I've expanded my reach on Instagram and on LinkedIn. And I've been able to find clients through that as well.
Steve Folland: So mainly because we're talking about 2017 towards today, mainly it's been through hanging out in Facebook groups.
Salma Sheriff: Yes. So initially I used to wait for someone to, you know, like post a message looking for a designer or a web designer or a brand designer, but then I used to live in a pool of designers. You realize that you're not the only designer, right? Like, and nobody's gonna check out your comment if it's going to be like 300 comments under that post. So I learned that like, I was grateful enough that some people could reach out to me and then discuss, but other times it was like speaking to a blank wall because sometimes you won't get a response to your messages because there has been like a lot of comments to that, a lot of wonderful talent around in the Facebook groups, other designers and other creatives. So yeah, initially it was so difficult to get hold of clients and also to make yourself stand apart from others.
Salma Sheriff: So it's, then that I started to learn, I need to start thinking about how I position myself as an expert and how I can start attracting clients instead of me going behind and being just one comment among like 500 other comments. So that's when I slowly shifted the way I approached social media. And instead of just waiting there, finding clients (and also learning from other entrepreneurs who were successful back then), I started utilizing and creating content that speaks out to my, and also targets my potential clients. So even if they are not going to come back to me for my work, at least they'll be educated about that topic that I am an expert in. So that's when I started creating content and posting on Facebook groups and at that time, even on Instagram, about why branding is important, what branding actually is like website tips, strategies, tricks. So all of these things, what happened was it helped me position as the expert. And also if any person had any idea of creating a brand identity for themselves or website for themselves, they would reach out to me and ask me. So I went from waiting behind the line and then posting, to positioning myself as an expert and then clients reaching out.
Steve Folland: Nice. And how about your own website through this time? How did that change?
Salma Sheriff: Um, like I told you, I received my first local client and my first international client. I didn't have a website at that time. I was building my brand for this business, particularly not for my grocery business, this particular business. I was trying to get potential clients, at least like a couple of clients. And once they were happy to work with me, I immediately jumped into designing my website. So the way I found those two clients or the way that I convinced them was I just designed like a PDF with my packages. I had no idea how to do that as well, but somehow I just created a kind of like a PDF and they accepted. And the other reason is why, because even they were brand new to business and they needed something like quick and on a very low budget as well.
Salma Sheriff: So in that way we connected, but I wanted to have an online presence for this business in order to help boost their trust and confidence and also to establish like a digital footprint for myself. And I immediately purchased my domain name before it gets taken away. So I created a normal looking website with like a basic homepage and a packages page. And I have updated my website since the end of 2016 till now, I think I've updated my website like around three times, but not entirely. So only based on how my services have evolved. Like my packages have evolved since then. So that has been upgraded. And then even my about me page has been updated and my testimonials and my portfolio has been updated since then, like on a regular basis. I would definitely say having a website has helped me because, from where I was, when I look back to now, my clients get on a call with me, when they have a complete look at my website, my gallery, my portfolio, and they say, 'Salma I had a look at your website. I'm very much happy moving forward with you. How do I get started?' So from waiting to find clients on social media, to this level of confidence, I would definitely say that my website has helped.
Steve Folland: And in terms of the clients that you work with now, are they tend to be like one-off projects and then that's it. Or are there retainers or recurring things where somebody might come back to you regularly? What, what sort of work is it?
Salma Sheriff: So that's actually a good question because when I started off, I had just two packages initially. So just like a brand package, like if you want a logo, I'll design it for you. And then second, if you want a website, I will design that for you. And then very few clients who were repeat clients, they would have some kind of, you know, smaller projects from time to time. And I would bill them on a monthly basis, like a month-end basis. So this was something that I initially started off with now, as I said, my services and my packages have evolved. My clientele has changed a little bit, not much. So I re-evaluated. I went back and saw what exactly does a business owner require. And I no longer do just logo design packages, because it's not just about a logo that goes behind your brand.
Salma Sheriff: It's everything like, you know, your strategy about your messaging. So I no longer offer only logo design packages, but instead a complete brand identity solution or a brand design solution. So it involves like strategy and design and messaging, like a complete guide that they need in order to start being consistent online or offline, and also in their messaging and their business as well. And then in terms of website, same thing. Like sometimes my clients, they want everything completely customized, completely custom coded. So I choose that. And now recently I started offering website design in a day, which has been going absolutely well. I'm so grateful for that. And for taking the decision. So website design in a day has been a hit, I would say, in my business, and something that a client would want, they have all the copy, they have all the photography, they want something done quick without compromising the quality.
Salma Sheriff: So I've started doing that as well. And now I also started adding in like sales funnel design, and also strategy portion, like all the tech portion of it. And during which I realized I'm not just good in design, I'm also good in everything tech. So because I'm like from a tech background in my graduation and post-graduation so yeah, so now I offer one-off projects, mostly one-off projects. And I have very few clients who have like repeat ongoing project with me, which I consider, like, as you said, retainer, which I bill them every single month. So it's comfortable for them to work on that way. And also some clients, like just one-off projects as well. But one thing that I wanted to say is like, even though I'm doing like one-off projects, like brand identity or website design, I always give them an option to come back to me later in case if they have anything, you know, like changes or updates or upgrades in future.
Salma Sheriff: So I always give them that freedom and option to come back to me at a later point, any point of time, because sometimes, you know, like when clients come once, not just once I think like more than three times, I've heard my clients, I work with a designer and she never provided me with a file and it's very difficult to move forward. And if they needed any updates and if they went back to the designer, they said we don't do that. So I didn't want to be someone who they can't rely upon. So even if they come to me like one year later or one and a half years later, I make sure to have those files saved in the cloud platform. My clients are the reason why this business is running, right. So I always want to take care of them and always assure them that they are in safe hands. So I do have retainer clients very few, but most of it's like one-off projects
Steve Folland: With this website in a day package, with that idea, is it literally a day? How do you schedule that? I'm just imagining I'm busy working on something. And then suddenly somebody ordered website in a day. I'm like, Oh God, okay, I'll have to drop this and do that. Like, how do you work that?
Salma Sheriff: Oh, that's really good. So what happens for website design in a day is either they come through a reference, my clients, or they come through social media or directly through search engine, you know, basically a Google search. So what happens is one, they schedule a call with me, even though they are like, absolutely a hundred percent, want to move forward, working with me, they might still have a few questions or queries they want to ask me in person. After the call, during the onboarding phase, I say this is what you need to do. And after this is ready, we'll schedule a date when I work on the design for you. So what are the prerequisites that I ask my clients to do in getting their content ready?
Salma Sheriff: That is the copy. If they have like, you know, a brand photoshoot stick. And so that should be ready so I can incorporate them on the website. And then the domain name hosting and all of those, like prerequisites, um, in case if my clients don't have this, I actually set aside some time to help them or assist them if they have any questions in terms of this. So for example, if some clients might want to shift platform, like, let's say for example, from WordPress to Squarespace or Squarespace to ShowIt, they might want to shift, or someone has no idea about like what hosting is or what domain is at that point of time. I'll take some time out to explain what it is and how to set it up and all of those things.
Salma Sheriff: So yeah, when you say design in a day, that day is specifically designed and allocated for me to work on the design, but these prerequisits have to be completed beforehand. So only after that, we decide on a date and once everything is ready, like the domain, the hosting, the content and pictures, the brand, when everything is ready, we set aside a date and I work on the design for the day and I submit them the page mock-ups as an image and a video. And now recently I started sending them live links that they can directly have a look at by the end of the day. And if they have any feedback, any queries, any changes or revisions, they'll send it to me by the end of that day, I'll work on the edits. And once it's good to go, I'll transfer it to their live site and it will be ready for launch.
Steve Folland: Brilliant. So you have like a set process in place to make sure that they know to get themselves ready and you won't book in a day until it is.
Salma Sheriff: Yes, exactly. So once they say Selma, let's move forward, I'll be sending them like a checklist. So you need to have this, this, this, and this. And what has made things easier is the project management system. I currently use Asana and I can set aside the tasks, the project deadlines, and I can assign dates, not just for my clients, for them to complete, but also for myself, for me to be able to complete on time as well, not just for websites, but also for branding. There are several aspects in terms of branding. So I set aside due dates or deadlines for myself. So I make sure I submitted on time. So yes, the process is involved. And once after everything has been completed by them, I take some time to review. If everything is in place, if everything is ready for me to move forward to the next design phase. And then we fix a date based on my availability. And if the client is happy with that, I work on it. And then, next launch.
Steve Folland: Nice. I was going to ask about project management, because it does sound like you have quite a lot of things on the go at once.
Salma Sheriff: Yes, I do have, so currently, I handle brand identity projects, then website design projects, and also sometimes sales funnels as well, and also a lot of clients. But one thing that has actually kept me sane is Asana. I use it for my project management for my business, as well as for the client projects as well. So what I do when I'm onboarding my client, I always send out digital contracts and then the invoice. And along with that, a personalized video to walk them through the project management system, I usually do this during the discovery call that they have when they schedule. So what I walk through is basically what the project management system is like, how we'll be working moving forward. And it's all very organized and divided into different phases, like what they need to do, like onboarding the second, the design phase third, the brand phase for like the a la carte items or the design phase.
Salma Sheriff: Then when it comes to website design, all the login details, the content phase. And then the second is like the design and development phase. And finally it would be like the handover phase testing maintenance and all that. So when it's clearly laid out like this and each phase has its own tasks and each task is assigned either to my client or to myself or a team member, it's so visibly clear, everything is in one place, instead of having everything going back and forth via an email, especially if it involves a lot of, you know, files and documents. So it definitely helps me keep things organized all in one place and also managing different clients also becomes easier because in just one click, I can see my entire, like a calendar, like what has to be completed. What is the due date for this particular client, client A, client B, based on which I can also manage my time and schedule the work for that particular client and make sure to have it submitted on time.
Steve Folland: Yeah, that's brilliant. And you mentioned team member there, would that be a client's team member or do you have team members? Do you work with other people?
Salma Sheriff: Mostly it would be my team member. So I want to be completely honest here. So initially when I started working, I was a solopreneur. I did everything from my own, starting from manually typing in the digital contracts from compiling the files, sending over everything. And now I'm at a point where I need to start delegating tasks and focus on things that I'm really good at. And that way I'm not completely going insane. So yeah, I've realized that I need to start delegating tasks and so that I can also have time for myself and take care of my health and my sanity as well. So yeah, I hired a team member to do the onboarding part to do basically like the admin and the tech stuff in case like a assistant and an online business manager. So yeah, so it is my team member who takes care of the basic things like I've hired her only recently. Sometimes it would also be, but actually very rarely it would be my clients' teammates, whom I will also be adding too in case if they want to be aware of what's happening. Sometimes my client wouldn't directly respond. The team member might have all the details. So in that case, my client would say, Salma can you please add my team member as well because she'll be taking care of so-and-so. So in that case, yeah, sometimes it would be my clients' team members as well.
Steve Folland: Oh geez. Do you know? It sometimes can blow your mind, doesn't it, how you can go from selling a few crochet things online to suddenly hiring team members and assigning people tasks. And it feels like if you were to jump from one to the other, it seems so big, but I guess it's been this gradual process of figuring stuff out and perfecting things.
Salma Sheriff: Absolutely. Yes. Looking back, I would say like I've made so much progress, which I'm so grateful for and the support and the encouragement that I've been getting from my family and even all of my clients and the community, all of my online friends that I've made along the way, and learning and growing along with them, learning from them has been like an absolute pleasure. And it took so long. I started, I think 2013 was when I started this crochet business, like the idea, and it's now 2021, so yeah, it's going pretty strong and it was not a bed of roses. There were so many ups and downs along the way, but yeah, I kept going.
Steve Folland: Yeah. You mentioned your own health and sanity. How do you take care of yourself?
Salma Sheriff: So Steve, as I said, I was a complete solopreneur, right. To begin with, even I think up to mid last year and I have to take care of the family and my house as well. So what I do is, I set aside time, I use a physical planner plus a digital of course, but mostly a physical planner. I set aside the tasks for the next day. And what I usually do is I get up and I make breakfast sometimes and also lunch. And during that period, I'll just see if there's any task that has to be completed. So I start working only at around 11 AM after lunch break. And then I take breaks, intermediate breaks. So not just for lunch or breakfast or dinner, but also intermediate breaks, like tea time.
Salma Sheriff: And sometimes when I'm feeling like discontinued from work and I wanted to just take a quick break, I go take a nap and then I go watch some Netflix series. So yeah, I keep taking intermediate breaks as and when I feel like, and I want to, because like I'll be sitting in front of the computer the whole time when I'm actually working. So I don't want that to be the case, so I take intermediate breaks in between and yeah, I have to manage both like my family and this business. So I have to do everything, like the house chores plus this. So yeah, I finished that off in the morning. Then I start working on my client projects and by 7:00 PM or 8:00 PM, I try completing it so I can get back to taking care of, you know, like dinner and everything else.
Salma Sheriff: So that was until mid last year. But what happened was, since I'm too much focused on work as well. Being completely honest, I wasn't taking much care of myself, even though I used to take intermediate breaks. I wasn't concentrating much on my health, like my position, like how I sit and work, because it's like a very delicate place. When you're working on a computer for too long, or sometimes it would affect your health, as in my case, you get pains, right? Like chronic pain. So what happened recently is that I started getting pain and then the doctors said it's because of the position you sit. So even though I was taking breaks in between, I thought I was taking care of myself, but these tiny little things I wasn't focusing on, which costs me so much pain later.
Salma Sheriff: But thankfully I was able to recover from it because of fast diagnosis. And I was able to go to the doctor quick and then I realized, okay, I need to start concentrating even on those little things and focus on self-care and health, because only if you are well enough will you be able to be there and support your family and also your clients, for that matter. So yeah, I realized that and now I'm taking extra care for myself and also making sure that my clients are being served as well. So yeah. Health now is my number one priority.
Steve Folland: Good to hear. Oh yeah. Those little things over time they can add up can't they, yeah. You mentioned doing sales funnel stuff for your clients. What would you say your own sales funnel is like? Do you have one?
Salma Sheriff: Ooh, that's a good question. So yeah, I have been designing and integrating sales funnel systems for my clients, but I never had one, but I started doing one for my own. Since last year I have one in place. So it would be like an opt-in where they opt in for a freebie and then it would be selling out my digital product. So this is the SLO that I have created as of now plus a freebie to selling my digital product. I didn't have initially, but I do have a sales funnel.
Steve Folland: And you mentioned community as well there. Are you in a city or in a rural area? Like, are there people around you doing similar things to you?
Salma Sheriff: Yes, I am living in a city and there are a lot of people actually who do similar work that I do, but yeah, you actually have to find people around because usually I don't go out too much. The online community is where I hang out more like workshop communities and online communities, my client communities. And actually through there, I'm actually getting to know people that are close to me as well. So recently I connected with a person online and she's also doing some similar work, copywriting, and we happened to know each other, like we've been Facebook friends for a long time, but only now, recently I came to know that she lives like next to me, like maybe a 30-minute drive or something. So yeah, mostly I like having virtual communities, which are business-related, and friends who like what you love, and where you're at and where you want to go. Having people around you who are in the same phase as you are, or someone who is already where you want to be, is where I love to be and where I love to hang out. Talking about our common interests, be it Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or like Adobe Illustrator or Squarespace or WordPress. That's something that I really love, hanging out in my communities,
Steve Folland: You mentioned getting your first international client, back when you were crocheting, where are your clients now?
Salma Sheriff: They are all over the place. Yes. So my first local client is in the same city that I live in. My first international client is from Switzerland. Since then I have had clients from all around the world. I have clients from the United States, from the UK, Australia, from South Africa. And also from India
Steve Folland: How do you deal with the time zone difference when it comes to working with people?
Salma Sheriff: So the first thing is I dealt with my scheduler, anyone who schedules a call with me, I made sure that there's a timeframe that my clients from the US timezone an also from Australia can book in. So they ask, okay, how do you have this available? I'm from USC. Where are you from? So I always want to have time slots which matche both. And also me. So I don't want someone booking in at midnight my time, right? So the first thing I tackled was the timezones and the time slots in my calendar. So it's available to everyone from almost like every time zone. So that was sorted out and next one was working and communicating. So during the call, I always make mention that like, I'm in this timezone. So if I'm not able to answer you then and there, I would always reply back the next business day morning, and timezone had never been an issue between my and my clients.
Salma Sheriff: So they were super comfortable working, like as long as they get good results, without compromising the quality, my clients have never had a problem with the timezone, also in terms of communication as well. So they would either reply, they would add it in Asana, their messages or comments, and I would get back to them when I'm available, since it was already been spoken of, I think it had never been an issue. I have different calendars for each of these appointments, like one for consultation calls, then one for my own clients, like ones where we have started working together, in case they just want to get on a quick call and discuss, I have an appointment type for that, I have an appointment type for training.
Salma Sheriff: So once after I deliver the files, I always make sure that my client knows what they're getting. So I have a calendar, like an appointment type set aside for that. So during off-boarding, I send them a link to this. So when they schedule a call, I just walk them through what they need to do next with these files, what they need to do with the website, how they can do those basic little upgrades or maintenance to their files or their websites as well. Yeah. Within my scheduler, that is Acuity scheduling. I have these different kind of appointment types each for a different purpose. So that also helps me save so much time. Initially it was like, they'll schedule a call with me and then I'll send them a link manually each time. But now I've upgraded that. And now immediately it will send them a link. It will be sent to them in the confirmation email.
Steve Folland: Brilliant. Where's the meeting link? Is that with zoom or within Acuity?
Salma Sheriff: Yes. So I have zoom meetings and the calendar is Acuity and I upgraded Acuity to, I think, like a $10 per month. So now I've integrated both Acuity and zoom. So after my client schedules a call with me, it would automatically create a meeting for me in Zoom and send them a confirmation email with the date, the time plus the zoom link. So initially it was all manual. And now, because of some of the automation things I have implemented in my systems along the way, that has helped me save time as well. So one of which is this calendar and the meeting link.
Steve Folland: The things that I love about those calendar schedulers, I use Calendly, but it's the fact that it appears in the right timezone for the person you're dealing with. So much easier. Yes. If you could tell your younger self, one thing about being freelance, what would it be?
Salma Sheriff: I would say that it's not an easy ride. You will find difficulty, like finding clients or even managing clients, or maybe, you know, shifting your business ideas and growing from there. But all you need to know is not to quit. Just keep going and follow your heart
Steve Folland: Out of interest. What happened to the crochet business?
Salma Sheriff: The blog is still up, the digital products that I said that I run on Etsy. It still gets me kind of like a passive income. So yeah, it's like, I designed it like way long back. I kept updating only those, you know, like the dated ones, the dated calendars, the dated planners, only those I kept updating each year. But apart from that, like the generic or ones like the regular planners, which doesn't have the data in them, they can basically be purchased, download and used multiple numbers of times. So those kinds of digital products still bring me a slight bit of income for my business as well. So yeah, that's still running, but my crochet business itself, since I have to completely do it and I have my hands full with my design projects. So I thought it's like high time to put that aside and completely focus on this.
Steve Folland: Yes for now. Salma, thank you so much. And all the best being freelance.
Salma Sheriff: Thank you so much. It was wonderful chatting with you about everything about freelance.
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