Tough Media

As we welcome this 2nd month of the year, may all your creative businesses survive all the unprecedented happenings during January. Whoop whoop! 🏆

I hope for all the best to your studioossss! 🙏🏻

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Excellent skill requires constant learning. ✒️

Agree? And for us designers to pursue that lifestyle, it takes daily habits and practices to form the foundation of constant learning.

Learning as a designer can mean various things: from developing skillsets, and getting some tips and tricks, to staying up to date on industry direction. ⚡️

This 2023, let's take advantage of this to expand our knowledge.

Sharing with you here some of the (free/paid) websites that I used to hone my Graphic Design Skillset.

Leaving this here. 🦀

Are you familiar with the term "Crab Mentality"? It's the phenomenon where crabs, trapped in a bucket, try to climb out.

But as one climbs out, the other crabs pull it back.

Every time I post a video about not settling for less, or how to price your work, the creative crabs come out and try to pull me back down.
They say, no one would pay that. Someone else will do it for less. In fact they offer to do it for less. Then there are others who insist that I'm being greedy or that I'm a scammer.

To that, I say, enjoy the bucket! That's not a place for me.

How do you perceive your value as a designer? 💡

4 Best Advice for Naming Your Graphic Design Business.

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1. Keep it simple: easy to say, easy to remember, easy to spell. 📣

It can be so overwhelming to fall into the trap of getting exaggerated, cute, complicated, or creative especially when it comes to naming your graphic design business. Just keep it simple. Our graphic design business should be easy for our target audience to say, spell, and remember.

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2. Make sure it is available throughout the Web. 🌏

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Before you choose your official graphic design business name, you should check its availability first around the web. Is there any business using that name? Is there a domain that works well for your design company name?

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3. It Should Speak to the Vision of Your Business. 💡

You should personally love it. You’re going to have to say the name of your graphic design business a lot. You’ll have to type it. As the Founder, it should bring joy to you for it speaks to the vision of your graphic design business.

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4. Don’t Ever Get Stuck Because of so Many Decisions. 🧠

This is one of the most powerful distractions I see when a Creative is starting their graphic design business — they’re getting stuck on all the possible graphic design business names that are available. The ultimate enemy here is indecision.

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I hope this advice will help you. So go on, and start brainstorming for your Graphic Design Business name.

God bless your creative mind! 🙏🏻

Get FREE resources on Personal Branding for Graphic Designers:
https://toughmedia.org/free-ebook/

THESE BELIEFS ARE STOPPING YOU FROM BUILDING YOUR GRAPHIC DESIGN BUSINESS.

Have you ever felt like you don’t belong in the creative industry? Knowing that you have a skill in graphic design, but you feel like you don’t actually deserve your job and accomplishments?

A lot of the creative designers out there struggle not because of what clients are saying to them (there are times!), but because of the doubts and wrong mindset they are embracing. These feelings are known as impostor syndrome.

It’s not a fun feeling, it's true! It can make it hard for you to do work, it can be frustrating, and it can create a strong mental block that can stop you in your way of achieving your dreams.

Today, Let us debunk some of the most limiting beliefs for you to become an effective creative designer.

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⚔️ Limiting Belief #1:
I need to have all the creative skills for me to land my first client/job.

Before I launched my graphic design business, I had these ideas on what I should offer: become a brand designer, create logos, design t-shirts, print layouts, social media posting, business cards, etc. - all of these overwhelmed me!

Let me tell you this, start small and only offer what you’re comfortable with right now.

Having a background in design is just a BONUS.
At the end of the day, when clients ask for your service, they’re not just buying the aesthetics, they’re after how your design can make their business profitable.

Besides, there are a lot of ways for us to learn design. The hard part is to make sure we’re giving a good result to our clients.

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⚔️ Limiting Belief #2:
My designs are not that good that’s why I am not qualified.

Here’s the thing!

GOOD DESIGN is subjective.
What’s good design for you might not be good for your client. – and vice versa!

When you’re too focused on thinking about: “MY DESIGNS SHOULD BE GOOD!”

Then that’s not design - that is ART. You are creating something that expresses your thoughts and emotions.

Design is not just about how it looks, but it is also about HOW IT WORKS.

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⚔️ Limiting Belief #3:
There is someone better. Why people would hire me?

This one is the hardest. I almost think of the same thing because there are a lot of our fellow creatives out there who are acing their career.

But what I learned is that people don't just choose you because you are good at what you can do.

Clients choose you because they KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST you.

It’s a matter of building a relationship and partnership with your target market.

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If you guys still struggle with these limiting beliefs, that is natural and it’s okay! – because if they don’t, you’re not challenging yourself enough to get uncomfortable. This will help you grow!

Working on my personal development, mindset, and character while overcoming limiting beliefs reminds me to see each and every situation from a different perspective. This has helped me become not just a better graphic designer but also a better human being.

How about YOU? What makes your creative business set apart from others?

To your creative freedom,

Cha Cuyno

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Do you want to start your DREAM CREATIVE BUSINESS? Check this out!
🎯 https://toughmedia.org/tough-media-e-book/

⚙️⚙️⚙️

A Story from a Hopeful Graphic Designer. ✨

I remember the days back when I was still in elementary, I often hear the words:

"We need to pack up. We will relocate!"

Hearing these stressful words from my struggling mother every time it was the time of the year that we can no longer pay for our home rental.

As a child, leaving a hometown is leaving your friends as well. That is why I grew up in a House-School-House-School routine.

Why? Because we keep on moving from one house to another every single year.

And that was torture to our family. We don’t have our own home.

Both of my parents have their own day jobs BUT their income was just enough for our daily meals..

As I grew up, the more life gets tougher.

Before I entered high school, once again, we need to move out, this time from our province (Pampanga, PH) to the hometown of our relatives.

Because our life in the province was getting worse and both of my parents could no longer support my school fees.

So, we went to our Auntie's home and thankfully they provided us shelter and even supported my high school education.

As the time passed by, they also helped us to have our own space by lending their vacant property.

We are so blessed for having a relative that is so helpful to our family.

But at the back of my mind, I kept on thinking —

“What would be the future of my family?”
“How can I reach my goals?”,
“Would this be our setup for our entire lives?!”

That’s when it kicked in. 💡

GOD PUT A DREAM IN MY HEART! —
I need to bring out the best in me to help my current family and prepare for my own future family!

I need to wear my big boy pants and start to hustle even in my school days.

From cleaning my Aunt’s house just to get a school allowance… to selling Pan de Sal (Salt Bread) every single morning… to entering college that I thought was impossible…

FINALLY! I finally graduated!

You know what, that’s where the real deal is.

It’s like entering a park without a roadmap! — Did I mention, it was like Jurassic Park?

I didn't know what to do and where I should start. I didn't even know what profession I should take.

Until I learned how to use Photoshop because of my churchmate, Kuya Ven. From there, my creative juice boosted up!

This is a nice skill, I thought, haha. So I pursued self-mastery in this skill.

I started volunteering at our church as part of the Multimedia Team. From there, I began to design event banners and social media postings.

Fast forward to 2017, I landed my first-ever corporate job, as a Graphic Designer. Since it was my first-ever job as a GD. It was quite overwhelming.

Come to think of it, even if it’s not about Graphic Designing, regardless of what field, if that is your first job, YOU'LL GET EXCITED! Right?

I don’t know about you but I have that thought of becoming rich because of this JOB!!! — would you agree?!

Fast forward, the company closed a year after we were hired, it was a startup company and I admit that my skills in Graphic Design were still under development during that time.

I kept on searching for another job for almost 3 months.

And alas! I got my 2nd Corporate Job as a Presentation Designer. I thought that I was in a very cool company because for the first 6 months, the company will train and equip its employees as if you were in a school of design (just WOW!).

Here, I learned all the Basic and Advanced Principles of Graphic Designing. I learned to determine what is a bad and good design.

I swear, no lesson fell on the ground. I took it all!

I came to the last day of my training, I was like, "yes, this is it! I am going to finish this training and become a pro presenter designer!"

But do you know what happened?!

I FAILED my training. I failed to accomplish the last task in my last day of training, and that part just wrecked me.

That same day, they gave me my last pay and I left the office without even saying goodbye to my colleagues.

I took a deep breath while I was walking down the street toward the terminal of my ride home.

I said a little prayer to God - “Lord, would this situation be like the same experience we had before? Where everything seems to be constantly changing for the worse?”

I admit I was at my lowest during that moment because for the 2nd time around, I lost my job.

Have you ever come to that point where everything is falling apart in your life and there’s no one else to blame but yourself?

As a CREATIVE, We’ve all been there and it’s okay.

But of course, we all know the drill!

I need to wear my BIG BOY pants and start to hustle even at my lowest. ⚡

I started applying to different freelancing platforms; Upwork, PeoplePerHour, Onlinejobs.ph, etc. — you name it!

For another 6 months of a job-hunting journey, NOTHING HAPPENED!

But praise God! In November 2019, I got hired by an Email-Marketing Agency with a work-from-home setup.

I can now finally breathe!

But then something happened that rocked me to my very core. And maybe you can relate to this…

One day it seemed like everything was fine.

I was peacefully working at my corporate job.

Then suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, a Pandemic happened! — I have to support my family as a breadwinner since my parents lost their job and sources of income at that time.

I can’t even begin to tell you how this experience shocked me. It really was the proverbial wake-up call.

Because suddenly I realized I had to work out my finances, or I would end up in a really terrible situation.

You can bet I got serious really quickly. I stopped messing around. I stopped my complacent culture. And I started taking some specific steps to get back on track.

It wasn’t always easy. I quickly learned that the learning curve is steep when trying to build a creative business through trial and error.

I made a lot of mistakes and wasted a lot of time and money.

But I did it! In just 3 months I went from being a struggling graphic designer to embracing my own Graphic Design Business as a Creative Director!!!

And you know what? Here’s the amazing thing about our God. He uses my Graphic Design Business to fund my own house and lot for my future family.

And this is the reason why I wrote an EBOOK about how to start your business in graphic design even if you are a newbie graphic designer.

I don't want my fellow creatives to chase their dreams by means of trial and error because they lack the idea.

I am doing this to reach out to those graphic designers who need help, even if you are a new one!

I am not the best in the Creatives Industry, BUT I can help you.

✅ I can help you with a simple little way to innovate your creative business
✅ I can share with you the little-known strategy to attract your target market.
✅ I can give you a surprising trick on how you can get your first 5 testimonials.
✅ I can help you know what should be the right pricing option for your biz.
✅ And so much more!

NOW I WANT TO ASK A SMALL FAVOR FROM YOU.

Kindly share this post.

Please help me find a newbie graphic designer who needs help.

🎯 Especially those who are struggling to land their 1st job.
🎯 Those graphic designers who don't have their target market yet.
🎯 Those graphic designers who want to know the TRUTH about Graphic Design Freelancing!

This is a PAID EBOOK but it will be worth your tiny investment. Let's break those creative barriers!

To your freedom,

Cha Cuyno

➡️ https://toughmedia.org/tough-media-e-book/

Onto bigger and better things! 🌿
Thank you for the 25 years, my Lord. I am ready for the 26th. ⚙️

Did you know there's a simple way of showing your target clients that you can help them with their business and have a high possibility of closing the deal?

That is by having a UNIQUE POSITION STATEMENT! ✅

Most Designers have this kind of position statement:

▶️ Graphic Designer with 10 years of experience
▶️ Social Media Designer with 5 years of experience
▶️ Wed Designer graduated from XYZ University

Now, there’s nothing wrong with this position statement.

But the problem is that you will struggle to stand out. ❌

Why? Because there are a lot of designers that have that kind of position statement and the competition is so high.

What should be the best and most effective position statement?

Something that immediately shows the clients that you can solve their business problems in one quick look.

There are 3 Income Stream Problems in every business.

📌 Attracting Customers
📌 Sales
📌 Retaining Customers

How to write your UNIQUE Position Statement?

First, choose ONE income stream problem to solve

Now position yourself either:

✅ Lead Generating Graphic Designer
✅ Sales Generating Brand Designer
✅ Customer Retaining Logo Designer

That’s how you can make clients see that you can help them with their business problems by just using a UNIQUE POSITION STATEMENT.

I hope this might help!

To your creative freedom,

CHA

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Do you want to learn more about how to make a UNIQUE POSITION STATEMENT and build your own Personal Brand? Download this FREE Ebook!
➡️ https://toughmedia.org/free-ebook/

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OR, Do you want to start your DREAM CREATIVE BUSINESS?
Check this out!
🎯 https://toughmedia.org/tough-media-e-book/

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HAVE A PROSPEROUS NEW YEARRRRRRR! 🎉🎉🎉

This new year is a perfect time to reflect on your accomplishments for the past year and to look ahead to your future opportunities. We hope and pray for the success of your creative businesses this 2023. ✨

Design vs. Designer | 2022 Brand Identity Project Wrap Up ⚡️

Prepare to unburden yourself from last year’s baggage, sit back, and enjoy this moment of celebration. ✨

I hope and pray for the success of your creative businesses this 2023! 🎉🎉🎉

Each end of the year is your new beginning! 🎯

So no matter how you felt about 2022, you can now move on and move forward into the New Year with renewed mind and heart full of purpose and excitement.

Constantly be reminded that every breath is a second chance, a chance to make things right, to always do the good thing.

As we enter this new chapter, it is very important to reinvest within ourselves. Right?

Reinvesting in yourself, in your goals, and in your dream, is still the ultimate business plan for this upcoming year!

Set goals! Be creative! Work out! Be humble! Have a mentor! And so on. . .

Let that sink in for a moment - Are you ready to reinvest in yourself? or do you think it is just a responsibility that is full of nonsense?

(It's always been like that, Cha! Nothing is happening)

Take heart! You can try again.

Remember, it is YOU -- It is you who would be the one to invest for your next level.

How would you like to REINVEST to yourself this New Year? Let me know in the comment section. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Help me help you! ✅

You don’t have to do things on your own. When appropriate, ask someone who’s been there before for help. ☺

For every graphic designer who's struggling to build your own personal branding, I have here a FREE Ebook + Worksheet. I hope this might help. 🙏🏻

➡️ https://toughmedia.org/free-ebook/
➡️ https://toughmedia.org/free-ebook/
➡️ https://toughmedia.org/free-ebook/

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🎉🎉🎉
Have a great time this holiday as we celebrate the real reason for the season — our Lord Jesus Christ! 👑

I hope for all the best for your creative business. ✨

Get this easy-to-follow Ebook and establish your personal brand today and have a distinct online presence to attract your target clients. ✨✨✨

Download this FREE Ebook with FREE Worksheet today! ✅

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https://toughmedia.org/free-ebook/
https://toughmedia.org/free-ebook/
https://toughmedia.org/free-ebook/

STAY TUNE! 🚀

Do you want to start your freelancing career as a graphic designer? Stay tune on our very first Ebook.

✅ We're going to launch it by DECEMBER 20, 2022 - 8:00 AM (PHT)

https://toughmedia.org/
https://toughmedia.org/
https://toughmedia.org/

Not all heroes wear capes. Mine wears cargo shorts. ✨
(Now I know why I love cargo shorts/pants)

Happy Father's Day to all the amazing dads out there. Thanks for always loving us. 💕

It’s been tough getting to sleep the last few nights. 🌙

I’ll go to bed and turn off the light and then the thoughts start pouring in. I’ll worry that I didn’t do the right thing in any number of situations during the day.

I’ll worry about the work I have to do the next day. I’ll fear that no matter what I do, I’ll never be closer to who I want to be.

I tried to force sleep and that's just one more thing to worry about. The sleep will come; it always does. There’s no point in trying to force it to happen.

The thought then occurred to me that that notion is true for many things: love, success, peace, and life in general.

We don't have to force things according to our will and plan. Live in your God-designed Thrive Zone!

Whether it’s success or failure, the ability to continue afterward can be a challenge, especially after failure. But simply continuing at whatever pace and overcoming whatever obstacle, is truly what counts. At the end of the day, success and failure are not final.

However, the courage to continue is the constant we can guarantee ourselves. ⚡️

Let us all continue to thrive forward, shall we? 😉

This is such a 🔥one. Two Thumbs-Up!

What's up!? ⚡

I just want to share with you the Branding Project Revamp that I made for Precision Photography & Multimedia.

This one undeniably reflects the business character and lifestyle.
Thanks, Urianh Ortiz! It was great working with you, Man!

Need one for your biz? it's never too late to work them out! We'd love to give you a hand on this and help you achieve flexibility without compromising cohesiveness in your visuals. 📣

And did I not tell? Tough Media is still booking for January. ✨✨✨

Hmmm. I guess I haven't introduced myself yet to the new people who followed me here. ☺️

It's really nice to meet you! I wonder how you came across my feed. I'd love to know though so please let me know in the comments. 👋

Anyway, I am Cha, the creative director of Tough Media and I love to help studios build a distinct online presence and generate more clients through effective brand identity — whether you offer videography or photography.

I make it a goal for your business to accelerate your brand and get visible to your target client through effective brand identity and achieve consistency in your online presence. 🎯

Let me handle the branding work so you focus on what matters for you and your business. I can’t wait for us to work together! 🔥🔥🔥

By the way, I am turning a year older today. Yes, you got it right! Blessed Happy Birthday to the tough and fine man that lives in me! Hooo!

Sooooooo! On this special day, I will give an extraordinary discount to the first 3 clients that will book for their branding package. Just DM me the code, and I'll reserve a spot for you.

➡️➡️ Use the code: 𝗛𝗕𝗗𝗖𝗛𝗔 ⬅️⬅️

If you're ready to have your distinct online presence, You can check out my services on this LINK: http://bit.ly/3bQmAal ✅

It's the most wonderful time of the year! ❄️🎁

2021 flies so fast. We will end this year stronger, let us strive to finish the work we are in.

As a token of appreciation for the hardworking photographers and videographers, I'm offering a 20% discount on the complete branding package, just for this month of December. 🔥

Do you need some upgrades to your brand? just DM me! 😉
I still have 3 spots this month! 🎯🎯🎯

We're in the midst of Q4! 🎯

This November, let me help you accelerate your brand and get visible to your target client through effective brand identity. 🔥🔥🔥

I still have 2 slots left this month!

Do you need some upgrades to your brand? just DM me! 😉

A lot of us initially thought that the only thing that matters when it comes to our branding is our logo. Sure, a logo plays a huge role but an effective and successful brand is more than just a great logo or a memorable tagline. 🎯

Your brand is not your logo. It’s not your mission statement. It’s not your name. Your brand is the world’s perception of who your company is and what you do.

Your overall brand design must clearly communicate your company's personality, vision, mission, and goals.

In Media, Photography, Videography or in any Creatives Industry, competition abounds. In order for your studio to stay afloat, it is important to create a brand that is unique. By creating a unique brand that stands out from the crowd, your company catches the consumer’s eye over your competitors. This helps you excel far past any of your competitors.

Your branding matters, which is why it is so important to find a Brand Designer who understands your vision for your company or studio as much as you do. ✨

Want to know if we’re a fit? DM me, let’s schedule a discovery call! 💻

It's a WRAP!!! 🤩

and I worked together to revamp his overall branding -- and when it comes to branding, my ultimate goal is to really bring my client's vision into life and to always deliver more than what is expected of me, as their brand designer. 🔥

If you are a photographer, videographer, or even a producer that owns a studio wanting to invest in strategic branding, you can DM me! Let's UPGRADE YOUR BRAND. 🎯🎯🎯

Hey, you guysss! ⚡️

It's my privilege to be entrusted to build this awesome Branding Project for Insignia Studios, and it was great working with this company because they have a passion to bring professional story-driven visual content for all industries and applications.

Are you ready to step up and invest in achieving a brand that will help you stand out? Let's talk. 😉