Premium Designer Academy

You’re a talented designer pouring your creativity into every project, but your income isn’t reflecting your true value. Late nights juggling multiple clients, struggling to set the right prices, and feeling lost in a sea of competition can be incredibly frustrating.

It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way.

Imagine transforming your design business into a thriving, profitable venture where you attract high-paying clients effortlessly. No more burnout, no more undervaluing your skills. Just a clear, actionable path to scaling your income to $10k-$20k/month and beyond. You deserve to be recognized and rewarded for your talent.

Introducing The Premium Designer Academy

In just 12 weeks, The Premium Designer Academy will guide you through a transformative journey designed to elevate your design business:

→ Clarify Your Niche: Discover the specific market that needs your unique skills and where you can truly stand out.
→ Create High-Ticket Offers: Develop irresistible packages that reflect the true value of your work, making it easier to attract premium clients.
→ Master Premium Outreach: Learn proven strategies to consistently connect with and secure high-value clients who are ready to invest in your services.
→ Automate Lead Generation: Streamline your processes to maximize efficiency and ensure a steady flow of quality leads without the constant hustle.

Why Choose PDA?

→ Personalized 1:1 Coaching: Get tailored guidance that addresses your unique challenges and goals.
→ Templates and Resources: Access tools that make implementing strategies straightforward and effective.
→ Supportive Community: Join a network of like-minded designers who are on the same path to growth and success.

Don’t let another day go by feeling stuck and undervalued. It’s time to take control and build the fulfilling design career you’ve always dreamed of. Join The Premium Designer Academy and start your journey to business success.

Connect with me to learn more or book a free clarity call.

Founder

Huw Davies Consulting

I'm the Founder of Six Figure Designer, helping Solopreneur graphic and web designers to achieve their business goals without stress. 

With my guidance, I have helped many clients grow their yearly revenue by 40%. I offer personalised coaching and mentoring to help you get seen and get organised so you can build a profitable business that makes you happy and fulfilled.

Online Business Coach, Brand Strategist & Mentor for Graphic Designers

adplist.org

Giving back to the graphic design community through mentoring.

Mentor, Visual Communication Design

New Co. Brand Design

Helping entrepreneurs grow their business online. 

Branding | Shopify | Email

Book a FREE 30-minute Strategy Session.

Working as a freelance senior graphic designer - short-term and long-term contracts - with various well-known brands in Melbourne.

- 7-Eleven Australia (6-month contract, in-house designer, brand and packaging specialist)
- Glanbia Performance Nutrition (3-month contract, in-house designer, brand and content specialist)
- Stanley Tools (3-month, freelance, brand and marketing specialist)
- Moose Toys (4-month, freelance, brand and packaging specialist)
- Officeworks (4-month, freelance, brand and marketing specialist)
- many others...

Freelance Senior Graphic Designer

BNI Yarra

A referral networking group of business professionals. 
We meet every Wednesday from 6:45-8:30 am via ZOOM. Visit today!

*all members of the BNI Yarra chapter contribute their time and energy on a voluntary basis. We all work together to build and grow our networks, leading to more referrals and closed business for our businesses.

President (volunteer role)

Feast-or-famine months wear down good designers. 
I teach a simple LinkedIn system that helps freelance creatives — graphic, product, web, UX, motion, and brand — land their first (or next) $5K client in 60 days. 

Most do it working just a few extra hours a week.

I spent two decades inside agencies watching studios charge five times my freelance rate. The fix wasn’t more effort. It was packaging the value — not the hours.

After years of testing, I boiled everything down to four moves:

1. Position yourself as a specialist clients remember — not a spare pair of hands
2. Turn your LinkedIn into a client-facing offer page that pre-sells you
3. Post short insights and start low-pressure, value-first conversations
4. Guide those into a simple sales call — and close at $5K+ without discounting


This system works across every design discipline:

- Riley jumped from $70/hr to a $10.5K brand strategy project in 7 days
- Amanda doubled her rate and booked a $5K branding gig in 60 days
- Taskia flipped an $850 website into a $7.5K retainer

Who it’s for:
Designers who’ve done at least one paid project and now want consistent premium work — without cold pitching or race-to-the-bottom job boards

What to do next:
Send me a DM with “First 5K” and I’ll reply with a short case study and the link to apply for the next 60-Day Sprint cohort.

Huw Davies
Premium Designer Academy
40+ designers served · $500K+ in client wins

#DesignBusiness #LinkedInForDesigners #PremiumClients #FreelanceDesign #UXDesign #BrandStrategy #MotionDesign

Huw Davies

3 weird ways designers actually get clients on LinkedIn 

(that no one talks about)...

All things I've seen work with my clients:

1. Comment on your ideal client's posts BEFORE you DM them
Stop commenting on other designers' work and start commenting on startup founders, CTOs, and marketing directors.

Why? When you DM them 3 days later, they recognise your name. You've "warmed them up" by showing up in their world first.

It's the difference between a cold DM and a familiar face.

2. Post the "unsexy" business stuff, not just pretty pictures
Everyone posts portfolio pieces. Zero context. Zero results. Just "here's another one for the folio."

Instead, post about:
• How your rebrand helped a client close their Series A
• The 3 mistakes most startups make with their website
• Why most SaaS companies fail at brand consistency during growth

Decision-makers don't care about your kerning, they care if you understand their business problems.

3. Send 5 DMs every single day even when you're booked
Most designers only reach out when they're desperate, then they panic, then they send shit messages.

Designers making $10k+ monthly? They're in DMs every day. Building relationships.  Starting conversations. Staying top-of-mind.

Your pipeline today = your income in 60 days.

These aren't "sexy" tactics.

No one's going to teach you this in a $2,000 LinkedIn course. But they work.

Because they're not about gaming the algorithm. They're about building real relationships with decision-makers.

—
Want the exact system for turning LinkedIn into a client acquisition machine?
Comment "SPRINT" and I'll send you the details 👊

DESIGNERS & CREATIVE PROS: Booked out but underpaid? Build $5k+ offers, attract better clients, and systemise your business on LinkedIn | See if you’re a fit 👇

Designers: your income isn’t inconsistent because your work is bad.   

It’s inconsistent because your lead flow is bad.  The reality is:  

You post a project → get a couple inquiries → disappear into client work   
Project ends → pipeline is empty → panic   
You say yes to the next random, underpriced job “just to pay rent”  

This is feast-and-famine, and it has nothing to do with talent.  

What I’m seeing on LinkedIn right now (and what I’ve been testing in my own business) is this:  

LinkedIn has gone from a social graph (“my network sees my posts”) to a content graph (“whoever posts what performs best gets the reach”).  

And what performs best?  

Not portfolios.
Not “here’s my latest logo, thoughts?”  

It’s lead magnets + how-to content.  

In my own testing, the stuff that actually turns into booked calls looks like:  

1. Positioning the profile correctly      
• Headline: “I help [specific niche] get [specific outcome] with [your service]”    
• Banner and About section point to one clear offer      
• No random links that distract from booking a call    

2. One simple lead magnet      
• Example: “LinkedIn Client System for Freelance Designers: how to get 3–5 leads/week without Upwork or job boards”      
• Worth at least $100 to your ideal client (this is what I’m seeing work best)      
• Posted weekly with a “comment [WORD]” CTA    

3. A basic DM habit      
• 10–20 messages/day to people who view your profile or engage with your posts
• Casual opener: “Hey, saw you’re also a [role] – what’s your current plan for getting clients from LinkedIn?” 

When designers actually run a version of this for 30–60 days, they go from:  

“I hope a referral shows up” to “I know roughly how many leads I’ll get this week”  

The game is not finding the one perfect post. 

The game is building a simple system that spits out leads every day so you never have to panic at the end of a project again.  

Over the last few months I’ve been using a version of this system myself, and I’m now turning it into a concrete checklist and training specifically for freelance designers and creative service pros.  

I’ve just finished the first version:  

Feast-to-Flow: the 30-minute-a-day LinkedIn client checklist for designers.  

Inside you’ll find:  
- The exact profile layout I’m using   
- 5 plug-and-play post templates for designers   
- The DM scripts that consistently get replies   
- A one-page tracking sheet so you actually see progress  

I’ll be rolling this into my paid coaching offer, but right now I’m giving the checklist away free while I’m finalising the training.  

If you’re a freelance designer or creative service pro and you want early access,  

Comment CHECKLIST and I’ll send it to you.

Last year, I spoke to a designer who was ready to quit freelancing.

She’d made just $1.2K that month.

Was refreshing job boards daily.
No replies. No traction. Just… noise. You know how it goes…

She told me:

“I don’t want to go back in-house. But I honestly don’t know how to make this work.”

We stripped everything back.
Simplified her offer.
Cleaned up her positioning.
Set a weekly system for connecting with leads.

Week 3 — booked her first $4.5K retainer.
Week 6 — added another $5K project.

She messaged:

“I feel like I finally know what I’m doing.”

That’s what the Sprint is for.

If you’re a creative stuck in that freelance no-man’s-land,
→ this is the system I wish I had when I started.

DM me “sprint” and I’ll send the details.

Nicholas Robb

Life by Design

Life by Design helps frantic 5 figure freelancers become systemized 6 figure solopreneurs.

Most people start a business for freedom,
get overwhelmed & and try to fit life around whatever time remains.
I'll help you design your life first,
& grow a 6 figure lifestyle business around it,
without the burnout!

No fluff, no theory.

Just simple, practical systems you can use right now to improve the way you work and steer your life in the direction you want.

I share the mindset, methods, and systems I use everyday to run an award-winning design agency as a 6 figure lifestyle business.

Author

Design Hero

I work with purpose-led entrepreneurs to launch successful startups that have a massive and positive impact, through my award-winning formula of design, development and digital marketing

Head honcho

Certify Lets

Web Development and Digital Marketing

Soapbox Digital Media

DAW Signs & Fit outs

Digital Designer

Richard Robb Architects

Draughting plans and technical drawings as well as day to day management of jobs and clients

Architectural Assistant

HLM Architects

Architectural Assistant at HLM Architects working on healthcare, student accomodation and educational projects

Clan Charters

Mangement of brand profile and marketing strategy

Brand & marketing management

Doors By Design

Design of Doors By Design's website and of additonal promotional materials such as leaflets, flyers, brochures etc.

Web Designer

Hi, I'm Nicholas Robb.

Award-winning designer | Stoic Solopreneur | World's worst employee 🤣

I escaped a series of sucky, underpaid 9-5s and
turned my sidehustle into a multi 6-figure design business,
which I run from my garden
on a 3 day workweek. 

I did this by creating systems
to automate the fundamentals of freelancing,
so I can spend more time enjoying my life.

Now, I share proven systems I use every day in Design Hero,
which frustrated freelancers can use to redesign their lives and build a solo business that puts life first.

But first, an admission...

I'm almost embarrassed to admit this here:
For 10 years+ my side hustle made almost no money.

Before Design Hero took off,
I was trapped, underpaid and undervalued in 9-5 jobs, I had no control over my own time.

Been there, done that, had the heart-attack.

So I spent over £10k on courses and coaching ↙

And it worked. 
Sort of...

Every guru tells you how to grow a 6 figure business. 
but what they don't want to tell you is what happens AFTER...

coaching helped me make more money.
but when I hit my first £10k month I was miserable.
I was totally burned out. 

I fell into the trap of chasing money,
because I followed all the common advice online:
Everyone online tells you to do more:

more hacks,
more ads,
more apps,
more AI,
more whatever the latest shiny object is…

The problem?

Most freelancers are measuring their success by revenue.

Your revenue means nothing!
Tell me how much spare time you have,
and what you do with your spare time.

finally:
Now you have a picture of your success in life.

if I could go back, here's what I'd tell myself: 

"Life is short, then you die."

It's time to start putting life first:

If you started a business for freedom,
Then what you actually want is a lifestyle business.

If you want to grow a lifestyle business 
(without the burnout)
then you have to think differently.

If you do the same things as everyone else, the only way to get ahead is to work harder.

Remember our goal is to earn "enough", and work less.

What you need is simple systems to automate your business and multiply your growth, without just putting in more time.

My mission is to help frantic freelancers to design their lifestyle first,
then build a 6 figure business around it, without the burnout. 

So now I share the systems & strategies I used to redesign my ideal lifestyle & grow a 6 figure business that puts life first.

taplio

The Battle

Huw Davies

Nicholas Robb

Followers

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taplio

The Battle

Huw Davies

Nicholas Robb

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Huw Davies's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreHuw Davies's LinkedIn Performance