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Gemma Dillon

I'm a modern calligrapher and creative business coach, helping others to start and grow their very own art businesses.

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2 years' content in 2 days

I LOVE working smarter not harder, and that's how I was able to create 406 pins for Pinterest in 2 days. Firstly, I'm a huge fan of searchable content. I mean, what's the point of putting your heart into creating content that will disappear after a day or two (looking at you Instagram). Instead I put my time and energy into creating blogs and YouTube videos. Creating searchable content means that my content has a longer life and can be found on Google. My £7 membership covers this if you want...

You may have heard about the benefits of email marketing, but you don't know where to start, or you've been procrastinating. I'm here to give you a kick up the butt, with some quick tips on getting started. #1 Start right now, even if it's just your Mum on your mailing list When I started emailing, I had around 12 email subscribers including my MIL (who btw, still opens every email years later). Some may argue that emailing to such a small audience is a waste of time. I disagree - it builds...

With business there will be ups and there will be downs. When you experience a quiet sales period in your business, it's easy to feel that your business is failing or headed downhill but it's not - it's either a temporary dip or it's an off-peak season. For example, I found myself spiralling a little during the last couple of years come summertime when it was a struggle to sell tickets to my workshops. I thought, clearly I'm doing something wrong. I realise looking back that summer has been...

This week I'm talking about stacking, stacking tasks together. This was a term I learnt about in the book Atomic habits, talking about day-to-day habits but it has a great application for small biz owners who are doing everything themselves. Essentially, to make things easier for yourself, you want to stack two activities together until you naturally pair these two activities together. Let me give you a couple of examples: Let's say I create a weekly blog post but the thought of sitting down...

Today I went to check my email marketing plan and I realised that I accidentally forgot to send an email last week as I was on annual leave. Not the end of the world, but this meant I broke my year and a half streak of sending out weekly emails. Rather than being hard on myself, I'm patting myself on the back. It's actually pretty impressive that I've sent out emails so consistently for so long. Here's how I'm able to send out emails consistently: #1 Set publishing time I plan to send out my...

A couple of months ago now I visited Japan for the first time. I didn't expect to see SO MUCH in my two week visit (I think my poor feet are still recovering) and there were lots of highlights including: 🗻Seeing Mount Fuji🌸 Seeing the Sakura at Shinjuku Gyoen and during an evening event in Kyoto🍙 Yummy (and affordable) sushi🌻 Feeling like I was in heaven at TeamLabs in the flower galaxy dome🌳Beautiful parks and nature (and getting proposed to in one)🕹️The chaos of arcades❤️The red torii gates...

Anyone else love a good journaling session? 🙋🏻♀️ I just love a good chance to reflect, and calligraphy is no exception to this. I created Journaling June, a theme that combines two of my favourite creative activities - journaling and calligraphy! This month, rather than creating calligraphy, I want you thinking about calligraphy instead. I've created journaling prompts to get you thinking more about calligraphy using four themes - making progress, calligraphy resources, calligraphy projects,...

What I love about calligraphy is that it can be used in so many different ways, and different calligraphers love using it for different things - whether it's for sheer relaxation, greeting cards, or journaling. I have actually included several project tutorials in my Calligraphy Confidence Course - my intermediate course which showcases different styles and what you can create with calligraphy. Learn more Here are some things I've made Using different calligraphy styles, I've loved creating...

Season 1 of the Hobby to Hustle Podcast has ended. I want to give a big shout out to my co-host Candace for not only being a lovely co-host, but editing most of the episodes in the season. She's a gem! It was only a year or so ago that I pitched the idea to Candace so it's really cool to be looking back a year later to see that we not only went ahead, but have wrapped up a whole season. We hope that you've loved it. Hit reply and let us know your fave episode, and don't forget to leave a...

The Class to Course Method is back open! This is the go-to membership for artists such as yourself, that want to specialise and earn money through teaching their art. Here are 5 reasons that you should sign up today: Immediate access to resources on how to teach your first workshop and course. Including a ready-made modern calligraphy workbook that you can use for your first workshop. The Creative Biz Success Society, which helps with niches, pricing, websites, emails, social media and more...