Hey, Reader!
One of the biggest turning points in my business looked surprisingly small.
There was no viral post. No sudden flood of followers. It was just me, teaching something to a room full of people who had chosen to be there.
That experience changed the way I thought about growing a creative business.
When you teach, people don’t just see the finished work. They see you. They see how you think. They hear you explain your choices, watch you solve problems, and have the chance to ask you questions.
You stop being another name in their feed and become someone they know.
That matters—especially in a creative world where so many of our interactions happen through screens. People who know you are more likely to remember your work, recommend you, invite you into opportunities, answer your questions, and help your name travel into rooms you aren’t in.
I could call that networking, but I won’t. That word makes a lot of us want to find the nearest shower. It conjures up images of introducing yourself awkwardly to strangers or trying to get something from them. But that’s not what I’m talking about.
What I’m talking about looks like what would happen if professionalism and friendship had a baby. I’m talking about sharing what you know with a few people who share the same interests and giving them a chance to ask questions.
So this week, let’s look at how teaching a workshop can build the kinds of relationships that social media rarely creates. And we’re also going to talk about the FREE tools you can use to try one.
But first, here are 3 patterns that wowed me this week:
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SALTY COVE STUDIO - SALT & SUNSHINE COLLECTION
Salt-Washed Blues and Sun-Kissed Yellows This color palette is pure summer. It makes me think of a worn-in indigo shirt next to sun-bleached linen. I really love that soft, desaturated French blue paired with a sunny, almost golden-mustard yellow. The pops of cool, leafy green, add a botanical hue to ground the summer-by-the-sea tones beautifully.
Relaxed, Organic Minimalism Clever plays with scale and style create a cohesive pattern family. You can (and should!) layer stripes—delicate vertical yellow ones feel fresh next to bolder blue and white ones—all unified by a hand-painted, watercolor-block-print texture.
The Chic Coast-Cottage Hostess This works beautifully as a home decor collection. I can see this collection creating a vibe for an entire house. Upholstery on a reading chair or wallpaper for a powder room. This is coastal without yelling beach house. The buyer is someone who loves slow mornings and entertaining friends.
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LISEE REE DESIGNS
A Meadow-Washed Palette Soft golden yellow, carnation pink, dusky blue, and leafy green give this design a warm, gently alive feel. The creamy background keeps everything light and natural, with just enough contrast to let the flowers shine.
Wildflowers in Motion Loose watercolor florals create an easy, hand-painted rhythm, almost as if they were painted onto the linen mid-breeze. The open spacing highlights each delicate bloom while keeping the pattern relaxed and flowing, making the piece feel thoughtful and curated.
Home is a Field of Fresh Blooms This fabric is absolutely perfect for the slow-living enthusiast who finds magic in simplicity. I can see this being used for a vintage-inspired apron worn while baking bread, or a simple throw pillow in a cozy reading nook. The ideal buyer is someone who appreciates sustainable materials, handmade details, and a cozy, inviting atmosphere.
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KAYS ILLUSTRATIONS
Dusty Pinks and Earthy Olive Harmonies This palette strikes a gorgeous balance between romantic soft pinks and rich, moody plum accents, grounded by sage and olive green. The warm cream background keeps the whole composition feeling soft and distinctly vintage-inspired. It has that effortless, nostalgic warmth that instantly feels cozy and inviting.
Hand-Painted Gouache Motifs with Open Spacing The painterly, gouache-style brushwork gives the blooms movement and the scattered layout leaves plenty of quiet background space. The negative space just works here. It allows individual floral clusters to stand out rather than overwhelming the eye in a tight repeat. It creates a rhythm that feels loose and artistic, like a page pulled from an Impressionist's sketchpad.
Romantic Cottagecore Meets Everyday Elegance This print would be a dream for stationery lovers, cozy home decor, or romantic fashion pieces like a flowing midi dress or silk scarf. The ideal buyer is someone who loves romantic cottagecore aesthetics, vintage market finds, and thoughtful handmade details.
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Tip #1: A Small Workshop Can Do What a Viral Post Can’t
It’s easy to assume that authority and success come from having a large following. How many of us keep doing all the social media things, hoping something finally takes off?
Those platforms keep us very busy trying to get more people to notice us.
We’ve talked before about the difference between the quality and quantity of your followers. Once you have your designer toe in the water, teaching is another way to expand your reach, share what you know, and become part of a real creative community.
And before you “but Mandy” me, hear me out.
Imagine two designers working in the statement home décor market.
One gains 9,000 new followers after a Reel travels far and wide.
The other teaches 90 people how to create a flexible colorway system during a free workshop.
The first designer has visibility. And don’t get me wrong, visibility is good.
But the second designer spent time with 90 people. They watched her explain her process. They got to ask her questions. She helped them. Some may become customers. Others may become creative friends, collaborators, referral partners, or simply people who remember her name when someone asks, “Do you know anyone who can help with this?”
That is a different kind of reach.
It may be smaller, but it has roots.
If the workshop is built around the interests of your ideal buyers, it may lead to sales more quickly. If you teach a broader group of artists or creatives, they may not become customers, but that doesn’t make the workshop a failure. Those relationships can still lead to recommendations, shared resources, collaborations, introductions, encouragement, and opportunities you couldn’t have planned.
Both kinds of rooms can be valuable. It simply helps to know which room you are trying to create.
When you teach, you’re no longer hoping people notice that you know your stuff. You’re giving them a chance to experience it—and to get to know the person behind the work.
Live events are always an option. Guest workshops at your local library or a makerspace. But those aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. A great way to test your teaching chops is to start on-line with:
- A 30-minute Instagram Live on one technique you already use.
- A one-time free 35 minute Zoom workshop. A simple registration page and a free Zoom account is all you need.
- A deep tutorial as a blog post or PDF, which keeps earning search traffic long after you hit publish.
Pick whichever one scares you least.
You don’t need a massive audience. You need something useful to share and a willingness to spend a little time with the people who show up.
Tip #2: The Five-Part Workshop You Can Plan in About 90 Minutes
A lot of workshops never get off the ground because the teacher started off with big plans. Too big. So don’t plan to do an entire masters-level course.
You don’t need to teach everything you know. In fact, if you’ve ever taught, you know that’s actually the opposite of what you should do.
You need to help people take one small step. Make just a little progress.
Here’s what I would do:
- Decide who the workshop is for. Are you hoping to meet potential buyers in a particular niche, fellow designers, local business owners, quilters, or another specific group? Your answer should shape the topic and where you share it.
- Choose one narrow topic/ hack/ solution. Not “surface pattern design.” Try one repeat technique, one file setup, or one listing improvement.
- Write three takeaways. Finish the sentence, “By the end of this workshop, you will be able to…” If you can’t explain the result in one or two plain sentences, your topic may be too broad.
- Create a simple 35-minute outline. Welcome and introductions for three minutes, teaching and demonstration for 22 minutes, questions for seven minutes, and a three-minute close.
- Invite people personally as well as publicly. Share it with your email list or social audience, but also personally invite people who would benefit. A personal invitation often begins the relationship before the workshop even starts.
You can still use a registration form to collect names and email addresses, but the email address isn’t necessarily the prize.
Be clear about what people are signing up to receive. They will need the workshop link and reminders, of course. If you also plan to send your regular newsletter, tell them what it contains and make that expectation clear.
Some workshop participants may decide your ongoing emails aren’t for them. That’s okay. A person doesn’t have to remain on your list for the meeting to have mattered.
The goal is to gather the right people, serve them well, and leave the door open for the relationship to continue.
Put the date on your calendar before you build anything. Once the date is real, the workshop has a reason to get finished.
Your Free Workshop Setup: Zoom, Kit, and an iPad
You do not need expensive webinar software to teach your first workshop.
Here’s a simple setup you can do for FREE:
- Use Zoom Basic for a 35-minute workshop. The free plan currently allows meetings of up to 40 minutes with as many as 100 participants. Planning for 35 minutes gives you a little breathing room at the beginning and end.
- Create a simple registration page in Kit. Include the title, who the workshop is for, three takeaways, the date and time, and an email field. Kit’s free plan currently includes unlimited forms, landing pages, and broadcasts for up to 10,000 subscribers.
- Send the link and reminder manually. Automated sequences require a paid Kit plan, but for a first workshop, a manual confirmation and reminder are perfectly adequate.
- Share your screen for a live demonstration. In Zoom’s desktop sharing menu, choose the iPhone/iPad option. You can connect wirelessly through screen mirroring or, on a Mac, use a cable for a more dependable connection.
- Record only what you have permission to share. Let everyone know if the workshop is being recorded. If you want to offer a replay, consider recording the teaching portion but pausing before personal introductions or questions. That gives you a useful resource without turning a friendly conversation into permanent public content.
Your first workshop does not need to be a polished webinar.
Remember, the goal is to offer a place where people learn something useful, talk to one another, and leave feeling as though they know you a little better than they did before.
That is how professional relationships grow roots.
Hit reply and tell me: What is one small thing you could teach?
I really do read every response.
Until next week—keep creating! 🎨
P.S. — If narrowing your ideas is where you tend to get stuck, the free Pattern Collection Playbook can help you turn a big creative idea into something focused enough to finish ➔ Pattern Collection Playbook.
