Posted: July 27th, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: Book Reviews | Tags: Business | No Comments »
Just a quick blurb about a book I recently checked out. The “Designer’s Survival Guide” is a really good read, what I liked most about this book was its collaberation between several creative professionals, so you get a good amount of content based on their experinces. I would highly recommend this ebook and am sure my site readers would enjoy it as well.
The book contains lots of useful content such as:
- Writing Press Releases
- SEO TIps
- Web Design and Development Tips
- Color Calibration
- Package Design
- Logo Design Process
- Transitioning Into Your Own Business
- and so much more.
Learn more by visiting: http://www.designerssurvivalguide.com
Posted: April 8th, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: Articles, Business | Tags: Business | No Comments »
Avoid these 7 surprising “critical” firm killers and success for you will be just around the corner.
1. Thinking that just being a “great designer” alone is going to make your design business successful
The biggest misconception is that being a “great designer” is enough. What is critically more important is marketing and your relationships to those you market to. You could have a bunch of dead-beat clients who are “one and done” who do nothing but penny-pinch and are never seen or heard from again (unless it’s the next “emergency”).
These are the clients you do NOT want. What you do want are the steady, high-value, repeat clients who are willing (and pre-disposed) to referring others to you and who know the value of design and are WILLING to pay for it.
To accomplish this you need to have a “system” in place to attract new clients and a system to continue an ongoing relationship with them (via a newsletter, fax updates, tele-seminars, etc) The good news is once you HAVE a PROVEN system in place you can get be free to create “great design”
2. Believing all you need to do is “get your name out there”
What does that mean exactly, “Get your name out there?” Well, I know it means paying a lot of dough to have “brand advertising” or “brand awareness” Of course when you are in the design business that is all you see – it is everywhere. But it rarely works for the freelancer and small design studio owner. It just sits there likely a moldy blanket gathering dust and moth balls.
So allow me to suggest direct marketing. I know this is “taboo” in the design world but I KNOW it works. With DM you receive instant feedback on your campaign as to whether your marketing is working or not because it DIRECTLY asks for the user to take action through creative offers, guarantees, attention-getting headlines, emotional copy, multiple bonuses and more. With DM you ONLY pay for direct RESULTS.
Bottom line is we want our hard-earned marketing dollars to be efficient and effective.
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