Resourceful Designer

Touchpoints happen every time someone interacts directly with your brand. Touchpoints are the pivotal gateways when a potential client decides whether they want to take the next step towards working with you or to back away and look elsewhere.

You need to know what target markets you are going after if you want your design campaigns to succeed. It's your job to get into the heads of those people and design something that appeals to them.

Trade shows are a great place to drum up new clients. Those attending are there to either discover something new or to find ways to improve something to do with their current situation. That something could be you.

There are many instances when you may be asked to sign an NDA but the main one is when your client needs to share valuable information with you and wants to ensure you don't steal or use that information without their approval. But do you know what's involved in an NDA?

Just In Time Learning essentially means you only learn things that you will need for your next task at hand. Learning things you don’t need right now is a waste of time.

Marketing to a design niche is easier than general marketing. Your marketing material is designed to appeal to that niche, making it easier to get noticed.

Being a home-based designer is challenging enough without having your design life interrupted by the personal life that surrounds you each and every day. In this episode, I share four tips to help balance them.

I read an article recently about the Zeigarnik Effect. The article I read was aimed at writers and not graphic designers but I found a lot of it relates to what we do as designers. How the tension in our mind actually improves our creativity.

Peripherals, devices that are often forgotten until they are needed, are an essential addition to any graphic design business.

Checklists are a must for running an efficient design business. They allow you to keep on top of every step involved in a task or project. By using checklists you ensure things don’t get out of hand.

A home office is essential if you plan on running your graphic design business for any length of time. Sure the kitchen table can make due in a pinch, but if you're serious about your business you will want to carve out a bit of that home real estate and claim it as your own.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. It’s the capacity to be aware of, control, and express your emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.

As a designer, you will receive criticism on your work. How you deal with that criticism will determine what kind of designer you are.

Your goal as a designer is to turn all your clients into repeat clients. But you can't do that unless you build a relationship with them. After all, clients would much rather deal with a good designer they like, than a great designer they don't like.

As a designer, you are also a problem solver. Your job is not to do what the client asks without question, but to question what the client asks. If you can solve your client's problems they will be loyal to you for life.