Resourceful Designer

Most designers don’t get paid what they’re worth. The reason they don’t is that they rationalize the value of the service they provide. What I mean by this is they try to justify why they are charging the price they do for their designs by itemizing what’s involved in their creation process.

To run a home-based freelance design business you need to know what to do for it to succeed. You also need to know what to avoid doing so as not to fail.

Running a home-based design business is the best thing any designer could do. At least that’s my opinion, but I could be biased since I’ve been doing it for over 13 years now and I love what I do. But running a home-based design business does have its drawbacks. Such as when life interferes with your plans.

Deciding what type of home-based business you run is important because the direction you take could to determine the kind of clients you attract and the growth curve of your design business including how much money you can potentially make. The options I’m talking about are whether you define yourself as a freelancer or design studio.

It's confusing for wannabe entrepreneurs to start a business. Their confusion creates an excellent opportunity for you, as a designer to team up with referral partners and not only help these entrepreneurs get started, but it also helps grow your and your referral partners' businesses.

Any time designers get together in person or online on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn or Reddit, you’re sure to hear someone ask how to attract more clients. It’s one of, if not the most significant problem faced by designers. Today I talk about a great way to attract clients that for some reason, not many designers are taking advantage of. Google AdWords.

Just like any other endeavour, if you don't promote your design business you are drastically impeeding its chance to grow. It's called brand recognition, The idea is that when someone is in need of a service you offer, there's a good chance they will choose to work with someone they've heard of. Let that someone be you.

When I say that most design clients are ignorant I'm not trying to be mean or derogatory. I'm simply stating a fact. The definition of "Ignorant" is someone who is lacking in knowledge or information as to a particular subject. That description is a perfect fit for design clients who often don't understand what it is you do, or how you do it.

The Discovery Process is kind of like dating, or at least what I can remember from my dating days. It’s done at a point in your client relationship when you want to get to know them better. What are their goals, what makes them feel good, what frustrates them, what do they like, dislike? Why do they want to work with you?

There are plenty of podcasts and blog articles that go into great detail teaching you how to be a more productive person. What most of them don't teach you is how to also be effective during the process. It doesn't matter how productive you are if the if the work you are doing is wrong.

The other day at dinner during some idle chit-chat with my wife she mentioned a presentation she attended about ergonomics and how to minimise back and neck pain from sitting at a computer all day. As designers, we spend most of our time sitting in front of a computer so I took an interest, and this is what I found.

A few months ago someone asked me what I do you do for a living. Instead of saying "I'm a Graphic Designer", I told them I was a Design Consultant. The reaction I received was positive and noticeably different than previous encounters. They became the first of many new clients seeking design consultation.

Imagine running into an old high school classmate at the airport. Someone you haven’t talked to in years. After exchanging some pleasantries, you realise they would be a perfect design client for you. They ask you what you do for a living, and as you start thinking of the best way to pitch your services to them, their flight is called, and you’ve lost your chance. That’s where having an elevator pitch could have helped you.

I recently saw a conversation in a Facebook group discussing price lists on design websites. The consensus was that including fixed or package prices on your site diminishes the value of your services as a designer. This got me thinking. Are designers who include price lists positioning themselves as a commodity?

One thing I noticed while presenting to a group of new entrepreneurs is that most them had zero experience before starting their business. Talking to them I realized just how naive they are when it comes to marketing their business and how much they need the help of a good designer like you.