So you’ve just gotten a killer brochure designed. You can’t wait to print it and start using it. But you’re also thinking long term…what if, in a few months, some of the information needs to be changed? So you decide to ask the designer for the native or source files (i.e. the program that the file was originally built in, and is editable). And they happily say…no. Wait, what??
I just did a simple website for a startup massage business. Now, this guy is a great guy, but let’s just say that his tech skills were something to be desired. Which is pretty common among my clients, so he’s in good company 😉 He loved the website, but the first question out of his mouth was, “So how do I show up on Google?” I saw that coming a mile away.
A couple weeks ago, we were talking about how your designer is not an order taker. I made a pretty convincing case as to why, as the client, you should refrain from telling your graphic designer how to do their job. But of course we’re now all wondering, when and how should you offer feedback? If at all? Rest assured, I think it’s perfectly fine and healthy for a client to provide constructive feedback in…
“Would you like fries with that?” Sadly, I think the vast majority of graphic designers are simply that: order takers. And it’s to the detriment of their clients, and their clients’ businesses.
I know I’m not the only one to come up with this oh-so-clever headline. But I think it’s true. Social media is dead—at least for small businesses. Whoa, what? But not without a caveat…social media is alive and well. I’ll explain in a minute. I finally found some evidence of what I’ve long suspected…that marketing budgets spent on social media is a waste.
I’m going to share something with you that I don’t tell very many people. I have Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, otherwise known as SLE, or simply, Lupus. Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease, which basically means my body is attacking itself and I’m pretty much stuck with it. The reason why I want to share this with you is because I’ve been gleaning some valuable insights about running a small business with a chronic illness. Surprisingly,…
Time=Money Every once in a while I run into a client who truly doesn’t seem to grasp this concept. It’s a pretty simple one. Time=money. Cheap things are cheap because they aren’t made well or didn’t take too long to make. Expensive things are expensive because they are higher quality and/or take considerable time to create. Design is no different.
I was watching Disney’s iconic 1989 masterpiece (throwback!), wondering what to write this blog post about, when it dawned on me: OMG, the Little Mermaid has contracts in it! I could write about that. (Remember the part when the evil sea witch, Ursula, gets Ariel to sign away her voice in exchange for legs? Yeah. Contract!) And the irony here is that contracts are not bad, they just have to be used in a smart…
It’s super easy to neglect your current or past clients and customers. Why is that? Probably because, as a small business, you’re up to your neck in a million other things—invoicing, marketing, paying your bills, walking the dog, meetings—it’s so easy to neglect the people who are most important to your business: your clients. But whatever you do, don’t.
Super bowl Sunday is this weekend. And like many other viewers, I mostly watch it for the ads. Not that I’ll buy anything from them, they’re just much more entertaining than usual. Plus a ton of money was spent on these commercials, so they’re bound to be good (or at least good-er). But that’s the thing; consumers are getting better and better at ignoring mass media. So while companies are spending more and more money…
