Another article on red flags to watch out for with clients? I know what you’re thinking: man, she must really hate clients. But that’s not true. At all. Most of my clients I truly enjoy working with, and we have great relationships. Some I even meet for drinks! But the reason I do love the vast majority of my clients is because I try to be selective about whom I work with. Unfortunately, there are…
Everyone is going digital. There’s nothing earth-shattering about that. This makes being somewhat social media savvy is necessary to attracting new business from these potential clients. I know, I know, it was only a few months ago I was griping about the evils of jumping on the social media bandwagon. While I still think social media is not necessary for everyone, it still has its place in a healthy business’ overall marketing strategy. Through the…
Have you ever gone to a website or picked up a business card from a new company only to find yourself dissatisfied or uninterested? Me too. Which got me thinking… there’s a lot of talk about what you need to do to create a killer website, or a great logo. But why does good design even matter? Why do you need it? I’ll tell you why. There’s an intangible value to good graphic design. It’s more than getting…
Many people, and rightfully so, aren’t aware of the sheer amount of time and effort that goes into creating a strong brand identity—aka, a logo. Understandably, many potential clients are stunned when I tell them my logo design prices (let’s just say a logo should cost you more than a nice dinner.) In fact, most professional designers would agree: a logo takes a lot of time, thought, skill, and effort. All of this amounts to…
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.
Clients turn us down all the time. Aren’t we ever allowed to return the favor? I say, heck yes! Sometimes, for one reason or another, we get that feeling in our gut that something just isn’t quite right. And it’s always best to heed rather than ignore those red flags. But let’s say you’re in the middle of your meeting with a potential client, and then you realize you should turn down the project? Do…
I just walked away from an $8,000 project. “What, are you crazy?!” Is probably what you’re thinking right now. Yes, I am crazy. Crazy enough to put my sanity and happiness before profits. The reason I want to share this with you is to encourage all other designers out there that it’s okay to say “no” sometimes. In fact, the ability to say “no” is an important part of what we do. But if you’re…
Today it seems that designers are a dime a dozen; anyone with a computer and a copy of Photoshop considers themselves a bona fide graphic designer. How can you possibly tell who’s good and who’s not? Simple, just ask yourself these 10 burning questions before hiring one. (And designers, double check that you can pass these benchmarks as well.) 1. How strong is their portfolio? This is paramount, because at the end of the…
Not so long ago, I had a commenter ask me a tough question: how do I find clients? Especially in a weak economy. Fierce competition doesn’t help either. I know for myself, clients and projects wax and wane, but I’ve been very fortunate to establish some pretty loyal clients early on in my career. The question is, how can you do this too? You’ve probably heard the suggestions I’m about to offer before. They’re not…
