Being a Starving Graphic Artist Sucks

Do You Assume that Everyone Wants to Regularly Hear about Your Creative Freelancing Business?

It astounds me the number of small business owners (including creative freelancers like designers, photographers, etc) that I've met either through business or personal relationships that assume that I would be clamoring to get on their business newsletter.

Whether I've known these people for a while (perhaps we're friends) or I said, "Hi" to them while washing my hands next to them in the Chili's bathroom over the weekend, small business owners nowadays mistakenly push to get as many people on their newsletter list as they can - even if they haven't gained permission. I am sure it's happened to you as well.

The sad thing is that some of these people I am friends with - I like them, but that doesn't hide the fact that they are assuming that I want to receive a mass communication about their company. In most cases, I don't - there just isn't enough time in the day. Do you assume the people you know want to regularly hear about your freelancing business?

Whether it's friends or people you bump into at a networking event, now the norm seems that small business owners just assume everyone wants to hear from them via newsletter...and even if they don't they'll just unsubscribe and it won't be a big deal. 

Look, having a periodic communication with people that you've worked for, met, etc... is cool - just don't assume that everyone you meet wants to receive your news. Have a double opt-in policy for your newsletter or auto responder (that's what I have), it sends an initial email to the recipient informing them they've been added to a list and asks them if they truly do want to receive that information.

Get clear permission to talk to communicate with someone first, then send them your newsletter or auto responder.

Pizza Hut Figured Out How Perception Can be Better than Reality. How You Can Apply It to Your Freelance Design Company

I saw Pizza Hut's now offering pasta - sounds interesting...

They're running a commercial on television now where they've invited 50 New Yorkers to a fancy restaurant and told them they were getting first-rate, restaurant-quality food; instead they served they're new, reasonably priced pasta dishes. Shocking, you think?

Well, it's actually not a new concept, and it's not hard to pull off either if you know how to do it: Folger's coffee did this did this years ago. The concept works on the general public (that's why they did a commercial like this) - it  impresses most people...but I am not.

During the 30 second spot, Pizza Hut captures several clips of diners raving how good the food is, of course when they're told it's from Pizza Hut instead of this 5 star restaurant, they're jaws hit the ground. Again, I am not impressed.

Don't get me wrong, I like Pizza Hut, and the commercial's not a bad concept. The reason why they were able to fool people into thinking this was world-class pasta is the same reason why movie popcorn always tastes better even though most people would agree it's not: it's all about perception and expectations.

The diners that were invited to this restaurant expected 5 star food, they were seated at a swanky, expensive table with wonderful lighting, good wine and good company. All of these things give the perception that the food of course will be wonderful as well. Pizza Hut sending a cohesive message that "this is going to be gourmet food"...even though it isn't - they've done everything they can to influence the diners expectations and perceptions - and that approach almost always works in swaying people to a certain behavior or outcome.

When it comes to your business, what expectations and perceptions are you creating for your clients?
Do you help them see that your work is first-rate and worth the money or do that you're an amateur? Perception is everything...how are you perceived?

PS - Thanks to the instructors down at Mesa Community College for allowing me to come in speak to your design students as well as promote the Being a Starving Artist Sucks book...I'll post about it in the next couple of weeks.

Making Sales and Getting the Word Out on Your Freelancing Graphic Design Business

I often hear new freelancers to the industry talk about "getting their name out there"...that things will start rolling when people start hearing about them. The idea here is that they'll be able to start becoming successful once people know who they are (freelancers usually resort to getting their name out there in as many places as they can: direct mail, advertising, pay per click, promotions, etc...)

Well, it's not quite that easy, in fact, using that logic you could say, "Well, I have a car so I can now drive to Canada". The truth is, yes it is possible to drive to Canada, but there's a lot more to getting there than just having a vehicle: gas, insurance, a map, lodging...you get the point.

This is an all too common misconception with freelancers though: just because people know you doesn't mean you're going create clients and make money. It's true that if no one knows about you, making money is going to be a chore, but people knowing about your business name doesn't mean they'll hire you. Make sure you don't miss that point - it's important.

Here are some of the pros and cons of doing a "big splash", get your name out there approach to getting clients:

Pros

• Easy to get started,
• Makes you feel hopeful, people (ad reps) paying attention to you, encouraging you - because happy to take your money :(
• If you can commit to this strategy for a long time it can start to work for you
• You might get lucky and hit the right group of people at the right time and bring in some sales but it's unlikely

Cons

1. Often not targeted ineffective
2. Need repetition - at least 7 touches for it to work
3. Can be costly
4. Getting your name out there and getting people to hire you can be very different things
5. Word of mouth, getting your name out there fades away if you don't keep it up

Bottom line guys, advertising, PPC, direct mail, etc. can work but there's a lot more too it than just getting your name out there - be careful to know the difference between promotion and sales.

PS - Hey I wanted to share with you that I've just made The Creative Freelance Designer's Audio Success Series available on the Being a Starving Artist Sucks web site. These 8 tracks were created to help address the tricky situations that cause designers the most stress and difficulties. The tracks are under $30 and contain over 2 hours of no-nonsense, insider information and a butt-load of bonuses, check out the details by clicking here.

Did You Get a Tiny Megaphone with Your New iPhone? I Did...

I finally broke down and bought one of the 16GB iPhones a couple of weeks ago, and yes, the packaging (box, instructions, etc) was a sleek and sophisticated as everyone says it is - what can I say - it's a nice presentation. Discreetly tucked away in the box, Mac cleverly included a tiny megaphone for me to use.

Okay, it's not a real megaphone, just figurative - but it's no less powerful. See, Mac includes 2 little Apple stickers that you can proudly display to the rest of the world, and the funny thing is, most Mac owners are happy to do this. In effect, Mac has provided discreet, inexpensive but extremely powerful megaphones for their customers to shout to the world, "I have a Mac and I am proud of it!" It's free advertising...and it's brilliant.

So if you're running a creative freelancing company, what can you learn from this? Well, I am not advocating sending your clients stickers with your company's name on it, but you'll want to help your clients feel empowered and equipped to spread the word about you. Develop a referral program, ask them what would get them motivated and follow up. I've found that freelance graphic designers get most of their business through referrals, but they don't have an effective process to get them - they don't give their clients megaphones. The bottom line is, their clients don't often tell a lot of people, and they don't get nearly as much business as they should.

If you're unsure or nervous about how and when to ask for referrals, I cover this pretty extensively in the Being a Starving Artist Sucks book, you'll also be able to obtain the actual custom communications I send out to clients to get their referrals and testimonials (I've been using them for years!) in the Work Smarter NOT Harder Contract Package, if you haven't already, at least check 'em out. 

Sure, you're a freelance designer - but what are you really selling?

I've been keeping an eye on the Presidential Primaries over the last few months, and while they are all politicians, and they're all applying for the same position - they are selling very different things to the public:

• Clinton- Selling her last name and "her experience"

• Huckabee - Selling conservative values, never give up attitude

• McCain - Selling years of service, national security, ability to go across party lines
  
  
• Obama - Selling hope and smooth oratory

The one who will win most likely their respective parties' nomination will be selling the thing that is most important to their base.

As freelancers we're not running for office, but we are running for clients and projects on a weekly basis - which can be just as tough. Just like the candidates above, we've got to be able "to sell" more than just nice design - what do you sell your clients that makes you different from the other choices out there? What makes you different?

A number of candidates couldn’t really decide what made them different - now they are out of the race...make sure that doesn't happen to you.

Schools Love It - The Being a Starving Artist Sucks book hits the academic road:
After receiving copies of the Being a Starving Artist Sucks book, both the art department of Mesa Community College (MCC) and the Art Institute of Phoenix (AIPX) have asked Jeremy Tuber, author of the book, to present an educational workshop for students and recent alumni. MCC will have Jeremy speak in mid April; AIPX will have him speak in mid March.

AIPX said, "Thank you so much for sending a copy of your book. It's been quite a hit with all of the Career Advisors and we've even shared it with a couple of students...you have a lot of pertinent information to share - our students will eat this up!"

If you haven't picked up your copy yet, consider doing it today - even design schools are starting to see it's got some great info.

What Super Bowl Commercials Can Teach Freelancers About Blowing Money on Advertising

Ah the 2008 Super Bowl commercials...

• I remember the horse pretending to be Rocky
• I remember the heart jumping out of the girl's chest and walking out the door
• I remember the somewhat politically insensitive Asian cartoons
• I remember the computer generated lizards dancing around with Naomi Campbell, or perhaps it was the lizards dancing with a computer generated Naomi Campbell - it was hard to tell...

What I don't remember are the companies themselves. Do you?
Take this a step further, do you think you'll remember the company names two weeks from now?
Probably not.

Even though most of us (probably all of us) won't be running an advertising spot during the Super Bowl, there's a good lesson here even if you don't have millions of dollars to spend on marketing and advertising.

If you're advertising your design firm in a local paper, or running a direct mail campaign (postcard): most people aren't going to remember or pay attention the first time they see something from you. Savvy freelancers know you need to commit to running your ad or postcard AT LEAST 3 times, preferably 7 times, in order for people to start paying attention to it. Avoid making the mistake of so many other small business owners do: run an ad or marketing piece one time and say, "It didn't work".

Like the Super Bowl ads, most people will remember a small portion of your message, but it will take 3 or more impressions for them to stop and really pay attention to what you're saying.  

Oh yeah, the game was good too - glad the "G-Men" could pull out a win.

Thanks again to Jon and Sherry for their recent testimonials on the book - check them out and read what other's have said by clicking here.

Marketing and Advertising on the NOT So Straight & Narrow - Should You Do It?

I received a few comments on the blog over the last week that really weren't comments at all; they were advertisements for an online training company - I won't bother mentioning their name. I certainly don't have any problem with companies advertising, but what pisses me off (and most of the general public) is when questionable business owners, marketers and advertisers pretend that they aren't advertising when they really are.

Unfortunately, these types of questionable marketing and advertising techniques aren't all that uncommon. It begs the question, "Just because you can do something, does that mean you should?"

For example: pretending to be gathering information on the phone when in fact you're trying to sell something, telling people they've won something when they really haven't, and yes, adding comments to a blog that are really advertisements, are all ways you can add to your bottom line (in the short run).

Should you resort to these types of tactics to build your sales?

Well, that's a personal call every company (and creative freelancer) has to make on her/his own. For me, I think people are generally pretty smart, and they can see a scam coming a mile away. When people see unscrupulous, dishonest marketing & advertising they typically ignore it, complain about it or tell as many as their friends to avoid it. Imagine that - people don't like to feel like they've been taken advantage of, or tricked!

Hey, as freelance professionals we're all aware of different ways to manipulate people into visiting our web site or calling us on the phone, but these approaches are more likely to build "bad will" rather than building our businesses. You're going to find other companies and freelance designers out there that will do just about anything to get people in their door - don't buy into this garbage, in the long run it doesn't work.

If you really want to make a success out of yourself, treat people the way you'd like to be treated, be honest and be fair - you'll sleep better at night and you'll probably end up making more money anyway.

In wrapping this post up, I wanted to share a nice success story I received on Thursday from a freelancer who purchased the BASAS printed book, "I think your book so far is great. It addresses all the issues that we graphic designers face. I'm looking forward to reading about how to incorporate marketing know-how/strategy into my work. thanks, you did us all a great service!" Thanks Patti, and it's my pleasure.

Getting More Referrals: Do Holiday Chatchkies Work?

In case you were wondering what the heck the word "chatchkies" meant, it's a Yiddish word meaning "stuff".

I received this (see image to right) a few days ago from a guy I'd met a while back in a networking group. This guy has never called me, never emailed me to see how things were going, nor did he show any interest in me or my business at all - and yet he asks for a referral. Is this a joke?

Sadly, for most freelancers (designers or otherwise), this is what passes as a request for a referral. Not only are tactics like this old and tired, they are disingenuous and tend to irk people like me.

What this guy sent me is neither personal, relevant nor valuable - it's a cheap attempt to get more business.

As you gear up for this holiday season, avoid the temptation to send out junk like this and instead focus on providing your clients with service, value and information they can use to grow their business. Go above and beyond in helping your clients or letting them know you sincerely appreciate them - that's how you get referrals, not by sending a picture of your family in matching holiday sweaters to everyone you've ever met.

How Freelance Designers Should Answer the Question, “What do You do for a Living?”

Over the years I've done a lot of networking to bring in more clients, and I've noticed that one of the quickest ways graphic designers can help influence their value (how much they might get paid) in the eyes of a potential client is how they answer the question, "So what do you do for a living?"

Designers will often answer this by saying, “I do graphic design”, “I am a designer”, “I do freelance design”. Unfortunately in the business community, all of these responses typically carry a negative connotation (at least in the States).

Business owners and entrepreneurs have their own unique concept of what a graphic artist/designer is and does, which is quite different than the creative community. Perhaps it shouldn’t be like this, but it is. When meeting a potential client at a networking function, one of the quickest ways to devalue yourself and to cause them to lose interest is to say, “I do freelance design”.

If you’re networking to promote your business, do yourself a favor and invest some time in coming up with a better, more compelling answer to this crucial question.

When networking, business people are always looking for a quick and simple way to organize people into categories: vendor, salesperson, finance guy, designer, receptionist. They call this putting people into buckets. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s just a way business people process new people and information. When you’re meeting 20+ new people at a networking group it’s just easier to keep track of the people you met by thinking, “Oh, he’s a handyman, she’s a financial planner, etc...” Let’s face it, we all do this to some degree.

The problem that comes in is that all of these titles come with a host of preconceived notions (we all have them) – when you hear someone telling you, “I am an insurance agent” you immediately think about what you know about and feel about insurance agents. Based on your past experiences and preconceived notions, you’ll make some assumptions about this person that may or may not be true. For example: what they really do for a living, how intelligent they are and how much they probably get paid.

If your answer to "So what do you do for a living?" is, “Oh, I am a freelancer” or something like it, you’ll have the same thing happen to you – and sadly, many business people see designers as a necessary expense that they should try to get for as inexpensively as possible. Many business owners see graphic designers as all the same – like oranges, and the best way to pick them is just pick the cheapest. Both you and I know this isn’t true so you have to avoid being lumped in with all of the other graphic designers, you have to make yourself stand out. This isn’t as hard as you might think, it’s all done in how you answer the, "So what do you do for a living?” question.

Avoid allowing business people put you in the box of, “Oh she/he’s a graphic person.” Instead of the typical answer, an interesting way to respond is, “I am what they call a design consultant. The value I bring to the table is through helping business owners (like yourself), first conceptualize, and the create communications to differentiate your business from the industry and bring in more customers through your door.”

Does that sound better than, “I do design”? Do you think the designer that says this will help separate themselves from the rest of the pack, and increase how much they can potentially earn?

Yes and yes again.

The next time you’re at a networking or business function try to avoid telling people that you’re just “a designer”. Before you attend an event, think about how you’re going to answer this question so that it showcases the benefit that you bring to the table rather than just what you do. Do take caution that what you say is genuine and not just a bunch of fancy words you’ve strung together to sound intelligent. Networkers and clients alike will be turned off by this, instead try coming up with something that is authentic and that gets people to say, "That sounds interesting, tell me more about that..."

Should Freelance Graphic Designers Use Cold Calling as Part of Their Marketing Strategy?

A few weeks back my friend, Joe picked up a copy of Being a Starving Artist Sucks. He reported back that he really enjoyed the book but he looked high and low to find something about cold calling in the book, and he came up empty-handed. He's right, from page 1 to page 501 you're not going to find anything on selling over the telephone. When he asked me why I didn’t cover this I think he was surprised to hear that this wasn’t left out by accident but on purpose.

While telemarketing remains a low cost, relatively easy way to sell people your product/service, there's a more complex moral issue that goes along with it. Is it right to interrupt and tick off 9, 30, or however many numbers of people just so you can sell one? Is it worth it? Looking at marketing from a broader perspective, what is or should be acceptable marketing guidelines? Is it acceptable to go door to door, interrupt people at dinner, call them while they are at work – what’s ethical and what's not?

I suppose there are as many answers to these questions as there are designers themselves. Perhaps there most likely is no one right answer. When it comes to ethics in business, people tend to have unbelievably different viewpoints – freelance designers are no different.

Ultimately, freelance designers need to make the decision to include telemarketing as one of their outreach initiatives. As long as you’re not breaking any laws, I suppose it comes down to personal preference. That being said, for me, I've always seen the phone as a way to communicate rather than a sales tool. I despise being interrupted during the day by a company that hires employees to work in little cubicles and disrupt people all day long. Most people feel the same way; they are annoyed that someone has gone to the bother to interrupt their day to sell them something on the phone. Even with the Don’t Call List and caller ID, telemarketing has evolved and found new ways to pester...I mean reach people.

I’ve always felt that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should: would you make more money than you hired someone (or did it yourself) to call on prospective clients for 40 hrs a week? Probably. With the right script and list, you might do pretty well.

But you might think about how irritated you get when you’re interrupted by yet another company calling to help you save on long distance or make sure you have enough insurance for my family. If you don’t care for telemarketing, is it right for you to do it in your freelancing business? The Bible verse in Matthew 7 hits too close to home for me on this one: "In everything, treat people the same way you want them to treat you..."

What do you think, is it ethical to use the phone to sell people your design services? This is really a call that you need to make on your own. I would just encourage you to be consistent: if you make sales calls to prospective clients, you should take calls from companies that want to sell you what they offer.

What I have found though is that often people (not just designers), despise telemarketers calling them, but they have it as part of their marketing strategy – is that right? You make the call.  

While this post was never intended on settling the debate once and for all – it's going to go on long afterwards. However, I am hoping it's provided you some insight on what’s best for you and your business. You guys certainly have some comments on this topic – what do you think?

Shameless Book Promotion:
We're really starting to build some energy with the book now, check out the new testimonials that have been added, one of them is from an esteemed faculty member of the visual communication department at ASU. Remember, for the month of November you'll be able to get a 1/2 hour of 1 on 1 free coaching with the purchase of the printed version of BASAS.