Being a Starving Graphic Artist Sucks

More Graphic Design Advice Not to Be Missed: What Happens to the Potential Clients that Decide Not to Hire You?

In going through old email conversations today I found a few potential clients (probably about 15) that decided not to hire me, in many cases I am not sure what happened to them (I would bet 85% of them didn't because of money), I just know they didn't pay me. Should either of us be surprised there were a good number of people that didn't hire me? Heck no! I know that not everyone I meet is going to hire me and the same will apply to you. The truth is, not everyone you meet will end up hiring you (even if you think they're a good fit).

What I did find surprising in these emails is that when I checked up with these folks to see what they ended up doing the answer was pretty much the same - they were doing and had done nothing.

Whether it was months or years that have passed since they decided not hire me they all had the same bad branding, same bad marketing and yes the same bad web site. Nothing changed at all.

It's sad really, I knew I could have helped these clients, but they found some reason not to move forward, and end up right back in the situation they were in before they contacted me. 

What I find is that people that decide to hold off (particularly because of money) are waiting until some magical event happens; they're waiting for a mystical sign or perhaps something better. Zilch.

Over time, something else comes up and they slowly forget about their success, they lose hope or just decide it's not worth it and try something easier.

Whether it's freelancers looking at the product section of my site and deciding to keep looking for free info, or clients thinking something better and cheaper will come along I guess I just feel badly for their businesses - most of them are doomed, they just don't know it yet. 

With all of that doom and gloom there's got to be some good news too - there is: it's never a bad idea to follow up with people (so save those old emails). If you have old contacts that didn't pan out, drop them a line and see if things have changed and that they may want to work with you now. Realistically, most will probably decline, but if sales are slow you may end up finding that a few do decide to hire you!

Most people are going to be too proud to call you back after saying they won't hire you - so follow up!!!

PS - thanks for the recent great comments about the Being a Starving Artist Sucks and Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers books.

PPS - My friend Bill was right, more often than not when a client says, "I can't afford you" they really mean, I don't believe the money I invest in you will be worth it. You'd be surprised how people can "find" money all of a sudden when they feel that investing in training, design, marketing, etc. will benefit them.

Graphic Designer Tip Everyone Should Know: What to Say When You're Accused of Doing/Not Doing Something You're Not Guilty of

I received this in my email box quite a while back:

"Hello Jeremy,
Did you send the new files for my project to Jack? At this time he has not received them.  I am wondering what has happened...Sincerely, Debbie"

Well just between us, I know that this guy, "Jack" received the files (I made sure he got them) and I was a little ticked off that I was potentially being blamed for something that wasn't my fault. Still, I've learned the hard way that it's never wise to jump on anyone until I knew all of the facts, and that getting nasty wouldn’t solve anything anyways. With that in mind, here's what I sent back:

"Hi Debbie!
On the 4th of this month I sent Jack a link to download the final file he could print.
He responded about 10 minutes after receiving my email and indicated he’d have his pre-press department look at the final file and let me know if he needed anything else.
I never heard from him so I assumed that he was fine. I sent you the native files but Jack really doesn’t need them, he just needs the final file I sent him.

"Here is Jack’s email to me:
I will have my prepress dept review the files. If there are any questions we will get back to you. IF not, we will make the proof and send to Naomi for approval. Thank you for your help.

"The file is still available for you and Jack to download, here is the link: http://www.somefilelink.com

"If Jack has any challenges have him call me, but he should have everything he needs to get this done. If he hasn’t sent you a proof yet, you might want to give him a ring.
Best wishes."

I know what I sent her isn't a great literary piece of work, but it did get the job done (it cleared my name quickly and without making things worse). The client actually found the printer was at fault but appreciated that I didn't get upset when it looked like I'd screwed up. The reason why this communication was effective in establishing that I wasn't to blame AND not making things worse was:

• I specifically noted what I sent and when I sent it
• I'd kept one of the printer's emails so I was able to reference it
• I provided an immediate solution - the file was still available
• I avoided blaming anyone or getting personal. I even offered to help the printer if he needed it 

The client ended up hiring me for a few more projects - that probably wouldn't have happened if I handled this differently.

Being able defend yourself, even open a can of whoop-ass on a client is a good skill to master, but being able to tactfully and respectfully defend yourself is a skill you'll treasure for the rest of your life.

PS - Hey just for you guys here in the Phoenix, AZ metro area, the Art Institute of Phoenix has asked me to speak on November 12th to students and alumni, please feel free to join me if you have that day open.

I'll be talking about why in the hell most freelancers can't find and keep clients. The school's purchased a number of copies of Being a Starving Artist Sucks and Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers and will be raffling them off the week before. Going to be a fun time, join us if you can!

Freelance Graphic Designers - How Can Naming Your Files Affect Your Client's Thoughts and Behavior?

For most freelancers, naming proof files that are sent to the client for review is a pretty innocuous event - they call the file poster.jpg, logos.png or something along those lines. For most freelancers sending files to a client, there's really not a lot of thought that goes into it - just call the file whatever you want and email that sucker over to the client.

For me though, I've used this as an opportunity to keep myself organized as well as influence and even shape the behavior of the client...much like using the "Jedi Mind Trick" for all of you Star Wars freaks. Sound silly?

Let's look at a couple of my naming conventions compared to the two examples listed above - here's how I label files:

• JudyWalters_5x7FullColorAd_rd3.pdf
• APN_logos_finalProofbeforePrinting_rd9.jpg
• LinkAges_16x20Poster_finalCorrections_rd8.pdf
• JudyWalters_5x7_veryRoughDraft_FullColorAd_rd1.pdf

Nothing special on the surface, right?
No, there isn't, but there are some subtle but powerful hints going on just below the surface!

Notice that in each of my examples I indicate what revision round the client is in? There's of course a reason for this since clients tend to "forget" how many times they've asked their freelancer to make changes to the project. With this approach I let them know every single time. This allows me to bring the matter to the client's attention if she/he starts to abuse their privilege of making changes (it also helps keep track of my billing).

You'll also notice that I let the client know in some cases that make a point to tell the client what stage of the project we're in: in two examples I use the word "FINAL", which tactfully let's them know where I think the project is (like it's TIME to give the approval, dude).

I've also use the phrase, "Very Rough Draft" to subtly let the client know not to expect a masterpiece when they open the file. In either case, I am influencing...albeit very subtly, the attitude and expectations the client will have on my work. Try it...it works.

If you liked the idea please consider reposting, tweeting, digging the article so other freelancers can enjoy it as well. For you guys that do this on a regular basis, thank you!

PS - thanks to Inspiredology - Design inspiration lab, for adding me to his "Friday Fix" post today...scroll down a little and you'll find me.

Thanks for adding me to the mix Chad, glad you're enjoying the books! By the way, if you're not following this guy on Twitter or you're not getting a feed from Inspiredology, you should be - great resource.

Killer Graphic Design Advice - If You're the Expert, Why Does Your Client Order You Around?

In digging through my old email archives I found this one...

"Jeremy,
Sue does not like the scene in the window and on the computer being the same. She would like to see the exterior of the building on the computer screen. As for the fonts, the ones that you had in the last email are the ones she would like to see for comparison. She also thinks that it looks like the computer is floating in space, so she would like to see either a desk or the idea of a desk in the logo.If we can fix these items, we will be very close."

It's not unlike a lot of emails that I'd received in my earlier years of freelancing - when I didn't know how to manage clients, projects and revisions. From years of freelancing I've developed a process and an attitude that now prevents emails from this from popping into my inbox, and from me thinking, "Who the heck do these people think they are? It's like they're pretending to be designers when they aren't." If you're getting emails like this and feeling like your clients think THEY'RE the designer, you need step back and get a fresh perspective on who's the expert and who's the client.

If you're the design expert (and we both know that you are), why are they making all of the decisions? When you're out for dinner you don't go into the kitchen and tell the chef how to make shrimp scampi do you? (Please tell me you don't).

So why do clients feel that they should tell you what to do? Why do they somehow feel qualified to give you creative instruction when they don't know the difference between RGB, MTV, CYMK, LMAO or PMS? Something to think about, isn't it? I cover this in a lot more detail in my From Zero to Graphic Design Hero Audio Series, if you need some coaching in this area, check it out (I show you how to forcefully but politely do this).

If you feel clients order you around don't feel badly, I had clients do this to me for years before I figured out how to lead them through the process. Don't get me wrong, they still try but they don't get away with it now. 

PS - Quick but heartfelt thanks to Stephen who coincidentally did pick up the "FZTGDH" audio files a little while back - dude's made a remarkable turnaround as a freelancer and should be very proud of his new found success. Click here and scroll down to the comment section to read what he had to share.

PPS - Check out Inspiredology - Design inspiration lab this Friday under their "Friday Fix" post and you'll find me :) Thanks for adding me in Chad, enjoy the books!

How to Deal with Clients Who have "Selective Hearing" When It Comes to Email

One of the challenges I've faced (as well as other freelancers who've written in) with clients throughout my career is apparently the same challenge wives often have with their husbands - selective hearing.

If you've freelanced for any length of time, you've experienced clients with "selectively hearing" or responding only to the part of your email that benefits them.

For example, let's say you sent an email that says:

"Hi Jodi, Thanks for the kind words about the progress we've made haven't received your check for the middle payment yet, could you let me know if you sent it? I've also gone ahead and made the changes you asked for on your web site, you'll be able to see them at www.yourwebsite.com/test. You'll notice that I went changed the color of the banner and added some links to the bottom navigation as well. Please contact me when you have a moment."

Not a bad message, but extremely ineffective in accomplishing your goals of getting paid and moving the project along. In fact, there's a good chance based on this email that your client will ignore or forget about addressing the issue with the check.

Creating an effective email's a lot like designing an effective ad: there's an art and a science behind what you're doing - you can't just throw everything together and expect a good result.

Here's what to keep in mind when you have a specific agenda in communicating with your client:

Order matters - if you bury your main point in the middle of the email it will often get lost. See how the issue with the check gets buried in the above example?

Use bold and even another color to draw attention. Using ALL CAPS is considered tacky, but you can use bold and a different color to draw attention to a specific request. Avoid using fire engine red, but another shade of red or orange might be a good fit.

Just as you would in your design, make sure you make good use of white space. Break your ideas up so they are easy to digest. No one wants to read a blob of text.

Add a "PS" in there. It's proven that people almost always read and recall the PS in an email - use this to your advantage. 

Simple tips - sure they are, but I've been using these techniques for years and I rarely have clients selectively ignore what I am asking them for - unless they are intentionally doing it. In those cases I pick up the phone and call them.

PS - If you've enjoyed this post please retweet, Digg and or share it with your crew. Traffic is way up for this month...so whichever one(s) of you guys is sharing this blog with others - thank you very much. 

PPS - Had to add this one last minute, congrats to my mates on the University of Akron Soccer team, they are 6-0 and ranked #1 in D1 schools in the entire nation. It's been a long time since I played for the Akron...long time. While we had a ranked team, we were never in the Top 10...cheers fellas, do us proud!

Killer Freelance Graphic Design Advice: How to Tactfully Tell a Client You're Going to Bill Them

Give them an inch and they take a mile...

Good chance you've probably heard that phrase at some point in your life.

I've found this especially true when it comes to dealing with clients as a creative freelancer (perhaps you have too).

Take my recent example, I've got a client (a GOOD client) who was thinking about starting a Twitter account. From working with this guy for years (and designing his brand from scratch), I know I can design something for him in a matter of minutes, and I don't mind hooking him up for free because he's such a good client.

Nice gesture, right?

But what I, and many other freelancers are nervous about is the client coming back and saying, "Hey this is great, thank you. (awkward pause) Now I was wondering if you can make the following changes..."

Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap - it's like opening up Pandora's Box.
Now the small but nice gesture has turned into a BIG problem, so how do you get around it?

Here's what said to protect myself from having to revisions for free:
"Hey Jamie, Good talking with you yesterday. If you go into your settings in Twitter you’ll find a background option that will allow you to use this as your background – it should fit pretty nice.If you’re good with what we have – no charge on it, enjoy! If you’d like me to tweak it a little, that's no problem, it probably wouldn’t take me much time to do."

PS - If you thought that was helpful (especially finding the right words to say to a client), you'll want to consider picking up my Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers book off of Amazon.com, it's jammed with examples like this.

Never Disappoint Your Clients Again: Setting the Expectation Level

If you got 3 out of 5 right on a test is that good?
How about 8 out of 10 on another exam, is that something you'd be pleased with?

Well, it's difficult to answer those questions isn't it? It all depends on what your expectations were. For example, if you only expected to get 2 out of 5 right, you'd be pretty happy with 3. Conversely, if you expected to get 10 out of 10 right on the second test (because it was easy), an 8 out of 10 might tick you off.

I've been thinking about expectations and how they relate to me as a freelancer, an author and a business person. Whether you receive praise or disappointment, it all hinges on expectations.

Since we listed the Being a Starving Artist Sucks and Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers eBook on the iPhone, I find myself checking out the Apps Store, seeing what else is available for download (games, apps, eBooks) and checking out some of the reviews.

Have you read the reviews for some of these apps/books? Oi veh!

You can read 10 reviews for an app, 5 of them are embarrassingly gushing and full of praise, "This is the best app ever!!!!!!!!"; the other 5 reviews are horrifically nasty, "I can't believe they invested time to build this POS - don't waste your money on this crap."
                                                                                                   
Sure, you're going to have the developer or her/his buddies post glowing reviews, and you'll have bored, malicious and just plain sad people write venomous diatribes (even if they didn't purchase the download) because it makes them feel better in some twisted way (sadly, there are even a couple of those for the Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers eBook).

The rest of the reviews are somewhat legitimate, written by ordinary people across the globe - people with very different expectations on the value they place on the downloads.

For example, I know people would drop $10 on an iPhone game and not really expect it'll be all that great, at the same time I've found buyers willing to invest the time to type out a full page, scathing review for a $.99 game that didn't deliver all of the features they wanted.

Staggering.

Is the $.99 business app really worth what they were charging?
How about the $7.99 downloadable game?
Again, it all boils down to expectation levels.

Unfortunately for the developers out there (including me), when many of these initial downloadable apps, games and books apps came out they were free (developers just wanting to make a name for themselves). Many of these downloads weren't half-bad, so everyone's expectation levels were high...unrealistically high, and most of the review were favorable as you'd expect since the downloads were free.
 
Of course when the developers started to charge for their downloads, consumers blasted them. The expectation was: if download A) is free and is usable, than download B) should be the greatest thing since WIFI since they're charging $3.99. When those expectations (whether realistic or unrealistic) weren't met, consumers got pissed off and took full advantage of Apple's flawed, anonymous review system.

What's this all mean to you?
Whether you're selling downloadables on the iTunes App Store, or you're running a freelance design company, you need to help your clients/buyers establish realistic expectations on what you'll be delivering. Make sure in your initial meetings you get a clear idea of what she/he is expecting from you, reiterate it to them so they know you heard them, and write it down so you'll be able to include it in the project scope section of your contract (If you don't have a project scope section for your contract you should).

By the way, Apple has since revised their review policy since I initially wrote this post (a while ago), but it's still pretty flawed - Seth Godin had it right, "Anonymity is the enemy of civility."

Having a discussed, written down and agreed upon expectation level BEFORE you start the process will always ensure that you're clients won't come back and say, "I can't believe I paid $750 for this project when I expected you to do..."

Expectation levels, as in the iTunes example above are extremely dangerous when left purely up to the client/buyer without any discussion. Make sure you always get a clear sense of your client's expectations before you start your next project with her/him, otherwise you will be "acting stupidly", right Mr. President? Little political humor at the end here :)

Freelance Graphic Design Advice: Demystifying the "I want free design" Client Email

Wanted to share this email with you guys - if you think that since I wrote Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers, that clients have stopped trying to take advantage - not a chance. Below is an email I received on 7/6 from a client who was snarking around for free stuff (you can tell from the email that I haven't heard from him for quite a while).

If you've been a freelancer for a while I am sure you've seen something like this, if you're new to freelancing, don't worry...you will. As you read it think about how you would interpret it and how you might handle it:

"Hey Jeremy! Long time no talk!
I’m assuming you are happily married now. Hope all is well. I’m in the process of bringing on a partner and I need to get some business cards going for him. Can you just do the digital side and send me the files and I’ll get them printed? His name is Joe Carrols, Phone: 555-555-5555, Email: joe@jackassclient.com
Appreciate it...Thanks!
-Chris "

Here's a sentence by sentence breakdown on exactly what I believe this jackass tried to pull:

The Friendly, Innocent Opening
"Long time no talk! I’m assuming you are happily married now. Hope all is well."
He hasn't talked with me in a while, so he starts out friendly...like this is a social email and that he actually cares about me.

Laying the Groundwork
"Can you just do the digital side and send me the files and I’ll get them printed?"
In this sentence he starts to lay his plan. What he means here is I want you to handle the digital stuff this time, but instead of having you handle the printing (and making some extra money on it), I've got a guy that will do them cheap.

The Big Close
"Appreciate it...Thanks! -Chris"
The coup de grasse of this bloodsucker's plan is his salutation at the end, by saying "Appreciate it, thanks" he's telling me that he's assuming that this is a done deal, that I'll do the work and get it over to him without any messy delays like paying me or anything like that. Absolute horse crap.

• If you would have received this email, would you have thought this guy was looking for free work?
• Was my analysis "on target" or did I misread this?
• How would you have responded to this email?

I'd really like to know what you think on this, drop in your 2 cents by leaving a comment or pass this along to others in the design community.

PS - In a later post I'll share what I did to this guy :)

PPS - Just wanted to thank Stephen down in Houston for his feedback, "...BTW, the Contract and More package is freakin' awesome. Well done, my friend. Your stuff is such a valuable resource for designers everywhere...Thanks so much for producing books and material that designers can actually use to build their businesses. AWESOME!!!!". Thanks Stephen, get on out there and start kickin' some arse! 

A Day in the Life of a Graphic Designer: Another Day of Cracking Clients...I Mean Rocks

I feel badly for freelancers that are either self-taught or come out of design school with no training on how to deal with clients. For me, I am a self-taught designer with a degree in Marketing, but that really didn't prepare me much for dealing with clients either. On more than one occasion in my life I got the raw end of the deal when working with client - something I am not overly proud of. 

I know that it's far more fun to check out the newest tutorials on Photoshop or go searching for free fonts, but if you don't know how to deal with clients and invest all of your time gathering goodies, you're going to end up a well-equipped but miserable freelance designer.

Being able to cope with the daily madness that clients throw at you is a tremendous challenge for all freelancers (a look on blogs, message boards and twitter and you'll see it). That's why I wrote Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers. I got tired of getting run over by client day after day.

But to be honest with you, clients still try to run over me, they still try to get away with whatever they can (just because I'd written a book about it didn't change that) -  they just don't get away with things anymore, I know how to put them in their place.

Just so you get a taste for what type of client interactions I, and many other freelancers deal with, I've included a small snippet of what happened yesterday:

• One client that burned through 2 full messages on my voice mail (the machine cut her off), she also sent 5 emails full of gibberish which I had to try to make sense of and get her back on track. Talk about OCD!
• Another complained about the printing done on his inserts, even though he wanted to go with the printer because they were inexpensive (he wanted me to call and try to get a future discount for him...nah, he can call).
• A client who's also a buddy was supposed to provide 300 characters or less for his flyer, he gave me 585 and said, “See what you can do”. He first tried to have his sister design the flyer instead of paying me, when that backfired he came groveling back.
• Another client I hadn’t heard from in ages assumed that I would be able to pick up right where I left off - she’s frightfully demanding and has no idea what she’s doing so I constantly have to reeducate her.
• Lastly, and perhaps the best of all, one client tried to get me to join one of those worthless multi-level marketing deals. Jeeez.  

Yep, just another day in paradise. Do any of these client interactions sound familiar to you?

It's a constant challenge keeping clients and projects moving in the right direction (even for me), I can only imagine what other freelancers are going through that don't know what I know - ouch.

PS - Blog post title was inspired by my friend and illustrator, Rich. When asked, "Dude, what are you up to?"

He always replied, "Just cracking rocks..." This is also found in the Clash's song, "I Fought the Law" - "...cracking in rocks in the hot sun, I fought the law and the law won, I fought the law and the law won..."

PPS - Shout out to my friend, Ruben over in Belgium for his feedback on BASAS, "I’m really enjoying the book, already learned a lot! Not completely finished yet, because it’s been very busy with the holidays coming up, but when I have some spare time, it’s always a pleasure to read. Really worth the price!" - thanks Ruben.

When Slow and Steady Don't Win the Race, How to Cut Revision Time in Half (and Keep Your Sanity)

Nothing will slow you down and take the wind out of your sails more than clients evaluating your creative projects and picking them apart with revisions.

I've found that clients often feel like they are not only entitled to but qualified to make creative direction judgments on their project - no matter how little intelligence or background they have on the matter. Ridiculous. 

In meeting with a client for the first time, I remember looking them over and thinking, "Is this the one...the client from hell that's going to go round and round on the revisions merry-go-round?" It's almost like playing Russian Roulette. But the fact of the matter is, the more you work with clients, the more likely you will eventually get this client that has no idea what they want and is just as picky to match.

Over the years I've learned about techniques and human behavior that have helped me cut down the number of revisions, you'll find most of them in my "Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers" book, as well as my mentoring CD on iTunes called, "From Zero to Graphic Design Hero", but I did want to mentioned something extremely valuable I learned about clients after creating both of those resources.

Let's say a client hires you to create a logo, business card and web site for her. Typically what I, and most freelancers would do is start with the logo. We'd start with rough concepts, move on to more refined concepts, hone them down to 3-5 logos and then continue to grind those down until the client finally picks one. Throughout the entire process we're attempting to get the client's approval, we do this because we feel if we don't, we're wasting time.

I've got news - this approach is a HUGE time waster.

Let's continue on with the example, once you've got the logo done you then move on to the business cards and repeat virtually the same process. For most freelancers, their 2-4 weeks into the project now - no good, keep this approach to designing and you'll not only tear the hair out of your head, you'll be wasting thousands of dollars. But now you're about to learn a better way...

So What's This New Approach?
After I'd be freelancing for a while it dawned on me that the longer I was on a project the more the client tended to find "wrong" with it. Furthermore, I found that this process of creating one project at a time gave the client loads of time to mull over and obsess about what they suddenly felt should be changed.

So instead of submitting projects one slow stage at a time - and one at a time, I would submit let's say the logo (5-7 of them) and the business card all at once. This forced the client into making a whole lot of decisions at one time, rather than micromanage tiny little stages over the course of weeks. Now the clients had 5-7 good looking logos and a finished business card in front of them - ready to go, all they had to do was approve it. This tiny shift in my approach cut project turnarounds from 3-5 weeks down to 1-2 weeks. The same approach can work for you if you find yourself doing revision after revision*.

Why My Approach Works:

• It's true, the longer clients have to look at creative projects, the more they'll find wrong with them. Shorten the time they get to obsess over them.
• Clients have difficulty seeing your vision in the early stages, which cause them to nitpick. If you can show them a finish project much sooner in your process, the better off you'll be.
• By providing finish projects all at once for clients to approve, you are demonstrating your confidence in what you've created and establishing yourself as the creative director - not the client. This is a much more effective approach than asking for approval at every small stage of the process.
• I've found that while many clients are picky, some are busy to - if I have a good looking branding package ready for them to go, many will take it and avoid wasting further time with revisions that don't really matter in terms of bringing in more sales for them.

* NOTE: In order for my approach to work, you need to hone your skills in interviewing clients; being able to read/interpret what they want and sell your artwork (those skills are discussed in the resources I mentioned earlier).