Being a Starving Graphic Artist Sucks

Effectively Handling Phone Inquiries that Want a "Good and Cheap" Freelance Graphic Designer

I received a call from a potential client today, she said, "I am looking for someone who is both good and cheap to help me with my marketing."

I try to avoid chuckling when I hear this; I know it's not nice. But honestly, I don't know where these people come from or what planet they're living on. Who really feels they're going to get someone good and cheap? While some of these callers are just trying to get something for nothing (which is shameful), most of these people are harmless - they just don't have a clue.

In any case, it's easy to handle these types of callers and situations if you know what to say. You don't have to feel like you have scramble to find something magical to say that will knock this person's socks off. And instead of getting offended or feeling like you have to go into some long explanation about quality to someone who isn't going to get it anyway, here are a few questions you can fire back:

• "Have you found any experts that were cheap so far? Do you think you will have any luck finding any?" (I usually make a joke here that if the client does find someone, let me know and I'll hire them)
• "Do you think there's a correlation between how adept people are at what they do and how much they charge?"
• "Instead of looking for someone cheap, do you think you might save some time and effort if you look for someone who charges a fair amount for their value?"
• "Well, I have a number of testimonials you can view that might suggest I am a good investment for business owners, but let me ask you, what's cheap to you?"

Now instead of me having to explain things and try to figure out the right things to say, I've effectively turned things around and now the client has to do all of the heavy lifting by answering my questions. Based on her/his answers, you can decide whether or not to continue the conversation.

Try to be as helpful as you can (it never pays to rip into someone), but keep a close eye on your time and if you feel you're not a good match wish the person luck and end the phone conversation.

These are my thoughts, what do you guys have to add? Please email me or drop a comment, I'd love to hear what you think!

How Freelance Designers Can Compete with the Online Bland Brand Crap Factories

In his blog, Seth Godin talks about making a caricature of your brand, "...Worse than avoiding the negative, though, is the tendency for most organizations to resist creating a brand that can be caricatured. It doesn't feel safe or responsible or prudent. Coloring inside the lines and pleasing most of your customers most of the time almost guarantees you'll be bland."

I started thinking about this and Seth's post begs an interesting question that designers need to answer for themselves when creating a business identity for themselves or their clients: is it more risky to play it safe than to be different?

Yes, it is.
Bland and safe brands = not standing out from the crowd and being invisible to customers, which leads to starving.

There are two types of businesses out there: remarkable and invisible (that's Seth's not mine), hopefully the brands you're creating are helping to make companies remarkable. Creating bland, safe brands is a quick way to ensure you don't make a lot of money and don't bring in a lot of business.

Competing with the Brand Factories
There are thousands of design firms out there, pumping out even more logos and brands. Most of them have the same boring, "color within the lines" look and feel. You've seen it before, brands with: the obligatory swoosh, the abstract icon that no one really knows what it is, or worse yet - the globe that everyone seems to use.

Creating brands has slowly become one giant crap factory where graphic designers pump out inexpensive, generic and meaningless icons that some business people mistake as an effective brand. Business owners can now purchase hundreds of predesigned brands on the Internet in minutes. As a result, many of these people have been fooled into thinking, or have convinced themselves that's all they need to look professional and stand out from their competition. They're wrong.

Instead of seeing a brand as an asset that can help them build their business, some business owners see it as an expense. They see brands and the design professionals that create them as commodities. This has caused freelance professionals to become frustrated that potential clients entertain the idea of paying someone a cheap 100 bucks to create a "quick and dirty" brand instead of having a true professional customize one. They are often left feeling, "How can I compete with that?"

Actually you can compete, I've been doing it for years and charging a heck of a lot more than a few hundred bucks for a brand. If you want to start getting paid the money you really want to earn for designing brands and bring in more clients, keep these things in mind:

1. Help your client understand that if they, like everyone else has the opportunity to purchase an inexpensive, generic-template brand from an internet site or quick copy place, they're going to look like everyone else. A bland brand = blending in with the crowd and becoming invisible to potential customers. Help your client see that a strong, unique brand can bring in more business, customers and revenue. Having a brand designed should be seen as an asset rather than an expense.
2. Avoid playing it safe and designing brands that look like everyone else's. Develop your own unique style of how you design brands (people will start to recognize them). Look to push your creative boundaries.
3. Recognize that there is a small segment of business owners that see branding as a no-value expense, so they get the most inexpensive one possible. Ultimately, there's nothing you can do or say to them that will change their mind - these people are lost. The best thing you can do is let them hire someone cheap and avoid wasting time with them.
4. Avoid designing in a vacuum. Instead of locking yourself in your studio, invest the time to really learn about your client and his/her customers - design something that your client's customers will respond to rather than what you think is cool.
5. Embrace the idea of creating brands that are distinctive to the client and they're meaningful. As clients go through my branding portfolio they often make the same comment about the work, "Each one of these brands is different. They are all unique to the business you've created them for..." I reply back, "It's almost like each one of them has a spirit or a soul doesn't it?" They finish with, "Yes! That's it! I want you to do something like that for me!"

Self Assessment for Successful Designers

• Do your brand designs stand out compared to the competition?
• When you're designing brand images for your clients, are you playing it safe and designing pretty much what everyone else is?
• Do you design brands based on what you like or what you've researched and believe will work best for your client?
• Did you pattern your own look and feel off of other design firms?

The New, Incredible Benefit of Owning the “Being a Starving Artist Sucks” book - that You Don’t Give a Darn About

I learned something this Thanksgiving that I couldn't wait to share with you about the Being a Starving Artist Sucks book. Forget about everything other design professionals have said in the testimonials section, I discovered unbelievable benefit that I never saw before, and if you haven’t purchased your own copy of the Being a Starving Artist Sucks book, I'll bet this will convince you it’s a must have...

During Thanksgiving dinner, my little cousin Morgan accidentally poured an entire cup of lemonade on my book that was conveniently sitting on the "beverage table". When my Aunt discovered this she shrieked, "What about the carpet, did it get on the carpet?!?" Thanks to the unbelievable absorbency of the Being a Starving Artist Sucks book, the lemonade never made it to the carpet - the book soaked up all of the liquid. Not only are designers calling this a must have for any freelance who wants to build her/his business; it can also clean up those unforeseen spills and messes! Pretty exciting, huh?

You'll want to keep a copy by your computer – don't want to get that wet. You can also keep a copy in the kitchen and a copy in the copy in the car just in case that morning coffee spills. Think about it, with my book around you’ll never have to worry about unexpected spills ruining anything of value that you have. Check this out...the pages of the book are uncoated 80# text weight, so you know they are going to soak up just about anything. And with 500 pages in all, you’d be crazy to buy any other book on the market.

Okay, okay I'll be serious for a second. You’re shaking your head now, thinking, "What the heck is he talking about?!?!" I know, you don’t give a hoot about the book’s absorbency...not many people would, but there’s a valuable lesson here that most freelance designers need reminded of.

Unfortunately when talking to potential clients either in person or on the telephone, overzealous and unprepared designers can go on and on about a benefit that she/he provides the potential client that carries very little significance. When this happens the client becomes disinterested, bored and annoyed, at worst it causes them to feel you are the wrong person for the job. Wasting time covering benefits no one cares about can be devastating when trying to land a sale - heck, you probably thought I was nuts going on and on about absorbency.

When you talk to clients, do you talk about benefits that they care about, or that you think they care about?

In all fairness, my example was just plain silly, but I've heard designers try to convince business people to hire them because they’ve won awards, they are Adobe Certified and that they have a degree from the University of "Pish-Posh". Just like my example of having a book that’s super absorbent, business owners and potential clients don't care about these things at all. When it comes to your clients and potential clients, are you covering the benefits they really want...are you sure you are?

PS - Look for more designer reviews over the next few weeks in the testimonials section...and just in case you were wondering if this Thanksgiving story was true - it was.

Do You have a One Size Fits All Approach to Working with Your Freelance Design Clients?

I am watching a buddy of mine play a new video game for the XBox 360, he’s been fiddling with it for over ½ hour and even though he hasn’t played the opening level, but he's still having fun. Instead he’s enjoying the ability to completely modify his character and the game play. Apparently this game, "Mass Effect" is totally customizable and gamers love it.

I start to think about this concept of customization and individualization in the context of dealing with freelance design clients - like my buddy, people like to customize their experience; your clients are that way too I’m sure.

Clients like to feel that they have some flexibility in working with you (even if it’s only perceived). While your clients want you to guide them through the process instead of forcing them to make all of the choices, they want to feel like they are being treated as an individual rather than cattle that’s being herded from pasture to pasture. When it comes to negotiation, pricing, turn around times and payments, do you allow clients to customize their plans or do you stay with a one size fits all approach. If you do, you're on the right track.

A word of caution though: if you offer too many options to potential clients you may tend to confuse them – and a confused mind always says "no".

You want to walk that fine line between giving people options they want to choose from and overwhelming them. Finding that line is quite a trick and can best be done by gathering feedback from your clients. You may find that you can attract more business by providing more ways to pay, different turnaround times and negotiating people on an individual basis – I certainly have.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday, and make sure you take a bit of a break from freelancing to enjoy your family and your life.

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.

How Freelancers Can Master the Art of Defense Against Difficult Clients - Verbal Judo for Designers in Action

I’ve gotten some really good feedback on the follow up book to Being a Starving Artist Sucks called Verbal Judo for Designers. Being able to talk effectively with clients is one of the most crucial skills you can develop – but you’re not going to find it in a college curriculum. Most designers learn the hard way (like I did) by making mistakes and being taken advantage of.

From consulting some of the best minds in the sales/marketing field in this area I developed a way designers can powerfully but gently communicate with clients so that they don’t feel taken advantage of and they don’t lose the client because they were uncooperative. I call it Verbal Judo for Designers, Master the Art of Defense Against Difficult Clients.

Here is a real life example of me using Verbal Judo for Designers recently.

Client: So, looking at the graphics you sent. I like the colors, but none of the designs really jumped out to me.  What about something like a woman, just the side of her face with her hands sort of cupped by the chin and she’s blowing the tag line blowing in the wind?  I know I want soft, feminine, classy. I’ll also go on line and look at some online websites. Maybe I’ll get something from that.

You: Hey thanks for the feedback, I appreciate you taking a moment to look what I have here. Remember what we talked about though – the people that ultimately we want to make the decision on this logo are your clients. Instead of you and I guessing what will attract them, wouldn’t it make more sense to run this by 5-7 of your best clients and see what they think instead?

Which clients do you really enjoy working with and wish you could find more people like them?

Client: Susie, Bill, Jane, Thomas, Milton.

You: That's great. In order to attract more people like them, do you think we should run these logos by them and see what they think rather than guessing what they might like, or going off what you and I like?

If you thought, "Hey I could use something like that!" Feel free to drop me an email and I'll shoot you over an introductory chapter. If you haven’t picked up the Being a Starving Artist Sucks book yet, remember, that if you run a freelancing business (even part time) you will probably be able to expense the book under training and education*. That’s right, the book is tax deductible - not only are you receiving a huge, 500 page guide designers are calling the bible for new or struggling freelancers, but you can probably deduct it from your taxes.

* Accounting laws are different depending on where you work, so you’ll want to check with your accountant.

Why Clients Delay or Avoid Providing a Freelance Graphic Designer a Response to Their Contract

Designers have often asked me, "I sent a proposed contract to a potential client but I haven’t heard back from them, what the heck can be going on?" Truth is, it can be any number of things, maybe even a combination of things as to why the client hasn’t gotten back to you.

I've identified 3 main categories as to why clients may not have given you an answer if they want to move forward with their project and hire you:

Not Interested in Working with You

• You're too expensive and they went looking for cheaper options
• They didn’t feel comfortable working with you
• They didn’t feel you were the right fit for the project
• Someone in the company has a cousin who has a brother who has a daughter that's going to do the project instead
• They wanted the project to be done immediately, and you weren't able to do it in the time frame they wanted
• They were interviewing several design options and just went in another direction
• They were just pumping you for information. They were just using you as a benchmark so they should know how much they should expect to pay.

No Longer Interested in Moving Project Forward

• Something has changed with the business and they aren’t interested in moving forward at this time
• They have more pressing things to get to, and they've decided to put the project on hold
• Through interviewing a number of design options, they've realized that their expectations have far exceeded their budget
• They aren't sure they want to move forward with the project or business
• They were never that sure they wanted to move forward with the project, they figured they'd get some information and just see if they could or wanted to hire someone on

Haven’t Gotten to it Yet

• It's on the radar screen, but it's not a priority
• They've had to deal with personal issues
• They have other "fires to put out"
• They are confused by the contract or the contact looks too intimidating and they are putting it off. You’re contract/process is making it too hard for clients to want to work with you
• They are waiting for, or hoping for money to come in before contacting you (this could also include some sort of event or meeting)

Sure, there might be other reasons you could add to the list I have here. If you have some good ones that you feel other designers have heard as well, be sure to submit a comment.

The bottom line on this is that being in limbo, waiting for a client to get back to you is a difficult position to be in. At least with "yes" or "no", you know where you stand. There are easy ways to ensure you don’t find yourself in this position where you’re sitting by the phone waiting for the client to call. I address many of these points in both the Being a Starving Artist Sucks book and Verbal Judo for Designers.

My advice to colleagues and friends is to avoid speculating why the client hasn't gotten back. Forget about worrying – it doesn't help, and certainly don’t to jump to conclusions. Try not take it personally, just because a client decided to go in another direction or pull the plug on the project doesn't mean you're not great fit for someone else.

PS - Want to know what all the buzz is about Verbal Judo for Designers? If you'd like to receive a free introductory chapter in what some designers have felt is a must have book for every creative professional who've felt like they've been taken advantage of by a demanding client, drop me an email.

I Shouldn’t Believe Everything that I Write about Freelance Graphic Design, Perhaps You Shouldn’t Either

In one of the chapters in the Being a Starving Artist Sucks book, I address the best and worst time investments a designer can make. For example, learning how to become comfortable selling and marketing is essential for becoming a success as a freelance designer. Most designers don’t want to hear it, but it’s the truth. Investing time in learning to be proficient at both will help you go from starving to successful in the shortest time possible. On the other hand I did include a fairly strong warning against investing too much time networking with, and wasting time with other designers. While I remain resolute about my first point, I am not so sure about the second one I’ve made.

While I still think designers that are truly focused on becoming successful need to invest their time with clients rather than other designers, I’ve had a notable change of heart on the value of investing time with other freelancers. Over the last number of months I’ve been a semi-regular poster on a graphic design forum at All Graphic Design, and I’ve changed my mind quite a bit on the value these forums can provide designers at all levels. 

I was amazed at the number of wonderfully helpful and insightful people there are on this forum. Designers can find answers on everything from pricing, negotiating, software assistance, trends, and just about everything else under the sun. If it has to do with design it’s in there. Most designers are more than happy to lend a helping hand or even take time out of their day to talk to you on the telephone.

I have checked out some other forums and I don’t think any of them are run with as much class, effectiveness and professionalism as the one at All Graphic Design – you know who you people are! I’d recommend freelancers look around, but definitely give the AGD Forum a look. In all fairness, yes, there are some people that frequent the forum that you might choose not to be friends with, but you’re going to find this with any group of people. This shouldn’t stop you from hopping on the message board once in a while and making some friends in the design world. This is an enjoyable and fun way to network with designers around the world, and it’s an easy, efficient way to help others and to ask for help when you need it.

Having a small group good-quality freelancing friends or being active on a design forum isn’t essential for you to become a success, but it sure makes it easier to be and more enjoyable. You can bounce ideas off of each other, ask/provide software or hardware help, critique each other’s work or discuss strategies that are working/not working.

I remember a quote from one of my favorite authors, Robert Fulghum. In his book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, he says, “It is still true that when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands.” I suppose that holds true in being a freelance designer - even though you are working by yourself or with a small group of people, it’s still best to have support and to give support rather than t try to do everything yourself.

If you haven’t picked up any of Mr. Fulchum’s books, you may want to consider it today. 

The bottom line is this:
Investing a small portion of your week to ask for help and to help others in the industry IS a good idea. If you go in with a cooperative, “how can I help others attitude”, you’ll have the chance to meet some terrific friends and form some mutually beneficial relationships. As for my change of heart - heck, I don’t believe everything that I write about or think right now...sometimes my opinions will change, and perhaps sometimes I am not as smart as I think :)

PS - If you're considering the Being a Starving Artist Sucks printed book but it's a little out of your price range, remember that in November you'll receive a free 1/2 coaching session with your purchase. In December, I'll have a new promotion that just might include a nice Christmas price discount for those of you who are thinking this might be a good present for yourself!

Gone in 60...I Mean 30 Seconds – How I Quickly Identified a Bad Freelance Design Client on the Phone

I received a call today from a prospective client named Dan. I am not sure from where or how Dan found our company but he was looking to have a web site done. Within a matter of 30 seconds I was able to glean a couple of pieces of information: Dan does need a web site, my firm should not be the one creating it for him.

In our brief but enlightening 30 seconds of conversation, here’s what I noted:

1. Instead of answering the phone with the name of the business, he answered, “Hullo?”
2. Dan spoke in an unemotional condescending tone
3. He interrupted me while I was talking
4. He said since he was a general contractor he needed to get 3 bids for every job (although he wasn’t sure why)

Respectively, this is what I learned about Dan:

1. He’s an amateur, he doesn’t operate a real business (yet)
2. He’s probably not fun to work with, perhaps he sees this project as a necessary evil rather than something that could bring in money
3. There’s a good chance he’s rude and could be a problem client
4. He’s totally shopping on price and doesn’t see, or care to see the difference from one designer to another. Dan thinks designers are commodities and that he should just pick the one with the best price.

This guy’s going to be a bad client – there are thousands of them out there. These might not necessarily be bad people, just bad clients, and you’re going to need to know how to spot them before wasting any time with them. 

In a funny twist, he asked me if I still wanted to put in a bid. My thought was to say, “You’re going to hear a sound that will remind you of a dial tone in a few seconds, at that point you’ll be free to call some other design sucker.” Of course I didn’t say this, I came back with, “I appreciate your offer but you’ll probably want to look elsewhere.” I wish Dan the best of luck trying to differentiate his business and draw in clients over the other 1000 contractors here in the Phoenix area – he’s going to need it.

Shameless Book Promotion:
I appreciate all of the positive feedback on the blog, I am glad you guys are finding this information helpful. If you feel this information is helping you to grow your business, and if you haven't already - consider purchasing the printed or eBook version of Being a Starving Artist Sucks (remember you'll receive a free 1/2 hr coaching session if you purchase the book in Nov).

Instead of having to wait for a post every couple of days, you invest a little dough and have a load of strategic insights, strategies and tips at your fingertips.

PS - Thanks for the new testimonials about the book, you can view them by clicking here.