Being a Starving Graphic Artist Sucks

Dealing with Colleagues Who Think They Are Designers

A few months back I overheard a colleague boldly claim to her department head, “I used to do graphic design.” 

“Hmm,” I thought, “I don’t remember her ever mentioning this, nor have I ever seen her design something.”  I wondered, what exactly did she mean by saying, “do graphic design.” Did she design one of those “lemonade for ten cents” signs when she was five-years-old? Was she responsible for designing and launching an online/print corporate campaign, or does her talent and experience exist somewhere in the middle?

While there are always exceptions to the norm, in my experience, “I used to,” or “I’ve done graphic design” typically means something along the lines of:

• I’ve never seriously studied design (Note: you can study seriously w/o going to a formal institution).
• I can’t articulate what is or isn’t good design, but I have strong opinions.
• I was never hired to do design (at least not by people who weren’t family or friends).
• I’ve never worked with industry-standard software.
• I don’t know industry-standard best practices.
• No one has seriously critiqued my work.
• The success of my design projects was not based on effectiveness, creativity, or aesthetics, but merely that I’d completed the project (without adding an expense to the organization, or charging a friend or family member).  
• I once worked in a small organization with limited resources, and I volunteered to design a flyer in Microsoft Publisher. We printed it out on the office printer. 

However, in spite of all of these handicaps, this person still feels she or he is a designer. She or he is delusional. 

How to become an instant graphic designer – the math formula. 

Low or no design project expectations + no one else in the company to do the design project + no strict time frame + Microsoft Publisher + the project’s results will not be measured/scrutinized = instant graphic designer.

You might be a redneck*…I mean; you might be a graphic designer, if:

You are hired specifically to create designs, if you are reviewed/evaluated on the creativity and effectiveness of your designs, if your design projects are under deadlines, if you know design best practices and you don’t consider Microsoft Publisher, Powerpoint or Word as design software, you might be a designer. 

Getting hit with the reality stick. My colleague was not a designer  

Going back to the “designer” colleague that I mentioned – because she didn’t have enough work of her own to do**, she figured she would “help out” by taking a crack at creating a few flyers for her department. So, while her department head was on vacation, she dusted off Microsoft Publisher ’97 and blew off most of her work week trying to create something creative. 

 When the department head came back, she called me in her office and explained the situation. By the pained look on her face, I could tell she was struggling with what the “designer” had created. She explained that the employee just did this on her own, which she wasn’t thrilled with, but she didn’t want to hurt the employee’s feelings. She showed me what the “designer” came up with, and asked for my advice on what to do.

Trying to be as politically correct as possible (and not throw up on the flyer that this gal created) I explained to the department head that if we’re looking to establish a consistent, credible brand for the company, we can’t have multiple designers working on collateral materials (of course I use the word “designers” in this sentence pretty loosely). 

Furthermore, it’s essential that projects are designed with best design practices, and with industry-preferred design software. Sorry, MS Publisher does not qualify for industry-preferred design software. Think about how this will play out for a moment; let’s say this gal designs four flyers in Publisher. A month later, I (not she) am called on to make fixes or update these pieces of crap. Instead of being able to make the change quickly and easily (because I know best design practices and I am not using design software that comes free in a cereal box) I now have to try to figure out what the heck she did in Publisher. To carry this example further, let’s say that while in Publisher I notice that she has several images that are 72dpi, they are RGB and are copyrighted. Furthermore, there are missing fonts and the damn project is sized incorrectly. I am screwed, aren’t I? 

Bottom line: it takes a hell of a lot more than to be able to slap clip art and fonts on a page to be a designer. Furthermore, this colleague was not, is not, and, I will never be a designer. Truth be told, I liked this colleague. What’s more, I can relate to her: I too started out in the same circumstances (low expectations, Microsoft Publisher, no one else in the company to do the work). The difference between the two of us is that when I discovered a passion for design, I left my current job (which wasn’t a design position) and I invested 15 years of study and field work to become a designer. She drums up the “designer” moniker when she gets bored with her job and wants something “fun” to do. 

All jokes and harsh realties aside, dealing with a back-seat colleague that fancies her/himself as a designer can be a nightmare. If you find yourself in this situation, avoid treating it flippantly. Gently informing a colleague that her/his talents will not be needed for creative projects is never an easy thing to do. The following tips will help you safely navigate the situation: 

• Don’t ridicule their work.
• Avoid giving any impression that you are threatened. Handle the matter even-handedly and professionally, even if you’re absolutely furious. 
• Go up the chain of command. Offer a gentle, sincere account of what’s going on. Ask superiors if you report to this person.
• Point out that this person might not know best practices when it comes to design. Since you’ll be the one having to support the artwork, you should be the one creating it
• Indicate that there needs to be a cohesive look (a cohesive band provides credibility, whereas a brand that looks more like a ransom note looks amateurish and cheap). When you begin to add designers to the mix, the brand cohesiveness plummets. 
• Avoid hinting that they can design, or that you want their help. I know this may sound harsh, but the last thing you want is a backseat designer for the next three years at your job. Avoid patronizing these people by offering, “Well I’ll do most of the design, but every once in a while I’ll let you jump in.”
• Last, and most important, remember to treat people the way you would ask to be treated. This person is probably not trying to upstage you or cause any problems, so treat them gently. In many cases, back-seat designers are only trying to help. Be honest, be fair, but be as gentle as you can. 

* - nah, not trying to put anyone down, “You might be a redneck” is a phrase a lot of people recognize.  

** - this is rubbish. She wants to “play” designer instead of doing her own job. Everyone likes “playing” designer when there are no time constraints, no one is going to be critical of their work, and results will not be measured. 

Photoshopping Digital Images--Is Everything Fair Game?

Over the years, I’ve become comfortable manipulating all kinds of images in Photoshop. In fact, I few a couple of years I worked at a high-end large-format photo studio that charged an arm and a leg for photo editing. Like many of you, I can swap people’s heads around, remove objects, combine photos, move objects closer/further, clone in parts of the picture that are missing, and even match lighting and texture. But a photo editing story that was recently shared with me included some Photoshop work that I’ve never done before. Not that I couldn’t do the work--I wouldn’t.  

In a promotional email about their football game with South Carolina, LSU officials included a photo of high-energy fans at one of their football games. The students, painted faces, headbands and all, looked charged up enough to step out on to the football field themselves. It sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? However, someone or some people responsible for handling the digital image, decided that the photo needed some editing because it contained references that would “offend other students.” No, one of the students in the photo wasn’t giving the camera “the bird,” another one wasn’t inappropriately grabbing a female fan, and there certainly wasn’t a trace of a derogatory gesture towards another race, creed, color, or religion. So what in the photo would have “offended other students”? The students were Christians, and they had crosses (about 4”H x 2”W) on their yellow and purple painted chests. 

I’ll steer clear of acting as the moral police in this post--perhaps it’s not my place to pass judgement, but I can’t help but wonder about three things:

1. If LSU was so concerned with offending students, were they concerned about offending the ones that were in the photo?
2. Did the designer(s) who Photoshopped the crosses out think that the students wouldn’t see it? Were they hoping they wouldn’t see it, or did they just have their head up their butt?
3. Would the symbols have been removed if they represented another religion? 

As designers, this brings up an interesting moral quandary: would you have Photoshopped out the crosses? Would you have taken out another religious symbol? Or would you have made your decision based on what religious symbol it was, and how you felt about the members of that religion?

Herb Vincent, a school spokesperson responded, “Only one of the students, who didn’t appreciate it, actually contacted us about it. So next time, we’ll choose a different photo.” The school plans to steer clear of photos with religious undertones. Good call, Herb and LSU, it's well after the fact, but a good call.

To their credit, the students in the photo aren’t angry with LSU, and they don’t want to cause any harm. “We love Christ; we love LSU. No, we don’t want anything.” What an odd response, considering the "sue happy" society we live in. The students' non-retaliatory attitude towards those that didn't exactly play them right is refreshing, mature, and a heck of a class act. Keep on cheering, guys. 

Think about it:

• Would you have a problem removing a religious symbol in a photograph you were going to share with the public?
• Would it matter what religious symbol it was?
• If a superior told you that you had to remove a religious symbol, would you do it?

Share your thoughts...I'd like to hear what you guys think. 

By the way, if you want to check out the original article, you'll find it here: http://tinyurl.com/9pvrsfe

Graphic Designers, If You Don’t Design for Amway, Stop Hawking Their Products

To be fair, this article has nothing to do with Amway – please don’t come after me. Okay, now that’s out of the way, I’ll share something that happened to me recently (or at least recently when I wrote this). I hired a contractor, much like a client would hire you as a freelancer, to do a particular job. The guy had great reviews on Yelp, so I figured I’d give him a shot. He gave me a briefing of what he’d be doing (which is good), afterwards he casually mentioned that, “We’d better take care of business first.” 

“Oh, this means he wants to get paid,” is what I gathered, “That’s cool, it’s important that all contractors (freelancers included) make sure they get paid.” But to my surprise, instead of starting off with an invoice, he hands me an offer coupon for discounts on products and services that had nothing to do with his business. The offer/coupon required me to log on to a website and enter in personal information and a passcode. The contractor must have worked out some deal with this company (that I’d never heard of) in that he would get a kickback if someone used his passcode to buy something. 

“Uhh, what the hell is this?” I thought to myself. I hired this guy to do contract work and the first thing he does is try to get me to buy some crappy merchandise from some fly-by-night company so he can earn a few extra bucks on the side. I hired this guy to do a job, not sell me crap. Fortunately, while these thoughts ran through my mind, my mouth didn’t blurt out anything offensive. I took the coupon in stride, as most people probably would. However, just because I didn’t say something doesn’t mean that I wasn’t offended or that the contractor’s credibility didn’t take a major hit. I was mildly offended, and I wondered if I’d hired the guy by mistake. Well, to wrap this story up, the contractor didn’t mention the coupon again, which was wise. And, I have to say, he did a nice job. Having such an anti-climactic ending must have you thinking, “Who cares? The guy offended you but did a good job – so you were fine with it.” The truth is, I was fine with it: I paid the guy and was happy for his service, but because he felt it appropriate to hawk other products/services that were not related to his service, I did not feel comfortable referring him to friends or family. Yep, this guy probably lost out on two-five referrals because he thought it more important to try to make a few measly dollars by hawking cheesy merchandise from a company that couldn’t care less if he dropped dead. 

Takeaway lesson for freelancers: while you might think introducing your clients to other business ventures that you’ve gotten involved in: Amway, Avon, Juice Plus or some other venture, carefully consider that making a couple of measly dollars on commission might be costing you more than your credibility. Yeah, I know, some of these products and services might actually help your client – that’s not the point. Remember that your clients hire you for a specific reason: design. They don’t hire you to be their therapist, nutritional advisor, home organizer or anything else. If your good at design, and I bet you are – just stick to doing it.

NHL Hockey: Scouting the Winnipeg Jets' New Logos

The NHL's Jets have come back home to Winnipeg. Living in Phoenix, which inherited the previous Jets team from that city, I was glad to see that NHL hockey has returned. I am from OH, and I know what it's like to have a local professional team pick up and leave. Anyway, congrats, Winnipegers - let's have a look at your team's logos.   

To the right you’ll see Winnipeg’s new logos (excluding logo #1). What do think?

For my part, I feel that the new Jets logos are a lot like any roster on an NHL team, there are good players and, well…not so good players. On a design level, let’s take a look at the “starting line up”:

1 – The classic Jets logo. I never felt this logo was especially good or bad. It’s clean, and I suppose you can sort of make out the “J” being a hockey stick. I like the typeface they’ve used – I’ve never seen it before. Still, the whole thing looks unfinished to me. Why not put a silhouette of the city in the white space below the word “Jets”? The designer could have added a maple leaf or even pilots’ wings to the design (see #4). To bring in more detail, and to tie the logo more with hockey, the designer could have simulated some athletic tape on the “J,” or hockey stick. Personally, I might have used a white stroke around the “J” and “S” letters, so they stand out a little better (as they cross the red circle in the background). I see they’ve added the red shadow effect, but I am not sure it works.

Lastly, the designer could…I mean should have done a lot better with the graphic of the jet, did this person get an online graphic design degree? I am not sure what that little red phallic shape is on the left hand side, but it doesn’t look like any jet I’ve ever seen before. In Western society, most of us see going left to right as moving forward – this jet is going from right to left, so it looks like it’s going backwards. Grade: C+

2 – Plain maple leaf…I mean plane on top of maple leaf. This logo is the worst of the lot. I understand the tie-in to the Canadian Air Force, but it just doesn’t work. Unlike the classic logo (previously mentioned), I can see the object on top is a jet, but it looks slapped on to the maple leaf. It almost looks like the designer came up with the 3 circles in the back, added a maple leaf and thought, “Hmm, there’s not enough here…I have to add something else.” So she or he plunked a jet on top of the maple leaf. Voilà! This would be like making a pickle, peanut butter and pacific cod sandwich: while each of these elements might be good in their own right, it’s a mess when you try to combine them. Nothing in this logo seems to go together; it just looks like a bunch of stuff mashed together - another Frankenstein experiment gone horribly wrong. Grade: D-

3 – This attempt falls into “okay” category. It’s neither good, nor horrifically bad – it just looks unfinished. The “Jets” typeface could work, but I’d like to see a little more thickness to the letters (the blue, rather than the white and gray strokes). Unfortunately, this treatment doesn’t suggest anything about hockey or about the Canadian Air Force (jets). When I first looked at the logo it immediately reminded me of the Labatt Blue and Molson beer logos. Yes, I recognize that for some Canadians, the maple leaf is a symbol of national pride, but I can’t help but wonder if the designer could have come up with something slightly more original. After all, don’t the Toronto Maple Leafs have…well, a maple leaf in their logo? As a final point, and perhaps you’ll agree with me, the whole thing looks off-balance to me. Grade: C-

4 – Finally, some light at the end of the tunnel – I think this logo shows some promise. I know, we’ve seen this type of treatment before, but it works. Wayne Gretsky had a logo designed for him a while back that looks strikingly similar to this one…hmmm, makes me wonder if the designer “borrowed” it. I’d like to see the designer increase the size of the maple leaf in the middle. I’d also like to see the top white banner overlap with wings graphic. Lastly, I’d like to see a better treatment on the words “Winnipeg” and “Jets” – they don’t look like they fit within the logo. Oh…and again, in order to really illustrate that those are hockey sticks in the logo (instead of a funky looking “J” and “L”), I’d like to see a subtle hint of athletic tape on the blade of the stick. Google “hockey tape on stick” if you are unsure to what I am referring. Grade: B to B+

5 – See previous comments about making “J” look more like a hockey stick and jet not really looking like a jet. That said, I think the designer chose a nice typeface, and the words do flow nicely together. The text is the best part of this logo, although I might suggest adding a stroke or two behind the text to add a little more visual punch. The logo implies motion/action and it is going left to right, so it has a few things going for it. Still, the logo looks unnecessarily busy and a little distracting to me. I am guessing the top and bottom red swooshes were incorporated to add more of a “moving fast” feel, but they look out of place to me. I wonder if the designer combined the text treatment on this logo with some of the design elements in number 4 – she or he might have a winner. Remove all of the distracting elements and incorporate a slightly more recognizable jet icon and this logo might work. Grade: C+

So how’d I do? Do you agree with my assessments or have I been hit in the head with a puck too many times in my life (after all, I was a goaltender in hockey for a number of years). Grade for me: C- to D+
Everyone, including me, has an opinion about design – what do you think?

PS – I recognize that it’s a little late to say it, but in fairness to all of the designers that created these logos, we (including me) should all recognize that it’s easier to criticize than create.

Graphic Design Mailbag: Jeremy Answers Your Design Questions

"Nice site, but after looking at a few of your posts it looks like you don’t like clients or enjoy freelancing all that much. Looks like you had a lot of bad experiences – sorry, just seems that way." – Rachel

Lol. That’s a pretty good observation, Rachel; you don’t have to feel sorry about it. I’ve actually had some wonderful clients over the years, and I do enjoy freelancing. But my passion in developing this blog, as well as the resources I’ve made available, is to help creative professionals avoid the mistakes I’ve made in my career.

A close look at any design forum and you’ll see there’s not only a lot of confusion but frustration out there. Freelancing, like any profession, has pros and cons. Sanitation workers get a lot of fresh air, but most of the air is smelly due to the garbage they collect. Similarly, doctors typically make a fair amount of money but endure a tremendous amount of schooling as well as pressure. Freelancing affords us a unique lifestyle, but along with that often comes: unfair clients, steep competition and lower profit margins (seems like everyone’s a “designer” now).

I’ve found there are more than enough websites and blogs that cover fonts, color palettes, cutting-edge designs, Photoshop tutorials, etc, but there weren’t many of them that address the real challenges that freelancers face – in an honest, upfront way. That’s what my passion is; for good or ill. Freelancing is a wonderful profession, and there are loads of people out there that are enjoyable to work with. I just want to make sure that creative folks like you are as prepared as possible to deal with the trials that await you.

Whether you’re self taught or you’ve gone through design school, I’ve found that most aspiring (even experienced) designers can get tripped up by certain situations. I know I have, I’ve had to learn the hard way, like so many other designers. My goal and passion for all of this “stuff” is to help freelancers enjoy and profit from their talent…and at the same time, avoid the costly mistakes so many of us have made along the way. I am here to help.

"I’ve seen other designers use social media to build their business; do you have any advice on it?" – William

Thanks for dropping me a line, William. Social media can be a valuable component to getting clients and keeping the ones you have. The challenge with social media is to provide a mix of personality, humor, valuable/relevant content to your followers, providing special offers, sprinkled with a touch (just a touch) of marketing/sales and information about your personal life. Lean heavily towards providing content that is valuable and relevant to your followers.

Like anything else, your clients must have a reason to follow you; they have to get some value out of it. Ask yourself, “How will following me on social media outlets help my clients in either a professional or personal way?” If you can’t answer that, you can’t realistically expect people to want to follow you. If you can answer that and you feel your clients will get some value from hearing from you, I’d say, “Go for it.”

Be helpful, be relevant and be genuine in your social media communications, and remember that people will always want to hear from you if you have something THEY feel is valuable. 

Thanks for the mail, guys, feel free to drop me a line anytime. I am here to help. 

Graphic Designer/Freelancing Tip: Nickeling and Diming Your Clients

Every now and again I have packages couriered here in Phoenix. If you've ever been to "the Valley" you know that even though traffic moves fast (too fast actually), the city is fricken' huge. With the price of gas and the time lost with me on the road I decided a long time ago that I'd just use a delivery service. In fact, I've been using the same service for years.

A few days ago I called them up at about 2:00 PM and informed them I needed some Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers books taken over to the Art Institute of Phoenix the next day (sometime before 5:00 PM). By coincidence, later that night a client asked me to meet her over in that area the next day. It turns out that I would be able to take the books to the school myself, and it wouldn’t be out of my way.

I called the courier first thing in the morning and left them a message apologizing for the change of plans (they didn't answer and didn't end up calling back, which was kind of unprofessional). I did indicate that if they did want to charge me for setting up the order I told them that was okay.

In fairness to them, I offered and they took me up on the offer - the next day I received this email and an invoice for $8:

"Hi Jeremy, This is for the job that you cancelled. Unfortunately, our driver was already on his way to your place when you cancelled.* Please let me know if you have any questions."

Hmmm, actually yes I do have a question, is it worth it to charge a client who's been with you for years an $8 penalty for a first-time cancellation fee when the driver had not even arrived?

Keep in mind that I didn’t say, "Is it right?" Instead I said, "Is it worth it?" There's a big difference there, I hope you can see it.

As freelancers we have to make similar decisions in whether or not we charge clients for small stuff / expenses as well. The challenge is that each individual situation is different (sorry, there are no concrete rules to follow), but what I've found helpful is asking myself the following questions to help me decide whether to charge or not: 

• Do I expect to get more business from this person?
• Am I trying to send a message (don't cancel on me) by charging them even a little amount?
• How will they most likely react in having to pay this?
• Is there a chance I'll really up set them and perhaps lose the account by doing this?
• Do I need the money that badly?
• What is the best outcome I can expect from doing this? What is the worst outcome I can expect from doing this?
• Compared to how much business this client has given me, is this a small amount or large amount?
• Is this a first time thing or does this client repeatedly abuse my generosity? Have I told the client about this before?

In this example, sure I'll probably use these guys again but even though I did offer to pay them for the inconvenience I was surprised (not in a good way) that they actually went to the bother of charging me eight bucks for a first time offense. In this case the vendor risked losing an account for $8...and it actually worked out in their favor.

I'd just advise you to really think about those questions I have above before you send out invoices for small things (office supplies, 15 minutes of work, canceling, etc), you may find it's not worth ticking the client off and losing the business. If the amount isn't too much, I'd suggest giving the client a "free pass" the first time it happens, just casually mention it to them so they're aware of it. If the situation comes up again, then you might consider charging them.

* - Don't you also find it a little suspicious that by "mere coincidence" the driver (even though she/he has several pickups in a day) was on their way to my place exactly when I called? Hmmm, makes me wonder...

Dumbest Design Move - Ever. What Was This Graphic Artist Thinking?

Dumbest Graphic Designer Ever? Probably Not...

A number of years ago I managed a creative team for a large eLearning company in the Southwest. This was back when Adobe's Flash was just bursting on the scene and companies were furiously seeking anyone with multimedia or animation experience. It turns out that Flash was such a new technology that it seemed that firms would take anyone; even if they'd just heard of Flash. Okay, maybe things weren't quite that desperate for firms, but you get my point. 

I share this with you because one of the guys on my team fit this category of designer...in fact, I could only call him a designer in the loosest of ways. I still am not sure how this guy got hired. Anyway, during an especially difficult custom project we were creating for Microsoft, this guy thought it would be clever to include some Easter egg text in one of his animations. He wrote, "Yeah, even though this project was total bull sh*t, I totally kicked *ss - team 6 rulez!" Perhaps he viewed this as a way of venting frustration; who knows? In order to conceal the “hidden message”, the guy included this in a point size of about 1, so it was invisible to the naked eye when viewing the animation at 100 percent. Unfortunately, he failed to recognize two things about Flash (at least at that time):

1. Flash renders native text in vector, which means even point 1 text will become readable if you zoom in enough times on the animation
2. Two, Flash will allow users to zoom in an incredible number of times.

Well, I trust you know where I am headed with this. Just by sheer dumb-luck a user did in fact zoom in on this animation and discovered my designer's crude attempt to express his emotions. Let's just say that upper management took a pretty dim view of this, and it wasn't long before the guy ended up looking for another position. I can't help but wonder if he felt team 6 ruled after he was relieved of his duties.

Was this the dumbest thing a designer has ever done? Probably not, but this was one of the dumbest I'd ever been privy. Want to share a story you've heard about? Make sure you add a comment.

ASU's New Uniform and Logo; What Do You Think?

Earlier this month ASU rolled out their new brand/logo and uniforms. All black uniforms with yellow lettering - hmm, I am just not feelin' it. I thought they really had a strong brand with the maroon/yellow (along with "Sparky" their mascot). Now they have uninspired one-color uniforms with Nike swooshes everywhere.

Lastly, if ASU wears this jersey at home, does anyone else see an issue with an all black uniform in the blistering Arizona heat? I think they took a step down with the overall brand (and new "unis"); What do you guys think?

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2011/04/12/asu-unveils-new-nike-designed-uniforms.html

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2011/04/12/asu-unveils-new-nike-designed-uniforms.html?s=image_gallery 

PS - Oh yeah, it turns out that gang in Chicago has a similar logo to ASU's new pitchfork. Some are concerned that the gang will adopt ASU's gear: http://tinyurl.com/44za2kg.

Am I Kidding? Expert Freelancing Marketing Tips from Lady Gaga and Richard Simmons?!?!

I didn't sleep well last night. Whether it was my legs that hurt from my 15 mile ride or that there was just too much on my mind; I just couldn't rest. Not to disturb my wife I settled down in my studio/office to watch some television until I relaxed enough to go back to sleep - a proven strategy that's worked for me over the years.

If you've never watched television around 2:00-4:00AM before, I have tell you that you'd be surprised at the totally bizarre people and products that are on at that time of the night/morning - the phase, "Wow, they only come out at night" definitely applies.

Two Annoying Divas:

While I was flipping channels during this 2 hour bout with insomnia I eventually landed on MTV and saw a video from Lady Gaga - for what song I can't remember, but what stuck with me was the thought, "Exactly what planet is this girl from? What a freak."

But I'd have to admit, like most people under 40, I've at least heard of Lady Gaga but I'd never seen her before. Hmmm, after seeing Ms Gaga strut her stuff in one of her latest videos I came to the conclusion that whatever she was selling with her voice, peculiar costumes and barely comprehendible lyrics - I wasn't buying it. Time to change the station...

I flipped the station to another channel, regretting the exasperating two minutes I spent trying to understand what the hell the Ms Gaga video was all about. I figured anything would be better than watching Lady Gaga. In fact, I didn't think there'd be any conceivable way that I'd find someone more bizarre than her - I was wrong. I went from a Lady Gaga video to an infomercial for one of Richard Simmon's, "Sweatin' to the Oldies" fitness videos. Lucky me, huh? If I thought Lady Gaga was "out there", Richard Simmons, this aging fitness diva, was certainly giving a Ms Gaga a run for her money. 

As I watched this infomercial I couldn't help but smile and even chuckle to myself as I watched happy but goofy-looking, middle-aged people (wearing clothes right out of the 80's), trying their darndest to sweat off the loads of pounds they'd accumulated over the last 20-40 years of their life. I am not sure if I should have found this humorous, inspiring or just plain sad. I felt them all at the same time. After a few minutes of Richard's shrill voice and bad background music I finally decided to make my way back to bed. Before I went to sleep I thought, "Isn't it funny that these two people can turn out such garbage, and yet they are both rich and famous? How is that even possible?"

The answer to that question is actually pretty simple: neither Lady Gaga nor Richard Simmons really cares a bit about me or what I think (an athletic male in his late thirties). What I mean is that they've ingeniously defined a very tight market niche that they're marketing to, and I don't fit into their target audience. They don't care about me and what I think...and if I were them, I wouldn't care either.

With her outlandish image and persona, Lady Gaga targets younger kids in middle school to college. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Richard Simmons is targeting older and or out-of-shape people. Since I don't fall into any of these categories, you could guess that I probably won't be interested in, nor will I buy from either of these two personalities. But for both of them this isn't necessarily a bad thing, they've wisely decided to target a specific audience and they've made a butt-load of money while doing it. I'll never buy anything from either of these two crazy people, but I have to give them a tremendous amount of credit for defining a specific group of people and coming up with an image and products that those people would want. Brilliant.

What Do Lady Gaga and Richard Simmons Have to do with Your Freelancing Business?

I thought about all of these things in the context of running a freelancing business. I thought about how many times over the years I've talked with aspiring freelancers that told me, "Hey, everyone out there is a potential client. My strategy is just to market to the broadest audience I can, and that's how I'll become successful." I've then seen the long-term results of that strategy - most of the time they failed.

The key to finding success in targeting a specific client base or audience is to strike a balance between narrowing your audience (like Lady Gaga and Richard Simmons) and making sure there are enough people in your audience to run a successful business. When you think about who you're marketing to, do you try to get anyone and everyone you can or are you more specific like Lady Gaga and Richard Simmons?

How a Web Site Goes Straight to Hell

Hey guys, a buddy floated me this URL a few minutes ago; I wanted to share it with you. Be prepared to roll - it's hysterical.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell