Being a Starving Graphic Artist Sucks

Graphic Designer/Freelancing Tip: Not Telling Clients Your Prices

Been looking into getting a dog walker lately. Unfortunately, most of these folks we’ve looked into online do not list their prices. While price isn’t the only variable we’re considering, it is important. This is probably true with your freelancing clients. Seems like everyone is looking to save a few bucks nowadays.

Last week, we reached out to one vendor (hoping he would shed some light on what his services might cost). I emailed him a specific list of what services we'll need. Here was his reply:

"We will need to discuss your pets and their needs to accurately provide a quote because we work with each client to customize a plan based on those needs. We'll find out how many days per week you may need, if they may need walking, etc."

This isn’t a bad reply, but I was a little miffed that I still couldn’t even get a ballpark quote out of the guy. He seemed elusive. I wondered, “Why won’t this guy tell me his prices, is he hiding something?”

Shifting gears to your freelancing business, here’s how you might handle an email potential client who is looking for a price quote.

"Thanks for the email, Jeremy. If it’s okay with you, why I don’t I give you a call when it’s convenient for you, and we’ll talk about a couple of options that will save you some money? I want to make sure you get the best price possible. I would be available on Thursday or Friday, may I contact you between 9:00-11:00AM on either of these days?"

See the difference?

The dog walker talks about an “accurate quote” and a “customized plan”. As a potential client, I don’t care about either of those things.

However, in my example (the second example), you can see the reason why a specific quote wasn’t given was to help save the potential client money. Everyone cares about that.

Bottom line: 
There’s always going to be a debate about offering your prices to clients upfront versus holding off. I’ve discussed this elsewhere, so I’ll avoiding covering it here. The bottom line is, if you decide to hold off on talking about price, you need to explain to the potential client why you’re not telling them…AND tell them how not telling them upfront will benefit them. 

What do you think?  

Sure, it sounds ridiculous, but consider adding the lighthearted phrase to all of your contracts and invoices, "Pay every debt as if God wrote the bill." Do you think you'd get more clients to pay on time?
Thank Ralph Waldo Emerson for the quote.

Freelance graphic and web designers: It’s crazy, but consider listing prices on your website

Before you chalk this idea up to idiocy, which I know I am flirting with, let’s have an honest look at this. Give me a chance to persuade you :)

As a freelancer, I am more than familiar with the reasons why many of us do not list pricing on our website; however, as a client and consumer (of other products and services), I’ve often found upfront pricing extremely helpful. Perhaps I’d go further than that…sometimes, online pricing is essential to me. If I don’t see it, I move on to someone else’s website.

After looking at the grammar of some of my earlier blog posts, I recently began looking into hiring a writing coach. I was surprised at the number of writing coaches that can be found online. That said, I’d wager there are ten to twenty times more freelancer designers online that are looking for work.

As I clicked from website to website, I had to admit that I wasn’t entirely sure what I was looking to find. While I did see some notable differences in what type of clients the coaches were looking to work with, what caught my attention was the significant cost difference from one coach to another. Some coaches charged per project, some per hour (up to about $600/hr) and many of them didn’t list any prices at all. This made it difficult for me to decide how I wanted to move forward. I quickly found myself getting overwhelmed. The unsavory thought of, “Am I going to have to sit here all day before I find someone? If I find someone at all,” began to creep into my head. With so many available options, I decided that I didn’t want to take the time to individually call or email a coach and ask them, “I visited your website today and was interested in learning more about your services, can you give me an idea of what you would charge?”

I know it may sound like heresy, but if I did not see some indication of how much the coach was charging for her or his services – I moved on to another website. And yes, I recognize that shopping on price alone is hypocritical and foolish, but after this experience I have a new appreciation as to what clients go through when looking for a designer. Price wasn’t the only factor I was looking at, but it was important. I didn’t want to invest even more time contacting coaches that didn’t list their pricing (which may have wasted their time and mine, and might have been embarrassing or awkward if their prices were too high). I didn’t want to incur risk: the risk of potentially wasting my time, possibly having to fend off a high pressure coach or feeling awkward if a coach’s fees were especially out of my price range. Can you relate to that? If you can, you can also begin to relate to how potential clients feel about contacting freelance designers with no prices.

To finish this little anecdote, I’ll share with you that I didn’t end up hiring anyone, which just goes to prove the old marketing adage, “The confused mind always says, ‘No.’” Nevertheless, the experience gave me a small paradigm shift in how I saw clients and their process to hire a freelancing consultant or designer. I could see things more from their perspective. As ridiculous as the idea might have seemed before I started looking for a coach, I began to wonder if freelancers should include a pricing section on their website. I fell back on the tried and true “Pro versus Con” model to help me decide if the idea should even be contemplate. Here’s what I came up with:

Pros

• Avoid attracting bottom-feeder, bargain-hunting clients.
• Won’t have to waste time on leads that are not qualified to work with you.
• Shows leads that you are upfront and confident.
• In learning your prices up front, you reduce the risk/fear clients may have in contacting you. Referring to my story above, remember that many clients may be apprehensive about contacting you for fear that you’ll be too far out of their price range.

Cons

• Other designers can readily see your prices. Personally, I don’t believe this is an issue, but I know many designers that loathe the idea of other designers scoping out your prices.
• Prices might scare potential clients off, especially if they don’t know
• Your website visitors (potential clients) may immediately jump to the Pricing webpage rather than explore what you can offer them, and then visit the Pricing webpage.
• Listing your pricing may limit your ability to negotiate and adjust your prices. 

Solution
If you were looking for a concrete set of guidelines that will never fail you, I am afraid you’ll be disappointed with my conclusion. There are no hard and fast rules in deciding whether or not to list pricing on your web site or collateral material. You have to decide what is best for you.

What I can share with you is that I did not have pricing on my website; however, after the experience I had looking for a writing coach, I am beginning to give it some thought. Most of industry doesn’t list their prices, so maybe it’s something I should consider (we’re all looking for ways to stand out and above the crowd).

If you like the idea of reducing the risk/apprehension clients may have in contacting you if you don’t list your prices, at the same time, you want to avoid scaring price-conscious clients off if you do list your prices, I think I have a solution. Try something like this, “Projects typically start at $XXXX. Most clients happily find their projects fall within the $XXXX to $XXXX range; most designers with the same skill level and expertise charge upwards of $XXXX for the same service. Rates are reasonable and you’ll rave about the results. Let’s talk about how I can help you today; give me a call at xxx-xxx-xxxx. I am sure we’ll be able to develop a specific package that fits both your budget and goals.”

If you’re still not sold on the idea of listing any of your prices on your website or collateral material, that’s okay; it’s really up to you. My goal in sharing this information wasn’t to convince you either way, but to provide you with some of my observations and thoughts. I’ll leave the decision making to you.

Graphic Designers: Your Client Didn't Pay On Time: 5 Things You Can Do to Make Things Worse

Not getting paid on time by a client is a lot like having a hard drive fail: it's really not a question of “if” it's going to happen but “when.” When it does happen...and it will, how you handle the situation will often determine when and if you get paid, and if you're able to salvage the relationship.
Panicking, overreacting and assuming the worst in people are all things you want to avoid when a client fails to pay you when they were supposed to – all three approaches are like throwing water on a grease fire. (Bad idea).
Here's a lighthearted look at some of the steps you could but SHOULDN'T take when a client fails to pay you on time. 

1. Panic and jump to conclusions

A while back I saw a guy driving like a complete idiot on the highway. Welcome to driving in Phoenix, AZ. As I see this clown weaving in and out of traffic, as if he was on the NASCAR circuit I thought, "What a jerk." Should this guy’s license be revoked? Should he be horse whipped for putting others in danger? While my initial reaction to both questions is “Yes,” I recognized something:  I didn’t have all of the facts in regards to why the guy was driving as he was. Sure, the guy's driving like a five-year-old playing a video game with an over-the-top sugar rush, but I don't know why he is. Is he just a jerk, or is he racing to the hospital to see his sister that's in critical condition? I don't. The point is, I don’t know all of the facts, and I need to be careful about assumptions.

This same concept applies when your client doesn't pay you on time. The last thing you want to do is assume and accuse her or him of intentionally not paying you or screwing you over. How would you feel if you found out their check was mistakenly put in your neighbor's mailbox by a postal worker? “You don't know what you don't know,” so give your client the benefit of the doubt until you know the facts. A quick, knee-jerk reaction may leave you with egg on your face.

2. Ignore your client and let them come to you 

Fortunately, this tactic isn't used by many freelancers. However, designers have told me they’ve tried it - it is about as effective as ignoring a grease fire in the kitchen and just hoping it goes away. It just gets worse.

While no freelancer wants to go through a non-payment situation, this can be an opportunity to step up, establish their confidence and authority by addressing things promptly and professionally with the client. While that may sound like sunshine being blown up your rear, it’s not. Being forced to manage tougher situations like this will make you a more self-assured, savvy designer. Sure, I know it can be often be an awkward situation, but by ignoring your client owes you money, you'll make it even more awkward. Approach your client with a gentle but honest and professional tone – be fair but be firm. Remember, by not paying you, THEY are not living up to THEIR end of the deal.

By contacting your client directly you'll be showing them that you have probably have been through this before and that you can quickly get things back on track. You will earn respect from your client, and you’ll get paid faster.

3. Email rather than call your client 

Never communicate bad news over email – a lesson I’ve personally learned the hard way over the years. Again, if you skimmed over that part without it registering, never send bad news over email. I know email’s much easier to shoot a delinquent client a "where’s my money” email, but if your goal is to get paid AND to keep working with the client, email's not the way to go. Email only allows person to speak at a time, it is slow in resolving issues and is often misinterpreted because it's difficult to gauge someone's emotions or intentions by looking at a bunch of typed-out thoughts.

If you find yourself in a non-payment situation, ditch the email, pick up the phone and say something like, "Hey John, do you have a moment to talk with you about your account balance?" If the client says, "It's not a good time," respond with, "Not a problem, this is something we'll need to talk about promptly, would later today or tomorrow be best?"

SPECIAL ADDENDUM: I initially wrote this post about a year ago; when I did so I was confident that I built a sound, logical argument in all of these five sections. I was wrong when it comes to the previous section (#3). Yep, I had it wrong. While I still believe that it is essential to call delinquent clients in order to get a payment issue resolved, I don’t believe that freelancers should disregard email. In fact, email can also be essential when collecting a balance. An email isn’t going to be nearly as effective as you calling a client on the phone, but it will serve you in one big way (especially if your client resists in paying you): your emails can serve as a paper trail that you can use as evidence if, God forbid, you have to take your client to court. I’d suggest emailing your client after every time you speak on the phone. You can even entitle the email “Account Balance: Summary of what we just talked about”. In this email follow-up you’ll want to provide a quick synopsis of what was talked about in the conversation (including the time you talked and any promises that were made).

I know this sounds like it can be tedious and maybe even a little awkward, but if you take your client to court, you’ll thank me (and yourself) for establishing a paper trail. Over the years I’ve found that I use email as a way to communicate more and more as the client’s balance becomes more delinquent. I do this because the longer the client hasn’t paid me, the more likely I’ll need to take them to court (which means I’ll need a paper trail to establish that I’ve gently tried to collect several times).

4. Just wing it when you call your client

Okay, so we've ruled out sending emails to your client to collect the balance (they are just used to establish a paper trail), but using the phone has some pitfalls to be aware of as well. The biggest challenge freelancers have with the phone is that they aren't prepared to suggest a resolution that all parties can live with. When calling on clients to pay a balance, freelancers don’t plan ahead. This is like going into the boxing ring thinking, "I don't know what I'll do when I get up there, I'll figure it out as I go." Bad idea - and this is coming from a boxer. If you like improv and adlib that's cool, but now is not the time to try it. Before you dial those digits, you have to have a plan. Take a few minutes before you call and think of different scenarios that might happen, as well as what you’ll do if they do. For example, what if you get the voice mail – what message will you leave? If the client tells you that the check is in the mail, what will you say? The bottom line is that if you’re unprepared and you stumble when communicating with the delinquent client, you will lose some of your authority and confidence – both of which are bad if you’re trying to collect. 

I've always found it helpful to take notes before I call the client about a past bill. Write important dates and past communications down so you can quickly bring them up in the conversation. Most importantly, get clear on a couple of ways you want this to go down (suggestions on how you want this to get resolved). For example, after listening to the client, you could suggest, "Hey, I understand why payment didn't go out today; however, I can take a credit card number right now or I can send over a courier to your office to pick up a check today so we can get you balance back in good standing, which would be better for you?"

5. Tell your client that she/he can pay you "whenever"

If you purposely, or even by accident, let it slip that you feel bad for the client and that she/he can pay you "whenever," it's going to be a while before you see that money. Being empathetic towards your client's situation is admirable, but the mantra, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease," is applicable in this situation. If you give the client the “okay” to take their time in paying you for your work- they're going to do it.
Most of the time, I've found that freelancers are unsure about how to handle these situations - they'll ask friends or scour message boards, hoping for an answer. If you're in that situation don't feel badly (most freelancers don't know what to do even if they pretend they do). The key is to have a plan on how to handle these things BEFORE they come up rather than trying to scramble for an answer at the last minute. Former Heavyweight Champ, Mike Tyson said it best, "Everyone's got a plan until they get punched."

If you get punched, make sure you can punch back.

I cover what to say and how to handle these situations in more detail in the Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers book; you can check it out by clicking here. In the meantime, realize that you have a lot more control over the situation than you thought, and much end result will be based on how you handle yourself.

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.

Designers: Avoid Taking All the Blame and Shame if Your Printed Project Contains an Error

Have you ever noticed that clients and even work colleagues seem to find a spelling error, an extra space after a period or a word that was left out of a sentence AFTER your artwork has returned from the printer? Frustrating, isn’t it? While clients or work colleagues may look at your project and reply, “Looks good” before it goes to print, but if it returns with an error you know that the lion’s share of the blame will fall right on top of your head.

Why does this happen? More importantly, how you stop having getting all the blame when a project isn’t perfect?

This is really all about expectations and accountability of your clients and colleagues. When it comes to your project; they don’t have either. For example, let’s suppose you’ve triumphantly finished a six-panel, two-color brochure for a client. In your email over to her you write, “Hi Debbie, I’ve attached the brochure for you. Check it out and let me know if you’d like me to change anything.” It sounds good, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s not. In fact, the verbiage and tone of the email places ALL of the responsibility for the accuracy of the project squarely on your shoulders. This example email does a poor job of assigning expectations and accountability to your client.

Let’s look at the same scenario, but this time we will shift some the expectations and accountability on to Debbie, your client. “Hi Debbie, I’ve attached the brochure for you. Before we send it to print, I’ll ask you to give it a review one last time. Please take a few moments and review the brochure carefully. If you find something that needs corrected (spelling, grammar, punctuation, layout, colors, etc.), please let me know and we’ll get it changed before it goes to print. If you approve the brochure, simply reply to this email with ‘Okay to print.’ Once I review your approval, I’ll send it off to the printer and we’ll be on our way!”

See the difference? The second email shifts some of the expectations and accountability on to Debbie, the client. Words like review, last time, corrected, spelling, changed, review, and the all important phrase – approval. Upon receiving this email, Debbie knows that she’s going to be held responsible for the accuracy of the project as well, which means, if she’s smart, she’ll invest a little more time and effort into reviewing the brochure than if you just asked her to “check it over.”

One last but important point note for you: be careful about the language and tone you use when asking clients or colleagues to sign off on a project. Notice that the example directly above has casual, friendly language; this was done intentionally. Beyond having your client taking none of the expectations and accountability for the project, the worst thing you can do is scare the hell out of them by sending an email like this, “Hi Debbie, I’ve attached the brochure for you. Before we send it to print, you to approve and officially sign off on the brochure – just in case there are any mistakes. If you find any problems or errors please let me know. If you don’t find anything, please respond to this email by indicating ‘I have fully reviewed all design and content aspects of this brochure; I officially approve it to go to print, and I accept any responsibility if an error is found after the project has gone to print.’” Sending an email like this will send your client into a needless panic. Use whatever verbiage feels best to you, but try to keep your tone professional yet pleasant and polite, after all, you’re designing projects not defusing bombs.

So the key to this working is to get your client or colleague to understand that she/he is involved and at least partly responsible for the accuracy of the project before it’s delivered (printed or uploaded). I know that in the real-world there are times when your clients and colleagues will pressure you to get the project out as fast as possible. They’ll say things like, “We just need to get this to the printer ASAP, so do whatever you have to do.” Don’t get suckered into this. If ANYTHING is wrong with the project, you will get the full blame. Respond to pushy clients and colleagues with, “I know we’re in a rush with this
project; however, before I send it to print I’ll ask you review it and give me a final ‘Okay to print’ return email. Once I receive your sign off, we’ll get this to the printer ASAP. To avoid losses in time and money we want to make sure we’ve got the project the way we want it on the first try, wouldn’t you agree?”

Before your project goes to the point of no return, at least the point of no return without a load of time and money expense to fix it, make sure you spread the expectations and accountability for the project’s accuracy around (consider getting multiple people to sign off on it). If you don’t you’ll be like a tightrope walker working without a safety net: if something goes wrong, you’re going to ‘go splat.’

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. 

Freelancing Advice You Won't Learn in Design School: Sorry Is Never Good Enough

Strong words aren’t they? This had to be especially unnerving if you believe that we are supposed to forgive and forget each other’s trespasses. I do believe that, but, (and it’s a BIG but), in trying to attract clients in as a freelancer, just saying, “sorry” can be disastrous. 

Take an example that my buddy in Ohio told me about recently: he was looking to hire a mortgage broker to help refinance his home. It turns out he met a broker through a friend at their church. The broker instructed him to fill out an online application, once it was completed, she would get back to him. My buddy mentioned that filled out the online application out on 3rd of the month; the broker didn’t get back to him until the 22nd. Really? It took the mortgage broker 19 days to get back to a referral from a friend.

This communication delay of course did not sit well with my friend. You might think that the broker being significantly late in responding what set my friend off; it wasn’t. What ticked him off was what the broker said in email back to him. Here’s what she wrote:

“Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. Can you call me so I can help you? If you don't reach me, please just leave it on voicemail and I will return call.”

So, there’s the apology. And while it’s not an overly sincere one, we’re supposed to forgive and forget, right? My buddy never called her back. He told me, “That was fine that she apologized. The issue was that she was late; REALLY late, and didn’t offer any explanation or reason for it.” My buddy voiced that he was concerned (and I’d have to say legitimately) that if this broker could disappear for almost three weeks on someone who would be an ideal new client, how could he even trust that she would be there for him once he became a client. His rationale was that vendors (brokers or even freelancers) always try to do everything they can to get a new client. They put their best foot forward. However, once they get the client, their service often tends to wane.

“If she would’ve had a logical explanation for disappearing for three weeks, I could have at least considered working with her. She offered nothing but an apology, so I have no idea if this is standard behavior for her. How would I know if she does this type of stuff all of the time?” he finished.

He’s right. How would he know whether the broker felt that not responding for three weeks is acceptable behavior? Furthermore, is being “missing in action” something she often becomes? Would you have confidence working with this woman? I wouldn’t, apparently my buddy didn’t either.

Forgiveness is one thing, but forgiving and still agreeing to work with someone that doesn’t seem like they’re on top of their game is another matter. The same will hold true when it comes to you and your freelancing business. So to help you avoid the mistake this mortgage broker made, here are a few client service points to remember:

• Trust needs to be established when working with clients – especially new or potential clients. Do everything you can to show people that you are responsive, caring and client-focused (disappearing for three weeks would definitely be considered a “No, no”). You should do everything that you can to respond to clients within 24 business hours. Try to get back to a potential client (a lead) within one to three hours. 
• If you are not able to get back to a client in a reasonable period of time (which is becoming harder and harder to explain since we have mobile phones) make sure you offer an apology followed by a reasonable explanation as to why you couldn’t respond timely. This would preclude you from using outlandish excuses like, “My uncle just had his appendix taken out,” or “My bird just died,” unless they are true.
• Finally, follow your apology and explanation up with a sincere promise that the unresponsive and unavailable situation was extremely rare. Reassure the client/potential client that they should not expect it to occur again.

The market is tough out there, guys. Make sure you don’t let golden opportunities, like referrals from friends and family, slip through your fingers because you were lazy or you weren’t on your game. On the rare chance, if you were either of these things – remember that saying your sorry is a great start, but it’s not enough.

Graphic designers: You're not getting the job, you're getting the runaround

We've all heard it before, "Actions speak louder than words". And yes, I know it's a slightly tired cliché uttered way too many times when people can't come up with their own sentiments, but in the following little story it couldn't be truer.

A buddy of mine had a phone interview with a company almost two months ago; it went well enough that the company brought him in within a few days for a two hour face-to-face/technical interview. 

He calls me up and says, "Dude, I think it went really well. I felt I was a really good fit for what they're looking for, and the areas that I am not a perfect match I am sure I can pick up quickly."

"Good deal,” I responded, "So did they make you an offer yet?"

"No. They said they'll put some things together and get back to me. I think we both walked away feeling like I'd be a great fit considering my background and what I am looking to learn. I am sure I'll hear from them pretty soon."

Well, I should point out that "soon" for my buddy and the hiring personnel at this company were two very different measurements of time. He didn’t hear back from them for a while. Days turned into weeks and still my buddy didn't hear a peep out of these guys. Nevertheless, he remained optimistic that his background and passion would certainly get him a job. "I dunno dude, they told me that they were impressed with me during the interview (and I felt they were). Looking at the job requirements - I am a perfect fit," he thought.

After these few weeks passed, my buddy finally decided to call the company and check on the job status. At this point he felt the offer was coming, he just rationalized that they might have gotten busy or something else came up.* "Bureaucracies often move more slowly, so it's no big deal," he said.  Once he was finally able to connect with someone at the company (which took a while), he reported that they quickly but politely said they would get back to him in a couple of weeks.

A couple of weeks came...and went, and the phone never rang.

Sucks doesn't it? Being in limbo for so long, thinking and hoping that things will work out, only to find out that they won't. This type of thing has happened to me before, and I know it's happened (or it may happen) to just about every other freelancer out there - maybe it's happened to you. Don't beat yourself up about it and don't feel embarrassed, it's happened to us all.

So how do you keep yourself from a potential client/employer being playing you - especially if you felt you'd be a great fit, AND that they really liked you?

If we look at what the company DID rather than what they SAID or how my buddy FELT, the answer becomes a little clearer. If my buddy would have looked more at the actions (or lack of actions) the company took to hire him, rather than what was said or how he felt, he would have saved himself a lot of frustration and second-guessing.

Here are the action "warning signs" that might have given my buddy a clue that things weren't as promising as he thought:

• The company didn't immediately make a commitment or offer.
• The company didn't send a courtesy, "Thank you for meeting" follow up email, phone call or letter.
• The company didn't bother to follow up with him over the course of the next few days or weeks...even to tell him, "Hey, we're interested but we've had to deal with a few other things in the meantime." The company took NO initiative to contact him after the meeting.
• When my buddy finally did work up the courage to follow-up with the company they didn't apologize or even recognize that several weeks had passed. They didn't specifically  indicate they were still interested, and instead of getting back to him in a day or two the company said they'd get back to my buddy in, "a couple of weeks".

When you see a list all of these points laid out, it's not hard to come up with, "Duh, they're just not that in to you" is it?

To be fair, it's hard not to get caught up in what potential employers/clients may say to you (even though they may not mean it), and it's very possible that our perceptions/judgments can be way off course. 

I've found that if you're trying to get a grip on whether or not a potential client/employer is going to hire you, try to balance:

• What has been said
• How it has been said
• How you feel about the situation
• How you feel the potential client/employer feels about the situation
• What the potential client/employer has DONE or NOT DONE

Emphasis on the last bullet - it should carry the most weight when trying to figure out what the heck a potential client/employer is thinking. "Actions speak louder than words".

*Whether it’s a potential client, employer or even girlfriend, I’ve found that if they’re really interested, they will get back to you timely (unless they’re playing games, in which case, you don’t want to be associated with them anyway).

How logos affect American politics: http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/06/29/campaign.logos/index.html?iref=allsearch