Freelance Does Not Equal Free

I wrote a blog post on Feb. 6th entitled, "What Is Your Value Worth?". This post was inspired by friends and colleagues of different industries having trouble educating their clients on their value and not just "my cost". Their chorus echoed a comment chord: our services are worth more than a dollar amount. What I heard were the following issues:

1. I'm lower than my competition and still getting beaten down on my price.
2. The client said they could get the same services for much less, so I compromised in order to save a sale.
3. I have to give an immediate quote without knowing the full scope of the project; if I don't the client leaves.
4. When I educated my client on the difference between myself and the competition, they didn't understand why I charged more.
5. I didn't charge enough because I was afraid the client wouldn't pay for it.
6. The client doesn't want to pay for the changes to his/her project, saying "what I'm being paid should cover it."
7. The client sends me a list of changes and expects miracles in one hour but is only willing to pay for 1/4 of that hour's fee.

To summarize, some professionals feel because they're freelancers, the word "FREE" is now the biggest part of that word and all the client seems focused on. Since when does "freelance" equal "free"?

I've followed many experts for the past twenty-one months, both in and out of my industry, and I've come to understand a few things:

a) It's my fault, and not always in a negative way. Think about it: if the client doesn't understand my fee structure and breakdown, if the client doesn't have a clear idea of what I am doing for their project, if the client doesn't visualize the difference between the quality I bring to the table vs. the lower cost of my competition, it IS my fault.

b) Understanding the above point gives me empowerment, or control, and makes it easier to move forward and re-educate the client.

There will always be clients that go around "tire-kicking", shopping for the best "value" they can find. What they're really doing is looking for the lowest possible price. Remember, you may know more than anyone else in your industry, but your client may not; worse yet, they may come to the table with preconceived ideas of what your business is really about. When you talk to your client, educate them of your experience and background. If you provide a more personalized service, say so. If there is a service you don't provide, let the client know so they don't assume you can provide it.

The important note is to understand business today is not just about how much something costs, but understanding the value of that product or service and deciding whether or not to trust the source - you. Whether or not the client decides to buy your product or service largely depends on the perceived value of that product or service.

Twitter Etiquette 101-Part 3

I'm continuing my series on Twitter Etiquette based on my own experiences and observations while becoming more familiar with my TweetDeck. I've also been introduced to CoTweet, which I'll discuss in a future post.

I enjoy how my TweetDeck updates me about my Tweeps and Tribes in real time; once people I follow consistently post a tweet, I can view it nearly immediately. What I am also getting in real time are the mentions and DMs, or direct messages.

My understanding of the use of a DM is for a private message and not merely a "hello". In my opinion, this is not the avenue to use when selling your services, either, unless you are giving sensitive information, such as a cell phone number or e-mail address.

Scheduling a DM should not be necessary unless someone is sending the same message out about "checking our site for free stuff" or "buy my book here". Lately I've seen messages along this line, and so have several of my colleagues. Adding to this problem is the fact we all have our Twitter set to let us know via cell phone text message when a new DM comes in. Imagine how frustrating it is when it's the same message of "buy this" or "get this now".

Please remember: Twitter is a social media, so be social! Don't try to sell your wares all the time. Instead, engage in interesting conversation, or better yet - follow an interest close to your heart. And, PLEASE, don't send a DM just to sell something; that will leave your followers unengaged and possibly un-following you in a hurry.

Twitter Etiquette 101, part two

I just published a post against the use of profanity on Twitter; this recommendation applies to any social media and was not intended to single out Twitter.

In using my TweetDeck (which is a great application, by the way!), I've noticed something else that bothers me as much as the use of profanity on the social media that it bears notice here.

As previously noted, I watch for people tweeting about "graphic design" so I can see their interests, problems, concerns, and hopefully be of some help with their projects. As much as the use of profanity makes zero sense to me, I do not understand some of the avatars and Twitter names I see as I follow "graphic design". Much more care should be given not only to the avatar you choose to represent you, but your name as well. If, down the road, you wish to display your work and blog/FB/Tweet about it, please keep these two points in mind:

1. Your Twitter name should be representative of the type of work you do. Having a fun or sarcastic Twitter name is fine, but for a more professional appearance either use a business name or your own name.

2. Your Twitter avatar should also be a reflection of the type of work you do. Sometimes it's easy to match an image to the Twitter name you've chosen, but the image should not be so embarrassing you wouldn't want your parents, supervisor, or in-laws to see it.

By and large social media will help small business owners and students get a good foothold on doors of opportunity. At the door of your chosen social media is your receptionist: your Facebook fan page, your Twitter name and avatar, and countless others. How do you want your receptionist to best represent you?

Twitter Etiquette 101

I've been playing around with my TweetDeck, learning how to utilize the technique of making groups of people I want to religiously follow as well as phrases in the graphic design industry to see what people are tweeting about. For the latter, I settled on the phrase "graphic design" to see if anyone needed help with a project and to see what people said referencing this phrase.

Unfortunately, what I'm seeing a lot of are students and other graphic design "professionals" using Twitter to sound off about how they feel about either graduation, just starting school, or whatever project they are currently working on. It's unfortunate because a lot of profanity is being used, sometimes excessively, always unnecessarily.

As much as we don't want people typing in all caps (yelling), remember to keep the profanity out of the messages. You never know when your next potential employer may be reading what you're writing.

Are Design Contests Worth The Risk?

I've been a graphic designer now a little more than twelve years and have spent nearly two years in my own graphic design business. I follow various experts of my industry to learn more about what it means to be a graphic designer for either print or web, what is good and bad graphic design, and how I may continue to improve my skills and knowledge. In the past two weeks I've read numerous pro and con posts about design contests from various sources, including those I regularly follow. This post is my recap on what I've read and understood.

First, my overall assessment of graphic design, be it for the web or print: it is a vehicle for communication by which the trained professional studies the design problem, researches various ideas and draws several conclusions that communicate the new idea effectively in both color and black/white solutions.

Now here's my recap:

I can see where design contests do have a place within the design industry. It's a good opportunity for up and coming designers to have their work showcased and critiqued, and if chosen, awarded. It's also a good stopping point to view work done by others and to see how many levels they have taken their own investigation.

Some of these sites I've visited have several postings by the same artist; some tweaked a little, some a different color, and once in a while, a grayscale or black/white comp thrown in to show the new design will work in both color and black/white mediums. Sometimes this is done for students in art schools to give them an opportunity to show off their talent and gain a little notoriety. Contests run through an art school I have no problem with and did participate in such myself when I was enrolled.

Unfortunately for many new artists, this is where the good points stop.

I see many tweets daily from web sites posting contests or job postings (even if the word "contest" isn't specifically used, it's still a contest) in which the prospective entrant must post at least one solution/comp within the specified time frame in order to be considered for the "award" (winnings). I took a final look at one such posting this afternoon with new eyes, and here's my breakdown:

"I (the poster may or may not state their name or company name) need a logo designed for this new project (states project). If interested you must post at least one sample ("I don't want to see previous work" - I actually read this!) to be entered. The budget for this project is $xx, or low (I saw one as low as $20!) At the end of the time frame I'll announce the designer to receive the award (winnings). In return your work will be posted for all the world to see but you will probably not receive one penny for the work you have provided. Thank you."

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the summary is true: you are giving up work for free, also known as speculative work, highly frowned upon within the professional industry. Please read the AIGA's stance on this issue at http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/position-spec-work?searchtext=spec%20work.

Along with this idea comes another random thought: who owns the artwork now? Once you have entered one of these contests, you surrender the right to own that piece you created; if you were not the winner, you also didn't get paid for what you created. You may be able to use it in your portfolio, but use with great care and label it accordingly. You might set up a specific page on your web site that showcases these pieces separately from work you were actually contracted to create and received due payment.

Want more to think about? Let's say you want to advertise such a contest yourself. How do you know the piece turned in by a designer is one they have actually designed? Too often a designer may be in a rush and may "borrow" or "use" an idea from the internet or other source. As a contest poster, you must be very careful that the work you choose to be the winner was indeed not stolen. One such was to try and avoid this is to do as much research on the contestant as is humanly possible. If they have a website, view their work and see if it's similar in style to the contest piece. You may also want to try and Google for the logo and see if something similar turns up. This can be time-consuming so tread carefully. After reading this post, if anyone has any other methods for determining fraudulent use of art I will be glad to post separately from this article.

In conclusion: I agree with the experts I follow. Design contests are not a good method for getting your work seen, and there's too much risk in not getting paid for your efforts. If you design a piece, you should be paid accordingly for it. Period.

My thanks to Chris Spooner (@chrisspooner), David Airey (@davidairey and @logodesignlove), Jacob Cass (@justcreative), and Preston D. Lee (@prestondlee and @designblender) for their informative, well-thought out articles and examples that will continue to guide me through my journey.

Basics of Business Card Design recap

I read this post from Brett Davis on designinformer.com's site. Here is the link before I continue:

http://designinformer.com/basics-business-card-design/

OK, now that you've had a chance to read it, let me share a few thoughts:

First, I agree completely with what Brett states on this posting. Never should you turn your business card into your brochure and clutter it with so much text its effectiveness is greatly lessened. You should set up your business cards with a bleed, if there is one, and definitely limit the number of fonts you use. Remember, it's not about showing off, it's about effective communication. That being said, I'd like to add a few points of my own to Brett's:

1. When you're setting up your business card template, remember three key points: First, check with the print shop for the margin bleed. Brett is correct that in the majority of instances the 1/8" bleed will be fine, but I have a printer I send work to fairly regularly that needs a 1/4" bleed - that was quite a surprise. Second, remember the majority of print shops do not like working with Microsoft anything. If you do not have industry-standard software (or at least one with a file format the print shop is comfortable working with) you are most likely looking at a reset of your work. Third, if you have to work with Microsoft, please save the file as a .pdf with fonts embedded, or have a professional help you do this. Microsoft Word does not always embed the fonts, and Microsoft Publisher's default mode is RGB -- great for the web, lousy for printing.

2. When using color, be very careful about the color choices made. If it hurts your eyes to look at it, chances are very good it will hurt the intended audience's eyes as well, sending a negative marketing image. Use color to highlight points on your card, such as your company name, phone number and e-mail address.

3. Know where your file will be printed and what options are offered for your printing job. A year ago a friend of mine bought her business card design from me, thanked me, and told me she would get it printed herself. A week later she told me she didn't understand everything being asked (the difference between matte, glossy and UV coating, for example). It took her and her husband about 1/2 to go through the printer's questions, whereas someone familiar with the industry would have spent maybe five minutes. Oh, and the printer? She took the job to OfficeMax, who in turn outsourced the project to another print shop, so she ended up paying more in the end.

4. When using fonts, make sure to limit the use of cursive fonts or thin fonts, such as Monotype Corsiva, Times or Century Gothic. What I usually do is use a sans-serif font for the body if I've used a serif for the company name, or vice-versa. If I do use a cursive font for the company name, I still use a sans-serif for the body. If you do use a cursive font, make sure it is legible; a too-fancy font might look impressive, but if the viewer can't read it you've lost a potential customer.

Along with everything Brett said, I would lastly state if you can't figure out how to give the print shop the files they need to print your project, or if you simply do not have time to set up your template and design your project, call a professional designer. It may cost a bit up front, but will save you time, money, and headaches in the long run.

Can't I Design It Myself?

(Part 4 in a four-part series)

In concluding this series, I've been exploring the most often-asked questions posed to graphic designers from all walks of life. Questions are meant to trigger constructive thoughts, engaging the brain in problem-solving activities until the solution or solutions are reached. What I did in this four-part series is some further introspection by analyzing the four points most often asked by clients when this question is posed: 1) easy to do; 2) saving time; 3) saving money; and 4) I'm the business owner.

Today I'll look at #4, "I'm the business owner."

The business owner knows more about their business than anyone else. He or she works to know the desired target markets, identifies the potential customers within the target markets, decides what products or services to sell, sets the pricing, resolves customer questions/issues, and closes the sales. For most business owners, their days are filled thinking about their business in some aspect and reviewing methodologies for improving and growing their business.

In part two of this series I discussed the many hats a business owner wears. Because a business owner is many things to the life of a business, it is very difficult to be proficient at all aspects of running a successful business. To make things more confusing, the marketing aspect must be taken into consideration and a method must be decided upon. If using mostly a print medium, the collateral material should look as consistent as possible. If combining print medium with networking, branding becomes more critical because your potential customers are getting information about your business much sooner than they would if traditional mailing practices were used. If using only social media and the internet, branding must have a high focus because the potential market is much larger but receiving your information faster than using networking.

Business owners must be able to convey their message quickly, concisely, and carefully. They must be good at project managing, delegation, and follow-up to ensure their valuable time is being used wisely for the business. Outsourcing critical components allows the business owner to focus more fully on the aspects surrounding their industry and respond quickly to market changes or customer complaints. By surrounding the business with a quality team, the business is more efficient, more profitable, and more successful.

My Networking Journey

(part one in a continuing series)

I've been working my business for the last 19 months, and I've learned a lot about networking and the difference between referrals and leads. I don't know everything yet about referral network marketing, but I like to call myself a life-learner, and a life-learner never stops learning something new. In this series I'll pretty much bare my soul and outline my journey from the start. No finish yet, it has yet to be played out!

Once I made the decision to hang my sign and launch my business, my journey with networking began with research. I went to Google.com and looked up networking to see how it was currently defined. I then used Google.com and meetup.com to find networking groups in my area. Sounds pretty easy, right?

The research was the easy part! My search led me to groups within my zip code, within the city of Phoenix, and also led me to the organization BNI. From this point it's a matter of trying out groups you think you might fit in well with, ones that may share a common interest of yours (i.e. heart disease, autism, etc.), or ones that are lead generators. Believe me, it was a long list to weed through.

My research also led me to Dave Sherman and The Business Journal of Phoenix. Through a seminar Dave held in conjunction with TBJ, I learned how to use certain pages of TBJ to my advantage and help build my business. He also talked about networking groups as a general topic, so I decided to ask him more about it after the seminar. He told me there's no good way to determine if a group is a good one to join or not unless you go check it out. That's a hard one to swallow. No one in business likes to waste time, and some of these functions may indeed become a leech for time. The key? Remembering I was only visiting, and a visit is not the same as a commitment. Besides, I was still handing out my business cards, still getting the word out, and that was important to me as well.

I found my Westside Creatives group through meetup.com. This group is very important for my business growth from a knowledge base standpoint. Because this group has individuals all working in different areas within my industry, I can stay on top of trends and concerns while learning what specialties my colleages enjoy tackling. This was a huge plus for my early business days! This valuable experience taught me networking doesn't always have to be about business. Also, the more I visited and networked with other people, I realized networking in general isn't about getting more business -- it's learning about people and the organizations you're aligned with and best I can help them. In short, it's about building and maintaining relationships.

Can't I Design It Myself?

(Part 3 in a four-part series)

In continuing this series I'll explore the most often-asked question posed to graphic designers from all walks of life. It is also, in many cases, the most rewarding question ever asked of me. What I have done in this four-part series is offered some further introspection on this riddle by analyzing the four points most often asked by clients when this question is posed: 1) easy to do; 2) saving time; 3) saving money; and 4) I'm the business owner.

Today I'll look at #3, saving money.

Who doesn't want to save money these days? There's nothing wrong with saving a few dollars, especially when it comes to the bottom line of your financial statement. A business is profitable by having more income than outgoing bills. These days a business owner has to determine how to market his or her business with as reasonable a cost as can be expected within their marketshare. The big question business owners are considering these days is, "how much is this going to cost?" Some are answering with, "Why can't I design it myself? I'll save money by not outsourcing."

Marketing a business has never been cheap. In order to get people to realize your business is up and running, that takes advertising. The mediums as well as the costs of advertising can vary from print to internet to networking, but the bottom line is you have to get the word out. When you have a newspaper ad designed and published, that's marketing to many people within a certain space for a specified cost; this cost is based on the amount of readership the newspaper holds as well as the size of the ad, and whether the ad is black and white, spot color, or a full-color ad. Take landscaping and a simple flyer as an example: when a landscaper has a flyer created and printed, he or she has the potential to have that flyer seen by at least thirty people (figure approximately two people per household and mulitply that by approximately fifteen homes within two blocks of the current customer). The potential exposure, along with the marketing budget of the customer, has to be taken into consideration when pricing graphic design.

Also, the design itself must be reflective of the cost. If you're looking for a new business card, you may not pay as much for a simple typesetting design as you might for a photo and typesetting. Obviously what a graphic designer desires for income figures in, but overhead must also be figured in: paper, ink, and electricity, for starters.

The printing itself also must be thought about and shopped based on what type of artwork vs. what the print shop's specialty is. Most graphic designers have at least one print shop they work with regularly, thus being familiar with their printing process and file requirements. The graphic designer works with the print shop to recommend different finishing touches, such as rounded corners, die cuts, or glossy on 16pt. stock rather than UV coating. Then, depending on the medium, how it will be used and potential exposure, the graphic designer can make recommendations on how the artwork should look and what type of artwork, if any, to use. Equally important is whether or not the chosen print shop will print your project in-house or have it outsourced.

Lastly, all marketing material should look consistent (not necessarily exact). This is the beginning of branding for a company. Consistency is critical because a customer can come from anyone at any time. If you use a particular piece of artwork or color on your business card, it should translate well to stationary, postcards, bookmarks, flyers, and a web site. What this means for your business and to your potential customer is brand name recognition -- being able to recognize your company's name on sight, thus distinguishing your business from your competition.

Now that you have an inside view as to what can be involved process-wise, one very important point must be recognized: YOUR TIME. As we discovered in the previous two sections, graphic design isn't as easy as it looks and can be a bit intense on time depending on the project. Your time is probably THE most important asset to your company; unwisely spent, and it could cost your company. Hiring an outside design source is good project-managing and allows the business owner to concentrate his or her time with current or potential customers and close that sale.

"Can't I design it myself?"

(Part 2 in a four-part series)

Continuing with this series, I'll explore the most often-asked questions from almost every client posed to graphic designers. Questions are meant to trigger constructive thoughts, engaging the brain in problem-solvng activities until the solution or solutions are reached. I'll present some further introspection on the riddle "Can't I design it myself?" by analyzing the four points most often asked by clients when this question is posed: 1) easy to do; 2) saving time; 3) saving money; and 4) I'm the business owner.

Today I'll look at #2, saving time.

Business owners and solepreneurs have to be as good at multi-tasking as their corporate counterparts. If you're not playing the role of business owner, marketing executive, networker, salesman, accountant, bill collector, and financier, count yourself lucky! Until they can afford to hire some extra help, most business owners wear many hats and work long hours to make their businesses a success. Because of this diversity, a business owner may find it very difficult to create, let alone maintain, their marketing material. Part of my consultation with a client is advocating the benefits of using an outside designer to help with their projects.

One objection I hear occasionally is, "Can't I design it myself? I can save time by doing it myself, right?" Not always. If you own your own business or are freelancing within your industry, compare your hats to the ones described above. How many are you currently wearing? Now think about the amount of time spent wearing each hat. How many hours each week do you spend wearing each hat? Do you have enough time to spend creating and maintaining your own marketing material?

Let's look at a business card. Seems pretty simple - just a small space, right? Yet that small space is oh, so deceiving! I have seen many examples of text jammed into that space in an effort to tell the viewer the story about a particular business, or the wrong font used in reverse, or dark colored text on a dark colored background. It's perfectly okay to be proud of your creation, your "receptionist", if you will, who can help open a dialogue between your business and a potential customer. But how effective is this message?

Saving time won't be a benefit if your message gets lost from a flyer thrown together or a business card too full of information. Saving time is one of the benefits a professional brings to the table. A professional considers all parts of your message, the colors you do and don't want to use, the style you're looking for, and puts it together to make marketing your business easier and effective. It may take a professional about an hour - ok, maybe two hours - to create your business card or flyer, but in that time, how many clients can you schedule appointments with?

The true benefit of saving a business owner time, is by giving that business owner back that time for his business.