Resourceful Designer: Strategies for running a graphic design business

Don't confuse clients with rates that don't match your brand. I'd like you to imagine this scenario. There's a neighbourhood in your city that you love. It has beautiful homes with big yards and lots of green space around. It's close to amenities like schools and shopping. And the internet infrastructure is state of the art, which we know is a must for what we do as designers. It's the type of neighbourhood that you occasionally drive through and think to yourself; I would love to live here. The problem is, home prices in this neighbourhood are way out of your budget. You figure you can afford maybe $350k. Perhaps you can push it to $400k. But unfortunately, homes in this neighbourhood typically sell for over $700k. But you can dream, can't you? Then one day, while driving through the neighbourhood, you see a FOR SALE sign in front of what could be your dream home. You've admired the homes in this neighbourhood for a long time, but always from the outside. But here's your chance to get a peek on the inside because there are sure to be photos on the realtor's website. When you get home, you fire up your browser to take a peek. As you're navigating to the page, you play the guessing game in your head. You guess its listing price at $795K. But when the page loads, that beautiful house, the one you've been admiring for years, is listed at $295k. What do you think your first thought would be in this situation? Or maybe second thought after you realize you can afford it. You would probably start wondering, what's wrong with it? Why is it listed so low? What mess would you be getting yourself into if you were to make an offer? I'm sure you've experienced this feeling before. Maybe not with a house. But perhaps with a car, or something else. Especially when the item in question is something previously owned, what's wrong with it that's making the seller offer it for such a low price? It's not just houses. Something similar happened to a designer friend of mine just a couple of weeks ago. He was at a business conference, and on one of the days, they divided people up into small groups—kind of a Mastermind format where each person in the group had time to present their business. Being prepared as only designers can be, my designer friend had a presentation ready and walked everyone through his business. He showed them what he does, how he does it, his processes, and his annual billing and 3-year financial snapshot. It was a business conference, and he was very transparent in everything he shared. After his presentation, One of the attendees, a woman he had met earlier at the conference, approached him to talk. She told him that after the 5-minute conversation they had when they first met, she thought, "this guy knows what he's doing, but there's no way I can afford him." But after seeing his numbers on paper, she told him she could easily afford him. And that's not good a good thing because his prices conflict with the brand image he's putting out. Do you do this? You're a designer, you're proud of what you can do, and I'm sure you like to showcase the best of it in how you present yourself. After all, you know that if you only put in a half-baked effort, you're doing yourself a disservice. But what happens if the brand image you present to the world conflicts with the prices you charge for your services? Just like the house in my opening story, people may wonder, what's wrong with you. They may be hesitant to hire you because the prices you charge seem too good to be true compared to the skills you showcase. And you know that when something looks too good to be true, it usually is. Could this be happening to you? Could it be that you're not getting enough work because you're not charging enough for the talents you possess? My own story. About a year or two after I started working from home, I was working for a department of the Canadian government located in town. They were pleased with my work, so they passed my name up the chain. It wasn't long before I had the chance to bid on a big federal government project. I received the RFP (Request For Proposal) and read it over several times to ensure I understood what was involved. I then calculated every aspect of the job. I figured out how long it should take me, what assets I may need to purchase, and what contractors I may need to hire. I then added in time for revisions, and, like all good designers, I added in some padding for anything unexpected that may come up. The price I came up with was $8,000. It was going to be my biggest project to date. Satisfied with my quote, I submitted the proposal, already designing the project in my head. But a week later, I found out I didn't win the project. Reaching out to my contact at the local government office, I asked if she knew how much I was outbid by. But to my surprise, she found out that I hadn't been outbid. I was, in fact, the lowest quote. The issue was my price was too low. The government agency had received four bi

The reason to use checklists. I first talked about checklists way back in episode 89 of Resourceful Designer. In it, I shared various types of checklists you can use for your business. I even shared my now outdated checklist for starting a new WordPress website. Today, I'm not going to share checklist ideas with you. Instead, I want to talk about the importance of using checklists. To emphasize their importance, I want to start by telling you a story. I heard this story while listening to an audiobook called My Best Mistake, Epic Fails and Silver Linings written by Terry O'Reilly. It's a great book of stories about failures that led to amazing things. Check it out if you have the chance. One of the stories O'Reilly tells in the book inspired is what inspired what you're reading here. It's estimated that the average American undergoes seven surgeries in a lifetime, and surgeons perform over 50 million surgeries annually. That's a lot of operations. In 2009, roughly 150,000 patients died immediately after surgery—3 times the number of fatalities from road accidents. What's scary about that number is that half of those deaths were completely avoidable. That number caught the attention of Doctor Atul Gawande, a Boston surgeon and professor at Harvard Medical School. It's the 21st century. How can all these complications happen despite the accumulated knowledge of professionals? Gawande wondered if there was a way to reduce the number of operating room errors that resulted in these deaths. To find an answer, Gawande looked at other fields for ideas. Back in 1935, The U.S. Army was looking for the next generation of long-range bombers. They held a competition between top airplane manufacturers to come up with a new design. Although the issued tender was fair for all involved. It was a known fact that Boeing's technology was miles ahead of their rivals Martin and Douglas. Boeing's new Model 299 could fly faster than any previous bomber, travel twice as far, and carry five times as many bombs as the Army requested. The Army was prepared to order sixty-five of the aircraft before the competition was even over. The big brass of the Army Air Corps gathered for the first test flight of the Model 299. The impressive machine took to the sky with its 103-foot wingspan and four gleaming engines (instead of the usual two found on most planes.) It was quite a sight to see. As the plane took flight, it climbed to three hundred feet, stalled, and crashed in a fiery ball of flames. Two of the crew died that day, including the pilot who was the Army Air Corps' chief of flight testing. The Army decided to award the contract to Douglas instead. And Boeing almost went bankrupt. However, The follow-up investigation revealed that there was nothing mechanically wrong with the plane. And it was determined that the crash was due to pilot error. But how could that be? How could the chief of flight testing, one of their most experienced pilots, make a mistake that would lead to the crash of such a sophisticated plane? As the investigation showed, the Model 299 required the pilot to monitor the four engines. Each one requiring its own oil-fuel mixture. He also had to attend to the landing gear and wing flaps, adjust the electric trim to maintain stability at different airspeeds and regulate the constant-speed propellers with hydraulic controls. And that was only a few of the things on which the pilot needed to concentrate. It turns out that while attending to all of these things, the pilot forgot to release a new locking mechanism on the elevator and rudder controls. It was a simple oversight that led to the crash. Boeing was ready to scrap the plane, but a group of pilots believed the Model 299 was flyable. So they got together to find a solution. When they later approached Boeing, they didn't request any mechanical changes to the plane. Nor did they think pilots needed to undergo extended training on how to fly it. Instead, they came up with a simple and ingenious solution. They created a pilot's checklist. They made a list that was short enough to fit on an index card. It covered all the mundane step-by-step tasks required for takeoff, flight, landing and taxiing. In other words, the checklist covered all the dumb stuff. With the new checklist, pilots flew the Model 299 over 1.8 million miles without one single accident. To distance themselves from the previous failure during the test flight, Boeing changed the name of their new plane to the B-17. The Army ordered 13,000 of them, which gave the Air Corps a decisive advantage in WWII. All because of a checklist. Since the 1960s, nurses have relied on charts, a form of a checklist, to know when to dispense medicine, dress wounds, check pulse, blood pressure, respiration, pain level, etc. And although doctors would look at these charts when visiting a patient, they viewed these checklists as "nurse stuff." In the late 90s, a study determined the average hospital patient required 178 indivi

Be wary of your reputation. Let me tell you a story. It is a story that has nothing to do with graphic or web design, but it is relevant to running a business, and I'll tie that into running a design business if you stick around to the end. We built our house in 2005. Or, more accurately, we had someone build our home in 2005. If you've ever built your own home or know of someone who has, you know that it's a long and gruelling process. When you buy a pre-built house, you get what's there. Sure, you can renovate it. But until then, what you buy is what you get. But when you build a home, you're starting with a blank slate. Think of it as opening a new document in Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign, or starting with a fresh installation of WordPress. What you do with it is entirely up to you. Building a home is like that. When you build a home, you get to choose how many rooms it has and the size of each room. You get to select floorings such as tile, wood, or carpet. You get to choose the light fixtures, the plumbing fixtures, the windows, the door, etc. You decide everything that goes into your house. My wife and I did that when we started the process for ours. One of the aspects we had to choose was the shingles for the roof. It sounds simple, but there are thousands of varieties and colours of shingles to select from. My wife and I took many drives around different neighbourhoods, looking at roofs then trying to match those we liked with samples our contractor supplied us. In the end, we chose a nice brown multi-hued asphalt shingle that gave our home character. We loved it. A couple of years ago, we started to notice these little grain-like substances appearing on our back deck. At first, we thought it was dirt. But we soon realized that it was debris falling from our shingles. There wasn't a lot of it, so we shrugged it off as peculiar. Then last summer, the debris pieces started getting bigger and fell more often. And when we looked at our roof, we noticed the shingles were starting to turn up at the corners. We weren't happy about this but didn't know what we could do about it. So we let it go as a nuisance. Well, this spring, when the snow melted, we were shocked to see a layer of dark brown debris on our deck, and our shingles curved and cracked much more than last summer. So I finally decided to take action. I started by calling the contractor who built our house. When I explained the situation, he immediately knew what I meant. He had dealt with several other people facing the same problem. It turns out the singles on our roof had a defect. A big enough one that there was a class-action lawsuit filed and won against the manufacturer. Our shingles have a 25-year warranty. According to the settlement, we're entitled to compensation for the unused portion of that warranty. The only specification is we have to replace them with a newer shingle by the same manufacturer. I'm upset that I hadn't looked into the issue when we first discovered it. I could have received a more considerable compensation. But I'm glad there's something we can do. Not knowing how to proceed, I asked my contractor for advice. He retired several years ago, but he gave me a name of a contractor he recommended who is familiar with the process. He suggested I contact him for a quote on redoing my roof, which I need for the claim process. He also recommended I talk to his old foreman, who oversaw most of the homes he built, including mine. I called the foreman for advice. It turns out he's also retired, although more recently. He told me he had handled many of these shingle claims on behalf of other clients. And although he no longer does that, he would help me however he could. He told me the first step was to get a quote from a qualified professional roofer. And the person he recommended was the same one my contractor had given me. The foreman had worked with him several times and was currently engaging him to build his new house. Having received the same name from two trusted sources, I called this new contractor and left a message for him to call me back. While waiting to hear back from him, I looked him up online. I read the Google and other reviews had nothing but good things to say about him, which boosted my confidence. I was eager to get the process started. But several days passed, and the new contractor didn't return my call. So I called and left another message, and then a few days later another. Finally, a week later, he called and apologized. He said the pandemic had taken a toll on his business. He lost several employees leaving him to juggle more than he usually did. This is understandable. The news is full of companies suffering due to staff shortages these days. I explained my situation and what I required, and he agreed to stop by the next day to look at my roof. But he never showed up. Two days later, I called him, and once again, he apologized, saying he would be here the next day. To his credit, he showed up.

Do you know how to give a good critique? One of my professors made us critique our classmates' projects at the end of every college assignment. Once we completed a design project, he would place everyone's design at the front of the class, and one by one, he would select students and ask them to critique one of the projects. The reason he did this was twofold. He wanted us to develop an eye towards examining other designs to both learn from them, which makes us better designers and seek aspects of the designs we would have done differently. The other reason he held these critiques was to thicken our skin. As designers, we have to learn to take criticism of the works we create. If you are easily offended or don't take well to people critically evaluating your creations this way, then maybe being a designer is not for you. Besides, what better way to learn than by hearing our fellow students dissect our works. I can tell you that I learned a lot from hearing my classmates tear apart my work. But this exercise we conducted at the end of each project had another effect. You see, the professor wasn't only evaluating our design work. He was also evaluating our critiques. He would point out when our comments were not helpful or ask us to expand on our observations to convey better what we were saying. Even though every student dreaded these critiquing sessions, looking back, I'm grateful for them. It made me look at design through a different lens. It taught me the difference between giving a critique and offering constructive criticism. And that's what I want to discuss with you today. As you may be aware, there's a Resourceful Designer Facebook group. In this group, or any other design group for that matter, including the Resourceful Designer Community. Designers often post their designs "for review." Sometimes they are looking for advice. Sometimes it's for validation. And sometimes, they're looking for nothing more than an ego grab. Regardless of their reasoning for posting their work, I can't help but shake my head at some of the comments they receive. Comments which supposedly come from experienced designers, and yet, they're of no value to the person posting their design. So I want to talk to you about my method of critiquing. Is my method the proper right way of offering critiques? Of course not. I'm not saying what you're doing is wrong, and you should do it my way. I'm hoping that after hearing what I have to say, you may take an extra moment to contemplate your response the next time someone asks you to critique their work. When to ask for critiques. Let's start with when you should be asking for critiques. In my opinion, there are four stages of a design project when you should ask for critiques. During the initial concept stage. If you hit a roadblock. Before presenting your design to the client. Before sending the design to print or launching it. Let's break those down. 1. Ask for critiques during the initial concept stage. The beginning of a design project is when the work is most fluid. It's the point when the design could take off in any direction. If you are working on a logo project, you may sketch out dozens or hundreds of concepts before narrowing it down to the ones you want to develop further. During this stage, it's not uncommon to show your favourite concepts to someone to get another opinion. You're not asking for critiques of the actual designs, but more of the overall direction you are taking. It's a great way to validate that you are starting on the right path before getting too far down the road. Another set of eyes can help spot the stronger designs and weed out the weaker ones. It is beneficial for someone who has been staring at them for a long time which diminishes your objectivity. So asking for critiques during the initial concept stage can quickly help you determine what direction the rest of the design project will take. 2. Ask for critiques when you hit a roadblock. We've all been there, you're designing away on something you initially thought was great, but all of a sudden, you doubt yourself. Something about the design isn't sitting right with you, but you can't figure out what. This is the perfect opportunity to get another set of eyes on it. Sometimes, another uninvested designer can look at a design and spot the flaws that you've become blind to. So any time you hit a roadblock or start to doubt something about your work, ask someone to critique it. 3. Ask for critiques before showing your work to the client. You've completed your design. You've polished it up and are ready to present it to your client. Now is the perfect time to show it to others first, just in case there's something you're not seeing. It's not a good feeling to tell a client after presenting something to them that you need to make a change. It tarnishes the mantle of "expert" they've placed over you. It's even worst if the client points out any flaws to you. To prevent this, it's a good idea to ask for

Are you getting enough activity? In episode 105 of the podcast Coping With Isolation When Working From Home, I discussed how isolation is a significant concern for anyone running a home-based design business. Spending day after day with minimal contact with other people can take its toll on someone. In that episode, I gave recommendations for overcoming that feeling of isolation. One of those recommendations was having a pet. Having a pet in the house can be very therapeutic. Petting a dog or is proven to reduce stress and anxiety. Dogs are great listeners. When you talk to them, they give you their undivided attention. And best of all, it's without judgement. For the past 17 years, we've had at least one dog in the house. For several years we had three, and then two, and for the past three years, just one, Whisper, our Shetland Sheepdog. This past Saturday, we had to put Whisper down. So for the first time in 17 years, we don't have a dog in the house. I'm not telling you this to gain your sympathy. However, your thoughts and well wishes are appreciated. I'm telling you this because it's essential to what I want to talk about today. I've been running my design business full-time from home for over 15 years. Meaning this is the first time I'm working without a canine companion by my side. I'm recording this on Friday. It's been six days without a dog; five of them have been workdays. And already, I notice how it's affecting me. I'm not talking about feeling sad that Whisper is gone. I mean, yes, I'm sad. But that's not the effect to which I'm referring. I'm talking about my work habits and how things have changed in just a few short days. For those of you who are not pet owners, let me paint a picture for you of a day in the life of a dog dad. Or at least the way it was for me. Every morning after my wife left for work; I would feed the Whisper. She would get all excited as I prepared her dish and then gobble up all the kibble once I put it down. Then I would go about my morning routine to get ready for my day. Once done, and enough time had passed, I put the dog out. Sometimes I would go outside with her, and sometimes not. I would use this time with our previous dogs to take them for a walk around the block. But Whisper had medical issues that prevented her from walking for long distances. She was content to mosey around the backyard at her own pace. When she was ready to come in, she would bark. At that point, it was time for me to get to work. Sometimes, later in the morning, she would bark to go outside again. I'd get up from my computer, walk to the back door and put her out before returning to work, keeping an ear out for when she barks to come back in. At lunchtime, after eating my meal, I would often go outside with her to walk around. Shetland Sheepdogs are herding dogs, so I would walk around the backyard or sometimes around the house in random patterns, and Whisper would slowly follow me. I would do this for half an hour or so before coming back inside to work. Then, sometime around 3 pm, which was doggie snack time, Whisper would let me know she wanted a treat. I'd get up from my computer, go to the kitchen and select one of the many varieties of goodies we had for her. I'd make her do some small trick to earn the reward, give her the treat, and then put her out again. Once she was back inside, I was pretty good for the rest of the day until my wife got home. That was pretty well my daily routine. But this past week, without Whisper to take care of, things changed a lot. After my wife left in the morning, I got ready and immediately got to work. I sat at my computer until 12 to 12:30, when I finally got up to eat. I spent maybe 15-20 minutes preparing and consuming my lunch before going straight back to work until my wife came home. This was my new routine every day this week. In fact, except for a quick appointment on Tuesday, where I was back home within the hour. I have not stepped foot outside my house this week. I know that many designers are introverts, myself included. And you may think the idea of not going out sounds great. But it's not sustainable. At least not if you want to remain healthy. On Wednesday, when my wife got home, she commented on what a beautiful day it was. I hadn't realized it. I don't even know if I looked out the window throughout the day. Now I don't know if this is because of the extra workload I currently have. I've taken on several new projects this month, and it's caused me to fall a bit behind on my design work. And this past week has been exceedingly hectic. I'm hoping that's all it is because I'm already seeing the effects after just one week. I've been trying to lose weight. My blood pressure is a bit elevated, and I'm hoping that losing some weight will help get it back under control. And yet, when I weighed myself this morning, I was 3.25 KG or just over 7 lbs heavier than I was at this time last week. So not only did I gain weight this week. But I gained

Which personality do you use most often? Let me ask you a question. Does being a designer, either graphic, web, UX, UI or whatever, qualify you to run your own design business? Some people may say yes. After all, are there any differences between designing something for an employer or an employer's clients and designing something for your own clients? Not really. I'll concede that the design skills you use are the same in both instances. However, just because the design skills are the same doesn't qualify a designer to run their own design business. Does education play into it? Is someone who attended design school somehow more qualified to run their own design business than someone who learned their skills on their own? The school-taught designer may have some business credits under their belt. But arguably, educational background or lack thereof doesn't qualify or disqualify a designer from running their own business. No, in my opinion, and I do understand that my opinion may be wrong, but it's still my opinion. Is that what differentiates a designer who is qualified to run their own design business and one who isn't is their personality. Or, more accurately, personalities. Last week, I told you there were two roles to running a design business: a designer and a business owner. That's a very simplified approach, and it worked for last week's episode. But the truth of the matter is, there are way more than just two roles to running a successful design business. To do it right, you need to have many personalities. And I'm not just talking about the obvious ones. Layout artist Typesetter Proofreader Illustrator Colour picker Photo retoucher Coder Art director and so on and so on. Being a designer means you should be somewhat proficient or have a working knowledge of some if not all of these skills. I'm not an illustrator. But that doesn't mean I can't draw. I can; I'm just not that good at it. My drawing skills are marginal at best. But they've gotten me out of several pinches over the years. Skills like these are something every designer needs to be acquainted with, regardless of whether they are working for someone else or self-employed. When I say that a design business owner has to have many personalities, I'm thinking much deeper. In most situations, a self-employed or freelance designer will develop a much deeper relationship with their clients than someone employed as a designer. That relationship is deeper because it's their client. When I used to work at the print shop, I worked with many regular clients. Most of them I got along with exceptionally well. But regardless of how well we worked together, they weren't my clients. They were the print shop's clients. When I left the print shop to start my own full-time design business, almost all of the clients I worked with remained there and were assigned a new designer to work with them. Only a handful of clients followed me to my new business. And you know what? The relationship we had formed at the print shop grew exponentially once they were MY CLIENTS. Why did our relationship grow? It's because I was invested in those clients in a way that I never was at the print shop. For one thing, when I was at the print shop, if something went wrong with a client's project, I might get some of the blame. But it's the print shop's reputation that took the major hit. And if something went right, for example, if a design won an award which happened on several occasions. The designer would get a mention, but the print shop got most of the recognition and glory. Once I was on my own, and they became my clients, I was much more invested in them because anything that went wrong reflected directly on me, which could affect my business. And anything that went right meant more recognition for me. But I'm starting to drift back towards the design part of the job. And once again, that part can be done by any designer. The business side, however, that side requires something special. It requires the designer to put their many personalities to use, building and strengthening the relationships with their clients. You're probably wondering what the heck I'm talking about. So let me describe some of the many personalities a design business owner must-have. Psychologist. Just like how a practicing psychologist is trained to assess and diagnose problems in thinking, feeling and behaviour to help people overcome or manage their problems. A freelance designer must do the same with their clients. It's your job to assess and diagnose and find a way to overcome the problems your clients are facing. In many cases, the problems your clients think they are facing may not be the actual problem. You must use your psychology skills to weed through and decipher everything the client tells you to figure out the root of the real problem. Only then can you offer them the proper solution. Many designers will give a client what they want. It would be best if you strived to do better by giving th

As a freelance designer, you will face peaks and valleys while running your business. I've said it before, and I'll repeat it. There's nothing better than working for yourself. From deciding who you want to work with to how much you want to charge for your work. Being your own boss is, well, liberating. As your own boss, you get to set your own hours. Want to waste time during the day and work at night? That's your prerogative. Feel like getting away for a few days? Go ahead. You don't need permission to take time off. When you're working for yourself, you get to chose where and how you want to work. If you feel like spending the day at a coffee shop working away on your laptop, you can. If you feel like hunkering down at home to avoid all distractions, go for it. As a self-employed designer, a freelancer if you will, you have the freedom to make your destiny. I don't think there's any better career than that. However, I will give kudos to one aspect of working as a design employee for someone else—a steady paycheque. With all the restrictions, limitations and handholding that may come with being an employee, the one bright light is the knowledge that every week or two, on schedule, a predetermined amount of money gets deposited into your bank account. This money shows up regardless of how busy or not busy you were. This steady paycheque may be the only way that being a designer trumps being a freelancer. It's true. As a self-employed designer, a freelancer, you never know when or where you'll get your next payment. Nor how much it will be. And that can cause a lot of stress in your life, especially if you are the primary breadwinner in your household. Because even though your income may be unpredictable, your monthly expenses are not. They show up right on schedule regardless of the balance in your bank account. I wish I could tell you there's a simple solution to this dilemma, but there isn't. Ask any self-employed designer, and they'll let you know of their experiences navigating these peaks and valleys. Peaks when work, and of course income is in abundance. And valleys when they become scarce. There is no solution if you want to remain a freelancer. However, there are ways to mitigate the problem so peaks and valleys even out over time. Here's what's worked for me and some other methods I've heard work for other designers. Recurring revenue. Recurring revenue is as it sounds. It's revenue (or income) that recurs regularly. Retainer agreements. The best way to acquire recurring revenue is by offering a retainer to your clients. I talked about retainer agreements in episode 32 of the podcast and again in episode 255. The gist of a retainer agreement is offering an ongoing service to your clients that they pay for regularly. In some cases, you may have to sacrifice some income for the guarantee of this recurring revenue. For example, If your hourly rate is $100, you may want to offer a retainer where, if a client guarantees to pre-purchase 10 hours of your time per month, you'll only charge them $90/hr for them. Or if a client asks you to design social media posts regularly. You could offer a retainer agreement where they guarantee to pay a fixed fee for a certain number of graphics every month. Since retainer agreements are guaranteed recurring revenue, they act as a regular paycheck similar to what you'd get as a design employee. Some designers work exclusively on retainer agreements, allowing them to predict how much money they earn each month. There's a lot more to retainer agreements than just this. I suggest you listen to episodes 32 and 255 of the podcast if you want to learn more about them. But suffice it to say, retainer agreements are a great way to even out the peaks and valleys. Website maintenance agreements. Another form of recurring revenue if you're a web designer is to offer a website maintenance agreement. A website maintenance agreement states that you will secure, update and take care of a client's website for a fixed monthly fee. It's kind of an insurance polity for their website. Website maintenance agreements require very little time and effort on your part and offer peace of mind to your clients. Selling digital products. Another form of recurring revenue, although not as steady or predictable as retainer agreements or maintenance agreements, is selling digital goods and products. You are a designer, a creative visionary. Why not use the design skills you offer your clients and put them to use for yourself? There are many platforms such as Creative Market or Design Cuts where you sell your creative wares. These offerings are available for purchase by other creatives and people who need certain assets but may not have the skills to create them themselves. I've created dozens of designs that I sell on various print-on-demand platforms. I get paid any time someone buys a t-shirt, coffee mug, phone case or sticker with one of my designs on it. This is another form of a digital product.

Earlier this week, a member of the Resourceful Designer Community was seeking advice. A potential client contacted her asking if she designs book covers, which she does. Before replying to this unknown person, she decided to investigate who they were. She discovered that this potential client is an author. And the subject they write about is something the design is strongly against. The Community member wanted our advice on how to proceed. Should she turn down the client, or should she wait to hear more about the project before deciding? As always, when someone asks a question in the Community, she received lots of great advice. The consensus was she should hear them out before deciding what to do. After all, their new book might not have anything to do with the subject of their previous books. But this posed a bigger question. What reasons are there to turn down a lucrative design project? In episode 133 of Resourceful Designer, I shared 12 Red Flags For Spotting Bad Design Clients. Most of those Red Flags only become visible after you've started working with a client. Stuff such as the client being rude to you or inconsistent communication. In the episode after that one, episode 134, I shared ways to turn away clients politely. It included sample scripts you can copy and paste for yourself. You may want to refer to that episode after you've finished listening to this one. Some of those scripts apply to today's topic. It's one thing to spot the red flags once you've started working with a client. But how can you avoid ever working with them in the first place? And why would you want to turn them down? After all, we're in this business to make money. And when you're first starting, it may seem like a foreign concept to turn down a paying gig. What I can tell you is that after 30+ years of working with design clients, knowing when a client isn't a good fit and how to turn them down becomes a top priority whenever you meet a potential new client. You're better off putting your time and energy into finding better clients to work with. If you're a long-time follower of Resourceful Designer, you've heard me many times before say that you don't work for your clients. You work with them. You need to consider every client relationship as a partnership. At least for the duration of the project. That may be only a couple of days or weeks. But it could also turn into something much longer. So you need to ask yourself every time you meet a potential new client. Is this someone I would like to partner with, yes or no? Reasons why you shouldn't work with a client. There are many reasons why you shouldn't work with a client. Some of them are nefarious reasons. They want you to do the work for "exposure." They have an unreasonable deadline they want you to meet. They undervalue you and want to pay below your regular rate. They're unclear of exactly what they want or need. They're asking you to do something unethical or illegal. They're not comfortable signing a contract. There could also be legitimate reasons for not working with a client. These reasons have nothing to do with the client persé and more with you. You have current obligations to existing clients and don't have time for this new project. The project they're asking you to design conflicts with your values. The services you offer are not a good fit for their project. Their budget is too small. All good reasons to turn down a client. But, ultimately, the biggest contributing factor to whether or not you should work with a client is your gut. Trust your gut. It's seldom wrong. Mike, a founding member of the Resourceful Designer Community, gave the best answer to the original question. Whenever Mike finds himself in a situation where he's uncertain about a potential client, he asks himself three questions. 1. Am I giving up anything that I am more passionate about or that would be more profitable if I choose to take on this new project? Think about that. Any time you say yes to something, it means you're inadvertently saying no to something else. There's always something that has to give, even if it's your personal or family life. If taking on this new project means neglecting another client's project, it may not be a good idea, especially if the existing client's project is more profitable. Likewise, if taking on this project means you're going to lose out on time with your spouse or kids, it may not be a good idea. The extra money may be nice, but is it worth it if all your child remembers is mommy or daddy missed their game, their performance, their school outing? Only you can weigh the options. 2. Will the new project be harmful to others? You may recall a story I've shared on the podcast before. I had a huge client I had worked with for years. They owned many different companies ranging from restaurants to car washes to a telecommunication company. During my time working with them, they ended up acquiring a tobacco company. According to a study by an anti-smo

We're lucky that we chose a profession where confidence beats knowledge. Before I dive deeper into that, we first have to look at what confidence is. According to disctionary.com, Confidence is the belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities. Confidence is what's center stage when you say, "I can do this." Confidence is what's driving you when you say, "I can figure this out." Confidence is the ladder you climb when you say, "I can succeed." Without confidence, your goals, your intentions, your ambitions might as well be called dreams. Because that's all they'll ever be if you don't believe in yourself and your abilities. I fully believe that without confidence, you cannot succeed as a design business owner. I'm not talking about being a designer. Many designers lack confidence in themselves. I know and have worked with designers who fall into that category. I'm talking about running your own design business. Being a freelancer if that's what you want to call yourself. But I digress. Confidence. If you want to succeed in this business, you need confidence. But what about knowledge? Don't you need knowledge to succeed? That's a trick question. The definition of knowledge, according to dictionary.com, is an acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation. Acquaintance. What an interesting word to use. Most of the time, when you think of acquaintances, you think of people you know of but don't necessarily know. I consider Betty, the cashier at the grocery store I go to, as an acquaintance. She knows me by name, and we exchange pleasantries whenever I'm in her checkout line. If we run into each other in town, we'll smile at each other and say hi, but that's the extent of our interaction. We're acquaintances. Merriam-Webster defines knowledge as The fact or condition of being aware of something. Being aware of something? According to this dictionary meaning, that's all that's required to have knowledge. So, according to two reputable sources on the meaning of all things. Knowledge doesn't mean intimately knowing something. It just means being acquainted or aware of something. When you think of the definition in that way, you realize that you don't actually need to know something to succeed. What you need is confidence in your ability to seek knowledge. And that's why confidence beats knowledge. Now don't get me wrong. There are plenty of times when knowledge trumps confidence. If I'm about to have surgery, yes, I want a confident surgeon, but I hope their knowledge of the procedure they're about to perform supersedes that confidence. If I'm about to take a trip, I'm less interested in how confident the pilot is and more concerned that they know how to fly a plane. But when it comes to design or to run a design business, confidence beats knowledge. You probably don't remember, but there was a time in your life when you were very young when you didn't know how to walk. You crawled around on all fours. Or maybe you were one of those butt dragging babies. Regardless, one day, after spending your entire life so far on the ground, you got up and walked. At one time, you didn't know how to ride a bike. Then one day, you did. You didn't know how to swim. Then one day, you did. This applies to hundreds, or should I say thousands of accomplishments in your life. You didn't know how to do something until you did. I remember when my kids were young. Any time they would get frustrated and say, "I can't do it," I would calmly correct them by saying, "It's not that you can't do it. You just don't know how to do it yet." And once they learned, I would remind them how they felt before their accomplishment. But what does Confidence beets Knowledge mean? It means that you don't need to know how to do something before taking on the task of doing it. You just need to be confident that you'll figure it out. I admit I didn't always feel this way. Back in 2006, I was approached by our local library to design a new website. They had heard good things about me from several people and had decided I was the one they wanted to work with. This was going to be a huge project. In fact, I was a bit intimidated when I found out their budget for the website was $50,000. That was more than I made in a year back then. The library wanted their new website to be connected to their catalogue of books. They wanted visitors to the website to tell what books they carry, if they were available for loan or already checked out. And if the latter, when they would be back. They also wanted members to be able to reserve books for pickup and put holds on books. All the typical things you expect of a library's website today. But in 2006, not many libraries had integrated catalogues on their website. I knew enough about websites to know that it was way beyond my capabilities. At that time, I was hand-coding websites in HTML and CSS. However, this website would require a database and therefore PHP and MySQL. The problem was, I di

I'm happy to announce that this week is, in fact, the final part of my Psychology of Pricing series, where I share research-proven tactics to make the most out of the prices you display. If you haven't listened to the previous parts in this series, I suggest you go back and do so before continuing with this one. I'll still be here once you're done. These pricing tactics are great to use in your design business. But the real gem here is they can make you look like a pricing guru to your clients. Imagine improving their conversion rate simply by manipulating the way you display their prices. They'll be throwing money at you. As in the previous episodes. All of these tactics I'm sharing come from Nick Kolenda. Specifically, an article on his website nickkolenda.com titled appropriately enough The Psychology of Pricing. The Psychology Of Pricing - Part 6 In the previous five parts of this series, I shared various ways to manipulate how a price is displayed to improve sale conversions. In this last part of the series, I'm going to share how to use discounts properly. According to Nick, if not used properly, discounts can actually harm your business. In fact, some people suggest you should never use discounts. That may be a bit extreme. Discounts can prove useful if you know how to use them properly. But how can offering a discount backfire? For one, if you offer discounts too frequently, customers will become more price-conscious and wait for the next discount. Offering discounts can also lower the reference price of a product. I've talked about reference prices in previous parts of this series and how they create the bar by which consumers judge other prices. Offering a discount can lower the reference price, causing people to purchase less in the future when the price seems too high. So reducing the frequency and depth of discounts helps. But there are a few other tactics you can put to use that will help you as well. Tactic 46: Follow the "Rule of 100." In a previous episode, I shared how people can perceive different magnitudes for the same price, depending on the context. For example, changing the words that appear next to a price from "High Performance" to "Low Maintenance" can reduce the magnitude of the price, making it appear smaller. Discounts are no different. When offering a discount, you want to maximize the perceived size of the discount so that people feel like they are getting a better deal. Consider a pair of pants selling for $50. Which discount seems like a better deal: 20% off or $10 off? If you do the math, you'll see that the discounts are the same. But at first glance, 20% off has the advantage by seemingly being larger than $10 off. That's where the "Rule of 100" comes in. If the price you are discounting is under $100, you should always offer the discount as a percentage. Saving 10% off a $20 item sounds much better than saving $2 off a $20 item. Don't you agree? However, as soon as the price you are discounting goes above $100, you should switch to an absolute price discount instead of a percentage. So for a $250 item, offering $25 off creates a higher perceived magnitude than offering 10% off. Tactic 47: Mention the Increase From the Discounted Price. This tactic also relies on magnitude. When a price is reduced, the emphasis is placed on the decrease—Now, 20% Off. However, a way to once again increase the perceived magnitude of the discount is by reversing the way you announce it. Instead of saying "Now 20% Off," try something like "Was 25% higher." It will make it more persuasive because it shows a higher numeral. Tactic 48: Provide a Reason for the Discount. To maximize the effectiveness of a discount, explain why you are offering it. For example, stores may offer a discount because of inventory surplus. Or maybe it's to clear out outdated stock. Clothing retailers do this all the time. When the new season's fashions arrive, the previous season's inventory goes on sale. Or perhaps you can say you are passing on a discount you received from the supplier. Wal-Mart does this all the time with their Rollback pricing. It conveys the message that the cost savings they are receiving are being passed on to the customer. If you offer print brokering as one of your design services, you may be able to increase orders by passing on any discount your printer offers you. By providing a reason for the discount, you reinforce that this is a temporary or provisional thing. This will make it less likely for people to latch onto the discounted price as a reference price. And make it more likely to pounce on the discount before it's gone. Tactic 49: Offer Discounts in Round Numbers. I don't even know why this one is on the list. If you recall, specific prices, such as $21.87, seem smaller than rounded prices. Keeping that in mind, you should follow the opposite approach for discounts by using round numbers since they appear larger. Using round numbers as discounts also makes it easier for customers to

This is week five of my Psychology of Pricing series. Where I share research-proven strategies to help the prices you display convert into sales. Some of these pricing tactics work great with your design business, and many of them are perfect for helping your clients get more sales. So if you haven't read or listened to the previous parts in this series, I suggest you do so before continuing with this one. The tactics I'm sharing here are taken from a very in-depth article called The Psychology of Pricing by Nick Kolenda. You can find it on his website. Let's get on with the list. Tactic 35: Place Low Numerals After Right-Facing Digits. As a designer, you know how to create flow in a design. For example, If a person is looking to the right, you want to put their photo on the left of a layout. If they're facing the left, you want them on the right of the layout. This creates flow in the direction you want people to focus on. There are many ways to create flow in a layout besides which direction a person is facing. One of the ways you can do it is with numbers. A 2007 study determined that certain digits face particular directions. 2,3,4,7,9 face the left. 1,8,0 face centre. 5,6 face right. Rightward digits 5 & 6 push attention towards the right. When used in a price, they push attention towards the digits that follow them. Since customers tend to round numbers up or down, you'll want to place a lower number next to a right-facing digit causing customers to round down the price. Conversely, leftward digits, 2,3,4,7 & 9 push the attention towards the left. This means that customers may ignore a large number placed to the right of them. Tactic 36: Insert Alliteration into Prices. Alliteration is the repetition of similar initial sounds within a group of words. Such as Karl craves coconut cookies with a repetitive hard "C" sound. There's something about alliteration that feels good. It feels right. And that feeling can be misattributed towards another context. A 2016 study found that customers were more likely to buy products when alliteration was used. For example, "Two T-Shirts for $20." The repetitive "T" sounds make the purchase feel right. Tactic 37: Use Round Prices in the Right Context. Rounded prices, those that don't display cents, should be used for emotional purchases. Non-rounded prices, those that display cents, should be used for rational purchases. There are three contexts when you should consider using round prices. 1) Emotional Purchase. Because round prices "feel right," they are good for emotional purchases over rational purchases. A 2015 study found that customers prefer buying something such as a bottle of champagne for a rounded price such as $40. Whereas when buying something such as a calculator, they would prefer a non-rounded price of $39.72. 2) Convenience Purchases. Round prices that "feel right" also trigger an "easy" sensation. Making a transaction seem easy and a good choice. A 2016 study found that using round prices on point-of-sale items at a checkout counter increased sales. 3) Social Benefits. Customers prefer round prices for social products. Since round numbers are easily divisible, people confuse numerical connectivity for social connectivity. For example, charging $457.99 for a four-day conference may seem expensive to someone because they see it as a high price for one social benefit. However, charging $400 for a four-day conference makes it easy for people to think of it as $100 per day, which may sound more reasonable to them. Tactic 38: Distinguish the Most Expensive Option. This tactic works great with the three-tiered pricing method when quoting design projects. In a previous part of this series, I said you should sort prices from high to low. But there are ways around that. As designers, you know that design can have a hierarchy. A good designer knows how to lead a viewer's eye from one design section to another in a predefined path. So instead of putting the highest price first, you can achieve the same effect by adding visual distinction to the most expensive option. You see this all the time on websites with pricing pages where one price is highlighted as the "best option." By making something stand out, you set it up to be viewed first, creating a reference price in the viewer's mind. And if that first price they see is the highest priced option. The lower prices will seem much more appealing to them. Tactic 39: Attribute Discounts to Emotional Products. Face it. We like buying emotional products. I mean, nobody needs a cupcake, but that doesn't stop you from wanting one. The problem with emotional purchases is you often feel guilty after you've spent the money. A 2010 study showed that attributing a discounted price to the emotional product reduces the guilt associated with the purchase. For example, a restaurant may sell salads and cupcakes individually for $3 each. But they have a special offer where you can get a salad and cupcake together for only $4. Savin

This is week four of my psychology of pricing series. Where I share research-proven strategies to influence people to part with their hard-earned money, some of these pricing tactics work great with your design business, and many of them are perfect for helping your clients get more sales. If you haven't listened to part 1, part 2 or part 3 of this series, I suggest you do so before continuing with this one. Let's continue with the series. As previously mentioned, I took the tactics I'm sharing here from an article by Nick Kolenda on his website nickkolenda.com on the psychology of pricing. Nick has links to many of the studies I mention in these episodes. Let's get on with the list. Tactic 29: Create a Payment Medium. If you'll recall the last episode, I talked about the Pain of Paying. That feeling we get when we have to part with our hard-earned money. Tactic 29 offers a great way to reduce that pain by creating a payment medium between the money spent and the purchased product. What is a payment medium? Casino chips are a great example. When gambling at a casino, it's much easier to place a $10 or $20 chip on the table than it would be if you had to put a ten or twenty dollar bill down. Casino chips act as a buffer between your wallet and the act of betting, which reduces the Pain of Paying. Another way this works, and possibly a way for you to incorporate this into your design business, is with advanced payments. If you charge clients by the hour, Instead of offering a monthly retainer agreement, you may instead offer a discount if a client pays for a pool of hours upfront, to be used at a later date. For example, if your regular rate is $100 per hour, twenty work hours should cost $2000. However, you could offer clients twenty hours of work to be used later for $1900. Your client would get 20 hours of your time banked for future use at a discounted price. The next time they have a design project, it won't cost them anything because your time is already paid for. This creates a payment medium reducing the pain of paying. Should the client have a design idea they want to explore, it will be much easier for them to justify spending hours they've already paid for than it would be for them to justify spending the money on their idea even though it works out to the same thing in the end. Another thing to consider is a refundable deposit. Someone starting a venture that requires people to open an account to make purchases may require them to make a $50 refundable deposit when opening their account. This $50 can be used for future purchases or returned should the purchaser decide to close their account. Since the money required to open the account is refundable, there will be less resistance to depositing it. More importantly, the deposit now acts as a payment medium. People will be more willing to spend it on a purchase since it doesn't feel like money coming out of their pocket. Tactic 30: Avoid Language Related to Money. This tactic works great when combined with tactic 29 above. Instead of referring to deposited money as money, you may want to refer to it as something else, such as credits. For example: Instead of clients buying 20 hours of your services. You have them buy 20 design credits, where each credit is worth up to 1 hour of design time. Then, when a client asks for a quote on a new design project, you can say it will cost them X credits. A 2004 study showed that using credits creates an off-balance conversion between the money and the value. This conversion creates a payment medium that is more effective as it's more difficult for the customer to convert the values. A client with 20 design credits is likely to be more willing to spend 3 credits on a new project than spend $300 on it. Even though the two are essentially the value. Tactic 31: Emphasize the Inherent Costs of Your Product. People don't just care about the perceived magnitude of a price, for example, whether it's high or low. They also care about the perceived fairness of a price. Even if you price something low, people could still perceive it to be unfair. The opposite is also true. People could perceive a high price to be fair. It all depends on your pricing method. Cost-Based Pricing or Market-Based Pricing. Cost-Based Pricing: Prices based on cost factors such as the cost of the materials. Market-Based Pricing: Prices based on supply and demand or the competition. Most people view cost-based pricing to be fairer than market-based pricing. And you can increase the perceived fairness of a price by emphasizing the inherent cost of the product. Since consumers don't know the actual cost and markup of an item, making the relevant cost and quality information transparent helps them make their purchase decision. How does this work? It's quite easy. Emphasize the product's "top-of-the-line" materials or any other cost-based input. Instead of advertising a new beverage as Delicious, say something like this new beverage uses naturally sour

This is week three of my psychology of pricing series. Where I share research-proven strategies to influence people to part with their hard-earned money. Some of these pricing tactics work great with your design business, and many of them are perfect for helping your clients get more sales. If you haven't listened to part 1 and part 2, I suggest you do so before continuing with this one. Let's continue with the series. The Psychology Of Pricing - Part 3 As I mentioned in the previous parts of this series, these tactics were taken from a very in-depth article by Nick Kolenda on the psychology of pricing. Have a look if you want to read through it yourself. Since you're here right now, I'll presume you want me to continue summarizing each pricing tactic. So let's get on with the list. Tactic 19: Raise the Price of Your Previous Product. This tactic applies whenever you or your client introduces a new, more expensive version of a product. Although under certain circumstances, it may also work with the services you offer. If you're introducing a new, more expensive version of a product, what do you do with the old version that's left? Many people would lower the old one to sell the remaining stock as soon as possible. But a 2010 study suggests raising the price of the old product might be a better idea. If you lower the old product's price, you'll be reinforcing the lower reference price, which makes the new product seem more expensive, making people question if it's really worth it. Let's say the old product originally sold for $100, and the new product is priced at $130. If you drop the price of the old product to a clearance price of $80, people are going to wonder if it's really worth spending $50 more for the new product. However, if you raise the old product's price, you also raise people's reference or anchor price, which enhances their perceived value of the new product. So instead of dropping the original product's price from $100 to $80, you raise it to $110. Now, people who compare the old and new versions will favour the higher-priced new version that is only $20 more than the old one. And those looking for a deal will be happy to save $20 by purchasing the old version. Tactic 20: Sort Prices From High to Low. A study conducted in 2012 showed that, on average, customers chose a more expensive option when products were listed in descending price order from highest to lowest. This study was conducted in a bar over the course of 8 weeks. The researchers regularly alternated the sequence of the beer prices. Sometimes the beers were listed from the lowest priced beer at $4 down to the highest-priced beer at $10. Other times they reversed the list putting the $10 beer at the top. The researchers discovered that, on average, the bar generated more money in beer sales when the higher prices were listed first. Why does this work? Once again, it comes down to the ever-important anchor price. Whenever someone looks at a list of prices, the first few prices create their anchor price. If the initial prices are low, it creates a low anchor price which creates an aversion to spending money on the higher-priced items lower on the list. If someone wanted to splurge a bit, they might opt for a $5 or $6 beer instead of the base $4 beer, but they probably won't be interested in the highest-priced beers at the bottom of the list. However, if you reverse the order by placing the highest prices at the top to act as the anchor price, each lower price on the list seems like a better deal. Instead of spending $10 on a beer, someone might decide to save a bit of money and opt for a $7 or $6 beer instead. They feel good about saving money but still spent more than in the previous example. As a species, we have an aversion to losses. When we see a list of ascending prices, meaning from low to high. We subconsciously see each price as we descend the list as a loss. Our motivation to minimize that loss causes us to chose a lower-priced product from the top of the list. But when we see a list of descending prices, meaning from high to low, we see each item as we go down the list as a loss in quality. And since we don't want to lose quality, we are motivated to purchase the higher quality, and hence more expensive product. So if you're putting together an eCommerce site for a client, you may want to put the higher-priced items first in the hopes of increasing the average revenue from each sale. This might also work with the Three-Tiered Pricing System I'm so fond of. I show my three price options from lowest to highest. It might be worth reversing it and showing the most expensive option first. You never know. Tactic 21: Position Prices to the Right of Large Quantities This tactic applies to products sold in bundles. A study conducted in 2012 shows that listing prices to the right of large quantities convert better. 70 items for $29 is better than $29 for 70 items However, the study showed that two conditions must be met for this t

Last week I shared the first nine psychology of pricing tactics from Nick Kolenda's article. This week I continue the series with more great pricing tactics. Tactic 10: Position Low Prices Toward the Left According to a 2002 study, when designing a layout, you should position prices on the left if you want them to appear smaller. Here's the reasoning. Research shows that people associate directional cues with certain concepts. Up is usually associated with good, whereas down is usually associated with bad. You give a thumbs up to things you like and a thumbs down to things you don't. In the Christian faith, good people go up to heaven, and bad people go down to hell. This notion of up being good and down being bad triggers a spatial association. A 2004 study found that people recognized positive words faster when those words are positioned at the top of a layout. They recognize negative words faster when positioned near the bottom of a layout. This same principle applies to numbers, including prices. When people conceptualize numbers, they imagine a horizontal like with numbers going up from left to right. The smaller numbers on the left, the larger numbers on the right. Since people associate smaller numbers as belonging on the left, positioning prices on the left side of a layout can trigger someone to associate it with a smaller value. The opposite works with larger numbers. If you want a number to appear large, position it on the right of a layout. For example: for a message saying, "Receive a $20 credit for every person you refer." you'll want to place the $20 towards the right of the layout so that those seeing it will associate it with a large number making the offer more appealing. The whole point of this tactic is to change the perception of a fixed price. If you want $20 to seem like a great low price, position it accordingly. Whereas if you want $20 to seem like a nice high reward, position it accordingly. Because of these directional cues associated with spatial concepts, the optimal position for your prices is the bottom left of a layout if you want it to appear as a low price. And the upper right of a layout if you want the price to appear higher. Tactic 11: Expose Customers to Two Multiples of Your Price My first time reading this tactic, I thought, "c'mon, this can't be true." but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. A 2011 study showed that customers exposed to two multiples of a price reacted more favourably to the price. Let me explain this. Nick's article shows four ads from Pizza Hut, a popular pizza chain you may be familiar with. All four ads offered a deal costing $24. The first ad is for 3 Medium pizzas with unlimited toppings. The second ad is for 4 small pizzas with unlimited toppings. The third ad is for 3 medium pizzas with up to 8 toppings each. And the fourth ad is for 4 small pizzas with up to 6 toppings each. The study conducted showed that customers were more favourable to ads 3 and 4. The two ads that limited the toppings. Then they were to the first two ads that offered unlimited toppings even though the first two ads were an economically better deal. Why is that? It's because ads 3 and 4 incorporated multiples of the price. 4 small pizzas with up to 6 toppings each for $24. 4 x 6 = 24 3 medium pizzas with up to 8 toppings each for $24. 3 x 8 = 24 I know it sounds crazy, but psychology can explain it. As children, we were drilled with simple math problems where an association develops between operands. For example, if I say 2 x 6, you immediately think 12. You don't actually have to do any math. It's been ingrained into your brain. You just instinctively know that 2 x 6 is 12. Because of associations like these, your brain processes them more fluently than if we actually had to figure out the sum or product. Back to the Pizza Hut ads, Because ads 3 and 4 contained multiples of the $24 (4 x 6 and 3 x 8, respectively), customers could process the $24 more easily. The price feels right to them. This tactic can be used with small and large prices. A product could be on sale for $15. Next to the price, you could indicate a 3-Day Sale for $5 off (3 x 5 = 15). Someone could offer 4 weekly 30-minute coaching calls for $120 (4 x 30 = 120). A webinar might sell a training course for $500, and as a reward for signing up before the end of the webinar, you'll get 5 bonus eBooks (a value of $100) (5 x 100 = $500) Tactic 12: Use the Right Amount of "Roundedness Instead of using a non-rounded price, such as $97.76, use the rounded price of $98. A study done in 2015 found that round prices are processed fluently, whereas non-rounded prices are processed disfluently. This tactic seems to contradict tactic 9 that I shared with you last week. Tactic 9 said to use precise numbers instead of rounded numbers because people assume rounded prices are artificially higher as if you plucked them from thin air. However, there is a time when round numbers are preferred. And that's when

Use these psychological tactics to change how people see prices. I recently read a very in-depth article by Nick Kolenda on the psychology of pricing. I was so fascinated by what he revealed that I immediately changed some of the ways I display prices for myself and the things I design for my clients. I thought I would save you time by summarizing the 42 research-proven psychological tactics in Nick's article in a podcast series. I'm sure you'll find it very useful in your design business. All studies I reference are linked to in Nick's article, in case you're interested. As Nick puts it, At the end of the day, price is merely a perception. Nothing more. Nothing less. In fact, you can change that perception of how people interpret a price simply by changing the visual traits of the numeral. It's a given. The number 5 is greater than 4. And 6 is greater than 5. But using these psychological pricing techniques, you can actually make prices seem lower - without reducing the actual price. According to a 2002 study, most people don't remember exact prices. Rather, they remember general prices. Have you ever looked at a price, and later when asked about it, only have a general idea of how much it was? When I get home from the grocery store and my wife asked me how much it cost. I don't always remember the exact price. Was it $131 and change, or was it $138 and change? So I might tell her it cost "$130 something dollars." Because humans have such a hazy memory regarding prices, we can use certain psychological tactics to influence people into seeing smaller prices than they realize. Let me get right down to the actual tactics. Tactic 1: Reduce the Left Digit By One You're probably already familiar with this tactic. Reducing the left digit by one creates a perception of a lower price. $199 is viewed as a much better deal than paying $200. Gumroad's conversion rates study shows that pricing things at $0.99 instead of $1 or $2.99 instead of $3, or $5.99 instead of $6 conversion rates increase by 2-3%. According to a 2005 study. Our brains encode numbers so quickly that we register the size of the number before we finish reading the entire number. When reading $1.99, our brain registers it as a dollar something which is lower than $2 something making it more desirable. Nick offered a bonus tip to this tactic. Superscripting or minimizing the digits after the decimal places more emphasis on the number before the decimal. So $1 with a small 99 next to it appears smaller than $1.99 all the same size. Tactic 2: Use Prices With Fewer Syllables I'm a bit skeptical about this tactic. But according to a 2012 study, the more syllables there are, the more mental resources we need to process the information. The same principle applies to numbers. If we spend more mental energy reading a number or price, we falsely perceive that price as larger. The fewer syllables involved, and we perceive that price as smaller. It doesn't matter that you are not saying the number out loud. Your brain does it for you. This same study found that a slightly higher price with fewer syllables was more favourable to people than a lower price with more syllables. For example. $27.82 has 7 syllables. $28.16 has only 5 syllables. There's only $0.34 between the two prices. But people were more inclined to spend the higher amount. As I said, I'm skeptical about this one, but the studies do show it to be true. Tactic 3: Display Prices In A Small Font Size. This one applies to what we do as designers. According to a 2005 study. Human brains conceptualize size with value. If you display the price in a smaller font size, people will perceive the price to be smaller. Another trick is to position larger elements around the price to create a visual hierarchy. The larger elements will make the price visually smaller, which in turn makes the perceived price smaller. The revers works for discounts. Display discounts larger to emphasize their large value. Tactic 4: Remove The Comma. I really like this tactic. According to a 2012 study, removing the comma from a price makes it seem lower. This one ties into tactic 2 of having fewer syllables. A price displayed as $1,499 reads as one-thousand four hundred and ninety-nine–10 syllables. Whereas a price displayed as $1499, without the comma, reads as fourteen ninety-nine–5 syllables. I may be skeptical about the syllables thing. But I cannot argue that $1499 sounds like a better deal than $1,499. Tactic 5: Use Words That Indicate a Reduced Magnitude. According to a 2005 study, the words associated with a price influence people's perceptions of that price. For example. Two identical pairs of inline skates are selling for the same price. Both packages list the same features and benefits. However, one pair emphasized "High Performance" while the other pair emphasized "Low Friction." The pair that emphasized "Low Friction" outsold the other pair. The wording associated with the price caused the perception of the price to cha

Do you want to know the secret to a satisfying design career? Let's face it; it's impossible to be completely happy and satisfied with whatever career choice you choose. I mean, even being a professional chocolate taster has its drawbacks. But out of all the gazillion different things you can do with your life. Being a graphic or web designer, at least in my opinion, is one of the more satisfying options out there. Then again, I may be a bit biased. But just like every other career choice out there, being a designer has its ups and downs. You get to make money using your creativity. You get to design things that change peoples' lives. Your creations are displayed for everyone to see and admire. But there's the flipside. Clients don't always have the same vision as you. Some people are demanding to work with. And don't get me started on taxes and all the administrative work involved with being a designer. As I said, ups and downs. Luckily, and I'm sure you'll agree, the life of a designer is filled with more ups than there are downs. That's what keeps us going. But what if I told you that you could increase the number of ups you experience? What if I told you there's a very simple secret that will allow you to have a happier and more satisfying design career? That secret boils down to four words. But hold on, before I tell you those four words, I want to share a scenario with you. Something you've probably experienced yourself at some point in your design career. And if you haven't, give it time. I'm sure you will. Let me know if this sounds familiar. You're hired to design a logo for a client. Being the good designer, you are you hunker down and get to work sketching out dozens, if not hundreds, of different ideas for the logo. Most of these will be dismissed almost as soon as you make them. Some of them you know even before you make them that you won't use them, but you have to get the idea out of your head. Or am I the only one who does that? After a while, you are drawn back to a handful of your ideas that show merit. Some of them you play and tweak, trying this and that until you realize they won't work and discard them. But there are a few that are promising. So you concentrate all your talent and design skills on making them just right. In the end, you are left with two or three logos ideas. You then create a nice presentation, including various mockups to showing how each one would look in real-world situations. Then it's off to present to the client. Even though all three ideas are good, you secretly have your favourite from the bunch. You know, The one you're already picturing in your portfolio. The one you can't wait to show off and let everyone know, "Hey, I designed this logo." Yes, you always have your favourite. Then, of course, there's your second favourite. You don't like it as much as the first one, but still, it's a damn nice logo. Not that there's anything wrong with the third logo. After all, you wouldn't present a logo to a client that you didn't think was good enough, would you? I didn't think so. But logo number three, even though good, doesn't compare to logo one or even logo two. You present your three designs to the client. You may even try to upsell your favourite logo a bit more than the other two. There's no harm in doing that. And then you sit back and wait for the client's decision. You know where I'm going with this, don't you? Regardless of your effort and your desires, the client chooses the third logo. You put on your happy face as you pretend to share in the client's enthusiasm, but in your gut, you feel let down. How could they choose logo number three? Can't they see how great the first logo is? Or even logo number two would have been fine. But no, they chose logo number three. I'm sure this exact scenario is why some designers practice the one-concept approach. They don't offer their client's any options. Instead, they offer them one concept-take it or leave it. If that's how you work, then more power to you. But that's not the way I do things myself. Why did I share this scenario with you? It's because I was hoping you could think about how you would feel in that situation. You were so sure the client was going to fall in love with the same logo you loved. And they didn't. You feel confused. You feel torn. You feel let down. You feel dejected. Remember I told you that the secret to a happy and satisfying design career came down to four words? Well, here they are. IT'S, NOT, ABOUT, YOU. It's not. It has never been, and it never will be. A happy and satisfied designer knows that everything they do is about the client. When you embrace this concept, your design career becomes so much easier. You may have liked logo number one better, and that's fine. But that wasn't the client's choice. To them, logo number three is the best one. And you know what? They're right. At least for them. It's not about what you think. It's about what they think. The client is more than happy w

Have you ever worked with a bad client? Ok, I have a confession to make. Obviously, bad clients are a thing. I chose this title to get your attention. And it worked. You're here, aren't you? The title I should have chosen is If you do your job right, you should never have to deal with bad clients. But it just doesn't have the same ring to it. I bet if I asked you to recount an experience with a bad client, it wouldn't take you long to think of one. Heck, there are entire websites dedicated to stories of bad clients designers have had to endure. Be warned. Once you start reading the stories, it's hard to stop. What is a bad client? Every designer has their own definition of what makes a bad client. To some, it's their personality. They're demanding or obnoxious. "This is how I want you to do it" or "That's not what I asked for. What's wrong with you?" Or they're too timid and uncommitting, never able to give a firm opinion. "I can't decide. What do you think?" Maybe it's their inability to visualize. For example, "I have no idea what I want, but I'll know it when I see it." or "can you try it like this, and like this, and like this and perhaps like this so I can see what each way looks like?" Bad clients also come in the form of people who reluctantly or flat out don't pay. They don't realize, or they don't care, that as a freelancer or small business, you rely on every bit of income to make a living, and their refusal or tardiness in paying can drastically affect your way of life. Then some clients want something for nothing. They assure you that the exposure you'll get from working on their project will be more valuable than any sum of money you would charge them. The list of bad clients continues with clients who change scope midway through a project. Some do it innocently, asking you to add on small extras, not thinking anything of it. "Can we add an extra page to the website that talks about all the philanthropic work we do?" And some do it not so innocently, trying to squeeze in extras without paying for them. "While you're making the header for our website, can you also supply us copies to fit our Facebook Page, LinkedIn Profile, Twitter and YouTube headers? It's a simple matter of resizing what you already have. It shouldn't take you any time at all." Don't forget the clients who make strange demands. You know the "can you make the logo bigger?" type clients. Or those who expect too much "I searched for 'car dealership' and our brand new website isn't showing up on the first page of Google, what are you going to do about it?" Some clients think they know more about design than you do. Some clients wait until the last possible minute to supply the content you've been waiting months for and still expect the project to be delivered on time. And some clients are so disorganized that you don't know how they're still in business. I could go on and on. There are no shortages of "bad clients." However, there are ways you can minimize, if not eliminate, your interaction with this less than desirable clientele. It all comes down to experience. Minimizing bad clients requires experience. When you first start in the design field, you will encounter bad clients. It's inevitable. Call it an initiation or rite of passage. Treat these bad clients as a learning experience. You have to experience bad clients to be able to spot bad clients. Whenever you work with a bad client, make a mental note of what was undesirable about working with them. Then use that knowledge to help your future self. This could simply be adding a new clause to your contract or starting to use a contract if you're very new. Or you could use that knowledge to spot the red flags and weed out potential bad clients before you start working with them. If you find yourself working with the same type of bad clients over and over again, you're doing something wrong. And that something wrong is not learning from your mistakes. With enough experience and by putting that knowledge to use, you should be able to spot a bad client a mile away and steer clear of them. Turn bad clients into good clients. Don't get me wrong, not all clients who appear bad are actually bad. Some, and I would even hazard a guess that most are uneducated clients. That is, uneducated in the ways of working with a professional designer. Many clients don't understand what creative professionals do, and they don't realize why their requests are so crazy. In these cases, instructing the client on how you operate can turn a potentially bad client into someone who is a pleasure to work with. If you haven't already, I suggest you listen to my seven-part Client Onboarding series. In my Client Onboarding series, I explain the entire process of acquiring a new client, explaining how you operate and laying the foundation for a strong and ongoing relationship with them. Following the steps I outlined in that series can help steer a client from the dark side and turn them into a great client. Y

Have you ever given a presentation? This Bootstrap Advertising series is to help give you ideas to use to gain exposure for your design business. Because after all, people won't hire you if they don't know about you. So far in this series, I've covered Bartering Your Services For Exposure, Promoting Yourself On Client Projects and Getting Free Media Exposure With Press Releases. But in my opinion, one method trumps all of those, and that's making presentations. Making presentations is one of the best ways to get exposure and actually land new design work. Almost every time I make a presentation, I end up with at least one new client. I'm not talking about design pitches or presenting to your clients. I'm talking about getting up in front of a group of people and presenting on a topic that is beneficial to them, AND paints you as an expert when it comes to that area. Did I lose you? I know that many designers are introverts, and the thought of getting up in front of a group of people sounds terrifying. However, if you can find it within yourself to conquer that fear, I can almost guarantee it will be worth it. Save your trepidations for now and hear me out. Who knows, I may convert you. Why Presentations? Presentations are a great way to educate people on the part of the business industry that you are familiar with—design. It may be branding, marketing, advertising, online presence through websites or social media, or any other design aspect that the average business owner might find useful. Regardless of what aspect of design you decide to present, just the fact that you are presenting it gives you credibility in the eyes of those watching. The fact that you are presenting to them, that you are educating them, that you are bestowing valuable knowledge that will help improve their businesses elevates the way they see you. They may have known you before as just another graphic designer, but you graduate to becoming an expert once you present. And as an expert, you become someone they admire and look up to. And when it comes to hiring a designer, who do you think they'll consider? One of the many designers from your area? Or, the expert designer they admire because you gave them valuable advice during a presentation? It sounds strange, but it's true. In March of 2020, I was at a podcast conference in Orlando, Florida. A few of us designers met up for an impromptu get-together in the hallway outside the conference rooms. We had a very in-depth conversation on the impact good design has on the success of a podcast. As with any conference, several other attendees, non-designers migrated their way to our conversation. They were curious as to how design could help their shows. My fellow designers were very knowledgeable, and we had a great discussion. It was obvious to anyone listening that each one of us knew what we were talking about. During our conversation, I mentioned I was presenting the following day on the importance of good podcast cover artwork to help grow a show. When we were done, and we parted ways, several podcasters stopped me to ask questions. The other designers walked away unaccosted while I had a small gathering around me. These people chose me because I was a presenter at the conference. I hadn't even presented yet, but the fact that I was, was enough to elevate my status above the other designers as far as these podcasters were concerned. The conference had chosen me to present; therefore, I must be someone worth listening to. That's the power of presenting. It elevates you in the eyes of those you talk to. And you know what? A couple of those people hired me to help brand their podcast. And I gained several more new clients after my presentation. It works. Where can you give presentations? You may be thinking, "That's easy for you Mark, you started a podcast branding business, so it makes sense for you to present at a podcast conference. But I don't have a niche like you. So where am I supposed to present?" I'm glad you asked. You don't have to travel to big conferences with thousands of people in attendance to present. There are many opportunities for you around where you live. In fact, presenting close to home is even more beneficial because you have the bonus of word of mouth afterwards. "You're looking for a designer? I heard so-and-so present recently, and they really knew what they were talking about. So you should give them a call." Places you can give presentations. Chamber of Commerce. Special events. Small business month (October) Business trade shows Business Associations Municipal Business Associations (Downtown, Waterfront, Central, etc.) Women's Business Associations People of Colour Business Associations LGBTQ+ Business Associations. Business Enterprise Center Small business startup presentations Entrepreneurial help presentations Municipal Events Lunch and a talk Business growth seminars Local Library Themed Presentations All sorts of presentations Networking groups Local Net

Use Press Releases To Get Media Exposure. In parts one and two of this bootstrap advertising series, I talked about bartering your design services for exposure and promoting yourself on your client projects. Two great ways to get your name out there. After all, the more people there are who know about you and the services you offer, the more successful you will be. Both bartering for exposure and putting your name on client projects are great methods of spreading your name. But that's all they do. They don't offer any form of credibility or positioning. Sure, people can't hire you if they don't know about you. But just knowing about you doesn't guarantee they'll contact you when they need a designer. Especially if all they know about you is your name. Media coverage, on the other hand, gives you credibility. It means you're "important" enough to merit mentioning. And that publicity can mean the difference between someone just knowing about you and someone hiring you. When combined, these different forms of exposure leave a powerful impression that can lead to more business. But how do you get media exposure? Send out press releases. The easiest way to get media coverage is by submitting a press release for each of your accomplishments. A press release is sometimes called a "press statement," a "news release," or a "media release," which is an official way to inform the media about something you deem important. Media could be newspapers, radio or tv stations. It might be blogs, magazines, podcasts, social media channels, YouTube channels or industry journals. Any platform people visit for current information is considered media. And most media outlets are constantly looking for new stories to cover, especially on slower news days. Press releases are a great way for media outlets to add "filler content" to their platform. Then, if they deem the press release to be newsworthy, they'll write or report on it. It's that simple. Don't forget other places that may be interested in your special announcements. If you're a member of your Chamber of Commerce or similar associations, send them your press release. They may publish it in their newsletter. If you attended design school, send your press release to the school. Most schools love hearing and sharing the good news about their alumni. Lastly, reach out to any industry-specific platforms related to the announcement you are making. For example, if you designed new signage for a local law office, send your press release to any law-related publications or outlets that may cover your story. The purpose of a press release isn't just for recognition and publicity; although it is the principal reason, most media outlets that run your story will also include a link to your website. And every backlink to your website, especially from recognized news outlets or schools, helps to boost your position in the search rankings. What merits a press release? Any time you do something somewhat "newsworthy," you should send out a press release. This includes any time you... Offer a new service Complete a big project Win an award You are recognized for an achievement You reach a milestone If you take on a partner Any exciting news you would share with family, friends and peers might be worthy of a press release. When Resourceful Designer was a finalist for a People's Choice Podcast Awards, I sent a press release to my local media. It must have been a very slow news day because my story appeared on the front page of my local newspaper. All because I sent a press release. When my local Chamber of Commerce told me the cover I designed for their printed club directory won an award at a national Chamber of Commerce event, I sent a press release. The story was covered by two local newspapers and one of our radio stations. When I was awarded the contract to design the event program to unveil a new Canadian National Heritage site, I sent a press release, and several media outlets shared the story. When I launched my secondary design business, Podcast Branding, I sent a press release to everyone who covers news in the podcast space. Many of them mentioned my new business. Sending out a press release is an amazing way to get media exposure for your design business. How to write a press release. A press release is usually one page, two at the most, with succinct information on what you want the media to know. The idea is to give the reader the details so they can, in turn, write or compose their own story. Rarely will the media publish your press release word for word. Instead, in some cases, they'll compose something based on what you submit, and in other cases, they'll contact you for an interview or perhaps invite you to appear on their program. The generally accepted format for a press release is as follows. 1. Title. Your press release title is important. The more irresistible you make it, the better your chances of it being picked up. If required, you can use an italicized subheading to s

Get your name out there. In part one of this Bootstrap Advertising series, I discussed bartering your services to get exposure. This week I'm sharing more ways to get exposure by promoting yourself on client projects. Exposure means making people aware of your design business. After all, People cannot hire you if they don't know you exist. So the goal here is to get your name, business name, and logo in front of as many people as possible. This form of promotion is called a shotgun approach. There's nothing scientific or targeted about it. Instead, you hit the masses and hope that someone who sees it needs or knows someone in need of your services. This "spray and pray" approach doesn't cost you anything and is a great method of bootstrap advertising. If you're not familiar with the term bootstrap or bootstrapping, it means promoting or developing by initiative and effort with little or no assistance. In other words, bootstrap advertising is getting your name out there with minimal effort and practically zero expense on your part. Let me share two methods you can promote yourself on client projects. Put your name on everything project you design. My stance is if I design something, my name deserves to be on it, from websites to posters, brochures, car wraps, wedding invitations and more. If I can get away with it, I put my name on it. I've learned over the years that, as the adage goes, "it's better to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission?" If you ask a client if it's ok to put your name on their project, there's a 50/50 chance they'll say no; they'd prefer you don't. And many times, they'll ask if they get a discount if your name appears on their project. However, if you include your name on the initial project proof without asking, only one in twenty clients will ask you to remove it. That's why I never ask a client if I can put my name on their project. Instead, I present the work with my name and sometimes logo already there. Should the client ask me to remove it, I'll take it off without a fuss. But in my experience, there have been very few clients who have asked me to take it off. My name or logo appears in small inconspicuous corners of the project for printed work—kind of like an artist's signature. On a poster, I include it in the bottom corner. I try to include it on the back cover of a brochure, sometimes running vertically along the spine. If it's a book or booklet, and I can't put it on the back cover, I'll try to include it on the inside front cover somewhere. Over the years, I've included my name on Posters brochures, flyers and rack cards books and booklets door hangers reports pocket folders event tickets invitations stickers and decals Vehicle wraps Window signage Banners and many more items I can't think of right now. I've even included my name and logo on trade show booths. I've designed several pop-up or roll-up banners as well as many backdrop walls for trade shows, and I've included my name and logo on the bottom right corner of all of them. For websites, the obvious place is the footer, or sometimes on a separate bar below the footer. Divi makes this really easy. Sometimes, when I do T-Shirts, I'll have my screen printer add my logo to the sleeve with my client's permission. My screen printer is a great guy, and depending on the size of the order, he'll add my logo to the sleeve at no extra cost. Think about it. Everyone walking around wearing one of these shirts has my name displayed on their sleeve. So whenever possible, I try to include my name on every printed piece I design. Showcasing yourself via an ad. I'm a bit surprised how well the following method works. Have you ever designed something for a client that includes boxes for ads? I've designed event programs, maps, placemats, pocket folders, magazine layouts, and more for clients. What all of these had in common were advertising spots the client could sell. Take a program for a local theatre company, for example. The program contains information about the theatre company, the play their performing, the cast, perhaps upcoming plays, etc. The theatre company then sells the extra space in the program as ad spots to cover the printing costs. The way these sort of projects work is the client has the program designed, and once all the pertinent information is in place, they are supplied with a PDF to see how much available space is left for ads. When I present the client with this initial proof, I include an ad for my business in one of the spots. I tell them it's so they can show potential advertisers what an ad may look like. And you know what? 75% of the time, the client leaves my ad in the program. Of course, I'll gladly remove my ad if they ask me to, but they rarely do. And not once have they ever asked me to pay for my ad spot. Over the years, I've had ads show up for free in programs for theatre productions, sporting events, entertaining events, fairs and festivals and other things. In addition, I've had

Do you ever barter for exposure? Working for exposure. That thought is the bane of most designers. A client asks you to use your valuable time and skills to benefit them. And in exchange, they'll tell everyone they know about the great services you offer. It's a win-win for both of you. They promise you fame and fortune if only you do this project for them... for free, or at a vast discount. It's a crock full of s**t if you ask me or any other designer who's ever been presented with a similar offer. Those clients don't care about you. And they will never be advocates for your services. If they do tell someone about you, it will be in the context of "offer them exposure, and they'll give you a great deal." Is that really the reputation you want as a designer? of course it isn't. You should never agree to a request to exchange your services for exposure. But that's not the same thing as you bartering for exposure. Let me ask you a question. You've probably spent some if not a great deal of time stuck at home during the 2020 pandemic. During that time, did you ever order out for a meal? How many times did you order from a restaurant you had never heard of before? I don't mean a place you recently found out about through family, friends or colleagues. How many times did you order from a restaurant you've never heard of? Of course, that's a trick question. If you've never heard of a place, how are you supposed to order from them? The same applies to your design business. Nobody is going to hire you if they don't know you exist. Sure they can google designers in your area and stumble across your website. That might be all they need to reach out. But there has to be some intent for that to happen. The person needs to be seeking a designer. But how can you let that person know about you and your services if they are not currently seeking a designer? The only way is through exposure. What is exposure? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of exposure is: Exposure: the fact or condition of being exposed: such as the condition of being presented to view or made known. In other words, getting exposure means making people aware of your design business. And once people are aware of you and what you can offer them. They are much more likely to think of you the next time they need a designer. Think about it. If you wanted to order a pizza and, for some reason, your regular place is closed. Wouldn't you order from the next place you're most aware of? Would you order from a pizza joint you had never heard about and just found through a google search? Or would you choose the pizza place whose ads you've seen over and over, who's commercials you've seen or heard, who's delivery vehicles you've spotted around town? Chances are you would choose the one you are most familiar with, even though that familiarity is only perceptual since you've never eaten one of their pizzas before. You would choose them because you've been exposed to them. There's a whole industry based upon this principle of exposure. It's called advertising. Needless to say, the more you get your name out there, so people become familiar with you and what you do, the more successful your design business will become. But how do you get your name in front of people without spending a truckload of money on advertising? You barter for exposure. I talked about bartering in episode 47 of the podcast. In that episode, I talked mostly about bartering for goods. For example, I acquired my custom-built desk through bartering. I designed a website for a woodworking client in exchange for him building my desk. As a result, I only had to pay for the wood. That's bartering. Exchanging one good or service for another without the exchange of money. Bartering for exposure works on the same principle, except instead of getting a physical product or service back, you are compensated for your time and effort through exposure. That exposure can come in many forms, but they all come down to a form of advertising. Case study #1 Every year I design a T-Shirt, free of charge, for a local children's dance studio. I make money by brokering the printed shirts, but I have never charged her for the design on the shirt. In exchange, I get a full-page ad in their yearly dance recital program. This gives me exposure to hundreds of people every year. We've had this arrangement ever since I started my design business. Without fail, in the weeks following the dance recital, I'm almost guaranteed to get at least one and oftentimes several inquiries from parents of the dancers saying they saw my ad in the program. Case study #2 Our city used to host one of the largest hot air balloon festivals in North America until it folded a few years ago. The festival was one of my biggest clients. I did all sorts of design work for them, and it paid very well. One of the arrangements I made with them early on was that I would offer them a discount for being listed as one of the event sponso

Do you remember every design job you've ever done? Please think of this as a PSA, a public service announcement from me to you. Remember what you've done. This week's topic came about after three separate incidents this past week. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but after the third time, I just knew I had to talk about it. Incident #1 The first incident happened this past weekend. My son asked me if I had a certain Tom Clancy book. Rainbow Six, to be exact. He's looking for something to read and wanted to give it a try. So I told him I'd have a look. I keep most of my books in rubber storage bins in my basement. I have a tough time parting with books I've enjoyed and have several large bins full of them. So one night this week, I went digging through our storage area in hunt of this novel. We don't just have books stored downstairs. There are all sorts of things down there in bins. As I was sifting through them, I came across a plastic bag. Inside was a baseball cap with an embroidered logo I had designed for a client. It was a logo for an over 50 beer league hockey team. The team was called the Old Timers. The logo I designed was an old-style alarm clock. You know, the kind with the two bells on the top. The clock face was one of an old man. And the clock had legs and arms and was using a banged-up hockey stick as a walking cane. Seeing that logo brought back so many memories. I designed it 15 or 20 years ago. And I had completely forgotten about it. So much so that if you had asked me before that if I had ever designed a logo for a hockey team, I would have only thought of one. The one I created for our local minor hockey league. I would never have remembered that old-time hockey logo. Remember what you've done. Incident #2 The second incident happened a couple of days ago. I was on my way back home from Walmart when I saw flashing lights ahead of me. It looked like a big accident, and I could see cars making U-turns and coming back my way. Instead of driving up only to be forced to turn around, I decided to turn off and use side streets to go around the accident. This took me through a part of town I hadn't been in for several years. As I pulled up to a stop sign, I noticed a business on the opposite corner. A storage facility where you can rent units to store your things. It had a double horseshoe logo that caught my eye. There was something familiar about it. Then I realized it was familiar because I designed it almost 25 years ago when I worked at the print shop. Trust me. It's not a logo to be proud of. In fact, I might have based the two horseshoes off a stock image I had found. Here again, within just a couple of days was another design I had completely forgotten about. Remember what you've done. Incident #3 The third incident happened yesterday. I have a filing cabinet in the corner of my office. I use it to file away receipts, insurance papers and whatever else you store in file cabinets. Yesterday I was filing away some investment reports when one of the sheets slipped back and fell behind the bottom drawer. I don't know if you've ever tried to remove a drawer from a filing cabinet, but it's not that easy to do. Especially when it's full. But after tugging and grunting, I finally managed to get it free. As I retrieved the sheet of paper, I saw something else on the bottom of the cabinet—a book. As I picked up the book, a flood of memories came back to me. The book is titled Of Curds And Whey. And it's a history of cheese factories from our area. Not real a page-turner, I know. But as I flipped through the first couple of pages and there it was. Copyright 2005. Cover and interior design by Mark Des Cotes. I spent the next 20 minutes or so flipping through that book, remembering the time I designed it. Once again, within the span of a few days, there was something from my past that I had completely forgotten I had done. Remember what you've done. These three incidents got me thinking. What else have I forgotten over the years? This leads me to dig out an old hard drive containing client files from 2010 and older. I spent time going down memory lane. I found logos, and websites and print jobs that I hadn't thought about in years. Many for people or businesses who are no longer around. It actually made me a bit sad, wondering what else don't I remember doing? I spent 15 years designing stuff at the print shop. And I don't have a written record of what I did back then. How many great projects have I designed that are lost to memory? Thinking back, I wish I had kept a record of them. I know for websites, I used to keep a bookmark folder of all my client sites. Even if the site was gone, I kept the bookmark as a reminder. But for some reason, I haven't added any bookmarks to it in a long time. I think I'm going to start again. But what about other work? How do I keep track, so I don't forget all the amazing projects I work on? I really don't have an answer. We used to print out and frame every lo

Have you ever had to chase delinquent clients for money? The life of a home-based designer, a freelancer, is a precarious one. You spent a lot of time learning your craft. Whether you went to school or learned on your own, you invested a lot in yourself to get you to where you are today. Now clients hire you to design wonderful and functional things for them. You spend hours, if not days working on and perfecting each project until you and the client are satisfied. After doing all of that, you expect to be compensated accordingly. So you send your invoice to the client feeling good about your accomplishment. And then you wait and wait, and wait some more, but no payment is forthcoming. Has the client stiffed you? Have they simply forgotten to send your payment? Are they purposely delaying things? Did they even get your invoice, to begin with? These are all things that go through your mind when a client fails to pay your invoice within the allotted time. Luckily this is the exception to the norm. 99.99% of clients will pay you for your work. But it's almost inevitable that at some point in your design career, you'll have to deal with a delinquent client. In the 16 years I've been running my design business, there have only been three invoices I was unable to collect. The first was a local embroidery shop. It was in my first or second year of business, and the owner of the shop hired me to vectorize images for his embroidery machine. We had an agreement where he would send me images throughout the month, and I would keep a tally and invoice him at the end of each month. It was an easy and well-paying gig. Then one day, the owner called and asked me to hold off depositing his $300 cheque. He told me there was a mixup at the bank and needed to wait until the following week to deposit the cheque. He was a good client, so I thought nothing of it. The following week I called to see if It was OK for me to bring his cheque to the bank, and he informed me that he had declared bankruptcy. The cheque I had was no longer any good, and he would not be paying my last invoice. What could I do? He had declared bankruptcy, and I was out $300. The second time I was unable to collect on an invoice is a bit of a mystery. The client was a chef who owned a local restaurant. His 10-year-old son had died a few years prior, and he asked if I could photoshop his son's head onto an image of a young boy in a chef outfit. He wanted to frame and display the photo in his restaurant. We agreed to a price of $100, and once done, I emailed him the digital file and an invoice. A few days later, he called to say I could drop by the restaurant any time, and he would write me a cheque. However, when I stopped by a couple of days later, the restaurant was closed. I tried several more times over the next couple of weeks, but it was never open. One day as I was driving by, I noticed someone inside, so I stopped and knocked on the door. The woman who answered told me the chef was her brother and he had disappeared a few weeks earlier and nobody has seen him since. They found his wallet and keys in his apartment, and the police were investigating. I saw the framed photo of the chef's son on the wall, but there was no way I was going to ask his sister to pay the past due invoice. I never found out what happened to him. The third delinquent client was the owner of a paintball field my son frequented. While talking to the owner, I mentioned in passing that I was a graphic and web designer. He asked me if I would offer suggestions for his old, outdated website. I took a look and offered to build him a new one for $600. This was back around 2007-08 when I was charging low prices for websites. He agreed to the price, and I got to work. I transferred his domain to my registrar and moved his old website to my hosting server. A couple of weeks later, I presented him with a brand new website. He loved it, and everything seemed fine. But when it came time to pay, he kept delaying things and giving me excuses as to why he hadn't sent the money yet. This went on for a few months to the point where I took down the website and told him I would put it back up once I received payment. I even threatened legal action if he didn't pay my invoice. He called my bluff and told me to go ahead and take him to court. I mentioned this to my accountant, and he told me $600 wasn't worth the time and effort to go after, and I was better to write it off. It was this third instance that convinced me to start using contracts for design projects. The point of telling you these three stories is to say some clients won't pay their bills for some reason or another. I was lucky that I only lost $1,000 between these three clients. And all three of them occurred within the first three years of my business. They taught me a lesson, and I'm happy to say that I've never failed to collect an invoice since then. But that doesn't mean I haven't spent time chasing down payments over the years. I

Do you pitch retainer agreements to your clients? In the Resourceful Designer Community Slack group, we have a channel called #Bragging-Rights. It's a place where community members share their most recent wins. Things like Katie telling us her client approved the logo she asked us to critique a few weeks ago. Or Brian sharing the completion of a huge website project with an extremely tight deadline. Or Mike sharing yet another signed design proposal. Whether it's landing a new client or having their design business showcased in a magazine, everyone in the Community is genuinely happy for the person sharing the good news. That's what being part of a community is. But nothing seems to garner more congratulations than when someone says they've landed a new retainer client. We don't even have to know the details. The fact that it's a retainer client is huge and worth celebrating on its own. You see, having a client on retainer is considered the pinnacle of client acquisition. What is a retainer agreement? So what does having a client on retainer mean? It means guaranteed work. It means guaranteed income. It means a fixed schedule. And most importantly, it means better clients that you can create long-lasting relationships. A retainer means your client pays you in advance, regularly, in exchange for whatever work you outlined in the retainer agreement. You see. One of the drawbacks of being a freelance designer is the unpredictability of income. You don't work a 9-5 at a set hourly rate. Nor are you working in a salaried position with a guaranteed income. There's no predictable paycheck arriving on a fixed schedule. That's one of the sacrifices we home-based designers make for the freedom of working for ourselves. But a retainer brings us closer to that predictable, guaranteed income. It creates a steady cash flow you can count on. This is great since you know how much money you are guaranteed every month, which helps with monthly expenses. Not only that. But a retainer helps provide both stability and consistency in your work instead of learning how to deal with new clients every project. It reduces the need to pitch and win new design projects constantly. On top of all that, Retainer agreements attract better clients and allow you to build a deeper relationship with them. Plus, clients treat designers they have on retainer with more respect and as an expert and professional. These clients understand the long-term benefit of working with you. They are not looking for the least expensive designer. No, they're looking for someone who can consistently contribute to their business. They want an expert and are willing to invest in one. Another benefit of retainers is your schedule. In most cases, you know in advance how much work you will have from your retainer clients every month. This makes it much easier to plan your schedule. If you're contracted to create a weekly blog post image and want to take a two-week vacation. You know in advance that you need to create three images the week before you leave. Knowing your schedule in advance allows you to manipulate it when needed. How does a retainer work? A retainer is a contract between you and a client that states the service or deliverable you will provide them regularly in exchange for how much. Most retainer agreements work monthly. A client pays you a fixed fee every month in exchange for what you provide to them. You can also have a yearly retainer payment where the client agrees to pay for the full year in advance. Or a lump-sum payment where the client pays you a certain amount, and you work it off or supply deliverables until the money runs out, at which time the agreement is ended or starts over. Retainer benefits to the client Why are retainer agreements appealing to clients? Oftentimes, retainers have built-in discounts that make them more appealing for the client. For example: If your rate is $100/hour, you might offer a retainer of $900 for 10 hours of work each month. Your client saves $100 each month, and you sacrifice $10/hour in exchange for the guarantee of payment. If you don't charge by the hour, you can set up retainers for deliverables. For example, you agree to create four blog post images and 16 social media images every month for a fixed rate of, let's say, $500 per month. The client can then budget $500 every month knowing you will deliver the images. It gives them peace of mind knowing it's taken care of. How do you pitch a retainer to a client? The idea of pitching a retainer to a client can seem scary if you're not used to it, especially if the client came to you with only one project in mind. The trick is to determine what value you can provide to the client beyond the project they brought to you. What service or deliverables can you provide them regularly that benefit their business? Some things to consider could include. Monthly newsletters Marketing campaigns Social media imagery or posts Blog post images The list is endless. Website

Do you suffer from Imposter Syndrome? I don't know if it's the pandemic, the stress of everything we've had to endure over the past year. But lately, I've seen more and more designers struggling with Imposter Syndrome. I've seen it in the Resourceful Designer Community. In Facebook groups. And just talking with people, I know in the design space. I don't know what's causing so many people in our profession to doubt themselves and their abilities. But if you're one of them, let me tell you a little secret that may make you feel better. Although everyone feels Imposter Syndrome at one time or another. It's most often felt by high achievers who have trouble celebrating their success, no matter how large or small. So if you suffer from Imposter Syndrome, there's a good chance you're a high achiever. That's a good thing and something that should make you feel a bit better. In case you are unfamiliar with the term Imposter Syndrome, it refers to an internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be. In other words, you don't think you're as good as other people think you are. Imposter Syndrome An internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be I suffer from Imposter Syndrome when it comes to illustrations. If you're a long-time follower of Resourceful Designer, you've heard me on several occasions say that I am not an illustrator. And yet, the truth is, I can draw. I've been drawing my whole life. Maybe not regularly; I haven't honed my skills, but it's not like I've never doodled before with some degree of success. And I've had many people over the years tell me I'm good at it. But in my mind, I'm not. I look at what others like Andrew or Kat, or Krista from the Resourceful Designer Community can do, and my skills pale compared to theirs. In my mind, the only reason people tell me I'm good at illustrating is that they don't want to make me feel bad by telling me the truth. That's Imposter Syndrome. And you know what? In this case, it's ok. It's ok because I've never wanted to be an illustrator. So if I don't think I'm good enough, so be it. I'm ok with that. But that's not the issue I've seen lately among fellow designers. Imposter Syndrome becomes serious when it involves what you are trying to do to earn a living. What I'm seeing is a lot are people with the skills, talent and knowledge to do something well but who feel they are not good enough to be compensated for what they're offering. People who are competent web designers but don't think they're good enough to charge $5,000 or $10,000 or even $50,000 for a website. Or people who are talented logo designers who have never charged more than a couple of hundred dollars for a logo project. That's Imposter Syndrome. These people have this idea in their head that if they charge that much, others will think they're a fraud, and they'll be exposed. These people are afraid to approach clients they really want to work with because they don't think they're good enough to work with them. Is that how you feel? Are you unable to internalize your success because you're afraid of being outed as an unqualified fraud? Let me tell you something. You are not alone. In fact, everyone battles imposter syndrome at one point or another—even those who seem to have it all. Actors Tena Fey, Emma Watson and Tom Hanks have all said in interviews that no matter how well they do, they always feel inadequate and that at any moment, someone's going to find out they are not good actors and don't deserve the success they've achieved. Best-selling author John Green, who's won several literary awards and whose books have been turned into major motion pictures, says he feels like a fraud all the time. He's said that he doesn't feel like he knows how to write a novel and doesn't think he ever will. He finds pleasure in the process of writing, but he thinks everything he writes sucks. If talented, successful people such as this suffer from imposter syndrome, what chance do you have? The truth is, you have as much chance as them and as everyone else. To overcome that feeling, you have to realize that everything you've done in your life so far, every achievement you've achieved, no matter how small, was something you were not qualified to do before you actually did it. You weren't able to walk - until you did. You weren't able to ride a bike - until you did. You weren't able to use the software you use daily - until you did. You weren't able to complete a design job for a client - until you did. You are the person you are today because you've successfully achieved thousands, if not millions, of things you were previously not able to do. That's life. It's how we grow. It's how we mature. And that means that everything that you don't think you're qualified for right now is just something you haven't achieved yet. I want to share something with you, and I wish I could remember where I first heard it to give credit w

Their competition might not be who they think it is. Have you ever heard the term "The Curse Of Knowledge?" According to Wikipedia, The Curse Of Knowledge is a cognitive bias that occurs when an individual, communicating with other individuals, unknowingly assumes that the others have the background to understand. Curse Of Knowledge: A cognitive bias that occurs when an individual, communicating with other individuals, unknowingly assumes that the others have the background to understand. You see this a lot with instructors. The instructor is so familiar with a subject that they forget the person or people they are instructing don't have the same background and therefore might not understand their teaching them. Like a web designer giving a presentation to a group of fellow web designers and falsely assuming they all know CSS. Where in fact, some of the web designers may use Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy Web Builder or Webflow. Platforms where knowledge of CSS is not necessary. Why am I talking about the Curse of Knowledge? It's because, as graphic and web designers, we sometimes take for granted that our clients know what we know. Especially when it comes to identifying the competition. But let me tell you. Many, if not the majority of clients, don't have the background and knowledge that we do and therefore fail in their competition identification. Case in point. I'm a member of a grant approval panel for my local Business Enterprise Centre. Every year, our BEC receives government funding and hands out grants to help new businesses start and get off the ground. The grant process requires each applicant to have a business plan, a three-year financial forecast, and a presentation to the grant approval panel saying why they believe they should receive a grant. Over the past couple of years, I've seen dozens of these presentations. For my part, I read every applicant's business plan and follow up their presentation with questions to ascertain their merit regarding the grant. Part of their business plan requires a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Under the Threats part of the SWOT analysis, each applicant identifies their competition. After sitting through dozens of these grant presentations, I've learned that most startups don't know who their competition is. Some do a good job, but on average, the bulk of them don't realize who they are competing with. Most of them don't realize that every business has two types of competition. Direct Competition. Meaning those who sell or provide the same or very similar product or service that they do. And Indirect Competition. Those who might not sell or provide a similar product or service but are still competing for the same target market. It's this second one where almost all of them fall short. That's why I brought up the curse of knowledge earlier. I've been in the design field long enough, and I've dealt with enough clients over the years that it's become second nature for me to not just think of direct competitors but the indirect ones as well. Let me give you an example. One of the presentations I sat through was for a couple who were in the process of opening up an escape room business. If you don't know what an escape room is, it's an entertainment venue where you and a group of friends are locked in a room or group of rooms and have a deadline to figure out puzzles to get out. So you're up against the clock as you all work together to decipher the clues you find in your surroundings. If you've never tried an escape room before, you should really give it a shot. They're a lot of fun. Anyway. This couple was in the process of starting an escape room business. They leased a building, and construction had begun. They applied for the grant to help offset the cost of building supplies. I noticed something while reading their business plan and hopped they would clarify it during their presentation. But instead, they excitedly said they were sure they were going to succeed because escape rooms are becoming more and more popular AND they have no local competition. The closest escape room is over 100 km away. They stressed this point. After their presentation, I called them out. I pointed out their direct competition being over 100 km away. But then I asked about their indirect competition. The response I got was, "what do you mean?" I asked if they had conducted any analysis on their local indirect competition, such as the local movie cinemas or the theatres where they put on plays. I asked about the dance clubs, the bars with live entertainment, the local miniature golf course, etc. They looked at me confused and said, "We're not competing with them." I asked the applicants how they can think they are not competing with them? They're starting an entertainment business. It offers a fun outing for groups of people that lasts 1-2 hours. So does every other venue I mentioned. When a group of friends figure out what to do on Frida

It's OK to have one of those days. Wednesday this past week started like any other day. I got up around 7:45 to see my wife off to work, then went to the kitchen to feed our cat and dog before going to the living room and turning on the TV. I fast-forwarded through SportsCentre, which I record every day at 4 am. I watch the hockey and soccer highlights and then usually skip through most of the other sports. Once done with SportsCentre, I switched on a Canadian morning news show called Your Morning. As a designer, the show's logo drives me crazy, but I like the hosts, and they usually cover some interesting topics. It's been part of my morning routine for years. This takes me to 9 am when I normally start my day. But on Wednesday, when Your Morning wrapped up, instead of turning off the TV, I sat there as Live with Kelly and Ryan started. I don't usually watch this show, but I decided to sit through their opening dialogue. After 20 minutes of this, I realized why I rarely watch the show and turned it off. I made my way to my office, which is only 10 steps away from where I was and sat down to begin my day. I had an issue with a website the day before and had sent an email to the support team at SiteGround to see if they had any ideas. I normally don't look at my email first thing in the morning, preferring to wait until noon to read through them. But I checked it on Wednesday morning and found the anticipated reply email from Siteground waiting for me with the info I had been hoping for. I made the necessary adjustments to the website and then sent an email to my client saying the problem was fixed. With that out of the way, it was time to look at my To-Do list. I had seven things on my list, Design podcast cover artworks for client A. Design podcast cover artworks for client B. Start a new website for client C. Finish website for Client D. Create social media header images for Client E. Perform a podcast brand audit for Client F Read and reply to an RFP (Request For Proposal.) None of them had a pressing deadline, and none seemed very appealing at the time. I couldn't decide which one to tackle first. Instead, I decided to have a shower. 45 minutes later (I lost track of time standing under the showerhead,) I was back at my computer. I saw my email program was still open and decided what the heck, and went through my inbox, which killed about 30 minutes and brought me to 11:30 am. Looking again at my to-do list, there was nothing there that would only take the 30 minutes I had until lunch. Let me interject here. I've been doing IF, Intermittent Fasting for the past couple of years. It's a way of managing my weight without actually dieting. The way I do it is to only eat between the hours of 12 noon and 6 pm. I can eat anything I want, within reason, of course, as long as it falls within that window of time. From 6 pm until noon the next day, all I have is water. That means that by noon each day, I'm hungry. And the idea of starting a new project 30 minutes before my eating window opened was not very appealing to me. So instead, I decided to go for a walk. We've had an unusually mild week this past week, and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and get some exercise. I walked around the block, a 2.5 KM loop or 1.55 miles for you Americans, before arriving back home in time for lunch. During lunch, I turned on the TV again and switched to Netflix. I've been watching Suits lately and am really enjoying it. I was halfway through season 2, so I put on an episode while I ate. This episode had a guest character that I recognized but couldn't remember where I had seen before. You know how it is. You know the person but can't place them. It keeps nagging at you. So when the episode was over, and I went back to my office, I opened up the trusty IMDB and looked up that episode instead of getting to work. The actor was Scott Grimes, and the show I recognized him from was The Orville, where he plays ship pilot Gordon. That was one nagging thing satisfied. But now I was wondering when The Orville would return. So I searched for that. I couldn't find any definitive answer as to when The Orville will return, but in my search, a couple of the websites I visited had sidebar mentions of the new Disney plus show WandaVision, which I had watched the first 4 episodes on the weekend. The links were talking about all the Marvel Easter eggs in the series. Curiosity peaked, I clicked through to a YouTube video that went over episode one. Now I'm not going to go over all the videos I ended up watching, but needless to say, YouTube is a rabbit trail, and I was there for much longer than I planned on. Luckily, I had set myself a 10-minute reminder for a video chat I had scheduled at 2 pm with a new podcast artwork client. After refilling my water bottle, I set up my equipment and launched Zoom. The guy showed up right on time, which was nice. Plenty of them schedule a meeting and then show up several minutes late. Anyway. Th

Where would you spend your extra money? In the Resourceful Designer Community, we recently discussed the question, "what would you do if you had extra money to invest in yourself and your business?" There were many great ideas on how to use the extra money and, just as importantly, how not to use it. It was such a great conversation that I thought I would share my thoughts here on Resourceful Designer. Before I go any further, I must state that I am not a financial planner or financial advisor, nor do I play one on TV. In fact, I have absolutely no expertise when it comes to this stuff. As far as I know, experts who see this may tell you what I'm saying is completely the wrong approach. These are my thoughts on what I would do if I had extra money to invest in myself or my business. So here goes. Imagine you had extra money sitting around. Anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. I know, it's a nice thought. But you never know. Maybe you had a favourable tax return. Or you inherit a sum of money. Maybe you won a cash prize in some lottery or draw. Perhaps you had an outstanding quarter and have money left over once all your monthly bills and expenses are paid off. Whatever the reason, you have extra money and try to figure something practical to do with it other than blowing it on a vacation or other luxury. No, you want to use that money as an investment of some sort. But what? This is the order of preference for how I would invest the money. Investing in your future. I believe the most important thing any business owner can do is invest in their future. That future could mean next year, or it could mean retirement in many years. The idea is to use the money to help you down the road. As a solopreneur, your income relies on your ability to work. In most cases, if you are unable to work, you don't make any money. That's why I believe padding your future is one of the most important investments you can make. This may mean putting money into a savings account to act as a three to six-month buffer in case things get tough and business slows down. Work in our field is never guaranteed, and even the best of us experiences lulls from time to time. This buffer can help tide you over and help cover your expenses until work picks up again. Or maybe an accident or illness will force you to take a medical leave. Having a buffer to get you through that period may mean the difference between staying afloat and being forced to close your business. And then there's retirement to think of. Saving for retirement is something you should start doing as soon as possible, especially if you want to continue living the good life in your later years. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to save up. I don't know about you, but as a creative person, it's hard to think I'll ever retire. I believe I will be creating and designing things until the day I die. But the fact is, one day I may not want to spend 8-10 hours a day in front of my computer anymore. And that means less money will be coming in. Not to mention that even though designers are like a good wine, we get better with age; some people may not want to hire a 65-year-old to design the brand for their hip new startup. These two reasons alone. For short absences such as dips in work or medical leave and retirement are why I believe investing in your future is the first thing you should do with your money. I know it's hard when you have bills and debts to pay. But even a few dollars here and there will add up over time. If you do come into some extra money, this is where I suggest you invest it. In your future. Investing in your present. Next on my list is investing in your present. Investing in your present means putting money to use towards immediate self-improvement. Learn a new skill. Invest in is things such as tutorials, courses and programs to learn new skills or improve your existing skills. These may be design-related, or they may be business-related. There are many great places to learn new skills, such as Udemy Skillshare LinkedIn Learning Creative Live Let's say you design Wix websites and have had to turn down several clients because they wanted a WordPress site. You may put your extra money to good use by learning WordPress and expanding your service offerings. Or you may want to take a course or webinar on growing your business through social media. Or learn more about SEO or Google Analytics. The possibilities are endless when it comes to learning new things. Not only can you learn something to grow your business, but you may learn a skill you can offer to your clients to make more money. Invest in yourself by reading books. Invest in business and self-improvement books that will help you grow. I prefer listening to self-improvement audiobooks. I just recently finished listening to The War of Art by Steven Pressfield and next up I have Mark Manson's The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck. But if you don't have time to sit and read a book. Audi

If you change the way you think, you'll win more clients. Not long after I went full-time with my design business, I met with a fellow local designer for lunch. I was somewhere between six months to a year into my entrepreneurial journey, and my business was growing fast. My clientele was increasing, and most people who contacted me ended up hiring me as their designer. Fifteen years later and I still win more clients than I lose. The guy I had lunch with was a very talented designer. I knew him through the print shop where I worked before going out on my own. He would bring in projects to be printed for his clients, and his work was always beautiful. He started his design business several years before I began mine. And when I was at the print shop, I thought he was living the dream. He doesn't know this, but he was an inspiration in helping me make the leap to solopreneurship. During our lunch, he mentioned how much he was struggling. He was finding it harder and harder to win over new clients. He said that no matter how hard he tried to convince clients to work with him. Only a small percentage ever did. In fact, I learned during that conversation that several of my clients had contacted him before eventually hiring me. I didn't tell him that. What I also learned, which is the focus of this post, is that he and I had two completely different approaches to acquiring new clients. Where he was trying very hard to win each new client. I, on the other hand, was trying not to lose them. When you consider those two concepts, you'll realize that my way is much easier. Let me ask you this. Which is easier. Acquiring $100 or holding onto the $100 you already have? I think you'll agree that it's much easier to hold onto $100 than it is to acquire $100. That's the mentality I take when dealing with new clients. And that's what made me different from that other designer. Where he was doing his best to win each new client. I was doing my best not to lose them. Because in my mind, I had already won them the moment they contacted me. Let me tell you a secret. Are you ready? Clients don't enjoy looking for a designer. In fact, they would much rather be doing countless other things instead. So when a client emails, calls or meets you in person, they are hoping you are the right person for the job. They want you to be the solution to their problem. Think about that. No client will ever contact you, hoping you're not a good fit for them. None of them are saying, "I'm going to contact so and so designer about this project. I really hope they're the wrong person and waste my time." No, every client who contacts you wants you to be the last designer they contact. When you take that concept into consideration, it means you are starting off every new contact with a client in the position that the job is already yours. Your position from that point forward is not to convince them to hire you. But to convince them, there's no need to look for anyone else. And that completely changes the way you communicate with the client. Does that make sense? Let me repeat it. You are not trying to convince the client to hire you. You are trying to convince the client they've made the right choice in contacting you. This is how I've started every new client relationship since I started my business. As soon as the client and I introduce ourselves, we are working together until one says otherwise. If you approach each new contact with that in mind, you'll find yourself winning more clients than you lose. How does this work in practice? It's simple. You have to have the mindset that every time you speak with a potential client, you are working with them. From the moment the conversation starts, you are working together until you or they decide otherwise. Here are some pointers. Always speak to the client as if you are already working together. "I understand your situation. Here's how we'll tackle it." "We'll look at what your competition is doing and figure out a way for you to stand out." "The new brand we'll create will be a strong foundation for you in your market." Do you see the way I've structured those sentences? I'm not saying, "if you hire me, we'll look at your competition." or "I would love to create a new brand for you." No. I talk to the client as if they've already made the decision to hire me. "This is what we'll do." "I'm going to do this for you." After all, as I said earlier, the client is hoping you're a good fit for them before they even contact you. So show them they were right. When it comes to conversing with the client, you must take the initiative by leading the conversation. This proves to them that you know what you are doing. Clients want a designer who shows initiative. Someone who can take the lead. Someone who can work independently and get the job done. Clients have enough on their plates. They don't want to dictate or micromanage what you do. That's why they're looking for an expert to handle their project. Now we al

Without these skills, your design business will struggle. It sounds so easy. You're good at designing, so why not start freelancing or start your own design business? For the record, my definition of a freelancer is someone who does design work on the side while working another job in or possibly not in the design space. If you design things for clients on your own, and it's your only source of income, meaning you don't have an employer elsewhere, you are not freelancing; you are running a design business. But regardless of whether you call yourself a freelancer or a design business owner. Working for yourself requires a different skill set than simply being a good designer. You could have the most amazing portfolio of design work. You could be a wiz in Photoshop or Illustrator or InDesign, or maybe WordPress, Webflow or whatever tool you use. It doesn't matter what skills you have as a designer. If you want your business to succeed, you have to run it like a business. And to do that, you need business skills. There are numerous business skills that will help you get ahead. Most of them, such as file management, you can learn along the way. However, there are five essential skills you need to succeed. Skills that the most successful designers use, be it freelancer or owner of a design business. They know the importance of these skills, and they know the success or failure of their business depends on their ability to master them. If you don't possess these skills, you need to develop them ASAP if you want to ensure your endeavour's success. So what are these all-important skills I'm talking about? Communication skills. Building Relationships. Thinking Strategically. Time Management skills. Money Management skills. 1 Communication Without good communications skills, your business is doomed to failure. The ability to communicate properly is one of the most important skills you can have as a business owner. Every client you talk to, every design proposal you write, every pitch or presentation you make will succeed or fail based on your communication skills. Not only are good communication skills required to articulate and understand ideas. But clear communication can also save you and the client time and money. The better you are at communicating, the more comfortable clients will be working with you. The better you are at communicating, the more professional you will appear to people. The better you are at communicating, the easier it will be to build and foster relationships with your client. Plus, good communication skills can help you when dealing with different personalities or when discussing difficult topics. Many designers are introverts. Myself included. But being an introvert doesn't mean you can't have good communication skills. You might have to work harder at it than an extravert does, but that's easily accomplished. Improving your communications skills will help you stand out from other designers who lack this skill. Not only will you be seen by your clients as a good designer, but also as a strategic partner and problem solver. How to Improve your communications skills. Use a tool such as Grammarly to check your written communication. Reading books such as Dale Carnegie's How To Win Friends and Influence People. Join ToastMasters or hire a speech coach. Record your conversations and play them back, listening for areas you can improve on. (you need a client's permission to record them) Improving your communications skills will go a long way to ensuring your business's success. 2 Building Relationships. Have you heard the saying, it's not what you know, but who you know? Relationships are one of the key elements to any business's success, even more so for service-based businesses like yours. The most successful designers out there know the importance of building relationships. Not just with clients but with everyone they meet, including fellow designers. Every person you meet is an opportunity to start a relationship. Why is this important? Because every connection you make can lead to referrals, new clients, new projects, friendships, maybe partnerships and who knows what else. If you're a people-person, this should be fairly easy for you. But even if talking to people comes naturally to you, you have to learn to do it with purpose. Stay professional while you build your rapport. Building relationships takes time. But the payoff is enormous. My Podcast Branding business grew to what it is today because of the relationships I've made in the podcasting space. You never know when one of the many relationships you've nurtured will lead to a new client or project. So keep building them. Even when a relationship isn't working out, it should still be nurtured as you back away. That means being cordial and considerate, even while turning down a client. You don't want to burn any bridges because if you think good word of mouth spreads, let me tell you, bad word of mouth spreads so much faster. How do you

Follow the 10-20-30 Rule for great presentations. Have you ever heard of the 10-20-30 Rule? It's more often called the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint, but the principle applies elsewhere as well. This Rule was coined several years ago by Guy Kawasaki, a venture capitalist who sat through dozens of presentation pitches regularly. It was his job to listen to people pitch their business ideas, and after years of this, he noted that the best presentations, the ones that are more likely to close the deal, all followed a similar format, which he coined the 10-20-30 Rule. And this Rule is simple. • 10 Slides • 20 Minute Presentation • 30 Point minimum size font. That's it. According to Kawasaki, this setup gives you the best chance to impact the person or people you're presenting positively. Kawasaki was talking about people pitching business ideas to venture capitalists. But the same principle applies to you, a designer pitching your ideas to clients. Let's break it down the 10-20-30 Rule. Rule #1: 10 Slides. Kawasaki pointed out that it's tough for someone to comprehend more than ten concepts in a meeting. If you try, you're more than most likely to confuse them. Follow the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid.) Limiting your presentation to only 10 slides or 10 sheets or pages does just that. Break your presentation down into 10 points, one per slide. Maybe something like this. • Slide 1: Your interpretation of who the client is. • Slide 2: Identifying the client's competition. • Slide 3: The Problem the client is facing. • Slide 4: The Solution you are proposing. • Slide 5: How your solution solves the client's problem. • Slide 6: Examples of your solution in place. • Slide 7: Projections and outcomes from Implementing your solution. • Slide 8: Timeline for the project. • Slide 9: Cost of the project. • Slide 10: Summary and call to action. This example uses a maximum of 10 slides, but you can do it in less, then all the better. Rule #2: 20 Minutes. It doesn't matter if you are allotted 30 minutes or an hour. Your actual presentation should take no more than 20 minutes. If you can't present your idea within that time frame, you're doing something wrong. Have you heard of TED Talks? Did you know that TED Talks have a maximum length of 18 minutes? TED organizers chose this time length based on neuroscience research that says 18 minutes is long enough for a speaker to flesh out their idea and short enough for a listener to take it in, digest what they are hearing, and understand all of the vital information. Not only that, but they know that shorter presentations require you to edit things down to the most important and relevant material. If you have more time allotted to you, use it for introductions and setting up your equipment. You should also leave time for Q&A after your presentation. Plus, you never know when an emergency might arise and cut the meeting short. 20 minutes is the ideal time to keep someone's interest in what you are showing them. Longer than 20 minutes, and you risk their mind wandering to other things and possibly missing critical points you're trying to make. Rule #3: 30-Pt Font. As a designer, I trust you know that slides or presentation papers are most effective when they contain very little wording. I'm hoping I don't have to explain that to you. This 10-20-30 Rule was written for people pitching a product or business idea, not for experienced designers. But just the same, it's something to remember when you create your presentation slides or handouts. Using a larger point size forces you to cut back on unnecessary verbiage. The only reason to have a smaller type on a slide is to cram on more text. But by doing so, your client may think you're not familiar with your material and that you need your slides to act as a teleprompter. And that, in turn, may make them feel like you are not invested in them. Not to mention, the more type you have on a slide, the more the client will focus on reading it and not listening to what you're saying. You know what I mean, we've all done it before—reading ahead while ignoring the presenter. Avoid this by using 30 point or larger fonts. Forget the bullet list and instead, tell your clients the key points. It will mean much more coming out of your mouth than words on a screen or sheet of paper. As a comparison, Steve Jobs, a great presenter in his time, insisted on a 96-point type on all his presentation slides. If it's good enough for a multi-billion company, it should be good enough for you. Bonus As a bonus to his 10-20-30 Rule, Guy Kawasaki also said that the most persuasive presentations he's sat through, typically used white type on a black or dark coloured background. The way he puts it is, anyone can put black type on a white background. It's the default in all programs. However, white type on a dark background is something you have to conscientiously, and shows that you've put effort into your presentation. Not to mention that white type on a dark

Are you missing out by not charging your clients for everything you can? Running your own design business or freelancing as a graphic or web designer seems like such an easy gig. A client asks you to create something for them, and they pay you for what you design. Simple right? For thousands of graphic and web designers around the world, that's exactly how they do it. A Client brings them a project. The designer designs the project. The Client pays for said project. And the cycle repeats. What if I told you many of these designers are leaving money on the table? How they could and should be charging much more to their clients than they currently are. I'm not talking about design rates. I'm not saying these designers are worth more than the rate they are charging. Although they probably are. No. What I'm getting at is there are many aspects of what you do as a designer that you could be charging your clients for. And yet, many designers don't. And as such, those designers are missing out on money they could be earning. Are you one of them? Case study. Imagine a client hires you for a new project. To design a poster for an upcoming local festival. Many designers will figure out how much to quote for a poster design. They may base it on an hourly rate. Maybe offer a flat fee. Or perhaps base their price on the value they're providing, regardless of what pricing strategy they use. The price they quote is based on designing the poster alone. And that's wrong. You'll notice most successful designers refer to what they work on as projects. They're not working on a poster for a local festival. They're working on a project for the local festival that involves designing a poster. You see, a design project consists of multiple tasks. And not all of those tasks involve actual designing. Let me break this down. A client calls you on the phone to see if you're interested in designing a poster for their festival. You say yes and set up a time to meet their organizing committee to go over what is required of you. You meet with them to discuss the festival, who it's for, where it's happening, when it's taking place and how long it's lasting. You go over what the festival's brand and message entail, and of course, what sort of information they want on the poster. Once you're satisfied, you go back home or to your office and prepare a quote. Maybe they have some follow-up questions that go back and forth before they agree on your price and you finally get to work on their project. Your design process may include researching similar festivals from other areas to see what sort of posters they did. It may include browsing stock image sites to find the perfect images to compliment the festival's theme as well as your design. It may include contacting a local printer to ask about different paper stocks or finishing options. It may include coordinating with the festival's web designer, if that's not you, to make sure the poster and website follow a consistent brand. Then, once you've designed the poster, you need to present it to the client. Perhaps you place your poster design on situation mockups to help the client visualize it in place. Then you email them a PDF, or maybe you present it to them in person. Once the client approves your poster design, you prepare the final print files and hand them over to your client to bring to the printer. Unless you are also brokering the printing for them, but for this example, let's say you aren't. Then you prepare the invoice, send it to the client, and take care of the payment and bookkeeping once it's received. Only then is the project over. Out of all of that, for how much of it did you charge the client? Did you charge them for the initial phone call? Did you charge them for the travel time to and from any in-person meetings? Did you charge them for the time those meetings lasted? Did you charge them for the time it took you to prepare the quote and answer any follow-up questions? Did you charge them for the research you did or the time you spent browsing stock image sites? What about the time you spent discussing the festival's brand with their web designer or the time you spent discussing paper stock with the printer? How about the time it took to present the poster to the client? Or the time it took to prepare the mockups and final files for the printer? And what about the time you took to prepare the invoice and handle any payment you received? Did you charge them for any of that? Or did you only charge them for designing the poster? Most inexperienced or struggling designers probably did the latter. Charge for only the poster. But that's wrong. The poster design is only one small part of the overall project you were hired to do. A project that started when the client called you and finished the moment you received the final payment. Everything in between is billable. Your time is valuable. You shouldn't be giving it away for free. Think like a lawyer. Have you ever received an invo

This is a cautionary tale on how not to treat your clients. Several months ago, I quoted on a branding and web design project for a client. This was an existing client who was starting something new and wanted my help. I gave her a price, she agreed. I sent her a contract, which she promptly signed and returned along with her deposit. Because of the nature of the project, which I'm not going to get into, we had to wait a few months before starting. But a couple of months ago, the client contacted me to cancel the project. The nature of her business involves large gatherings of people, and with the pandemic affecting things, she informed me that she was putting the project on indefinite hold. According to my contract, deposits are non-refundable. However, I did tell her that should she revive the project within six months. I would honour the original quote and the deposit she had given me. And that was that. Or so I had thought. Earlier this week, the clients contacted me. As it turns out, the project wasn't put on indefinite hold. What happened was another designer who happens to specialize in this client's niche contacted her and offered to do the project for almost half of what I had quoted. I've talked about niching before on the podcast. How niching gives you an advantage because you are perceived as an expert in that niche. Which is true. It works. And it worked in this instance. The client couldn't pass up this opportunity to work with a designer specializing in her industry and at a lower price than I quoted. So she cancelled with me and hired this other person. I don't blame her. It sounded like a great deal. Now back to the phone call I received this week. The client contacted me and told me why she cancelled our agreement. Then she proceeded to tell me how much of a nightmare this other designer was to work with. The project was completed, but not to her liking, and she wanted to know if I would be willing to take over the project from now on. Here's what happened. The client told me the designer seemed like a perfect fit for her project. So was impressed when they talked and she liked his price. She paid him half up front, with the second half coming due upon completion of the project. She gave the designer her credit card number, which you should never do, but she did. And the designer started the project. A few weeks later, the client received her credit card statement and noticed that the designer's payment was converted from US funds. Both the client and the designer live in Canada, so naturally, the client thought the quote was in Canadian dollars. Nowhere on the invoice says US funds, and she doesn't remember the designer ever saying anything about charging in US Dollars. When she questioned the designer, he told her that all web designers charge in US Dollars (which is not true), and that's just the way it is. She should have done her homework before hiring him. The US/CAN exchange rate means the client pays roughly 30-35% more than she expected for the project. But at this point, the designer had already designed a logo, which the client liked and had started on the website. So taking the loss, things with the project proceeded, and everything continued to go well with the project. It wasn't until the client started asking for changes that the designer's true demeanour came out. The client asked the designer to move a few things around on the website, but the designer refused to make any of the changes she requested. He told her that she's not a designer and therefore doesn't know what she's talking about. She should leave designing to the expert. When the client expressed a dislike for the colour palette, the designer chose for the website. He told her he wasn't going to change it. He had a vision for the brand, and he was going to stick with it. He told the client the colours would grow on her and not worry about it. They never did. When the client saw a proof of the website, including copy the designer had written himself, she decided to log into WordPress and edit some of the wording. The designer had a fit, accusing the client of trying to sabotage his vision. The designer sent her a message saying, "Will you please stop making changes to the website. If you start messing around, you're liable to muck things up, which is just more grief for me. You're not a web designer, so why don't you stick to things you know and let me handle the website." He then revoked the client's access to the site until he was finished with it, saying any changes she wanted had to be done by him. But as stated earlier, the designer refused to make any changes that went against his vision. And to make it worse, when the client complained that he wasn't listening to her, he replied, "I received your input, but I'm the designer. I've been doing this for a long time and know a lot more about designing websites than you do. Please keep your opinions to yourself unless I ask for them." This brings us to now. The

Would you like to get more design clients? For your graphic or web design business to succeed, you need to find clients willing to work with you. Without clients, it's a given that your business will fail. But with so many designers to choose from. How do you get clients to pick you over the competition? If you're a long time listener of the podcast, you've heard me say before, "Clients prefer work with a good designer they like than an amazing designer they don't like." That's what it comes down to. If a client likes you, they'll be more inclined to hire you.> But how do you get someone to like you? Especially if you only have a few short minutes to make an impression? My father was an amazing salesperson. He worked for several companies in the electrical supply industry before retiring, and he made a great impression on every one of them. In fact, he won numerous salesman of the year awards and then several managers of the year awards when he was promoted to sales manager. Every company my father worked for credited him for their increased sales and growth. He had a natural gift for landing new clients. Even the competition had high praise for my father. They may not have liked him because he kept landing clients they wanted, but they respected him and, as far as I know, never talked ill of him. And that's because everyone liked and trusted my dad. I didn't understand that while growing up. Or more like I didn't pay much attention to it. My dad had an uncanny ability to run into people he knew. It seemed that everywhere we went, someone would recognize him, and he obviously made enough of an impression for them to go out of their way to come say hi. And it didn't matter if we were in a restaurant or mall downtown or halfway across the country. There was bound to be someone there my dad knew. I remember taking a summer road trip with my parents when I was young. We were driving through the State of Maine in the USA when my dad pulled into a gas station. While filling up, another car pulled in. And when the driver got out, he turned to my father with a big smile and greeted him by name. It turned out to be someone my dad had met at an electrical convention several years prior. They had only talked for a few minutes, but my dad had made enough of an impression on the man that he never forgot him. The first time my family and I visited Vancouver, British Columbia, which for those who don't know, is on the other side of Canada, some 4700 KM away from where I live. My dad ran into not one, not two, but three different people he knew while we were there. My mom and I would just shake our head dumbfounded. Not only at how many people my dad knew, but how happy they always seemed to see him. This seemingly magical skill my father possessed always amazed me. It wasn't until I was older and starting my career at the print shop that my dad let me in on his "little secret." One day, shortly after graduation from college, I was sitting down with my father, and he told me the following. He said "Mark if you want to do well in business, you have to work hard. Never complain unless it's absolutely necessary. And most importantly, you need people to like you. You see, the more people who like you, the easier it will be for you to succeed in whatever venture you set out to do." And then he told me his trick. And although my father didn't break them down into steps, for the benefit of the podcast, I will. Step 1) Always smile when you greet someone. A smile is a natural diffuser. When you smile as you greet someone, it shows that you accept them and are genuinely interested in talking with them. It makes them feel welcome. A smile creates positive energy and sets people at ease. Making it easier for them to open up to you. It's a lot easier to trust someone who smiles than someone who doesn't Step 2) Always say hello with a firm handshake as you look them in the eye. A handshake tells a lot about a person. A week handshake gives the impression of doubt and lack of confidence. A strong, bone-crushing handshake gives the impression of overconfident and trying to assert authority or dominance. You want to be in the middle, offering a firm handshake that instills a sense of confidence, as well as respect for the person you're shaking hands with. On a side note. I know with the World Wide pandemic still going on. A handshake is frowned upon right now. I'm confident that once all of this is behind us, the handshake will make its return. And you should be ready to start offering them again. A handshake is something my father was never stingy in offering. In fact, I remember my friends in high school telling me how much they liked my dad. Every time they came over, he would get up, smile and shake their hands and ask them how they were doing. Unlike the other kid's fathers, who never paid much attention to us, mine always made my friends feel welcome. I also remember my father getting down on one knee to shake young children's hands

Are your indulgences impeding your productivity? People often ask me how I can manage so many things at once, so many spinning plates, if you will, while only working 9 AM to 5 PM? Ask most designers, and they'll tell you of the many late nights or weekends they work to get the jobs done. I, on the other hand, rarely work late and hardly ever on weekends. So how do I do it? How do I manage this podcast, my other television show podcast, two design businesses, the Resourceful Designer Community, and a few personal "work-related" projects I have on the go? All within a 40-hour workweek? I don't always. In fact, I'm recording this podcast episode on Saturday because I ran out of time during the week. But this is a rarity for me. Normally, I get all my work done between 9 AM and 5 PM, Monday to Friday. So how do I do it? I learned many years ago that my time is valuable. I only have so much of it, and I have to figure out the best use of that time for me. I constantly ask myself how can I get the best ROI for my time. And the biggest help was learning to cull my indulgences. What do I mean by this? First, let me tell you a story. As you may or may not know. My wife and I have two kids, both of which are now in their 20s and no longer live with us. Since the kids moved out, Kim and I have had to adjust to the lives of being empty nesters. One of those adjustments is finding television shows we can watch together. Kim loves comedies, dramas and romantic shows. In comparison, I prefer science fiction, fantasy and action-adventure programs. It wasn't a problem when our daughter was still here. She and Kim enjoyed the same things, so they would put on one of their shows, and I would slip down to the basement to watch one of mine. But with the kids gone, Kim and I try to find shows to watch together. A couple of months ago, we started watching a show on Netflix called The Order. It's a young adult-oriented semi-romantic drama that includes witches, warlocks and werewolves. So it checked off both our interests. Over the course of two weeks, we would watch an episode here and an episode there until we finished season 1. It wasn't the best show we'd seen, but it was entertaining and enjoyable. A few weeks later, season 2 came out, and we decided to start it. That first episode was kind of meh, so it was a few days before we decided to watch another one which didn't turn out to be much better. When watching episodes 3 and 4, we were questioning if there was something else we wanted to watch instead. After the fourth episode, we both decided the season wasn't worth finishing. Our time was too valuable to waste on a program we were no longer enjoying. Now, this may not be the best example, since the time we saved by not watching The Order, we still ended up spending on the couch watching something else. But the point I'm trying to convey is, your time has value. And it shouldn't be wasted on things that don't contribute to that value. Let's get back to how I manage my days and get everything done. As I said earlier, I learned a while back that to be the most productive person I could be; I needed to cull my indulgences. What does that mean? It means that whenever something catches my eye, whenever I come across something that might be a distraction, I ask myself this. "Would I be any worse off if I don't indulge in this?" Would I be any worse off if I don't listen to this podcast episode? Would I be any worse off if I don't watch this YouTube video? Would I be any worse off if I don't read this article? Would I be any worse off if I don't learn this tutorial? Don't ask yourself if you would be better off if you indulge because the answer will often be a misleading yes. Misleading because knowledge, in general, makes you better, regardless of what that knowledge is. Listening to a podcast, watching a YouTube video, and reading an article will benefit you somehow, even if it's minute. But asking if you would be worse off by not indulging gives you a completely different perspective to judge by. For example, if I come across an article reviewing new features in Adobe Illustrator. I ask myself, "would I be any worse off if I don't indulge in reading this?" The answer is yes. I use Illustrator regularly. If there are new features that can speed up my workflow and make what I do easier, and I don't lean them. I'll be worse off. However, if I come across an article titled "The top 10 design trends to avoid in 2021." The answer would be no. I might gain some knowledge and benefit from reading the article. But I'm not going to be any worse off if I don't read it. I tend to do my own thing and not follow trends anyway. So why waste my valuable time reading that article. No matter how curious I am. Now in some cases, putting off instead of dismissing is an option. And article titled "The 10 most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe." Oh, this one hits me at my geeky core. As a huge Marvel fan, I want to know if this list coinci

Are you ready to grow your design business by letting go of what's holding you back? Let me start with a story. A young boy is visiting his grandparents' house with his mom and dad. As young boys will do when in an environment not meant for young boys, they explore and sometimes get into trouble. Well, this young boy just so happened to be walking around with an antique vase, a precious family heirloom. When his mother spotted him, she immediately told him to put the vase down before breaking it. But the boy replied that he couldn't, his hand was stuck inside. A little frustrated, the mother takes the vase and tells the boy, "If you were able to get your hand in the vase, you could surely get it out." But as she pulls on it, there's no give. Hearing the commotion, the father comes in to help. He, too, tugs on the vase, but the boy's hand is firmly stuck. He tugs and tugs until the boy says it's hurting him. The grandmother, in her wise old ways, suggests using butter to help the hand slide out. But alas, it has no effect. Completely perplexed, with the mother still tugging on the vase, the father throws his hands up in the air, stating, "I'd give 50 dollars just to get your hand out of that vase right now." The young boy's eyes opened wide with excitement. "Really?" he exclaims. Suddenly, they hear a clinking sound, and the boy's hand slides out of the vase. In disbelief, the mother looks into the vase then upturns it, and a quarter falls into her hand. The young boy explains that it's the quarter grandpa gave him when they arrived. He had put it in the vase, but when he reached in to grab it, his hand got stuck. But when his dad said he'd give him $50 if he got his hand out of the vase, he let go of the quarter. Now I'm sure you've heard this or a variation of this story before. So you probably knew the outcome before I ever reached it. But I wanted to tell it anyway as a kind of analogy to your design business. Many designers who run their own business tend to hold on to that metaphorical quarter when they should be letting go of it for bigger and better things. This is the first episode of 2021. And I don't have to tell you what kind of year 2020 was. You were there. But with all of that fiasco behind us and light of better things to come finally peeking through at the end of the tunnel. Now is the perfect time to take stock of your business and figure out what you need to do to help it grow and succeed. What are you going to do more of? And what, if anything, can you let go? No business, design or otherwise can grow without making changes. Restaurants change their menus. Telecommunication companies change their phone plans. Governments elect new officials. Changes are a natural precursor to growth. And every successful business does it. By grow, I don't necessarily mean taking on more design work or more clients, although that may be the case, and it still counts as growth. What I mean by grow, is making progress, expanding while focusing on your goals. You do have goals, don't you? Without them, how will you know if you're making progress? If we take 2020 out of the equation and compare this upcoming year, 2021, to your previous years, you should be striving to not only make more money but also to be more satisfied with yourself and your business than you've been in previous years. At the very least, you should aim to stay on par as in previous years. What you don't want is to step backward. If you make less money or aren't as happy, you're doing something wrong. And chances are, it's because you're holding on to that metaphorical quarter and not letting go. Growing your business and making more money doesn't necessarily mean doing more work, which, in turn, could increase your stress level. In fact, you can grow your design business and make more money by doing less but smarter work. The easiest way to do this is to raise your rates. But to raise your rates, you have to let go of the notion that you're not worth higher rates. Or that your clients won't pay higher rates. Thousands of designers have already debunked that theory when they started charging more money for their services, and their business didn't fail. Myself included. I make more money today, putting in 10 hours of work than I did five years ago doing 30 or 40 hours of work. How? It's because I let go of the notion that an hour of my time is worth X amount of dollars. When I started charging clients based on what I thought their project was worth and not how much time it would take me to complete it, I started making a lot more money. And you know what? The only clients that objected to my price increase were the clients I didn't really want to work with, to begin with. Those clients who didn't object were the clients who truly valued what I do for them. And you know what? When I raised my rates, they started bringing me bigger and better projects. They stopped sending me simple things to design and started sending me entire campaigns to

A look back at 2020 and a look ahead to 2021. [sc name="pod_ad"]Thank you for your continued interest in Resourceful Designer. You have no idea how much I appreciate you. There are so many great resources available for learning and growing as a designer, and I'm humbled that you choose to spend a bit of your valuable time with me. I'm continuing the tradition of making the final podcast episode of the year a form of a retrospective where I look back a the year that's coming to an end and look forward to the year ahead. I bring you A Look back, A Look Ahead 2020 Edition. A Look Back at my 2020 goals. At the end of 2018, I set these goals for myself. ACCOMPLISHED: Talk at more conferences in 2020. Surprisingly, although not as many as I expected, the two conferences I talked at in 2020 were more than I did in 2019, so mission accomplished. FAIL: Grow the Resourceful Designer audience. The 2020 pandemic took a big toll on podcast listenership, and Resourceful Designer was not immune. With fewer people commuting to work, I saw my download numbers dip during COVID lockdowns. The end of the year saw a rise in downloads but not enough to view it as a growth from the previous year. ACCOMPLISHED: Grow the Resourceful Designer Community. The Community has quickly become a place where friendships form and help is freely given. It's even more wonderful than I anticipated. ACCOMPLISHED: Grow Podcast Branding. My niche design business focusing on the podcast industry saw huge growth in 2020. With so many people stuck at home, many decided to start a podcast and needed visuals to go with it. Some of my numbers from 2020 Resourceful Designer Released 47 podcast episodes Reached over 550k total episode downloads in 2020 (Over 125k of which were in 2020) Resourceful Designer released on Gaana and Amazon Music. My design business My design business took a huge hit from COVID-19, with many of my clients being affected by lockdowns. Worked on design projects for 9 different clients (down from 29 in 2019) Two of those clients were first-time clients. I sent out only 14 invoices in 2020 (down from 57 in 2019) Lost 7 long-standing clients due to various reasons. Podcast Branding My Podcast Branding business saved me from a horrible year. Worked with 51 different clients (up from 18 in 2019) Launched 16 new websites for clients Mentioned in an article on how to create stunning podcast cover art. A Look Ahead at my 2020 goals. My 2019 goals carry forward. I want the listenership of Resourceful Designer to continue growing. I want to speak at conferences (I'm already booked to speak at one in March). I want to build the Resourceful Designer Community. It's such a fantastic place right now, but I know it can be even better. New Goal for 2020. Keep going the podcast listenership. Keep growing Podcast Branding to become THE place for podcast websites and branding. Keep growing the Resourceful Designer Community What about you? Did you accomplish your goals for 2019, and What are your goals for the new year? Are you a student getting ready to graduate? What are your goals once you're done school? Are you still relatively new to the design world? What are your goals to hone your skills? Are you a veteran designer like I am? What are your goals for continued growth? Are you a designer working for someone else? Maybe you enjoy your job; maybe you don't. Either way, what are your future goals? Or perhaps you're already a home-based designer, a freelancer if that's the term you use; what are your goals to grow your business? Wherever you are in the world, whatever your level of skill, whatever your situation is, I want you to take some time to look back at 2019 and think about your accomplishments AND your shortcomings. Did you stop after your accomplishments? Or did you plow right through them, happy with yourself but reaching even further? What about your shortcomings? Did they discourage you, or did they create a sense of want even higher than before? Did you reach the goals you set out for yourself and your design business in 2019? If yes, were you happy with the outcome? If no, think about what prevented you from reaching those goals. So long 2020 As 2020 comes to an end (good riddance). I encourage you to reflect on this past year. Think about everything you've accomplished and those things you fell short on. And come up with a plan to make 2021 your year of success. To help with your planning, perhaps you should listen to episode 55 of the podcast, Setting Goals For Your Design Business. I'll be back in 2021 with lots more advice for starting and growing your design business. I'm Mark Des Cotes wishing you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season. And of course, that no matter what goals you set for yourself in the new year, the one thing you have to remember is to Stay Creative. What are your goals for 2021? Let me know by leaving a comment for this episode.

There are so many things you can do to improve your design business. Here are 5 tips to help you along the way. Tip # 1) How do you get people to pay attention to you? How do you get people to pay attention and be interested in what you have to say? Be it at a networking event, during presentations, in the emails you send, on a landing page or other marketing material? Start by identifying the problem you solve. As a designer, you are a problem solver. That's your superpower. But nobody cares about a solution if the problem hasn't been identified. Our brains are wired to go from problem to solution, problem to solution. If you only offer the solution, nobody will care what you have to say. For example; When someone asks what you do for a living, don't just say, "I design websites for startup companies." Try it, and you'll see just how fast someone's eyes can glaze over. Instead, start with a problem like this. "Do you know how hard it is for a new startup company to compete online these days? With people's patience and attention spans getting shorter and shorter, it can seem like an impossible task to get noticed. What I do is create great looking and high-converting websites that help new startups quickly gain traction, catch up to and eventually surpass their competition." A problem, followed by a solution. Now you have their attention. Tip # 2) Be confident in your calls-to-action. Every good website, including your own website for your design business, needs a call-to-action (CTA). Without one, what's the point of the site? Sure, you want people to know more about you. Sure, you want people to know what services you offer. Sure, you want people to see your work portfolio. But ultimately, what you want is for people to hire you. The best way to do that is with an assertive CTA. A passive CTA such as "Learn More" or "Get Started" just don't cut it. What they actually do is instill doubt in the client. It's as if you're not sure about your business and are afraid to ask the client to commit. So instead of asking them to hire you, you're asking them to learn more about you in the hopes you can convince them. Or to get started, and if they don't like what they see, we can stop. No. What you want to do is be bold and show confidence that you can help the client and show it in your CTA. Be direct and use CTAs like "Hire me," "Schedule a Call," or "Order Now." The more direct you are with assertive CTAs, the better the chance someone will hire you. 3) Get paid faster by sharing the value you provided on your invoices. Wouldn't it be nice if clients paid your invoices as soon as they receive them, and you didn't have to sit there wondering when or if the money would ever come in? What if you could make one small change that would actually encourage your clients to pay your invoices faster? You can. By sharing the value, you provided directly on the invoice. If your invoice looks something like this... Item 1) Designed website = $xxx Item 2) Designed Logo = $xxx Item 3) Designed brochure = $xxx Total = $xxx Then you're missing out. Use a description field or add a footnote reminding your clients of their purchase value, not just the cost... the value. Item 1) Designed website with clear and concise messaging, which will produce a good conversion rate, translating to increased sales. Item 2) Designed Logo that shows the brand's quality and longevity and stands out amongst the competition. Item 3) Designed brochure to showcase the client's premium services and instill an air of confidence in people hiring you. Show the client that you provided more than just a website, logo or brochure. You provided something that will help their business grow and succeed. When they see and are reminded of that, they will be much more willing to pay your invoice quicker. Tip # 4) Go from being a good salesperson to a great salesperson. We don't' like thinking about it, but a major part of running a design business is being a salesperson. Otherwise, we wouldn't ever get new clients. The number of clients who hire you is directly related to how good a salesperson you are. If you want to go from being a good salesperson to being a great salesperson, you need to remember two things: empathy and authority. Empathy Empathy is showing that you understand the problem the client is coming to you with. "I understand how you feel." "I get where you're coming from." "I know exactly what you're talking about." When a client feels you have an empathetic connection with them, they are much more likely to hire you. Authority Authority is showing you're not only confident you can help them, but that you have the experience to back up that confidence. "I've helped other clients with similar problems." "That's a common issue that I know we can solve." "Here's what we can do to solve that." Think of the power when you combine Empathy and Authority. "I understand how you feel. Rest assured, I've helped other clients with similar problems before." "I ge

Do you understand what perceived value is? Many graphic and web designers have difficulty understanding perceived value when it comes to how their clients view them. You can offer the same service to multiple people, and each one will perceive the value of what you're offering them differently. I thought I would do something different by telling you a story to get the point across. Here goes. A lesson in understanding perceived value. Once upon a time (I know, it's a cliché way to start a story, but I'm going with it.) Once upon a time, there was a young graphic designer by the name of Tom. Several months ago, the large corporation Tom worked at was acquired. As part of the merger process, the new company dissolved the design department where Tom worked, and he lost his job. Tom was upset, of course, but he decided to see this as an opportunity. With the help of his severance money, he decided to do something he had been dreaming of doing for quite a while, open his own home-based design business. One day, on his way back from a client meeting, Tom decided to stop in and see his father. "Hey, Dad! Where are you?" "I'm in the attic." Tom made his way up to the attic, a place he seldom saw, even when he lived in this house with his parents. "What are you doing up here?" he asked. His father was sitting amid several open boxes, "I was taking out the holiday decorations when nostalgia got the best of me, and I decided to go through some of these old storage bins. Some of these haven't been opened in decades. What are you doing here?" "I had a meeting this morning with a new client not far from here, and I thought I'd drop by before heading home." "How'd the meeting go?" Asked his father. Tom sighed, "I got the job." "You don't sound that happy about it," replied the older man. "Dad, sometimes I think I made a mistake starting my own design business. It's not as easy as I thought it would be. Take this new client, for example. He's a handyman who does odd jobs for people. He's looking for a logo he can put on the side of his truck and business cards." "What's wrong with that?" Asked his father. "Price," replied Tom. "He only has a budget of $150. That's not a lot of money for a logo." "You know," continued Tom, "I read articles, I watch videos, I listen to podcasts, and they all say how graphic and web designers should be charging more money for their services. But I don't see how. I mean, I'm lucky this guy is willing to pay me $150. Do you know there are services online where you can get a logo designed for under $10? How are designers these days supposed to compete with that?" The father looked at his son, thoughtfully. Then he nodded inwardly to himself and said, "Thomas, that's a tough situation you're in, but I'm sure you'll work it out." Changing the subject, the father asked, "Hey, look in that bin over there. Do you see that wooden box? Take it out." Tom looked in the bin and pulled out a small ornately carved wooden box. With a nod from his father, he opened it. The box was lined with old black felt. Resting on the felt was a very old watch. The gold on it was tarnished. The glass was cracked and fogged a bit, and the well-worn leather band looked dry and cracked. "What's this?" asked Tom. "That my son is a family heirloom. Your, let's see now, a family gave your great-great-grandfather that watch when he helped them during the Civil War. He called it his good luck charm. He passed it on to his son when he enlisted in World War I. Who then passed it on to your grandfather, who wore it during World War II. When grandpa passed away, the watch was passed to me. And one day, it will be yours. It doesn't work anymore, but it's part of our history." "That's pretty cool," replied Tom. "Why have I never seen this before?" "To be honest," said the father, "I had all but forgotten it until today when I found the box. Hey, do me a favour, on your way home, can you stop by the pawnshop downtown? I don't want to sell it. But I'd be curious to know what they'd pay for it." "Sure, Dad, why not." Replied the son. A little while later, Tom called his father. "Dad, I just came out of the pawnshop. They offered $20 for the watch. They said it looked old so that somebody may be interested in it, but since it's not functioning, that's the best they could do." "That's disappointing," replied the father. "Humm. There's an antique store two blocks from where you are. Do you have time to ask them what they think?" "Yes, I could do that," replied Tom. Later, Tom called his father again. "Guess what? The lady at the shop was intrigued by the watch. She said a watch that old is a rare find and offered $300 for it." "That's a lot better." Said the father. "Do you have time for one more stop? Take it down to the museum on the edge of town and show it to the curator." Tom hesitated a bit but then agreed. Later that afternoon, Tom burst into his father's home. "Dad, Dad, you won't believe it," he said excitedly, "The museum curator w

Do you have what it takes to run a design business from home? If there's one positive takeaway from the 2020 Pandemic, it's that a lot of people got to experience what it's like to work from home. Some realized right away that it's not for them. They need people around them and an office environment to be productive. In contrast, others got a taste of what being a home-based business owner is like. And they like it. But to run a design business from home, full-time, permanently, you need to know what you're getting into. Some designers think that working from home is an easy life and that once you set up your design business, new clients and projects will just flow in. But it doesn't work that way. This is not Field Of Dreams. Just building it does not guarantee they will come. Running a successful design business takes more than design skills. For your design business to succeed, you need solid skills in business development, lead generation, marketing, communication, leadership to work with your team, and of course, sales. Being a designer and owning a design business are two completely different things. So how do you make the most of it? How do you set yourself up for success? How do you ensure that you can sustain this lifestyle long term? The answer–you need to plan. How does that saying go? "By failing to prepare, you're preparing to fail." So prepare yourself. Because chances are, it's going to be a rocky start. Step 1: Create an environment you're comfortable in. The first step in feeling like you're running a home-based business is to treat your working space as your business office. Having a place in your dwelling where you can transition from home life to business life is key. If you have a separate room that you can designate as your office, all the better. But if that's not the case, pick a corner and set it up to be your working environment. Get yourself a good office chair and set up your computer so that it's ergonomically comfortable to work at. Then fill the space with everything you need to work productively. The more your environment feels like your "working space," the more productive you'll be. Step 2: Keep your overhead to a minimum. Everyone dreams of making big bucks and living the dream. But that's not the way you should be thinking. Remember, it's not how much money you make that's important, but how much of the money you keep and what you do with that money, especially at the start. Even though a good office chair is important, don't spend $1000 on one if you don't have the money to invest yet. Keeping your overhead low is important. You want to keep your expenses to a minimum to benefit more from the money you make designing. A wise man once said you could save 100% of your money by choosing not to buy something. So even though I'm a proponent for things such as lifetime deals. It's only a deal if you can afford it and if you're going to get enough use from it to cover the cost of the deal. Especially when you're just starting, be careful what you spend. Step 3: Work on your business, not in your business. One of the biggest mistakes freelance designers make is focusing all their time and energy on the projects they do for their clients. Yes, you want to give 100% to your clients. But that 100% doesn't have to mean all of your time. There's a big difference between working in your business and working on your business. You must make time to work on aspects of your business as well. Like finances, to make sure you're keeping your overhead low and doing the most with the money you're earning. Then there are marketing plans to figure out how you're going to reach out to new clients. There are also processes and systems you need to develop for your business to succeed, like how you will communicate with your clients and your team? How are you going to organize all the assets you acquire? Don't forget your goals. Goals are your destination. Where you want to be a year, two years, 5 years from now. Without goals, you have no way to measure your success. Just because you're an office of one, making money from the few clients you have, don't think you can avoid treating what you do as a business. And for any business to succeed, it needs to evolve with the times. So make time to work on your business, and not just in your business. Step 4: Be proud of your home-based business. Never shy away from the fact that you are working from home. There was a time when working from home was looked down upon. But not anymore. It's the end of 2020, and if there's anything this year has taught us, is that working from home is a viable option. It no longer has the negative stigma it once had. In fact, many people will be envious when you say you're working from home. Take the attitude that you are working from home, not working at home. There's a difference. You are running a business, just like every brick and mortar business out there. It just so happens that your business is situated in the same lo

Do you know when to use Cloud Backup vs Cloud Sync? You know how important it is to backup your computer. Should the unforeseen happen, your backup is all that stands between you getting back to work after a short delay or having to explain to your clients how you've lost everything you've designed for them and have to start over. In the old days of computing, a backup consisted of storing files on floppy disks. Then we graduated to things like Zip drives or Jaz drives. Then CDs and DVDs became the preferred method for backing up files. Depending on your organization's size, and of course, your budget, you could also back up to digital tape. These were the easily transportable backup methods—the ones you could take with you or store safely off-site. You also needed to back up to external hard drives. Expensive, bulky things that were great for backing up your entire computer, but you needed a couple of them for a true backup solution. Constantly swapping them with one backing up in-house while the other was safely stored off-site. Things have come a long way since those days. The price of hard drives has come way down, making backup much more affordable. And you can now store hundreds of thousands of files on a drive smaller in size than a stick of gum. So there's no excuse for not having a backup solution in place. Out of these methods, the one flaw in most backup strategies has always been the off-site backup. Most people start with the best intentions. Moving a fresh backup off-site every day. Then, as time went by and nothing catastrophic happened, those daily off-site backups became weekly backups, and then monthly backups, until you had to check a calendar to figure out when the last backup was made. Whether your backup was daily, weekly, monthly or more didn't make much difference... until your main system failed you. Boy, oh, boy, did it make a difference then. It's bad enough if you lost a day's worth of work, but to lose a whole week or more? That's catastrophic. For anyone around computers in the 90s and early 2000s, you've heard the horror stories of crashed computers without backups. Hopefully, those stories were not about you. Introducing The Cloud And then The Cloud was born. The mysterious digital cloud. A place... somewhere, where you can store your files safely, offsite, without having to take a hard drive or disks anywhere. Ok, that's enough of a history lesson. It's 2020 as I'm typing this, and I'm hoping you've heard of the cloud and how to use it to back up your files. But just in case, the cloud is simply a group of computers somewhere in the world, managed by some company. These groups of computers are also known as data centres. When you sign up for a cloud syncing or cloud backup service, you are in effect renting storage space in one of these data centres. Sorry if I ruined your idea of The Cloud being a magical storage space floating around in the sky. Even though cloud sync and cloud backup use similar data centers, they are different in how they function. There's a common misconception that they're the same thing, but they're not. In fact, if you want to go by today's standard backup practices, you should be using both sync and backup. If you're not, you may be compromising your backup strategy. The difference between Cloud Sync and Cloud Backup. Cloud Sync. In essence, Cloud Sync are services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and many others who work by designating specific areas of your hard drives such as a single folder or a group of folders and "synchronizing" the contents of those folders to their data center. This syncing service allows you to access your files from different locations and using different devices. Let's say you save a design file to your sync folder on your iMac. That file becomes available to you on your laptop's sync folder, making it easy to show clients while visiting their office. While with the client, you can make changes to the file, knowing those changes will sync and be available on your iMac once you return. If you need to get a 3rd party contractor involved, such as a copywriter, share the synced file with them, and any changes they make will be reflected on your file as well. As long as the file is in the sync folder, it can be opened, worked on and saved from anywhere. What's important to note is that only files stored in the synced folder are accessible from everywhere. If it's an Adobe InDesign file, InDesign needs to be installed on your iMac, your laptop and on any third party's computer who needs to access the file. However, things like fonts and any digital assets used by the file stored in the synced folder are not available from everywhere. If you forget to put it in your sync folder, it won't get synced. Most syncing services charge you based on the amount of data you store with them. If you need more room, they always offer a bigger and more expensive tier you could purchase. One of the downsides of cloud sync services is th

Learn the power of psychological reactance. Have you ever heard of the term Psychological Reactance? According to Wikipedia, Psychological Reactance is unpleasant motivational arousal (reaction) to offers, persons, rules, or regulations that threaten or eliminate specific behavioural freedoms. Reactance occurs when a person feels that someone is taking away their choices or limiting the range of alternatives. This last part is what comes into play in today's topic. When a person feels that someone is taking away their choices or limiting the range of alternatives, in other words, say they can't have it, and they'll want it even more. Just look throughout history. People are constantly doing things they're told they can't or shouldn't do. Books that are banned by school systems quickly become some of the most sought after books around. When a song is banned from television or the radio, it soon tops the charts. When the USA introduced prohibition in the 1920s banning the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages, what happened? More alcohol was produced and distributed than ever before. When you tell someone they can't have something; they want it even more. That's Psychological Reactance. So how does this apply to running a design business? Simple, tell a client they can't have something or something isn't for them, and they'll want it even more. What do I mean by this? Let's say a client is looking for a logo design, and they only have $500 to spend. Using the three-tier pricing method, a pricing strategy where you offer three different options to a client, each one consisting of a slightly better "package" at a slightly higher price, you may present something like this. Option # 1: Design a logo for $500 Option # 2: Design a complete branding package including a logo, stationery and social media branding for $1000 Option # 3: Same as option #2 plus additional assets and a brand style guide for $1500 This pricing strategy gives the client options to choose from. It reduces the chance of them shopping around for other design prices. And it shows them the value of the different product tiers. This pricing strategy is great for upselling to your clients, but it works even better when combined with psychological reactance. Even though the client told you they have a $500 limit, you present options outside their budget. Show them what's available if only they had more to spend, for example. Here's a proposal I prepared for you showing various options I can provide. Please look at options two and three. I know you can't afford them according to the budget for this project, but at least they'll give you ideas for when you can afford it. When you present your three pricing tiers, you can do so in a way that the client feels their choices are being taken away. By telling a client they can't afford something, you make those options more desirable. They'll feel like their choices are being taken away, and they'll look at those two options even closer. I can't tell you how many times clients told their maximum budget was X only to end up agreeing to one of the more expensive and more valuable options I presented them. Sometimes they chose options that are double or triple their original max budget. Somehow, the money is there. This is not swindling or conning the client. You are simply presenting in a way that makes them feel like their choices are limited, which makes them want it more. People want the freedom to choose for themselves what they can and cannot do or have. A good salesperson knows how to take advantage of that. Putting Psychological Reactance into practice. The way it works is to use phrases such as. "You probably can't afford this..." "You'll probably refuse this idea..." "This may not be for you..." "You probably won't agree to this..." "You may not be the best person for this..." Anything that tells the client they're not a good fit for whatever you are offering. Another great way to present something is to say. "Do you know someone who may be interested in... or, who may be suitable for..." This last example subtly tells the client they are not suitable or not a good fit. You're not actually saying it, but it's implied, and they may look more closely at what you are offering. The best way to get new work from old clients is not to ask them if they have any work for you, but to ask them if they know anyone who may need your services. Dear Jill, I hope you're satisfied with the website I built for you. I know you don't need anything else from me right now, but I would be grateful if you would give them my name and contact information if you know anyone who does. By telling the client they don't need anything from you, you're subconsciously making them feel left out. And since nobody likes to feel left out, they may think of something else you can do for them. This method not only makes clients more receptive to what you are offering, but it actually gives them an out by

Are you ready to take your side gig full-time? Many home-based designers started off freelancing as a hobby or as a side gig before ever going full-time. It's the way I did it. I worked at both the print shop and evenings and weekends at home for about a year before I made the leap to solopreneurship. And even though I knew I wanted to do it from the start, I remember the uncertainty of it all was scary. In hindsight, I can tell you it was one of, if not the best business decision I ever made. I only wish I had done it sooner. Ask most full-time home-based designers, and they'll tell you the same thing. But thinking about making the leap and actually doing it are two different things. Maybe you have a cushy design job working for someone else. Or perhaps your full-time job isn't even design related, and designing is something you do in your spare time. How do you know you're ready to do this, on your own, full-time? I'm not going to talk about the physical aspect of it. Whether you have the right environment or the right equipment. Or even if you have the financial means to do so. But I hope I can help you with the mental side by sharing 4 signs that indicate you're ready to take your side gig full-time and embrace the life of a design business owner. 1) Are you willing to be persistent at it? Designing on the side can be fun. And earning a bit of extra spending money is always a good thing. But turning your "hobby" into a full-fledged business is a completely different matter. It requires a daily commitment and a persistent effort to sustain it and work at growing it. As a business owner, you'll be faced with deadlines, acquiring and dealing with clients, working on projects and tasks you may not be that interested in, and just overall dealing with a whole new form of stress you may not be used to. Not to mention it could take a while before you start earning a profit. Success is not guaranteed. Especially instant success. Take a reality check and know before you start whether or not you are willing to stick it out for the long haul as you strive to turn your "hobby" into something successful and profitable. If you're willing to do just that, you've passed indicator number 1. 2) Are people willing to pay for your work? A key indication that you can turn your design skills into an actual business is knowing you can earn a living at it. It's one thing to create an invitation for your grandmas 80th birthday. It's a completely different thing to create an invitation for your city's business awards gala. Are your design skills good enough that people are willing to pay you to do it? A good indication is when people start asking you to design things without you offering first. If people you know are approaching you for design work, there is an excellent chance other people, people you may not know, are willing to pay for your services. If that's the case, it's a clear indication that there's potential to expand beyond your "hobby" into a full-fledged design business, and you've passed indicator number 2. 3) Do you understand what's involved in running a business? Turning your design side gig into a design business doesn't simply mean you're designing all day, every day. If you start a full-time design business, you will be expected to do what it takes to run a business beyond just designing. This includes marketing your business, acquiring clients, answering emails and phone calls from potential clients. You'll be Invoicing clients, chasing payments, keeping your books up to date, filing your taxes. Understanding how to run a business is just as important as your skills as a designer. Most home-based design businesses that fail do so not because they are bad designers but because they're bad business people. Your design talent will only get you so far. If you don't take time to learn the basics of running and scaling your business, you won't succeed. Regardless of how much you think you know about running a business, you'll want to put in some extra time to understand better all it entails—everything from the principles of managing your finances, to time management, to client relationship building. Once you grasp what it takes to start and run a design business, you've passed indicator #3 4) Are you willing to make sacrifices for your business? Starting a home-based design business will often require some sacrifices, especially financially. Until your business is up and running and you have clients bringing you design projects, there will be no money coming in. Are you willing and able to put in the effort every day knowing there's no money coming in yet? It can become very stressful. Starting a home-based business is also a major lifestyle change. Can you cope with the isolation of working all by yourself every day? Do you have the discipline to sit at your workstation and actually work without being distracted by anything? Are you able to separate your work life from your family life when needed? All "hobbies"

Are you a print designer who wishes you knew how to design websites? There are many graphic designers who don't offer web design services. Some have no desire to do so. While others would love to add web design to their list of skills. However, they feel intimidated by the notion of tackling a new medium. What they fail to realize is that although the usage between print design and website design is different, the design principles required to make both look good are the same. At their core, the foundation principles that govern what is good design are the same regardless if you are designing for paper or screen. I got into web design in the mid-90s when having a website was a novelty for most businesses. At that time I was offering something unique. Most websites in the early to mid-90s were built by computer programmers, and at the time, most computer programmers were not very adept at design. My sales pitch was to ask clients if they wanted an ugly website with beautiful code, code that nobody sees. Or if they wanted a great looking website with not so perfect code but still functioned perfectly. Most clients sided with a good looking website. As a web designer, I offered the aesthetics of good design. I took the skills I learned as a print designer and applied those skills to web design. And I do the same today. If you are a print designer who would like to learn web design, the process is not as difficult as you may believe. Because of your design knowledge, you are already halfway there. It's just like learning to drive a second vehicle Think back to when you first learned to drive a car. There was an awful lot of information you needed to learn. The rules of the road Street sign meanings When you're allowed to change or not change lanes. How much distance to keep between you and the vehicle ahead of you. Which vehicle has the right of way when multiple vehicles arrive at a four-way stop simultaneously. These are just a handful of the many, many rules you needed to learn. On top of the rules of the road, you also had to learn how to operate a vehicle. The amount of pressure on the accelerator required to get the car moving. The force required on the brake pedal in order to stop the car where you want it to stop. How much you have to turn the steering wheel in order to direct the car around a curve or corner. When during a turn do you start straightening the wheel in order to proceed in the desired direction. Using your turn signals. Looking in your mirrors. Checking your blind spots. and so on, and so on. When you think of every small aspect of learning to drive, there was an awful lot you needed to know. Now, imagine as an experienced car driver, you want to learn how to drive a motorcycle. You're going to have a much easier time learning to drive a motorcycle than someone who is learning to drive for the very first time on a motorbike. Why is that? It's because of the foundation you already know. The fundamentals, the principles of driving are the same whether you are driving a car or a motorcycle. The street signs are the same. The rules of the road are the same. You're still going to use turn signals. You're still going to check your blind spots. The accelerator and breaks on a motorbike are different than those on a car but your previous knowledge will help you get accustomed to them much faster. If you already know how to drive a car, learning to drive a motorcycle is so much easier than if you didn't know how to drive a car. The same applies to a print designer learning web design. The foundation of good design, the principals you follow on every print piece you create apply just the same on a web page. You want to create a visual hierarchy, You want to create a flow for the eye to follow. You want to pair fonts that work well together. You want to use colours, photos and other design elements that complement each other to create a visually pleasing layout. etc. etc. The principles of design are the same. What's different are the tools you use and the medium you're creating on. Think back to when you first started as a print designer. Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign all seemed very daunting. But slowly, through experimenting and practice, you learned how to use them. It's the same thing with web design only the tools are things like WordPress, Squarespace or Wix. And I'm not talking about coding. There was a time when coding and web design went hand in hand, but that's not the case anymore. There are plenty of web designers, making a good living designing websites for clients, who don't know anything about code. And if for some reason you do end up needing code to accomplish something on a website, Uncle Google is always there to help you. It's not that intimidating. Just like learning to drive a motorcycle is so much easier if you already know how to drive a car because the same driving principles apply to both vehicles. Learning web design is so much easier if you already know the principles

How are you standing out from your competition What do you think of when you hear the word "pencil"? I bet that one of the images that flashed through your head is of a yellow-painted piece of wood with a graphite center. The quintessential yellow pencil found the world over. A Medium article by Melissa Gouty titled "Why Pencils Are Painted Yellow" got me thinking about the parallels between a yellow pencil and your design business. I'm going to paraphrase Melissa's article for the sake of my comparison. The common yellow pencil that we take for granted helped spark the renaissance. Before the invention of the pencil, quill and ink were the only means of writing, and they were reserved for the elite. The invention of the pencil allowed common people to record knowledge and write whenever and wherever they wanted. The discovery of graphite was so valuable that the English government guarded it and controlled its distribution. People took to smuggling graphite around the known world, and innovative individuals devised ways to use it for writing. In 1565, A Swiss man named Conrad Gessner came up with the idea of encasing graphite in wood and the pencil industry was born. This common instrument familiar to every schoolchild, which you probably have strewn around your home, was a valuable commodity back then. To own a pencil made you special. But like most things, time and wider availability diminished the pencil's appeal. Over the next 300 years, the thrill of owning a pencil fizzled out. This marvellous invention was no more than a boring piece of brown wood with graphite in the middle, until 1889, that is. In 1889 the World Fail was held in Paris, France. It attracted more than thirty-two million visitors and showcased exhibitors from around the world. One exhibitor was an Austrian-Hungarian company by the name of Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth. They had been in business for over 100 years and were knows for producing high-quality art and drafting supplies, including pencils. But really, how is one pencil better than another? Koh-I-Noor came up with an idea. You might even say it was one of the first things to go viral. At that time, the largest diamond known to exist, coincidentally named The Koh-I-Noor Diamond, was about to be inset to the crown of the Queen of England, Elizabeth II. So the drafting supply company did something nobody had ever done before. Since the name Koh-I-Nor was getting so much publicity, they gave their pencil the same name. They called it the Koor-I-Noor Series 1500. But naming their pencil wasn't enough. They had to somehow make their pencil different. That's when they came up with the idea of painting their pencils yellow. They put a lot of thought and energy into selecting the perfect colour. Settling on their particular shade of yellow for three reasons. The best graphite, the same they used in their pencils, came from China, and in China, yellow represents prestige and royalty. The Koh-I-Noor Diamond has yellow flecks in it. The crowns on the Austria-Hungary flag depicted yellow crowns. So at the 1889 World Fair in Paris, France, the Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth art and drafting supply company introduced their new Luxury pencil, the Koh-I-Noor Series 1500. This "Luxury" version of the common pencil quickly became associated with wealth, power and prestige. Soon, nobody wanted to be seen with a plain brown pencil, and Koh-I-Noor cornered the pencil market, selling a more expensive "Luxury" version of the same product everyone else was offering. Back then, there was nothing stopping others from following their lead, and soon, pencel manufacturers around the world were painting their pencils yellow as well. But for a short time, one company figured a way to corner the pencil market by making their product more desirable than what their completion was offering. The Yellow Pencil and Your Design Business So what does the story of the yellow pencil have to do with running a design business? Think of all the services and products you offer and how similar are they to your competition? You design logos. They design logos You design business cards. They design business cards. You create websites. They create websites. We are all designers, and to an extent, we all pretty much offer the same thing. Take a cue from what one company did 140 years ago, and do something different that makes what you offer unique compared to everyone else. What are you doing to stand out from your competition? How are you offering the same services they do in a manner that will entice clients to chose you over them? I can't give you the solution, but I can encourage you to pursue your own answer. Figure out what may work for you. Become the "luxury" option that clients will covet. How do you stand out from your competition? Let me know by leaving a comment for this episode.

Being diligent today will make you more productive tomorrow. Last week I talked about dividing your to-do list into three sections, non-negotiables, procratinatables and optionables, and how doing so will help you organize your day. I also discussed listening to your body's clock to determine the best time of day to tackle certain projects and tasks. Today's post is all about setting up for a more productive tomorrow. And to do that, you need to start today. For as long as I can remember, my nightly routine before bed has included looking and preparing for the next morning. Call it my shutdown ritual if you will. I like to know before my head hits the pillow what's on my schedule for the following day. Getting things ready the night before allows me to hit the ground running and start my next day with a purpose. There's no wasted time in the morning figuring out what projects or tasks I need to do. It eliminates me from looking through emails, creating a to-do list, and getting myself organized because it's already all done for me. When I sit down at my computer at 9 am, I can immediately get to work on whatever task or project takes priority on my to-do list. If you don't have a proper plan of attack, you could find yourself wasting the better part of an hour accomplishing nothing as you try to figure out what you need to do. Do that every morning, and it can add up to several days worth of time by the end of the year. But what's the difference between organizing yourself in the morning, compared to doing it the night before? The difference is, the night before, or at the end of your workday, you're pretty well spent already. The time you take preparing for the following day is time you probably wouldn't have gotten much accomplished in anyways. However, in the morning, you're much more energized. Even if you're still groggy from sleep, you still have more "gung-ho" than you do at the end of a long workday. So why waste that energy on prep work? If you know ahead of time how you're going to spend your day, you'll be much more productive and much more efficient in doing so. I usually do my prep work before going to bed. It's one of the last things I think of at night and allows me to mentally work out my next day's plan of attack as I nod off to sleep. But maybe you don't want to do this right before going to bed. Maybe you fear it will get your mind racing on work-related issues, and you won't be able to fall asleep. If that's you, then I suggest you set aside a few minutes at the end of your workday. 5 to 10 minutes is all you need as you wrap things up to plan for the following workday. 3 steps to a more productive tomorrow. Step 1 If you combine last week's topic with this one, you should be working on your non-negotiable tasks every day. If you have the time, you also tackled some procrastinatables and maybe even some optionable tasks. Take the time at the end of your workday to review and reflect on what you managed to accomplish that day. Take satisfaction in the projects and tasks you completed, no matter how small. They'll help motivate you for the following day. Research has proven that keeping track and acknowledging your progress actually helps boost your working morale and creates a better outlook in your overall life. Step 2 Start a new to-do list. Do not use the same list as the day before. You may think that seeing previously scratched tasks off will motivate you, but they won't. In fact, studies have shown that our brain has a hard time differentiating checked or scratched off items on a list from the unchecked ones. All that registers is a long list of items that could be discouraging. That's why most digital to-do lists automatically hide completed tasks. It's not to subconsciously discourage you. So start with a fresh list. Take note of those projects and tasks you didn't complete that day and add them to your new list for tomorrow. Organize them using last week's method. Remember that what might have been a procrastinatable task today might need to be a non-negotiable task tomorrow. Once you have tomorrow's list, determine the two or three most important tasks and mark them as the top priorities. These will be the ones you'll tackle first thing in the morning. Then look at the other items on the list and mentally rank them in order of importance. Try to imagine how your day will unfold. What will you do first thing? What will you get done before lunch? What will you do after lunch? How do you plan on finishing off your day? Having a good mental picture of what you need to do will go a long way towards allowing you to accomplish it. Step 3 Prep your space. Declutter your workspace and get it ready for the morning. Put away papers and files. Organizing your tools and take out anything you may need for tomorrow's tasks. This also means getting your computer ready for the next morning. Quit any open applications that won't be needed the next day. I like to quit my Mail app and Slack every n

The Perfect To-Do List + Time Management = Success. If you search through the Apple or Google app directories, you will find dozens, if not hundreds, of options for creating so-called perfect to-do lists. I like Anylist for grocery lists and shopping lists or keep track of the unending chores and tasks I need to do around the house. For work-related lists, my go-to is Evernote (get a free month with this link). I have Evernote fine-tuned with different notebooks for every part of my work life. But it doesn't matter if you use a digital tool or pencil and paper if you don't understand the fundamentals of the perfect to-do list. For a to-do list to function at its best, you need proper time management along with your to-do list. When the two work hand in hand, your to-do list becomes much more achievable. Writing the perfect to-do list. To write the perfect to-do list, you must determine what to put on it and in what order. You must also decide what not to include on your list. If you put too many things on your to-do list, it becomes unmanageable and discouraging. A good to-do list has three sections. 1) Nonnegotiables Nonnegotiables are things that absolutely have to get done on time. These are priority items such as scheduled appointments or tasks with a fixed deadline. If you don't get them done promptly, it will be too late. 2) Procrastinatables Procrastinatables are things that absolutely need to get done, but are not as time-sensitive as nonnegotiables. It would be nice to get them done soon, but if you don't manage to get to them today, tomorrow or the following day will do fine. Be careful putting them off; procrastinatables will eventually become nonnegotiables if you don't get to them. So try not to ignore them for long. 3) Optionables Optionables are all the projects and tasks that you would like to do, but have no priority as to when, or sometimes if you should do them at all. Optionables are tricky. You need to figure out how each one aligns with your goals. For example, if there's a recording of a webinar you missed, but it's only available for a few days, you need to figure out if watching the recording will help you achieve your goals. If yes, then make the time on your to-do list to watch it. If you determine the webinar doesn't align with your goals, let it go and forget about it. Once you have your list of optionables, rank them in descending order of priority and tackle them in that order. How to tackle your to-do list. Once you have a to-do list with the three sections mentioned above, it's time to get to work. Mark Twain is credited with saying, "if you're tasked with eating two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest frog first." In other words, look at your to-do list and figure out the biggest and possibly the task you're dreading the most and get it done first. Not only will you feel good crossing off the biggest and most dreaded task, but it will also make the rest of the list easier to get through. HINT: Whenever possible, try to complete as many items from your to-do list before checking your email or social media. Email and social media have an uncanny way of disrupting your day and often add to your to-do lists. Avoid to-do list overload by completing a few things before you end up having to add to your list. Listen to your body clock. The perfect to-do list composed of nonnegotiables, procrastinatables and optionables is your guide to get through your day. However, the order your list is written in isn't necessarily the order you need to complete it in. Tackle your list according to your body clock. If there are certain times when you feel the most creative, use that time to work on the creative projects on your to-do list. When you feel less energetic, such as first thing in the morning or late in the day, tackle the to-do list items that don't require much brainpower. To-Do lists and time management To make the most of your perfect to-do list, you should have a rough idea of how long each item on your list will take and plan your routine accordingly. If it takes you an hour or so each morning fully wake up, choose tasks that fit that time. Don't start a mundane task that requires three or four hours if it's going to eat into the more focused time of your day. Try not to block to-do list items into 15 minutes, 30 minutes or 1-hour time blocks as most calendars do. Most tasks are not structured that way. What you think will be a 30-minute phone meeting with a client may only take 8 minutes or could end up being over an hour long. If it finishes early, you have extra time to take on something else from your list. However, if it goes long, you won't feel stressed for the call eating into the time block of the next task. Of course, time management and to-do lists are not as cut and dry as this. Brain fog and high creative periods can't be scheduled, so your days need to be fluid and flexible. Plus, there's always the unexpected you can't plan for. The school calling saying your child

Are you producing any of your design projects in-house? I got the idea for this episode of the podcast when a member of the Resourceful Designer Community shared her new toy with us in our Slack group. Laura bought a Roland VersaSTUDIO Desktop Sign Maker BN-20. It's an eco-solvent printer she plans on using to produce stickers, vehicle graphics and apparel graphics, among other things. This new piece of equipment will allow her to produce materials for her clients in-house. She also plans on using it to make pieces to sell through her Etsy shop. This got me thinking about different ways designers can produce things in-house. Now for the record, I don't produce anything in-house myself. I had the opportunity years ago, which I'll share with you a bit later, but I chose to focus my time solely on the design part and not production. But if you're into it, producing in-house can be a very lucrative income stream for your design business. Years ago, a designer I knew lost her job and opened up her own home-based design business. When I later ran into her, she told me getting laid off was one of the best things to happen to her. She had purchased special equipment and was now serving clients she loved and happily producing printed materials for them in-house. Items like posters, business cards, postcards and wedding and party invitations, That was my first exposure to the idea that a home-based graphic designer could also produce material in-house. When I started my home-based design studio, an office supply representative offered me a high-end office copier for zero dollars. All I had to do was agree to purchase copier toner through him and to pay a small fee of $0.12 per sheet printed on the machine. The offer was very tempting. But then I started thinking of the time involved running the copier, cutting, folding, and everything else involved with producing in-house, and I decided it wasn't for me. I prefer to do the design part and let others handle the production part even if it costs me more to farm out these projects. But many designers love producing their materials. And not just sheets of paper. Home-based designers can produce things such as: Stickers/decals Heat transfers for garments and apparel Posters Banners Vehicle graphics Foil stamping Laminating Embroidering Die-cutting using circuit makers Screen printers Block print Letterpress 3D printing There are so many options you can choose from. It might be hard to decide what sort of products you want to produce in-house. What if you can't afford the equipment? What if you can't afford the equipment required for producing in-house? It might be easier than you think to acquire them. New equipment is a tax expense. Keep in mind that any equipment you purchase for your business claimable on your taxes as a business expense. Check with your accountant to find out how to claim the equipment. Purchase second hand or refurbished. Second hand or refurbished equipment can often be just as good as purchasing new, except you pay much less. There's always someone out there selling old equipment. It's just a matter of looking. Purchase floor models or demo units. As new models of equipment are released, stores and distributors must sell their current inventory to make room. These units are often available at great sale prices. But for a more significant discount, ask if they have a floor model or demo unit for sale. These units have minor usage and often come with the original warranty. Look for grants or low-interest loans to fund your purchase. Ask your local economic development group or business centre if they know of any grants or low-interest business loans available for small businesses wanting to expand or purchase equipment. You may be surprised at the amount of money available for anyone who knows where to ask. Grants are great because you don't have to pay them back. But they often require a lot of paperwork and jumping through hoops to get. But free money may be worth the hassle. And some "expansion" loans for small businesses are available at 0 or very low-interest rates, which allows you to purchase equipment and pay it back over time. Open a line of credit. If you qualify, a line of credit is a good option for purchasing new equipment. Lines of credit often have much lower interest than loans or credit cards. Most, however, do require collateral to secure them. They're easier to get if you're a homeowner and not a renter. Incentive from seller Lastly, contact the seller or distributor of the equipment you want and see what sort of deals they can give you. As I said earlier, I could have had a high-end office copier for zero money. All I had to agree to was purchasing the toner through the supplier and a fixed fee per copy. If you can convince a supplier you'll be purchasing enough supplies through them; they may offer you a great deal on the equipment. Producing in-house: Pros and Cons. Pros of producing in-house You can make better profits compared

Do you farm out design projects? Finding yourself overwhelmed with too many design projects is a sure sign that you are not charging enough for your design services. Don't turn clients away. Instead, raise your prices and start farming out design work. The following is a post from the Resourceful Designer Facebook Group. Hi guys So I'm turning away a lot of work at the moment, as I have my day job, and seem to have very little energy in the evenings and weekends to take on many freelance jobs. Seriously, I'm feeling so burned out, have been for a while now. I do the odd freelance jobs here and there for previous clients that I'm friendly with, but I still get a lot of requests, despite not advertising or putting any vibes out there that I'm available. I usually just recommend one or two other designers, and they really appreciate the work coming their way, but I also sometimes wonder if I'm being too kind? Would this be reciprocated? Could I charge a % from the jobs I recommend? Would outsourcing them take too much energy if I still need to be the person in-between the client and the designer? Has anyone else been in a similar situation? I'm sure the original poster is not the only designer facing this problem. At some point in your design career, you will find yourself burdened with more work than you can handle (trust me, it will happen). When faced with this situation, the first thing you should do is review your design rates, because chances are you are not charging enough for your services. The same applies to all service-based industries. Too much work coming in is a sure sign that prices are too low. Raising your rates will reduce the number of inquiries you receive, and those inquiries that come in will come from higher-quality clients. It's a fact experienced by designers the world over. The more you charge, the better calibre of clients you receive. Raising your design rates can be scary. Raising design prices scares many designers. What will your current clients think? Will they leave you for a less expensive designer? Will clients stop referring you if you charge more? Will the influx of new design work dry up? In my experience, and from others I've talked to, nothing drastic will happen when you charge more, other than you making more money. Yes, there is a possibility of losing some clients. But the increased income from remaining clients will make up for the losses. Plus, with fewer clients, you'll have more time to devote to projects, which means you'll probably do a better job, one worthy of the higher prices. Raising rates usually rectifies work overload. However, what if there are still too many projects for you to handle? In the original poster's situation, quitting their day job to run their design business full time is an option. But what if that's not feasible? The solution is farming out design work. Referring clients to other designers doesn't help you. And asking for referral fees or commissions from other designers becomes complicated and seldom works. Instead, you should retain the clients and farm out any design projects you cannot handle. Hire other designers to work for you and earn a percentage of the project cost. Be an "art director" and farm out design projects. When you start farming out design work, you act as an "art director." Your job is to talk to the client, figure out what they need, possibly sketch out some rough design ideas and pass all this information to another designer to complete the work. This lets you satisfy the client without devoting all your time to the project. It's a win-win for everyone. How to farm out design work. To farm out design work, you first need to find capable designers. Inquire within your network of design acquaintances if anyone is available to freelance for you. If you don't know any capable designers, you are sure to find some on platforms such as: upwork.com toptal.com peopleperhour.com freelancer.com workhoppers.com guru.com fiverr.com Once you find a freelance designer, you act as the go-between. You talk to the client, figure out what they need. Maybe come up with some rough ideas and then get these other designers to complete the work for you. In some cases, you may give these designers creative freedom to develop their own ideas based on the information you provide them. In other cases, you may dictate exactly what they should design. It will depend on the project and the capabilities of the designer. Once the freelance designer completes the work, you present it to the client. Saving you time. Farming out design work allows you to take on more projects with minimal time commitment on your part. A 10-hour design project may require only one or two hours of your time. Do this several times a week, and you can bill your clients for a full week's worth of work, even though you've put in less than a day's work yourself. Once a design project is complete, you pay the designer from the money you charged the client. The difference be

If you want to succeed as a designer, you must invest in yourself. Have you heard the quote, "it takes money to make money?" The same concept applies to growing your design business as well as improving yourself as a designer. If you don't invest in yourself, you'll become stagnant, outdated, and eventually overlooked. Clients hire graphic and web designers because they want fresh ideas and skillsets to implement them. These clients will quickly tire of someone if all they ever produce are the same old things. No business or person, for that matter, can do the same thing over and over and expect to succeed. Sure they may thrive in the short term. But if I were to hazard a guess, I would say you have long term goals for yourself and your business. The only way for you to achieve those goals is to invest in yourself. To prosper and be successful as a designer, as well as live a content life. You must make sure you are always moving forward. Think of yourself as a shark. Certain species of sharks must keep moving if they want to breathe. If they stop moving for any length of time, they'll die. Try to have a similar mentality as a shark. To flourish in this business of design, you can't sit still. Keep learning, improving, acquiring, and more. I graduated from college in 1992 from a three-year graphic design program. It was only during the second half of our third year that we were introduced to computers. That means most of my design education was done using archaic methods compared to today's standards. I learned how to use: Proportion wheels French curves blue non-repro pencils Rubylith or Amberlith Letraset rub-on type PMT cameras Waxers Xacto blades and the list goes on There's no way I could have built a successful design business and gotten to where I am today without investing in myself. The skills I learned in school just wouldn't cut it in today's world of design. Here are seven ways you can invest in yourself. 1) Invest in equipment I always say that creativity comes from the designer, not the tools he or she uses. Just like a skilled carpenter can still make beautiful furniture with old tools. But let's face it. The creativity may come from the designer, but having newer devices sure helps a lot. That's why it's worth investing in the equipment you use as much as possible. I hate spending money on new equipment, but when I do, I make sure I get the best bang for my buck. If that means paying more money upfront for a better option that will last longer, so be it. I'm a Mac guy. One of the most heard complaints about Macs is their price. But to me, it's worth the investment for the peace of mind of knowing my computer will run flawlessly for years to come. I used my previous 2010 iMac from the time I bought it new to 2017 when I upgraded it for a new model. That was a good investment. Of course, there's other equipment you need besides your computer. Purchase each one with the knowledge that it's an investment. And the idea behind investing is to get the best return for your dollar. 2) Invest in software and online resources The software you use to run your design business, as well as the online resources that support your business is all investments. Without them, you couldn't run your business or earn a living. Invest in things such as web hosting, plugins, fonts, graphic resources from sources like Design Cuts or Creative Market. Tools like Logo Package Express or Services for creating mockups are all essential for your success. Don't forget project/client management software, bookkeeping and invoicing software, and so much more. There are plenty of free options for you to run your design business. Gimp, for example, is a free design software alternative. But most designers choose to invest in tools such as Adobe CC because it makes their lives easier. TIP: If you think you are going to use a software or online service enough, and the option is available, I suggest you purchase a lifetime deal. It costs more upfront, but it pays off big time in the long run. 3) Invest in learning Remember what I said about my college days? The only way I got from then to now was by taking courses, watching tutorials, attending webinars and conferences, reading books, and any other way I could learn. Times are different now than they were even a few years ago. If you want to learn something new, you can usually find someone on YouTube teaching it. However, YouTube and other free online resources are no substitute for taking a course. I learned HTML and CSS by taking courses on the old Lynda.com (now LinkedIn Learning). I also tried to learn PHP that way, but my brain didn't grasp that one. Over the years, I've bought courses on Udemy, Skillshare, and many courses offered by private individuals or companies. The difference between a paid course and something you can find for free online is enormous. Both the quality and the content is so much better in most cases. Not to mention, the people behind paid courses want y