Wouldn't it be nice if you could spend more time designing and less time worrying about your design business? Resourceful Designer offers tips, tricks and resources for freelancers in order to help streamline your graphic design and web design business so you can get back to what you do best... Designing! Let me know what topics you would like me to cover by emailing feedback@resourcefuldesigner.com

Resourceful Designer: Strategies for running a graphic design business

Here’s some valuable advice to help make you a more productive graphic or web designer. Stop wasting time on time management. I’ve been in the graphic design space for over 30 years. I’ve been running my own home-based design business since 2005. And I’ve been publishing the Resourceful Designer podcast since 2015. In all that time, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to many designers. Be it graphic designers, web designers, UI and UX Designers. I’ve spoken with generalists and specialists, such as those focusing on specific niches. I’ve talked to design strategists, consultants, directors, and even design influencers. Two answers come out on top whenever asked what their biggest struggle is. Finding new clients. And Time Management. It’s that latter one I want to talk to you about today. What is Time Management? According to <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/time-management" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dictionary.com</a>, time management is the analysis of how working hours are spent and the prioritization of tasks to maximize personal efficiency in the workplace. Sounds simple enough. You analyze how you spend your time and then prioritize what you need to do to maximize efficiency. But if time management is that simple, why do so many people struggle with it? I mean, if time management were so easy, there wouldn’t be thousands of different “solutions” addressing it. A search on Amazon returns over 70,000 books covering the subject. YouTube has over half a million videos on Time Management. And Google has over 80 million search results. Time Management is such a popular topic because EVERYONE has problems with it. Let me share a revelation with you today. Time is impossible to manage. Contrary to confusing movies such as Tenet. Time moves in one direction at a steady pace. So you’re not trying to manage time. You’re trying to manage how you go about your day while time continues at its own pace, totally ignorant of your plight. If you’re looking at your fellow designers and thinking, “They seem so organized. I don’t know how they do it.” I’ll let you in on a little secret. They’re thinking the same thing about you. Everybody wants tips, tricks and techniques to be able to get more things done. To do things faster, to be more productive, more efficient and to work better. But the truth is that stressing over these things makes you slower, less productive, and less efficient and impedes your work. In my opinion, the only people who succeed with Time Management, and I don’t mean succeed AT time management, but WITH time management, are those with something to gain from it, which means the authors of all those books on Amazon. The creators of those YouTube videos. And the writers of all the articles found through Google. It’s what they say. If you want to make money, find a solution to a widespread problem. That’s what these people are doing—offering a solution in order to make money. But are they addressing the problem? I doubt it. Because if they did, then time management wouldn’t be such a prevalent issue. And you know what? I guarantee you that the people who created these time management assets still struggle with time management. It’s inevitable. Why is that? It’s because of this little thing called LIFE. I’m sure you’ve experienced it. It’s like the military saying, “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” Similarly, no time management plan can survive contact with life. You can have the best laid-out plan. You have everything organized and scheduled down to the millisecond. And it all goes out the window when “life” happens. <ul> <li>You’re kid’s school calls because they’re feeling sick.</li> <li>You get a flat time on the way to a meeting.</li> <li>A storm knocks out your power.</li> <li>Your dog gets sprayed by a skunk.</li> <li>Your magic mouse dies in the middle of the day, and you can’t work while it’s charging. Why Apple, Why?</li> </ul> Life has a way of interfering with your best plans. So you just have to learn to live with it. What to do about Time Management? So far, I’ve been pretty bleak. I haven’t been very helpful if you started reading this because you’re struggling with time management and were hoping for a solution. So let me talk a little bit about your options. First, there is no one solution to getting the most out of your time. Again, if there were, then time management wouldn’t be an issue for most people. Every individual is different. And that includes you. You learn differently. You process information differently. You go about completing Your tasks differently than anyone else. That’s why there’s no Time Management system you can shoehorn to fit everyone. You have to figure out what works best for you, and the solution that ends up working for you may come from many different time management options. And believe me, ...

Stop Wasting Time On Time Management - RD302

Before I start, let me preface this by saying I am not an expert in AI-Generated Art. These platforms are still in their infancy, and nobody knows what the future holds for them or their effect on the graphic design industry, but I doubt they’ll ever replace graphic designers. I’ve experimented with various platforms, read articles, and watched videos. I’ve seen both sites of the debate argued. Some people don’t see AI-Art as a threat to our industry, while others are all doom and gloom, saying designers should start applying to work at McDonald’s as flipping burgers will soon become more lucrative than designing things. I don’t see AI-Generated art as a threat to the <a href="https://www.resourcefuldesigner.com/whats-holding-you-back-from-starting-a-graphic-design-business-rd171/"> graphic design</a> industry. And I’ll get to why in a bit. However, I’m not so sure about artists and illustrators. If that’s your profession, I suggest you pay close attention to how AI-generated art matures, as it will affect those creative people much more than it will designers. As I said, I’m no expert here. And these AI Art Generators are evolving fast. So what I say today may change soon. Who knows? I also haven’t tried all the various platforms nor used the ones I have tried to their fullest potential. So some of what I say today may be wrong. If that’s the case, if you know something I don’t, please reach out to me at feedback@resourcefuldesigner.com. I would love to be educated more on the subject. First, a story. Before I begin my discussion on AI-Generated Artwork, I want to tell you a story that will help put my beliefs into perspective. I entered the three-year Graphic Design program at my local college in 1989. The first two years were spent learning and applying design principles to our projects. We learnt things like design history, colour theory, using grids, layout hierarchy, typography and more. And we were taught the different tools of the trade, most of which are no longer in use and are considered archaic by today’s standards. It wasn’t until our third year, once we were familiar and comfortable with what <a href="https://www.resourcefuldesigner.com/many-hats-home-based-graphic-designer-rd038/"> being a graphic designer</a> was, that we were granted access to the computer lab. Computers were still new to the industry back then, and very few design agencies used them. When I started working at the print shop after graduation, the first two years of my employment were spent designing everything by hand before I convinced the owner to invest in Macintosh computers. I don’t remember what year it was, but during school, a few of my classmates and I made a trip to Toronto for a graphic design trade show. It was the largest show of its kind in Canada and the third largest in North America. All the big names were there, including Adobe, Quark, and Microsoft, to name a few. I remember overhearing a conversation between two design agency owners at a demonstration put on by Adobe. They were talking about the introduction of computers to the design industry. Both were concerned that computers would harm the design industry by minimizing what they considered a particular skill set, that of a graphic designer. To them, computers took the “Art” out of being a “Graphic Artist.” With today’s mindset, It’s kind of crazy to think that back then, design agency owners thought computers would harm our industry. You can easily argue that computers have made the industry better. Having lived through that period, I can tell you that even though computers didn’t harm our industry, they did change it. Drastically, in fact. QuarkXpress, Photoshop and Illustrator replaced the standard tools of the trade, such as wax machines, no-repro blu pencils and Letraset rub-on type. And I know a few designers who left the profession because they couldn’t grasp the use of computers. So computers were introduced, the industry evolved, and the graphic design industry persevered. Microsoft Publisher Fast forward a few years, and personal computers are becoming more popular, with Windows-based machines outselling Apple. And Microsoft released a program called Microsoft Publisher that introduced an affordable means for anyone with a computer to “design” their material. Quark and Adobe software costs thousands of dollars which weren’t feasible for most people. But Microsoft made Publisher affordable. And what do you think happened? The graphic design industry started to panic. With “design” software now available to the masses, designers would lose their jobs. But you know what? Microsoft Publisher was introduced, and some people changed their thinking about design, yet the graphic design industry persevered. WordPress. Around that same time, an innovation emerged called the World Wide Web. Businesses started embracing the idea of hav...

Why AI Generated Art Won't Replace Graphic Designers - RD308

Contrary to popular belief, print is not dead. There was a time, not long ago, when graphic designers designed almost entirely for print. Sure there were trade show booths and vehicle graphics, but in their way, those are print as well. As the internet became more and more popular, <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/whats-holding-you-back-from-starting-a-graphic-design-business-rd171/"> graphic designers</a> started to encroach on a turf that was mostly populated by computer programmers. And before you knew it, a whole new industry was born–Web design. <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/offering-website-maintenance-for-extra-income-rd216/"> Offering website</a> design allowed graphic designers to help clients on two fronts—both digital design and print design. But as time moved along and the world moved closer to being a "paperless society" (it still hasn't reached what people predicted), more and more designers shifted away from print design to concentrate more on the digital side of the design industry. Nowadays, it's common to find designers who only design websites. And there's nothing wrong with that. But contrary to popular belief, print is not dead. There is still a vast market out there for printed design. In fact, it's become even more critical in today's world. With the popularity of websites, <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/use-landing-pages-to-attract-new-design-clients-rd075/"> landing pages</a>, social media, online advertising and everything else digital, printed material is still a very viable form of marketing. You can almost say that printed marketing can help a business stand out from its digital competition. Not to mention, print can be a very lucrative part of your design business. Not only are you paid for your <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/dont-put-design-work-one-basket-rd039/"> design work</a>. But you can also earn a commission on the cost of the print run if you <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/episode49">offer print brokering as a service</a>. Sometimes, those print commissions can make you more than what you charge for the design itself. You might charge a client $1,000 to design a brochure and then earn an additional $2,000 commission if the client opts for a large print run. Print can play a good <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/definitive-guide-to-starting-a-home-based-design-business-part-1-rd204/"> part in rounding out your design business</a>. Here are five reasons why you should offer print design. 1) Print is effective. People are bombarded every day with digital advertising to the point where they become blind to it. If you checked your social media accounts today, you were probably exposed to a minimum of a dozen ads. Can you name a single one of them? Digital ads, although effective, are also considered digital noise by most people and can easily be lost among the other pixels on the screen. Printed material, however, stands out. People trust print. The low cost of digital advertising allows anyone to start with minimal risk. Print, on the other hand, requires more significant thought and more investment. So when someone sees a printed marketing piece, they tend to trust it more than a digital equivalent. Tests run by <a href="https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/channels-customers-trust-most-when-purchasing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MarketingSherpa</a> show 82% of people trust print ads over digital ads when it comes to making a purchasing decision. In addition to the trust factor, print regularly outperforms digital when marketing to a local audience. Posters, yard signs, banners, vehicle graphics are great ways to present your message out to a local audience. This is evident during election campaigns. But even outside of elections, print is an excellent way to reach your target audience. A printed brochure captures a person's attention in a way that a website can't. Studies have also proven that it's easier to recall information seen in print form than when viewed digitally. So if you're <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/focus-locally-to-find-local-design-clients-rd222/"> designing for local clients</a>, why not include print design as part of your services. Your clients will see you as someone who does it all, print and digital. Plus, you could use print to <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/12-inexpensive-or-free-ways-to-promote-your-design-business-rd122/"> promote your design business</a> and stand out from your competition. 2) Print brings in big profits. As mentioned above, you can make extra money by offering print brokering as a service. But even if you don't, designing for print provides excellent income opportunities for designers. There's a particular belief among the public that most graphic designers offer both print and web services, but web...

Print Is Not Dead - RD228

How are you going to take your design business to the next level? “What got you here won’t get you there.” I’ve heard this phrase a few times over the past couple of weeks, and it got me thinking about my life, my design career and my business. This is not about Marshall Goldsmith’s book of the same title. Although I hear it’s a great book. It’s about the phrase itself and how it applies to you and your design business. At its core, “What got you here won’t get you there” is such a simple statement, and yet it holds so much truth. You can only get so far in life if you stick with the status quo. To advance and grow further, you need to expand yourself and do things you’ve never done before. Otherwise, you’ll never be more successful than you are right now. Are you ok with that? To never be more successful than you are right now? I know I’m not. Thinking back over my career, I can pinpoint specific times when pushing myself, learning new things, or just taking a leap propelled me to bigger and better things. I started working in the design department of a commercial printer straight out of college. I was one of several designers, all of which had attended the same design program I had, but graduated many years before me. Most had been working at that printer ever since. Being the new guy, I was at the bottom of the hierarchy. My education had gotten me where I was, but it alone wouldn’t propel me any further. That was up to me. While the other designers were satisfied grinding away, day after day doing the same work, I wasn’t. I didn’t want to be doing the same thing day in day out. And without even realizing it, I started following the “what got you here won’t get you there” principal. I read books, subscribed to magazines, attended conferences and training seminars—all to better myself. Soon, the “new guy” was teaching all the veteran designers new ways to do things. As the years went by, I kept expanding my skills and my knowledge until I was the go-to person in the design department. But was I satisfied? No, I wanted more. In the early 90s, I heard about this new thing called the World Wide Web. It was amazing. It had these pages built by programmers that you could visit with a computer to get all kinds of information. An article I read in one of my design magazines said the World Wide Web was a new frontier for graphic designers, and I was keen to conquer it. My graphic design skills had gotten me to where I was, but they wouldn’t be enough for me to tackle this new avenue of design. I needed to learn how to design websites. At the start, computer programers ruled the WWW, but they made very clunky, and frankly ugly websites. Without realizing it, they were leaving the door wide open for graphic designers to build aesthetically pleasing websites that people preferred. Sites that not only easy to use but pleasant to look at and easy to use. I wanted to do that, but learning how to program would be a long and tedious road. Luckily there was this new software by Adobe called PageMill that allowed people like me to design websites without coding using a WYSIWYG interface. They later released Adobe SiteMill, then Adobe GoLive. I used these tools to build good looking websites. <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/10-things-i-wish-i-knew-before-starting-my-design-business-rd223/"> Before I knew</a> it, I started a side gig designing websites from home while still working at the print shop. It was the best of both worlds. I got to design print stuff during the day and web stuff in the evenings. However, my web <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/are-your-design-clients-happy-with-your-service/"> clients weren’t as happy</a>. They didn’t relish the idea of dealing with me at the print shop for their printed material and then waiting until evening to discuss their website. If I wanted to rectify this problem, I needed to make some changes. What got you here won’t get you there. I didn’t know how to be an entrepreneur. But I knew it’s what I needed to do if I wanted to take my career to the next level. So I left the print shop and started offering both print and web design under my own business. Now I’m not going to continue through my entire history. But suffice it to say, there are many times since starting my business that I needed to leap to “get me there.” At some point, I stopped creating “pretty websites” and started offering “strategic websites.” I stopped trying to do everything myself and began hiring freelancers and contractors to help with projects. This opened up a whole new world for me and allowed me to grow my business. I no longer had to turn down work I wasn’t capable of or comfortable doing. Instead, I could continue to offer excellent services to my clients by farming out those parts I couldn’t handle myself. I grew my team to include prog...

What Got You Here Won't Get You There - RD226

Are you creating systems to help your design business? Mike, a member of the <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/community">Resourceful Designer Community</a>, posted in the Community Slack group his frustrations with one of his clients. Mike built, manages and updates an eCommerce website for a client of his. His frustration is that every time his client wants a new product added to the site, he fails to provide Mike with all the necessary information, requiring Mike to contact the client, sometimes more than once, for the rest of the info. Mike’s situation reminded me of a similar one I had with a client several years ago. And how my frustrations forced me into creating systems to address the issue. Around 2010 a new client hired me to build an eCommerce website. This site would sell a wide and often unrelated assortment of products – everything from baseball bats, sunglasses, headphones, plastic shelf brackets, night lights and car seat warmers. And it was up to me to add every item to the site. After I launched the website, I quickly realized the process my client wanted was not going to work. He started calling me at all hours of the day and on weekends with new products to add even though I explicitly told him I work Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. And similar to Mike’s situation that I mentioned above, any time my client had a new product for me to list, I would have to fight with him until I had all the content I needed to add it to the site. I know this sounds like a toxic relationship. The only caveat was that even though I was charging my client by the hour, and you can imagine how the hours would add up, he never questioned my prices, and he paid his invoices on time. I was making good money, but this client was quickly becoming a pain to deal with. A few weeks after the site launched, I finally put my foot down, and I created some systems to save my sanity. The first thing I did was alter the way I charged him. Instead of billing for my time, I started charging him $50 for the first product and $30 for each subsequent product he sent me on a given day. This change immediately stopped the random emails and phone calls. To save money, my client started saving up products and submitting them to me in bulk. The second thing I did was to create an online submission form that contained fields for all the information I needed to add a product to the website. Things like product name, description, selling price, shipping costs, size, colours, attributes, variations, etc. I made most of the form fields mandatory, so my client couldn’t submit it until he had filled it out. In some cases, I included YES/NO radio buttons asking questions like, “Does this product come in different colours?” If my client chose YES, he would then have to fill out another field listing the colours. Finally, there was a way for him to attach product photos to the form. Putting these two systems in place is what turned a nightmare of a client into someone I enjoyed working with. Plus, once I implemented these systems, my client started taking me more seriously. Unfortunately, my client was not a very good business person, and his business failed, and we shut down the site after two years. But that project taught me the value of creating systems. Of course, there are other types of systems. I use all kinds these days. <ul> <li>Questionnaires</li> <li>Marketing and sales funnels</li> <li><a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/using-social-media-to-promote-your-design-business-rd178/"> Social media</a> strategy and calendars</li> <li>Even my daily work process and routine</li> </ul> All of these can be called systems. Not only do they make my job easier, but they drastically speed up my tasks, AND they make it very easy for me to delegate work to others. Creating systems for delegation. Systems are a great way to teach others how to do things the way you need them done. I have a system for preparing a new <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/securing-wordpress-websites-rd224/"> WordPress website</a> before I start designing it. It’s my step-by-step process for configuring the WordPress settings and installing and configuring the theme and plugins. I follow the same procedure on every website design I start. I also have a system for launching a site to make sure nothing is forgotten. Before a website goes live, I make sure to check off every item on my list. These two systems are the way I want things done. And because I have them set up as systems, I can easily pass off these duties to a <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/how-to-use-a-virtual-assistant-for-your-graphic-design-business/"> virtual assistant</a> and know that everything will be as I expect. I have a system for my podcast artwork clients. It’s a questionnaire, but it’s still a system I use to gather the inform...

Creating Systems - RD225

My strategy for securing WordPress websites. The internet is filled with unscrupulous people. Are you doing everything you can to ensure your clients’ portion of it is safe by securing their WordPress websites? I recently published a podcast episode and article on earning extra income by <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/episode216">offering website maintenance plans</a>. Part of that strategy is making sure the websites you manage are secure. I received many questions afterwards asking how I secure my clients’ WordPress websites. There are many ways and many tools available for securing a WordPress website. Here is the method that works for me. WordPress Security. Those two words, “WordPress Security” may sound intimidating to the uninitiated. Let me assure you they’re not. If I can learn how to do this, so can you. I’m not a programmer. I’m not even a developer. I’m just a WordPress user who figured out a security strategy that works for me. What is WordPress Security? WordPress security involves putting measures in place to decrease the chance of someone compromising a website. If you sell WordPress Security as part of your website maintenance plan, be sure to tell your clients there are no guarantees. If a skilled hacker is determined to gain access to a website, they will, and there’s not much you can do to prevent it. The purpose of Website security is to make it as difficult as possible for them, so they leave your site alone and go in search of an easier target. Most hacking attempts are easily preventable with a few simple measures. Here’s what I do. Securing Account Login. By default, every WordPress installation provides easy access for administrators to gain entry to a site through the URL domainname.com/wp-login.php. This default makes the WordPress login page the most attacked part of any website. So how do you secure the account login? Hide the backend I use <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/security">iThemes Security Pro</a> to hide the backend of every website and replace the login page with something else. If anyone tries entering the site via the /wp-login.php page, they’ll be taken to a 404 page not found page instead. This is more of security by obscurity, and is not a very strong strategy, but if it helps prevent automated bots and such, then why not do it? iThemes Security Pro &gt; Security &gt; Settings &gt; Advanced &gt; Hide Backend Force the use of a strong password. The stronger the password, the harder it is to crack. Forcing a strong password makes it more difficult to gain access to a site. iThemes Security Pro allows me to force the use of strong passwords. New site users must enter a strong password to create their account, and existing site users are forced to update their weak password when they next log in. iThemes Security Pro &gt; Security &gt; Settings &gt; Password Requirements Prevent the use of compromised passwords. One of the main vulnerabilities of passwords is their reuse. Many people think up a good password, but then they use it everywhere. All it takes is for one database breach containing their user name and password, and a hacker can gain access to wherever the two are used in combination. iThemes Security Pro connects to the <a href="https://haveibeenpwned.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">haveibeenpwned</a> API and refuses any compromised passwords. As part of this prevention method, I recommend all my clients use a Password Manager such as <a href="http://1password.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1Password</a> to create strong, unique passwords for every site they visit. iThemes Security Pro &gt; Security &gt; Settings &gt; Password Requirements Limit Login Attempts. Even a strong password may be guessed if given enough time. So as an extra measure, I turn on Brute Force Protection in iThemes Security Pro to prevent the number of failed login attempts. I have it set so that three failed login attempts will lock a user out of the site for 15 minutes. After their third lockout, it bans the IP address from even viewing the website. iThemes Security Pro &gt; Security &gt; Settings &gt; Local Brute Force Protection Two-Factor Authentication. Two-Factor Authentication, sometimes called 2FA, adds an extra step to the login process. The way it works is after entering a username and password; users must enter a temporary six-digit code to gain access to the site. This code can be obtained from a predetermined list, one that’s emailed to the user, or, my preferred method, using an App on a smartphone such as <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.authenticator2&amp;hl=en_CA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google Authenticator</a>. Google Authenticator generates a new unique code every...

Securing WordPress Websites - RD224

Find local design clients to grow your business. If you want to grow your design business, your best chance is to find local design clients to work with. After all, it’s much easier to find a client among the people who know you. Of course, as your design business grows, you’ll want to expand your reach and acquire clients farther and farther away until you have a global range, that’s the dream. But never forget where you started, because, in a pinch, your local client market is where you’ll find the most help and the most work. When I first started my design business, all of my clients were within 20 kilometres from me. As my business grew, so did the radius of my client base. 20 kb became 100 km, then 200 km and soon it was all of Canada. Then I started acquiring clients across the USA. Now, I work with people around the globe. But even with that wide-spanning net of clients, my closest connections and best <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/building-relationships-with-your-graphic-design-clients-rd020/"> relationships are with my local design clients</a> in my area. And I’m not alone. Ask any successful designer, and they’ll tell you there’s something special about working with local clients. For one thing, it’s easier. When working with distant clients, there’s so much you need to learn about them and their environment. <ul> <li>Where are they located?</li> <li>Where are their target market located?</li> <li>What’s their local environment like?</li> <li>What’s their local competition like?</li> <li>And so forth.</li> </ul> But with local design clients, you have the inside scoop. There’s a good chance you’re already familiar with where the client is located. If not, it’s easy for you to become familiar. You know the local environment. You know or can quickly determine their competition. All of this “inside knowledge” of your local area gives you an advantage over designers from outside your local area. Plus, you can sit down and talk face-to-face with local design clients, which can only deepen that oh-so-important designer-client relationship. From a local client’s perspective, I’m sure they would prefer to work with a local designer rather than someone they can only interact with over the phone or the internet. Not to mention, most people feel good when they support local businesses. Focusing locally is more important now than ever. It’s now more important than ever to embrace a Shop Local mentality. COVID-19 has taken its toll on businesses everywhere. I’m sure your local economy took a hit. Nobody knows how long this will go on, but as companies start opening up again, it’s essential to support them however you can. Those business clients think the same way. If they need the help of a graphic or web designer, their first thought will be to focus locally for someone before looking elsewhere. That designer should be you. Make it easier for local design clients to find you. Here are some tips to help you get noticed in your local area. 1) Your marketing should have a local presence. Make sure your website prominently displays your address. <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/use-landing-pages-to-attract-new-design-clients-rd075/"> Clients searching locally for a designer</a> will look for your address to confirm you’re local. Clients who are not searching locally won’t care what your address is and won’t bother looking at it. Carry business cards with you everywhere you go and leave one or two behind at opportune moments. 2) Join local organizations. Organizations such as your local <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/episode141">Chamber of Commerce</a> and other business groups are great ways to spread the word about your design services. You can also get involved with local charities. Join their board of directors to committees. Your child school might have a parent committee you can join as well. <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/episode191">Business networking groups</a> are another excellent opportunity to get your name out there. Remember, It’s not who you know, but who knows you. 3) Submit your business to local directories. A great way to be discovered is to be listed in as many local directors as possible. Local municipalities, chamber of commerce, business groups, newspapers, etc. often host directories of local businesses. Find out how your business can be included. Make sure you are listed in Google My Business so you can be found in local online searches. 4) Do local SEO You know the importance of SEO. However, not everyone knows the importance of local SEO. Local SEO requires a different strategy to ensure you’re not only found by local searchers but that you show up as close to the top as possible. 5) Pay for locally targetted ads. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google all offer a way to targ...

Focus Locally To Find Local Design Clients - RD222

If only I knew these things before starting my design business. You know that saying, hindsight is 20/20? It means that it’s always easier to see things when you’re looking back than when you’re looking forward. Before I decided to leave the print shop where I worked as a graphic designer to start my graphic and web design business in 2006, I had a preconceived notion of what to expect. Some of what I imagined turned out to be accurate and some of what I believed was way off. For example, I imagined how much I would love running my own business, spending my days designing beautiful things for great clients. It turns out I love it even more than I anticipated. However, I do spend a lot less time designing than I thought I would. I didn’t know many designers in 2006 who were running their own business. There were a few who used the print shop I worked at for their client’s print work. But they were more of what I call <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/5-things-to-consider-before-you-become-a-freelance-designer/"> freelance designers</a>. Meaning, they had other sources of income and did design as a side-gig. So there was nobody for me to emulate. I did have one friend, Jason, with a <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/3cs-successful-design-business/">successful design business</a> in Toronto. I talked to him quite a bit before deciding to go it on my own. But even with those conversations, there was still a lot I didn’t know or wasn’t expecting when I did eventually jump ship. So here are ten things I wish someone had told me before I started my design business. 1) You don’t need a lot of clients to run a successful design business. Before starting my design business, I thought I would need 50 to 100 clients for my new business to be sustainable. Boy, was I wrong. I quickly learned that a solo designer could make a good living with only a handful of clients. In fact, during the first two years of my business, I only had 11 or 12 clients. Clients come and go, but on any given basis, a dozen clients is a good number to aim for. More than that and you risk overloading yourself with work. 2) You’ll spend a lot of time on things other than design. Running your own business is a lot of work. And a lot of it is considered non-billable time. Things like invoicing and bookkeeping, keeping track of expenses and taxes, writing pitches, contracts and proposals. And so much more. I thought I would be spending my days in creative bliss, designing beautiful things for grateful clients. But there have been days when I’m too busy running my business to design anything. 3) You need to become a time management expert. When you work for someone else, they tell you when to take breaks, go for lunch, and call it quits at the end of the day. When you’re running your own design business, there’s nobody prodding you along but yourself. Learn to take breaks and find time to eat—set boundaries between your work and non-work life. Otherwise, you’ll burn yourself out by working days, evenings and weekends, and you’ll start to resent what you do. Running your own business means a flexible schedule, but you need to learn how to manage your time effectively. When you make your own schedule, you have the freedom to go to the grocery store on a Wednesday morning or to cut your day off early so you can bring your kids to their karate class or their soccer game. That’s the benefit of working for yourself. But you also need to be able to juggle multiple design projects with overlapping deadlines and clients who are not always on time delivering the content they promised you. Conquering time management is the only way to stay sane in this business. 4) The rejections and criticisms will never stop. Just because your the boss doesn’t mean clients won’t find fault with your work. But don’t worry, that’s a good thing. It doesn’t matter how long you do this work or how good you become. There will always be room for improvement. Clients will reject your proofs or decide not to work with you at all. I’ve been a designer for over 30 years, running my own business for half that time, and I still have clients turn me down or tell me they don’t like certain things I design. Learn to embrace failure, because there’s a lot of it when you’re on your own. The trick is to learn from them and <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/5-overlooked-opportunities-to-grow-your-design-business/"> grow as a designer and as a business</a> person. When the rejections stop is when you need to worry, because that means you’re either the best designer in the world and you’re way undercharging for your services. Or you’ve stopped putting yourself out there, and there are no more clients to complain. 5) Fake it until you make it. You can’t succeed in this design business if you’re timid or hesitant or if you come off as self-conscious about...

10 Things I Wish I knew Before Starting My Design Business - RD223

Uninterrupted time can help you become more productive. If you want a more productive design business, arrange your schedule to have periods of uninterrupted time. Time that is free of notifications and distractions, allowing you to focus all your energy on the task at hand. If you’re anything like me, you have a million things on your mind, and a good number of them are on <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/episode66">your to-do list</a>. But no matter how efficient you think you are, there are only so many hours in a day, and never enough time to get things done. But what if I told you there is a way to get more hours out of your day? Ok, not really. Nobody has come up with a way to slow down or stop time yet. Or at least not that I know of. But there is a way for you to FEEL like you have more time and for you to be more productive. The trick is uninterrupted time. That means no distractions, a span where you focus 100% of your mental and creative energy on the task at hand. Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like you accomplished so much? Chances are, you felt that way because you were less distracted that day. One hour of uninterrupted time is equal to three hours of a regular workday, so it’s no wonder you felt like you accomplished so much. How can one hour of uninterrupted time equal three hours of regular time? Let me explain. The <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1240624.1240730" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Illinois and Microsoft did a joint study</a> on the impact of disruptions on the workforce and recovery time after those disruptions. They tested a pool of workers, monitoring their work habits and how they were affected by typical, everyday distractions such as email notifications, text messages, <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/using-social-media-to-promote-your-design-business-rd178/"> social media</a> DMs and phone calls. They deduced that the average worker takes nine munites to return to a task after an interruption. NINE MINUTES. They’re not saying that it takes nine minutes to reply to an email or a DM. But that most people, when distracted, will take a bit of extra time before getting back to the task they were distracted from. Replying to a Facebook Message may only take a few seconds. But while distracted from their primary task, they might as well check to see if anyone liked or commented on their most recent post. Or after replying to a text message, they may as well see if any new emails came arrived. Or they may decide to take the time to refill their coffee before getting back on track. So, on average, simple distractions like a social media DM can take you away from your primary task for up to nine minutes. And that’s just time away from the task. There was a study a while back that said it takes roughly 10-20 minutes of working on something to become entirely focused on the job. You may be thinking, “I don’t take nine minutes to get back to a task after a distraction.” The test subjects in the Microsoft and University of Illinois study thought the same thing. However, when interviewed after the study, almost every one of them was surprised by how long their distractions lasted. Most of them thought they were away from their primary task for only a minute or two, when in fact, they were away from it for three to five times longer than they thought. Even if you ignore your notifications, leaving them for later, they’re still a distraction. If you don’t click, the distraction still breaks your focus and interrupts your work. Which means it will take longer to complete that task. A <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/communication-multitasking-switches/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study on people’s work habits</a> conducted by <a href="https://www.rescuetime.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">RescueTime</a> said the average person couldn’t go six minutes without checking some sort of communication platform. Once you add in other forms of distractions and 40% of people, never get more than 30 minutes of uninterrupted work time per day. How does this apply to your design business? We live in a world of communication overload. I’m sure that like me, you’re bombarded with messages and notifications every day. But what you need to remember is that You Are In Control. You have the power to turn your distracting notifications off. You’ve probably heard about successful business people getting up at five or six in the morning to get an early start on their day. They often say it’s the most productive time for them. The reason is there are no distractions during that time since most people are still asleep. If you’re a morning person, you may want to try starting work early. Work from 6 am to 9 am and then take a break for a couple of hours to take care of all the emails, t...

The Power of Uninterrupted Time - RD221

Do you vet potential new design clients? How do you know that you’re the right designer for a project? Or maybe the question should be, how do you know a potential new design client is right for you? In the past, I’ve covered what to ask during a <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/episode120">discovery session</a>, <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/episode15">50 questions to ask every new design client, </a>and <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/episode189">four vital questions</a> to ask your design clients about their projects. Almost all of the questions covered in those episodes are for building relationships with your clients after you’ve decided to work with them. But I don’t think I’ve ever talked about that first contact with a potential new client before. First contact. The first contact refers to those times your phone rings with an unknown number, or emails you receive from unknown people or the conversations that start when someone finds out you’re a designer. How do you determine during those initial first few minutes of contact if this potential new client is someone worth investing your time and energy? Because as a designer, you will hear from people who you don’t want anything to do with. So what do you do? You conduct a quick, impromptu interview. First contact questions. Here are some questions I like to ask before getting too deep into a conversation. If I’m not satisfied with the answers, I politely end things before I waste too much of my valuable time. 1) What can I help you with? Cut to the chase. There’s no reason to have a conversation with someone if you cannot help them. The first thing you should do is ask the client what it is they need your help with. Many people <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/episode2">don’t know what graphic or web designers do</a>. In the past, I’ve had people ask me if I could redesign their restaurant’s floor plan, create blueprints of their new building, develop software or apps for them, design 3D prototypes in C.A.D. and many more things I’m not capable of doing. So before wasting your time, find out if this person does indeed require your skillset. 2) How do you expect me to help? Once you’ve determined the client can benefit from your skillset, the next step is to find out what they expect from working with a designer and if it’s worth your time. Some clients are not looking for your design or creative skills. They’re looking for a person who can take the idea they already have and recreate it on paper or pixels. Some designers don’t mind that kind of mindless work, but I don’t. If the conversation starts with “I know exactly what I want, but I need someone to do it for me.” then there’s <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/ending-relationships-with-your-graphic-design-clients-rd021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">little chance I’ll end up working with that client</a>. I went into <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/building-client-loyalty-for-your-design-business-rd156/"> business for myself so that I can work WITH clients</a>, not FOR clients. Now I understand that you may not be in a position to turn down work. If that’s the case, I suggest trying to turn the conversation towards how you can offer more to the client than being a simple instruction follower. 3) Is there a deadline for your project? To grow and prosper in this field of design, you must form relationships with your clients, which is difficult if you’re working on a tight deadline. For <a href="https://resourcefuldesigner.com/getting-new-work-from-existing-clients-rd072/"> existing clients</a>, it’s not as big a deal since you already know them. But the first time you work with a new client, you should take the time to get to know them, their business and how best to assist them. Of course, deadlines are subjective. A two-month period for a small website project allows ample time for relationship building. However, if they say they need their site launched by next Wednesday, I suggest you pass. Regardless of how simple it sounds, if they’re that rushed and under pressure, that stress will be passed on to you. Determine if the deadline is a constraint you’re comfortable working within. 4) What’s your position regarding this project? I ask this question because I want to know if the person contacting me is the one I’ll be dealing with for the project. I’ve agreed to too many projects in the past only to find out later the person I thought I was working with turned out to be a middle person, and once the project started, I was dealing with someone different. I don’t like is to find out after I’m hired that the person that I talked to is now out of the picture, and I’m left dealing with someone else that I haven’t vetted. If I’m going to be working with the Owner, CEO, Chairman or whoever, I want to k...

First Contact: Interviewing New Design Clients - RD227

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