RegardingDesign

Get a Life

Starting your own business can be an all-consuming affair, especially in the first year when you've had so much to do to get up and running and then to keep up with that first influx of work. There were undoubtedly many nights and weekends devoted to your new baby, your business. In the process, there are friends who have gone uncontacted, books left unread, sock drawers left unsorted, and relatives who've had real babies.

Think back to the days when you left work at someone else's office at the end of the day or week. Did you have a hobby? What about that macrame class you've always wanted to take? That girl you met and never got around to asking out? That new coffee shop you still haven't tried? If you have some downtime, your best first step might be to look in the mirror and reacquaint yourself with the person you find there.

How to Keep Your Clients Honest

Always remember the cliché: "This isn't personal; it's business." This isn't offered as an excuse to treat your clients poorly or let them rough you up. It's just that business, even creative business, is conducted more effectively if you keep the relationship very professional. While you may become friendly with your clients, they are not your childhood pals. And even though a friend may become a client, when it comes to the work, treat them like a client first, and a pal only after the paperwork is done and the sign offs are completed.

Here are a few details you should get straight with your client -- and down on paper -- before you begin any project:

• Overall budget for the project
• Billing expectations, as in hourly or project basis
• Payment schedule
• Delivery schedule, as in what phases have to be complete and to whom by when
• Final deliverable -- are you expected to show concepts only or deliver production-quality files?
• Subcontractors -- are you using them, or expected to use your client's? If so, how will they be paid, and by whom, and how much, and is there a markup?

Turn Down the Volume to Turn Up the Pricing

When you become a freelancer, you won't be able to handle massive volumes of work. You can't take on everyone who knocks at your design door or every little project that comes along. The good news is that if you assign proper market value to your creative work, this will allow you to make the revenue you need and not nickel-and-dime yourself to the poorhouse or to freelance death.

If you lower the volume of the work that you are handling, you can pay more attention to the projects at hand and, naturally, the quality of each project goes up. The better the quality of your work, the more you can charge, so you'll have to do fewer projects to make the same amount.

This approach also bolsters the industry at the grassroots level. There is usually plenty of work to go around in any city or town if there's not one shop greedily gobbling up everything in sight, offering bargain basement prices, and turning out low-quality work that drags the value of the entire design industry down.

Take a Spot on the Couch for Some "Identity Therapy"

For a long time, I've had a particular way of getting the info I need from my clients to do the best work possible for them, but it lacked a few key points. So over the years, I've asked and borrowed and tweaked my process until it finally was far more useful than it had ever been. But… it wasn't fully ready yet. Then my good friend, and a client of mine, Jeni Herberger said something that caught my ear. "This was like therapy! You told me some things I didn't like and may not have wanted to hear but I came around. Yeah, it's therapy!"

And so came the name of the process: "Identity Therapy" it shall be!

My "Identity Therapy" process is simply my old trusty creative brief that I turned into a process and an actual product that the client takes active part in, and then ultimately owns and stands behind. Because of client buy-in and ownership, many traditional designer/client potholes are held to a more scientific method and less to the whims of either party, vastly reducing the traditional friction that comes with it all.

The tangible result of the "Identity Therapy" is an actual document of info that becomes the initial "brand story" and culture which many small start-up businesses never get because they come rushing in asking "Can you design me a logo?" Yeah, but I'd rather give you a full identity and brand. So in essence, it's a slimmed-down, candid, straightforward way to get the info I need to do my work, all while giving the client a seat at the table, holding them accountable in a gentle but honest way, and then rewarding them with the brand story that you built together.

Truth is, I developed this process working in corporate life to stop the ages-old tug-of-war over ownership of the creative process between the internal clients (other silos & departments) and the marketing/creative department. I kept refining it over years and years and started to call it "Identity Therapy" because clients really got into it and had a story to tell, so I'd just sit and listen.

Source: http://rdqlus.blogspot.com/2009/07/take-spot-on-rdqlus-couch-for-some.html

Save a tree: Print on something else

When we think of printers, we usually also think of paper. Or maybe the occasional apparel item. But there are many vendors that specialize in printing and producing promotional marketing goods. While many see this type of vendor as producing nothing more than trinkets, their offerings have grown to include a surprising range.

Sure, there are typical things such as pens, T-shirts, and key chains. But now you're just as likely to find custom-printed briefcases, sunglasses, banners, and even camping tents. You can print, embroider, etch, or apply vinyl to almost anything. Clients will appreciate your ability to think outside the box and provide a unique set of products featuring this logo.

Must have been an inside job.

“When I told my boss I was going to start freelancing for the parent company of the place I was working for, she said, ‘That’s not a problem. Why are you even telling me?’ I replied, ‘Because these situations can become a problem when people find out about it later, especially if I didn’t tell anyone.’ The point is to be sure to know the policies of the place you work for before you start freelancing. Some may not only allow freelancing, but might also let you use their equipment and send emails and conduct outside business during your lunch hour. But if they don’t, then you shouldn’t.” -Donovan Beery, Eleven19 Communications, Inc.

Many designers start their freelance careers while working as a staff person. Knowing the financial, personal, and creative risks inherent in leaping out into the void, you may be tempted to take on a project here and there and utilize the vast resources of your employer. After all, why make a trip to Kinko’s when there’s that great laser printer just down the hall? Well, if your employer catches you running out page after page of full, four-color printouts for some client that’s not on their roster, you might find yourself out on your butt and behind the counter at Kinko’s. Your boss, more than anyone, knows just how much time, energy, resources, and attention it takes to start your own freelance career – after all, he or she probably started that way themselves. While they might appreciate your need and desire to have creative outlets beyond the current client list, and they may think that letting you do the occasional freelance gig is a good way to keep you fresh and interested in that current client list, you have to always remember that until you leave the party, it’s a good idea to dance with the one who brought you there.

Going Solo Doesn’t Mean You Can’t be Part of a Team (a great habit from a good friend, Jeni Herberger)

“Isolation is not the most creative situation for an independent designer. If you look in the mirror and realize you haven’t taken a shower in a few days and can’t remember when you last missed the Ellen Degeneres show, it might be time to get out and work in a team environment for awhile.
 
When working solo, you don’t have the complexity of dealing with others, but you miss out on some of the collaborative coolness of being on a team.”
 
Here are a few ideas about how you can inject some teamwork into your freelance work:

• Introduce yourself to specialty shops that might need design help from time to time, such as interactive-only studios, or an agency that just landed a big client.
• Remember that larger agencies often need freelance help; build a relationship with a local firm and you may get not only steady work, but steady opportunities to go into an office with better equipment and interesting designers.
• Bring in another freelancer on one of your projects. Even if you simply buy a few hours of their time to give you feedback on your design concepts, you might come up with some invaluable inspiration.
• Create a monthly lunch or dinner or other outside-the-office events for yourself and other independent creatives. Have a topic to discuss, bring in a speaker, or just hang out and talk shop.

Making and Maintaining a Profit

So now you’ve won a few awards, got mentioned in a couple of publications, have some clients calling you back, and maybe even your Mom finally kind of understands what it is you do (even though she’s mostly just glad you moved out of the basement). You think you’re set up and going strong and the business side of things will take care of itself as the projects move in and out and the checks follow not far behind. Well, you’re wrong.
 
Whether you got into freelance work because you wanted more creative freedom or because you thought, “Why make a salary when I can make it all?” the truth is that now you have a business on your hands. And no matter how much it may seem you’re pulling in each month, there may be just as much or more going out the next month. Many businesses with lots of clients have failed not for lack of work, but for lack of financial understanding, planning, and accountability. Whether you want to keep your doors open for a week, a year, or a lifetime, you have to figure out how to put your company in the black and then keep it there.

Working with Vendors

Back when you worked at a large agency or studio, or even as part of an in-house team in a corporation, print and paper vendors were probably banging down your door, plying you with paper swatchbooks and cool promos along with donuts and free lunches – anything to get your attention and a piece of the bigger budgets you had back then. These people may have seemed sometimes like an interruption in your busy designing day, but if you think about it, they probably also gave you lots of ideas about new production techniques, environmentally friendly paper options, or new software for the web.
 
However, now you’re out on your own with only a few, small clients who don’t have budgets for all those new tools and tricks of the trade. And yet, you still want to be up on everything that’s possible out there. Now, instead of ignoring their calls or postponing meetings, you’re the one waiting to hear back from a vendor. Maybe you’re hoping for a bit of a favor so you can impress that new client, or you simply need a call back about a price quote they promised you for a project you emailed them about last week. Fortunately, there are many ways to keep your vendors happy and helpful even without a fat checkbook. Or a box of donuts.

Creativity on a Budget

Freelance designers offer potential clients the very real bonus of great creative work at affordable prices. Not only are freelancers likely to charge less for their own time than a head honcho at a large firm, but they have lower overhead and less expenses to cover. This is not an excuse for freelancers to offer budget-basement prices and thereby drive down the value for top-level creative work. But, your clients will expect a one or two person shop, just starting out, without a fancy office, to be a little hungry and a little less expensive than the guy with the receptionist and tassel loafers.
 
Here’s the rub with the clients you’re likely to attract when you first start out: not only do they want to pay you a little less, they also have a little less to spend on materials and production. This presents an opportunity not for you to hone your begging skills as you try to convince them that they really do need eight colors and specialty varnishes for their first brochure, or that they should commission Mariah Carey to sing a special song at their sales meeting, but for you to find interesting ways to create bigger impact with fewer dollars. Do this a few times, help them become more successful, and as their budgets grow, they’ll reward your being there for them when they were just starting out.