Brought to you by Ilise Benun and the Creative Freelancer Conference
August 27-29, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago
www.CreativeFreelancerConference.com

1. Look Closely and You’ll Find Your Market
When building your market, don’t start from scratch if you can avoid it. The foundation of your business should be rooted strongly in something you know well and in which you already have some expertise. Even if you’re just starting out, you’ve got a history. Past employment experience, a recent pro bono or side project, or even a hobby can be used as a diving board.

If you’re making the transition from corporate work, it’s important to build on that investment, even if you are sick of the field you are coming from. It will be much easier to leverage the relationships and the knowledge you already have than trying to do everything at once. Starting a business and approaching a new market simultaneously is double the work. Once you have a business under way, then you can move toward new markets.

2. Cherry Picking The Best Prospects
One of the benefits of being a freelancer is that you don’t need hundreds of clients. You can afford to target your market very specifically. If your market is non-profit organizations, you don’t have to reach out to thousands of them. Instead, you can choose the ten or twenty-five or fifty you want to work with and pursue only them.

Always keep your eyes open for the choice prospects whose names you come across online and in magazine articles. Then, take a moment to write them a letter, send them an e-mail or just pick up the phone and call to introduce yourself. This is a cold call, yes, but what makes this kind of cold call instantly warm is your genuine interest in this company.

Plus, it’s very flattering to your prospect to hear that you are calling because you have chosen them based on what you’ve seen and what you have to offer. If there really is a fit that you can describe clearly, they just might agree to meet with you. And that may well develop into a lucrative and productive working relationship, either now or later.

3. How to Get Out of a Conversation
Some people have no trouble getting into conversations; it’s getting out of them that presents the problem. So if you don’t start conversations for fear of not being able to stop them, here are 3 strategies to experiment with:

• Get a refill. If there’s food or drink involved in the event, you can always say, “I think I need a refill.” Or you can smile and say, “Excuse me. I need another one of those Swedish meatballs.”
• Involve another person. Introduce another person into the conversation. Then say, “Excuse me while I let you two get to know each other.”
• Stand up. Sometimes you don’t have to say anything. Just stand up! Your conversation partner is likely to take the nonverbal cue.

4. How to rate your prospects
Not all prospects are equal. Some are better than others. Some are worth more effort than others. But how to keep track of it all when the phone is ringing and the email is piling up?

The first thing to determine a rating for each prospect. For example:
“C” = prospects with a casual interest
“B” = prospects with a qualified need and a possible project
“A” = qualified prospects with an actual project
“A+” = prospects who have given you a verbal commitment but haven’t yet signed on

Once you know where all your prospects stand on this scale, you can then determine the best way to contact each (and the proper frequency for each prospect). A creative solopreneur typically pursues a “C” opportunity three or four times in the course of one month. A “B” lead is worth a few more tries (and for a bit longer). While an “A” opportunity deserves more persistence for a longer period of time.

Be sensitive to each situation, and temper your persistence with your gut feeling. If the prospect in question travels a lot, or is an extremely busy executive, it’s unlikely she will drop what she’s doing when you call, but she still may want you to stay in touch.

5. What is Your Money Mentality?
Are you one of those freelancers who is detail-oriented about words or images, but fuzzy when it comes to money?

Do you know how much income you need to generate in order to pay your bills every month, or do you just cross your fingers and hope enough money comes in?

For many creative types, dealing with money is an obstacle to doing business. “I’m bad with numbers,” is a common refrain and, frankly, a common excuse used to neglect essential business tasks like billing.

One fundamental aspect of the financial end of running a design business is the mental attitude you bring to the process. Which of these statements is most familiar to you:

“I can’t stand dealing with money.”
or
“This financial thing is a challenge, but I’m going to learn it and make it work for me.”

How about these:

“I can’t afford to spend money on marketing.”
Or
“What do I need to do in order to afford the marketing I know I need to grow my business?”

It’s up to you. You can choose between an open or closed mentality. Open is better and will facilitate the growth of your business. With this positive mental attitude as a foundation, you can begin planning a business that will support you, your goals, and your future.

6. Why You Must Not Reveal Your Hourly Rate
In order to run a healthy and profitable business, you must know how long it takes you to do various tasks and projects. In essence, you must know your expenses, and time is a major expense. (That’s why it’s essential to track your time.)

However, your hourly rate is not your price.

It’s one of the building blocks of your price, so you need to know what it is, but use it only for internal purposes. Use your hourly rate to determine what to charge for a project, but never reveal that hourly rate in a proposal or in conversations with your client. Not only is it none of their business, it also wouldn’t mean anything to them. An hourly rate is only relevant in relation to how long a project takes, and they have no idea how long your design process takes. By talking about your hourly rate, you open the door to their assumptions.

So when a client asks you how long a project will take, never say, “This will take X hours.” The only thing they need to know about time is when they can expect to receive the deliverable.

Instead, you say, “Let me check what we have on the schedule, and I’ll get back to you with a time frame. In the meantime, let me know your deadline and I will do my best to accommodate it.”

7. Use Your Web Site to Weed Out Tire-Kickers
As a freelancer, you don’t have a lot of time to spare. So you don’t want to waste your time with prospects who can’t afford you. But how do you know that before talking to them?

Your web site can serve as a filter.

Post a form on your web site that prospects fill out if they want an estimate or proposal. The serious prospects will take the time to fill out your form. Tire-kickers and those shopping for price will not.

The form, once filled out, also will give structure to the request, help to focus your potential client and put in one place all (or most) of the information you need to get started preparing a proposal.

Beyond that, this structure also gives your prospect a sense of how you work and some of the requirements of working with you. It’s part of your positioning as a professional.

Here are some of the questions you should include on your web site’s proposal request form:

• How did you hear of us?
• Briefly describe your company.
• What is your immediate need?
• Do you have a budget?
• What is your deadline?
• How and when is it best to contact you?

8. How to Deal With Scope Creep
Scope creep — when uncontrolled changes affect the scope of a project – can be the bane of a freelancer’s existence. If you don’t address it with a client, you easily could squander all your profit on a job.

Scope creep sets in when a project is not well-defined, well-planned or well-managed, or when there is a change in direction. If this happens early in a project, it may be a sign that you didn’t ask enough questions at the outset, or that you underestimated the project.

When this happens, above all, don’t procrastinate. The most important aspect of managing scope creep is communication. As soon as you see that a project is veering off course and that you will be spending more time or more money, you must advise your client immediately and decide together how to handle it.

If, for example, in a status meeting or phone call, it becomes obvious that what you are being asked to do is outside the scope of the project, say so right away: “That is outside the scope of the project as we outlined it in the proposal, so we’ll need to review that and possibly revise the pricing. Are you aware of that?” Then, initiate a “change order” to document the changes.

It’s also a good idea to include a reference to scope creep in your contract so there are no surprises. A simple paragraph that outlines the process if scope creep starts to happen will plant the necessary seed so that you can bring it up much more easily later.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

HOW magazine is teaming with creative-industry consulting firm Marketing Mentor to present the first and only business conference for self-employed creative professionals, the Creative Freelancer Conference, August 27-29, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

The event is expected to draw several hundred solopreneurs from a variety of creative disciplines—graphic designers, copywriters, illustrators and photographers, as well as solo practitioners of interactive, interior and industrial design.

“Anyone who makes a living selling creative services on a freelance basis (or would like to) will benefit,” said HOW editor Bryn Mooth. “The business challenges we’ll address are not unique to designers, but they are unique to creatives who are flying solo.”

Those challenges will be addressed by a panel of creative-business experts, including Marketing Mentor co-founders Ilise Benun and Peleg Top. They’ll share best practices for marketing and positioning, talking to clients about money, building client loyalty, crafting proposals and contracts, maintaining a work/life balance and other skills critical to freelance success.

The conference program also includes breakfast roundtables by topic, networking events and optional, one-on-one business reviews of attendee portfolios, proposals and marketing materials.

Online registration is now available at CreativeFreelancerConference.com. Attendees who register by July 15 will save $60 off the $495 registration fee. Groups of three or more will also receive the discounted rate.

Published since 1985, HOW is the creativity, business and technology magazine for graphic designers. It’s also the force behind the HOW Design Conference, the Mind Your Own Business Conference and the In-HOWse Designer Conference.

Marketing Mentor is a mentoring and consulting firm specializing in the creative industry. Founded by Ilise Benun and Peleg Top, their expertise lies in marketing and business development. Their mission is to help creative firms market their services, get their ideal clients and create the work/life balance they want.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

Postcards are a handy and often inexpensive way to get your name out there and stay in touch. You can use them for a variety of things such as a first contact vehicle, announcing a move or a new service. Some folks like to use them as a leave behind or a follow up after a meeting.

Back when I was on my own, I used a postcard campaign as an introduction to prospects I wanted to add to the ‘ole client roster. Mine were oversized – 8.5″ x 5.5″ and printed full color on one side and black & white on the reverse side. The campaign consisted of four postcards. I traded services with a local printer who I’ve worked with for several years. A barter deal like this might be just the ticket for you, too.

All I was trying to do with the postcards was gain some name recognition. To accomplish that, I played off the fact that folks are always screwing up my surname. So, with tongue in cheek, I got together with my main writer guy and we came up with the copy. By the way, I also traded services with him. Gotta love it!

I gathered up my prospect contact info and mailed out one card each week for four weeks. I timed the mailing so the prospects received them midweek. Mondays and Fridays are bad, since folks are getting over the weekend or looking forward to it. During the fifth week I made a phone call to follow up and ask for an appointment to see if there’s a good fit.

The trick here is to first pre-qualify the prospects as best you can. You’ll do more qualifying when you follow up. Next, keep the mailing small for this type of campaign. I did these in groups of 20 - 25. I learned that’s about the most I can handle at a time for the follow up calls. For this type of campaign, it’s important to remember that if you don’t follow up you’re potentially wasting your time and money.

This technique worked pretty well for me. I also asked folks if I can add them to my contact list for e-mailed news releases and little ditties I send out periodically like links to articles, useful sites I find, etc.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

Mathematics, physics, philosophy and psychology. Ah yes, the tools of the visual communication designer. No, you say? Perhaps you thought the tools are Photoshop, Illustrator and the likes. Think again. Sure, software has been a huge help. But, it’s a help in expressing our ideas, not generating them. At least it should be.

In her new book, Decoding Design: Understanding and using symbols in visual communication, author and designer, Maggie Macnab takes you on a journey of symbolism. She pulls back the veil over several logos and other designs to reveal the hidden meaning just below the surface. Meaning that may not be obvious at first, yet is often archetypical and resonates deep within our being.

When I first heard of the book, I figured it would be yet another, “Parade of logos,” promoting their superstar designers. On the up side, great for inspiration. On the downside, vehicles for yet more copycat designs. Not so. This is the stuff that should be the cornerstone for every design curriculum. For veterans, it reminds of why we may have chosen communication design as a profession and the power to have to influence our audiences on behalf of our clients.

Decoding Design isn’t just a lot of heady theory. There’s a lot of meat, but it’s not dried out. The chapters progress, one through ten, where Maggie explains the meaning and symbolism behind each number. She goes on to describe the forms and shapes the reflect its meaning and how it has been incorporated into various designs. I particularly enjoyed how she deconstructed several marks and pointed out how the underlying symbols are used. Macnab also shares her own and other designers thoughts and process about the logos and other designs within the pages.

Back in the day, designers enjoyed a seat in the Board Room. But, over the years, our profession’s standing has eroded. We often find ourselves competing with a client’s neighbor’s cousin’s kid with a copy of Creative Suite. Or it might be the Administrative Assistant with Microsoft Publisher. We’ve all been there. Decoding Design, and the concepts Maggie teaches, will greatly help you to explain and, when needed, defend your work. Plus, it will provide a roadmap for creating better design that is more than simple decoration. It’s ammunition for the thinking designer.

For more information, visit Maggie’s book site.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

Well, better late than never. We’re having a heck of a snow storm today and the phone and email have been ringing off the hook. Shhhh … Don’t tell Cat I’m late with my post, though. She’ll have my head.

Alas, I digress. On with some tips about tips.

You’re probably pretty good at what you do. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be in business very long. Along the way, you’ve likely picked up quite a bit of knowledge about your field, had some ups and downs, a few horror stories and [hopefully] many success stories.

Here’s an idea. Share your knowledge and wisdom. Consider putting together some special reports that teach your clients and prospects something, how to avoid common mistakes or get better results. I’ve written about this often, but I’m going to give you some additional ideas in this post.

Using education as a marketing tool is a great way for service professionals to position themselves as experts. So, where do you start? Glad you asked. Begin by grabbing a legal pad and pencil. Then simply jot down potential topic ideas. “How to …,” “10 tips for better …,” “How to avoid the top 5 mistakes in …” You get the idea. These don’t need to be perfect (ergo the pencil). Cross out or erase the losers and whittle your list down to what you believe are some winners … that you can follow through on.

Tips sheets are pretty easy as starters. Odds are, you’ve come across the same problems over and over in working with your clients. Bingo! You’ve got a tip. Start off by stating the problem. Maybe several of your clients have a hard time communicating their project goals. How about writing a tip sheet like, “5 tips for writing a killer project brief.” Short, sweet and to the point.

Next, simply write down what you ask your clients. What questions always come up? Maybe it’s “Establish your project goals,” “Defining your audience.” “Determine your schedule,” “Create your specifications,” and “Determine a workable budget.” Once you have your topics, toss in an example or two. Follow that up with how this helps move the project along on target. Voila! You’ve got a tip sheet. How easy was that?

After you’ve got several tips sheets put together, you can use them as the basis to draft a special report. Ooooo! “Special Report.” Sounds like it has a lot of authority, doesn’t it. Well, it should if you did your homework.

Okay … so now you’ve got tips and maybe a report or two. What do you do with them? Here’s a few ideas:

Use them as leave-behinds after a meeting. This goes for prospects and clients alike.

Send out a postcard promo and offer a tip sheet or report as a freebie. Simply put a line in there that says something like, “Call today to receive our special report, “How to use graphic design to win thousands in new business.” Next thing you know, prospects are calling you and a dialogue begins.

Offer them as complimentary downloads on your site. Ideally, have a vehicle in place to gather names and email addresses. A database function is ideal for this, but it can simply be a matter of having them email you to receive the material.

Submit them as articles to relevant sites. Be sure to include a link to your site. This will help build some additional link popularity.

Give them to your network of associates for them to distribute to their clients and prospects as a free gift or leave-behind.

When your making cold/warm calls, before you hang up ask them if you can send them a copy. Nine times out of ten, they’ll say, “Sure.”

Here’s a nifty idea to generate some additional revenue. Contact a reasonably large company that supplies something to your target audience. Get with the Marketing Director or Sales Director. Ask if they would like copies of your report to use as a free gift for their customers. Maybe dupe a CD or DVD with your report and sell it to the company for a fee. You get some dough and they get a great gift to give out. Quality information that can really help their customers is better than a pen, notepad or a mug any day of the week.

And there you have it.

Okay … maybe you aren’t exactly a Hemmingway. If that’s the case, consider hiring a ghost writer to either write the stuff for you or edit what you write. You might even be able to trade services. If you don’t know any writers, call or email me. We’ll talk.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

If you’ve followed the news, you know the economy here in the US is slowing down. The housing market is tanked, foreclosures are skyrocketing and the credit belt is tightening. As a matter of fact, I just read that foreclosures were up a whopping 79% in 2007 over 2006. Yikes! Plus this is an election year and that usually means companies cut back on marketing until they see who will be hanging out in the Oval Office for the next four years.

So, what does this mean to you and your business? It means a couple of things. First, if you haven’t been aggressively marketing your practice, you’re already behind the eight ball. Second, you’d better start educating your clients about what to do to help insure their success in a slow economy.

Research has shown, over and over, that the successful companies are the ones who maintain, or better increase, their marketing activities during slow times. Typically, one of the first things to be cut during a slump is marketing. So, while the competition is cutting back and losing market presence, the ones who step things up are the ones who increase their visibility. Plus, because of this increased visibility, they’re poised to be in a much better position when things start to recover. Often, they can overtake a top gun who cut their budget. This goes for both your clients and your practice.

But, for many indy designers, marketing dollars are already hard to come by. So, it’s time to used brains instead of bucks and savvy instead of spending.

Here’s a few ideas to help get you through the tough times.

1. Build your list
It’s always best to build your own list, rather than renting one. When you build your own, you do the research and learn a lot more about your prospects’ companies than just a name, addresses and maybe a phone number. When you know about your prospects, it’s easier to tailor your message to address common problems and challenges.

2. Use your list
This is a no-brainer, but if you don’t use your list, all that time building it was a waste. It’s always nice to mail out a snazzy 4-color piece or a slick promo package like the ones that grace the pages of HOW Magazine’s Self Promotion Annual. But, if times are slow, consider a well-written letter of introduction along with your business card. You can do the jazzy thing later when the wampum’s flowing in.

Be sure to follow up by phone. This is the critical area where lots of folks fail. Without follow up plan, even the cost of some paper and stamps are often squandered.

Another tactic is burning CDs with your promo instead of having it printed. It’s a bit more expensive than a simple letter, but, since you can create them on demand, it’s less than a printed piece.

3. Focus on industries less effected by a slow down
Think about what people are always going to need when things are slow. For instance, if you now focus on construction and housing, you might start promoting to the healthcare market. People are always going to need medical care.

4. Expand your horizons
If it’s looking like your local area may not be able to sustain you during a sluggish period, it’s time to start thinking about expanding regionally or even nationally.

Back in the day, I used to fly hither and yon for meetings, press checks and such. Now, via the Internet, I can work with remote client as easy as if they’re next door. Sometimes, it’s even easier.

5. Get some press
If you’re getting slow, consider using this time to put together your press kit. Send it out to your local media and also trade magazines within your niche.

Look for things that you can put a newsy spin on and write a release. Have you joined a committee for some community or nonprofit project? Offering any new services? Maybe you just completed a project that would make a good case study for an industry publication.

6. Get back in touch with former clients
Pick up the phone and renew some old connections. Maybe get together for lunch or just coffee. Learn what they’ve been up to. Find ways to keep in touch. How about an e-newsletter or occasionally emailing them some useful links to articles, sites and such? Become a resource.

7. Dialing for dollars
If you’re slow, you can do a few things – Play some mindless Solitaire, watch Oprah or pick up the phone. Cold/warm calling is a numbers game, but it’s still one of the quickest ways to nab some new business.

8. Get active
Join and get active in some community groups and/or business organizations. Get on a committee or two. Or, better yet, chair them. This will increase your visibility and get your name around. Working on committees also lets others see how you work.

9. Suggest project ideas to your clients
If you’re on top of your clients’ businesses, and you should be, find ideas that will help them out. Perhaps they have a new product or service that could use a brochure or news release. Maybe their site is stale and needs a lift.

10. Upsell at every opportunity
So, you’ve got a gig. Great. Maybe it’s a brochure for a new product. Could they also use an ad? Perhaps you’re doing a menu. Your client might also need table tents to feature the new entrees.

For instance, one of my clients called me in for some marketing consulting. We hashed some things around and I suggested news release about a particularly successful joint venture. I wrote the release. Upgrade number one. The release was picked up by a trade publication. It was my client’s first press mention. They were pleased as punch and it generated some inquiries from new prospects.

On the heels of that success, I suggested they do a press kit and shoot it off to their [small] media list. Upgrade number two. We sent out the kit to the six editors on their list. That resulted in two feature stories and one invitation for my client to submit a feature. Guess who writes that? Upgrade number three.

The feature stories resulted in several new inquires and customers. The new customers included companies in Asia – an entirely new market for them.

When you’re upselling, though, it’s important to keep in mind sound ethics. Don’t try to sell them something that they don’t need and won’t help them. You might get the gig but lose the client when it fails.

So, at the end of the day, or better, at the beginning, think of ways to maximize your marketing efforts without breaking the bank. Zig when your competition zags. Get visible. When the economic turnaround happens, you’ll be positioned to reel in the big fish.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

Many designers think they have decent positioning in the minds of their clients and prospects, but in reality, it’s often a first cousin to “me too” marketing. When everybody’s saying the same thing, they’re ultimately saying nothing. That makes it pretty tough for you to stand out in the crowd.

Think about how often you hear things like, “We’ll do it faster, cheaper, yada, yada, yada.” What happens with that kind of message? You run the risk of working yourself to death for little money. That would be bad. You also run the risk of being confused with the other guy or gal who’s wooing your prospect, too.

The big idea here is to find a way to zig when your competitors are zagging. Sit down and give some serious thought to what makes you different … really different. The truth be told, anybody with a computer some software can call themselves a designer. The competition is stiff and it’s not going away.

What value do you bring to the table? Maybe it’s your experience and insight in a particular industry such as healthcare, or or service like designing annual reports. Clients and prospects are reassured when they know the person they’re working with has done this before and knows the ins and outs. Perhaps you have a peachy process that make working with you a snap and totally on target. When you bring real value to the client relationship, it goes a long way to justifying higher fees.

When you can distill down what you really sell … the benefits … you’re well on your way to crafting a value proposition and positioning statement that really sets you apart from everyone else out there.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

Marketing Mentors, Ilise Benun and Peleg Top, are up to it again. This time they’re teaming up with FunctionFox for a webcast titled, “What Every Creative Professional Must Know About Hourly Rates.”

More information can be found on the FunctionFox site. Here’s a link to an article by Ilise to go along with it.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt