My friend, Illise Benun and her Marketing Mentor partner, Peleg Top, are teaming up with HOW Magazine to develop a conference for creatives. But they need your help. Here’s the scoop:

This conference, presented by Marketing Mentor and HOW Magazine, will be created for designers, illustrators, copywriters, photographers and anyone who wants to earn a living by selling their creative services. We’re looking to create an event that is focused, affordable and provides lots of networking. But first, we need to know what creative freelancers want/need.

Can you take a quick 3-minute survey *(by this Friday, Dec 7)*
and share some of your thoughts about this idea?

Here’s a link to the survey.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

One of the four “Ps” of marketing that’s often forgotten is price. Odds are, it’s not so much forgotten as avoided. Many designers, even seasoned pros, find setting fees to be a tricky task.

Fear not. Marketing Mentors, Ilise Benun and Peleg Top have you covered in their next HOW Webinar, “What Should I Charge?” Here’s a taste of what you’ll learn in this one hour online event:

• Why talking about money makes you look professional
• How to answer the question, “How much do you charge for …”
• How to go beyond “I can’t afford that”
• How to estimate a design project in less than 20 minutes
• How to get clients to tell you what they’re willing to spend

At just $69.00, this is one webinar you can’t afford to miss if you’re serious about growing your business and charging (and getting) what you’re worth.

Mark your calendar to attend on Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 4:00 ET/3:00 CT/1:00 PT. You’ll be glad you did.

Click here for more information.

Click here to register.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

A New Online Seminar Series with Ilise Benun and Peleg Top of Marketing Mentor
Is your design business on a feast-or-famine cycle—you’re either way too busy or you’re waiting for clients to call? Attend HOW’s new Webinar Series, presented by Marketing Mentor, and you’ll learn proven marketing and pricing secrets that will bring your ideal clients directly to your door, boost your bottom line and let you sleep peacefully.

Join us on October 18 for the second in HOW’s Marketing & Pricing Webinar Series: How to Create Your Own Marketing Machine: the Five Best Marketing Tools for Your Design Business. You’ll learn how to build your own Marketing Machine to avoid the Feast or Famine Syndrome and create an ongoing stream of new prospects and clients willing to pay you what you’re worth.

How To Create Your Marketing Machine
Thursday, October 18, 2007
4:00 ET/1:00 PT
$69
Presented by Ilise Benun and Peleg Top, Marketing Mentor

Are you overwhelmed by too many marketing tools? Do you know which ones work best? In what order? To which market? Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a machine you could turn on to do your marketing for you?

Well, there is. It’s your very own Marketing Machine, and in this webinar you’ll learn how to build and maintain it.

What You’ll Learn
• How to keep your pipeline full and get you the clients and the projects you want.
• Which marketing tools are the most effective — and least expensive
• How often you should be in touch with your prospects without being a pest
• How to get past the gatekeeper to your real prospects
• Does cold calling really work?
• Does anyone read email anymore?

All attendees also get copies of the presentation materials plus easy-to-follow Marketing Mentor worksheets designed to help you zero in on your target market and build your client roster. And, you’ll have 12-month access to the Webinar, should you want to watch it again as a refresher course.

More info here: http://www.howdesign.com/webinars/index.asp

About HOW’s Marketing & Pricing Webinar Series
HOW’s new Marketing & Pricing Webinar Series, presented by Ilise Benun and Peleg Top, co-founders of Marketing Mentor, is a series of online seminars for designers. You’ll learn how to develop lucrative business relationships, how to value and price your work so you don’t lose money, and how to create an ongoing stream of new prospects and clients willing to pay you what you’re worth.

Here’s The Complete Schedule
September 27: Get Rich in a Niche: Find and Reach Your Ideal Clients
October 18: Create Your Marketing Machine: Five Best Marketing Tools for your Design Business
November 15: What Should I Charge? Smart Pricing Strategies for Designers
December 13: Proposals 101: The Essentials for Writing and Presenting Proposals

Even if you missed one, you can still access the Webinar materials and audio.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

You say your marketing mojo isn’t marvelous? Your promotion efforts are leaning toward paltry and you’re starting to believe “P.R.” stands for “Pitiful Relations.” Your niche is nixed and you don’t know what to do.

Fear not. Marketing maven Ilise Benun and her partner in promotion, Peleg Top, have you covered. Mark Thursday, September 27 down on your calendar and sign up to participate in their webinar, “Get Rich in a Niche,” sponsored by our friends at HOW Magazine.

If your phone isn’t ringing off the wall and your inbox isn’t jingling, you can’t afford to miss this webinar. Here’s just some of what you’ll learn:

All attendees also get copies of the presentation materials plus easy-to-follow Marketing Mentor worksheets designed to help you zero in on your target market and build your client roster. And, you’ll have 12-month access to the webinar, should you want to watch it again as a refresher course.

Need more? Here’s a taste of what you’ll hear:

How to Dominate Your Market
Many designers believe that marketing the widest range of services to the largest possible group is the path to success. You’d rather be a generalist because you think you’ll get more business. And on one level it makes sense: the more opportunities you have to make a sale, the more sales you are likely to make. But in reality it doesn’t work that way. In fact, success comes to those who focus on the smallest number of activities most likely to yield the quickest and largest return.

Look at all you get when you specialize:

Fame: You’ll become known as an expert in your area of focus.
Fortune: You’ll command higher fees for your expertise.
Success: You’ll achieve your personal and business goals
Choice: You’ll get the work you want instead of taking whatever comes along

If you resist specializing, what you fail to understand is that your clients need you to specialize in exactly the service they need. They need to know they are dealing with an expert who serves their particular needs. That’s what will make them feel more comfortable choosing you. That’s what will help them sell you to their managers. So in reality, and in the long run, specializing gets you more business.

But focus doesn’t come naturally. Focus requires ongoing attention and discipline, which is why many people don’t do it. In fact, it’s not something you do once and then it’s done. Focusing means committing, and then recommitting, to your plan every day, refocusing your attention and reevaluating your choices on a regular basis. That’s the way to dominate the marketplace.

Marketing Mentors, Ilise and Peleg, know their stuff. Together, they’ve helped hundreds of designers discover their niche and profit from it while helping their clients become more successful. It’s been said that if you find out how to do what you love, you’ll never “work” another day in your life. This webinar will set you on that path.

Take the steps necessary to ensure your success. At $69 this webinar is not only affordable, it’s an event you can’t afford to miss. Landing one gig through the techniques taught in this webinar will pay for itself over and over.

Click here to sign up.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

HOW, the leading creativity and business magazine for graphic design professionals, issues a Call for Entries for its 2008 International Design Awards.

The competition is open to all graphic designers, illustrators, photographers and students from anywhere in the world. Any original graphic design project created between January 1, 2006 and September 4, 2007 is eligible. Entries will be accepted in 15 categories including Annual Reports, Posters, 3D Objects and Letterhead/Identity.

The competition’s Best of Show winner will be profiled in HOW’s April 2008 International Design Annual and will win a trip to the 2008 HOW Design Conference in Boston. All winning entries will be featured in the International Design Annual, and some may be showcased on the HOW Web site.

For rules and official entry form, visit www.howdesign.com, send an email to how-competition@fwpubs.com or call HOW at 513-531-2690 ext. 1328.

all the best,
nt

The editors of HOW magazine have assembled a powerhouse line-up of today’s hottest art directors, creative managers and industry experts for the 2007 In-HOWse Designer Conference — September 9-11 at the Hyatt Regency Austin, Texas.

It’s the business event for in-house creative managers you can’t miss — 3-days packed with intense workshops, professional advice, creative rejuvenation, and even a little group therapy.

Registration is now open at www.inhowseconference.com. Last year’s event sold out quickly, so be sure to sign up right away to reserve your spot.

You’ll enjoy exciting, inspiration-filled sessions from a select panel of experts, each with their own unique background. They’ll share what’s worked for them and what hasn’t, and identify best practices on everything from rediscovering “play” in the workplace to refining your operational processes.

You’ll network with hundreds of your peers all facing similar in-house challenges and identify methods for balancing your multiple roles. And you’ll leave feeling revived with all the insight you need to build and manage a creative team that’s downright indispensable to your company.

It’s going to be a real lifesaver.

Don’t miss out on this one-of-a-kind business conference. Registration is now open, and super easy with our secure on-line form at www.inhowseconference.com. Plus, we’re offering deep discounts for 3 or more registrants from the same company.

Don’t delay … register yourself (and your co-workers) today.
www.inhowseconference.com.

It’s that time of year again. HOW Magazine’s Mind Your Own Business (MYOB) Conference is coming up. This year it’s being held at the swanky Loews Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego, CA, from November 1-4, 2007. The conference features sessions, workshops and roundtable discussions especially for design and creative service firm principals. It’s a great opportunity to share ideas, tactics and maybe even a few mistakes here and there.

David C. Baker, of ReCourses, Inc., heads up a great lineup of seasoned, savvy pros who now what works and what doesn’t. Also speaking are Glenn Baldwin, Principal of ForesterBaldwin; Emily Ruth Cohen, an independent consultant with 20+ years of experience; Deborah Dawton, CEO of the UK’s Design Business Association; Brent Hodgins, Partner and Director of Client Services at Mirren Business Development; Ron McMillan, a best-selling author, veteran speaker and business-consulting specialist and Tim Williams, founder of Ignition Consulting Group, a leading consultancy devoted to helping firms create and capture more value.

The sessions will provide in-depth information about leadership, financial management, guerrilla prospecting, pitch presentations, roundtable discussions and more. Think of the MYOB Conference as one-stop shopping to position your firm for success.

The Conference promises to provide loads of camaraderie and networking opportunities that go beyond the typical, simple “meet and greet,” in a noncompetitive environment. To get things rolling, HOW has established an online forum at forum.howbusinessconference.com/.

MYOB Conference sponsors include The Creative Group, Rebus, Function Fox, Web Sales Tool, Creative Manager Pro, Pound Assurance, Infowit, Corporate Image and Neenah Paper.

For detailed information, visit the conference site at www.howbusinessconference.com/2007/. Registration information can be found at here. Discounted early bird registration is available through August 15, 2007.

Don’t forget to say “Hi!” to Bryn, Sarah and the HOW gang. Tell ‘em BoDo sent you.

HOW Mag Press Release

CINCINNATI – January 15 – The 2007 HOW Design Conference will be held June 10-13 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. This annual creativity, business and technology conference for graphic designers will feature 54 speakers, 49 sessions and 11 three-hour workshops.

Many industry experts and well-known designers will present at this year’s Conference, including Steff Geissbuhler of C&G Partners, type designer Chank Diesel, environmental graphic design pioneer Deborah Sussman and color expert Leatrice Eiseman.

Attendees can choose from sessions in six tracks: Creativity & Inspiration, Design Disciplines, Business & Management, Career Development, In-House Issues and Technology & Production. Conference extras include 11 pre-Conference workshops on revolutionary digital camera tricks, tracking color trends, integrating Photoshop® and Illustrator® with Flash®, becoming a better communicator and more; a networking lunch with the HOW editorial team; and two Atlanta Design Studio Tours with stops at various interactive or print design firms across Atlanta.

The Conference will also host a Design Resource Center—with exhibits featuring paper, stock photography, computer hardware and software, and other resources for designers—and a Portfolio Review for both students and working designers.

More than 3,000 graphic designers, art directors, creative directors, illustrators and other design professionals are expected to participate in this year’s Conference.

The 2007 HOW Design Conference is presented by HOW, the creativity, business and technology magazine for graphic designers. HOW is published by F+W Publications, Inc. in Cincinnati, OH.

For registration information, call (513) 531-2690 ext. 1450; fax (513) 531-0798; email howconference@fwpubs.com or visit HOWconference.com.

(thanks Heather)