Where are you at? Honestly. Before you can get to where you want to go, you’ve got to define where you’re at now. Perhaps you want to do more of what you’re doing now. If so, great! If not, it might be time to do some hard core self-searching and come up with some realistic goals to get where you want to be down the road a bit.

Here are some questions to ask yourself.

Am I happy where I’m at?

Do I want to do more of what I’m doing now?

Do I want to expand my horizons and land a broader range of gigs? Why?

Do I want to move into a new market? Why?

Do I want to specialize in a certain industry or type of work? Why?

Do I want to make more money? Why?

Do I want to get better clients? What’s wrong with the ones I have now?

Do I want to expand geographically? Why?

The trick here is to be cuttingly honest with yourself. If you’re not, you won’t be effective in reaching your goals or be happy if you do get there.

The “whys” are important. Like a method actor, you’ve got to ask yourself, “What’s my motivation? Defining your motivation will get you moving because you’re … er … motivated. If you’re fuzzy on things, odds are you won’t put all your effort into making changes. Eventually, the effort falls by the wayside and you find yourself back where you started.

Maybe you’re bored with the type of work you’re doing now. There’s no reason you need to stay in that rut. All it takes is a wee bit of pro-activity (geez, that word’s over used these days) to change the look of your project roster. A few changes and voila! You’ll find yourself getting more of the types of projects that really interest you.

Three years into her business, well known designer, Ellen Shapiro, found herself looking at the financials and not liking what she saw. Things were “okay,” but “okay” wasn’t good enough for the designer. She could do better and land more profitable projects.

Shapiro decided to target annual reports. But, after researching the market, she found that cracking the Fortune 500 would be a tough act. So, she decided to take a different path and target companies with annual revenues under $300 million. Bingo! Shapiro had found her niche.

But, she had a small problem. The firm had never done an annual report. Not to be shot down, Shapiro designed mock report spreads for a few industries in her target. A mailer was prepared that featured the designs and addressed the needs of CEOs and CFOs. It was a hit and the firm built a very profitable new business segment that let them stretch their creative arms.

It’s this kind of savvy that helps to grow a firm or an independent practice. The idea is to not think, “I can’t.” It’s to think, “How can I?” Doing your homework will help you identify new opportunities and ideas to reach your goals.

Maybe you want to make more money. It’s often said, “Being in business just to make money is the wrong approach.” I agree with that to a degree, but I also agree with the concept of eating and paying the rent. Money isn’t necessarily evil. Actually, it can be a lot of fun. Making enough money is key if you plan on sleeping at night and not worrying all the time. Worry is a creativity killer.

So, how does one go about making more money? There’s lots of ways, but I’ll focus on one for the sake of brevity. Diversify. The easiest way to make more dough is to create multiple streams of revenue for your business. It’s simply a matter of tearing off the label that says, “I’m just a designer.”

“Make once, sell many,” is the mantra of passive income. Your creative. Think up some type of product(s) to make and sell. If you’re a designer, maybe that means creating a line of greeting cards or posters. Maybe some nifty housewares or t-shirts. How about a line of mugs or such with your slick designs on them? What about writing some special reports or an e-book on some topics you know reasonably well?

The whole point here to is make an honest appraisal of where you’re at and where you want to be. Then, roll up your sleeves and get creative about how to get there. Focus on “How can I?” thinking. Nothing ventured. Nothing gained. You might fall on your butt a couple of times, but that’s okay as long as you don’t give up. In talking about the light bulb, Thomas Edison once said, “Oh no, I haven’t failed 5,000 times. I’ve succeeded in finding 5,000 different ways that you cannot possibly build a light bulb.” It’s that kind of thinking that gets results over the long haul.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

When you’re in business for yourself there’s going to be ups and downs. It’s the nature of the beast. Implementing your marketing plan will go a long way in helping to avoid the notorious feast or famine syndrome, but none the less, there are still times when you can’t seem to buy a gig.

So, what’s a creative to do? Double up. Or, even triple up. Look for ways to generate multiple streams of income. For instance, I do three things - graphic design, writing and marketing consulting. When a design scene is lean, writing and consulting fill the gap and vise versa.

The trick here is to avoid the trap of boxing yourself into “I’m a designer,” “I’m a copywriter,” or “I’m a photographer,” thinking. Odds are, you’ve more talent than you give yourself credit for. With a wee bit of creative thinking you can come up with ways to either adapt what you do to generate additional income or do something completely different.

A graphic designer might consider whipping up some delightful designs and start a CafePress shop. Same goes for photographers. Perhaps some of your imaginative images would look just peachy on a coffee mug or mouse pad. And then there’s always stock photography for all those out-takes sitting on your hard drive. Maybe you’re a copywriter. Have you considered stringing together some nouns and verbs and write an article for a magazine?

Another idea (that I’m currently working on behind the scenes) is to create marketing materials that generate some dough rather than just costing you. Information products - reports, e-books and such - can not only help to position you as an expert but can also rake in some coin for you. As a matter of fact, well-known copywriter and author, Bob Bly, recently wrote the book on it – The White Paper Marketing Handbook. It’s a good one to pick up to get you on your way. Another one is Fred Gleeck’s Selling Information.

It takes some time and effort, but it can really pay off in the long run. Go a little whacky and spread your wings. It can make that long walk to the mailbox a whole lot more fun when the checks outnumber the bills.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt