Forum Nuggets—Re-evaluating your Career

As a print designer I know too well the dire employment situation and the unrealistic expectations that potential employers often expect from candidates. Based on some of their posted expectations for filling a creative position, it seems as though our niche is destined to absorb some of the interactive or other market—those print designosaurs who don't seem Darwin-destined to be snuffed out by evolution. Or, maybe not.

It's my observation that those who seem to succeed dedicate themselves to a particular creative niche. For ex., I may decide to dedicate myself to becoming a top-notch movie poster designer, or illustrator, or logo designer, etc. In that way, instead of marking myself as a sort of jack of all trades to a general audience, I increase the probability of being recognized as a specialist in that field, particularly to those who run in those select circles. People within that industry will find it easier to recognize my unique skillset.

I recently had to once again re-ignite my business and am currently in the process of re-evaluating my own target market. At this stage of my game, I really don't desire to cast a "general" wide net by trying to be good at a little bit of everything, since I have rarely seen that it's been proven to land many "fish." Among the things I'm presently exploring are my creative strengths and how I can most productively apply them towards the success of my career, even in this drab economy.

I can drone on, but perhaps my ultimate advice is this. For those of you at a career crossroads, for those who have been forced by the economy or current circumstance to re-consider or reflect on their employment situation or goals, examine what your strengths are, and find a way to apply it to your market, either as an in-houser or an independent contractor. If your gridwork is sheer genius, consider applying for a magazine's design department. If you can retouch the pants off of images (quite literally), then consider an employer or client that revolves around fashion, photography or pre-press circles. If illustration's your thing, or if you can design a book cover like nobody's business, look towards book publications or hire an illustration agent. Have a flair for invitation design? Look towards non-profits or the wedding market.

I certainly am not aiming to bunk the pros of trying to expand your skill set, especially if you are so inclined. However there are other approaches for staying in the game, by looking inward and focusing your objectives instead.

All rights reserved.

Leaving a Lasting Impression

In this visually motivated market, leaving a positive, lasting impression is key to generating consumer interest in a company. Here are some reasons why it pays to properly invest in the promotion of one's business.

A successful business doesn't just rely on location, location, location anymore. Visual promotions like business cards, a web site, logo and advertisements represent your company in your absence, long after your face to face meeting with a potential client has faded into memory. They can virtually speak volumes on the quality of service and product you are promoting to provide.

Take business cards as an example. They are the most popular and widely used promotional collateral in the business world—nearly everyone has one. Often to cut a few corners in the budget, entrepreneurs repeatedly make an even more costly decision to forego hiring an experienced professional who understands how to tailor an attractive and effective look for their company. By utilizing inexpensive pre-fabricated cards or by leaving design execution in inexperienced hands who create pretty pictures instead of potent brands, a valuable, prominently visible, promotional resource meant to generate consumer interest fails to attract new business outside of referrals. What started out as an opportunity to save a few bucks may have unwittingly ended in missing out on potential clients that they never even knew they had.

Here's a fun little exercise. Pull out your business card and take an objective, impersonal look at it. Picture yourself as a customer who knows little to nothing about your company. There isn't a shopper alive that doesn't want to be sure that they're investing their hard earned cash in a quality service or product. Your card should not only contain the required contact information, it should also aesthetically emote this commitment through your brand and it's design layout as a reaffirmation of this guarantee—potential clients should psychologically feel confident that you can deliver. So, does your card exude this quality assurance of service you hope to provide, or will they pass yours up in favor of a competitor?

Feel free to take the same little exercise with the rest of your promotional collateral, or even your business' logo identity. Take the extra step and compare it to cards, ads or other collateral that you like. Whether it will ultimately end up being "fun" or not, depends on how effective you feel the current state of your brand marketing is.

Projecting professionalism through one's web site should be equally important. It leaves as indelible an imprint on unique visitors as a business card would. As with any marketing promotion, it's there to provide the viewer with pertinent information—range of services, product line, contact information and an image gallery. However, the site's interface should also pique a visitor's curiosity enough to make them want to learn more about what you might have to offer, or to ideally bookmark it as a resource or reference.

A web design layout that doesn't quite align with one's brand goals, even one that has all of the necessary information, might inadvertently leave an undesirable imprint to a potential client. That could lead to wondering "what could have been"—even with all the right information it may very well receive a decent amount of traffic, however if it's creative and functional potential were reached it could have accomplished so much more.

Effective design isn't just about making something attractive looking, it's about making it attractive to the right people and through optimum channels. It's one earmark in leaving a lasting impression which in turn strengthens a brand. Accomplishing that end isn't simply a matter of picking any random professional to do the job, either. A Creative or firm should also be able to visually understand how to forge an indelible connection between brand and consumer.

You've invested a great deal into the success of your business, it only makes sense to ensure that every facet of your company is working towards leaving the best, lasting impression to make that ultimate goal a reality.

Two Little Hands image by Dagmar Jeffrey.
Storefront image and web site still source: Peabody Gallery.
All rights reserved.

Resolution Revolution 2008

If only.

Well, let's review a bit, shall we? Last year, my resolution watch word was "attainable." For that reason I only created about five business goals that I felt I could relatively keep. So, here we are a year later...how did I fare...or as is the case, where did I go wrong?

2007 Resolution 1:

Increase Profit. Didn't see that one coming, did you? But it isn't enough to make a general declaration as though the intuition to accomplish this will mystically materialize. Chris Gee of Cube Interactive, LLC and ringleader of The Prepared Mind suggests arriving at a target amount you want to make in a specific time period (in my case, how much I want to earn in one year) and working backwards. Forming a plan this way seems less like an uphill struggle when strategizing a means towards your lofty objective.

Although my profit did increase, I still didn't hit my goal. So, what happened? I started at the end, but didn't work out a detailed enough plan to take me there. Or it could have been that my aspirations were a bit too ambitious. Either way, I didn't realistically factor the time that was needed to research and reach certain benchmarks, particularly when last minute projects or personal emergencies popped up. My plan looked pretty good on paper, but fell apart in practice.

How to resolve the resolution: More research. Others reached their fiscal goals, so can I. And with a year's worth of data from the past year to use as a comparison, I should ideally be able to devise a more effective attack plan that will either bring me closer to hitting this year's goals or surpass them. It's good to dream.

2007 Resolution 2:

Launch a Self Promotional Campaign. I've fussed and balked long enough, it's time to heed the clarion call for action. Part of the reason, well, most of the reason why I still don't have a website or a stationery system with my redesigned logo is that I'm too anal, I feel as though I can always come up with a better solution and end up changing strategies. In short, I'm my worst client—EVER.

Not surprisingly, I'm still my own worst client. Unlike my other (real) paying clients, I ended up putting my business marketing projects on the back burner for real work more often than not. An effective strategy is only good if I stick to the deadlines I place on it. If I don't treat myself like a real client, the obvious result will occur.

How to resolve the resolution: I still had a solid game plan, however I have to stick to my agenda and not set my work aside whenever a paying project or "life" compromises it. I have to think of it in this perspective: if I don't promote my business, I won't get any new business and won't reach my year's financial goals. What I'm going to do is schedule a consistent block of time during the week (Thursdays between 6 and 8pm for example) to specifically dedicate towards the growth of my business.

2007 Resolution 3:

Get Fresh Blood. In order to reach my lofty profit goals, I need new clients. For this, as I stated in the previous resolution, I've been driving and walking around town taking down company names that are in sore need of a re-brand, visiting "noteworthy" yet poorly designed sites and developing a good promotional campaign that targets their needs. In all of these cases, I took a page from J.P. Morgan and "followed the money."

Well, if I only had that gosh darn promotional collateral that I kept putting off in the previous resolution this one could have worked. And in truth I didn't participate in the start-up forums as much as I should have. To be quite honest, I was indulging myself in all the wrong forums.

How to resolve the resolution: It's still a good idea to create a custom mailing list, but like a well oiled machine, all aspects of my business model have to be in place and running. So for this to have a chance I need to prioritize some of my other resolutions. Regarding the start-up forums, I'm going to pick at least two and slot time every week to hob nob with the locals. Considering that I am already an active participant in so many other groups, I think two is a nice number to get my feet wet.

2007 Resolution 4:

Launch Website. Oy, what a headache this has been. The fact of the matter is that I wasn't really satisfied with any of my concepts.

It's still a headache, but I finally decided to move in a direction that ties into my overall branding agenda. Although I don't have a "complete" site, I did put up an interim page with redirections to a portfolio of featured projects (which will soon be moved to another, more private location) and my web log.

How to resolve the resolution: There are two ways to go about this, either whizz or get off the pot. Realistically dedicate time to learn Flash and/or Dreamweaver (to start) or outsource the coding. It's that simple. Times are such that I can't afford not to have my site up—people seem to be using it as a benchmark of professionalism (how many times have you been asked if you have a web site?). Regardless of whether the bulk of my work comes via referrals, if I want to generate consumer interest from other sources, then I have to have one up.

2007 Resolution 5:

Enter Industry Design Competitions. NO, not spec run "contests." Here's the major distinction between the two.

Actually one I kept, so huzzah for me! So nothing to resolve except to continue to enter this year. Time will only tell if it will prove a beneficial promotional tool. Even if it doesn't, it certainly can't hurt to add the title of "Award Winning Designer."

Conclusion:
Rather than create new goals for this year, I'm going to try to keep to the ones I formulated in 2007. The only difference is this year, I'm going to try slightly different approaches, both in my plan and in my perspective, to stick to them...or well, most of them. I don't mind taking baby steps so long as I continue moving forward.

Janfirst illustration ©2008 Dagmar Jeffrey. All rights reserved.

Who to Be, or Who Not to Be...That is the Question

The topic of naming one's independent (freelance) business has come up quite a few times during my forum romps lately. It usually unfolds like this: a grad or in-house designer wishes to branch out on their own and are seeking sources of inspiration by asking folks who are already entrepreneurs on how they decided on their business names. I thought I'd journal my own process here because a name...though not the most important factor in one's business, bears as much thoughtful "tailored" consideration as designing the identity itself. It should to some degree be a reflection of one's aspiration, motivation or personality as well as service. That said, I considered several factors:

1. Who do I want to woo? If I came up with a name that's too cute, kitschy or quirky, it might scare off corporate prospects because it didn't exude enough professionalism. If I decided on a name that was too stale, it would rub against the creative grain. I knew I couldn't appeal to everybody, but I did want to toss as wide a net as possible. That said, I decided that "clever" was going to be the operative word.

2. I wanted a name that would come up high in any alphabetized directory listing. My former incarnation of "Seahorse Productions" left me way too low—it was doubtful that any prospect looking for a designer wouldn't find someone else before reaching the "S" listings. I wanted a name that was high up enough to come up (hopefully) in the first page of any given listing.

3. I didn't want to use my own name. Why? Partly because I thought "Dagmar Designs" or some such name was too silly sounding to even consider, partly because it wasn't creative sounding enough to satisfy me and because I also wanted a name that was versatile enough to grow with my business' goals.

4. The domain had to be available. Just a given these days that a dot com denotes professionalism more than any of the others. Either way I did buy the dot net as well. Incidently, that's one reason why I settled on Archetype Design Studio..."Archetype" was bought by a broker and I didn't want the dot net. I also thought it was more descriptive of my services (see 5).

5. It had to be understood what I did for a living to a degree. I can't tell you how many times I had to explain my services with my former, more vague incarnation. Just felt it did more harm than good for enticing any "window shoppers," aka potential clients.

So with all that in mind, I searched dictionaries and domain availability. I finally settled on "Archetype" because it worked on so many levels for me. "Type" implied my niche of design to a degree and "Arche" can be easily interpreted as "Architect" therefore "Architect of Type" (many who are familiar with design jargon have told me that they also refer "type" as a shortened form of "typography"). What really sold the deal for me was the actual meaning of archetype (the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies : prototype; also : a perfect example) which vibed quite well with my personal creative ambitions.

Here are some examples of clever and distinct name solutions within our industry. I tried to show a nice variety of typographic and pictorial graphic solutions.

I wanted to add that for Jeff Fisher's Logomotives, (lucky for us) he wrote about the evolution of his own identity not too long ago. It's worth including a link. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that a good old fashioned google search would probably yield volumes on the topic.

Everyone has their own personal criteria for settling on a name—as such, there is no standard formula. So long as the name is one that in some way reflects not only you as a designer, but also does it in a way that will generate interest from the target market, as they say, "let it flow."

All design identities are copyrighted by their respective individual authors.
William Shakespeare's Identity Crisis cartoon by Dagmar Jeffrey. All rights reserved.

Webinars—Or, Self Improvement in Underoos

It's happened. The internet has become so evolved that one no longer has to worry about leaving their home computer to attend a seminar. No surprise really, considering that one can do just about everything else at the click of a button, from grocery shopping to dry cleaning. So long as you have a high speed set up and decent hardware, you can just pull up a chair in your favorite underoos and plug into a self improvement seminar. Oh, the irony.

You'd think I would berate the fact that folks have become such ridiculous digital couch potatoes that they can be easily confused for agoraphobics. However, I'm forced to admit that the idea of a live "webinar" intrigues me. Online seminars are hardly a novelty—corporations commonly employ them. However it's starting to now evolve to the point where the self-starter can also benefit from this resource, so long as one knows where to look.

Take HOW Magazine's upcoming webinar, in September. Here's what they plan to cover:

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• Why you must focus on a market if you want to succeed in business
• How to identify the ideal target market for your design business
• How to choose a market that blends your skills and interests with the needs of the market
• How to determine if the market you've chosen is viable
• How to find and reach the best prospects in your target market

What I Like:

• They're addressing particular needs of a specific group...in this case, the entrepreneur. In the words of my sister, I "skeeve" generalisations. HOW didn't try to hit a non-descript mass audience with vague "fortune cookie" topics in the hopes of bringing in numbers. Contrary to what some might believe, John and Jane Q. Public do not have completely identical business marketing agendas.

• The sponsors are a relevant industry role model. Some of Ilise Benun's accolades during her career include numerous spotlights in magazines and is author of multiple books on self promotion. Point blank, I want to learn the secrets of her success...I want to pick her brain...I want her success to help inspire my own success. Having someone who's success you wish to emulate is quite naturally a big factor in investing in a seminar. Peleg Top has an equally impressive resume, especially when you take into consideration his "modest" beginnings.

• You get swag delivered to your doorstep. Well, not "swag" more than presentation materials to aid in following along, because when you think about it, you can't bring a recorder to this session, now can you? And speaking of which, you also have access to an archived recording of the seminar for an entire year, so who the heck even needs it in this brave new webinar world.

What don't I like? Well, I never like the price ("self starter" should be another name for "starting strapped,") but it's a necessary evil. You would however, think that the price wouldn't (or shouldn't) be as steep since the actual venue is eliminated, but I digress. As with a seminar you physically attend, you still gotta pay to play. For what it's worth and considering the sponsors that will be hosting, in this case, it should prove to be worthwhile.

So final consensus: Webinars good? Depends. If you're not in the mood to hop on mass transit to schlep to a hotel ballroom teeming with a crowd that's waiting on a line to enter, then jostling for the perfect vantage spot to sit in on the seminar, this could be your ideal cuppa. So long as the hosts are worth the price of admission, the presentation and site are stimulating and engaging and the topic addresses in a modicum of detail the needs of your business, I say give it a shot—I plan to.

Melting monitor faces drawing by Anthony of Frenetic Pen Project

Tooting Your Own Horn Series—P3

Crank up some Sondheim and parade your talent in a forum today! Forums are a wonderful...and often underused...venue to showcase your work. And depending on which sites you participate in, it could lead to some very promising prospects before they even clicky the linky to your website.

Many design sites offer plenty of opportunities to showcase one's talent. Both HOW forums for example not only have a dedicated showcase section to put up one's creative accomplishments, their Lounge/Watercooler section (respectively) also contain threads where the locals often display completed professional or recreational work, for exposure or just for kicks. The Graphic Design Forum as another example also has a similar permanent section where it's design denizens often proudly tack up their creativity. In many cases, it resulted in referrals by fellow designers who are looking for a capable hand or a studio/firm/[insert business here] who might be looking for a position to fill.

Show and Critique?

One of the things I enjoy about forums (aside from the camaraderie) are the benefits. A Creative from any niche or level can come for advice (not simply for a crit mind you, but business management, promotions, software help...you name it). Some of the pros quite naturally include the fact that peers from all levels of experience can guide or weigh in on one's direction. There are other more subtle benefits. For those who open-mindedly endure the slings and arrows of harsh criticism from peers who ordinarily hold loftier standards than the average layman, there's the reward of attaining an understanding of how to better carry themselves as a professional. When critiquing projects, one tends to appreciate that one's intangible brainstorm development is often more important than the final execution itself. *Poof!* Before they even realize it, their A-game improves. And for those who give the critique, the bonus lies in not only mentoring or aiding their right-thinking Brethren, they also display their own conceptual skill and experience as well. They spotlight the importance of arriving at effective, creative, promotional solutions.

Forums addicts wisely utilize their dedicated sig space to link to their various websites, blogs or similar endeavors, increasing traffic. This in turn positively affects ye olde Google rating. Using my own as an example, often a link to one of the forums I haunt will often appear on the first page. And if it's in a thread where I'm either imparting my two bits, showcasing my work or expanding my knowledge (potential employers like people who demonstrate the ability to learn and adapt)—I get bonus exposure points. Sah-weet.

A little caveat regarding forums—watch what you write. Employers/potential clients (or acquaintances therein) HAVE been known to monitor these forums, more frequently than you'd think. Try to maintain enough professionalism to avoid slandering or whining about PITA clients/jobs, particularly by name. I have heard tales of folks losing their gig because a client/employer received wind of some callously posted complaints that were directed at them by disgruntled designers.

Tooting Your Own Horn Series—P2

Budget-Friendly Promotions For the Whole Design Family

Little Recent Grad can do it, Grannie Design Vet can benefit, too. Heck, even Still-in-the-creative-womb Student Designer can start putting their name out there if they think their stuff is that good. How, you ask? Industry Competitions. I'm not talking about any run of the mill contests (pun intended)...most tend to end up utilizing a spec model and is therefore not good for the designer. There are better alternatives than the choice of giving in to exploitation for another's profit. Yearly industry competitions are held by respected sponsors like:

HOW Magazine
Print
Communication Arts
ICOGRADA
Rockport
and award sites like the Summit Awards

...that have entry levels for students on up. They ordinarily only allow work that has already been commissioned or work that is not for active projects. Moreover the designer retains ownership of their submissions. And like Design Recital and The Three Thumbs Up Awards, there are other online avenues of promotion available within our little community.

There are also sites like Word It and Illustration Friday where you can submit your work to showcase amongst your creative peers. You'd be surprised who scouts these sites from time to time, and who knows—it could possibly lead to future client projects or a worthwhile job opportunity. Never underestimate the power of viral marketing.

Finally you have the wonderful world of blogging. As before, you never know who's reading your blog at any given time and when a passing fancy can turn into a business opportunity, all because you showcased outside the confines of a mere portfolio.

Print Campaigns...Vote for Me!

Not to be forgotten (and because it's my niche, how could I?) there is the tried and true method of print campaigns. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but clever is often the name of the game. Doing something as simple as a targeted direct mailer with something as simple as an attractive postcard with a catchy tag can do the trick. By "targeted mailer" I mean that you roll up your sleeves and do a bit of research. I like to always walk or drive around with a pad and pencil handy. Every time I see an identity that could possibly benefit a re-branding, a new business that's starting up soon, or even simply jotting down the numbers of businesses you've always wanted to work with and send them your mailer, it serves as sort of a subtle reminder in the event they might be considering hiring a designer as well. It's more personal and because of your research just might yield some business for you later on.

I also recommend reading books along the lines of The Savvy Designer's Guide To Success: Ideas and Tactics for a Killer Career, by Jeff Fisher and relevant marketing and branding books like Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution, by Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons. Books like these detail much of what I discussed here and offer some examples that others used to promote themselves. It might inspire some ideas of your own to try.

I've mentioned Jeff quite a bit, but hey you've got to admit, he and others of his marketing ilk know how to toot their own horn...and often with favorable results.

You can come up with all types of campaigns and viral ideas that can start to get your name out there without breaking the bank. You can research a common need and use that as the basis of your promotional campaign. You can even do something as simple as cleverly mailing your business card, if it's creative enough to stand on it's own and promote your talent.

French horn photo Illustrations by Yukio Miyamoto

Next: Part three

Tooting Your Own Horn Series—P1

As some of you might have read in my previous entry, I thought it a good idea to take a page from award winning industry leaders like Jeff Fisher of bLog-o-motives and start promoting myself here. After all, we're essentially in the business of effectively promoting others, so why do visual designers find it such an obstacle to do the same for themselves?

Designers or Businesspeople?

Designers seem to have a hard time remembering...or accepting...that they are running a design business. They conduct themselves as people who happen to be talented designers, but not as professionals who are selling design as part of their range of services.

If one doesn't see themselves as a business first and a designer second, then they won't think to shed their "student" mentality of only working on a good portfolio and start to promote their business as other entrepreneurs do. For instance, utilizing targetted marketing campaigns throughout the year and attending networking events as marketing tools largely end up being passed over. Their business likely won't grow as much as it could because they didn't think to tap into all of that promotional potential.

While a smart looking portfolio and website presence is important, it shouldn't be the "end all" of self-promotion. Truth of the matter is, for those who had a formal college education, the latter is the only thing that is often emphasized in their curriculum, and so it's the option the end up focusing on without considering alternatives.

Employees Need Promotion, Too

Just because one isn't an independent contractor or running their own firm doesn't mean that one shouldn't promote their creative accomplishments. While I'm on it, note that I didn't say, "freelancer." I don't particularly like to use that reference, because these days, potential clients seem to think that it's some sort of code for "you-can't-land-a-real-job" or that "free" means just that...work for virtually nothing.

A designer should always think about promotions because you never know where your next business opportunity will come from. You never know who's going to flip through a design annual of inhouse communications work and run across an ad campaign you did for your employer. Or perhaps see your latest illustration submission in Illustration Friday and present you an even better position at an esteemed firm. At best, it's another means to just get some positive exposure and generate interest in your work, possibly build up a referral base for the possibility that you do branch out on your own, use as leverage when vying for a promotion or a better position elsewhere, or for those who's submissions are accepted into celebrated industry design annuals or industry accolades like The Summit Awards, the chance to add "award winning designer" to your name.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly of Word of Mouth Referrals

I originally generated a good deal of business through what's called word of mouth referrals. Basically, one good design gig lead to another because the original client referred me to friends, and they referred me to other interested parties. It was a sweet deal really. I didn't have to go through the "portfolio interview" or work very hard to convince them the pros of hiring an experienced designer who can effectively develop creative solutions to communicate their promotional goals. The person who referred them to me did most of the sales for me and the deal was already pretty much in the bag before I even met them.

Life was indeed good, but "life" being what it is, it didn't last.

For one thing, 9/11 happened. Being a New Yorker and having most of my client base affected by the events of that day blindsided my business. Businesses either suffered, folded or moved away. Of those who remained, they struggled to recupperate losses, which essentially meant that they couldn't afford my services as they tightened their belts. My referral base was a pretty mess, indeed.

I had to rebuild. However I wouldn't have had to do that if I had worked to promote myself during the good times—if I had been submitting my work to annuals and erected a professional web site even if I felt it wasn't necessary at the time. If I had been sending out periodic self promotional collateral to build my business, I might've been minimally affected. I wasn't prepared because I didn't see the hard times coming. Who ever does, really.

And I feel that in part, promotions are not just a means to generate more potential clients, but also use as leverage to build a strong marketing base that can keep your business afloat long enough to weather the storm of the lean times.

Next: Part Two

It's About That Time

With the warming weather come the notices of all the major networking events in store for the summer. Yes, they can be pricey, particularly the major ones. However it would behoove you to attend at least one of the big industry events. Not only is it a great hobnobbing opportunity, they provide seminars and workshops with industry leaders that you couldn't find anywhere else if you paid in gold for it. It's a wonderful mecca of inspiration to immerse yourself in. So if you can sweet talk your employer into paying for the trip (work related seminar type of thing) it can double as the ultimate Creative's vacation. If you work for yourself it makes for a handy dandy write-off.

The first big one scheduled is HOW magazine's conference in Atlanta, GA in June. Do visit their website for a schedule of events. Do visit their forum, even if you aren't sure if you're attending to meet some of the creatives who will be attending or doing a workshop/seminar. Hobnob, people...hobnob.

For those of you who can't make it to the East Coast, there will be an unofficial get together in Seattle called HOW-About-CL in May. Basically formed by forum regulars who visit the respective HOW, About Graphic Design forum and Creative Latitude members. If you start frequenting those places, chances are you might also be able to gain passage and join the tidy host of industry professionals who will be getting together here as well. Unlike the HOW Conference, the HOW-About-CL is more of an informal social gathering. But hey, any opportunity for spending a good time with industry greats should never be passed by. Plus...well, I shouldn't spill, but designers always love a good time. It's in the genes.

AIGA also has their NEXT Conference lined up in October, which will be held in Denver, CO. They also have other more concentrated networking events lined up in the months ahead. Another interesting notable they're holding will be a conference that is in conjunction with Harvard Business School which targets principals from mid to large creative firms and Senior Designers who work in-house. A very worthwhile event for those who fall under this category.

There are many other local network Events during the summer that are worth the price of admission like the National Stationery Show in New York City this May. Any way you look at it, there is a conference out there to meet the needs of every professional level of designer. Its the ideal means to socialize and network with industry peers, to soak in some creative atmosphere, unwind or just cut loose with forum friends that you're finally able to meet for the first time. I've been told that the workshops, although very good, usually are forgotten when not applied. It helps to take notes, join the forums and ask questions beforehand. If you're allowed to record the session so much the better. It's also recommended to register early as many of the workshops fill up fast and space is limited.

If attending can improve or at least enlighten your personal game it's still a worthwhile step ahead and ultimately a win-win investment. If it's an event that is associated with the industry that can lead to possible business liasons, even better.

Avoiding The Daylight Savings Time Blues

Its bad enough as a New Yorker with kids in the public school system that I'm subjected to endure a completely foreign and utterly incomprehensible overhaul of an educational system that for all of it's misgivings generally wasn't absolutely backwater. I mean, I don't seem to be too deficient in the smartness category. However the Powers that Be have concluded that their latest teaching methods, which incidently practically omits conventionally teaching the multiplication tables and also opt to teach kindergardeners on a first grade level (did I mention that kindergarden isn't a mandatory grade level yet—so if your child didn't attend neither it nor pre-kindergarden they'll be hopelessly behind compared to children who did) and so on up the system. In the end, I don't think they really thought their plans through before implementing this well intended philosophy.

Enter Congress and their idea to conserve energy. Another good intention marred by poor organization and execution. As it happens they didn't take measures to ensure that electronic and computer systems were prepared with updated patches with the new three week early change in daylight savings time. Folks are once again scrambling to their ATM's with cries of Y2K revisited, but according to Business Week, we need fear not. They have in their article titled Tips for the Daylight Savings Headache links to check for updated patches for both Microsoft and Macintosh systems. You can, of course, also check directly through either Apple or Microsoft for these same updates. One can hope that it will be a seamless transition tomorrow, but be on hand to check all your gadgets the next morning to be certain that everything transitioned properly. Better safe than late.

Forum Anecdotal Nuggets—Design Startup Bloopers and Basic Upchucks

A couple of posts ago, I recounted in my forum travels how a poster wanted to "simplify the ca-ca" in the hopes of receiving a list of ten easy steps in starting a successful design firm [insert skeptical laughter here]. A bit further along in the thread another poster asked me to elaborate on this line within the body of my initial reply: "I neglected a few key business applications that I thought I could afford to skip." I thought it was worth re-opening some of the painful, torturous wounds I received during my "hard knocks" business training to retell it a second time here, if only to help another Creative Kinsman from meeting my blissfully naive fate. Learn. Enjoy. Learn. Did I mention Learn? I think I did.

For starters, I didn't see myself as a business. I saw myself as a freelance designer. There is a difference. How you see yourself is very important. I never thought of myself as a business entrepreneur in the formal sense so I never distinguished that definable distinction. You must see yourself as a businessman/woman first, designer second.

Next I didn't draft a business plan. You can google online for any number of sample plans but in a nutshell, a business plan is a descriptive outline that details your operating costs, marketing objectives, mission statement, capital, overhead and other projections. If you want to apply for any government, private grants or looking for investors into your company, you'll be required to have one of these on hand anyway. If upkept regularly it also keeps your business priorities aligned.

I had these from the beginning, but I should mention that you should always work on CONTRACT. Never work without one. GAG, AIGA, Creative Latitude and other great resources have a myriad of extremely useful templates for you to download and tailor to your needs.

Establish the proper business accounts. That includes keeping the books. If you work from home a separate phone line and address (P.O. Box for example) dedicated to your business is advisable. You don't want every Tom, Dick and Jane you give your business card to know where you live. Keep work and home separate even if they reside in the same space. Plus, by establishing a good business proposal you'll have an understanding of your overhead and the capital you'll need to maintain your day to day expenses. I didn't have a business proposal so I miscalculated my overhead capital which led to problems further down the line.

It's been said that one should ideally have about three years of overhead capital saved up. Some have done well with a year, some with less than that. What you need to calculate is, when you hit those valleys, and they will come, do you have enough reserves saved up to weather the storm until you reach your peak again? This includes your overhead for your marketing campaigns, as well as business cards and any other direct mail or physical promotional pieces you regularly replenish. So even athough you might do well enough with a few months of reserves, having about three years of overhead saved in the coffers creates a more comfortable safety net.

Even though I had the presence of mind to have one from the onset, now's a good time to add that it pays to bank on a good accountant who is familiar with all the latest tax laws. Also choose one who is available anytime throughout the year—accountants aren't only good for tax time. Turbo Tax may appear to save you a few bucks in the beginning, but you may unwittingly end up losing far more than that in the long run in unclaimed or poorly returned taxes. Invest in an accountant for the same reasons a business client should invest in your professional services over some inexpensive logo making software.

I didn't study or establish my market. A client was a client was a client to me. Not so. Clients and their businesses have different needs and thus they spend accordingly. A smaller business won't invest in design and advertising as a more modest or commercial or trade oriented business who might have a clearer appreciation or need for the power of advertising towards their market.

Also, take care not put all your eggs in one proverbial basket. I had a few really good clients—all downtown. What do you think happened after 9/11? They all were either gone or restructured or moved and I was eventually factored out of the equation as a result. And because I didn't have a formal studio near GZ I couldn't collect on any of the restitution that some of the other businesses were receiving. I was just plain screwed. And who could've honestly seen that coming? But if I had structured my business properly and planned for the future instead of living in the success of the moment, the losses I incurred would've probably been more tolerable. There were other factors as well that came into play, all at just the right time to contribute to my inevitable downfall. Kismet is something else. Recovery has been one long haul. Perhaps if my foresight were as keen as my hindsight, it might not have been so. Learn from this if anything else, kiddies.

I knew next to NOTHING of effective sales techniques. I simply lacked the confidence to apply them with success. Learn how to negotiate. Buy How To sales books. Take courses. I can't stress it enough. Designers I've found seem to lack in spades in this area for the same reasons as I. I enjoyed a good deal of word of mouth referrals and that requires no salesmanship at all by comparison. Learn to network. When the well ran low I had no networking base established and had to start over. Creatives will either accept whatever offer is on the table or walk away. A good salesman will find a way to negotiate a good deal and still somehow come out on top.

I didn't promote myself. That pretty much speaks for itself. Because I enjoyed word of mouth referrals I didn't need to do much in that area. When the well ran low I was feeling the hurt. So I essentially lived for the moment and didn't plan ahead for the future, lesson learned. By far the best and easiest form of promotions are joining the design competition circuit—that is, entering work already completed for recognized industry annuals like HOW, Print, CA, Rockport, etc. The added bonus of this is if you are selected you can add "award winning designer" to your name and a list of accolades to your site.

Most important, know the value of what you're worth. When I started out many of my blunders came by way of what I believed were discounted rates which I believed would attract more business. Not so. All I did was sell myself short. Joining design forums like About GD, HOW, About DTP, the GDF to name a few was the best decision I ever made. I learned a great deal business wise there, mostly how I don't have to sell my left arm to make a good living. This is another reason why I am oh so against spec work of any kind. That is NOT good business. It's NO business. Who works for free? I found out first hand that giving away services in the hopes that the exposure will land me some "real" business only revealed my own naivete and lack of professional experience. And it rarely works. Not good odds to bank on.

That's sort of the long and short of it. There's a LOT of work involved and no measure of guaranteed success even if you manage to avoid all of my pitfalls (there's still the little issue of supply, demand and salary demands of your region, global competition, "life," etc.) but hopefully it will lead to less startup upchucks than mine.

BoDo dee-Oh!

Designers rejoice, BoDo has arrived to render aid to your business!

Don't bother looking up in the sky, its not a new spandexed superhero, although in a sense, you can metaphorically think of it as one (spandex optional).

BoDo, which is short for Business Of Design Online, addresses the important issues of stucturing, organizing, networking, marketing and other day to dailies on running a graphic design business. It's been my experience that entreprenuers in this industry often forget that they are a business first, designers second. As a result, they make many fundamental key mistakes when starting up and striking out on their own which lead to many hard knocks along the way. BoDo is the perfect one stop resource to not only get one's design business started, but keep it running smoothly and successfully onward.

As they oh-so-aptly describe their services on their site;

BoDo is grass-roots-get-down-and-dirty-love-yo-mamma. We’ll talk about serious subjects such as “When to bring in a PITA clause,” “How to keep your clients” and “How to fire a client.” As well as lighter fare like “Working in your undies” and “How to tell when your down time is up.”

(It's) where vets (some full-time BoDo authors, some visiting), talk about their businesses experiences. Not stopping at their successes, also shared will be mistakes made, lessons learned.

An intriguing perspective that makes BoDo a potential resource hit right out the gate. Not only does it offer the prerequisite tips for success, but also offers the added treat of equally addressing some of the pitfalls design entrepreneurs have suffered as well. Moreover, any site that covers working in your undies definitely has their pulse on the work at home designer.

The lovechild of Catherine Morley of Katz i Design International, Neil Tortorella of Tortorella Design and Jeanette Wickham of Fast Coconut, BoDo’s goal is to provide designers of all walks and levels of experience with a wellspring of practical and useful information, resources and techniques for successfully managing and marketing a creative communications practice.

Take a look around, see what they have to offer. No matter what stage of the game you're in, chances are you can benefit from some aspect of what BoDo has to offer. And if for any other reason, it'll network you with other kindred spirits who work in their favorite comfy undies at home. A win-win situation for your design communications business any way you look at it.