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Sales
Planning For Fun and Profit — Or, How I built my practice
by playing dialing for dollars
You can try to escape it. You can hide from it or put it on
the to-do list for the tomorrow that never seems to come. Maybe
you're packed up with work and don't think you need it. But,
the bottom line is that if you want to have a business, you
can't escape selling. |
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Creating
a Marketing Strategy
Marketing involves the four "P"s: Product (service); Price;
Place (distribution) and Promotion. For the purpose of this
article, let's focus mostly on the Product and Promotion aspects.
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A
Capital Defense
Finding startup capital for your practice
So, you're a newbie. Odds are you've got loads of enthusiasm,
talent and dreams of grandeur, but not a bubbling bank account.
You want to carve out your own space in the wacky world of design,
photography, illustration or maybe writing. The hard truth is
that you can do it with a wing, a prayer and 50 bucks (like
I did), but it's going to be tough road to travel. |
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Starting
a creative practice with a degree ... but no experience
Here's a quandary that's, unfortunately, not too unusual.
You graduate from art/design school with a killer book, high
grades and a load of ambition. You also have no job ... no internship
... no nothin.' The market's down and there've been mass layoffs
at the design firms and ad agencies. You've mailed out hundreds
of resumes and it's still no soap. What's a newbie to do? |
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The
Marketing Mentor: an interview with Ilise Benun
It's not the easiest thing to juggle being the chief cook and
bottle-washer of your creative enterprise. We tend to wear many
hats — creative professional, bookkeeper, office manager,
janitor, sales person and marketer. At times, it's tough to
not drop a ball or two. One that often falls to the ground is
marketing. |
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Crafting
the perfect proposal
Proposal are also the cause of a great deal of anxiety for many
creatives — especially those new to the industry. They're
usually not on the list of most creative-related classes in
school. But, fear not, oh ye creative bethern. I'm going to
take you step-by-step and show you how it's put it together.
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Book
Review:
Designing Websites://For Every Audience |
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A
Case for Graphic Design
When my son was about a year and a half old, I remember driving
with him snuggly fitted into his back seat throne. He would
point and say, “McDono,” “K-Mart,” and the
biggy, “Toys ’R Us,” as we drove past the stores.
Geez, the kid’s genius! He’s not even 2 and reading.
I bet he’ll finish Harvard by 10! Well, the fleeting thoughts
of my grand contribution to the gene pool were short lived.
I knew better. |
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Getting
the most from a design audit
A design audit is a review of all the visual elements used by
a business, as well as its message to the public. It's something
a company can do that's akin to therapy, leading to corporate
enlightenment. Without a method in place to monitor visual style,
a business is in danger projecting more personalities than Sybill. |
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Know
Thy Audience: Marketing Research for the Independent Graphic
Designer
If you’re like most designers out there, the thought of
marketing research is probably about as exciting as watching
paint dry. Concepts like stratified samples, nonresponse bias
and quantitative measurements aren’t likely to be tops
on your list of coffee talk, either. But, being able to provide
your clients with great work and the research to back it up,
will give your design more authority and maybe put a few more
zeros at the end of your bank balance. |
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Registering
trademarks and logos
Just how important are trademarks? You don’t
have to journey too far for the answer. Trademarks are easily
one of a company’s most valuable assets. Just look at
names like CocaCola® and McDonald's®. Trademarks often
serve as the basis for our buying choices. They represent
the level of quality a customer can expect to receive and
the overall experience of dealing with a particular company
or product.
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