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Archive
Use
personal notes to build relationshipsby Chuck Green When was the last time you received a personal note from
a colleague or a client? A handwritten message that expressed
a feeling or a thought composed for you alone? If you're like
me they are few and far between.
Multiple
Income Streams: avoiding Starving Artist Syndrome
by Angela Booth If you're a creative, the chances are high that if someone
is making a buck from your talents, it's not you. We writers,
artists and designers aren't good negotiators. We love our
work, and we're happy that someone wants to pay us for it.
It takes us a while to realize that while everyone else is
doing nicely from our work, we're not.
The
Press Release: What to do to Attract the Mediaby
Charlene Rashkow As many of you already know, promoting and marketing your
business in as many creative ways as possible is crucial to
the success of your venture. But finding ways to get noticed
presents a major challenge for most entrepreneurs.
Measuring
your postcard marketing resultsby Martha Retallick In my previous Creative Latitude article, "Using Postcards
to Promote Your Design Studio," I offered an overview
of the postcard marketing process.
Now it's time to talk about measurement. As in, measuring the results of your
postcard marketing efforts.
The
new email law and youby Ilise Benun
If you are using email to market your small business, here's what you need to
know about the new spam law, the CAN-SPAM Act, which went into effect on January
1st.
Beyond
graphicby Errol Saldanha
Today's graphic designer has moved beyond graphic. The term "graphic" fails to
accurately describe our profession to the business community and the public.
We should consider replacing it with a more relevant, accurate description of
what we do today. Why?
The
value of value-based pricing Should a creative professional charge on an hourly basis,
or a project basis? Here's the answerby Valarie
Martin Stuart We creative professionals tend to be a right-brained bunch,
harnessing our creative talents to create practical solutions
for our clients. Creating pricing structures, estimates and
invoices are not high on our enjoyment list. But we can avoid
some common pitfalls and potentially unhappy clients by pricing
our work based on project value rather than an hourly rate.
Crafting
the perfect proposalby Neil Tortorella
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.
10 ways to keep and get clientsby Derald Schultz Realistically, it will be impossible to keep every client due to any number of factors; the marketing director you've worked with for years leaves or another design firm offers a "loss leader" project. While some scenarios are out of your control, many are not and taking a proactive stance can do wonders.
Punctuation, punctuation, punctuationby Anne Caborn
A light touch with punctuation has always made sense, whether you're scratching out a sonnet on velum with a quill pen, or texting a mate on your mobile. It's meant to enhance communication, not hinder it.
Gaining Insight and Inspiration from Veteran Designers by Ruth Farrugia
As a designer, there are days when it's tempting to just churn out something that looks nice, without any thought given to the creative process. To keep a fresh outlook on our work and maintain a true sense of purpose, we have to keep up our educational process. A designer should never lose his or her passion for learning.
About Writingby Chuck Green
Excellent answers to burning questions about who, what, where and why of writing ... even if your not a writer to begin with.
Networking that Works by C.J. Hayden
Established business owners and new entrepreneurs often have a difference of opinion about networking. The old-timers usually say that networking is one of their most important sources of business, while the newcomers frequently claim to put a lot of effort into networking without seeing much return. What's going on here?
How the Creative Process Worksby Derald Schultz
The creative process in it's purest form is simply a way of solving a problem. For example, a client needs to promote a new product or service to their customer base to increase sales. In one sentence we have described the problem and how we will measure the success of the solution.
Selling Yourself: Market Advantages of a Freelancerby Kevin Potts Independent freelancers often outperform agencies in quality, price and timeliness, yet they continue to lose their bread and butter work like small businesses, new start-ups and lower-budget assignments to the large, "do everything" advertising companies.
Color Experience by Kathy Lamancusa Color is part of our psychological and biological history. Everyone is impacted by color every day, even if they themselves do not believe that they are.
Nailing That Next Big Interviewby Chris Gee Graphic designers are paid to help organizations to improve their image and communication. Companies would not be able to sell themselves, their products or their services to the public or to their own employees without the tireless efforts of graphic designers. So it might seem odd that many graphic designers, particularly during interviews, do a poor job of communicating and selling themselves and their own services.
Using Postcards to Promote Your Design Studioby Martha Retallick Have you priced display advertising or Yellow Pages listings? They can add up to big money in a hurry, can't they? I've found a way around this dilemma by using color postcards.
Preaching What You Practice: Speaking in Graphic Tongues to the Massesby Jeff Fisher Outside of the creative industries, graphic design is seldom a religious experience for most people in the business world. In fact, a great number of professionals in other industries probably don't have a clue what you, as a designer, do for a living - or what you may be capable of contributing to the success of their own businesses.
Touch Pointsby Linda Fisher
Every touch point in the firm, influences the way its clients perceive its brand. The question is: do design businesses put into practice for their own firms, those very principles they put in place when working for corporate clients?
Professional Conductby Habib Bajrami
Publishing price lists and fees on you web site is unprofessional and not acceptable by Creative Latitude
Emotional Reactions to Color by Kathy Lamancusa Understanding our emotional reaction to color is important in advertising, fashion, product design, graphic design, and architecture. Color plays a major role in mood associations that determine the way we feel about a product.
Usability vs. Creativity by Christopher Gee It's very interesting that a huge debate is brewing in the field of web design right now. Design vs. usability. Creative freedom vs. guidelines and standards. Flash vs. HTML. Graphics vs. text.
Integrated Branding: Creating a Unified Look for Your Organization with Everything You Do by Chuck Green Like it or not, your organization and the products or services it sells, have a brand. It is the sum of all the impressions your prospects and customers collect from the first time they hear your voice, see your brochure, or link to your Web site. And if you don't take branding seriously, you're leaving a critical piece of the marketing puzzle to little more than chance
Guerilla Graphics: Defusing Client/Creative Conflicts by William Johnston Conflicted over how to deal with that talented, though difficult to work with designer? Frustrated with unreasonable design changes by a demanding client? We've all been there right? Well there are ways to work through these client/creative issues and restore harmony and profitability to your relationship. This column may provide just the insights you're looking for.
The Power of Logoby John McWade
When Saddam Hussein's statue in central Baghdad was toppled — not the real Saddam, not the actual person, but the metal image — that's when people flocked into the streets, when all knew the end was at hand, that the regime was done.
Building Your Design Business Through Uncertain Economic Times by Linda Fisher While a slower economy may effect the daily pace at design firms, business is in no way grinding to a halt. Decisions are made more carefully, perhaps, and projects are delayed, but client budgets are still being exercised.
Book Review: Designing Websites://for Every Audience by Neil Tortorella
If you're like me, you've found that many of the rules you were taught in art school don't all together apply to the web. That's where Ilise Benun's new book, Designing Websites://For Every Audience comes in real handy.
Why We Don't Make Speculative Presentationsby Creative Business
The main product of our business is ideas — creative solutions to the communications problems and opportunities facing our many clients. And good ideas — creativity — can be tough to define, or agree upon. One person's passion is often another's poison. So it's no wonder that potential clients often ask us to take a project on speculation. That is, to try out our creative product in much the same way they may try out other types of products before purchasing.
Let's
Talk by John McWade
Have you ever made a presentation to a committee/ boss/client
who could not converse in words? It goes like this: "Hmm.
Mm-hmm. I'm not sure what I want, but I'll know it if I see
it." And, "I can't tell you what I like, but I know
what I don't like."
The inability to articulate is a serious professional handicap.
The problem is, it afflicts designers, too.
How To Make
Your Dream List A Reality by Ilise Benun
How much would you be willing to pay for a list of people
who need what you have -- and know it -- and who are so close
to being ready to buy that they've already made the effort
to contact you? Wouldn't that be worth a lot of money? Or
maybe even invaluable? You might call this your Dream List.
Or you could call it your In-House List, that is if you really
took the time to develop the best list for your business.
A
Winning Strategy: Industry awards as a marketing tool by Jeff Fisher In 1995 something "clicked" within me and my business
began an adventure in a new and exciting direction. First of
all, I made a conscious decision to focus on the aspect of the
design business I had always enjoyed the most: identity design.
Secondly, I finally adopted the business name I had kicked for
the previous ten years: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives. The final major
change came in the way I marketed and promoted myself.
Limitations?
What limitations? by Joe Gillespie
Remember the old maxim about trees bending with the wind? Like
the trees, your layouts have to be 'flexible'. If you make them
hard and rigid, they will most likely break. if you really took
the time to develop the best list for your business.
Five
Easy Steps to Successful Relationship Marketing by Claudia Temple What’s their secret? Certain web designers in your field
of vision have hardly skipped a beat during the post-dotcom
downturn. Meanwhile, you’re sweating a bit more than you enjoy
about where the next project will come from. How did this happen?
Getting
the most from a design auditby Neil Tortorella
Think about the typical mid-size company. They have signage,
stationery, forms, vehicle graphics, uniforms, brochures, catalogs,
webs sites, newsletters and advertisements to name a few things.
As a company grows, so does its visual arsenal. Pretty soon,
there are more locations, more signage, more forms, more stationery,
etc. That's where the design audit comes in handy. Don't let
the name fool you. This kind of audit is a good thing.
Remotely
workingby Nigel Gordijk
Solo operators who offer Web design services are increasingly
working direct for big name clients who want to avoid high fees
by using experienced freelance talent. For the Web designer,
this means wearing several hats including that of project manager.
How do you keep a project running smoothly without jeopardizing
what you do best - designing?
Informational
Interviewby Morgan Mann The job market it a tough thing today, and it seems to be
tougher for
designers in the downsizing ad market. There are a number of
things you can do to help secure a job or an internship, including
asking for an
informational interview instead of the standard interview.
In
their own words, why these designers are against Speculative
Design Competitions by Catherine Morley Sometimes the best way to present a subject is to let those
involved speak for themselves. In this article you will find
an actual forum exchange between members after a potential client
posted a logo and web site design competition, along with valuable
links and the Creative Latitude Logo Design Competition Protest
Form.
