9 Tips for Staying Focused

Published May 18th, 2012 in Business - 4 Comments

Many designers and developers love their work in part because they can work from home or anywhere else that they choose. While not working in a typical office setting can be a nice perk, it also brings its own set of challenges. Possibly the most significant challenge is that there are all kinds of distractions and no one is there to help keep you focused.

In this article we’ll take a quick look at 9 things you can do to stay focused and productive.

7 Practical Ways to Gain Exposure as a Designer

Published May 11th, 2012 in Business - 5 Comments

New freelancers and students who are just coming out of school are often faced with the challenge of gaining exposure for their work. The exposure is often needed for securing new client projects, but it can also be needed to help with landing a job or just building name recognition within the industry.

With so many talented designers out there already it can seem like a daunting task to grab any exposure for yourself. In this article we’ll look at some practical ways that any designer can improve their exposure. Implement a few of these ideas and you will be well on your way to reaching your goals of landing new clients and building name recognition. Several of the suggestions involve social media and/or blogging, so if you don’t already participate in those activities now is the time to start.

1. Design Galleries

One of the best ways to gain exposure and to build a name for yourself is to let your work do the speaking. Your portfolio site is not only a place to show off your work from client projects, the design of your portfolio site itself can lead to loads of exposure. Web design galleries like CSS Mania, Best Web Gallery, and hundreds of others showcase top quality work of designers from all over the world. Being showcased on a few of the leading galleries can provide exposure to thousands of people.

Likewise, design blogs like our own often publish posts for inspiration that showcase brilliant design examples. Being showcased on a few popular blogs can bring an equal amount of exposure, if not more. Many times blogs find sites to showcase by browsing web design galleries, so having your portfolio site approved to the major design galleries can lead to even more exposure through blogs.

In addition, gallery/portfolio sites like Behance, deviantART, and Carbonmade allow you to set up a portfolio and display all kinds of work, not just web designs.

7 Critical Documents for Freelance Designers

Published May 4th, 2012 in Business - 6 Comments

Most designers go into freelancing because of their love for creative work and the opportunities that are available to help clients. The business-related details almost always take a back seat to the creative work, and many freelancers wind up learning from their mistakes about the importance of certain aspects of running the business.

You can save yourself a lot of time and trouble by simply having access to a few key documents that can be continually re-used on your client projects. In this article we’ll take a quick look at some documents that are critical to freelance designers. If you’ve been freelancing for a while, hopefully you already have them. If you’re just getting started as a freelancer, make sure that you don’t overlook the importance of these documents.

1. Web Design Contract Template

Probably the most important document for any freelance designer is the contract. Most designers have learned the hard way about the importance of contracts, and if you have done any reading at all about running a freelance business I am sure you have read many times about the importance of a contract.

Although collecting a percentage of the payment up front can help to weed out shady clients, having a signed contract is really the only way to effectively protect yourself. In addition to just having the contract, it should be a contract that clearly states the specifics of the project. This includes the details of exactly what you will be providing (along with sometimes covering things that are not included), how much you will be paid, and at what stages payment will be due. You may also want to include details about what is required of the client, for example if you need to get content from them.

The cost of legal services is one of the main reasons that many designers do not use contracts, but spending a little bit to get a good contract can save you time, headaches, and more legal fees involved with trying to solve a dispute later without a contract. The basics of contracts for web design projects are often very similar, so you don’t need to get a contract custom drafted for each project. You can purchase a contract template, download one, or hire an attorney to draft a template that you can use over and over again with only minor adjustments.

5 Important Email Templates for Freelance Designers

Published April 12th, 2012 in Business - 7 Comments

Freelance designers have a lot of different responsibilities when it comes to running a business and providing client services. Anything that you can do to increase efficiency in administrative areas will help to allow you to spend more of your time actually designing for clients.

Email is an essential communications tool, but for freelancers it often becomes overwhelming. One effective way to increase efficiency with email is to have a set of templates that can be used for common situations. Of course, you’ll want to edit the templates to fit the specific needs of each situation, but if your templates are drafted carefully they should not need extensive editing or customization.

In this article we’ll take a look at 5 specific types of templates that you may want to have on hand in order to save yourself some time. Email templates can also help to improve communications with clients, ensuring that you don’t overlook certain things and allowing you to respond faster.

1. Proposal Follow Up Email

After you submit a proposal to a potential client, if you haven’t received a response in a few days (the amount of time will probably vary from one project/client to the next) you’ll probably want to follow up.

In some cases you may even want to send the follow up right after the proposal just to say thanks for the opportunity. This is more typical in a situation where the proposal is presented in person or over the phone, rather than in an email.

The purpose of the proposal follow up is simply to thank the potential client for considering you, and to prompt them towards choosing you for the project. You’ll probably want to mention your interest in working on the project and your confidence that you can do a great job for the client.

7 Reasons to Send an Email Newsletter to Clients

Published April 5th, 2012 in Business - 9 Comments

Being able to effectively and efficiently communicate with clients is one of the most important aspects of being a web designer. It can mean the difference between having happy clients and having frustrated clients.

Communication is a constant challenge when you are working with many different clients over a period of time. Sending out an email newsletter to your clients can help for a number of reasons. In this article we’ll take a look at 7 reasons why designs should send email newsletters to their clients.

1. Stay In Touch with Clients

After you have completed a client project how much contact do you have with that client? In most cases, probably not very much. Staying in touch with your clients is important because it’s likely that those clients will be in need of services that you offer at some point in the future, and you’ll have a better chance of landing that work if you are still in regular contact with them. Also, some clients may have a need for on-going work that you could provide, such as site maintenance or updates.

Having a newsletter helps you to keep your name in front on them, even if you are not communicating one-on-one.

7 Ways to Increase the Value of Your Web Design Clients

Published March 30th, 2012 in Business - 6 Comments

Many freelancers are often faced with the challenge of finding new clients. With so many designers and agencies out there competing for work, the process of landing new clients can be frustrating if you are having a difficult time.

Obviously, being able to get new clients on board is a big part of being able to survive and thrive as a freelance designer. However, the focus on new clients sometimes leads to overlooking the opportunities that already exist with your current clients.

In this article we’ll look at the subject of increasing the value of your current web design clients rather than focusing on finding new ones. If you’re able to increase the amount of money that you are making from your current clients you will be able to reduce the dependency on constantly bringing in new clients.

There are a few reasons why this is a productive way to look at the challenge of increasing, or stabilizing, your income as a freelancer. First, it’s typically easier to sell to those people who have already hired you and trust you. If they are happy with your services all you really need to do is find another way that you can help them in addition to the work you’ve already done.

Second, it can save you a lot of time. Landing new clients requires a lot of leg work to develop quotes and proposals, and that client could easily wind up going with another designer. Selling to existing clients will cut out some of that wasted time because you will already be familiar with each other, and your conversion rates will likely be higher because existing clients are less prone to shop around with several different service providers.

So if you are looking for ways to increase the value of your own clients, here are a few suggestions.

10 Things You Can Do Today to Become a Better Designer

Published February 23rd, 2012 in Business, Design - 16 Comments

One of the challenges of being a web designer is the need for continual improvement. While you will certainly gain experience and improve skills through client projects, it’s also necessary to dedicate some time outside of client work to focus on new skills and staying up-to-date with an industry that changes at a rapid pace.

Since we all have busy schedules to start with, getting a real impact with the time you set aside for learning is essential. In this article we’ll take a look at some things that you can do today to improve your abilities in some way. Even with just a small amount of time available, there are things that you can do with a focus on continual growth and improvement.

Pros and Cons of Outsourcing

Published February 2nd, 2012 in Business - 9 Comments

Running a design business, either as a freelancer or a small agency, is a big challenge. Getting the most efficiency out of your time is essential, but it’s also very difficult for those who wear many different hats, like freelancers. One of the most common ways of dealing with this challenge for efficiency is to outsource work to others. It could be anything from design work, front-end development, back-end development, marketing, to anything else that needs to be done.

There are some very strong reasons for outsourcing, and likewise the are some equally strong reasons against outsourcing. In this article we’ll look at those pros and cons, which will hopefully prove to be helpful to those who are trying to decide on whether or not to outsource.

Pros of Outsourcing

1. Leverage Your Efforts

Whether you are a part-time freelancer, full-time freelancer, or you run a design agency, the business aspect of your work is just as critical to your success as is your ability to design and/or code. One of the principles that is key to growing a business is that you need to be able to leverage your time and efforts. As a one-man operation you will only be able to earn money for the services that you can provide to clients yourself. But by expanding your business, in this case through outsourcing, you can leverage your efforts and make money based on the work of other people as well.

This makes an assumption that one of your priorities is to maximize income and profits, which may not be the case with all designers. Some designers prefer working on every aspect of client projects rather than outsourcing or hiring employees, even if it means reduced potential for business growth.

7 Common Mistakes Made by New Freelancers

Published January 5th, 2012 in Business - 21 Comments

Making a transition from employed designer to freelance designer can be intimidating for even the most talented of designers because there is so much more involved with being successful as a freelancer. As a freelancer you’ll be responsible for every aspect of your own business, and it’s those aspects aside from the actual design work that typically create the most significant challenges. While the transition is rarely easy, if you take a look at the mistakes that are commonly made by other new freelancers you can prepare yourself and avoid those potential pitfalls.

In this article we’ll take a look at 7 mistakes that many new freelancers make. The purpose is to help those of you who are in the process of moving into the world of freelancing, or considering it. By knowing these challenges ahead of time you’ll be better prepared to avoid them in your own business.

Free Download: Interactive Portfolio PDF (InDesign Template)

Published January 4th, 2012 in Business, Free Resources - 11 Comments

If you find yourself frequently exchanging emails with potential clients, you may be interested in sending them a PDF file that shows off your work. This free InDesign file will allow you to do just that. You can customize the file to include your own details and samples from your own portfolio, save it as an interactive PDF and email it to potential clients.