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GraphicDesignBlender.com presents HOW TO FIND CLIENTS TO FUEL YOUR CREATIVE BUSINESS Publication date: September 2014 Published by: Mighty Media Co. & Preston D Lee www.graphicdesignblender.com www.mightymedia.co Version 1.0 ŠCopyright 2014 Mighty Media Co., Preston D Lee and GraphicDesignBlender.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, without prior written consent from the publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. You may store the pdf on your computer and backups. You may print one copy of this book for your own personal use. Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the author’s experience, knowledge and opinions. The author and publisher will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book.
HOW TO FIND CLIENTS & FUEL YOUR CREATIVE BUSINESS
INTRODUCTION: After more than half a decade of running a web site dedicated to helping creatives build a business they love, there’s one common problem that keeps coming up month after month: how to find more clients. If you’re building a service-based business (where you trade your expertise, usually in hours, for a paycheck) you know exactly what I’m talking about when I refer to the “feast-famine cycle.” In the beginning, you’ve got zero clients and you work your tail off to find a few clients to pay the bills and put food on your table. You build a great relationship with those clients. You hit deadlines. You’re priced fairly. You genuinely care about their projects and the success of their business. And they really need you. They need your creativity, your ingenuity, your drive. But suddenly, they don’t need you anymore. Maybe they hired you for just one project which is now completed. Maybe they ran out of money. Maybe they had an organizational change and the new guy already has a creative as his “go-to guy/gal.” Enter the “famine” phase of the feast-famine cycle.
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And you’re back at the beginning: trying to find all-new clients. But if you could work on finding clients all the time, even when business is good, you could beat the cycle and always have money coming in. So one great option is to become more efficient at finding clients (so you don’t have to spend hours every day doing it the hard way). If you can get better at finding clients, you can spend less time on that piece of your business, leaving you with more time for the tasks you enjoy most. It’s a healthier way to be a service provider. And it’s worth the learning and testing upfront to become a client-finding machine. Knowing this piece is key for any creative working on his/her business, we’ve compiled a bunch of articles we’ve written over the years about finding clients and building your creative business. Among other things, here’s what you’ll find in this ebook: • How to get clients to come to you (instead of chasing them down) • The secret to finding clients you actually want to work with • The truth behind finding more freelance clients • How one small freebie helped me get tons of new clients • Why “stopping” the client search may be the best way to find new clients • And a bunch more. I hope you enjoy this ebook. It’s been years in the making for readers just like you. If there’s something you feel we’ve left out or should change, please reach out to me at preston@graphicdesignblender.com and we’ll chat. Best of luck in all your client-finding endeavors! Oh, and one last thing: many of the chapters found in this book are written
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with designers in mind. But these principles can easily transfer to any creative entrepreneur. Illustrators, poets, copywriters, woodworkers, or anyone trying to build a creative business they love. Ok, now to the good stuff.
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How I got tons of new clients with this small freebie A few years ago, I was stuck – big time. Maybe you’re familiar with it. You’ve been building your business for a while, finding clients, fulfilling their needs, rinse and repeat. But my client pool was starting to grow thin and I was getting worried. No clients equals no cash. No cash means no real business. So I had to think of a new marketing tactic and I had to think it up quick. How could I find a bunch of potential new clients? How could I convince them they needed my services? And how could I convince them I was the best choice for redesigning their web site? I was reading an interesting book at the time titled FREE: The future of a radical price by Chris Anderson. Actually I had read an ebook version that was free and found this particular book on a discount shelf in some collector’s store while on vacation. (I was stoked!) Anyway, the whole premise of the book is that the future of successful business is in giving things away. So I decided that’s what I would do: give something away. But, what can you give to potential clients? A free logo? No way. A free consultation? Lame. -7-
A free candy bar. Uh, I guess. But then you’re probably just out a candy bar and still don’t have any new clients. So after thinking through it for a long time, I came up with what I thought was the perfect solution: free help and a free book. I decided I needed something that would build my credibility and value status with potential clients. So I wrote a short book titled 10 elements all web sites should have and I started mailing and hand-delivering these little booklets out to small businesses all over my city. The results were amazing! Before I new it, I was getting new calls almost every day from potential clients who wanted to talk about their web site design needs. They would ask me questions and I would answer and then pitch my services and I landed probably a little more than half the clients that called in. So why did they call me? Because I established my credibility by writing a book and offered help by writing something they actually cared about. I created a void within them that I then offered to fill. The booklet taught them why their web site was missing the mark in multiple places and what they needed to do to fix it. They could have called any designer, but they called the guy who wrote the book. I became a trusted designer in my community. So what are you going to give away for free? While there are at least 3 reasons to think twice before offering your actual creative services for free, offering a freebie to clients in order to establish credibility can be a great way to build business quickly. What are you going -8-
to offer potential clients for free? Give it some thought, try it out, and I’m sure you’ll see some great success with it.
How to bring in more clients without dropping your prices It seems like every time I talk to creative about bringing in more business, the most common solution for finding more clients is dropping prices. Unless you want to make less money and be more stressed, let me offer a few alternative options to dropping your prices. First, target high-income clients. The obvious alternative to dropping your prices is finding clients who are willing to pay you what you’re worth. What’s the key to success with this strategy? Actually being worth what you charge. Take for example, Walmart and Nordstrom (two very high-profile, large store chains in the US). Walmart plays the price game. Their motto is essentially this: “We will charge less than anyone else, guaranteed.” In fact, recently they’ve adopted the practice of price matching any legitimate advertisement from any other store. If you are all about price, go to Walmart. Nordstrom, on the other hand, plays the quality game. Don’t you dare take a competitor’s ad into Nordstrom and ask them to price match. They might just laugh you out of the store. And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Nordstrom knows that, if they sell high-quality products, they can charge
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more. And if they charge more they can survive on less customers. Which means less work and time spent. Would you rather be the Walmart of the creative community, or the Nordstrom? I’d rather have fewer, high-paying clients than a million lowpaying ones. Secondly, don’t be afraid to say “no.” Humor me for a second. Have you ever seen the web site, “People of Walmart”? The terrible site basically showcases all sorts of strange people that visit Walmart stores on a daily basis. The kind of people you would never want as clients. See what I mean? They would never make a “People of Nordstrom” web site. Not only are there not as many people to choose from, but Nordstrom basically caters to one kind of person. And photos of those people don’t make for an entertaining web site. Likewise, you don’t need to accept all sorts of people as clients. Don’t be afraid to say “no” if a potential client solicits work, but you don’t feel right about the opportunity. If you’re wasting your time with low-paying clients, you’ll never have time to build a solid repertoire of high-paying clients. Choose your time, and your clients, wisely. Third, specialize. I have gotten a little bit of grief for it in the past, but I still say specialization is a great way to get an edge up on your competition. If you’re the best wordpress developer in town, who do you think people are going to call when they need a great wordpress site done right?
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PART THREE
Not the cheapest guy. See, people are willing to pay for expertise. That’s why plumbers get paid so much money. Or electricians. Or lawyers. Or accountants. And even if one guy could fix your leaky faucet, rewire your sound system, recite the Bill of Rights, and get you a great tax refund, you probably wouldn’t hire him to do any of those things. Or if you did hire him, you wouldn’t expect to pay that much, because the minute he takes on multiple disciplines, he just becomes some guy who does a lot of things. And when you need your taxes done perfectly, you hire the accountant. Not just some guy. Fourth, create a solid brand for yourself. Specializing is part of creating a solid brand for yourself. It seems like this is what it all comes down to: your brand. Walmart is the cheap brand. And they attract clients who are all about getting a great deal. Nordstrom is an expensive brand. And they attract clients who are willing to pay more money. Accountants brand themselves as finance specialists. Jacks of all trades don’t really brand themselves. They are just the guy who helps you out with stuff. So what’s your brand? How do you brand yourself. Take the time to think through it and make sure you’re headed down the right branding path; the path you want to be on in 3 years, 5 years, or 10 years more.
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The real truth about finding more freelance design work We asked designer and entrepreneur, Brent Galloway, what he thought the secret to finding more clients was. His answer, even though it’s short, is top-notch and will help you as you work on marketing your creative business. From Brent: “One of the biggest struggles in entrepreneurship has to be finding new clients. If you’re like me, you’ve probably read countless blog posts on the subject. I still find myself, every now and then when times are tough, searching Google – hoping that I’ll find a new and secret way of finding clients. The real truth is, I already know everything there is to finding new work – and so do you! So what do we know? In summary, any article you might find on google basically cover the same methods: Word of mouth & referrals, building a personal brand & online portfolio, job boards & forums, blogging, ads, social media, and the list goes on… The point is, we’ve all read the same content on finding work, just in different places.
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PART FOUR
I’ve realized that the results of my searching will hardly ever change due to the same content always being the top of the long list of articles. So what’s the secret to finding new clients? The secret to finding new client work is quite simple – take action! What are you waiting for? Take what you know already and put it to use today!
SO Where are all the great clients hiding? Have you ever beat your head against a wall after getting off the phone with one of those clients who just really gets on your nerves? You know the kind of client I’m talking about. And we’ve all had them before. In fact, if you’ve ever found yourself thinking “Where are all the great design clients?” then don’t worry, you’re not alone. Finding clients is tough. But finding great clients is even harder. It’s much easier to settle for mediocre clients, low-paying clients, or rude clients. It’s time for you to stop settling. There’s a place where all the great design clients are hiding and I’m going to let you in on the secret. I’m going to offer you the secret that not a lot of freelance designers know – one that completely changed my design business when I discovered it. So where are the great design clients? If they’re out there, why has it been so hard for you to find them? Because they’re a little bit disguised. The greatest design clients…drumroll please…are disguised as design agencies. Design agencies, production houses, creative service businesses, and the like.
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Let me explain: if you have ever found yourself dreading the client side of freelancing then I totally understand where you’re coming from. I got to a point where I just didn’t want to deal with all the drama. But I didn’t want to work full time as a designer for someone else either. What to do? Freelance for a design firm. Why? They handle all the drama. This whole idea started when I got an University internship as a designer at a local production house. I worked there for a few months, and then I had to go back to school so I had a choice: quit my job or quit school. But hiding somewhere in the shadows was my third choice: freelance from home for the production house who hired me while finishing my schooling. After some negotiations and a little paperwork, I was on my way! They found the clients, they negotiated price and timing with the clients, they delivered the final product, collected and filtered feedback, and all I had to was design. Ah, sweet design. Remember when you used to simply design as much as you dealt with difficult clients? Some creatives might ask: “But isn’t that just like working for someone else?” My answer is “nope.” I work for me. I decide which projects I take on, I tell them if I can hit their deadlines or not, I decide how much to charge and I determine my destiny. But the beauty of it all is: they provide me with steady projects.
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PART FIVE
If you’ve been searching for the hidden emerald city of freelance design stability, this may very well be your yellow brick road. And the joy of it is, working like this, you’re welcome to add any golden bricks to the road as you go. Just because one of your clients is a production house doesn’t mean you can’t work with other clients directly (just be sure not to sign a noncompete contract). Find the perfect balance that works for you between steady projects and steady income via a production house and high-quality additional clients. So stop searching the world over, the great design clients are disguised as production houses and design agencies. Look there first. Still not convinced? Here are a few more reasons why this is such a great set up: • Design agencies usually having a billing period (15 or 30 days) which means no more fighting clients for a paycheck. • Design agencies usually understand where you’re coming from as a designer which means no more fighting clients on what looks good or achieves goals visually. • Design agencies pay higher rates. Because they can upcharge their client for the work you do, they tend to pay more than a small client looking for a good deal. If you’re tired of looking for “the perfect client” maybe you’re looking in all the wrong places. Try giving an agency or a production house a try. Of course, sometimes the best way to “find” new clients is to stop looking for them altogether. In the next chapter we’ll discuss another unusual theory on how to find clients by not searching for them.
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Stop trying to find new freelance clients I’m a freelancer, so I get it. You need to find new clients. New clients bring in new money to your freelance business. They are the lifeblood of your business. They make it possible for you to pay the bills. …or do they? Is it possible clients are a big time-waster instead? If your freelance business is anything like mine, there’s a lot to be done and not a lot of time do it in. And that means you don’t have much time for big time-wasters. Most freelancers think they can save time during the day by staying away from social media, avoiding web surfing, or unsubscribing from Netflix. But we’re looking at it all wrong. Stop and think for a minute: is the primary goal of our freelance business to simply find new clients? Most creatives get jazzed every time they find a new client. Your heart rate goes up, your productivity skyrockets and, for a few days, you feel like you’re on cloud nine. Then the design process kicks in. Clients get picky. They get annoying. They start asking too much. And that rush of energy and excitement quickly leaves. Before the project is completed, you’re burned out. you’re tired of the revisions and the poor decisions from clients who didn’t really understand. And this leads to a HUGE mistake: instead of making sure to take the best care possible of your current clients, you’ll get tired of grind and may be tempted to look for the “new client rush” again.
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PART FIVE
So you’ll start searching for new clients and neglecting your current ones. What will that lead to? You’ll have to put in extra hours to advertise your business and find more clients. In the mean time, your current clients will feel neglected and become (justifiably) upset. You’ll likely finish your projects late or sub-par and leave your clients angry or frustrated. Consequently, your clients will not give you new business–and with good reason. An over-exaggerated slippery slope? Maybe. But I don’t believe it’s that far off. There’s another path you can take. Imagine if, instead, you learned how to handle design-by-committee, wasn’t afraid to limit the number of revisions his clients get, and found a way to keep going when you feel burned out, here’s what might have happened: All the time you began dedicating to finding new clients could have been spent working harder to satisfy your current clients. Not only would he have completed the project on time, but the final product would have been something you could really be proud of. And (here’s the kicker) you likely would have kept your current clients. I’ve asked the following question hundreds of times from hundreds of creatives: “How do you find new clients?” And guess what the #1 answer is every…single…time. Referrals. Referrals are easier than cold calls. Referrals are free. And referrals are easy because your let others do the heavy lifting for you. So treat your current clients like gold. Not only will you likely see more business from them in the future, but you’ll also reap the benefits of referrals.
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Join the ranks of freelancers who have stopped trying to find new freelance clients. The next few chapters are written by freelancers and entrepreneurs who have got it figured out. They’re rocking their own business and have agreed to share their insights and expertise with the rest of us. Brace yourself. These chapters are great!
8 Extremely Easy Ways To Find & Win New Creative Business By Steven Fogg I’ve been a Graphic Designer for nearly 20 years now. I’ve been my own boss for around 10 of those years and one of the things I’ve had to master is how to win new design business. To be honest, the finding new business hasn’t come easy to me. I’ve done it sometimes through gritted teeth. Winning new business isn’t easy at the best of times because you may be introverted like me. By your own nature you probably prefer the company of a few rather than the many. I bet that once you get to know people you probably feel like you can be yourself and you tend to open up. Sound familiar? It’s really okay to be yourself. Don’t try and change just because you now have your own creative business. But being introverted doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t get out there
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PART SIX
and win new business. There are some stunningly simple (and easy) ways to find new business even for introverts. There is no hyperbole here. Just simple strategic thinking to help you in your quest to become an entrepreneur who thrives rather than just survives on the smell of an oily rag from week to week. I’m not talking about marketing or sales calls to businesses or corporations. Just simply putting yourself out into places where you will have the opportunity to network or simply fill in a tender. The key to finding new business through networking is that you actually have to go and look for it. Get out there. Talk to people. Get uncomfortable and introduce yourself and start conversations. Below are five easy ways you can to find new business:
1. Extended family network Talk to your family, tell them what you are doing and if they know of anyone that could be a potential client. Give them some business cards to pass on when people are interested.
2. Friendship network You likely have friends who would love to support you in your venture. They are probably just not aware that they can help you. Ask them if they know of anyone who is in business who would be worth talking to in their friendship network. You will be accessing pools of thousands of people that you never had access to before, AND those potential clients are warm leads because they know your friend.
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Many cities around the world have some sort of local business organization. Many decision makers and business owners frequent these environments for exactly the same reason. To cultivate and build networks for business opportunities. Why wouldn’t you want to be there?
4. Local/State/Federal Government Every local, state or Federal government I know of does tenders for graphic design work. Access to these tender lists is very simple. Just call them and ask. The beauty about tendering is that once you’ve done one tender most of them are very similar and you can copy and paste. The other wonderful thing about working for a government is that they are prepared to pay better rates. Once you’ve networked in these groups sooner or later prospective clients will respond. You’ll probably be very excited that a prospect said yes to meeting with you about a possible job, however you will need to have the following things ticked off before you can expect to even be considered for a job. Once you’re considered, here are five simple ways to ensure that you actually win new business:
1. Show up 5 minutes early to your appointment. People appreciate you more if you are prompt. It demonstrates a high level of professionalism and respect.
2. Find out about your prospective client’s business. Check them out on their website beforehand so when you talk to them they can see that you understand their business. Every time a new client of
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mine finds out I actually understand what they do, their impression of the level of my professionalism increases.
3. Have your portfolio ready. You live or die on the quality of your creative work in your portfolio. Presentation and simplicity also counts. Make reviewing your portfolio easy and segment it into areas your client would be interested in.
4. Present your credentials as a leave behind. They should include: a. Experience – Tell them how much experience you have and the type of work you have done. Name drop higher profile clients. b. Areas of expertise – Tell them the other design disciplines you operate in. They may not be hiring you for this now but there may be other work that they could hire you for in the future now they know you have a wider level of expertise. c. Why you? What makes you better than anyone else who will come knocking at your prospective clients door? Follow up promptly with a quote and an email/letter/phone call thanking them for the opportunity - Have a templated letter or email ready that feels personal and professional. This letter can reinforce your key selling points as well as including a quote. This isn’t an exhaustive list of finding and winning new business. I’m sure there are some simple ways you may of found and won new business. But it WILL get you off on the right foot and give you a “square one” you can start from. And even seasoned freelancers need help getting back to
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square one now and again. Take, for example, GDB writer April Greer’s experience moving to a new city. We share her story in the next chapter.
How to find new clients fast in a brand-new city By April Greer If you’ve ever experienced the “joy” of moving (especially if you’ve accumulated furniture), you know that not only are you learning the ropes in a new community personally, but as a business, nobody knows you. Nobody knows that you volunteered 200+ hours per year in your previous community. Nobody knows you would love to design the local cancer awareness basketball tournament logo. Nobody knows that your posters improved sales at your previous locale’s zoo store by 20%. And that’s a really big problem. As we all know, word of mouth is generally our most effective means of securing new clients. But breaking the ice in a new community can be a little bit scary, especially for freelancers used to spending more time in front of their monitors than with new people.
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So here’s a list of things you can do today, this week, and this month to get local attention for your business. Things you can do today: First, always carry business cards. When you’re walking your dog, at your kids’ soccer practice (see below), at the grocery store, on a weekend ski trip. It may seem old fashioned, but you never know when you’ll run into someone or overhear a conversation where you have about 5-10 seconds to share your business information. Next, talk to your neighbors. They won’t bite (usually). Be friendly, introduce yourself and almost automatically “what do you do” will come up. Don’t forget to have an awesome 15-second pitch line! Third, visit Town/City Hall. Even my tiny community of 3500 has a town hall, and this is an excellent resource for how to get your name some local visibility. Likely they’ll refer you to the Chamber of Commerce (see below), but you also might have an opportunity to get a business spotlight in the community newspaper or learn more about an upcoming business fair. Pro Tip: The neighboring community is also a great resource! Things you can do this week: First, try meeting with your Chamber of Commerce. Most chambers have a full-time recruitment employee who specializes in securing and retaining new businesses. They can share the value of membership with you and help you leverage marketing tools and sub-groups most useful for your business. Next, talk to local businesses. Downtown areas are a great place to start because they generally promote unique local businesses that are often in serious need of design work. Bring a business card, your best pitch, and possibly a brochure or freebie how-to guide as an enticement. Or, you could pull a stunt. Go somewhere with a lot of foot traffic around
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lunchtime or the end of the workday and do something unexpected. Get your kids involved. Where kids are involved (dance, drama, baseball, chess, Girl Scouts, etc.), there are lots of parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. All of these grown-ups work for or own companies and volunteer with organizations who might need your expertise. Don’t forget your business cards! A few things you can do this month: Try meeting local business groups. Find business groups in your area that would benefit from your expertise and offer to speak at their next meeting. You’ll gain mad credibility with local businesses, and before you know it, they’ll be hiring you to come in. Get involved in your HOA / neighborhood association. Not only will you have a say in how you’re required to keep your house, you’ll also meet a ton of new contacts, including the property management company your association is likely working with. Offer to maintain the website or update the handbook and it’s even easier to spread the word about the best new business in town. It could also be as simple as throwing a house-warming party. Sure, the walls are still blank, but what better way to meet the block than to host a house-warming party? And you can announce it with the best invitations anyone has ever seen…with your logo on them, of course! Lastly, volunteer. Get involved with a cause near and dear to your heart, even if the work you’ll be doing has nothing to do with your business. You’ll be exposed to a network of people who already have something in common with you (and a reason to like/trust you), plus the added benefit of being one of the first people on your non-profit’s list for paid work. Now go make some friends! In the next 30 days you’ll have quite a few leads you can work on to get your business rolling in a new community.
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The secret to finding clients you actually want to work with By April Greer If I asked the GraphicDesignBlender.com community which clients they’d most prefer to have, I’m guessing 99% of you would say, “the ones that pay.” (Or some derivative of that.) Am I right? However, just because a client pays well and pays on time doesn’t mean they aren’t a stressful, rude, big pain in the neck to work with. So how do you find clients that you actually want to work with? Follow these tips… First “know thyself.” You can’t know if a potential client is a good fit if you don’t have anything to fit them with! Take a look within yourself to determine your strengths and weaknesses not only as a freelancer but also as a person. How do you prefer to communicate? When do you prefer to be available to your clients? How patient are you? How well do you handle criticism and critique of your work? Do you enjoy learning about your clients as human beings, or do you prefer to keep it strictly professional? In what ways are you / are you not willing to be flexible? Knowing where your boundaries lie BEFORE your initial consultation will help you sound more professional when you’re engaging with a potential
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client. Now that you know who you are (personally and professionally), you can develop criteria for what makes a client a good fit for you. Next, examine your existing clientele. First, take a look at your existing clients. Which ones do you look forward to hearing from and which ones are programmed into your phone so you can ignore it now and email them later? (Guilty.) Why do you enjoy working with some and not others? Here are some common reasons: Their personality and general attitude Their respect / disrespect toward you and your work How often they contact you Their organizational skills The quantity and type of questions they ask / reassurances they need Their professionalism (or lack thereof) Develop your criteria Next, based on your personal strengths and weaknesses as well as your existing clientele, determine which characteristics are most important to you. Which traits are you willing to compromise on and which are rigid boundaries? How would your ‘perfect’ client behave? How would they approach confrontation or a misunderstanding? Example: For me, the perfect client is friendly, cheerful, mostly organized, and looks to me as a trusted source of design expertise. I’m perfectly fine with constructive criticism of my work, but rudeness and aggressiveness or finger-pointing is not something I’ll tolerate.
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Third, measure their ‘fit’ness Now you’re ready to have that first initial meeting with your potential client. Remember, it’s just as important to learn about your working relationship as it is to discuss project details! Pay attention to the following details that are great indications of how they’ll act as your client: Their greeting: are they friendly, cordial, brusque, rushed? Do they interrupt you, and how do they react when they do? What language do they use? (Yes, I have had a potential client cuss frequently the first time I met them!) Do they regard you as a professional or a minion? What do they say about the previous designer? How much control do they seem to want? How much do they know / want to know about the ‘whys’ behind the design? Do they sound organized? How do you feel at the end of the meeting? Note: It’s okay if you assess your client based on what might be perceived as ‘shallow’ judgments. If you can’t stand the sound of this person’s voice, you’re going to procrastinate like crazy when you have to call them. Don’t ignore your gut feelings. Are you getting a good vibe or a bad one? Listen to your intuition – it’s probably right. (Nerves are okay – even
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veterans feel anxious, especially on projects that push the limits of your expertise.) If you find that you have to talk yourself into a project, it’s probably not for you. Keep all of these things in mind and soon you’ll be working with client you actually want to work with.
Taking action & Finally Finding Clients If you’ve made it this far in the book, you’re serious about finding new clients and building your creative business. So what next? Here are a few quick actions you can take today that will make the time you spent reading this book worthwhile: 1. Find a way to add insane value to your potential client base. Then give it away for free to establish yourself as an expert in their minds. When people need something, they call the expert. 2. Learn what you’re worth and adjust accordingly. Not only will you feel good about the way you do business (see: honestly), but you’ll also see how easy it is to change prices as you mature in your skillet. 3. Stop reading blog posts, listening to podcasts, and paying for training and get out and do something! Spend one week putting into practice as many tactics as possible that you’ve been reading on blogs or hearing in podcasts. You’ll be shocked how many results you see.
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PART TEN
4. Call at least one creative house and offer to freelance for them. This is the fastest way to build your business without dealing with clients and lots of other details and drama. Let them handle that for you. 5. Spend more time delighting your customers (which will make them want to talk about you) than you do “marketing” in an attempt to find new clients. Soon you’ll find the clients are coming to you. 6. Get out in person and connect with people. Potential clients like knowing their working with a real human being. Attend conferences, city meetings, business meetups, etc. and see who you can connect with. 7. Get picky about your clients. The more picky you are, the happier you’ll be running your business and the more likely you’ll be to do a great job and bring in more referrals. Get out there and take action and we’ll see you on the flip side!
Preston D Lee Founder, GraphicDesignBlender.com
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