All Posts, Marketing, Web Design
So you made the jump from a safe, warm, and cozy job to the freedom of freelancing. You’ve dreamt about it for so long, wondering how the sun feels during the day while you were locked away behind a fluorescent lit cubicle isles and rows from the nearest window. Well you’ve arrived; so now what? How are you going to pay your bills, grow your skills, and market your skills on a shoe-string budget? Keep reading…
One of the more important characteristics of a successful is maintaining a steady flow of work. That work may come from agencies, current, or new clients. To me, each creative will find their own way to attain their own work but below are a few tips to try:
Online Agencies: These are good because most of the risk is on them so long as you hold up your end of the bargain. If you’re great at creating logos, but really don’t like to get into haggling and negotiating prices, these places are for you. You can create a profile, list your skills, and post your rate per hour or project. Then wait for the emails to come in. You’ll want to do some market research though so that you’re not too high or too low that you price yourself out of work or respect.
Network Locally: This one may be a step out of your comfort zone. Yes we have social media now a days and we can hide behind our keyboards, smart phones, and laptops but live networking still is held in high regard. Find out when and where other business professionals are hanging out after hours; then be there with them. Bring your business cards, but don’t pass them out like free tickets. Instead try making conversation first. Ask individuals what they do and repeat it back to them along with points of view while including their name here and there to show that you are paying attention to them. Before you know it, they’ll ask you for your card and then you can tell them about how awesome you are at design and how much fun you have helping people grow their business and brand.
Sponsor a Community Event: Pro-bono may be a great way to start out especially if you’re skittish about how people may appreciate your work. It’s also great experience in dealing with customers. You’ll run into all kinds, and before long you’ll have favorites and you’ll have some you wish you never met. As a self-starter, your reputation is everything so doing a free design or website for a local church could win you a lot of “oooohhhs” and “ahhhhs” from the members who all work in the community. A few thank yous and nice words from some non-profit organizations that rub shoulders with city officials could propel you to great levels. So even though the money may not have been there, you’ll still have new material for your portfolio, highly visible clientele, and letters of recognition you can tout around like trophies.
Embrace Social Media: This one comes with a grain of salt. There are many outlets out there to use. Find two or three that you can really wrap your mind around and feel comfortable using – and use them! Post daily, post often, but keep in mind you’re looking to engage first. The selling of your skills will be evident enough in your bio. Use it to showcase new designs you created. Get people to rate or comment on your work or even offer opinions and feedback. Learn how to strike up good conversations that may provide some great insight to someone’s problem or project and that could land you a job right then and there or not long down the road since you sound like you know what you’re talking about.
Your Portfolio: Well after showing off and practicing your elevator speech, you must have a place for all these people to view your work and vet your skills. Even if you don’t want to set up a full-out 50 page website that has all types of forms, sub pages, and FAQ’s with endless breadcrumbs, you should still have an online presence. I’ve seen some really nice designer websites that were nothing more than full-width graphics stacked, scrolling, or animated with just a contact page with a phone number and 3 line form. Be versatile though with your displays so that businesses of most industries can envision you doing their work and not think you’re just a niche designer. Unless however you want to be tied to a specific industry. Nothing wrong with that. Let me also mention blogging. A great way to provide great tips on your trade that not only shows insight, but proves you are the authority on that subject matter.
Well for those of you who’ve been doing this for some time, why not offer some tips to others in the comments below.
Web Development, WordPress
More and more individuals and businesses are using content management systems instead of static HTML sites. Generally, a content management system (CMS) is easier for an end user to update and maintain. However, there are a number of options when it comes to choosing a CMS. Here are some things to consider when helping a client find the content management system that is right for them.
How tech-savy is your client? One of the main reasons to use a CMS is to allow your client to update their own content easily. In order to do this, they will need to be able to use the admin panel. Consider how easy it would be for your particular client to add, modify and delete content. Some of the easier CMS options for a beginner are concrete5 and WordPress. For more advanced users, consider Joomla or Drupal.
What functionality does your client need? This is one of those where you need to find the best tool for the job. There needs to be some balance here–there obviously needs to be enough features to get the site to where the client needs it and perhaps even grow with them into the future, but at the same point it shouldn’t overwhelm them either. This dovetails with the technology level of your client-user.
Also consider also the plugins and the themes available and how they could benefit your client. I would recommend browsing both the official site of the CMS in question as well as any 3rd party sites.
What level of support is available? This is both for your benefit as well as the client’s. How often is the CMS itself updated and how well are changes documented? Is there an active community that you can ask for help if needed? What additional resources are available for you and your clients?
What is your level of comfort? Obviously your skills factor in. What technology are you proficient with? What do you enjoy working with?
Obviously there are many other content management systems available. What do you prefer to use—either on your own or with a client and why?
All Posts, Content & Copywriting
So here’s my worldwide web, no time to be camera-shy debut. I hope there are some tidbits that can enlighten & offer clarity of key points to consider from a content writer’s perspective. These include blogging, web design and branding across all forums of marketing for your business, big or small. So get some Kettle Corn (love that stuff!), get comfy and enjoy the show.
Why Website Content Is Important [Video Interview] from designtheory on Vimeo.
Interview by Jean Perpillant of Yvonne Barber, both members of Design Theory.
All Posts, Graphic Design
Now that the lovey-dovey mood, which Valentine’s Day brings has come and went, I start wondering what can I do to catch the wanted client who is still passing me by. Do you ever wonder what makes a client choose one designer over another? There are some big lies out there on how to get a client, but there are some exciting facts that show what clients really want from a designer.
“Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth”. FDR
Lies, myths and false statements
It’s important to understand a few myths we as designers have come to believe about being hired by a client.
Clients only want experience
Designers (especially recently graduated) think they don’t have a chance to be hired by a client because they have no real experience. Don’t let this lie stop you from finding great clients who are looking for a young, fresh approach to their design process.
A lot of clients would prefer to hire someone they feel has a lot to learn, rather than, someone who is set in their stubborn ways.
Clients hire designers who have a great portfolio
Similar to the first lie, a lot of naive designers think that unless they have a vast portfolio, no client is going to hire them.
In fact, it’s the opposite. Choose a few really strong projects, highlight them effectively in a portfolio, and show them off with pride. If you do this right, a smart client will hire you.
Clients only hire cheap designers
Most designers feel like they have to have the best bargain in order for clients to hire them. The truth is, most clients are willing to pay a little more for quality designs. Most clients are also willing to pay more money for a designer who is easy and enjoyable to work with.
Find ways to add quality to your client/designer relationship and you won’t have to lower your prices in order to get hired.
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. Galileo Galilei
Facts, truths and real statements
Clients hire responsible and easy to work with designers
Clients are usually more interested in the working relationship they will have with you than almost anything else. If they can’t work with you, if you won’t listen to them, or if you’re rude, they won’t care how great your designs look; you’ll never get hired.
Make sure you present yourself as a responsible and agreeable person, that way you’ll be more likely to get hired.
Clients wants designers who are respectful
You can have your own opinion, but when you intentionally insult, degrade, or talk down to your clients, you’ll quickly have a one-way ticket to unemployment.
Clients look for designers who respect their opinions. Be respectful.
Clients look for designers with the skills needed to complete their project well
You may not be the best designer in the world, but your potential clients may not be looking for that. They are looking for someone who possesses the skills necessary to complete the job well and on time.
That doesn’t just include design skills or a fancy portfolio either. They are looking for someone with a good work ethic, a personable attitude, great project management skills, and superb people skills.
These are some lies and facts of what clients want from a designer. What are some other pointers that will guide us to reach more clients, effectively?
What other tips and pointers would you add to this list? If you were a client, what would you look for in a designer?
Web Development
No, this isn’t a blatantly obvious attempt to generate reader feedback. This is a look at why developers should use well-commented code throughout their projects and how this seemingly simple addition can change the world–or at least, make people’s lives easier.
What are comments?
//this function does x
or
#this line does y
These lines of text are comments. They may have slightly different syntax, depending on the language used, but their purpose is the same–to quickly inform those reading the code exactly those particular lines do.
Why you should comment:
1. It helps other people understand it. This seems like a no-brainer, but you never know when someone else might need to understand your code. If you release the code under certain licenses–GPL, GNU–or another open source, it is important for those who will obtain the source code to be able to modify and add to the overall functionality of your code. Even if you aren’t releasing it under an open source license, consider the fact that someone else may eventually have to fix/add to it. I’ve personally have come across some intense code (spread across several dozen files) without any documentation and unraveling how all the pieces fit together took longer than the actual repair.
2. It helps you understand it.Comments can help you quickly troubleshoot an error. You exude a certain confidence when you are able to tell someone “I think I know exactly what’s causing that.” In addition, you never know when you might have to put down the code and come back to it later. If you’re looking to extend your code, you can easily remember what everything does and can better integrate any additional functionality.
3. It helps you write better code. After seeing a need for several occurrences of a similar command, you may be able to condense your code as a result of comments. You also have a chance to logically address and document each step as it occurs, so you may consider errors or other situations that you might not have otherwise.
Well-Commented
The key word here is well-commented. You don’t need to comment every line. In fact, it’s often better if you don’t since comments, as a general rule, shouldn’t match exceed the amount of actual code. Comments should describe the overall functionality of several lines, or help to define variables or cases that otherwise may not be readily apparent to someone reading your code for the first time. You must assume that the reader does have some general knowledge of the language in order to avoid overloading with comments.
//This is a blatantly obvious attempt to generate reader feedback. Please use the following form to share your experience with commented code–or, if you aren’t a developer, a similar experience.
Peter Burgin is a web developer and instructor who’s not afraid of debugging, large textbooks, or speaking in front of huge crowds.
