Category : Clients

in Business, Clients, Video Posts

Episode 11 – Your Clients are Idiots

I know we have all had our fair share of clients who are just complete idiots when it comes to design, technology, or both. Some people just don’t understand good design or development, but other are just dumb. Regardless of how dumb they are, we shouldn’t treat them as such.

This is especially true when talking to new clients.

Treating your client as an equal is going to get you a lot further than treating them like you are the almighty design god. I can’t begin to describe how much of a difference being personal and straight with your client makes. But, I’m sure you have had an experience in the past where you worked with a service provider, maybe a CPA or banker, who just made you feel really good about working with them.

Thats what I’m talking about.

Treat all your clients, new or old, with that respect. If you don’t, you can kiss your clients goodbye. They will remember that attitude, and probably tell others about it. Take this post as a prime example. It was sparked by a call I made to a potential CPA I wanted to work with. From the minute he picked up the phone he seemed annoyed that an idiot such as myself would even bother to call him. I was so annoyed with the way he was treating me that i almost hung up on him in mid sentence.

Later that week I talked to a nice young lady who was nothing but nice and helpful from the moment I started talking to her.

Guess which one got my business?

in Business, Clients, Freelancing, Podcast, Video Posts

Talking Shop – Episode 10 – Feeling Out Clients

I know we all tend to have the same exact workflow with every client we work with. It only makes sense. I mean, if something works well, why do it any differently? Well, what if by doing it differently you could actually do it better? That’s what today’s video is about.

I have been exploring ways to make my WordPress Designers more about the client and less about me as a designer. In exploring for ways to make this happen I began to wonder what it would be like if I tried changing up my design workflow to be more client friendly.

Basically, what I did was talk to the client several times until I felt I had a pretty good idea of how the client liked to do things. For example, was he going to be a very hands on client, or was just going to be happy with anything I did? Did he seem like he had a very specific idea in mind or was he unsure of what he want exactly?

It seemed to me that if I adjusted my workflow to better suit the type of client that I was working with the benefits would be plentiful. By adjusting my workflow to fit the client, I would have less headaches (maybe), eliminate wasted time on design and development, give the client a more personalized experience, let the client feel more involved, and most importantly; the ability to build n even stronger relationship with the client.

in Business, Clients, Freelancing, Marketing, Video Posts

Talking Shop – Working with Bigger Clients

This video is a little late, as it was supposed to come out before the post “Who Else Wants Higher Paying Clients“, but it took forever to get uploaded. Anyways, in this video I talk a little bit more in depth about certain aspects that I cover in the article linked above.

Talking Shop – Working with Bigger Clients from Danny Outlaw on Vimeo.

If you haven’t checked out the article Who Else Wants Higher Paying Clients, I highly suggest you do. It has some very in depth advice and tips on how to land higher paying clients and bigger projects. The article isn’t a bunch of fluff and theory, but things that I have learned from my own experiences.

in Business, Clients

Who Else Wants Higher Paying Clients?

shutterstock_31828432Like many of you I’m sure, when I started designing I took almost any job that would come my way. Sometimes I took 4 or 5 at a time just so I didn’t have to say no or pass up money that was coming my way. Boy, if those aren’t some classic rookie mistakes. But, you do what you got to do when you are making very little money per job. This situation naturally leads one to wonder how they get less clients that want to pay more.

While I can’t say that these methods will work for everyone, below are some of the strategies I used when re-launching WordPress Designers. If you visit the site you will notice that it is only about half way done, yet I am getting more business than ever from the new design. So much new business that I hardly have time to finish the site!

Here are some of my secrets to getting higher paying clients!

Evaluate Your Past High Paying Clients

Obviously this only works if you have had paying clients in the past. One thing that helped me the most was to to look over my older, high paying, clients and see what I did to convince them to work with me. What was it that convinced them to work with me over the competition? Was it my website? My portfolio samples? My communication? After doing a little research, I realized that it was the clients who I spoke with on the phone AFTER a ballpaprk price was suggested.

Now that I know what was helping me get higher paying clients, it only made sense to better exploit this tool. I will mention how I exploited the ballpark price portion in the next section. For now, I just want to briefly talk about how I improved the phone calls aspect.

In the past, I never really called clients unless they asked me too. I’m just not a phone person, so I would rather chat or just send emails. But, if a few phone calls meant I could get $5,000+ clients, I was more than happy to make a few calls. Now when ever I get a quote request from a client, the first thing I do is give them a very rough ballpark figure and ask them if that is in their budget. If it is in their budget, I then ask for their phone number to do a phone consultation to get some more information to provide them with a better quote.

Since it is these phone calls where I usually “seal the deal” I figured it couldn’t hurt to brush up on my sales techniques and elevator pitches. Here are some resources I found that helped me brush up on these skills.

num1The Hollywood Way to Online Business Success
“This is the element of a movie and a business that makes it unique. Your USP, your elevator pitch, your remarkable benefit. Without this, the odds for success go way down.”



num2Perfecting Your “Elevator Pitch”
“Too many entrepreneurs try to pack too much into their “elevator pitches,” making them overly long and detailed, focusing on the wrong things, or using industry jargon that clouds or obscures what their company is really all about.”


num3Close More Sales: 3 Ways to Get In, Get Started and Make More Money Now—No Matter the Economy
“If you focus on building relationships and implement the sales strategies I reveal here, you’ll be able to close more deals and get more sales now. People will buy from you even in a lagging economy — no matter what your price point.”

Here are a few books I purchased as well. Many of them were recommended by others in the industry. I haven’t read them all yet, but they look every promising. the ones I have read are all extremely insightful.

Show Your Base Price Up Front

For whatever reason, we as designers don’t like to share our prices publicly. Some people are paranoid of other designers being under sold by the competition, while others don’t want to low ball them self on a high paying client. Both are logical reasons not share your price. But in my experience, publishing my start point for design work was one of the best things I ever did.

On the home page of my site, I clearly state that custom design work starts at $2000. By posting this starting point, it weeds out many of the people who aren’t willing to spend that kind of money. Thus, the people that do contact me are ready to spend at least that amount of money. But, because I said “prices start at” I haven’t locked my self into a fixed rate and am free to bid higher on jobs when appropriate. I also reiterate this price on the contact/quote request form in case the person missed the home page altogether. This helps keep my inbox free of emails from people looking for cheap design work.

Because I don’t want to completely push away those with smaller budgets, I also offer design tweaking services which I don’t share a price for. When I get emails for this sort of work, I pick and choose who I want to potentially work with. If I feel the would be clients needs could be better suited with a slightly more expensive approach, then I follow the steps above with a ballpark figure and phone consult.

In this phone consult I share with them a number of ideas that could help their business or website make more money both short term and long term. I explain the benefits of my suggestions and the cost involved with each. Nine times out of ten, I end up getting the client invest more in to their website than they had planned and feel good about it.

num1How much to charge for design work?
“Often I get asked this question via email, facebook or twitter about how to price yourself as a designer. The usual phrase goes something along the lines of “how much should I charge for” … web design, graphic design, logo design, etc.”



num2Pricing Web Work – What Should You Charge?
“The first thing that you should be aware of is that the discussion of pricing with your competitors is illegal in the US and Canada. Yes, you heard me right. It’s called price fixing, and it’s a federal offence.”



num3The Art of Business: Setting Rates for Your Small Design Firm
“When you’re a freelancer, setting rates is relatively simple; you fill in a few cost numbers, find a comfortable profit margin (if you can), and divide the cost of business by the number of hours you want or need to work. As a result, most freelancers have a single rate card.”


Extra Step Networking

It is no secret that networking can help your business. I think that because the design community is such and online network, that we tend to do a lot more social networking than other industries. The problem is, we seem to keep this networking restricted to the online world. When is the last time you called or met one of the people you interact with online? I suggest taking an extra step in your social networking by actually getting in contact with some of the people you interact with online.

If its possible, see if anyone you talk to online lives in your area. If so, make plans to meet up with them for coffee or drinks to just talk shop. If that’s not possible, see about chatting over the telephone, video chat, or some other way of communication that is more personal than Tweeting or comments. By making these more personal connection, the people you are networking with will remember you over their strictly online friends. They will also feel more comfortable with recommending you to people we the can.

Check out our long list of graphic design and web design conferences as a place to meet some big names in teh industry.

num1How to Build Credibility as a Young Blogger/Entrepreneur
“When it comes to the blogosphere it may be all about the content, but when it comes to content, credibility is king. Credibility can make or break a blog. Take a look at the successful blogs out there..”



num2Social Networking Goes Offline
“With MeetIn you set up a profile, which can include your photo, age, and brief sections on education and interests (MeetIn’s largest and most active chapter is in Portland, where more than 6,600 people have created profiles). Each member can post invites to events—dinners, concerts, salsa dancing, Frisbee outings—for others to join.”



num3Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job
“LinkedIn has over thirty-five million members in over 140 industries. Most of them are adults, employed, and not looking to post something on your Wall or date you. Executives from all the Fortune 500 companies are on LinkedIn. Most have disclosed what they do, where they work now, and where they’ve worked in the past. Talk about a target-rich environment, and the service is free.”

Main image purchased from Shutterstock

in Business, Clients, Marketing

How Weed Increased My Web Design Business

shutterstock_32620222While there is plenty of money to be made in the drug world dime bags and QPs, I’m not suggesting you add these to your list of services.  What I am suggesting is a clever business idea I picked up while watching the hit HBO series, Weeds.

If you are unfamiliar with the show Weeds, here is a description from Yahoo TV;

“A widowed suburban mother determinedly keeps up appearances in her idyllic community, whose residents remain oblivious to the fact that she’s the source of the high-quality marijuana that’s suddenly flooded the neighborhood. In Season 2, Nancy evolved into a true business woman from her humble beginnings as a dealer. She struggled to meet her obligations to her family and her new found “career.” Her questionable choices continued to play havoc with her life. Last season, viewers saw Nancy venture from hesitant but determined toe-dipper in the unpredictable waters of drug dealing to confident, full-fledged queen-pin entrepreneur.”

What I learned from the Show

There is an episode in the series in which the main characters accountant mentions that he canvas college bulletin boards for things like small business clubs and entrepreneur groups. He then makes arrangements tos peak at these clubs and meetings, upon which his lectures are designed to confuse the hell out of people when it comes to taxes and accounting. He then passes his business card around and the “deer in headlights” members come asking for his help.

Now I’m not suggesting that you find some similar groups and confuse the hell out of them when it comes to web design or graphics, but speaking at these sort of events can lead some decent work. Places like the Small Business Development Center and other small business association usually have work shops and guest speakers on a regular basis. If you don’t have a fear of public speaking, these organizations can be a great way to drum up business.

How to Find Small Business Clubs and Associations

If you are interested in trying out this networking technique, there a number of places where you can start looking for clubs and associations in your area.

Colleges
As mentioned above, colleges can be a great place to start looking for these sorts of clubs. You can always try out the college website first. Sometimes these websites are more geared toward recruiting new students then promoting campus activities. If you can’t find any information about clubs on their website, you can always try calling student services. These people will generally be able to anwser any questions you have about clubs, or at least point you in the right direction.

SBDC
The Small Business Development Center has locations all over the US. You can check out their website to find a location near you. You can also look at their calendar of events to see what sort of workshops and lectures they provide. After you are a little more familiar with what your local SBDC offers, try contacting them and pitching a lecture about the importance of web design or something similar. They are likely to jump at the offer and set something up right away.

Meetup.com
Another place that I have found useful in finding local small business groups in my area is a website called Meetup. This website is full of homemade groups in your area. Some of them can be as broad as “Small Business Owners of City Name.” Some can be even more specific if you are into niche work like “Bloggers of City Name.” These groups tend to meet once a month or more usually have a guest speaker or specific topic they talk about. If you contact the group founder, it is highly likely that you can arrange some sort of design specific topic night.

Final Thoughts

Do any of you have any experience with doing this sort of thing to driver business or just educate fellow entrepreneurs in your area? Im sure your fellow readers would love to hear your experience and how they worked out for you in the end. If you have any stories regarding this topic, please share it in the comments section below.

The image for this article was purchased from Shutterstock

in Business, Clients

Link Love: Using Mood Boards

I don’t usually waste your time by writing a post about other posts. You all have Twitter, RSS Readers, and the internet; so I figure you find out about cool new stuff on your own. But, today is an exception because I found a really cool article that I think a lot of you will like. The post comes from the new web design blog, Web Designer Depot and is all about using mood boards to smooth out the design process for both the client and the designer.
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