A bit of shameless self promotion – How to get business for your freelance graphic design services
I hate to use the phrase, but in these ‘credit crunch’ times self promotion for freelancers has by necessity become quite competitive. The best way to gain business, in my opinion, is via referrals, and I have always worked using this basis. If I do great work and stay in touch with my clients, they will suggest me to people they know and give good references. And ideally I would gain all my business by this method. The best clients are those who are engaged with your ideas, trust your work and have spoken to someone who they know who has given a glowing review.
However, everyone’s budgets are tight and spending in some areas of marketing and advertising has decreased or at least moved to another channel. I have seen some companies taking as much work away from agencies and moving it in-house in order to try to produce the same amount of work for less overhead. I have seen clients halve budgets for departments I have generally worked with for their company. I have also seen companies who used to do a lot of direct mail and resisted methods such as email marketing starting to swap over. They have done the maths and see that for them it can be much cheaper and that the material created can often be tweaked and reused for a much lower cost per send. That isn’t to say that people have stopped using print. It is just an example of how some marketing departments are changing the way they spend their budgets to stretch their pennies further. And shifts like these affect the freelance world, in fact they affect every graphic designer’s job. More and more companies are looking for designers with design and also AS or CSS skills than ever before, I would go so far as to say that although great print designers are still in high demand, there are less slots for them to fill compared to online designers or those with a mix of skill sets.
This has been making my job very varied, and really quite interesting, I have always been a bit of a hybrid designer. I learnt to code HTML at 16, just for fun, from a SAMS teach yourself book. I learnt Photoshop at the same time to use for my art studies at school as digital art as part of mixed media pieces or for illustrations really interested me. It was this that led me into my path as a graphic designer in the first place. I always had an understanding of a mix of areas which I have always found useful when designing as it allows me to have an understanding of how my design decision affect the development team who have to build the site, or the printers who have to make my designs real. This is all good stuff you think, but I would say that even with a good knowledge of illustration, print and branding design 70% of my work falls under the online marketing and advertising bracket.
This is because being a freelancer who has a predominantly web design and email background I often find this is the sort of work people come to me for. So my referrals, which are my main method of gaining clients almost to exclusivity, are usually around online marketing projects. However, as a freelancer who can do more and wants to use that variety to increase her client base – how do I get my services known for these aspects to potential clients.
Email marketing I hear you cry, well not really…
For my own shameless self promotion I have actually been finding that as a sole trader with only 5 years experience in the industry, sending cold emails really will not work for me. Had I wont ten AD&D awards and been featured in countless Computer Arts specials I might have a chance with this method – But generally, people are just too busy for yet another 20-something freelancer sending them an email asking for work. Because this is exactly what so many freelancers do. We pop people plain text generic emails and voice mails telling them we need some work. Everyone needs work, this doesn’t help and it won’t be listened to. It is tantamount to asking for a charitable donation. In fact you might do better with that approach…
So what other options are there?
Method: Word of mouth: For me this works great with online work, but doesn’t help me get those illusive illustration jobs I love to get occasionally to keep my hand in at drawing. Of course the more projects I do like this the more it will sort itself out – but what is the solution to speed up the process? Answer: Do your clients know what other services you provide? Can you offer them a good deal if they combine using your primary skill set with other things you can do but that aren’t as strong in your portfolio?
Method: Email marketing: I email people I know to catch up, I write to them specifically and avoid blanket mass emails with generic copy and paste content that makes the reader feel like all you thought they were worth was Ctrl C and Ctrl V of your time. And there is nothing wrong with a cold email to an agency or company you have some knowledge of. But if you do, look them up online, check your services are relevant, write a concise short message which doesn’t boil down to ‘I need a job’. Explain to them why working with you would benefit them, as that is all they need to know, whether or not you getting work that week is the difference between your cat getting Tesco Economy cat food or Whiskers is not engaging to them. Treat any email you send cold to anyone as you would if one of your clients were paying you to do it. And, if you would advise the client against it, don’t do it! I myself have received 4 emails in the last month offering me graphic design services if I need my site redone – quite silly to send to a designer who is best known for their online work and the lack of research makes the email a nuisance and spam. The sender will forever be remembered by me as someone who takes no time when advertising their services, yet expects other to take the time to look at their folio and hire them. And that is not something I want any potential clients to think of me.
Method: Old fashioned post cards: I am still a fan of these. If you have some great artwork or design work and can send some postcards then I say invest a little to do so. Make sure they look beautiful and have your best work on them. Treat the card as you would design one for a client. It has to show your skill and attention to detail. I know a lot of people think these are just out of date, but I have postcards that were sent to agencies I worked at from years ago – beautiful artwork sells itself – send something amazing and they may well put it up on their wall, or even if they do put it in the re-cycling, they will remember your work if they ever see it again. A postcard is a great way to get noticed and letting your work sell itself. Again, check who you are sending to, ensure they are relevant people at relevant companies. A bit of research online or sift your old business cards for potential or old clients you haven’t spoken to in a while will bring up a fairly short list of good people to send to. Also, with the number of online printing services such as ‘Moo’ the cards don’t have to cost the earth.
Method: Networking: Good networking can do wonders for any career. There are events you can attend and just general things you can do to keep in touch with business contacts and to gain more. From heading out and meeting people, to using online services such as Linkedin. Talking to people is a great way for them to see who you are more than just sending them a link to your recently updated portfolio website. Of course, if you are lacking in social skills practice on the local pub scene first. But generally getting to know people will always help not only generate business, but keep existing customers and help you understand their needs better, which means you can produce better work. There really isn’t a downside. I would just say this – Don’t drink as much as you would when out with your friends, Don’t text your misses while talking to someone, Dress appropriate for the occasion and have fun. These are people, not just potential wallets of cash and getting to know them isn’t about going to an event and just asking for work until they go away.
Method: Online promotion: A lot has been written in recent years regarding online promotion of services. And I am not going to retype out everything I have read, and that you have probably already read. Blogs are good, social networking is good, tweeting is good. The list goes on. What I will do is put down a little of my own experience. I have found that using relevant social networks such as Linkedin can be very helpful both for forging new contacts and for staying n touch with people I have worked with in the past. Unlike Facebook and similar sites the recommendations and expertise are looked upon as having some official authority. For all the Facebook fans in the world, if you are selling a professional service and want to work with big clients, for now at least, professional networks such as Linkedin are worth more of your time than the alternatives. Being part of a social networking site means being active in it – there is no point making a myspace page and adding lots of friends if you only log in once a year. Pick a few sites which you feel are most relevant and visit them as often as possible, this will give you a better ROI than joining 30 and never updating them. Blogging, well, I am blogging as we speak, so I obviously think there is some weight in it. But again, you need to update fairly regularly and ensure you put relevant content on your blog for it to add value. I have never been offered work because of my blog, but I have had clients mention articles I have written. I think it serves well as a tool to show I am active and interested in the industry I am pursing a career in outside of just working my hours and meeting deadlines, it shows I have a passion for what I do. Or at least that is the idea… Twitter, I think can be a useful tool. But again, and stop me when this gets too repetative, you must devote some time to it – desktop applications such as tweetdeck or twirl will make this a lot easier. Twitter is about instant communication, so you need to know when someone replies to your posts. Join just a few networks, pay them attention and post relevant content (unless your job involves pets, no posts about your new cat please!) they can help build your online reputation. All of the above can also help your SEO and increase your website traffic, so keep this in mind when you use them – if you dont work in an industry involving cats and you post constantly about your new pet ‘fluffy’ the traffic you gain is likely not to be businesses or individuals looking for a freelance designer – rather someone looking for a cat. So whenever you are about to hit that ‘publish’ or ‘tweet’ button, have a think about whether you are writing just what you want to write, or if you are posting what you want to write, but also what your audience wants to read.
I hope these notes are useful, feel free to comment, add to or speak up in angry defiance against anything posted here. All opinions are welcome.
