Designing Business

How I’ve failed to succeed

So I had a wonderful chat with a friend today about the disappointment of not acquiring a job. I’ve been feeling extremely vested in all the jobs I’ve applied for lately and feeling pretty crummy about myself in the process. As we broke it all down though I began to see a pattern emerging.

In the beginning the energetic, enthusiastic Candee starts applying for everything she can find. As the responses don’t magically appear, the enthusiasm wanes. Cautious and paranoid Candee begins to emerge and the amount of applications sent out begins to drop off. This cycle continues until I’m not applying for anything. Then suddenly I get called in for an interview! Explosion of energy! I go through the familiar ritual of checking and rechecking that everything is perfect. Now because I have sent out so few resumes the one interview I have is actually monumentally important. They HAVE to hire me! …I have nothing else.

This could have gone very differently. Let’s say that I’m consistently sending out one resume a day. I’m not going to feel as invested in that one interview when I know that I am consistently finding new opportunities to reach out to every day. Now here’s the part I really like; I’m getting off that emotional roller coaster! I can totally envision how much more productive I can be if I don’t sink into depression and self doubt every week! Obviously! As the numbers go up for the jobs I’ve applied for, so do the ‘Maybe’s and ‘Yes’s. If I sent out 60 resumes and got 3 interviews I’m not really all that concerned about the 57 ‘No’s. when I had sent out 5 and got nothing back those 5 were pretty darn important to me!

This shift in perspective has really enabled me to see how I was setting myself up to feel like a failure. I’d really like to start setting myself up to succeed! However corny it sounds, doesn’t everyone want that? I’m damn tired of not succeeding! So…less “I’ll do it later”, more “just do it” and stop being a whiny bitch. Bitches are awesome and have nothing to whine about!

p.s. I’m an awesome bitch.

Image, vector and texture resources

A quick list of the sites I generally use for stock imagery, textures and vector graphics. Of course, always check the licensing agreement so that you know what you can and can’t do. Almost all are free but some have different restrictions than others. I like to have a broad range of sites to check in at, so some are really general and others are pretty specific. Definitely not all are super fantastic! Browse around and see which are helpful for you. If anyone has some great links to share, please feel free to add to the list!!

http://www.sxc.hu/
You do need to sign in to this one. I’ve had an account for so long that I can’t remember how I got it though.

http://www.morguefile.com/

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/collections.html
Mostly oceans, space, animals, weather…

http://stellar-one.com/public/us_federal_government_public_domain_images.htm
Large list of many different sites. Some great, some awful.

http://search.creativecommons.org/

lostandtaken.com
Textures.

http://www.bittbox.com/category/freebies
They have ‘freebie friday and free ‘texture tuesday’

http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/

http://www.freestockphotos.biz/
Check for individual licensing agreements.

http://www.pdphoto.org

http://gimp-savvy.com/PHOTO-ARCHIVE/

http://designm.ag/resources/vectors/
List of sites that offer free vectors. I’ve found some of them useful for when clients needed some generic thing fast. Some of them give you the copyright info up front and some you have to download to find out. I generally keep separate files of various types of file usage for ease of use later on.

http://graphicriver.net/search?term=mock-up&type=files
Not free, but cheap.

Collaboration is a big word

I’ve been thinking quite a bit recently about collaboration and how we as designers might influence each other. I’ve been attending Creative Mornings here in Vancouver every month and I find it really inspiring and eye-opening to interact with so many creative people all in one place. I seriously feel like I have a creative contact high just from mingling and chatting. One thing that I’ve suggested after meeting new people is collaboration or a friendly hands-on project. As a freelancer I tend to work alone all the time! I feel that we miss out on much of our creative potential when restricted to only our own ways of thinking and styles of design. I’ve also discovered in the past year how much I sincerely enjoy organizing events and groups where creative types can meet, get help, be inspired or just have fun! One thing that keeps popping up in my thoughts is the idea of mentoring. I personally would love to have a mentor. There’s so much advice and bad mistakes that we all make that would be invaluable to learn from for someone just starting down the same road. Now, I still have to do some research on the subject, but on my first quick search there wasn’t much out there. When I look at it from my own perspective I would love to help out a student or someone interested in pursuing graphic design. I find it enlightening and gratifying to see all the work and progress that I just take for granted suddenly brought to light. I love the feeling that someone can actually benefit from all my mistakes and presumptions! I want to help and I like doing it. So get out there and pick each others’ brains! Suggestions: I just had a Christmas card-making party. Everyone brought different supplies and we got to work with our hands, try out new materials and mix and match ideas! Simple but an amazingly good time! There may have been homemade sugar cookies and eggnog somewhere in there as well. I want to get people together. Create more outside of work. Enjoy the variety of creativity!

Me, myself and I…we’re awesome!

Self promotion. I don’t want to do it…at all! This is me, freaking out on the inside. Realistically though, it’s not that bad. I actually really enjoy it sometimes. I think many of us tend to look at things like this as scary only because we have no data to place the task in reality. Most scary things, (except for roller coaster rides…just can’t do it) don’t live up to their hype. Most situations are manageable and many turn into fun adventures and fantastic opportunities. I still try and put off things I feel could end in disaster. It really is a blessing and a curse to be able to imagine in vivid detail! My new goal this past week was to design and then distribute a promotional postcard to the local businesses in my neck of the woods. Now, I can imagine standing there, handing out one of these postcards and being asked a question and then…blank. What’s my name! What is a logo? I can’t even remember what the weather is like. Just…nothing. Why am I scared of talking to these people in particular? I doubt that anyone that I meet will be so vastly different than me that I can’t even make words come out of my mouth. I’m not really worried about them, just the idea of them. Make them real and all you’ll be doing is getting to know some new people.

I used to assume that everyone was in one of two categories. Either you were charismatic and chatting people up was effortless for you or you were in terror of talking to groups and found it insanely difficult to take the spotlight. I doubt that I ever asked anyone if this was true for them. It wasn’t until 2 years ago that I began to really look into it. In school we had to get up and defend our projects almost every day. Everyone had varying degrees of success. The people that I saw as having some innate, natural ability were revealed to be great at planning and rehearsing. Now that I know this, I can increase my success when pitching an idea or project. I’m not relying on luck or some personal charm. I’m prepared.

Get excited about what you’re offering. Confidence goes a long way. It’s addictive not only to those you are interacting with but also to yourself. My goal for this week is to practice the script of what I’m intending to say when I hand out my promotional cards. While I practice saying the words I’ll also practice feeling confident and excited about the work I do and my skills and abilities. Get into that feeling and try it on over and over until you can bring it out whenever you need it.

So this is what I’ve learned about self promotion this week. If you’re scared, figure out a way to help yourself see the facts instead of the fiction. Practice what you’ll say to your potential clients and get to the point where you feel confident and hopefully it’s drilled into your head enough so that if your mind goes blank it won’t take too much effort to drudge the information up. Repetition is your friend here! Before you go out, remember that you’re awesome! Get excited about what you can do and ooze confidence

My ideal client is tall, dark and handsome…

A new concept has been presented to me this week. Who is your ideal client? I have been under the desperation spell of thinking that I must be grateful for any work that comes my way. While I am happy to be working, I’m not really working on getting the work that I want. I asked my friend Fraser Milne to join me for coffee to discuss freelancing and how to generate business for yourself. Fraser went to Vancouver College of Art and Design with me and has been very successful in generating work, finding clients and promoting himself primarily in web design and photography. I admired his ability to get out there and find his own projects and clients, but I didn’t really understand how he was doing it. Personal charisma? Good head for business? Is it a skill that he can teach others?

Before we even got to our meeting, Fraser gave me a lesson in dealing with clients. He began preparing. Now this meeting was very casual, just some former VCAD students getting together to chat about the business. He prepared for it though as if he were going to a client meeting. I found it very telling afterwards that I did not! Here I am calling him for a meeting, setting these goals for myself and I actually have nothing even written down. No questions, comments, research of my own. I did bring my sketch book and take notes! This is an area that I could certainly improve in. Prepare for your successes. Prepare for your failures too I think.

So…ideal clients! Fraser’s advice was to discover who your ideal client is and then do the research to find out more about them. What industry they are in, how much can they spend, who would you contact in the company, location, are they a new company or have they been around for awhile, and who has the power to say yes and mean it? Next you need to start making a list. You have a much narrower search margin than before, so start digging in and find the specifics. Get actual names and numbers. Make your list big enough that if only 10% are interested that you’ll still have enough to work with.

Cold calling, or emailing. You’re going to call up total strangers and offer your design expertise! I can’t wait! Actually, this scares me so much that it took me two weeks of procrastinating to even write about it! To help with the jitters, script out what you intend to say and practice saying it out loud. Enlist your friends and family to be guinea pigs for you. You’re going to hear ‘No’ more than ‘Yes’ so prepare for hearing it. No matter how many times you get told ‘No’, keep it professional and keep going. One thing Fraser said that I wouldn’t have ever thought of was to reign in your enthusiasm. I think we can all relate to the over-enthusiastic sell. The general response is to grimace and then hang up or click away. In your head you are screaming ‘SCAM!’ pretty loudly. This is no way to introduce yourself.

You’ve made a list, you’ve checked it twice, you’ve decided not to be tooo nice! Now set yourself up with a big glass of water and get to it! How about after you whittle that list down to the ‘Maybe’ pile and the ‘Yes’ pile? What now? Well, we need to follow up and also get organized. Start a contact manager system for yourself that lists each company’s contact details, who you spoke with, and make sure it is clear what type/level of contact you have made so far. Think of interesting ways to follow up with these potential clients. Fraser uses a postcard with an example of his work on it to help promote his services and remind them that he is interested in working on their next project. This is also a great way to give them that bit of personal touch that keeps it from getting lost in the shuffle.

My ideal client? I’m leaning towards smaller businesses with something unique to sell. I love learning something new when I do research for a new project. I do need to go through this process now and get my focus narrowed and then we’ll see where I’m at! This entry is made entirely from processed information directly manufactured by Fraser Milne. Check him out yourself at:

www.non-stop-disco.com

How do you get noticed?

All this last week I’ve been chatting with individuals about how they started their businesses, how they got clients, and what does marketing yourself actually entail. At the onset, I felt rather nervous. Generally I enjoy being an observer, not a questioner. This is a new area for me, a bit of a personal stretch. I made this particular goal though to not only gain insight into marketing and business, but to also just get comfortable initiating contact. I had intended to start with my peers due to the nervousness issue and work my way up, but I guess once it was in my head I felt like talking about it.

On Friday, I went to Socialab, a networking event I have recently been participating in (seriously recommended) through twitter. David, who invited me to Socialab asked me what I was up to that week and I found myself almost speaking before I had thought to do it. Just take a breath and go. David is a wonderful guy to know! He was eager to listen and offer advice. As a designer and a business owner himself, he knows what he’s talking about. His advice focuses on networking. Get out there. Mingle, join groups, check out meetup.com and go to some events. Once you’re faced with a roomful of strangers, keep it casual! Please don’t go to your inner sleazy salesman! Keep the pressure off and just get to know people. You won’t be able to work out any solutions or offer your services if you have no idea of what they might need. Also, no speeches detailing everything you could ever possibly do for them. Keep it clear and concise. Under 90 seconds is good. Remember you’re just chatting, not trying to hustle them.

An interesting point he shared related to what types of clients do you want to attract? I hadn’t really ever put much thought into that before. You’re so focused on how will I pay for rent, that you start giving off this air of desperation because you just know you will take absolutely, (well almost) any project and any client! Sooo…who do I want to work with?

Weekly goals do help…

I am a designer. I love working on advertisements, logo development, packaging, and helping small business owners bring their vision to life. The problem I face as a new freelance designer is that I have no experience in generating my own business. So I need to learn. Hey, at least I like research! As each week progresses, I’ve set up new goals for myself to start filling in the gaps of my knowledge, confidence and comfort levels. The first week is focusing on talking to business owners and asking how they started out and what they felt helped them the most.