“Whoa! What’s the problem?” I asked.

“Well, I know there’s work out there. At least I think there is ¬ but I don’t seem to be getting any of it. How can I get some new clients into my business – fast?”

There is a lot of work out there – even in this economy. In fact, Janet a friend and FGDO subscriber shared with me just how busy she was right now. “Things are going great!” she says. “This recession isn’t affecting my business at all… I actually think its helping.”

So if the work is out there (and it is) the question is “How do you get it into your business quickly?”

If this is a question you’re asking yourself, here are 5 things you can do to get clients into your business right now. And the good news is these are all highly cost effective solutions…

1. Get Famous

Are you known to a select group of prospects as the top person in what you do? Do you have “star” status with them? Getting famous is about marketing to a select group of people so that they think about you first when it comes to design solutions. It’s about getting people to recognize you as a leader in your field. Most designers fail in their marketing efforts because they don’t intentionally attract a select group of people they want to market to. The good news is – it doesn’t need to be a big crowd to produce lucrative results in your business.

You can easily become famous by targeting a specific market, industry or service need. Depending on the size of your business you may only need to focus on 50 -150 people that you promote yourself to. This can easily be a source of new clients for you in the future. When you are famous to a targeted group of people that means you become the “go-to” person when they need your type of design services. You’re the first person they call.

2. Create a Special Report

If you are going to be famous to a select group of people, you’ll need to build credibility. To do that you need to create a powerful tool that establishes you as the expert in your field. One of the tools that can help you do that is what I call the “Free Report Strategy”. This is a special report that you can create for your business that focuses on your area of design expertise. This tool is like a magnet for attracting new clients to your business. And best of all you can create this effective tool on a very low budget. Creating a Free report increases response and motivates new clients to contact you.

If you want to learn more on creating your own Free Report
click here

3. Use a “Paper” Sales Force

For most small design shops – having a sales person to make calls is a luxury they can’t afford. But that doesn’t mean you can’t create a similar result without hiring a sales rep. In fact you can and at a fraction of the cost, by utilizing sales letters in your marketing program. A sales letter program is like having a small army of paper sales people that can call on many businesses for you – all at once. And it does cost you more than the price of a stamp.

You send your targeted letters to businesses that you want to work with, and your letters make the pitch and your call-to-action for you. One of the best things about a sales letter is you can automate your program so that you are free to work on design projects while your letters do all the work. Sales letters are great tools for making an impact in your market place, and a great way to secure new clients.

If you want to learn more on creating effective sales letters for your business
click here

4. Ask for Referrals

Probably one of those most un-tapped resources for design business owners is the referral. Referrals can be your fast-track connections to new clients. And they are easier to get than you may think. In fact, chances are, you probably have 10 – 20 people you know who would gladly refer you to others who could benefit from your services. You just need to ask.

Go through your list of current clients, past clients, friends and even past acquaintances and make a connection with them. Simply ask them if they know anyone who would benefit from your kind of services. Remind them exactly what you do and the type of people you help. The responses you get could surprise you. You could end up with a new client.

5. Create a lead generating website.

Finally another thing that helps you get clients quickly is a website that collects leads of qualified prospects for you. It’s no secret that the web is a key marketing tool for attracting new clients – no matter what business you’re in. But surprisingly many designers don’t tap into the power of this tool when it comes to marketing their business. Mainly because most designers don’t create sites that help them connect with their clients effectively. In fact many designer sites are nothing more than the “show and tell” variety instead of a source of lead generation.

When you create your website make it effective for your business by adding lead-collection forms on your site. If you aren’t collecting the contact names of interested people who visit your site you’re probably letting your prospects slip away to your competitors. And you don’t want that to happen. If a prospect has made it to your web site make sure you know it and track it by collecting their contact information.

Getting new clients can happen quickly and consistently in your business. It’s often just a matter of doing the most productive activities to make that happen. These strategies are extremely easy to apply to your business right now. So if you don’t have a plan for getting new clients into you business then start one.

The quicker you implement your strategies the quicker you connect to your future clients.

When I was eight I used to rush home from school each day to watch the cartoon show the Jetsons.

I loved their future world and their silly jokes. But each time I
tried to watch the cartoon, my Mom would immediately ask the dreaded question – “Have you done your chores yet?” At which point I would groan, leave the TV and head upstairs to do my daily house duties.

I remember wishing my chores could be handled like Elroy Jetson’s – all he had to do was push a button and his automated world would do it for him. (but, he would still groan when his Mom told him to do it – just like I did).

I remember thinking each day I went to clean my room how great it would be to have that kind of automation in my life.

So what does all this have to do with your internet marketing?

Your internet marketing has needed ‘chores’ that must be completed if you are going to keep things running smooth and at peak performance.

Below are some of the marketing ‘chores’ you need to do to have a healthy internet marketing program. And a great thing about these ‘chores’ is that they will not only optimize your internet marketing performance – most of them can be easily automated.

Almost as easy as Elroy’s world…

Drive traffic to your website

Make sure you have people coming to your website on a continuous basis. Be proactive. Don’t wait for them to come to you. Go and find them and drive them to your site. You can do this by
optimizing your site for the search engines by using keywords
throughout your site or by creating online ads.

But! Don’t neglect offline marketing strategies to drive traffic
online too. These are great tools because few businesses use them. Tactics like mailing out sales letters or postcards to drive people to your site works really well to increase the number of your visitors.

When you have a website – you NEED to have traffic.

Track the people who come to your site

Most web providers have some kind of a ‘stats’ interface that lets you
know how many unique visitors come to your site each day, each week
or each month. It’s important that you have an idea how many people
come to your site because that holds the key to how successful it is.

This is the number that tells you how you are doing with the
‘attraction factor’ of your site.

But your analytics also tell you other important things… like where
people go on your site. And what they do when they get there. Not
to mention, how long they stay once they’re there. This is all
important information because it let’s you know what you’re doing
right when it comes to your website design.

Don’t create a website without tracking how many people visit
and what they do when they get there.

Separate your prospects from your visitors

Traffic is good, but it’s not as important as identifying those
visitors who are potential customers.

Many of the people who come to your site will not be a perfect fit
for your services. And that’s OK. But you should be attracting
and identifying all of the possible prospects from all your visitors.

One of the best ways to do this is to offer them valuable
information like Free Reports, Newsletters, or Tip sheets from the
main page of your website. But be sure to make it relevant. Keep
your reports focused on their common needs or pain points.

Build an online email list

Attracting prospects is crucial.

But attracting is no good unless you keep track of them. You need
to collect the names and contact information of the prospects
who visit your site.

Why is this so important? Because this is your only connection to
them in the future! This will be how you talk to them and let them
know that you understand their problems. And it is a key way that
you will communicate to them, so that you can help them.

Always ask for permission

Many designers think that because you have someone’s email address
you can email them newsletters or other types of helpful
information.

But you can’t.

Non-requested email is spam. And spam can leave a bad first
impression in the mind of your prospects(not to mention get you
into legal trouble in certain areas). This can ruin any chance of
ever doing work with them in the future. Never make the mistake of
just adding someone to your list without permission.

Always get them to “opt-in” to your email marketing.

Automate your follow up messages

Your email connection is critical to getting new clients. But
managing it can be quite the job.

Lucky for you there are many services out there that can handle
email marketing for you. They can make contacting your email list
as easy as a click of a button (Not quite as simple as Elroy had it – but pretty close).

The best thing about these services is that some of them allow
full control over both auto-responders and email blasts so you can
create the best plan for follow up and contact with your good
prospects in the future. Without any additional work to you each
time you have a new prospect join your list.

Remember to do your email marketing ‘chores’ and automate
them as much as possible. It will mean a healthy a steady stream
of prospects created online and the end result will be a healthy
benefit to you off-line. Meaning more new clients for you
and your business.

For any investor to be happy with their investments, they have to see progress. That means when they compare where they currently are NOW to where they started, they can see growth. Progress.

That’s the approach you should be taking when it comes to your design business. And the New Year is as good a time as any to do that.

The New Year is the time when most people look back at the year they’ve had and evaluate how they’ve done.

What about you?

Maybe you’ve had a great year. Maybe it was extremely profitable. Your marketing machine was up and running at top speed. You got some great clients. You worked on exactly the types of projects you wanted.

If so, then that’s fantastic!

Or… maybe last year was a little more challenging for you.

Maybe your business didn’t progress like you had hoped it would. It could have been a little more stressful and uncertain. Perhaps you had to deal with difficult clients because you felt you had no choice. Maybe your competition was extremely tough, and you didn’t win as much work as you had hoped. Or maybe your profits didn’t meet your expectations.

No matter what last year looked like – good, bad or indifferent, you want this year to be even better. That’s the whole idea behind INVESTING in your business.

So what will it take improve over last year?

You will improve on your investment when you invest your time, money and efforts on the most beneficial priorities for your business. What exactly are they? Here are just a few key things you can start investing in to make sure your upcoming year is a successful one.

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Invest in your vision and goals
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You’ve gotta have a clear vision for where you are going.
And you’ve got to have practical goals that will help you get there.

Your vision is the big picture of what your business will look like when you ‘get there’ (wherever there is to you).

Your goals are practical milestones that will help you make that vision a reality.

What was your vision for your business when you first started? What is it now? Has it changed? Should it change? Do your goals need to be revised to help you achieve your vision?

There is no better time to reevaluate your direction then right now.

Write down on a piece of paper where you would like to be in 5 years. Or think of this in another way: “What do you want to be ‘known for’ in 5 years?”

Then jot down a couple of practical goals that will help you move in that direction. Don’t sweat it – just do it.

Here are a couple of quick tips for setting goals to help you achieve your vision:

• Make them

Having defined goals is a good motivator. They will encourage you as you progress towards your vision.

• Set the bar high
Make sure your goals stretch you enough to cause learning, growth and progress.

• Write them down and refer back to them often
It’s easy to get off track. Having a few goals written down is a good way to get back on track. But remember, even writing them down won’t help if you don’t look at them from time to time.

• Be specific
The more details you can include in your goals the easier it will be to evaluate your progress.

• Focus on progress not perfection

Moving towards your vision is more important than achieving each goal perfectly.

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Invest in your personal growth
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Personal growth is critical to your success (no matter how you define it). If you aren’t in a continual mode of learning, then your life is going to get pretty monotonous – real fast. And make no mistake, monotonous work is brutal work. Learning will break the monotony.

You should always be pushing yourself to learn. There are many ways you could be learning. Here are a few I use:

• Read
This can be a tough one if you don’t like to read much, or if you can never find the time (which is what I was like for many years). But reading is an important learning tool that helps you challenge and reshape your thinking. Pick up some good business books (email me if you want a list of books that are on my list of ‘best reads’) and start reading.

• Take a class
You should have some time throughout your year where you schedule in some hard ‘class time’. This can be a night class or a part-time class but it certainly doesn’t have to be limited to that. You can even go to scheduled professional development days (like the RGD Ontario is having this month). Many design groups, associations have scheduled events throughout the year. Contact your local associations to find out more and join in.

• Listen to learning modules
One of my favorite ways of learning is to “take it on the go”. I love to listen to learning modules or CD’s that I can listen to during my ‘unproductive times’. I use my mp3 player and car CD player to learn when I travel to clients or I am working out.

Learning modules are available on all types of topics and are available on the web for download. Or you can purchase great CD’s from your local book store. They are well worth the small investment.

• Have a mentor
This can happen by spending some direct time with a professional you respect in the business. This can be a professional mentor you pay for, or it can be more informal by just taking a mentor out to lunch.

It can even come by studying someone you admire and respect from a distance. The bottom line is, you will learn a lot from spending time with another respected pro.

• Join an association or a business group
Connecting with others is a great way to learn and grow. By sharing (and allowing others to share with you) you benefit directly from their past experiences.

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Invest in your marketing
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Marketing is critical to your business success. The bottom line is – if you don’t have any clients you don’t have a business.

Your marketing should be designed to get you the type of clients you WANT and NEED in your business.

Design your marketing machine to help you identify high probability prospects. Make sure you create a marketing program that helps you convert your prospects into clients. And create a program that makes loyal (repeat) customers of the ones you have.

Focus on creating a marketing system that can work without you. Your time is precious. You want to create a system for finding and getting clients that works on it’s own. Automatically. (You can find many tips and tricks to do this in the article archive as well as the learning modules and teleclasses I have on the FGDO web site.)

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Invest in delivering outstanding service
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This last point is about delivering on your promises to your clients.

Having all the other elements working together in your business won’t mean a heck of a lot, if you can’t deliver a great service. So create a business that is dedicated to delivering on the promises you make.

Create standards and processes for the way you work. Clearly define how you approach problems and solve them. Share this knowledge with your staff and clients.

Define what you (and your business) is UNIQUELY GOOD at and develop it. It won’t only be a great point of differentiation from your competitors – it will be what your clients remember you by.

And it will be how they refer you to other businesses they know.

Ok… I know, I know. These are lofty investments to make. Especially in one year.

But remember to focus on progress and take it one day at a time. First figure out what you SHOULD be doing in your business. Then INVEST your time, money and activities on the most beneficial activities.

Simple? Yes.

Easy? No way.

So, invest well in this upcoming Year, and do the things in your business to benefit to all areas of your life (not just while you’re behind your computer). And have fun progressing each day towards designing the BUSINESS you want.

Have a great start to 2008.

Have you ever been in the situation where a once profitable job turned into a money-sucking nightmare?

My guess is, if you’ve been in business for a while, you’ve had your fair share of these.

And if you haven’t – you’re either very good at keeping the monsters ‘at bay’ – or you haven’t been in the business long enough to experience it just yet.

But you will. Eventually.

Staying profitable on each design project is the creative entrepreneur’s goal for each and every job. And it’s no easy task. You need to have a clearly defined process that protects you and your business from being unprofitable. Because when you deal with your clients without a plan for profitability, a job can turn from lucrative to a loss, in the blink of an eye.

You know your clients routinely take more of your time and effort than you’ve originally budgeted. But before you start nodding your head in agreement I want to tell you something… it’s not their fault – it’s yours.

It’s easy to blame our clients as the source of our unprofitability – but quite often it’s not their fault. If you want to be profitable on each project you have to understand that it is YOUR responsibility to ensure that you are.

Too many designers whine and whimper about how a client abuses them on project after project, when all along, they have a flawed or ineffective process to start with.

If this rings true for you, be encouraged. It doesn’t have to stay that way. There are ways to keep a project on track, manageable, and most importantly profitable.

Here are 6 Practical Tips that you can apply to your business right now. They’ll help you keep the ‘ghosts that haunt you’ from draining the money out of your business.

1. Lead the Process
Your clients need to be lead.

This means that you always have a clear direction of what you’re trying to accomplish on every project. As well as what is required of you, and your client, in order to accomplish it.

All clients silently desire to be lead.

This means that your client is looking to YOU to lead and direct them on each project (even if they never say it – or act like it). Your clients look to you for leadership and direction on every project you do for them.

You are the expert – and they expect you to act like one.

This doesn’t mean you have to lead with a heavy hand. Or even have all the answers. Often you can effectively lead your client with gentle direction and input. In fact, view yourself as their ‘servant leader’. You are there to both SERVE and LEAD.

You SERVE them by providing the best design solution for their problem. Always.

You LEAD them by providing them advice and input so that they can make the best decisions throughout the process. Leading your client simply means that you help them arrive at the best solution possible to achieve their goals.

When you don’t lead, you put yourself in a vulnerable position, and you usually cause your client to jump into the leadership role. That could end up in many wasted hours of exploration, revisions and design variations. But even worse – you will end up with a very dissatisfied and unhappy client.

And all because you didn’t take the lead.

2. Clearly Define the Objectives of Each Project
The fastest way for a job to spin out of control and waste profits is to not clearly define what you are trying to accomplish at the end of the project.

This can be achieved by asking your client one simple question – “Mr. Client, what is it exactly that you want to achieve at the end of this project.”

You’ll be surprised at the clarity you will receive.

A major challenge with any creative process is never being 100% sure if you’ve achieved your goal (and met your client’s expectations). And you’ll never do this effectively and consistently unless you defined their objectives in writing.

By clearly defining what it is exactly that you are trying to achieve, you create a very clear target for both you and the client. When you have a clear target you can effectively measure your progress.

Clearly defined objectives can avoid client frustration, misunderstandings, and project redo’s – all of which will affect your bottom line.

3. Write a Creative Brief
Having your objectives clearly defined will reveal the target you are trying to hit – but it doesn’t outline HOW you will get there.

Creating great creative briefs are critical to keeping projects profitable. A creative brief is your map to a successful design process. Plus it’s another tool for measuring the progress and judging the success of each project. It ensures that you and your client agree on what you are trying to achieve and the process you will use.

It will avoid useless and costly design exploration on concepts that don’t fit the creative criteria. If you don’t have a creative brief you leave yourself open to personal and subjective opinions towards your designs.

You don’t have to create a novel when you write a brief. It can be as simple as a one pager. A good brief keeps the project as objective as possible with a clear vision of the goal you are trying to achieve.

If you want to prevent endless changes and protect your projects from profit erosion, write a good creative brief. And get it signed by your client before the project begins. Their signature shows that they agree with the creative direction you are going to take to solve the problem. This will avoid many subjective discussions with your client during each project.

4. Clearly Define Your Process and Key Contacts
Many clients are unaware of what your creative process is.

And they shouldn’t have to guess.

It’s your job to let them know exactly what you do during your creative process. How you do what you do. And what they should expect from you at each stage. Including what THEIR responsibilities are when you provide them material.

Outlining your creative process helps you manage your client’s expectations. It can prevent you from wasting hours and hours of time. But more importantly, it can avoid any disappointment from your clients. They may think they should be getting a totally different experience – unless you inform them otherwise. Or they might get frustrated because they just don’t know what to expect at each and every stage of your process.

Create a simple reference sheet for your clients that briefly outlines your process. Let your clients know what to expect from you at each step in the process.

Also be sure to keep them informed of WHO they should be talking to during the process of the project. If you have more than one contact point within your company, provide a resource sheet explaining who they should contact and when.

In my own company, Mindwalk Marketing and Design, I provide a contact sheet for my clients that tell them who the key contact person is on each and every project. It clearly informs them who they should contact, what they do, and how they can contact them.

By taking the initiative to let your clients know what to expect during a project, and who they should be contacting at each stage – you can better control the outcome and profitability in a consistent pattern.

5. Outline a Time Schedule
Timelines make projects profitable and put much needed cash flow into your business.

There are two very important keys to creating a good timeline:

Create one for every project…
When you create a timeline, it forces you to put an END DATE to the project. Avoid projects with no set deadline even the client doesn’t have one in mind. Tell them you need to set a timeline because of your heavy workload. And explain your desire to make sure they get their project in a timely fashion and avoid last minute rush changes.

They’ll appreciate your concern.

Keep you and your client accountable
The second half of creating an effective timeline is to keep everyone accountable with it. Make a habit at updating your client on the next steps in the creative process. Create a timeline with a series of milestones that outline what each stage is, and what is required at each stage. And if a milestone is missed, inform your client of the new deadline and delivery date – right away.

Just by applying these two simple timeline practices you ensure that your projects will finish in a reasonable amount of time. This means you will be able to invoice faster to get the cash back into your business. Avoid projects that ‘go on forever’ ¬– set a date and invoice your client as soon as you get there.

6. Manage Your Revision Process
One of the biggest money-sucking threats of any project is the revision process.

If you don’t clearly outline a revision process and manage it effectively, you could see a potentially profitable project eaten up by an endless chain of revisions. So be sure to schedule in time for your design revisions and manage them well.

How do you manage them?

By outlining what to expect, and what is required at each revision milestone.

In your contract with your client, clearly state how many revisions are included in your process. Encourage your clients to submit revisions in SETS rather than streaming them to you one at a time. Inform them that you do this in the interest of saving them time and money (so they avoid any unnecessary revision charges).

Outlining the revision process and the way that they should be handled. You not only raise the level of professionalism in the eyes of your client, but you protect yourself from losing control and money.

Following these 6 simple steps will help you turn a potential money-sucker and time waster into a project “gold mine”.

Do I succeed in making every job in my design business profitable?

I have to confess – it doesn’t happen every time. But I can tell you this… when a project does go off the rails, you can bet it’s because I haven’t followed at least one of the steps listed above.

The answer to that question (believe it or not) is an easy one –
differentiate your services from other designers and design firms. How? By adding more value and a greater advantage to your design services than your competitors are currently offering.

One way you can do this is by sharing and leveraging the information you ALREADY KNOW to your prospects and clients – in writing!

Writing down your expertise and sharing it with your prospects and clients is a ‘must do’ exercise for the creative entrepreneur. If you are not communicating the value you bring to your client’s business you could start to experience a slow and steady erosion to your profit margins. And put your business in the vulnerable position of being commoditized in the near future.

Communicating the value of your design helps you get and retain higher fees for your work. Usually designers do a pretty good job at communicating the value of their services when they’re in a one-to-one situation. But often they fail when it comes ‘packaging it up’ and putting it in writing.

Writing tops the list as one of those things designers hate to do the most. Right next to cold-calling and public speaking. So why the apprehension to writing? My guess is that it has a lot to do with not knowing where to start or even what to write about.

Whether you consider yourself a writer or not, you can’t afford not to communicate the expertise you have in written form. The written word is one of the keys to influencing and persuading prospects & clients. Not to mention help make your business more recession proof.

And the best part is, you can start building value into your business right now. Easily. By scheduling some time into each day for writing.

Think of writing like an exercise for your mind.

Writing is to your brain what physical exercise is to your body. Schedule the best time of your day to do a “writing workout”. In my own business I schedule the beginning hours of each morning for my “20-minute writing workout” – before my day gets over run with the issues and challenges of the day. Scheduling your day around your writing time allows you to think clearly without fear of interruption or distraction.

So if you schedule your writing time, your next challenge is – “what do you write about?”

Choosing topics to write about is not as difficult as it might seem.

In fact you have all the information you need to create content right now. And it’s easier than you think. I want to give you 5 sources you can use to create content for your business.

Then you can start using this content to get more clients – justify higher fees – and target the type of work you really want.

Here are 5 great sources for creating content that you already have:

1. Your Sales Process

Often when you are meeting with a prospect you are ‘selling’ your services. Your communication is loaded with facts, service features and client benefits that you use to convince your prospect that you can help them. You use very specific language and communication to try and persuade your prospect you can help them achieve what they want to accomplish.

Your sales process is valuable information you need to write down. Writing out your features and benefits as well as answers to frequently asked questions will help you understand the exact advantages you bring to your clients.

And it’s information that you can use in other ways to sell the value of what you. You can leverage this information in articles for a newsletter or ezine or even press releases. You can even use it as part of your follow up program to your prospect list to help convert your prospects into clients.

2. Your Client Questions

How many times have you spent on the phone or on your email answering your client’s questions for a project you are currently doing for them? Or possibly you have a client who isn’t convinced that they should move ahead on a project just yet, so you need to address their questions before they are comfortable in moving forward.

If your business is anything like mine this is a regular occurrence. Answering your client’s questions is an important activity that you can’t avoid if you want to keep your good clients – but it IS a time consuming exercise. And it’s an exercise that you don’t want to waste if you don’t have to.

What do I mean?

When you create answers to your client’s questions, leverage this information by sending it to other clients. You’ll find other clients (and prospects) may have the same questions but just never bothered to ask you. Many of your clients will find the answers helpful and insightful. So don’t be surprised if in the future they ask you more questions.

This is a good thing.

Because it means they regard you as an ‘expert’ in what you do. And as an expert you insulate yourself from becoming a commodity. Because you’re not only providing design services but now you’re combining it with a consulting feature. This type of service has a higher perceived value in the mind of your clients.

3. Your Unique Approach to Design

How you approach a design project is key to your success. It influences how you approach your business every day. You may believe that: ‘design is the key ingredient to a businesses success’. You may think that ‘design is only a small component of a larger communication process’. Whatever you think – it’s important to your business. And it’s probably why your clients are working with you right now.

Your thought process, your philosophy, your approach and how you apply it to make your clients more successful, is not only interesting information – it’s sought after. Clients and prospects want to hear what your specific approach to business is. They want to be convinced that you are on the same page as they are. That their goals are your goals.

Often clients need to hear your approach again and again to be reassured that your approach will be best for them. They want to know how it applies to their business and the benefits they will get from it as a result. If they feel you have a unique approach that will give them an advantage they’re more likely to pay higher fees to get it.

So create content and package it into valuable marketing tools like reports and white papers. And then send them to clients and prospects as a form of education and proof that supports your unique design approach.

4. Your Recent Successes

Projects you are currently working on (or ones you’ve just recently finished) are a great source for creating content in your business. When you share examples of what your other clients are doing with you, you not only provide them with education but you give them a tool to become more profitable. When you can demonstrate how your design benefits other businesses you give your client the ability to apply the same techniques to achieve the same results.

That’s what makes this type of information so powerful.
Your success story is a form of ‘proof’ that your design approach works!

Use these stories in promotional pieces to your existing clients. That way, you can encourage them to use new services or increase their frequency with you. I’ve used this tool in my own design business often. And as a result, I’ve persuaded my clients to try new design services with very little haggling when it came to the price.

When you can present ‘proof of success’ you’ll often have a lower price resistance from your clients when they are ready to buy.

5. Industry Best Practices

If you’re inclined to be good at your craft, then chances are you’re always learning. My guess is, you are constantly studying how design is being used and applied in the marketplace. You may study it, write it down or just take it in. But you are always learning. If this is you, then you have another resource to draw from when you create content.

Use the information you discover to create relevant topics for articles. Create content that tells your marketplace about the best approaches to design that are currently being used in the industry.

By doing this, you become a trusted source of information. A type of ‘industry scout’ who has inside information to share. If you do a good job at sharing this type of information clients will start to seek your advice on projects before moving ahead. This creates a stronger relationship between you and your client because they trust you. This one fact alone makes it more difficult for your competitors to steal your clients away from you.

Meaning you have a long-term client at top rates, that not only creates greater income but also security for you.

Creating written content and using it to promote your business gives you a distinct advantage over your competitors. Because you create a position of value and authority in the minds of your clients and prospects. Not to mention you create greater loyalty towards you and your business.

So don’t wait for the New Year to make your New Year’s Resolution, start your exercise program today. Schedule your ‘20-minute writing workout’ tomorrow and reap the benefits of higher fees and a stronger business for many days to come.

Quite often in these types of situations designers need to sell their services based on written proposals. This can be as simple as a 1 page quote or as complex as a 20 page proposal outlining your capabilities, cost breakdown and your design approach.

So, how successful are you at winning proposals? Does the thought of presenting a proposal get you excited ? Or does it fill you with panic?

There was a time in my business when I dreaded being asked to submit a proposal. Because I was often unsure what elements would help me beat out my competitors or would cause me to lose out on doing the project all together. It was one of the reasons I found the proposal process so stressful. Not to mention a waste of time if I wasn’t successful in winning it.

But through the years I learned how to turn a stressful process into a positive one. Mostly through trial and error and through studying what makes some proposals fly and others sink. And as a result, over time, I started to win more and more proposals than I lost.

Along with some basic components and elements that are required for creating proposals, I discovered 6 principals that helped me attain the best possible position for getting the work. Here they are…

6 principals to creating effective proposals

1. Clarify what the prospect wants to accomplish

When making a proposal it is important not only to understand the project, but also their desired outcome after the work is complete. Ask simple and direct questions that will help you identify how you will win. A question I like to ask is “What has to happen at the end of this project, for you to consider it a success?”

2. Identify your competitors

Many proposal situations will involve competing against other firms and designers. It is perfectly okay to ask how many other firms they have invite to make presentations and who they are.

Take careful note. Then research the firms to find out more about them, their approach, philosophies etc… This will give you a tool to help you craft a proposal that differentiates you from your competitors.

3. Don’t over emphasize your services

Many designers and design firms make the mistake of first focusing on what they do and how great they are. They spend a lot of time trying to convince the prospect that they are the right ones for the project before they learn more about their prospect.

A good rule of thumb I use in introductory meetings is to ask good questions, listen, and take good notes – 5 times more than I try to “sell” my services.

This doesn’t mean you don’t highlight the biggest benefits of your services or give them a little background on your company. Do it, but be sure to be brief. Then immediately move on to principle 4…

4. Focus on your client’s problem and their desired outcome

Transition your proposal process quickly from what you do (and how great you are) – to focusing on your prospects needs.

Ask them questions that will help them define the full scope of the problem. Often prospects have a problem and an idea of what MIGHT help them solve it. But they need a professional to help guide them. Do this by asking questions that help you and them to fully define their problem. Learn about their business, project objectives and their desired outcome.

Your questions should not only give you background information on your prospect but help you qualify them to determine if you can really help them. And if your services are a good fit for them.

This not only means that you’ll be successful if you are awarded the project, but it also means your prospect will win in the end too.

This keeps the focus on your prospect and their future success.

5. Use your question process to stay engaged

Intelligent questions are a powerful tool in the proposal development process. They position you to your prospect as an expert and someone who is knowledgeable in their field.

But there is another subtle bonus that comes from your question process – it becomes a tool you use to keep future contact with your prospect. Follow-up questions are a great tool to help build and strengthen your future relationship.

I often use additional questioning as a form of follow-up tool. Rarely can you have an initial meeting with a new prospect and get all the facts. Which often means a follow-up with more questions. This can happen in the form of phone call, email contact or in another scheduled meeting. You can even suggest an interview with other key individuals in the organization.

All of this additional questioning continues to build your relationship and strengthen your knowledge of your prospect.

6. Engage your prospect so they become involved in the process

Being knowledgeable in what you do, does not mean being a know-it-all when it comes to presenting your proposal. Be flexible in your final solution. Make your presentation interactive. Invite your prospect’s participation. Get them to edit, revise and update what you’ve created.

Although you know how to create effective visual communications, you DON’T know everything about your prospect or their marketplace. You need their help to fully understand. And you’ll need their help if you are going to get the project.

Allow them to comment and interact with your proposal. Invite comments and critique. Get them engaged in helping you create the best proposal that is tailored exactly to their needs. You’ll get less resistance and a greater response when it comes to getting them to sign on the bottom line.

I have question to ask you:
Are you getting the results from your marketing that you want?

Do you have a marketing machine that delivers you a CONSISTENT and PREDICTABLE response every time you use it?

Or is your marketing machine currently ‘broken’? Not sure?

Well let me ask you the same question again this way…


Do you have a steady stream of potential clients coming your way?

Or are you like the many other designers in business today who are
constantly frustrated with their lack of leads?

As a design entrepreneur there is one you should always be thinking
about, and that is – “how can I improve my current marketing response rates?”

Not sure what a response rate is?

A response rate would be the number of people who respond to your marketing each time you do it. For instance…
if you sent out a 100 sales letters and got 10 people responding to your letters, your response rate would be 10%.

If you could do that with a sales letter or a promotional mailing that would be a pretty sweet marketing machine. Mail out 100 letters – get 10 responses in return.

But while that sounds like a really nice thing to happen, getting good results is no easy task. There are a few critical factors you need to be aware of to get your response rates up. That’s a decent return for a few dollars spent.

And one of those crucial elements is a targeted list. A targeted list can make all the difference between success and failure in your marketing program.

Exactly what is a targeted list?

The easiest way to explain this is to show you what a targeted list
isn’t.

Let’s say you have a business directory listing all the companies in your town or city. It contains every conceivable type of business from retail stores and restaurants to manufacturers and trucking firms. You could start in the “A” section and mail your sales letter to every one of these companies, working your way through the alphabet until you get the “Z”.

How successful do you think your mailing would be? Not very. That’s because your list isn’t a targeted list at all. You’re simply scooping up a list of company names randomly and hitting them with the same generic letter. That’s as close to junk mail as you can get. And it will most likely be perceived that way by your recipient.

In a targeted list all the names have one or more things in common. They could be all dentists, or Marketing Managers of large corporations, or share a common marketing or communication problem.

When you have a targeted list it allows you to customize your mailing to the specific needs, wants and desires of people on that list. It provides you with a ‘connection’ to a real person with a real need.

It’s your starting point to building a relationship with them – and your key to getting them as a future client.

So how do you create a targeted list?

There are a dozens of ways to create a powerful mailing list that will yield you results.

Here are two low-cost ways that you can use to create a targeted list for your own business…

1. Your best list is close to home
One of the best places to start when creating a targeted list is in your own business with your in-house list.

Your in-house list is made up of clients, prospects and other contacts that you have built up over the years.

This is your best list because, in some way, everyone knows you. And because they do, they’re more likely to open your envelope, read your letter, or scan through your promo material. Based on your connection with them, it is very likely the will be interested in what you send them and they will trust what you have to say.

Don’t think you have that many people on your in-house list?

Chances are, there are a lot of potential clients that you already
know – at least to some degree. People you’ve met at business meetings and events. Companies you’ve worked with before, perhaps in a previous job. Projects you’ve quoted, but never won. Dig deep. You can probably come up with dozens, or even a hundred or more, names.

Building an in-house list is often an overlooked strategy for many designers. Most designers focus on developing new contacts but miss the opportunity they already have in their own business.

If you want a targeted list that yields results, then make building
your in-house list a top priority when marketing your design services.

2. Success by Association
Another effective way to build your list is through Business and
Professional Associations.

Once you’ve identified a target market for your mailings you can research what the business groups and associations are for that industry. And in many cases, you can join the association comprised
of companies you want to do business with.

Many of the business associations allow for full memberships or if they don’t they will often allow provisional, student or associate memberships. As a member, you’ll have access to their membership
list, which can make a great mailing list for you.

When you join an association, you not only get access to their list of members, but you will be alerted to upcoming events and current issues of your target market. Giving you an inside advantage over your competitors.

There are some challenges however.

Be aware that some associates control or limit how their membership use their list, especially regarding marketing. So always check in advance about their codes of conduct regarding marketing to the membership. And be sure to respect their rules.

Utilizing these two simple list building techniques can dramatically improve the response rates of your promotional material and sales letters.

Resulting in more clients for you and your business.

So let me ask my first question again:

Are you getting the results from your marketing that you want?

Do you have a marketing machine that delivers you a CONSISTENT and PREDICTABLE response every time you use it?

Or is your marketing machine currently ‘broken’?

Networking is a very important part of almost any business and it’s no different in the design business. In fact, I have generated thousands of dollars of revenue for my business with this one strategy alone. It’s a powerful approach to build any business, and it’s one that can keep continuous work coming into your business year after year.

But even with all the obvious advantages and benefits of effective networking, I see a lot of designers missing out on future work because of ineffective techniques. Here are 11 tips to remember about networking when you want to get the maximum amount of work into your business.

1. Networking is not and event – it’s an attitude.

How you view networking is critically important to the kind of success you can expect from it. Networking isn’t just something you plan to do at scheduled times or allocated to ‘networking events’. Networking is something you should be doing constantly when you meet people.

Networking effectively can generate thousands and thousands of dollars for your business. A key benefit of networking is that you can actually build momentum when you do it. Which means it becomes easier and more profitable the more you do it.

However, many designers look at networking, as an event instead of an attitude and this is where many designers miss out on future work that could have otherwise been theirs if they had only approached it with a purpose driven attitude.

As owner of your own business you are always “on”. Which means you should always be ready for an opportunity to present itself. And when it does, you need to be ready to act upon it.

2. Put yourself in social situations

People like to deal with people they know, like, and trust.

So be one.

Often when you network you are connecting through your existing relationships to create new ones with other people they know. All for the purpose of identifying people who you can help.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a big network of friends to begin with. You have opportunity to connect with more people than you realize. Intentionally seek out new connections with people and continuously build upon your connections with new ones.

Even if you tend to be the shy type – put yourself in situations where you are meeting new people. It could be a book club, sports event, church or a special event. Be open to new experiences and view these outings as a chance to get to know others and their needs.

3. Describe WHO you work with and the BENEFITS they get

One of the most common exchanges at any type of social gathering is “What do you do?” When you answer don’t respond by saying – “I’m a designer”.

When you simply state ‘what you do’, you potentially miss out on a meaningful connection with the person you are talking to – or with someone they know. This response doesn’t encourage more discussion, in fact, it usually stops it.

Instead, when asked ‘what you do’, respond by saying WHO you work with and the BENEFIT they get by working with you.

For instance:

“Hi, what do YOU do for a living?”

“I work with business owners to create dramatic marketing material that they use to get more sales and more clients”.

Often a response like this generates the question “Really? How do you do that?” or you might get “Wow! Really? I need help with my marketing! Maybe we should talk?”

The key to getting a response that leads to work, is to answer the question by describing WHO you work for and the BENEFIT they receive, in a way that invites further comment.

4. Be Positive and approachable

If you don’t have a friendly approachable attitude with everybody you meet, you could be missing out on future work from new connections. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that if you aren’t friendly and approachable, you’re going to make it difficult to attract new people.

People won’t connect you with their friends if your attitude is going to make them look bad. They need to be 100% positive you’ll treat everyone the same – positively. People won’t connect you with people they know if they are unsure how you will behave.

The simplest way to ensure you are connectable to as many people as possible is to always be friendly and approachable. Friendly shouldn’t be an act. If it is – people will detect it and will be cautious in connecting you with others. So be real, genuine and friendly – to everyone.

5. Don’t be desperate when you connect

What do you say when people ask you how your business is ‘going’? Are you saying things that will attract the listener or are you saying things that repel them!

We all stress over lack of work – just don’t pass your stress onto people you meet. Some designers communicate a desperate need for work, and by so doing create a situation that is repulsive to people instead of attractive.

Up and down workloads are a part of business life. But communicating slow periods in a desperate or needy way can actually cost you future work.

Just a note on sounding desperate:
[The ‘desperate response’ is given most often to friends, those you are most comfortable with. As opposed to new contacts. So be on the alert how you are communicating to good friends. And remember that what you say has impact on the future.]

6. Be in demand

If every time you meet people you are saying that you ‘have no work’ you could be creating a negative perception in their mind –

‘Have no work’ = ‘Maybe you’re not that good’

When it comes to doing business, people are attracted to busy businesses because they associate ‘busy’ with ‘good’. The unsaid message is “they must be good because they are busy all the time”.

Being busy creates an impression of being in demand.

So make a habit to communicate that you are busy when asked. Even if you’re NOT busy with clients you SHOULD be busy doing something in your business!

That something could be creating better business systems, creating a special promotion or general marketing. Whatever it is – be busy at it. This creates a very positive impression of your services

Being in-demand also creates a sense of urgency with the listener. It subtly tells them that they need to act quickly if they want to secure your services.

7. Always have time for new work

Being in demand is a delicate balance however.

Be careful about communicating that you’re ‘too busy’. Although this says that you are ‘in-demand’, it also says “I don’t have time for you or anybody else”.

So be ready to counteract this response.

Always let the person know that although you are busy – you’re never too busy to help them.

Try saying something like… “We’re really busy right now, but I want you to know that I’m never too busy to help you or any of your friends. I’ll make time to help you whenever you need it – just let me know”

8. Be ready to demonstrate and respond

Never miss an opportunity to demonstrate what you do. Often people I meet introduce me to other people. And when they do its important to assess if they are somebody I can help. If they are, it’s very important to use the connection as a way of creating a next step.

Carry examples with you or keep a presentation package of your services in your bag or case. When you meet a new person and discover that they may need your help, offer them a package.

If you don’t have any marketing material on you, inform the new contact that you have some packages at the office that they might find helpful and offer to send them one. Or print up special web page addresses on your business cards that has valuable information they can view or download.

Presenting samples, information and other examples presents proof of your abilities and moves your connection to the next step…

9. Get their contact info

Asking for a person’s contact information is a simple enough step but it can seem pushy or feel awkward if you’re not prepared to ask for it in advance.

In my early days of networking it was amazing how many people I would talk to but forget to get a business card or detailed contact information so I could follow-up later.

Always try to get a business card if you can. If they don’t have one – always carry a pen and notebook so you can write it down. Make sure to get full contact information including mailing, phone numbers and especially email.

10. Follow up

No connection is worth the above effort if you don’t follow up. Once you have a contact name follow up and stay in touch.

Staying in touch is the first steps in building meaningful relationships.

The best way to stay connected usually starts with a phone call. But sometimes that isn’t always practical especially when you have a lot of contacts and very little time. So stay in touch by putting them into your automated marketing funnel.

When you have a systematic marketing funnel you can automate the contact process making it easier and more reliable to stay in touch.

11. Don’t Sell. Help.

There is one final key to successful networking…
Don’t practice any of the above tips with the idea that you are trying to ‘sell’ people.

People don’t want to be SOLD something every time they meet you. But many people do need help.

So be attentive to the needs of others first and foremost.

That means listening carefully, staying engaged in the conversation, and being attentive to areas where you could help someone (or someone they know).

When you keep in mind that you are in the business of helping people by providing design services, it makes the process of networking natural, enjoyable and even fun.

When the people you talk to sense your genuine interest in others and in your desire to help, they will be more than happy to pass the name of other people your way.

Do you know why some marketing efforts are so successful while others aren’t worth the paper they are printed on?

The answer is focus.

Many designers face disappointment in their marketing because they don’t focus their marketing with pinpoint accuracy on their target market.

Many designers understand the concept of targeting – but few apply it effectively to their business.

So what is targeting exactly?

Simply said, it’s focusing your communication efforts on:

• a specific person
• a specific want
• or a specific solution

And it’s deceivingly difficult to do well.

The tendency with designers and design firms is to spread out their focus in order to open up greater opportunities.

The thinking is… that by broadening their focus on many different people they are creating greater opportunity (because they’re not excluding anyone from doing business with them).

And it would seem to make sense.

Except for one thing – it doesn’t work.

A wide focus (if you can even call it a ‘focus’) is really no focus at all. And as a result it’s highly ineffective as a marketing strategy – not to mention very costly to you.

To illustrate the difference between focused targeting and unfocused targeting. I want you to look at something we used to do as kids (well, some of us anyway) and that was trying to light a piece of paper on fire with a magnifying glass.

If you’ve ever tried this, you know that by holding the magnifying glass between the sun and the paper, you harness the sun’s energy to do the work of lighting the paper on fire.

If the light shining through the lens is kept broad and diffused it has no impact. Oh it may get a little warm, but that’s nothing compared to what it could do.

But!

If you focus the light to a pinpoint, it becomes very hot and very powerful. So powerful that the paper immediately ignites!

The same can happen with your marketing when you focus your message to your target your audience.

Why is focused targeting so effective?

Because when you target a market with a common need you have the ability to speak to them specifically. Just like you were speaking to them one-on-one.

And one-on-one is always a better way to communicate. Your goal is to always create marketing that speaks that way.

Let there be no mistake in the mind of your prospect that you are speaking directly to them. And when you do this, and do it well, you will have their attention.

Marketing like this makes it very clear to the prospect that you understand who they are, and that you can help them solve their problems to help them achieve what they want.

It’s a powerful position to hold in the mind of your prospect.

You immediately separate your business from all other competitors by putting the focus on your prospect – not on yourself. When you focus your message on your prospect your marketing generates a magnetic attraction between you and your future client.

Targeting is as powerful to your marketing as the magnifying glass is to lighting paper on fire.

Now let’s get to the nitty-gritty…

How do you narrow your focus on a target market? Where do you start? (Especially with so many options to choose from?)

What are the best target markets for you? And how do you select them?

These are some common questions I get a lot from freelancers and firm owners.

Here’s a 3 step guide to help you narrow your focus and select a profitable target market. This ensures when you implement your marketing programs, they achieve the highest results.

1. Start with a marketplace need

There must be a market out there who wants what you have to offer.

Many designers start with the service they have to offer and then look around for buyers to sell it to.

I call it the “Build it and they will come” syndrome. It might work in the movies but it doesn’t work in real life.

If there is no need – there is no target market worth pursuing.

Start with a want or desire from a group of individuals in the marketplace FIRST. Your marketplace has to want what you are selling BEFORE you try and sell it to them.

You can’t create a desire for your product if they aren’t already predisposed to the benefit(s) of those services. If someone doesn’t see a need for design services no amount of advertising or marketing is going to convince them otherwise.

Identify what the marketplace needs are first – then create your service offering around it.

2. Create services to address the market need

Do you have a set of skills or services that address the defined need of a specific target market? If so, what are they?
Can you create a service offering that is equally attractive to the rest of the marketplace?

What are you currently doing now that you can specialize in?
Make a list of the services you provide for your current clients.
What types of service do you give them now that they find most valuable?

What problems do your clients rely on you to solve for them?
What would your clients say is the greatest advantage you
bring to THEIR business?

Can you recreate this value for others in the same marketplace?
And is their potential to market it to others in a similar situation?

Reviewing what you currently do now for your current clients is a
great way to identify a marketplace need. Chances are, if it is
valuable to your current clients it will be valuable to others in a
similar situation.

If you are not able to identify a target market from your existing
client base then you can select a target market by researching
the marketplace at large.

What needs are going unfulfilled in the marketplace?
Can you create a service offering that addresses those needs?
Can you offer a unique approach or service offering to a needy market?

Opportunity is everywhere.

Needs could exist among a common group of people like small business owners who need corporate identity packages. Or you could focus on medium and large businesses who need newsletter design services. Or you could target companies search for a specific solution, like generating leads using on-line or off-line marketing tools.

Spend a little time researching various marketplaces for ‘wants’ you can fulfill. Preferably one that is a perfect match for the type of service you want to provide (or can start providing).

Then package a service offering around it and start focusing your
messaging on the target.

3. Identify and promote where your target markets gathers

Part of being successful in selecting a target market is ensuring you have a way to reach your target through your marketing efforts.

There may be many lucrative market segments out there but if you have no way of reaching them it’s almost useless to pursue.

It is very important that when you select a target market for your business that you have a way of connecting with them.

Determine where they gather before selecting them as your target market.

What magazines do they read? What types of sites do they surf on the internet?
Do they belong to special groups or associations?
And are you able to advertise or market in the places where they gather to do these things?

Keep in mind that the cost for marketing to different groups willvary. Different markets have different costs associated to reaching them. If you are not prepared to invest in the necessary marketing media required to reach your audience you will never see the results you want.

Look at your target market and calculate the cost for reaching them effectively. You may decide that marketing to some target groups is just not profitable for your business.

Weigh the pros and cons of communicating to your target audience. If you don’t have an accessible way of reaching your target market you are going to have trouble being effective.

It’s only by targeting a specific market and promoting your focused message to them will you experience successful results in generating leads. Do it in places where they ‘gather’ and will you have an opportunity of converting those prospects into real live paying clients.