Resourceful Designer - Resources To Help Streamline Your Graphic Design And Web Design Business.

20 Questions Your Design Clients Should Be Asking You Choosing a graphic designer can seem like a scary task for some design clients. Some are approaching you with a clear vision of what they want, hoping you can deliver on their vision. While others are contacting you because they don't have any idea of what they want. Regardless of why they're reaching out to you, the graphic designer, they need to make sure that you're not only someone with design skills, but someone they can trust with the reputation of their company. They only way they can gain that trust is by getting to know you. And to do that, they ask questions. And if you're not prepared for those questions it can mean the difference between getting the job or getting a "don't call us, we'll call you" answer at the end of your conversation. Here are some questions you can expect. 1. Will you tell me a bit about yourself? This is probably the first question they will ask. Be precise and short in your answer. Sell yourself without bragging. If you've

50 Questions To Ask Before Every New Design Project What makes you stand out as a graphic designer amongst the many "contest" sites that are springing up, is your ability to converse in detail and ask questions of your clients before every new design project. By asking questions you not only show that you are a professional, you also inspire confidence in your client. Questions put them at ease and let them know that you are viewing their design project seriously. By putting your clients at ease and bestowing the confidence in them that they've chosen the right person for the job, you also show them that you are worth every cent you are charging them. In this week's Resourceful Designer I'm covering 50 questions you can ask whenever you're faced with a new design project. I don't expect you to ask all of these questions. But pick and choose the ones right for your design project, and in the process come up with questions of your own. Remember, no design project ever failed because the designer knew too much a

Moving Your Graphic Design Business Life is unpredictable. At some point in your career you may find yourself moving your graphic design business for one reason or another. Moving across town isn't that bad. You're still local and can continue meeting face to face with your clients if you need to. But what if you end up moving your graphic design business across the country? I've never had to move my own graphic design business, so on this episode of Resourceful Designer I invited special guest Wes McDowell of The Deep End Design and one of the hosts of the popular The Deeply Graphic DesignCast to join me. Wes recently moved his graphic design business from Las Angeles, California to Chicago Illinois. He shares how he's continuing to serve his L.A. client while he works on his SEO to try to crack the Chicago market. I'm hoping you will learn valuable information that can help if you ever end up moving your graphic design business. Join my E-mail list Join my E-mail list to receive news, updates and deals abou

Graphic Design Gift Ideas For Your Office It’s that time of year again, when everyone is touched by the festive spirit. I can’t help think back to when I was a young lad and I would write out long lists of gifts I would like to find under the tree. Now that I’m much older I no longer write out lists, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a secret wish list of graphic design gift ideas I wouldn’t mind unwrapping. In honour of the season I posted a question to various graphic design groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. In it I asked “Other than a new computer or software, If you could ask for one thing this season to improve or enhance your graphic design office what would you want?” I received some great answers to my question, and in today’s episode of Resourceful Designer I’m going to share them with you. In no particular order, here are the Graphic Design Gift Ideas I received. Wacom Cintiq. This was the most submitted graphic design gift idea I received. Not just the Wacom Cintiq but Wacom tables in general. It s

6 Ways To Boost Your Creativity. Are you looking for ways to boost your creativity? If you're anything like me you sometimes suffer from a lack of creativity. Sometimes it's just a slump and sometimes it's a full on block. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a way to boost your creativity during these times? Unfortunately there is no magical on/off switch or throttle we can use to increase our creative output. There are however, ways you can help boost your creativity. In today's podcast I share six ways that I use to help me when I'm in a slump. Here is my list of ways to boost your creativity Put it down on paper or screen Step back and have a look Occupy your mind with something menial Change your perspective, literally Change your diet Ask for help Four Week Marketing Boost - FREE GUIDE Download my FREE guide, the Four Week Marketing Boost to help improve your business' image and create the best first impression possible to attract more clients. Subscribe to the podcast Subscribe on iTunesSubscribe on Stit

Pricing Strategies For Your Graphic Design Business. One of the hardest things to figure out when starting your graphic design business is what pricing strategies to use. There are so many options to consider; your location, your skill level, your reputation, your competition and many more. Hopefully after todays episode of Resourceful Designer you'll have a better understanding of the various pricing strategies you can use to run your business. Here are the 5 Pricing Strategies Discussed 1) Hourly Rate Pricing Hourly Rate Pricing is the easiest pricing strategy to implement. You simply determine your rate and then charge it to your client for each hour or part thereof spent on their job.   2) Cost Plus Pricing Cost Plus Pricing isn't as popular in the graphic design industry as it is in others but it does prove useful if you're also acting as a broker for printing or other services. In Cost Plus Pricing you determine the full cost of a job and then mark up that cost by a certain dollar amount or percentage i

How To Deal With Design Clients Who Have Tunnel Vision It's happened to all graphic designers. A client asks you to create some wonderful design but when you're given the information you realize that your client is designing this piece for their own needs and not the needs of their clients. I call this tunnel vision. When the client isn't looking beyond themselves. Tunnel Vision can also occur when a client has a design idea in their head, and wants you to create it exactly how they picture it. They are not open to other, often better ways to communicate their idea. Regardless of what type of tunnel vision they have, our job as graphic designers is to educate our clients on what is good design. We need to be able to give them what they need and not necessarily what they want. If you nurture this sort of association with your clients you can look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.  Four Week Marketing Boost - FREE GUIDE Download my FREE guide, the Four Week Marketing Boost to help improve your busi

12 Ways To Earn Extra Income As A Graphic Designer. No matter how good a graphic designer you are there will be times when work is slow and you find yourself with some extra time on your hands. These times are perfect opportunities to put your design skills to work and earn extra income. Methods to earn extra income discussed in this episode Become a print broker Become a media host Create designs to sell on merchandise Create and sell website themes. Sell your design leftovers. Create and sell designs to stock image sites. Design a font/typeface. Create and sell a Photoshop action or Illustrator Style. Manage a client's social media accounts Teach a workshop/course locally or online Build and monetize a niche website Write a book/ebook There are many more ways for a graphic designer to use their skills to earn extra income. Those I talk about in this episode are the ones I have experience with and am comfortable talking about. Links mentioned in this episode. List of sites you can use to earn extra income

Just In Time Learning And Your Ongoing Design Education! We work in a profession that is constantly changing. If we don't keep up with our ongoing design education we can quickly fall behind and become obsolete. In this episode of Resourceful Designer I talk about the concept of Just In Time Learning. Just In Time Learning is something I first heard about a couple of years ago and it drastically changed the way I look at courses, tutorials, guides and everything else involved in my ongoing design education as both a graphic designer and web designer. The principal behind Just In Time Learning is to only learn what you need to know for the next task you are undertaking. We all suffer from F.O.M.O. or the Fear Of Missing Out. Whenever we come across a new feature is something or a new tutorial on how to do something we immediately want to dive right into it and expand our knowledge. The problem is, many of these things we spend time learning are not, and may never be important or useful to us. So why are we wai

Considerations When Starting A Graphic Design Business. Starting a graphic design business is a big step in your design career and not one to take lightly. There are many things to consider before jumping in with both feet. In this episode of Resourceful Designer I go over several topics that you may want to consider before, during and after you've started your graphic design business. Things to Consider... Before Starting A Graphic Design Business Do you want to work in a specific niche of graphic design? Do you want to work from home or have an office away from the house? What type of business do you want to start (Incorporated, Sole proprietor)? Do you have enough savings to invest in a new business? How will you deal with friends and family looking for designs from you? How will you name your business? While Starting A Graphic Design Business What type of computer will you use? Will you use your home address for your business? What will your working hours be? What will your rates be? What phone number

8 Myths About Starting A Home Based Design Business. If doesn't matter if you're a graphic designer or a web designer, it's all the same when it comes to starting a home based design business. To some, the thought of starting their own home based design business can seem quite daunting. In this episode of Resourceful Designer I cover 8 myths that often holds people back from taking the leap in their entrepreneurial journey. The 8 Myths You need a lot of clients to make your home based design business viable. It's hard to give up a steady pay cheque. How will I make ends meat with a home based design business? It's complicated to set up a home based design business. It's expensive to purchase the hardware required to run a home based design business. I can't afford all the software needed to successfully run a home based design business. I'll be able to work on whatever projects I want once I'm running my own home based design business. I'll make a tone of money running my own home based design business. Once

Don't Compromise Your Principles For Your Design Business. We've all experienced it. That little voice in our head telling us that what our client is asking us to do may not be a good idea. In this episode of Resourceful Designer I talk about how compromising your principles, either moral, ethical, or design can affect your graphic design or web design business. Subjects covered When a client asks you to do something against your moral principles. When a client asks you to do something you are not comfortable with. When a client asks you to do something against your design principles. How turning down work will benefit your design business in the long run. I share some experiences from my business where I had to make these decisions, followed my principles and how it affected me. Links mentioned in this episode. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Stitcher Send me feedback Follow me on Twitter and Facebook Design Resource The program I've used for the past 10 years to keep track of my clients, my time spent on

Superhero Syndrome and Your Design Business. Wouldn't it be cool if we had super powers? The ability to fly, teleport or turn invisible. Unfortunately none of these are possible. However, some entrepreneurs, creatives in particular are often affected with something called Superhero Syndrome. It's when we want to wear all the hats in our business which could lead to burn out. Symptoms of Superhero Syndrome include  Trying to save money by doing everything yourself If something needs doing and you don't know how, you teach yourself. You think your ideas and concepts are far better than anyone else's Sound familiar? Don't worry, there are ways to deal with Superhero Syndrome and I discuss them in this episode of Resourceful Designer. So enjoy and try not to fret to much about your design business. Linda mentioned in this episode. fiverr.com Upwork.com virtualstafffinder.com Virtual Freedom by Chris Ducker Four Week Marketing Boost Design Resource If you are a web designer check out DomainBrain the easy applica

Dealing With Photographers Interview with Brett Gilmour In this episode of Resourceful Designer I'm joined by award winning photographer Brett Gilmour as we discuss things to help designers when dealing with photographers. Brett specializes in location photography of architecture, people and places. His images have been featured in advertising campaigns and magazines around the world and he’s been honoured with three Gold Nugget Awards for Arcitectural Photography, the highest honour in North America. He’s shot photos for General Electric, Shell, Estee Lauder and Chevron just to name a few. In the interview we discuss questions to ask when hiring a photographer, specifically what are the responsibilities of the designer and what are the responsibilities of the photographer. How to deal with contracts. What equipment the photographer needs. What the designer should expect before, during, and after the photo shoot. If you enjoy the interview and want to learn more about Brett, please visit his site Gilmour Phot

Do Your Design Clients Know What You Do? As graphic designers and/or web designers you're always looking for ways to find new clients. After all, they are your bread and butter. Without design clients you're out of a job. But finding new clients can be a challenge. I wrote a blog post that may help titled 10 Proven Ways To Attract Design Clients that goes over simple ways that I myself have used to get new clients. But should all your focus be on attracting new design clients or on attracting new design work? Because there's a wealth of potential projects waiting for you with your existing clients if you just ask. Because the fact is, your design clients don't know what you do. Sounds crazy I know. But the fact is, they became your client because they needed you for a specific project and you delivered. But when the next, slightly different project comes along will they think of you? The answer is not unless you tell them you can do it. In this episode of the Resourceful Designer podcast I share a simple tric

Welcome to the very first episode of the Resourceful Designer podcast. I'm Mark Des Cotes, graphic designer, web designer and host of this podcast. I'm super excited that you decided to take the time to listen to my show. The fact that you are tells me a couple of things about you. 1) you're either a graphic designer or web designer (or perhaps both) and 2) you're passionate about your design business. Why else would you press play on a podcast about running a graphic/web design business? I think we'll get a long just fine. My goal is to help you explore ways to streamline your graphic design and/or web design business so that you can get back to what you do best... designing. In each episode Resourceful Designer I'll explore different aspects of what happens behind the scenes of a design studio. All the nitty gritty that your clients never see but are necessary to keeps your business not only running but competitive. From software and hardware, to dealing with clients and suppliers, to balancing home and bus