January 21, 2010
“We hired a designer to make the graphics/do the SEO/run the Ad Words program. Oh! I didn’t know you do that.”
In the past three or four weeks, I have had variations of this conversation with different clients.
Since I’m so familiar with my company and the services we provide, I often forget to spell them out for new, and even longtime, clients. Did you know:
- I am an award winning graphic designer?
- We design brochures, books, annual reports, marketing pieces, direct mail, folders… pretty much anything printed?
- We also design logos?
- All of the websites we design include a content management system and free tech support for the life-time of the site?
- We work with printers both locally and remotely to get the best price and the best fit for your project?
- Our partners include videographers, writers, editors, photographers, illustrators, Flash developers, and programmers?
- Our websites are based in Wordpress, using it as a content management system?
- We keep up with the latest in search engine optimization, and all of our sites researched for keywords and are SEO optimized?
- We run several Google Ad Word campaigns for our clients?
- We offer non-profit organizations a 10% discount?
Probably not, because I don’t mention those things that often — I’m usually too focused on the project at hand. That’s a major mistake on my part. Our existing clients are already sold on us and usually are more than happy to find out that we can provide extra services. And even if they don’t need them, knowing that we do more helps with our word of mouth marketing when they tell other people about us.
So what are we going to do about this? (more…)
April 23, 2009
Over the years I have had many client experiences and I have lots of advice about lots of things. Which I’m happy to share with you (just ask!). However, there is one situation that I’ve run into more than once and have yet to find the solution. Can you help me?
What do you do when you have a client who doesn’t know what he wants? He’s perfectly pleasant and professional, but when presented with some design options after filling out a design brief and meeting about his project says something to the effect of:
I want you to know that I appreciate all the work you are doing, but the first two logos are not working for me. The third is closer, but I’m not in love with it. I wish I could guide you more about what I am looking for, but I’m not sure what I want. I think that it’s important for me to really love a logo and connect with it, but I am not sure what I can do to help you make it happen. Please let me know what can I do to help the process. Should I do more research?
I have no problem with the client asking this. As a professional designer, one of the things people hire me to do is help guide them toward a solution that they may not have known they wanted. I don’t depend on a client to come to me with a fully realized vision (although some do) and I see it as a big part of my job to draw out the information I need to make the client happy. But in this case, the client is stuck, and I’m not sure what to do to free him.
Suggestions? Thoughts? Opinions? I’d love to hear them.
April 4, 2009
It is standard practice in design to offer three initial design ideas to a client. It doesn’t happen every time or on every project, but it happens enough that if you are a designer, you should know this rule:
If you do three designs, and there’s one you love, one you like, and one you think is crap, nine times out of ten your client will go with the one you think is crap.
Does this mean your client is stupid? Absolutely not. Does this mean that you need to love your third design as much as your other two? Absolutely.
March 5, 2009
I couldn’t have said it better myself, so I won’t even try. Check out decor8 and the great post Spool Design {& 5 tips for a better shop}. Highly recommended.
February 9, 2009
Here’s something a little off the beaten path for this blog, but it was so useful that I couldn’t resist linking to it. For Facebook users, this is a must read.
Check out 10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know. Included in this article are:
- Use Your Friend Lists
- Remove Yourself From Facebook Search Results
- Remove Yourself From Google
- Avoid the Infamous Photo/Video Tag Mistake
- Protect Your Albums
- Prevent Stories From Showing Up in Your Friends’ News Feeds
- Protect Against Published Application Stories
- Make Your Contact Information Private
- Avoid Embarrassing Wall Posts
- Keep Your Friendships Private
If you’re not a Facebook user and have been thinking about it, this may help settle your nerves about opening your life up to strangers. Be careful, though: there’s a reason it’s also known as Crackbook. It’s addictive — enroll at your own risk.
