Finding a graphic design job or any other job is not an easy task and for most of the people it is a disappointing experience. Maybe the biggest reason of it is that people often don’t know a good step by step procedure of finding a job and they think that simply searching for it is the first step of getting the job — which is not correct! The economic crisis of the world has made it even tougher to find a job, especially when you are a beginner or trying to find a high-level job.
All posts tagged Freelance
5 Tips For Finding A Graphic Design Jobs
Questions to Ask Before You Start a New Project
I have been a designer for about thirteen years, and most of my business during the past two years has come from new clients. Many have been new up-start businesses, not-for-profit groups and educational networks. When you are embarking on a new project, you need to assess several important things including the client’s branding needs, what they can spend and how long the project will take. Many times I have forgotten to get key information while conducting a client assessment. It’s an easy mistake to make (especially if you’re a new designer), but fortunately it’s also easily avoidable.
Here are some helpful hints to ensure you get all of the necessary information when starting a project. First, I’ll list six key questions that need to be covered before starting a new project. These are organized so you can use them as a checklist when meeting with new clients. Finally, I’ll break down the three important phases of an initial consultation.
5 Self-Promotion Tips That Aren’t Sleazy
As a web designer, you’re probably having to constantly sell your ideas and promote yourself. You have to sell your work to your clients, your co-workers and your bosses. The struggle, of course, is that self-promotion can be a tricky game to play. On the one hand, if you don’t speak up for yourself, no one else will. On the other, blatantly tooting your own horn can be uncomfortable, and if approached the wrong way, your efforts might be perceived negatively by many. We all want to present our ideas in the best way possible and to have clients knocking down our doors to get a taste. But how can we do it without being a snake oil salesman? For some ideas on how to tastefully market yourself, read the following five self-promotion tips.
Technostress – The Freelancers Disease?
The phrase Technostress is being bandied about all over the shop at the moment. The English Wikipedia defines it as: Technostress is, in many ways, the resistance to change that accompanies newly introduced machines to work, home, and leisure situations.
In Spain, however it has slightly different connotations, and almost the opposite could said to be true. Technostress has been linked to those of us who are constantly on. Like me and perhaps like you. Those people who live with their smart phone or iPad or laptop switched on 24/7. We all know of people who seem to spend their entire day Tweeting, and we hate them for it. Stones and glasshouses are never a good mix.
5 Client Emailing Tips Worth Forwarding
More often then not, we don’t get to work sitting in a chair next to our clients. As a result, we are forced to communicate either by video chat, phone, or most commonly… Email. Here are 5 Client Emailing Tips that I’ve learned, literally in the past year. Hopefully you’ll walk away with something helpful.
Using Twitter to Promote Your Freelance Career the Right Way
Twitter is one of those tools that is rarely used properly, but when it is, it’s gold. More and more often, social media is being used for business marketing and self promotion. Because Twitter has the ability to reach so many individuals in one swift move, it is a great platform for individuals doing freelance work to be seen on. So much of success as a freelancer involves knowing the right people, meeting the right people, and getting your name out there. Use these three Twitter tips to gain more clients, make a name for yourself as a freelancer, and establish yourself within the business.
Freelancing Tips for Building Your Client Base
As a freelancer, you are free to put your feet up and work, if that’s what gets your creative juices flowing. Yet it takes talent, business savvy, commitment and time to be a successful freelancer, Freelancers are always in search of some work, so that they can earn something by rendering their services to people from the comforts of their home. Most of us read a lot about productivity, marketing, pricing, customer service, and these aspects of business are all important. But it’s also important to enjoy the work that you do.
Putting most of your focus on acquiring a decent clientele is vital if you want to establish and grow a freelance business. You will always have questions about how to prioritize new and existing clients. Who to focus on? Where to invest your time and money? What strategies will pay off? Here are some things to consider as you come up with a strategy. Several studies show that the cost of acquiring a new client is usually between four and six times more than maintaining an existing client. Finding new clients costs more, and keeping old ones is usually easier to do. Keep this in mind.
Don’t Do TOO Good Of A Job!
Maybe this is happened to you. You’ve really nailed a project. You skip out of the client’s with a big smile because you’ve done the best work you have ever done. Months down the line, you haven’t heard a thing from the client and your emails are either not returned or they have cool salutations and don’t answer your question of when there might be another project. Either you’ve screwed something up or you’ve done such a stellar job that you’ve angered someone who hands out the freelance work. Believe it or not, it may be the latter. It’s not so odd… believe it or not!
One of my clearest examples was a freelance project for a firm that made postcards for the medical profession. Maybe you’ve received one from your doctor or dentist? You know the ones; balloons shaped like teeth or hearts shaped like teeth that remind you it’s time for a checkup. They look like they haven’t changed since 1972 because… they haven’t!
Why is it Important to Set Your Specialty in Freelance Business
Without any doubt designing is a vast field. There is a lot of scope to learn in designing and because of the ongoing developments in the designing field; the horizons of designing are broadening. If you are a freelance designer, you need to have a good knowledge of everything associated with designing. However, defining your specialty is also very important. You might be good at everything but you need to be excellent at a few of them at least. Having a large number of skills is a great way to market yourself in clients but if you won’t mention your specialties you will end up confusing your clients as well. So, in order to excel in the field of designing, learn everything but be a perfectionist at a few specific areas which you would be known for in future.
Steering Clear of the Bad Clients
The main purpose of designing a web and developing a blog is to build a community and to bind it with sharing information. This is achieved through sharing the tips and suggestions to make it easy for fellow web designers and bloggers too. Client is one of the most important things in a website or a blog. The client assigns, direct and checks the task. But clients can sometimes get a little too bossy and difficult to handle. In this case, the best way to deal with this situation is to ‘steer clear’ of such a client completely.
If there are things that will make your project a disaster, or the client situations are becoming too difficult to handle or if there are things which are just intolerable, the only answer to these is to avoid the bad client altogether. It is very rare that a client turns out to be as much difficult but a freelancer or a beginner should know about such a client and how to deal with him if such a client comes across at any stage of their career. Designing a website or keeping up a blog requires a team effort and cooperation. If it is not given from any of the parties then the project cannot be accomplished successfully. So here are the things that can help you identify such a ‘bad client’ and ways to avoid them.
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