When it comes to your business, everything you do and everything you don’t do tells your clients how they should feel about you and your business. Being a great designer isn’t enough to garner client loyalty. There are plenty of great designers out there. So why should someone choose you over any of them?
It’s even more difficult in today's market with all the inexpensive crowdsourced or contest oriented design options available to clients these days. Not only do you need to prove you’re a good designer, but you also need to show you are worth the money you're charging for your services. You need to do everything you can to prove to your clients that their money is better spent with you.
When you achieve that, you’ll be rewarded with a client that is loyal to you and your design business. So how do you accomplish this?
The ability to follow through on your commitments is extremely valuable when it comes to client loyalty. When you tell a client you’re going to do something, follow through and do it. Clients hear your comments as promises. So if you don’t do what you said you would do, it’s like you broke a promise with them and they will lose trust in you.
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been working with a client, or how much trust you’ve built up. Failing to follow through on something you said you would, will ruin all the goodwill and client loyalty you’ve been building up. It’s very hard to recover once someone loses trust in you.
If for some reason you are not able to follow through on something you told your client you would do, give your clients ample notice. Most clients will understand if you let them know in advance that you can't hold to your word. Apologizing after the fact is too late.
Remember, actions speak louder than words. Follow through on what you say you’ll do.
In your line of work, you get to talk to a lot of different people in various fields. Some of the conversations you have or the news you hear may not be of interest to you, but it may be of interest to your clients.
Whenever you hear something you think one of your clients might be interested in, pass it along. Merely passing on information is a great way to stay in touch with your clients and it shows them that you care about them. This will go a long way towards building client loyalty.
Building client loyalty is all about building relationships, the cornerstone of any great partnership. Designer and client included. It’s so important that I’ve talked about client relationships on over 25 episodes of the podcast.
To build a client relationship you need to learn things about your client. Find out when their birthday is. Learn who their family members are and what they do. Discover what hobbies and interests your client has.
Later, when talking to your client, bring up some of this information in the conversation. Ask about their daughter's recital. Inquire how a family member is doing since they had surgery. Find out how their son's team is doing.
Just by discussing things that are related to your client’s personal life, you too, become part of their personal life.
This shows your client that you care about them more than just on a working basis and it will make them think twice before every hiring a different designer.
Go above and beyond if you can. Tip #1 I was about keeping promises. What if you promise to deliver something by Friday and you give it to your client two days early on Wednesday? To your clients, this is an added value they will appreciate, and it didn’t cost you anything.
Another thing you can do is provide little extras that other designers don’t.
Create short instruction videos using software like Screenflow to show your clients how to use their newly launched website. Teach them how to log in, how to create or edit posts, how to upload media files, etc. Not only does this go above and beyond to provide added value to your clients. It also lessens your workload because your client won't be contacting you asking “how do I do that again?”
If you design a logo for a client, include a PDF explaining all the different file formats you are providing them. List each one and explain when and why each format should be used. This could be the same PDF you share with all your clients. To them, it's an added value.
Anything you do to create added value goes a long way to strengthen client loyalty.
Once a project is over, it doesn’t mean your communications with your client should be over as well. Keep in touch with them. Let them know of new or improved services you offer. Are you getting into the Facebook advertising game? Let your clients know about it. Have you discovered a new supplier that provides some new and innovative marketing dohickey? Mention to your clients how they might benefit from using it in their promotional campaign. Did a client ask you to design something you’ve never done before? Show it off to your other clients and offer to do the same for them.
By letting your clients know about the new and exciting happenings with your company you build momentum with them, and it makes them somehow feel involved and builds loyalty towards you.
A great way to build client loyalty is to ask them for their opinion on your business and services. Were they happy with their most recent dealings with you? Did the service you provide meet their expectations? Ask them if there is anything you could have done to make the experience better.
Asking your clients for their opinion is a great way to show you care about what they think and that you are listening to their concerns.
As a child, your parents taught you to say Thank You whenever someone gives you something. Your clients are giving you work they could have taken elsewhere. Once a project is over show your client you're grateful for it by saying thank you for the business.
This simple gesture is something rarely seen in the service industry, and your clients will take note and remember you for it, increasing their loyalty towards you.
If you follow these seven tips to increase client loyalty towards you and your business, not only will you be ensuring a long-lasting relationship with your clients, but you will be growing your business as well. Because loyal clients are more apt to talk about you and spread the word about the great work and excellent service you provide.
Let me know by leaving a comment for this episode.
Submit your question to be featured in a future episode of the podcast by visiting the feedback page.
This week’s question comes from Miranda
Hi Mark, I was wondering if you ever worked in a small design agency, and if you had any tips for a Graphic Designer with about a year of professional experience. I’ve worked in a big agency and small design businesses. I’d love your feedback on how to get a small design agency better quality work.
My boss is kind of old school so some of the work is not branding our clients it’s more production work. We have branded clients and have some great clients we’ve branded. But I wanted your take on how to get better clients and how to navigate them to understanding how important their brand is.
Thanks so much! Would love to hear from you!
To find out what I told Miranda you’ll have to listen to the podcast.
This week's resource is Running SEO, a website that offers free instant website reviews and SEO audits. With their in-depth website analysis, you can learn how to improve your website rankings & online visibility through SEO, social media, usability and much more. Running SEO doesn't just tell you what's wrong with your site, it says you how to fix it. Their competitive analysis function gives you a side-by-side comparison between your site and your competitor. Find out what they are doing better on their site and implement it on your site. Running SEO is also great for landing new clients. Run an analysis before meeting a new client to show them what needs improving on their website.
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Running a graphic design or web design business all by yourself isn't easy. If there are any struggles you face running your design business, please reach out to me. I'll do my best to help you by addressing your issues in a future blog post or podcast episode here at Resourceful Designer. You can reach me at feedback@resourcefuldesigner.com
At one point or another, every designer wonders what it would be like to become a freelance designer.
Maybe you’re a student dreaming of tackling the world after graduation. Perhaps you’re an in-house designer tired of working 9-5 designing similar things for the same company year after year. Maybe you work for a design agency as part of a larger team of experienced designers, and you feel like you are not being used to your full potential.
Regardless of where you are in your design career, the thought of becoming a freelance designer, to run your own business from home, to be your own boss, might be something going through your head.
I’m a big advocate of freelancers. I’ve focused Resourceful Designer specifically on helping home-based designers. But I’m also the first person to say that not every designer is suited to freelancer life. That’s why I put together this list of 5 things you should consider before deciding to become a freelance designer.
The first thing you need to ask yourself before handing in your resignation letter is why do you want to become a freelance designer?
Is it for the flexible schedule? Is it for the ability to choose your clients and projects? Is it for the tax write-offs? Is it for the ability to work in your pyjamas at any hour of the day? Is it simply to be your own boss?
Whatever your reasons, make sure they are good ones before you make the leap and start your design business.
Working from home can get lonely. In fact, it’s one of the main reasons designers give up the freelance life and go back to a 9-5 job. It’s a big enough issue that there's an entire episode of Resourceful Designer where I talk about coping with isolation when working from home.
Ask any home-based designer, and they will tell you that isolation is a real issue. If you are someone who enjoys talking face to face with colleagues throughout the day, it's something to keep in mind.
Before you decide to become a freelance designer make sure you can handle the loneliness that comes with being by yourself most of the time.
When you are an employee, chances are someone is telling you, or at least directing you in what you need to do on a daily basis.
Once you become a freelance designer, you won’t have someone telling you what to do anymore. Some people see this as a benefit, but you need to make sure you are disciplined enough to not only create a work schedule for yourself but to stick to it.
It’s not as easy as it sounds. Not having a boss looking over your shoulder and keeping you in check can lead you astray.
Without someone making sure you’re working on what you are supposed to be working on when you're supposed to be working on it makes it very easy to get caught up on tangents. Before you know it, you’re spending way too much time on YouTube or Facebook, or succumbing to the temptation of that brand new season of your favourite show that just dropped on Netflix.
Make sure you know how to manage your time and make sure you know how to stick to a schedule, even one you made for yourself.
Running your own design business is not about the here and now. It’s about the future. When you are an employee, chances are there’s someone else worrying about the future of the business where you work. But when that business is your own, it’s your responsibility to ensure for your future.
No matter how good your clients are, or how big the projects your working on become, there is no guarantee they will still be around in a few months.
You need to be able to look ahead and prepare for slow times by continuingly looking for new projects and new clients to sustain your business.
A home-based designer’s life is full of ups and downs when it comes to projects. The trick is to minimize those downward curves by preparing ahead for them.
When you become a freelance designer, you don’t give up a boss. You become the boss. But are you boss material?
Are you able to keep yourself accountable to not only get the design work done but to handle the other day to day activities that running a business requires?
Designers thinking about freelancing don't often think about everything involved. Running your own design business is much more than just designing.
If you want to know what else is involved in running a home-based design business, listen to episode 38 of Resourceful Designer: The Many Hats Of A Home Based Graphic Designer.
One of the many hats you will need to wear after you become a freelance designer is that of an accountant. Freelancing is not a financially stable profession. You don’t get a steady paycheck every week. Some months lots of money may come in and other months barely a cent. Especially when you first start off.
You need to be able to handle your income in a way that is sustainable for you. That means making sure that not only are you covering your bills but that you have enough saved up for those times when work is slow.
Many designers think that life would be so much easier if they started their own design business. The truth of the matter is that freelancing is very difficult and requires a particular type of person to succeed at it. You might be that type of person. But ask yourself these five questions before you quit your job to become a freelance designer.
Let me know by leaving a comment for this episode.
Submit your question to be featured in a future episode of the podcast by visiting the feedback page.
This week’s question comes from Shenai
I know some universities have classes that cover some of the legal issues with designing but mine did not offer this. If you have advise on when you should trademark designs, or other ideas of design protection - I would love to hear that episode! In a time where everyone is marketing themselves on social media, I have a huge fear of being ripped off and really don't know at what lengths to go to cover my bases.
To find out what I told Shenai you’ll have to listen to the podcast.
This week's resource is the website Coolors.co. Coolors.co is a super fast and super easy way to create, save and share colour pallets for all your projects. Choose from a gallery of readily made pallets or create your own from scratch or based on some pre-selected colours.
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Running a graphic design or web design business all by yourself isn't easy. If there are any struggles you face running your design business, please reach out to me. I'll do my best to help you by addressing your issues in a future blog post or podcast episode here at Resourceful Designer. You can reach me at feedback@resourcefuldesigner.com.
It requires many hats to run a successful home-based design business. Beyond being a designer, you need to wear the hat of a bookkeeper, a receptionist, a marketer, a salesperson and many more. Often it's the salesperson hat that scares people away, but it's one of the most important ones you will have to wear.
To have a successful design business, you need to be a competent salesperson. You don’t have to be great. You don't even have to be that good at it. Just being competent is all you need to succeed.
I know that being a salesperson has a certain stigma to it. Salespeople are often depicted on TV and the big screen as annoying, slimy people. But the fact of the matter is, everyone is a salesperson in one way or another. If you've ever convinced your spouse to go out for Italian food when they were in the mood for Mexican, you're a salesperson. If you've ever told your kids they can get a dessert if they eat all their vegetables, you're a salesperson. If you've ever sold your design services to a client, you're a salesperson.
One thing all good salespeople have in common is persistence. Without persistence, they would never make a sale. As the salesperson for your design business, you have to be persistent when searching for new clients. That persistence requires you to follow-up with someone after your first contact with them.
All salespeople know that the majority of successful sales happen during the follow-up. The same applies when you are pitching new clients. Rarely will a potential client hire you the first time you meet them. But if you are persistent and follow-up with them, you drastically improve your chances of winning them over.
You need to follow up any time you meet a potential client for the first time. Some of these situations may include;
If you don’t follow up, you are leaving things open for someone else to sweep in and use your initial effort as traction to win over your potential client.
Your follow-ups should continue until you establish a conversation with the client or they decline your requests for further communication. More on that last part later.
There are many ways to follow-up with someone, and there are different stages to the follow-up to which you should adhere. Work your way through the follow-up stages until you establish a communication with the client. Here are a few things you can try.
Usually, this falls under the scope of cold calling. You send a potential client an email or leave them a voicemail message introducing yourself. Don't worry if you don't immediately hear back from them. Follow these steps for more engagement.
Remember that the trick to being a good salesperson is to remain persistent until you either get the sale, or you're offer is rejected. Most people, even if they are interested in your services, won't respond to the first contact. It takes several tries before they are ready to commit. If you are not following up you are missing out on a lot of opportunities in gaining new clients.
That’s why following up is essential. You will get a higher number of people responding to your second and third contact request. By showing them your persistence, you are proving your value and dedication, both useful traits in someone worth hiring.
Keep trying until they tell you they are not interested or have no need for your services. Until they decline, you should continue to treat them as potential clients.
If you are trying to land a large corporation as a client and you don't hear back from the person you are trying to reach. Try reaching out to somebody else in the company. Sometimes someone won't respond to you because what you are offering isn't part of their job description. After several failed attempts try moving on to someone else in the company.
To many people, this tactic feels intrusive and bothersome but’s it’s all part of the selling game. Since the dawn of time salespeople have been earning a living through persistence and following up. The tactics are no different for your design business. Keep at it, and you will land those clients you thought were out of reach.
You can be the best designer in the world, but if you don’t practice your skills as a salesperson, you’re going to have a tough time growing your design business.
Let me know by leaving a comment for this episode.
Submit your question to be featured in a future episode of the podcast by visiting the feedback page.
I don't have a question this week, but I look forward to answering yours in the future.
Clarification of the week.
This week instead of a resource or tip I want to clarify something I've been noticing lately. Many people have been messaging me about episode 11 of the podcast about pricing strategies. These people are confused between Project-Based Pricing and Fixed/Flat Rate Pricing.
Project Based Pricing is when you look at the scope of a project and give the client a quote based on the work involved to complete that project. With Project-Based Pricing, every job is priced according to its scope. For example; You might quote $150 for a logo for a local charity run and $800 for a logo for a new law firm. Both are logos, but one will probably require more work.
Fixed/Flat Rate Pricing is when you advertise a certain price to do a specific task regardless of the scope of the job. For example; you promote that you design logos for $250. It doesn't matter if it's for a charity run or a law firm. All logos are $250.
I did not talk about Fixed/Flat Rate Pricing in episode 11 because I don't feel it's a viable method of pricing. Unless your fixed prices are very high, there's a good chance you will lose money on the majority projectsn.
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Running a graphic design or web design business all by yourself isn't easy. If there are any struggles you face running your design business, please reach out to me. I'll do my best to help you by addressing your issues in a future blog post or podcast episode here at Resourceful Designer. You can reach me at feedback@resourcefuldesigner.com
Building a successful design business isn’t easy. It takes skill, it takes time, and it takes effort, a lot of effort. Think of your design business’s success as a journey. One where you strive every day to make progress towards that next level of success.
Every business starts off new, with all the potential in the world. To grow your business, you need to have a destination in mind of what next level you want to reach. Then you get to work and make progress towards that goal.
Maybe that destination is to land that first paying design client. Maybe it’s to see something you designed in print. Maybe it’s hearing from your client that they’ve made their first sale on a website you built for them. Whatever your destination is, you need to work hard until you reach it.
Of course, reaching that destination is not the end. It's a new beginning. Once you've reached that destination and achieved that goal, the next step is to progress to the next level. You do that by setting a new destination for yourself and setting off on that path.
Maybe your new destination is to get your second client. Maybe it's to design something portfolio worthy. Maybe it's to see your design on store shelves.
Whatever your goals are, or whatever path you take, you get there by putting one foot in front of the other until your next destination is reached.
Like any journey, there will be bumps along the way that may cause you to doubt yourself.
Am I a good enough a designer to be doing this?
Why would someone hire me instead of one of the other talented and more experienced designers offering similar work?
Can I create a design that truly reflects who the client is?
Am I charging too much or too little for my work?
These are all normal questions to be thinking. Some designers don’t even realize they doubt themselves by asking them. But it's ok; all designers do it. And you know what? Doubting yourself is healthy. If you didn't doubt yourself, there would be nothing to keep you in check. Nothing to cause you to stop and think is this the best idea or direction. Nothing stopping you from taking a wrong path that leads you away from the destination you set for yourself.
The trick is to use that doubt to help you navigate to that next level. This goes for whether you’re just starting out in your design business or you’ve been doing this for many years. The next level is still the next level. It’s the place you haven’t been before with your business. Another step on the road to success.
One of the big challenges of reaching those next levels is self-doubt, the uncertainty and the lack of clarity about how to get there.
We all experience it. There have been several times over the years when I wasn’t sure about what I should do next, or how I should proceed with my business either. I doubted myself.
When I switched from hourly billing to fixed and value-based billing, I wondered if it was the right move. When I went from charging hundreds of dollars for a website to charging thousands of dollars I was worried that nobody would hire me anymore. When I decided to give up hand coding websites and focus solely on building Wordpress websites I was worried that I wasn't being true to my design roots.
Heck, when I was thinking of starting the Resourceful Designer podcast I had doubts. I didn’t know how the show would be received. Would people like you enjoy it? Would you find the topics I talk about interesting and informative? Would you even bother listening to someone like me who isn't a big name in the design world?
All of these were next levels in my design career that I chose as destinations to reach. And I reached them by getting over my self-doubt.
Maybe you don’t have your own design business yet. Maybe you’ve recently started one and are in the process of growing it. Maybe you are running a part-time freelance business while working a full-time job. Or Maybe you’ve been at this a long time and already feel successful.
Regardless of where you are in your career, there will always be a next level to reach.
If you want your design business to progress towards a next level, you have to be clear on what that next level is. Then do whatever you can to avoid distractions as you work towards it. Remember, How you get to the next level isn’t as important as what that next level is.
If your goal is to build $20k websites, maybe you decide to give up everything besides designing websites. You give up designing logos, posters, brochures, trade show booths, mobile apps, etc. and focus just on websites. You spend all your time working on one website after another, going from one client to another building up your skill and reputation until you land that big fish, the $20k website.
Or, maybe you decide to take it in smaller steps by building long-term relationships with your clients. You spend time helping them develop their brand and grow their business over months and years until they are big enough to pay you $20k for their next website.
There’s no right or wrong way to do it because how you get there isn’t as important as what your next level is.
Once you know your destination, that next level, the trick is to make consistent incremental progress towards reaching it and being completely dissatisfied when you’re not making progress.
In other words, make progress every day. It should be your standard method of operation. It doesn’t matter if it’s just a little progress, like learning a new trick or shortcut to make something easier for you. As long as you make progress every day.
Can a brand new unproven web design business charge $20k for a website? There's nothing stopping them. However, they may find it difficult without any experience to show potential clients. Especially clients with deep pockets.
But a new unproven web design business with a focused goal in mind of one day designing $20k website, which spends its time working towards that goal every day. Month after month, year after year. There's nothing stopping them from eventually reaching that goal.
Remember that progress builds up over time. If you make a little progress every day, with a clear idea of where you’re going, you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to stay focused and reach your goal.
The final thing I want to say is, never quit.
Most designers, whether they are running their business as a side gig or as a full-time business, most of the ones that end up failing, they do so because they quit too soon. They set up their business thinking they would simply run it one day at a time and see what happens.
Those designers didn’t have a clear vision of what they wanted to achieve, and they didn’t know how to progress towards those next levels to reach their goals.
Yes, times may get tough. You may decide that putting food on the table is more important than trying to land that big fish client. Sometimes life’s situations may force you to seek other forms of income. And that’s OK. But that’s not a reason to give up on your goals.
Remember, a successful design business is a journey. And journeys take time and patience.
I know it’s easy to become discouraged when things are not working out. But you need to look beyond that. Maybe that discouragement you may be feeling can be overcome with some good advice about how to tweak what you’re doing and get back on track.
Maybe that discouragement is coming from your self-doubt of what you are capable of doing.
Find a business coach or mentor program to help guide you. Find places like the Facebook groups with people willing to listen and help. The answers are out there if you take the time to look for them. We all have these doubts from time to time that we need to overcome before progressing along our journey.
If you’re feeling discouraged or you doubt yourself, you need to figure out why that is and address it.
There are limitless opportunities out there for you to grow a successful design business. Don't let anything stop you.
Let me know by leaving a comment for this episode.
Submit your question to be featured in a future episode of the podcast by visiting the feedback page.
This week’s question comes from Anees
Hi Mark!
I hope you are doing well preparing more content for us :). Well my question may be not new but I want to hear from you.
What's the difference between good and great design.
To find out what I told Anees you’ll have to listen to the podcast.
Resource of the week Front-End Checklist
This week's resource is a website called frontendchecklist.io. Front-End Checklist is perfect for modern websites and meticulous developers! This site shows you all the different aspects of a website build with items divided into low, medium and high priority and allows you to check them off as you complete them. Filter the checklist into sections such as SEO, security, accessibility, performance, CSS, Javascript and more. If you develop websites, I think you will like this resource.
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Running a graphic design or web design business all by yourself isn't easy. If there are any struggles you face running your design business, please reach out to me. I'll do my best to help you by addressing your issues in a future blog post or podcast episode here at Resourceful Designer. You can reach me at feedback@resourcefuldesigner.com