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The folks over at OnlineDegree.com were kind enough to write a great review of my new book, Starting Your Career As A Freelance Web Designer. Here’s a quote from the review:
“It is a comprehensive guide full of practical advice for running a freelance web company. Included are very clearly communicated details you just don’t learn in art school. Subjects such as accounting, insurance, taxes, billing rates, legalities, and marketing are addressed.”
Thanks!
Mother Nature is an extraordinary designer. She blends form and function in efficient ways to create structures that simply work. It’s evident in everything from the classic nautilus shell to honeycombs to the delicate form of snowflakes and so much more.
In Design By Nature, noted designer, author and educator, Maggie Macnab, brings this to our attention. But, she also reminds us that we, as humans, are also a part  of it. These patterns are planted deep within our psyche and we often, unconsciously, associate them with emotions. However, living in a modern world, many of us have disconnected with Nature and forgotten to see and appreciate what’s in front of us, or sometimes just below the surface.
As Maggie notes, people know these things intuitively. Design By Nature brings them to the forefront, providing designers with clearer understanding of the world around them. This understanding is a powerful tool for developing sound solutions to client problems.
When designers have a reawakening to the geometry of the natural world, it not only helps them do a better job, but also become better communicators. This can go a long way toward creating more emotionally-based design that resonates with the audience.
Beyond this, Macnab demonstrates Nature’s impact on our man-made world through its influence on science and technology, art and architecture, economics and more.
Design By Nature also features thought-provoking insights by several well-known and highly respected designers. In addition, the book offers up many hands-on exercises that will help readers digest the concepts and be prepared to put them into action.
The book promises to be an inspirational staple in every designer’s library.
Visit www.designbynaturebook.com.com for additional exercises and information. You’ll be glad you did.
I had the great pleasure of speaking at IndieConf 2011 in Raleigh on November 19. It was excellent and Michael Kimsal, the organizer, put on a spectacular event.
Getting there was interesting. I was sitting in Fort Lauderdale Airport, waiting for the counter to open, so I could get my wheelchair when this guy walked by. An older gentleman, decked out in a fedora and a Hawaiian shirt. Stylish and cool. But it was the floral print shorts and cowboy boots that threw me. C’est la vie. Everybody should make a fashion statement. Waiting at the gate, watching the freak show in Atlanta was similar.
Fly! Be free! And so I went.
Michael picked me up at RDU. I walked out of the door at the airport and BAM! It hit me … 35º. I’m a South Florida guy and 35º is just wrong. I was freezing.
The hotel check in time was hours away, so we hooked up with Mike Eaton, another speaker staying at the hotel, and headed out for lunch.
 Mike Eaton In accord with my oh so weird life, the hotel was under construction. Lots of noise. Bang! Bam! Grrrrr. Shooka, shooka, shooka. Those were the sounds all weekend. Plus, there was some sort of large womens’ convention thing, a wedding and a girls’ soccer team extravaganza. Needless to say, the place was packed. Like shoulder to shoulder packed. Waiting for the only two elevators with thirty other people wasn’t unusual.
Freshbooks put on a delightful reception prior to the speakers’ dinner in, what appeared to be, the industrial part of town. It was in a collaborative, a growing trend in  Raleigh. Collaboratives rent single desk spaces, but folks get the feel of working in an office with others. It’s the water-cooler thing, where a freelancer has his or her own business space, but doesn’t feel so isolated.
While I was there, talking to some people, I noticed a guy. “Joe!” He replied, “Neil!” Joseph D’Agnese and his lovely other, Denise Kiernan, were there in front of me. We know lots of people in common, but had never met face-to-face.
 Denise Kiernan Joe and Denise have written loads and loads of books and articles for some heavy weights such as The Money Book for Freelancers, published by Random House; The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal; Discover; Wired; Saveur; This Old House; The Village Voice; Ms.; Reader’s Digest; Sports Illustrated for Kids; Conde Nast Sports for Women and such.
 Doug Foster At the dinner I had the good fortune to sit next to Doug Foster. Doug’s presentation was about stories and selling. At dinner we talked about all sorts of stuff. Speaking, writing, sales, music and more.
 Joseph D'Agnese And then it was Saturday and showtime. Denise was the first up and her presentation, Publishing As Marketing, was killer. I learned a lot from this veteran of something like 17 books and scores of articles. Joe’s presentation, How to Be a Freelance Money Geek (link to come), was at the same time as Mike Eaton’s so I had to bail halfway through. I wish I could have stayed for the whole thing because Joe brought up some excellent thoughts and ideas about money management.
Mike Eaton’s presentation, Best Practices for the Solo Developer, was a natural tie-in to my presentation, Starting Your Career As a Freelance Web Designer. Fortunately for the attendees, Mike brought up several points that I missed. He’s an excellent speaker, who speaks from the heart and the audience could tell.
The closing reception was stellar. A live jazz band, food too pretty to eat, yet we did, and exceptional conversation. Eaton and I found our way back to the hotel, courtesy of Doug Foster. We sat in the lounge, too pumped up from the day to go to sleep. We talked about kids, being a parent, music and, of course, web stuff. A most excellent way to end the conference weekend.
Next year promises to be even better, so keep your eyes open for announcements in the coming months.
I was a bit late in getting to the starting gate, but I just finished reading The Wealthy Freelancer, by Steve Slaunwhite, Pete Savage and Ed Gandia. While, “wealthy” and “freelancer” may strike some as a dichotomy in terms, there are plenty of freelancers being one and, as the cover states, living an enviable lifestyle.
This tight tome weighs in at just 274 pages (including index), yet is packed with insights, tips, wisdom and practical advise about how to define, create and manage a successful freelance business and life. The three authors are veteran solopreneurs. These are guys who’ve paid their dues and now share their combined acumen. They also share the business and productivity savvy of numerous freelancers who have carved out prosperous practices. If you’re one of the all too many who fight the feast or famine monster, get this book. If you want to take your business to the next level, without knocking yourself out, get this book. If you want to develop new income opportunities without working ever waking hour … and then some … get this book. Did I mention that it would be a good idea to get this book?
The nuggets of knowledge contained within each individual chapter are, alone, worth the price of admission. This is stuff you simply won’t learn in school. It’s the practical, common sense methods, tools, tips and techniques that one learns “in the trenches.” Don’t wait until you have one hundred years experience, one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, before you have those needed “ah ha!” moments. The authors, through The Wealthy Freelancer, become your mentors, guiding you down the path to becoming a freelancer who is in control of their business and themselves. And isn’t that what we all want and deserve?
I just learned about a new book from a friend that promises to be excellent. Check it out!
Designers Don’t Have Influences
By Austin Howe
What Can a Designer Learn From a Hockey Coach, a Nun, and Howard Hughes?
Austin Howe’s Short, Inspiring Essays to Help You Be More Bold and Creative
You’re a designer. You eat breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner at your desk, your mouse has become permanently bonded to your palm, and the last book you read was full of Pantone swatches. You don’t have time to soak in all the leadership, creativity, and management lessons that pop culture and literature can teach you—or do you?
In Designers Don’t Have Influences, creative director, writer, and design advocate Austin Howe mines inspiration and insights from a diverse cast of  characters: from agency moguls, artists, and authors to hockey coaches, nuns, and photographers. Estimated reading times for each essay (from two to five minutes) are helpfully provided, in case you’re trying to grab a quick shot of inspiration while you wolf down your lunch. Designers Don’t Have Influences is the follow-up to the popular and provocative Designers Don’t Read, Howe’s previous collection of essays for time-starved designers.
“My basic premise is that we can often learn more from people in other disciplines than we can from those in our own,” Howe says. “Can a creative person learn anything from a nun or a professional hockey coach? We’ll soon find out.”
In this book readers will find inspirational essays about:
- Little-known Swedish designer John Melin, who on his first assignment convinced a newspaper to print an ad using vanilla-scented ink.
- Avant-garde artist Damien Hirst, described as “a talented, visionary, courageous, honest, and forgivable asshole.
- Canadian hockey coach Francois Allaire, whose convention-defying coaching methods changed the game.
- The beloved and controversial art educator Sister Corita Kent.
- And many more!
Designers Don’t Have Influences
By Austin Howe
$19.95, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, 192 pages
Paperback, ISBN 978-1-58115-764-2
20 Black-and-White Illustrations
Publication Date: July 6, 2011
Here’s a reality check. Most of the prospects you come in contact with won’t be in a position buy from you right then and there. Odds are, they already have a service provider. If not, they might not have a project ready to put on the burner. So, something often needs to change before Mr. or Ms. Prospect is in the right position.
This is why building relationships is important. When you work to build the relationship and demonstrate the value you bring to the table, there’s a good chance you’ll be top of mind when buying time rolls around.
It’s also why using inbound marketing tools is important. Inbound marketing differs from outbound marketing in that with inbound, the prospect finds the service provider and gives the service provider permission to interrupt them every once in a while with great content and resources. Inbound marketing is a first cousin, if not a sibling, to relationship and permission-based marketing. Frankly, I think that’s semantics and they’re pretty much the same animal. The point is, whatever you call it, it tends to work.
Outbound marketing can be thought of as traditional marketing activities, such as print and broadcast ads, direct mail, outdoor, etc. It’s based in numbers. Take direct mail, for example, also known as direct response. Response rates are typically between 1-2%. So, if you want more response, you up your numbers … across the board. When you snail mail more, you also need to print more mailers, purchase or rent more names, buy more postage and probably increase the mailing house costs. In a nutshell, it’s expensive.
Let’s flip those numbers a bit. If response rates are between 1-2%, that means the mailing has a waste rate of 98-99%. Yikes! That sort of puts things in perspective. That waste represents a lot of folks who will never buy from you and probably don’t want to hear from you.
Brian Halligan, cofounder and CEO of HubSpot, is believed to have coined the term “inbound marketing,” at least in the sense of permission-based marketing. In the heyday of outbound marketing, it often meant marketing research, where the focus was on getting bits of information about the prospect’s needs, not the prospect themselves and was usually tied to product development.
Inbound channels include blogs and other content such as articles, white papers and e-books, social media, email marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). All of these channels share a common denominator – they’re either low or no cost activities. Granted, SEO can get pricey if you outsource it. They also provide a platform to demonstrate knowledge and expertise while providing authentic value for the prospect.
Beyond being inexpensive, they’re much more targeted, with little, if any waste. Consider this. The prospect is giving you permission to market to them. In effect, they’re saying, “Yup, I like what you and your services are all about. Keep it coming. I want to hear from you.”
That’s gold.
This post has nothing to do with marketing or self promotion. It has to do with kids who simply want to live their lives and I’m hoping you will help spread the word.
Living With the Tiger is a film about kids. Kids with AIDS. Kids orphaned by AIDS and then rejected by their extended families and villages. It’s a film that focuses two of these kids trying to re-integrate into their villages and be accepted by their families.
Living With the Tiger takes place over three years in Baan Gerd, a non-profit, humanitarian organization. It’s not exactly an orphanage. It provides family-style homes for the kids, who are looked after by foster parents. All the foster parents are HIV positive which helps to ensure they are sensitive to the children’s needs. It’s the only organization of its kind in Thailand.
The film is also about the mission of an American composer, Bruce Gaston, who teaches the kids music and helps them compose and perform an opera. The goal is to hold a series of performances in Bangkok and the local countryside. Plus, non-infected children are invited to participate which helps to integrate the infected with the non-infected.
But, it’s more than a film about a couple of kids and some music. It’s about identity, family and belonging. It’s about how society continues to snub those infected with a disease, mostly due to a lack of understanding and fear. And its not just Thailand.
Please take a moment to look at the film’s trailer and site. They don’t have the money to hire a PR firm, so they’re reaching out to people like us who develop communications for a living. I’ve installed their widget on my site. Perhaps you can do the same. The idea here is to help get the word out, raise awareness … and help some kids who simply want to live their life and be accepted.
Cold calling. The very thought can start folks’ stomachs churning with anxiety and fear. They fear rejection, fumbling over their words and drawing a blank in mid-conversation. In their effort to sound like an expert, they worry they’ll come off like a blithering idiot. Yes, it can happen and, if one isn’t prepared, it can happen often.
Cold calling is, or at least should be, a tool in every service professional marketing mix. Sure, it’s a numbers game, but when managed correctly it can pay off and bring in new clients faster than many other tools. As for those numbers, a while back I read a research study that found, on average, every 100 calls would result in five appointments and close one to two sales. That’s a lot of calls and there are a few things you can do to better your odds.
Have the Right Attitude
If you start a cold calling program with utter disdain for the tactic you’ll probably not going to get too far. If a person doesn’t like doing something, they’ll find a way not to do it. It’s a human nature thing. Make it a challenge. Look at it from the point of view that each call you make brings you closer to landing an appointment.
Understand Your Goal
There’s only one – set the appointment. Period. A cold call isn’t the time to try to sell your services. It’s the time to let the prospect know that you have something of value to offer them and ask for a meeting.
Folks get into trouble when they try to sell the whole ball of wax with one phone call. Yet it happens all the time. They actually get somebody on the other end of call, get nervous and start babbling about everything they offer. This is when the blithering idiot thing can easily happen. State your value proposition. Get the appointment. Get off the phone.
Prepare. Prepare. Prepare.
One simply way to ensure you’ll need to make 100 calls or more is to blindly call a list of prospects. Some people will buy or rent a list of contacts. Others will, perhaps, tap into a Chamber members list. Still others might search for businesses within a certain geographic radius. Whichever way the list comes into their lap, it’s a bad idea. Most of the prospects aren’t really prospects. Heck, they might not even be good suspects.
The qualifying process starts before you pick up the phone. This is where having a well-defined niche comes in handy. Take the time to research your prospects to ensure they’re a good fit for you business. If you do this, you may find you end up with a list of twenty-five prospects that are a very good fit and need what you’re selling. That a whole bunch better than a couple of hundred that most likely will never buy from you.
It’s worth stating here that time is the most precious currency. When a minute is spent, it’s gone forever. Use your time wisely. Investing in some research to qualify prospects can mean you won’t be wasting time calling folks who aren’t in need of what you sell.
Also, consider a list of talking points to help keep you on track. I don’t recommend using a script because, well, they tend to sound like scripts and somewhat robotic. But talking points help keep the conversation fluid while helping to ensure you state your case without fumbling.
Warm Up Your Calls
A cold call is just that. Cold. The prospect doesn’t know you from Adam’s cat. It’s a good idea to first warm things up by sending postcard, premium item, brochure or a simple letter of introduction.
Be Consistent
Set a time for making calls and align it to your prospects. For example, let’s say you’re targeting CEOs. Many get into the office well before the rest of their crew. So, making calls at 7:30 AM might make sense. It might also up your answer rate since the CEO hasn’t yet gotten up to their eyeballs with various things.
Finding your call timing sweet spot can take a while. But, if you stay at it, you find it. Then, it’s a matter of disciplining yourself to make calls on a regular basis.
Voicemail Is Your Friend
I hear a lot of folks say they don’t make calls because, now days, all they get is voicemail. While true, consider this. Voicemail gives you an opportunity to state your case without interruption. You should still respect the prospect’s time and be brief.
To start, state your name and callback number slowly. Give your reason for calling. Wrap things up by again stating your name. Spell it if necessary and also provide your callback and/or email. Providing your contact info at the beginning and end makes it easy for your prospect to write it down without needing to replay the message a few times.
Sure, even the best-qualified prospect probably won’t be in the position to buy what you’re selling at the time you call. In most cases, something needs to change. It might be a falling out with their current supplier, a sudden emergency that their current supplier can fit into their schedule or any one of a myriad of things. That’s fine. The point is that you’ve opened a dialogue.
Once the dialogue is opened, follow up by email. Send them useful little tidbits you come across that may help them. Mail off an article of interest. You get the idea.
When the time comes, and it will, you’ll be positioned to jump in and fill their need. When that happens, be sure you under-promise and always over-deliver.
December’s here and 2010 is soon to become a memory. Now is the time when things start to slow down as folks think more about holiday parties than they do about starting a new project. But, you can mix the two if you play your cards right.
How? Glad you asked. The answer is the year-end review. Or, if your holiday schedule is way too hectic, consider a new-year review. Whichever you choose, it can be a great way to accomplish a couple of things. First, you can gather client feedback that will help you do a better job in the future. Second, you can learn about your client’s goals and plans for the upcoming year.
Invite your client to lunch (on you, of course). Let them know in advance that the purpose of the lunch is to thank them for their business throughout the year, spread some holiday cheer and also to discuss the projects that where done. Get their thoughts about what went well, but also what could use improvement. Doing this simple thing can strengthen client relationships and demonstrate that you’re interested in doing the best job possible for them.
But don’t stop there. Ask them what their goals and plans are for the New Year. Ask some probing questions. Those are the ones that can’t be answered with a simple yes or no. For example, let’s say you’re a graphic designer and you learn your client is planning to attend a major trade show in June. Odds are they’re going to at least need some literature, if not a complete display. Ask them if it would be okay for you to provide them with an estimate for this or that.
Beyond this, getting a handle on your client’s plans for the new year will help to avoid scrambled rush gigs down the road. As the year progresses, your client will get busy. Hopefully, you will as well. Fires crop up and things can easily get put on the back burner. Next thing you know, June is looming, your client is in a mad rush to get their trade show display handled and you find yourself living on caffeine at 2:00 AM.
When handled correctly, the year-end review is much more than a free lunch for your client. It’s a way learn where you stand with your client and how well you’re doing. This kind of reaching out will also help to strengthen your position in your client’s mind. If they tap into other suppliers like you, odds are your competitors haven’t taken this step
But more importantly, it’s a way to plan your schedule several months out or longer. That goes a long way toward beating the notorious feast or famine syndrome.
I’ve been working on the sales chapter for my upcoming book, Starting Your Career As A Freelance Web Designer. So, I’ve been a bit immersed in the subject. Sales is one of those activities that most designers and other freelancers and independents simple hate to do. For some, even talking about the subject makes them feel like they need a shower. But the fact remains, as someone once said, “Nothing happens until somebody sells something.”
Sales usually conjures up an image of a cigar-smoking, rather pushy guy in a polyester plaid jacket who’s trying to sell you something you neither want nor  need. While that may be true is some circles, sales boils down to nothing more than a conversation. It’s a dialogue between you and a prospect where you learn about their business, their challenges and discuss how whatever it is that you do can solve the prospect’s problem-at-hand. That’s not so scary, is it?
This type of sales process (and it is a process) is called consultative selling. It goes by other names such as relationship selling, solution selling and the likes. Whatever you want to call it, it centers on a simple idea – providing a useful solution to a client’s problem. In many ways it’s not so much selling as helping your client to buy.
Sales starts with correctly identifying right people to engage. They start out as suspects. This ominous moniker just means they broadly fit your criteria and may be someone who will buy from you. If you have a niche (and you should), every company within it might be suspects. Or, you may have some criteria to narrow down the group such as company size or location.
Once you’ve identified your suspects, the next step is to qualify them as authentic prospects for your sales efforts. Prospects are the short list that meet various requirements for you to do business with them. Some qualifying questions are:
- Do they buy what you’re selling?
- Can they pay for it?
- Is there a reasonable budget for the project?
- Does the timeline work with your current workload?
- Is your contact the final decision-maker?
- Is there a good personality fit?
- Do things feel right in your gut?
Taking on whatever rings the phone or inbox is a bad idea. When you correctly qualify a prospect as being a good fit, you’ll spend a lot less time writing proposals and estimates that are off-target and unlikely to close the deal.
To our plaid-clad peddler, everybody’s a prospect and if they talk enough they’ll close more sales. He uses a manipulative and adversarial form of sales where the salesperson talks down to the prospect trying to create a need where one may not exist. People may love to buy, but they hate to be sold.
Consultative sales is the opposite. It’s a client-centered sales method that focuses on true needs. It tends to listen more than it talks and develops authentic trust and understanding. It’s adaptable to the prospect’s needs and helps to position you as a partner rather than a vendor.
Consultative selling was born as a result of market changes. As competition increased, along with prospects having better access to information, a shift from product-centered selling to prospect-centered selling became necessary. In consultative selling, the salesperson learns about prospect’s needs long before talking product or service. Products, services and knowledge are then transformed into a tailored solution based on the prospect’s authentic needs. Needs are identified through a combination of research, preparation and asking questions.
The process begins with research to gain some insight into the prospect’s business environment. This is usually expanded with a series of personal meetings, or even emails, where probing, open-ended questions are asked. Open-ended questions are the kind that can’t be answered with a simple, “yes” or “no.” From the information, a solution is developed and usually presented in the form of a proposal.
Many service professional are already doing consultative selling is some manner. They just don’t realize it. When done correctly, this sales model doesn’t feel like sales at all. It’s building a relationship and learning about the prospect. When proposal time rolls around, the one whole practices consultative selling will be much better positioned than competitors who didn’t take the time to really learn about and truly understand the prospect, their business and challenges.
Have you used this sales method in some form with your prospects? If so, how has it worked for you?
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