Starting a Business – With No Design Budget
Ideally, you have a good sized marketing budget when starting a business. Getting clients is what starting a business is all about…it’s a given that you can do the work or provide the product, or you wouldn’t be starting a business. You need to market your business. These days, it’s harder to get a business […]
A Second Opinion?
If your doctor told you that you had an illness, you may want to get a second opinion. You get that second opinion from another doctor, not your mom. When it comes to design, people feel it’s perfectly fine to get your mom’s opinion. Sure, graphic design in not brain surgery, but IT’S NOT JUST […]
Law Firm Website 2.0
We love designing a website when the client has a terrible website or no site at all. We come out looking like geniuses. What do we do when the original site is good…or worse, a site designed by us? Here is example of a site we just redesigned: The Law Office of Matthew L. Hood. […]
Why do you have a career page on you website if you aren't hiring?
I’d advised clients to put a “careers” page on their websites even if they aren’t hiring. Why would you do this? Why do you want job hunters calling you just to turn them down? The answer is simple…The page is for potential clients, not really for job seekers. I want to work with a company […]
Do Your Own Homework
My wife is a high school English teacher. From time to time, she asks me help her check papers handed in for plagiarism. 90 percent of the time, I find the original source online in under a minute. It may be a song lyric, a poem, or a news story, but the lazy student thinks […]
Sometimes it all comes down to design
We’ve done a lot of brochures for real estate development companies. The marketing must be created before the property is built or even rehabbed since developers can start selling the properties before one even exists! Sure, the buyer may go through a model of the potential property, but they usually go home with my brochure. […]
I'll Know it When I See it…Maybe Not.
We aim to go beyond our client’s expectations but stay within their budget. We want them to be thrilled, but clients need to understand what the design process is and what it is not. “This isn’t right, but I’ll know it when I see it.” I’ve received that “feedback” before and it shows a lack […]
A Word About Word of Mouth
I’ve asked businesses how they get their clients and they say “We get most of our business word of mouth, so I don’t think a marketing campaign will work for us.” If you don’t do any real marketing, the only way you can get business is through word of mouth. If you get one client […]
Logos from Both Sides
I recently posted a question on LinkedIn asking what companies paid for their logos. At first I only got responses from other graphic designers…Then I posed the same question to small businesses: Here’s a typical response from a designer: “The short answer is anywhere between $5,000 and $50,000 for my clients who are looking […]
How Dandruff Shampoo Hurts your Marketing
We all know the slogan “You Never Get a Second Chance to Make a First Impression,” from the Head and Shoulders ad campaigns of the 1980’s. Playing on our fear was a great way to sell shampoo, but that crap really sticks with people. Unfortunately, companies use “The Head and Shoulders” excuse to put off […]
