Happy hour: Cocktails & Cookbooks

In everyone’s career they comes a time (or two) to take stock, evaluate where you’ve been and where you are going. I do this on at least on an annual basis, looking back at the past year, looking forward to the next. I make notes and a plan of some kind.

On the white board in my office, written in green marker, is a list of prospective projects/clients—many of the prospects left on the board from last year.

What qualifies as a prospect? Earlier in my career I had the good fortune to work with a well-respected design firm on the East Coast. I was introduced to the sales and growth vocabulary: Suspects, Prospects, and Clients.

·       Suspects are those whom I have identified as companies needing the service I offer, and in a business area that interests me.

·       Prospects are a subset of the Suspects group. They have confirmed they have a need, and they have requested a proposal.

·       Prospects turn into Clients once we have an agreement to work together.

Because quality of my pool of Prospects is completely influenced by my pool of Suspects, I need a list I care about.

Last spring I was sitting in on a typography conference in San Francisco, listening to an inspiring speaker. Whether it was a reaction to something the speaker said or was showing on screen, I couldn’t say, but as my mind wandered from the lecture to my own professional direction, I fixated on a certain type of project I really enjoy—cookbooks and food-related businesses—and another one I have always wanted to work on: cocktails. Basically, I realized that I needed to take more control of my business growth. I call this my Happy Hour moment—an apt title, since I was focused on the work I want to do, my professional happy place. (In addition, I have been known to infuse vodka with my own flavorings, like beets for example.)

So, back to the white board. The list of the projects written there left me in an optimistic state, but very few of them actually became clients. That is not necessarily unusual in my line of work, but it left me looking at the list and thinking about the projects I really want to work on. I thought about the work I have most enjoyed, and I noticed that in many ways they mirror experiences I am passionate about in my personal life.

It’s safe to assume that when a prospect is hiring a designer, they want to work with someone who is passionate about their business, and that should be reflected in the work. This statement is really about what I want in a client, rather than what you might be looking for in a designer. So the Happy Hour project was born. The first installment is Food & Beverages.

If you have a prospective project, and you are interested in my Food & Beverage portfolio, give me a call and I’ll send you over a customized version. (I’ll also send you my Cocktails by Color card, and you’ll be inspired.) You can also see my current portfolio online, which is much broader than Food & Beverages. 

Contribute something

I recognize the importance of building my practice in my community. Along the way, I have been asked many times to do some work for no cost. Sometimes I’m in, and other times not. I do have a few organizations and projects that I am personally connected to, and to which I donate my graphic design services happily.

Many of my clients are long distance, so I am always looking for new opportunities closer to home.

As graphic designer, there is always a new article talking about avoiding work-for-hire, and the pitfalls of doing this type of work. I even discuss this with my students.

Here are my criteria for accepting a pro-bono project:

a. It this cause one that I have a connection to?

b. Will the work be portfolio worthy? (Not all projects—including paid ones—can deliver on this goal.)

c. Can the job be done in a reasonable amount of time?

d. Is it local?

I judge each situation individually and decide for myself, sometimes being influenced by my current workload.

I do promote to my professional circles that I do this work pro-bono. I believe it’s important that they know I contribute in my community as a professional. I also include this point when discussing work-for-hire and how it is distinctly different from pro-bono work with my students.

PS: I do give pro-bono clients an invoice that states the value of the work and discounts the balance to $0. This provides a record of my contribution to this work, and the clienthas a defined cash value of my contribution—which translates to a lot of appreciation.

It’s your story, but let a professional tell it. Hire a copy writer, really!

Okay, this is a pet peeve of mine.

As a professional graphic designer, I want your project to be as successful as possible. I don’t want our hard work to end up being sub-par. We must go through all the steps in the creative process. Its difficult to be successful when taking shortcuts.

Over my career, I have worked with many small businesses. The owner or the marketing director sends me some copy that’s not very well thought out. Now, of course you know your business best—but if you can’t communicate your message clearly to me, then chances are pretty good that you can’t communicate it to your customers in the best possible light. Please, hire a professional writer.

If you care about how you are perceived by your customers and your competition, your brand and your business investment, then hire a copy writer—as you would hire an accountant or a lawyer. This is a not good area to save some money.

I have known clients to stay up all night, trying to write and organize their content. You know your message, but you are not a writer, you are a professional…fill-in the blank… and a good one. You are expert at your job, but writing is probably not your job. If you are smart enough to hire a designer, then hire their writers as well, or get your own. Put your best message out there, and let it be written by a professional. I promise, this will be an excellent investment.