New Design/Print Business - Advertising

lday77

Hi

I am a Graphic Designer and for the last ten years have thought, ha I can do this for myself. So I have taken the plunge and decided to become self employed.

The only problem is I am really good at the Graphics side of things but seem to be totally rubbish at selling myself.:( The people who I have spoken to fob me off by saying "oh phone back in a couple of weeks," and when I do they have "...got advertising sorted now" feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall.:wall:

I have got a web site and a portfolio. I have advertised in the local community (live in a very supportive of local industry village) but most people want something for nothing or very little, which is okay at the minute but back up funds are running out. _pale_

Has anyone else had a similar problem to this and overcome it, I need a strategy for getting a work-flow rather than dribble! I've been contacted by Yellow Pages has anyone had a good experience of this type of advertising?


I obviously can't afford to to pay someone to sell for me, and I am running out of friends and family who need things.

Please help, any advice greatly appreciated.

gingerdad

How about speaking to the printers, i used to work for a small printers and we used s/e graphic designers, we worked with three different ones depending on what type of job it was.

But you need to get yourself out there and sell yourself, if you have any existing customers ask them to refer you to other business.

i would also reccommend joing a local branch of BNI or similar organisatition, as this will help them to sell for you, you can visit a chapter to see if you like it before you join.

Depending on where you are in the country i can give you some printers who use freelance designers or other info. pm me with you website.

gingerdad

lday77 wrote:

Hi

Has anyone else had a similar problem to this and overcome it, I need a strategy for getting a work-flow rather than dribble! I've been contacted by Yellow Pages has anyone had a good experience of this type of advertising?

Please help, any advice greatly appreciated.

I wouldn't bother with yellow pages if you are running out of money, i would look at something more proactive. chamber of comm or BNI or other networking group would be a good start

lellie

I know the feeling.. I'm a web designer.. (although still a student).. sometimes I have far more work than I can cope with.. other times I won't see anything for 6 months. I think it's something we have to accept really.. but as for places to advertise.. printers is a good plan.. or with web advertising people - ie people that book banner adverts on websites seems to do good for me.. they sometimes get people saying "I need an ad but don't have one, do you have a designer"..

MDUK

Tricky one, i know a designer who was extremely lucky. He had left his business cards in his wifes shop and someone picked one up who was looking to replace their current freelancer. The odds of picking work up like that are extremely low, but it did work for him and it cost him nothing in outlay.

The long and short of it is you have to get out and about, if you have little or no money then you have to look at cheaper ways of advertising. Leafleting, fairly ineffective but very cheap, word of mouth, referrals. Create your own marketing database by going through the yellow pages and writing up companies and addresses. Ring them to find out who the contact is and add it to your database (never send mail without a contact). I also clip articles from the business pages of companies in the news and add the relevant ones to the database. Having your own database will make marketing easier going forward rather than just contacting people ad hoc and not remembering who you have spoken to.

Write to the companies you want to do business with, that may be local ones or specific industries. Tell them who you are, what you do and why they should use you ie you are going to make their life easier, faster or whatever. Be careful not to sell only on price, if you go cheap to win business that can be a downward spiral.

Postcard marketing is very popular at the moment, if you can do the design you will only need printing, i forget whether we had 500 or 1000 but it cost around £150 for very nice looking cards. Something on the front to catch their attention or show your design skills (DON'T GO OVERBOARD HERE) something to tempt them on the back. they are also useful to give out at networking meetings. Someone has mentioned BNI, if they haven't already got a designer in your local branch that could be fruitful. BUT, it is not something for nothing, if they use you they will want leads from you in return. If you find it diffulcult to sell, you may not like the salesy attitude at meetings and the pressure to provide leeds. You need to go along to a meeting before joining to decide for yourself. There are lots of other networking organisations, i am not personally a great fan of them, some people seem to get caught up in attending all the events they can but never seemingly geeting any business. Agian you need to try it for yourself.

If you don't beleive you can sell, contact business link, they can put you in touch with training companies. there is loads of cheap and free training available (I am a great beleiver in you get what you pay for but you have to start somewhere) Read, the dummies guides on amazon have a sales guide a closing guide and a [URL=http://]marketing guide[/URL]. i have not read them but again if you know very little these may help.

Creat a portfolio to show people in person, on your website, ask customers for testimonies that you can add to your site. This all builds credibilty.

Take some time out, Sit down, think about your strengths, how you can convert them to something meaningful to your potential customers. Think about who you want to do business with and how you are going to let them know that you are out there. Work on a marketing campaign, using some of the above and your own ideas. Think of what you need to say in your letters, think what you need to say when you speak to them on the phone. Think what you are going to say when you meet them. Practice it, iron out the wrinkles and try it out on somebody (or several people) to see what they think before you try it live. Keep practising. Then go for it.

lday77

lellie wrote:

printers is a good plan.. or with web advertising people - ie people that book banner adverts on websites seems to do good for me.. they sometimes get people saying "I need an ad but don't have one, do you have a designer"..

This isn't something I know too much about as most of my work is print based, can you ellaborate a bit, or pm me an example of a company that does banners?

lday77

Thanks for taking the time to reply, really great advice. I think it's probably more of a confidence thing (and a bit of being scared of the unknown) I am used to sitting behind a computer all day. Thanks again for all those tips.

MDUK

Good luck

Octavian_2

Great advice from MDUK - I am afraid that it is a case of getting out and about, as people tend to buy people rather than adverts. A mix of marketing channels is probably best, but remember with Yellow Pages/Thomsons that is likely to be a delay before the next issue comes out.(I have a list of 40 channels if you want a copy).
My suggestions:
1. Make sure that your website is "search engine optimised". Put "SEO Top Ten Tips" into Google for guidance. Make sure that your site is listed on every conceivable free directory
2.BNI is not cheap, although it can provide a good return on investment. Some chapters will allow you to try before you buy. Many other organisations provide networking opportunities-Business Link, Chambers of Commerce, FSB, Independent Networking Clubs.
3.For marketing tips go to https://www.marketing-magic.biz/archives and for the basics of selling/negotiating try the excellent https://www.businessballs.com/salestraining.htm
4. General, but good, start up guidance on http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/sitemap?r.l1=1073858805&topicId=1073858805
5. If you have a local Enterprise Agency, old buffers like me hang around giving out free advice, and can often make introductions.

lday77

Really helpful links Octavian, thanks very much!

Savvy_Sue

It's also worth searching this board for comments on advertising in Yellow Pages, I know we've had a thread on it before.