Or perhaps you’re the online type of networker – stalking people on Twitter and LinkedIn, carpet bombing potential clients with form letters and links to your portfolio, sitting by the inbox waiting for it to fill up. Any of this sounding familiar?

I love networking. But not because I do any of the above. Many designers assume that there’s only one way to network, but the truth is that’s just not the case.

Today, I’m going to show you a much easier and more effective way to go about making networking connections as a freelancer, and also tell you why you should never, ever approach networking in the manner described above.

Not Working Out

Why is it bad to network in the “traditional” way? Well, you tell me. How effective have your networking efforts been in relation to the work you’ve gotten? Are potential clients beating down your door, standing with their hearts in their throats with exciting, challenging, high-paying work tailor-made just for you? If you’re reading this article, the chances are good that they’re not.

The reason that it’s bad to network the traditional way is because everyone networks that way. Contacts get bombarded with offers from freelancers just like you at every event, and in every email, mailer, and flyer. If you simply fall in line and do what everyone else is doing, chances are you’re going to get what everyone else is getting: ignored.

The main problem with traditional networking is the mindset most people have when going into it. What’s the number one reason you network? To get more clients.

When you’re running out of leads and you need more work soon, you pull out the business cards, dust off your best business-casual wear, and head out to try and drum up some business. That’s the mentality with which most people approach networking – something to be done when you need work.

However, there’s another way to look at networking, which will work out much better for you in the long run. That way involves seeing networking as something to be done before you need work. Yep, that’s what I said.

Networking is all about building relationships. It’s about a back and forth, constant communication with a person with whom you have a mutually beneficial relationship.

Most people don’t provide valuable information to strangers who contact them once a year when they need something. That would be a waste of effort on their part because there’s no way for them to receive any kind of positive reciprocation from that person.

Put yourself in their shoes – if you were contacted once by some freelancer looking for a job and took the time to respond, then you never hear from them again, how would you feel? It can be frustrating to deal with those types of networkers because it’s obvious that they’re simply using you for what you can provide to them.

To stand out, you need to become the kind of networker who doesn’t ask for anything from your contact and who actually only seeks to provide them with value of some kind.

A congratulatory email, a link to content they might find interesting or relevant. Keeping in contact with people in your network doesn’t have to take much effort, but it is important to make sure they know your primary objective is not to suck them dry and then vanish.

Top of Mind

Staying at the top of people’s minds is another vital aspect to effective networking. If you meet with someone in person and don’t follow up by phone or email, you’re missing the opportunity to form a genuine connection.

Your contact will merely assume you were one of ‘the masses,’ and when you do contact them again (maybe several months to a year later), they’ll not only not remember who you were, but they may also be irritated by your sudden intrusion into their busy schedule. That’s not what you want.

Instead, try following up immediately with someone after an in-person meeting. Email them in intervals – not enough to spam them, but enough to notify them that you still exist and appreciate the time they took to speak with you and provide you with any help you may have received.

A great way to stay at the forefront of people’s minds is through your work. Many designers don’t think to notify prospective clients of new projects, but this can be one of the most effective ways you can advertise your awesomeness without coming off like a pest.

Everyone wants to know about cool new creative projects; this is your chance to show off your newest personal work and establish yourself as a forward-thinking creative professional.

I’ve already written an article about why it’s important for designers to make time for personal work, so for now, I’ll merely say that a monthly email to potential clients about some new project you’re involved in that shows off your critical thinking skills and originality is, to many people, far more intriguing than a formulaic resume and cover letter.

Practice Makes Perfect

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. The vast majority of the time, you want to ask questions and take notes, allowing the other person to speak freely. But if you slip up and say the wrong thing, it’s not a big deal.

You should probably refrain from insulting their family members or anything like that, but people are generally gracious when they know you’re genuinely interested in making a meaningful connection with them.

As the saying goes, the more mistakes you make, the fewer of them you’ll make. The more you practice, the better you’ll become. Again, sincerity is the goal here, not perfection.

Be sensitive to the other person’s time. If you contact someone to request a meeting, make sure you time it properly so that your request is neither disregarded nor an annoyance.

Don’t email someone on a Sunday morning – their emails could be received through their phone, which might sound an alarm, and if they’re asleep, your email might come as an obnoxious wake-up call. Not good.

The post How To Network Properly: Networking For Designers 101 appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

That’s why I’m a bigger fan of “relationship building” than “networking.” Yes, it’s a matter of semantics, but it’s also an important distinction. Relationship building means you’re meeting people who can potentially be helpful for your career but who are also interesting in their own right.

You’re willing to get to know them and help out when you can, even if you don’t ever get anything out of the relationship. You probably will, but that’s not the point. The point is meeting new people and then seeing if there’s any way to help one another out in the future.

So I prefer talking about relationship building more than networking, but no matter what you call it, networking or relationship building is important for every freelance designer.

Why? Because who you know determines largely who you’ll work for. When people you know need design work done, they’re inclined to work with people they already know, and when their friends need to get design work done, they’re likely to recommend the people they know.

So freelancers benefit from getting to know more people. The more people they know, the more work they’re likely to get, and the more times they’re likely to get referred. It’s as simple as that.

But there’s more to building relationships than just handing out business cards. That’s the kind of networking that’s annoying. Yes, more people will know you exist, which is a good thing, but a relationship isn’t being built, and it’s very likely the card will get dropped into the nearest trash can.

Instead of business card spamming, freelancers should focus on building relationships. They should focus on meeting people who can potentially hire them for work and refer them to others to generate more work. They should focus on getting to know a smaller group of people who will become an active part of their client and referral network.

Yet there’s something else to consider: how to connect with people online. With so many freelancers working remotely, it’s not easy to meet new people and make new connections. You may be working from home for most of the week with few opportunities to meet new people.

That’s why today’s freelancers need to perfect the art of building relationships online. Surprisingly, it can be done.

If you’ve found yourself in the boat of needing to building relationships online, here are seven things to keep in mind.

Tip #1: Say Hi

The first step is to introduce yourself. If you don’t say “hi,” people won’t know that you exist. And in the same way you say “hi” to introduce yourself in a coffee shop or at a conference, you can say “hi” to people online by sending emails or tweets. Here’s what it can look like:

First, you start reading a popular entrepreneur’s blog. He seems really busy, but he would be a great person to get to know. After you get over the thought that he wouldn’t want to hear from you, you reach out and send him an email.

The first one is a simple introduction to let him know that you admire his work. Now he knows that you exist and that you like the stuff he does. He also may check out your website attached to your signature or view your Twitter profile to find out more about what you do.

As long as you aren’t annoying and don’t ask for anything in the first email, most people won’t mind that you’re saying hi and getting in touch. In fact, they may be flattered, which leads us to the next point.

Tip #2: Send Compliments

The next thing you want to do is stay in touch by complimenting them on the things they do. If you really like an update they make to their website, let them know. If you think a new project they’re working on is amazing, again, let them know.

You never want to be obsequious by being overly complimentary, but you do want to reach out and compliment them on good work and things you’re impressed with. The point is to find a way to stay in touch without being annoying. If you get in touch to ask for something, that’s annoying. If you get in touch to provide a compliment, that will be appreciated.

The more you contact them, the more they’ll be reminded that you exist, and the wider the door will be opened for the time you do actually ask for help, advice, or work.

Tip #3: Get “Coffee”

The next thing you can do is ask to go out for the digital equivalent of coffee. In the real world, you can actually go out and get coffee; in the digital world, it’s more likely that you’ll hang out on Zoom.

Unless the person is really busy, there’s a good chance they’ll have time to talk, especially if they’re a peer. Many people try only networking with famous people, but they obviously won’t have a lot of free time. If you reach out to talented peers who aren’t as well-known, there’s a better chance they’ll have time for a call and will be interested in “hanging out.”

But don’t let this deter you from ever calling up someone famous or really busy (and by famous, I mean a somewhat well-known online entrepreneur and not Tom Cruise). I’ve had success getting through to CEOs and entrepreneurs who are really busy but happy to help young entrepreneurs and business owners out.

However, if you do decide to ask to get coffee with someone in this category, it’s best to have a specific question in mind. Maybe you want to learn more about their business, or you want advice on how to grow yours. Either way, famous people are likely to commit if you have something specific you’re asking about.

Tip #4: Offer Help

The obvious thing to say at this point is that you need to follow up. But again, that’s obvious. You definitely need to follow up and say how much you appreciated the call, but you also need to continue to stay in touch. One way to do this is by offering help.

Maybe you notice something’s not working on their site, so you let them know. Maybe you realize they’ve made a typo on their homepage, so you reach out so it can get fixed. Or maybe you read an article that’s perfect for them and will help their business. All of these are great ways to stay in touch and to let them know you still appreciate what they do and that you want to help them succeed.

The fine line here is that you need to make sure what you’re doing isn’t annoying. Correcting things too frequently or too strongly will be obnoxious. You don’t want to overuse this as a way to stay in touch, but if something big or obvious comes up, make sure to reach out and let them know you’ve got their back and you’re happy to help out.

Tip #5: Send Referrals

Another great way to stay in touch is to send referrals. Not only are you hoping the person you’ve met will be able to send business your way, but you also want to be a contributor to the relationship and send business their way as well. You can email them directly about business opportunities or refer people and ask them to mention you when they get in touch.

Sharing content is another way to send referrals. Whenever you share something, you’ll spread content that was painstakingly created and send more visitors to your friend’s site. Eventually, the person you’re building a relationship with won’t necessarily owe you, but they’ll appreciate your support and be more likely to help out in the future.

No matter what you eventually decide to do, the most important thing to remember is that the point of networking is to meet people, to get to know them, and to build a relationship. Once you like them and they like you, there’s a better chance you’ll find ways to help each other in a mutually beneficial way.

It’s also important to realize that people can only know and help so many people at a time. The number of relationships any one person can manage is limited. Thus, if you reach out to really busy people, they may not actually have time to get to know you and send business your way, but if you reach out to someone who’s not as busy, they’re more likely to be flattered and to be interested in learning more about you.

For most freelance designers, it’s more valuable to build a smaller network of people that are really interested in what you do and are invested in your success than chasing after thousands upon thousands of Twitter followers. You’d be surprised what developing real relationships with 15 to 25 people can do for your business.

The post It’s Relationship Building, Not Networking appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

When starting a design project, whether for yourself or a client, there will inevitably come a time when it will stop being as fun, and you’ll have to rely on a form of willpower to see you through to the end of it.

Where does that willpower come from? Well, if you’re anything like me, it comes from looking ahead – you stop and consider what will be waiting for you at the horizon. Whether it’s fame, riches, or enough beer money to last you through the end of the week, something drove you to begin the project in the first place, and that same something is going to be your motivation when things get boring or unpleasant.

After all, that unpleasantness is only temporary, and the reward you get afterward is much more significant than the momentary pain.

It’s the same way with dieting. Many people get stuck in the middle of a horrible diet, start hating their lives, their spouses, their dogs, and their squeaky tennis shoes, decide that it’s too much to handle, and quit. They forget that it’s all temporary.

Today, I want to talk about the diet-like phenomenon of working for low pay.

Better Than Cash

Many people, myself included, continually advise other designers to stay far away from shady clients who want you to do thousands of dollars of work for mere hundreds (or even mere tens). Let’s be clear, I’m in no way changing my position on that topic.

Creative professionals in general are some of the most ripped-off service providers in the world, in large part because of the misinformed mentality that our clients have about what our work is worth. I firmly believe that all designers should charge exactly what they’re worth and nothing less, not to cheat the client, but to legitimize the industry.

However, there’s an upside to working for discounted rates (and yes, sometimes even for no rates at all) which can deliver a much higher value to a freelance designer than a mere flat paycheck. Why? Well, when you work for a fee, you get paid that fee, and that’s it.

There are usually no other forms of compensation available, which, to many established freelancers is no problem. We’re not running charities here, after all. But if you’re nearer to the beginning of your career, there are other things you can negotiate from your low-paying client that are many times better than money.

What’s better than money? Referrals, for one. I know designers love to mock clients who promise them “exposure” or other such nonsense – we all know that it’s BS and carries no real value for us.,/p>

No one’s going to look at a beautifully designed business card, brochure, website, or presentation and think, “by golly, I’ve just got to find out who that designer is!” (Maybe we think that, as geeky designers, but trust me, normal people couldn’t care less).

So “exposure” is worthless as a bargaining tool. Referrals, on the other hand, are worth their weight in gold to a freelancer at any stage of their career. When a paying client introduces you and your work to another potential paying client – a real person with real money and a real network – it can carry your career to heights you never could have imagined had you just gotten a flat check.

You certainly can and should be negotiating for as many genuine referrals as possible when you work with low-paying clients. They are a great way to boost your client base, and also to narrow down your career focus, since most referrals will be for potential clients in the same industry as your current client.

As I’ve written about before, this is an optimal way for designers to work and collect valuable knowledge of the specific industries and markets they serve.

Taking It Off the Table

When you work for a lower rate, you’re essentially providing a service at a discount. Just like an internet service provider or phone company might offer customers a free trial period to entice them to buy, you as a freelancer can harness the power of free or cheap to up-sell your services to higher-paying clients.

However, there’s a trick to doing this correctly so that you don’t end up getting screwed. It has to do with removing certain deliverables and negotiating non-monetary compensation from your clients so that they always take you seriously as a professional and never attempt to get more than what they’re paying for.

Some people think that working for free or for very cheap is always the same as working on spec. This is most certainly not the case, and here’s why: when you work on spec, you’re providing the same level of service that you ordinarily would charge for.

This is bad. Really, really bad.

Designers who do this are not only devaluing their work, they’re also stunting the growth of their entire careers. When a client realizes that they can get thousands of dollars worth of work from you for mere hundreds, there’s a mentality that develops in their head about you, and about designers in general.

Basically, they start to believe that your work just isn’t worth thousands of dollars, and you will be forever branded as a cheap, low-end designer.

This is not what you want. When you work for a low rate, make sure your clients know that they’re getting the “free trial” – a stripped-down version of your services that carries heavy restrictions and which requires them to provide you with value beyond just money.

If you quote a client a certain price, and the client is unable to pay it, the next price you quote should reflect a lesser amount of work. Your client should get what they pay for, in other words. And for free work, it’s important to make up the difference very heavily in referrals and other networking opportunities.

Never work for free for a client who is not well-connected or unable to provide you with a list of referrals – there’s absolutely no value in it for you, and you’ll end up in the low-end pile indefinitely.

The key, like being on a diet or pushing yourself to finish a long, tedious project, is to think of free or low-paying work as a temporary arrangement, rather than an indefinite circumstance. If you give it all away for free or for very cheap, or you continue working for low rates for longer than is necessary to build your client network, your clients will never consider you for higher-level work.

Why would they? If you’re lodged in the client’s mind as a $200 designer, why on earth would they automatically think of you when they have a $5,000 or $10,000 project? It’s just not going to happen.

On the other hand, if you’ve been providing your client with an appropriate amount of work for that $200, and they know you’ve been holding back on certain deliverables, they’ll be much more likely to consider you for higher paying work.

Why? Because they know they’re not currently getting the best of what you have to offer, and the value you’ve been providing them so far (assuming you’re doing an excellent job) will give them the confidence to trust you with high-level work.

Make sure you’re never branded as a cheap, low-end designer!

The post Don’t Be Branded as a Cheap, Low-End Designer appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Truth be told, I disregard a lot of it as spam. It’s often fairly easy to figure out what’s legitimate and what’s not (if you spell my name wrong or mention a service I don’t actually provide, that’s a clue).

Still, there are occasions when a sincere offer comes through. When that happens, it may be tempting to jump right in. Not so fast! It’s always a good idea to slow your roll and take some time to rationally think things through.

Not all opportunities are created equally. Therefore, consider the following before signing on with anyone:

What’s Involved?

Partnerships come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes it’s a front-end designer who needs your development expertise for one or more projects. Or perhaps it’s someone with an idea for a business and is willing to share a cut of any profits. There really aren’t any limits when it comes to the types of offers you might receive.

Regardless of the offer (and how good it may sound), it’s important to clarify exactly what role you would play in the arrangement. To get a more complete picture, ask a lot of questions, such as:

• Why are you reaching out to me, specifically?
• What responsibilities would I have?
• Would I be considered an equal partner?
• Would I have autonomy to make decisions?
• What’s the ultimate goal?

Depending on what’s being discussed, you may have other pertinent questions to ask. Be as direct and specific as possible – it’s the only way to find out exactly what the other party is thinking.

How Will It Affect My Business?

Once you have a firmer grasp of your potential role, the next item to consider is the overall effect this joint venture would have on your business. What you determine here may be the main factor in whether or not to move forward.

The top considerations in this area are money and time:

Your Bottom Line

A partnership that brings you a steady flow of work had better offer a steady income, as well. These, of course, are the kinds of deals you’d rather be a part of. Adding to your bottom line without having to scrape up new clients can be very beneficial. However, in these cases you’ll want to set some ground rules regarding your availability – which we’ll get to in a bit.

On the other hand, potential deals that promise you a certain percentage of profits (a.k.a. “a piece of the game”) aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be. Yes, there is some possibility that things explode (in a good way) and riches rain down on you. But it’s also quite possible that the person on the other end has no money, or is not willing to spend anything for your services.

In all honesty, I’ve received a number of proposals that offered profits over a simple payment for services. I’ve never taken anyone up on it. Whether you do so or not should depend on:

• Your comfort level in potentially doing a lot of work that you’ll never be paid for;
• Your judgement as to the other party’s character and sincerity;
• Your belief (or lack thereof) in whatever type of arrangement is being proposed;

If you feel that the arrangement can grow your income, then it may be worth further exploration.

Your Workload

Another major consideration is how much of your time would be required to partake in this proposed partnership. If you have lots of free time, perhaps this fills a gap. But if you’re already crazy busy, you might risk setting yourself up for a highly-stressful situation.

This is also a good reason to fully understand your role before signing on that dotted line. When you have an idea of what type of work is involved, you can better determine how it will affect your schedule. Large, complex projects will require a lot of focus. But even simple tasks can frequently interrupt your workflow.

Then, there is also the potential impact this would have on your existing clients. If you would no longer have enough time to properly serve them, it could prove costly for your business.

Making the Right Decision

Coming to a final determination of whether or not to move forward can be difficult. This is especially so in cases where you genuinely like an offer and believe in its potential.

In the end, it all comes down to where you are and where you want to go. If you’re happy with where your career is at, you’ll want to seriously think about the implications of disrupting it by saying “yes”.

But, if you do think it’s time for a change in direction, it’s worth studying up on what you believe to be a good opportunity. Either way, make sure to do your homework and think about the consequences involved.

The post What to Do When Someone Wants to Partner with Your Design Business appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.