No 1 - What is the best way to generate new work?

Alex Haigh from Sheffield has just set up his graphic design business and he's emailed me to ask for some advice. He's very kindly agreed for me to put his questions and my responses on this blog. His new company has been going 3 weeks and it's called thinkdust.

I think this could be a fascinating insight into what it's like to start up a design company from scratch, a test of what I've learnt of the last decade or so, an interesting series of conversations and decent publicity for a new start up.

Without wanting to sound arrogant I think this is quite a risky, innovative thing to do. Let's see how it goes.

Let me also make something clear from the start. This advice is aimed at Alex, in Sheffield starting a graphic design company. It's not advice for starting your business, necessarily. I feel qualified to talk about this because I've done it.

OK. First question: What is the best way to generate new work without sending tons of emails, and spending endless amounts of money on google adwords, and useless flyers?

When we started out I asked this question all the time and almost all the answers I received were unsatisfactory. I didn't have the staff, the budget, the profile or the clients to do any of the things suggested. In fact, like Alex, we had no staff, no profile and no clients. (Hence the question, idiot.)

Also, lots of this sort of advice can be very wooly and not practical at all. So I'll try and list practical things Alex (in Sheffield, with no employees and no budget) can do, right now.

1. Think small
Pick 4 companies you can easily get to (so Sheffield, Nottingham etc) that you really, really want to work with. A big push of any kind won't work. You don't have the resource. A small, bespoke, innovative, careful, nimble approach will work.

2. Get their correct details
Contact those 4 companies and get the correct details of the people who buy design. That might be a marketing manager, brand manager, or comms person. It might be the sales director, in smaller companies it often is. Get the right details. The correct name. Spelt right. The correct job title. The right address. Basic stuff but very important. How to get these details? DO NOT rely on the internet. Get off your arse and make some calls (say you're updating the Christmas card list or say you just want to check a spelling, all these old tricks still work). Ask the receptionist which person deals with design companies, they will probably tell you. Remember to be nice to the receptionists, that's very important.

3. Research
OK, we've got four companies, we may have eight names. That's more than enough to be getting on with. Research them. Google the names. Go visit their offices or their shops. Find out what they're about. Try and take a stab at how you might be useful to them. The more you know about them, the more genuine you will seem and the easier it will be to speak to them.

3. Send them something
This DOES NOT necessarily mean sending them a mailer. It might just be some samples, it might be a box of chocolates, it might be a sock with a video in it. But it will be researched, it will be interesting and it will be targeted at that particular person. You're not overly selling anything, you're just saying , 'Hello I'm interesting and good'.

4. Follow this up with a phone call
Again, get off your arse and make some calls. Calling is hard, but you've got to do it. You'll say, 'Hello John, remember I sent you a sock with a video I'd made about your branding' - John will say 'No',

Don't get disheartened. John gets loads of stuff like this everyday. Be nice, be polite and offer to send your sock in again, he will probably say yes. Ring him next week and ask the same question. If you're lucky, he'll say 'Yeah, that was interesting, let's meet up'. Out of the eight people you contact probably only two of these people will agree to see you.

5. The big meeting
John has agreed to see you. Don't blow it. Be on time, wear clean clothes (as someone once said to me, if you're going to wear your scruffy old jeans, wear your best scruffy old jeans) be polite, speak up, be confident. Be at the right address.

6. Selling not telling
Every single creative person I've ever met makes this mistake. Here's the difference:

'I was looking at the lovely patterns electronics things make and I wondered if I could  design something as beautiful as that. I've used my three favourite colours and added in some more complimentary ones. I think the best bit is this bit here, where the five lines cross over.'

or

'This design makes navigating a really complex system of underground trains really quick and easy for the passengers. It will improve the experience of your customers.'

See what I mean? Sell the benefits of your design.

Don't take shit loads of work, John will get bored. Take 3 or 4 things that are relevant to his company.

7. Follow this up with a phone call (again)
John will probably say he likes your stuff but he doesn't have any projects at the moment. That's OK, that's the truth. He will ask you to call back in 6 months. PUT THIS IN YOUR DIARY and call back in six months.

That little lot should probably take you a month. When that month is over, start again with another 4 companies. Do things carefully, don't piss people off, don't try and do too much. Getting work will take a long time. Maybe even six months. Sorry, but it will.

You are (trying) to build a relationship, or at least a rapport. That takes time and consideration.

There is some other obvious stuff you can do.

1. Ask all your friends and family if they know anyone who needs any design work doing. Don't be afraid to sell. You have rent to pay. You've already asked? Ask again.

2. Get as much free press as you can, where you can. Press works. People like young and new, so play on that. Contact your old college magazine, they love stuff like this.

3. Meet as many people as you can. Go to Business Link events, go to conferences, go to networking events. All this sounds hideous but it's how the world of commerce works I'm afraid.

4. Get onto as many online design directories as you can. Don't pay more than about £30 for a listing. It's not worth it.

5. DO NOT pay for any ridiculous advertorials, adverts or directory enquiry type nonsense. It won't work. In fact, as above don't pay more than about £30 for anything, yet.

6. Don't listen to anyone who tells you they can get you new business. They can't.

7. Get proper, well designed, well printed business cards made. Hand them out liberally. Ask people you meet for a business card in return (again, almost every single creative person I know forgets this bit).

8. Don't go for massive bits of work from massive companies. You won't get it. Ask them to try you out on a small brief and make yourself invaluable. You'll get asked back.

9. Never sell yourself too cheaply. No one ever says, 'Ooh I've got more money than last time, can you put your fees up?'.

10. AdWords works, but it has to be really targeted and you have to be really strict with what you spend. Don't just advertise design, advertise expertise in toothpaste packaging for example. But don't use AdWords just yet.

Phew. That was longer than I expected. I guess there's a lot to say.

So, has anyone else got any advice for Alex? Alex, was that helpful? Anyone in Sheffield got any design work that needs doing?

Does anyone think this could make an interesting series of posts?

As ever, all comments welcome.

Comments

[Alex Haigh]

Hi AGD,

Thanks for the post much appreciated. Luckily thinkdust has got off to a great start. I have managed to land a client that I can produce creative work for & on a regular basis, but I still need to promote TD and like you say listen to the answers of the posted question. Thanks to anyone in advance who posts, and thanks to AGD, Star!

[Pierre-Luc Auclair]

I've got to stress this out: nobody will ever pick you up if you don't show diversified works. That's reserved to the big players.

Advertising yourself is all good, but like the stuff you do, you've got to have arguments, or it won't work. Period.

[makethelogobigger]

Really good tips. Two BASIC ones from that list worth repeating that can apply to freelancers as well:

7/7) Always have BC cards ready. Always. You never know who you will run into or where. Train. Mall. Out for drinks. Wherever.

Chances are, you start talking to someone, "Oh really, what do you do?” ”I work for Coke. Director of Marketing.”

Then the fatal words:

“Sorry, I don’t have a card on me.”

7) Don’t bug people. If they say call back in month, wait a month, not next week. You’re building a relationship, and it takes time. A week. A month. A year.

One that I would add has to do with after you get the nice client list:

Don’t stop networking or promoting. Too many times people get too busy with work and clients to promote themselves. They forget to keep doing the things that got them the work in the first place. Work dries up and that’s when they act desperate.

And potential clients can hear desperation in your voice.

[Eric]

TIP: Figure out your audience - speak to them

If you want to do freelance work for design agencies - have a site that speaks to design agencies (very portfolio driven with descriptions of what you did, why you did it, your thought process, etc.). If you want to work directly with business then you'll need a completely different website that talks more about what you can offer businesses, how you partner with other companies for more technical solutions, what you exactly offer, etc.
At the moment your portfolio looks less like a business and more like one man's portfolio (which is fine if that's what you're going for).

[Nathan Miller]

Besides the aforementioned advice given by everyone else and from someone who has been in 'the game' for a few years now. Here are a few more tidbits some are on topic, some veer off:

- Connect and network with potential service providers, be it that company that can do the backend e-commerce projects you offer as a service, or your local printers go down for a visit, see what they can do. Keep in touch. Sometimes work flows both ways especially when it comes to your backend developers that need some design tweaking.

- Consider freelancing on occasion with smaller agencies in your area. This lets you see how they do it. Build a rapport with them so that hopefully instead of working in house you can start fielding any work requests from your own studio. If they've got too much on, they might throw some bones your way. This is a little easier than approaching new clients directly.

- The freelancing option will also keep the coffers full when work is slow and perhaps give you some nice tidbits for your portfolio.

- Drop the multi-disciplinary wording. That's a given when it comes to the small shops, it's redundant and over-used as a description.

- ALWAYS charge for what you do, no matter what the job or who it's for. If you hear words like, "good for your portfolio", high tail it. Even if it's £50 quid for a fun job that'll you'll devote a couple of days on. It's the principle that counts.

- Learn new stuff all the time. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. Learn to code in XHTML and CSS if you're planning on doing any web work. Dreamweaver will only get you so far. Learn Flash. These are things that will provide you with income since you'll be able to do this in-house instead of contracting it out.

- More often than not, work comes via word of mouth. You're going to fuck-up, fumble, or fizzle on occasion. This is okay.

Good luck

[Ben]

Wow, thanks guys. All really, really good advice. There are loads of things you can/should be doing, but I think it's best to pick a few that suit you and concentrate on doing those properly.

Definitely never "stop networking or promoting." That's vital.

Pierre-Luc what did you mean by, "I've got to stress this out: nobody will ever pick you up if you don't show diversified works. That's reserved to the big players"? Not sure i fully understand that.

Alex, I hope that's helpful. Keep me informed about thinkdust and feel free to ask any other questions.

[Alex hHaigh]

Hi AGD & everyone. The comments are fantastic, things are going really well, so well infact I received my first job application today haha from a guy who has been in advertising for 40yrs, so I am flattered by that. Basically I am struggling with style...

I want to keep my style of creating work but that does not attract the bread and butter clients to keep the money afloat. So how do I go about tacking this?

[Pierre-Luc Auclair]

Nathan,
"Pierre-Luc what did you mean by, "I've got to stress this out: nobody will ever pick you up if you don't show diversified works. That's reserved to the big players"? Not sure i fully understand that."

What I mean by this is that you need to be able to show many styles to your clients. This is just to make them feel more secure (especially the small ones that over-manage everything).

When I said it's reserved to the big players I mean that there are a few agencies that are specialists in certain graphic styles, and *only* do that, and that's what they are called for (and they make big bucks too). It's best to start broad (style-wise), and later when you have a name, you can start specializing into a specific style.

Hope this clears things out.

[Nick Pye]

A really interesting article and some top advice. I set-up in the same manner over three years ago. I think the two bits of advice that stick out are:

A. Do consistent regular marketing to companies followed up by a call or visit (I'm doing this myself at the moment).

B. Networking is a very valuable tool. I'm a member of the chamber of commerce and often go to a monthly networking lunch. You wont see the effects on day one but over time it all snowballs... your presence gets noticed and word of mouth is how most peeps source work.

[David Glover]

Just wanted to endorse the "research" point.

I'm marketing director of a listed public company in Australia, so I get "pitches" from every man and his dog around annual report time.

Over the last five years I've had hundreds of things sent - many of which would have cost a bomb (think 32 page A3 books with die-cuts, embossing, you-name-it).

Of those, just two had so much as a sentence in the cover letter that indicated they'd done any research on our company.

All the rest of them went straight into the bin. They had NOTHING to say to ME. (and note that most of these came from large, "successful" firms).

Spend as long as you need researching your prospects to find something to say to them. Then say it well. 15 minutes on their web site will usually tell you whether they're you're sort of client and give you something to talk about.

The letter that really sticks in my mind was the one from the designers who praised us for our acumen in choosing our current designers, along with some very specific (positive) comments on our annual report. They closed with a simple request to contact them if we ever needed an alternative viewpoint or some extra talent. That letter (and the business card) got filed.

Good luck!

[Stephanie]

Wow, That was really, really good advice, I am in the same predicament as Alex and so I will implement these tips when I am trying to generate new business.

Thanks!!