Some of the truest words I’ve heard to date are, “If you don’t plan on creating your own business, then you plan on being broke.”

While, there are many people out there who have made a nice living working for other companies, it shouldn’t be crazy to think about going into business for oneself, whether it be a full time job or a part time gig. With the changing economic climate things aren’t guaranteed and, quite frankly, the time spent helping someone else achieve their goals could be time well spent on chasing your own dreams.

As graphic designers, freelancing and creating our own small business is usually a pretty common thought; it’s almost a given. Even if we don’t market ourselves as freelancers, I’m sure some of us have gotten into doing side jobs to put some extra cash in our pockets. Some designers just like to offer design services while others have full businesses revolving around clothing design or creating products, or perhaps partnering with someone else to offer more products and services.

Regardless of what it is that you do, in order to see some growth in your business you’ve got to figure out who you are targeting. Many of us may believe that our product is for everyone, but trying to get your product in front of everyone is going to be painful and expensive. What you want to do is figure out who you are specifically targeting, figure out that niche and put your efforts into them. Finding out more about them will help your effectiveness and eventually help your reach because once you know who you’re selling to, you’ll better know how to design for them. Read more

Graphic design is one of those job that everyone needs but whose value perhaps not everyone appreciates.

People who don’t understand the true value of graphic designers will try to take advantage of them, especially if they’re newbies.

Others will try to calculate the time and effort involved in designing and then assume you’ll meet their expectations, however unrealistic.

This can wear on you both financially and mentally, so you have to find ways to protect yourself. Here are four ways to keep your work and your clients in check.

Have a look through them and let us know your experiences and whether you would add anything to this list.

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I don’t believe that the $3000 client is the lost cause we often think they are. Sure, for most agencies, a $3000 website is laughable; but I would argue that these clients present tremendous opportunities.

In particular, I think web designers can cash in on low-budget deals. I worked in the agency world for a long time, so it took me a while to fully accept this, but I think you will find that it’s possible.

The typical scenario involves a small-business owner interested in getting a new website. They’ll often have unrealistic expectations about how much it takes to design and build a website. Well, these expectations only seem unrealistic to us designers—I say they are undesirable, not unrealistic.

That said, the business owner might have budgeted only a few thousand dollars. Clients like this are frequently overlooked and turned away because they don’t seem to offer lucrative opportunities.

I think that a designer who works alone, or even in an agency, and has a solid system in place can make a great living working with clients just like this. With clear expectations and a rock-solid plan for getting it done, one doesn’t have to pass on such opportunities. Read more

We all know the importance of fact-finding before starting any web design project.

We can’t really get started on a project until we know exactly what’s needed, what the client wants, and who the site is aimed at. In fact, in most cases we can’t even create an effective proposal until we know those things.

There are plenty of pages-long web design questionnaires out there. Some have forty, fifty, or even a hundred questions on them.

The main problem with that, though, is that your clients or prospective clients are likely to rush through a questionnaire that long, leaving you with either inaccurate or incomplete answers.

A shorter questionnaire with more in-depth questions can uncover a lot more about what the client wants and needs, and they’re a lot less likely to skim over it if the questions presented take up less than a page.

Below are eleven questions you should ask your prospective clients before you get started on their project. They’re aimed at uncovering the root of what the project will entail without requiring you client to spend an entire workday answering questions. Read more

If you’re a corporate designer, you don’t have to worry about things like how to bill your clients, as you’re likely either on salary or have a predetermined hourly rate and regular work schedule.

But for freelancers, figuring out how best to charge clients for work completed can be a nightmare. After all, you want to charge clients a fair price, make a decent living, and get enough work so that you’re not struggling to find the next project.

In the world of web design, there are two basic ways most designers charge: per hour or per project. There are advantages and disadvantages to each method, and there are situations where one method works better than the other.

In this article, we’ve presented an overview of what’s involved in each method of charging, as well as what you need to consider when choosing a method. Read more

Almost every major web designer faces this dilemma at some point: either continue working with “mom-and-pop” style businesses, enjoying effortless marketing and relatively simple projects, or transition to working with larger businesses and reap the benefits of bigger budgets.

It’s a question of experience, and with enough design work under your belt, new opportunities start to present themselves.

The most difficult part for many is making the transition. The comfort of simple work and the ease of marketing yourself can make maintaining a small client network very tempting.

You see the effort involved in pitching to a major client and you slightly recoil, worried that you’re not quite skilled enough, you’re not quite experienced enough and your business is not quite big enough. Read more