Five Things Every Graphic Designer Should Be Doing to Promote Themselves

Your designs may be top notch, but even the best freelance graphic designer needs to know how to promote their services to win more business. To get more clients, you’ll need to make your design services known. As a freelancer, promotion is critical to master because most of the time you’ll have to do it yourself.

Here are the 5 things that freelancers should be doing to promote themselves.

How to Promote Yourself as a Freelance Graphic Designer

1. Create a Brand for Yourself

Before you do anything else, you need to brand yourself. This includes identifying your style, specifying the types of designer you are (e.g. print designer, web designer, etc.), creating a logo and more. Think about what makes your designs special, and why you design at all. Then translate that into your branding, whether it’s in your slogan, design portfolio, business cards, or anything else.

An established brand helps potential clients (and current clients) identify your business and understand why they should choose your services. Perhaps they identify with your values or find your style a perfect match for their business.

2. Create a Website

This is your “real estate” where you can get creative. We recommend creating your website on a platform that gives you traffic insights (e.g. WordPress). Your website is where you can take your branding to its highest level. Tell your story, show your designs, and make contacting you easy. Ensure that it is user-friendly and that it includes a quote form.

3. Promote on Social Media

Social media is also a great place to showcase your brand and drive traffic to your website. Many designers already use it, but make sure that you’re one step ahead by maximizing social media’s potential. First, separate your personal account from your business account to keep it professional. Many social media platforms also allow special features for business accounts, so be sure to take advantage of them.

Second, join groups—not just groups for designers but also groups related to potential clients and business partners. For example, if you specialize in designing for print, considering joining a print related group. Not only will you get valuable information that could help your designing process, but these groups could also hook you up with some good deals in the future.

4. Network at Social Events

Networking online is important, but so is networking in person at social events. These include not just traditional networking events but also job fairs, trade shows, conventions, and more. Attending in person helps build trust between you and your potential customers or business partners.

Networking events are especially important for graphic designers because your clients will often be people who are a little less tech savvy. That’s why they need your help. So instead of interacting with you on social media, they may feel a lot more comfortable talking to you face to face.

Tip: If you design for print, social networking events are a great opportunity for handing out printed samples of your designs.

5. Start a Blog

When you create a blog packed with informative content, appealing designs and unique branding, you demonstrate that you’re a knowledgeable professional who is consistently producing high quality designs. Don’t forget to use SEO to increase your online presence, so that those searching online can find you.

Having a blog also gives you more things to post on social media. Link back to your blog when you repost the content on social media. And finally, interact with other design blogs to expand your professional network. 

Promoting your graphic design business is a step that every freelancer needs to take, from branding yourself to updating your blog frequently. Make sure your promotional strategy includes at least these 5 tactics so that you can expand your client base and grow your business.https://store.printcafeli.com/blog/Print_Cafe_Blog.html 

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6 Ways to Add Bleed (and How to Choose the Best One)

   6 Ways to Add Bleed (and How to Choose the Best One)

Missing bleed is one of the most common problems in print files. Bleed is the extension of the artwork on each side to allow for cutter variance, so it’s an essential part of a good print file. Bleed requirements differ among printers but a commonly minimum is 0.125” on each side.
Many of your clients may not know how to add bleed, leaving the task in your hands. There are several different ways to add bleed. Naturally, each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
We’ll cover them in this article so that you can easily choose the best way to add bleed to your clients’ files.

Adding Bleeding to Your Print Files

1. Release or Remove Masks

Sometimes the bleed is just hidden by a mask that’s set around the edge of the trim area. When you release or remove the mask, it appears, so you’re therefore not truly adding bleed; you’re just unmasking it.
 


Pros

• It won’t distort the artwork or change image resolution.
• The client may have provided the bleed that they wanted underneath.
• It can be quick and easy if the file is built simply.

Cons

• There may not be any bleed hidden after all.
• You risk unmasking other elements that were intentionally hidden.
• Time-consuming if the file is complex with multiple masks.

2. Increase Artwork Size

Another way to add bleed is to increase the size of the entire artwork, or part of it (e.g. the background). This method is most suitable when there are no important elements close to the trim edge.



Pros

• When enlarging the entire artwork, the ratio won’t get distorted.
• It’s a fast and easy fix.
• Most clients won’t be able to tell if their artwork was increased by 1-2%.

Cons

• Elements close to the edge may get cut off (e.g. thin borders).
• Enlarging raster images will slightly affect their resolution.
• The client may be able to tell that their artwork was enlarged.

3. Decrease Artwork Size

Similarly, you can shrink the artwork. This leaves a white border. You’re not actually adding bleed, just eliminating the need for one. Alternatively, you may choose to add a color to this border and add bleed to that.




Pros

• It’s a fast and easy fix.
• It actually slightly improves the resolution.
• None of the artwork will get cut off.

Cons

• There is a very obvious change in the artwork, which may not be wanted.
• You risk having uneven borders due to both resizing and cutter movement.
• Small type may become harder to read.

4. Stretch Elements

This technique is most suitable when objects that are missing bleed are rectangular vector elements with no curves, as you can easily stretch them out without distortion or pulling parts too close to the edge.



Pros

• It will only impact the element that is getting stretched.
• It can be quick and easy on certain types of artwork.
• Most clients won’t be able to tell if you stretch an unimportant part of the artwork.

Cons

• Distortion will occur on non-rectangular vector elements and raster images.
• Parts of the stretched element may get cut off if they’re close to the trim edge.
• You may also have to delete masks.

5. Add Objects

Adding shapes to the bleed area works best when the artwork at the trim edge is a solid color. It’s still possible if it isn’t, but takes much more time. Ideally, you are purely adding bleed and not touching anything else.



Pros

• You are not changing any artwork within the trim area.
• It can be done using even simple image editing software.
• If done well on the right type of artwork, clients won’t be able to tell the difference.

Cons

• The added bleed may not perfectly match the edge of the original artwork.
• It can be time-consuming.
• The difficulty level can be high depending on the artwork.

6. Flip the Artwork

Flipping the artwork at the trim edge to create a reflected mirror image for the bleed is a function available in some programs and plugins. This produces a symmetrical image with the line of symmetry at the trim. There is no hard rule for what works best here, so you may have to test it out to see whether the result visually “makes sense.”



Pros

• With the right plugin/program tool it can be fast and easy.
• It won’t distort or change the artwork within the trim area.
• It matches the same colors and shapes in the artwork.

Cons

• It requires a higher level of image editing software/plugin.
• The results may appear nonsensical and not what the client intended.
• It won’t work if there’s a thin border or if the artwork doesn’t fully touch the trim edge.

Conclusion: Using Good Judgement

A good bleed makes a big difference, but not all bleed is good bleed. The methods that we shared here produce different results depending on the nature of the artwork, so always exercise your own good judgment in addition to the tips we’ve provided. Sometimes you may even choose not to add bleed. 
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3 Opportunities for Better Customer Follow-up

3 Opportunities for Better Customer Follow-up

Have you ever considered an online purchase but been put off by taxes or shipping costs? That’s what a Reddit user (Doug D.) experienced when he fell in love with a sweatshirt from Archrival Clothing. Doug, a UK resident, added the item to his cart, but was disappointed to find he couldn’t get Archrival’s alluringly low shipping prices since the company was based in the US.

Winning Follow-up

Game over? Not quite. Someone from Archrival took note of Doug’s abandoned “Shopping Cart” and realized the shipping prices were probably to blame. This resourceful employee immediately e-mailed Doug, offering several alternatives to ship the order for less, including a FedEx International Economy option, Delayed First Class Overseas Mail (on the company’s dime), or European purchasing options.

Doug’s reaction? Rave online reviews for the company itself:

“Wow. My mind is blown. This is potentially the best customer service I have ever experienced. You definitely deserve a purchase just for this e-mail.” Doug and his girlfriend bought several items, ordering more than originally intended, all due to proactive customer care.

Leaky Buckets Bring Lost Opportunities

Business is all about relationships, and good relationships are built on great communication. In today’s wired world, we communicate constantly, yet connections are frequently missed. Author Dan Kennedy describes these botched follow-ups as the “hole” in our buckets. If business is the bucket where we pour energy, ideas, and money, the “holes” are wasted time, money, or failed follow up. This may include failing to track contact information, not rescuing lost customers, or belated follow-up with prospects.

What impact does correspondence have? According to Harvard Business Review, the most frequent customer complaint is poor follow-up. Fifty-six percent complain that they need to re-explain their issue when calling back. Sixty-two percent need to repeatedly contact the company to get issues resolved. As a result, 65% are likely to speak poorly about the company and 48% go on to tell 10 or more people about their bad experience. Poor communication can influence not only your customer but spill over into the public as well.

Show Them the Love!

Sometimes we fail to communicate because we are forgetful, have full schedules, or we fear looking pushy. But consistent follow-up builds sturdy bridges, and any step toward better communication will bear long-term fruit. Consider these opportunities for better follow up:

Always acknowledge a message from a customer: with gratitude, with further questions, or with a confirmation of the request
Give a brief status update of the issue at hand
Respond via the customer’s preferred method of communication (e-mail, website, phone call). If uncertain, reciprocate with the method the customer initiated with

Use stronger written follow-up communication to:

Make a calendar request or recap a meeting
Ensure your last message was received or inquire about further questions or concerns
Express gratitude for an introduction or appreciation for their business
Congratulate clients on a recent accomplishment
Wish customers luck on an upcoming project or personal endeavor
Solicit feedback on a future project or decision
Send helpful information or resources (pertinent to your previous conversations)
Make people personally aware of upcoming incentives or promotions
To make good intentions a reality, consider adding correspondence goals to your schedule (placing reminders in your phone or calendar or sending unique printed thank you notes on a bi-annual basis) and chart a new course of consistency to ensure your relationships receive the optimal care they deserve.

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Why Establishing Your Brand as an Authority is a Top Goal

Why Establishing Your Brand as an Authority is a Top Goal

With every piece of marketing collateral you create, you're essentially trying to accomplish two key goals. Yes, you're always trying to inform members of your audience about the products or services that you offer - or the ones that you're about to launch. But at the same time, you need to do something much more powerful. Something that, if executed correctly, can help guarantee that yours is a brand with the ability to stand the test of time.

You need to establish your brand as an authority - not just in the context of what you have to offer, but within the larger sense of the industry that you're operating in. If this isn't already one of your top goals, it should be for a number of essential reasons.

The Power of Brand Authority

To better understand the importance of brand authority, consider the following two statistics. According to one study, 45% of your brand's image (meaning what people think and feel when they encounter it) can ultimately be attributed to both what you say and how you say it. More importantly, the same study revealed that 54% of people don't trust brands at all.

The most critical thing to understand about this is that brand authority is not something that you can give yourself. The majority of people who don't trust brands don't do so because the brands told them not to - it's because those brands failed to live up to their promises one too many times. It's because they didn't have anything to offer beyond a sales pitch. It's because those brands weren't able to connect with their audience in an emotional, raw, and ultimately genuine way.

Because those brands failed to understand that brand authority really has to do with your larger reputation - it's that kernel of trust that you don't give yourself, but that others give to you.

It's also not something that you're going to be able to build in a day. It's less the product of one major move and more about a series of smaller ones. It's something that grows slowly, every time you choose to partner with a charity on community outreach or make your presence known at some type of local event. It's something that grows inside your audience every time they see a piece of collateral that isn't just a product spec sheet, but that offers true insight and information in a way that helps them even if they don't make a sale.

When built properly over time, it's also something that makes it easier than ever to not only keep the customers you already have satisfied but to bring new ones into the fold as well. This will invariably translate into a sense of "when the time comes and I do choose to make a purchase with this particular brand, I can rest easy knowing that it is money well spent."

In the End

Ultimately, establishing your brand as an authority should be a top goal because it allows you to become more than just the products you sell or the services you provide. When your customers have a question, they come to you for the answer. When they want to learn more about a related topic, their first thought is to go to you for the education they seek. When you do launch a new product or service, they're interested in what you have to offer because there is a level of trust that exists between you that they don't have in other relationships.

This is why brand authority is so important - because it lets you become more than "just another company" and provides you with a level of authenticity that can take a standard audience and turn them into a loyal army of passionate advocates before you know it.

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8 Traits of Outstanding People 

 

We know that the outstanding stand amongst us because we can feel it when we’re around them. They have something special inside we wish we possessed inside of ourselves. The good news is we are all capable of excellence. It is helpful to spend time learning about outstanding people and to bear witness to how they do what they do to be who they are. As we learn about them, all we have to do is emulate their character traits and own them as our own. Outstanding isn’t something a person has, it is something a person does.
What does it take to be outstanding?

1. Purpose

Outstanding people are driven by a powerful sense of purpose both in their individual lives and in relation to the world at large. They have defined the impact they desire to have and have held tight to their vision with every ounce of their focus. The purpose of life, for outstanding people, is always about service. They want to be involved in ways where they have the opportunity to show and use their compassion to help elevate others. To be outstanding, we have to find something dear to our heart and hold onto it. We need a purpose we are so deeply invested in that motivation and inspiration are not hard to access. We must know who we are and how we want to be of service in this world.

  
2. Passion

Outstanding people back their purpose with an unrelenting energy of passion. They follow their dreams, they work hard, are willing sacrifice whatever they need to, and refuse to let naysayers get in the way of their dreams. Their mission in life has nothing to do with surviving. Outstanding people don’t survive life, they live their lives to the absolute fullest. They make sure to possess a humble and great sense of humor, they make time for their personal growth and development, are dedicated to self-compassion and to living their lives with an energy of class. Their sense of passion for what they do is intoxicating. To be outstanding, we must follow our passions. We must be prepared to work hard and to sacrifice. We must shun our naysayers by removing them from our consciousness, live our days with a lighthearted composure and deeply love what we do.

3. Perseverance

Nothing in life comes easy. Outstanding people don’t lament about his fact, they respect it. What they want out of life is perceived as worth the hard work it takes for them to get it. They are prepared to have to fight and dig for what they believe in. They are prepared for setbacks and accept that these are the times when they will need to gather their courage and fortitude. They are prepared to be tired, to feel burned out and frustrated. They expect all of this and are wise to prepare for it. They know that whatever they are going through, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. They know all they have to do to get to the end of a challenge is to simply keep grinding. If we want to be outstanding, we have to be diligent in our pursuit. We have to develop the tough-mindedness and work ethic it takes to rise above the rest.

4. Choice

Outstanding people wake up each day and choose life. They choose joy, they choose grace, and they choose to see their blessings. Outstanding people thrive on the freedom they gain from being able to continue to make their mistakes and the choices necessary to learn and to grow from them. They know that it is one thing to be in the climb to the top, and a whole other thing to be at the top. Outstanding people make the choice to look their fears in the face. Through this process, they gain the strength, knowledge and experience to be exactly who they are. If we want to be outstanding, we need to look back at the horrors and hardships we’ve experienced and know that we stood steadfast. We must see our time on this earth as limited. We cannot and must not waste any time while we’re here. We must gather the resources we need to make the best choices we can to set ourselves apart to live our own blessed journey. We must wake up and choose to succeed.

5. Commitment

Commitment is the cornerstone of success. Outstanding people understand that commitment isn’t something they come by naturally, so they back all their desires with the discipline to achieve them. They commit to their own excellence by actively being a person they can love and respect. If we want to be outstanding, we cannot low-key commit, we must commit one hundred percent to what we’re pursuing. If we aren’t fully committed, we cannot fully live our dreams. Outstanding people never do anything halfway, and neither should we.

6. Failure

Outstanding people welcome and respect the concept and experience of failure. Nothing takes them further in their own learning, and nor does anything teach them or redirect their efforts more fully or quickly than failure. Genius will not; talent will not; but hard work and a willingness to learn are the qualities that take outstanding people wherever they want to go. If we want to be outstanding, we must learn not to stand in fear of our failures; rather, we must learn to build upon them. We must view our failures as stepping stones to our own success and greatness. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. We must never give up. We must learn to start from where we are, with the resources we have, and to do what we can from this place.

7. Support

Outstanding people embrace the idea that succeeding is never a one-man job. Outstanding people have a team of confidants and supports who travel with them along their journey through life. These supports are an integral part of them being as outstanding as they are. Outstanding people aren’t just outstanding, they have lost hope, they have lost direction, and they have been broken and put back together time and again. It has been their supports who have helped them navigate through their tougher times.To be outstanding, we must gather our supports. We must listen to them, love them and appreciate them. We all need support and understanding to ward off the ugly predators of anxiety, fear, depression and frustration.

8. Optimism

Outstanding people embrace the undeniable value of being positive. Optimism gives them the faith they need to achieve all their aims. They know that absolutely nothing they set out to accomplish can be accomplished without hope and confidence. For this reason, outstanding people make sure to smile a lot, to focus on the bright side and to positively acknowledge those who support them. If we want to be outstanding, we must be positive. We must love what we do enough that we allow that love to spill over onto everyone around us. Few things in this world are more powerful than giving another person a positive push. Optimism is the culture we want to create, so that the purpose we're pursuing has a greater chance at longevity. If someone puts us down or criticizes us, we need to keep believing in ourselves and turn that negative into something positive. We were born to win, but to be a winner, we must plan to win, prepare to win and expect to win.

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Is Your Advertising Take You Up or Down?

               Does Your Advertising Take You Up or Down?

Marketing and advertising can be quite costly. However, marketing can attract customers and earn you money. So, you need to be asking yourself "is your advertising taking you up or down?"

Let's take a quick look at three of the best ways to make sure your marketing efforts are boosting your sales revenue instead of draining your budget for nothing.

1) Keep An Eye On Frequency Rates When Online

Advertising online can an effective way to reach a targeted audience. What you want to avoid, though, is blasting your ads multiple times to the same people. The more times the same consumer sees your ad, the more they will become annoyed by it. In fact, when the same person sees the same ad twice, the click-through-rate decreases by 8.91 percent. Seeing the same ad five times decreases the click-through-rate by 30 percent. And once they see the same ad nine times or more, the click-through-rate is cut in half. More important, the cost-per-click rate increases each time the ad is seen multiple times. This is why you need to check ad frequency  and mix up your marketing mix using other effective channels like print.

2) Switch Up the Background

Both your online and offline marketing campaigns can benefit from switching up ad background colors. Did you know that ads with the color blue tend to make consumers feel calm? Green brings about a sense of peace, while yellow ignites a feeling of happiness and optimism. With this in mind, you need to integrate these colors into your ads based on the feelings you are trying to invoke. For example, if you are advertising massage services, then you will, of course, want your background color to be blue or green to portray a sense of peace and calm. If you're advertising a theme park or vacation services, then using yellow in your background to bring forth feelings of happiness and excitement will be effective.

3) Run Your Own Blog

One of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to market your business is by running your own blog. Your blog can touch on a variety of topics, including articles discussing products you sell, tips for your using products, how to get good deals on your products, and how your products can be used to make your life simpler. The important thing is to make sure you are providing content to your readers that has value.

Once readers see that you are genuinely trying to make their lives better, they will come back to read your future blog postings. More importantly, they will be enticed to share your postings with other consumers, which is an excellent way to attract and secure new customers. Even better is that running your own blog is very affordable. In fact, if you're a decent writer, you can write your own blog postings for free. If you don't write, you can always hire a content creator to create the content for you. 

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