Lists Archives | &Something Studio

November 14, 2023 — No Comments

If nobody knows you’re there, they can’t hire you.

Practise what you preach as a design agency.

It’s common to feel a bit stuck in business sometimes – I’ve experienced it recently, and it can be difficult to see your way out of it. I often find that I get lost in the client work I’ve got on my desk, and when I look up from my screen, I realise that the pipeline has dried up because I’ve put off doing any form of our own marketing. I’m sure that sounds familiar…

On the wall of my studio, I have a list to help me focus. The first item on it is ‘nobody has heard of us’. We often overlook this point, don’t we? But it’s possibly the one thing we need to remember to get ourselves to focus again. By getting around the problem of visibility, other elements often fall into place from that.

The fear of visibility

If nobody knows you’re there, they can’t hire you. But the thought of showing ourselves online (or offline) can make us feel vulnerable. We’re told all our lives, aren’t we, not to show off, to blend in, to conform…but in business, you can’t afford to hide behind that. As hard as it is, getting in front of new people is essential. By hiding, we are simply trying to run a shop with the lights off. And people will pass us by.

To remind ourselves that ‘nobody has heard of us’, our minds can start to think of ways out of it. How can we make sure that people do get to know about us? How can we be visible…today…right now?

As designers, it’s strange that we spend our working days creating stuff that makes other people more visible – yet many of us are terrible at doing it for ourselves!

Research other designers

I first wrote ‘research competitors’ on the list, but that’s wrong. Thinking of other designers as our competitors can be a huge mistake – I’d like to think of them as ‘peers’ (though ‘collaborators’ would be better). Other designers are important to our success, whether we realise it or not. We’re all in the same boat.

Even if you are not in the position to speak to industry peers (I can strongly recommend you do), a really useful exercise is to have a good look at how they’re making themselves visible. What social channels do they use? Do they post every day? How often do they comment on other posts? How often do they blog? Do they have a mailing list? All of these can serve as inspiration and get the ideas flowing.

To take that a step further, reach out to them and ask! I can guarantee many of them will happily tell you what’s worked for them and give you some pointers.

Let your work speak for you.

I used to feel nervous about this – but a lot of my clients are happy for me to share some of the work I’ve done for them online. Sure, you can put it in your portfolio, but people might not get to see it unless you’re asked for it. Sharing it on social media or via a newsletter can really push it so that people can see firsthand what you do.

Some designers like to share images or stories of works-in-progress, another good way to share the value you give to your current clients. Something different like this can also make you stand out and get great feedback.

‘Consistency’ is a bit of a buzzword at the moment, but I think it’s essential to keep some momentum going. If you allow yourself to get too busy and stop being visible, people forget about you.

If the subject of visibility has been something you’ve struggled with as a designer, let me know. How did you get out of it?

Published by admin in Design Community, Lists, Marketing, Promoting

July 31, 2023 — No Comments

Freelancer vs Studio

Marketing yourself as a freelancer vs a studio/agency

Here’s a question: how did you decide whether to run things as a freelancer or a design studio?

This is something I’ve often pondered, and the subject was raised again recently by a friend of mine, where we discussed the pros and cons of both options. Perhaps you’re reading this because you are trying to make the decision yourself or thinking about changing your growing business. For what it’s worth, here are some of the thoughts and ideas that emerged from that conversation.

How building a studio is different to freelancing

&Something Studio, and its previous incarnation as Severn Agency, were born due to a breakdown in partnership of an earlier business I owned with a friend. When we went our separate ways, I decided that I wanted to protect my ‘agency’ status – partly because it felt safer and more familiar, but also because I believe that it gives me more freedom in many ways.

But I’m skipping ahead – let me explain what the differences I see are between the two.

As a freelancer, you’re pitching yourself as an independent consultant. This means that when people hire you, they hire an individual designer and know they are getting a bespoke and personal service from one person who can get under the skin of their brand. If a designer operates as a freelancer, generally, they can have more freedom to pick and choose the kind of work they take on, be a specialist in a niche role or that safe pair of hands who can deliver, handle clients, understand how things work and help relieve the pressure in someone else’s busy studio.

However, while the studio set-up can be operated (like in my own case) by an individual designer, it also allows you the freedom to create an entity. I suppose it’s more a case of consumer perception, but marketing yourself as a studio, or an agency, gets more kudos from some people. When I introduce myself as &Something Studio, the initial perception is that I’m part of a bigger team, which gives the impression that I’m a ‘proper’ business and not just one person who designs websites and stuff.

Is a studio better than working as a freelancer?

I don’t mean to downplay the freelance option by any means – and I’ll openly admit that I have pitched myself as a freelancer, even under my current guise on occasion, if the brand I’m pitching to determines it. I never pretend to my clients that I’m anything more than an individual designer. My decision to brand as a studio is more about how I wish to market my business, work directly with the type of client I seek, and the opportunity to grow and bring in additional help when the need – or the scope of my business – arises.

If I’d chosen to work as a freelancer, my feeling is that my growth would be (perhaps) a little more stunted, as if in my future I wish to expand and bring in more people, then having a studio name makes that process much more straightforward. They’d become employees of &Something – and I wouldn’t have to completely reinvent myself or start from scratch under a different name.

I’m also an introvert by nature, so the ability to shelter myself behind the wall of my studio feels much safer.

All that being said, though, I enjoy the flexibility of the protection from my studio name while connecting with my clients on such an individual and personal level. Despite my brand status, in the day-to-day, I often think of myself as a freelancer, and I like the additional opportunities my situation affords me.

How does marketing as a studio differ from freelancing?

It’s all about perception. A studio or agency can operate under a protective umbrella, using ‘we’ in its branding. ‘We’ sounds like you’re part of a bigger team, giving clients the impression of an established, bricks-and-mortar business.

Like it or not, freelancers are sometimes seen as less knowledgeable, less professional, or jack-of-all-trades and often work much harder to establish themselves and build trust. The confidence and ability to build a solid personal brand is essential; they must be the face of the business and be able to show themselves as an individual personality.

What are your thoughts on the freelance vs studio debate?

Published by admin in Branding, Design Community, Lists, Marketing

January 10, 2023 — No Comments

Using goal-setting to get the right work

I don’t want to sound like a cliché here, but as we start a new year, it’s hard not to think about goal-setting. Of course, it’s important to set and review our business goals at various points in the year, but it feels kind of fitting to align new goals with the start of a new year, doesn’t it? So, cliché or not, I’d like to put some thoughts on paper about how I’m setting new goals to focus my marketing efforts as a graphic designer. Sharing some ideas on how and why I think it’s important to set goals so we can get more of the work we really want to do and less of the work we don’t necessarily enjoy.

I’m sure you can relate to this, particularly if you’ve been in graphic design for as many years as I have – feeling like you’re at a crossroads. A point where you’ve spent so many years taking any viable project that comes your way and being convinced that you have to do that because you need it to build a well-rounded portfolio and get enough money rolling in.

Is that the point of this gig, though? I know from my experience I had something else in mind. I want to win projects that excite me. Yet it never quite ends up that way. I’ve been here long enough to know which projects I’ve done that have really got under my skin. I can so easily tell you about the designs that have been so perfect that I’ve enjoyed doing above all others. So why am I not chasing more of those perfect projects? And why aren’t you?

Why bother with goals?

I know – creativity is mainly about spontaneity and creative inspiration. It seems to go against what we do to; make plans and goals. And yes, in the creative sense, it does, but I’m talking about setting future goals to get the work that allows us to tap into our natural creativity.

We’ve all had those jobs, haven’t we? The ones where it feels as though we’re wading through treacle. The inspiration is hard to cling to because we’re, in all honesty, not that passionate about it. And that’s not what we signed up for, right?

By setting goals, we can pinpoint those ideal jobs and find ways to seek them out.

Steps to finding the right projects

The first goal to consider is the type of projects we want to work on. I think the simplest way to do that is to look back at your current portfolio and reflect on what’s in there. Which projects stand out? What was it about those projects that made them enjoyable? Was it the style? The client? The niche industry?

This will give you clues about who you want to target to get more of those jobs.

Secondly, go back and find out where those clients came from. Did they find you through your website or social media? Did you contact them? See if there are any patterns to where those people came from.
Now you’ll have an idea of the kinds of projects you’d like to do more of and the type of clients you’re most happy working with.
Now, you’ll want to think about exactly where you need to focus, given the information you gathered in points 1 and 2. If most of those ‘perfect’ clients seemed to come from LinkedIn, double your efforts there. If they seem to trickle through from your email newsletters, then that’s where you need to put most of your energy. On the other side, if you’ve been doing loads of work on one of those or on something else with no return – stop doing it!

Relationship building

One of the things I’ve become aware of is that I need to focus on looking for people rather than projects. Because although I have a good idea of the types of projects I want, I know from past experience that it’s most often a particular type of client that makes my work most interesting.

Although I do a fair bit of cold marketing, I often get good results from online sources, such as my website, blog, social media, and LinkedIn. From my perspective, putting more effort into those going forward makes more sense. It might be different for you, so it’s a good idea to dig into it.

But throwing out social media posts and blogs, while important, is only part of the whole picture. Because what we really need to be doing is building relationships on our chosen mediums. For me, that means actually seeking out and talking to the kinds of people I want to work with via LinkedIn etc. I’m now starting to spend more time reading people’s posts and taking the time to reply and comment – striking up conversations. Sometimes, that’s potential clients, and sometimes, design and marketing agencies that could potentially outsource or collaborate.

The point is if we don’t think about our goals, who we want to work with, and the direction of our business, we can so quickly end up just…plodding.

How about you? Have you set any new goals recently? Are you using those goals to grow your business, find more niche projects, or maybe change direction altogether?

Published by admin in Design Community, Lists, Other things

Tags: collaborate, Goal-setting, graphic design, re-energise