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Bookkeeping -- The Life Force of a Business!
Bookkeeping is the life force of a business. Without proper accounting records and information about employees, jobs and taxes, a company can get into real trouble.
Financing Your Home Business
So, you have a great idea for a business and, more importantly, the know-how to bring it into creation. The only thing you're missing is the cold hard cash to get started. What are your options?
Freelancers Get Your Money
Great! Wow! Hooray! You just finished your first project ever! Hey, when are you getting the dough you were promised?
Freelancers Need a Budget
For people with a salaried job, budgeting their income and expenses is an easy task. A regular paycheck comes in for them every two weeks with taxes and benefits already taken out.
Keeping Your Business's Finances on Track
One of the biggest benefits of operating a home-based business is that it doesn't require any formal training or experience.
Pricing Your Projects - Hourly Rate
Determining how much to charge for your services is often one of the biggest challenges for a new freelancer. If you charge too much you won't get hired and if you charge too little you'll starve.
Professional Conduct
I can't remember how many times I've heard other designers, including myself, complain that we are not being taken seriously by clients.
Purchasing Graphic Design / Web Design Software & Hardware
Well, this is the part that costs so much money. Most designers, or those wanting to get started, have little money to spend on these products. Listed in this section are areas you can...
The Importance of Being Organized
Designers are notorious for being disorganized and scatterbrained. It's just in our nature. Even the most conscientious of us tend to forget about deadlines, miss meetings, and...
What's your time worth? Putting a value on your design skills
You've decided to go for it. You've got the talent and determination. You know your skills are marketable. So what do you charge for your services?
Wise Cash Flow Management for Solopreneurs
One of the most challenging aspects for a small business to handle is the management of their cash flow, or sometimes the lack of it.
Book Review: There's a Customer Born Every Minute
Today we will be looking at Joe Vitale's There's a Customer Born Every Minute with a subtitle of P.T. Barnum's Amazing 10 "Rings of Power" For Creating Fame, Fortune, And A Business Empire Today - Guaranteed!
Book Review: Triggers by Joe Sugarman
Today we will be looking at Joe Sugarman's Triggers with a subtitle of 30 Sales Tools You Can Use to Control the Mind of Your Prospect to Motivate, Influence and Persuade.
Business Plan Maintenance
A business plan is not a one-time document, at least it shouldn't be. Most businesses put together a business plan during their start-up phase to organize, attract partners and employees, and...
Business Plan Basics
The best way to show bankers, venture capitalists, and angel
investors that you are worthy of financial support is to show
them a great business plan. Make sure that your plan is clear...
Business Plan Mistakes
Often you may hear about what a business plan consists of. While including the necessary items is very important, you also want to make sure you don't commit any of the following common...
Design Your Plan to Fit Your Business
Business planning is about results. For every business plan, you need to make the contents of your plan match your purpose. Don't accept a standard outline just because it's there.
Do I need a business plan?
Not everyone who starts and runs a business begins with a business plan, but it certainly helps to have one. If you are seeking funding from a venture capitalist, you will certainly need a...
Gathering Information For Your Business Plan
A common problem people encounter when writing their business plan is finding information about their business industry and competitive companies.
Honing Your Business Plan
Taking a trip? Looking for a new job? Starting your own business? When launching any new venture, it often helps to have a plan.
A Designer's "To Do" List
Make a commitment to propel and excel your design business forward whether you are a beginner, work for a creative firm, want to start a business or are a seasoned professional.
A Secret Way to Find Hordes of New Design Customers Using Ebay!
Many only think of Ebay as a way to buy and sell items but did you know it can also be used as a powerful lead generation machine for your design business as well. How? Read on.
Assessing Your Skills
As a freelancer you must demonstrate an expertise in your field. You will need to demonstrate self-confidence of your abilities in order to land a gig.
Direct Engagements: How Contractors Can Take Advantage
I am frequently asked by independent workers about ways to get more money and satisfaction out of their contracting careers.
Doing More Effective Work Next Year (Or Separating the Consultative from the Transactional)
For the purpose of this article, I'm going to assume that you are smart and that you do your homework, and that the only thing keeping you from doing more effective work for clients is...
From One-Shop Freelance Designer to Creative Agency Director
The tips I reveal in this article show how you can double, treble, even quadruple your regular income by presenting yourself as a business rather than an individual.
Generate Additional Income with your Graphic Design Skills
So, you have graphic design skills, through your present freelance position or as a graphic design employee or maybe you just want to investigate some additional ways to generate income...
Getting New Business from Old Business
One of the easiest ways to get new business is to get it from an existing client, but it's something that is often the most overlooked.
Graphic Design Licenses
Learn how you can make great profits by licensing your graphic designs. Licensing is a fascinating and little-known area for exploiting the profit potential of your firms work (or work you would like to create).
Graphic Design Networking Questions You NEED to Know (and use)
By ingraining Bob Burg's 10 Feel Good questions into memory (and then using them) you will explode your networking skills in record time!
How to Consistently Make $40-60/hr When Business is Slow
Sometimes when you freelance things do get slow. And at times there is often not enough month at the end of the money. If this becomes a pattern I have a few ideas for you...
How To Get Started In Your Business
Let's face it, starting your own business is no small task. People think owning their own business will make them rich and in control.
How To Write a Winning Proposal
When a potential client approaches you to see if you can handle their projects, how do you prove yourself without resorting to creative output?
Looking to Hire Remote Employees?
As communications technology advances (and the increasing costs of fuel), the ranks of remote (or virtual) workers continue to grow. Here are just a few factors you need to consider if you're thinking about employing remote workers.
Making Successful Business Connections
The graphic design business is a people business, it is who you know that will make you successful. Going to networking events should not be painful, although, sometimes...
Naming Your Freelance Business
You've decided to go for it. You've got the talent and determination. You know your skills are marketable. So what do you charge for your services?
Putting Objectives In Check
In order to assure your chances for the greatest success, you should do some self-evaluation before you leap into freelancing.
Remotely Working
Solo operators who offer Web design services are increasingly working direct for big name clients who want to avoid high fees by using experienced freelance talent.
Should You Take That Freelance Gig?
Believe it or not, there are certain projects that you probably shouldn't accept. Turning down work is probably the hardest decision you will need to make when running your business...
Start a Freelance Business With No Professional Examples
So you want to freelance? What should you do if you have no professional examples to place in your portfolio?
The Ultimate Design Brief
Your design can only be as good as the brief you worked from. The best projects are borne from briefs that are open enough to inspire ideas, while being specific enough to feel workable.
Your Business: Raising Your Prices
This is the time of year when creative service firms begin thinking about their pricing for next year, and specifically whether to raise it. And if so, how to go about it.
Using freelancers to develop your software projects
In certain instances, the quickest and most affordable way to a get a software product developed is to use a freelancer to develop the product for you. This is especially true with simple, java-script or C++ based programs, designed to accomplish just one task.
Vacationing Away From Your Freelance Business
If you are a full-time freelancer then you probably have problems finding time to relax and get away from it all.
Virtual Teamwork
At a time when many companies are scaling down their marketing budgets, Web design consultancies are finding it harder to win new clients and projects.
Where to Post Your Graphic Design Portfolio
Learn how you can attract customers by posting an online portfolio at these websites. Run with the pack or stand out in a crowd, wherever you place your portfolio, you can get attention.
Balancing Home & Work: The Challenge of the Home-Based Business
With the holidays around the corner, you may find yourself struggling to keep your home-based business and your home life separate and running smoothly. And you're not alone.
Business or Hobby?
For many of us it's tax time again. For others, tax time is just around the corner. So, how was business this year? Did you make a profit?
Dealing With Business Slow Downs
When times are slow for your home-based business, chances are you won't have the luxury of waiting and seeing if things improve. You'll need to take steps quickly to get back on track.
Dealing with Disgruntled Customers
No matter how hard you try, in business you simply can't please everyone. You could have a highly trained customer service squadron and an award-winning product, but still...
Designing Your Home Office
So you have finally decided to work from home and set up your home office? Setting up your home office is one of the best parts of working from home.
Five Hints for Surviving a Business Slump
Starting and running a home-based business has plenty of benefits and can generate a decent living quite easily, but the ride isn't always simple.
How To Increase Home Office Productivity
Working at home is not always as easy as people with "normal" jobs might think. There are hundreds of distractions home workers must struggle against.
Overcoming Isolation In Your Home Office
Like most people, when you think about what it would be like to work from home, you probably think of the obvious benefits such as working your own hours...
Avoid That IRS Audit
You probably aren't too concerned about being selected for an audit. Well, if you are a freelancer, avoiding an audit should always be on your mind as you are filing your taxes.
Home Office Deductions for Freelancers
Home office deductions are one of the perks of working from home, however, there are clear drawbacks too. If you meet the IRS guidelines for deducting your home office...
Tax Tips for Home-Based Business Owners
As tax time approaches, many home-based business owners begin completing their forms or paying their accountants with trepidation. This nervousness comes from two sources...
Alternative Work Arrangements
Would you like to join over 30 million U.S. workers that have flexible work arrangements? Its not impossible, but you'll have to have a well thought-out plan to make it a reality.
Building a Strong Portfolio
In the design industry, your work speaks for itself. You might have the longest resume in the world, the coolest credentials, the slickest identity kit. It all matters for naught if your portfolio is weak.
Building Your Online Portfolio / Web site
In order to be successful these days, it is essential that you create an online presence for your freelance business. With the vast amount of potential clients surfing the Internet...
Building Your Portfolio
Your portfolio is the single most important display of your work. A bad portfolio will reduce any chance you have of getting a job.
Building Your Resume
A resume is the key to your success. Whether you're job searching, freelancing or starting up a small business, your resume is what will get the ball rolling.
How to Search for a Great Job!
Searching for a job, whether freelancing or looking for full time employment, can be stressful. There are several different search tools on the Web for landing freelance work or a full time job.
Interview Tips
A great online portfolio is only the first important step in getting the right job or client. Conducting yourself professionally in an interview or meeting will seal the deal.
Nailing That Next Big Interview
Graphic designers are paid to help organizations to improve their image and communication. Companies would not be able to sell themselves, their products or their services to...
Proposing a Flexible Work Arrangement
Would you like to join over 30 million U.S. workers that have flexible work arrangements? Its not impossible, but you'll have to have a well thought-out plan to make it a reality.
Contract Basics: Getting the Client to Sign on the Dotted Line
Working without the benefit of having a signed contract can result not only in the designer not being paid but also possible litigation after things have gone wrong.
Copyright FAQs
According to the United Kingdom government, the Statute of Anne was the first statute to legally address copyright during the eighteen century. In the United States, the first copyright law...
Do I Need a Copyright?
Copyrights protect your creative property and fall into five basic categories: (1) reproduction rights (2) derivative rights, the right to create adaptations of an original work (3) distribution rights...
Legal Considerations For Your Home Freelance Business
So you are ready to set up your freelance business in your home? There are a few legal regulations that you should keep in mind.
Patent Law
The United Kingdom Patent Office states that the first patent was issued in London in the fifteen century. In the United States, the first patent was granted in 1790.
Trademark Law
According to the United Kingdom government, the first trademark legislation was in the late nineteen century. In the United States, the first federal trademark legislation was enacted in 1870.
Trade Secret Law
The first assertions of trade secret rights are reported to be in England in the sixteenth century. In the United States, the first United States case was in Massachusetts in 1868.
4 Questions That Should Keep Creative People Up All Night
Use these 4 top-secret questions that world-renown creative agency Avenue A | Razorfish uses when assessing and evaluating new projects. Might as well model the top dogs.
6 Tips to Writing Effective Press Release Headlines
If your headline fails, your press release will never see the light of day. Here's how to write headlines that will get in print - with examples.
7 Ways to Stand Out in a Sea of Sameness
Like it or not in today's competitive Graphic Design marketplace you need to find a way to get your prospects attention. Here are 7 creative ways to help YOU get noticed.
109 Marketing Strategies
Are you looking to broaden your marketing activities and the idea well has gone temporarily dry? Then use this 109 marketing strategies checklist to jump-start your brain.
Advertising 101
Advertising has truly become a part of all of our lives as consumers, as business owners, as parents, as concerned citizens. We simply cannot escape from its presence no matter how...
Bartering Your Expertise & Services are Worth $$$
Bartering is not negotiating! Bartering is "trading" for a service, or for the goods you want. In essence, bartering is simply buying or paying for goods or services...
Basics of Promotion Advertising
Promotion advertising differs significantly from consumer franchise-building advertising. The latter is long-term in nature and aimed at giving customers reasons to buy.
Creating a Lucrative Line of Greeting Cards
Learn how you can cash in on the never-ending popularity of greeting cards. Here's a step-by-step plan for creating a lucrative line of greeting cards that will not only bring in a nice profit but also promote your creative business, too.
Getting Through the Gatekeeper
In order to advance in this world you need key people (and influential) people on your side. But how can you contact them for help when they employ a hardened gatekeeper to filter all the good from the junk?
How to Avoid Common Advertising Mistakes
Advertising isn't hard to do. You prepare an advertisement or write a classified ad to sell your product or generate interest to send people more information.
How to Get $1,000 Worth of Advertising for $60
Sixty dollars doesn't go a long way in buying advertising space. But if you spend that creatively, you can get over ten times that value in newspaper or magazine lineage.
How to Get Your Clients More Involved in the Design Process
One way to increase your design sales is to create more interactive and involvement devices for your products and services.
How to Make Serious Money Doing Direct Mail Graphic Design
We will look at an overview of the graphic design direct mail industry and how now is the perfect time to get started as a graphic designer in this rapidly expanding and highly lucrative business.
How to Obtain Free Business Publicity
Product publicity is the "secret pathway" to business success everyone wants. In simple terms, product publicity is a kind of advertising that costs you nothing, yet brings in the orders for you.
How to Secretly Spy on Your Competition
Researching your competition (or your clients) can provide many valuable clues to successful business practices IF you know where to look.
How to Write Marketing Copy That Sells Your Freelance Design Services
This tutorial will help you write powerful website copy, or copy for a mailer postcard, to help you sell your freelance design services to new clients.
Creating Ads That Sell
The most important aspect of any business is selling the product or service. Without sales, so business can exist for very long. All sales begin with some form of advertising.
Creating a copy-design advertising concept that sells
Freelance designers who produce marketing materials will know that design and copy should be developed together to work well.
Effective Use of Cold Calls
Cold calls tend to be the least effective form of marketing for consultants. But, if implemented effectively "cold calls" can land you a gig, maybe even your first gig.
Effective Use of Email Signatures
Are you looking for an inexpensive way to promote your freelancing business? The email signature is a very powerful and reliable method of marketing your services, and FREE!
Email Marketing Tips and Tricks
The Internet can be a great marketing tool enabling you to reach thousands of potential customers instantly and helping you hit your target market.
Find Authoritative Background on Any Subject
When you're doing research or looking for information on a particular subject, it's a lot like a detective checking all his possible clues...
The Freelancer's New Client Primer
How can you get new clients for your freelance business? This is a fairly common question, and it does seem very difficult to do when you start out in business. Try not to get discouraged.
How To Improve Your Publicity Design
Freelance designers who specialize in marketing materials are in high demand. As a result, freelance promotions designers can make up to $90 per hour.
How to Successfully Network Online
If you want to get your business name out there, nothing is better than referrals and networking. Networking is the act of passing someone's name on to another person.
How to write a press release for your design services
If you have an interesting story to tell, a press release will help you to make newspaper editors aware of it. Maybe you recently won an award. Maybe you stumbled upon some...
How to Write Your Website
Your website is quite obviously your online portfolio. But the copy and structure of your website can also help you to drum up new business. When a potential client types your URL into...
Making The Sale
Sales is one of the hardest parts of owning your own business. As a designer, you would rather design and have someone else do the legwork.
Promote Your Freelance Business With an Email Newsletter
Newsletters are one of the most effective forms of marketing for your home business. An email newsletter can...
Public Relations Marketing
Public Relations involves a variety of programs designed to maintain or enhance a company's image and the products and services it offers.
Self-Promotion for Freelance Designers -- How to Frugally Market Your Business
Setting yourself up as a freelance designer? Going solo can feel like a daunting prospect, but if you have a good self-promotion strategy you'll find work in no time.
Sell Your Services to Business That Don't Have a Web Site
As you are probably already aware - there are many more freelancers out on the net than there are employers. Consequently, freelancers often find that they are bidding for a job along with...
Start Your Own Successful Consulting Business
A consultant works with the management of a business to improve the profitability of the business. Working with the top management, you can rest assured the consultant is a very highly paid...
Step-By-Step Guide to a Signed Contract
As a freelancer, you can expect to experience some tough competition when you pitch for a job. For any one job, you might compete with other freelancers, small Web design firms...
The Big No - How To Turn Rejections Into Sales
So you put on your suit, arrived on time, and made an irresistible pitch (accompanied by a very reasonable quote). You knocked the socks off your potential client, and left their office...
The Essential Contents of a Marketing Plan
Every marketing plan has to fit the needs and situation. Even so, there are standard components you just can't do without. A marketing plan should always have a situation analysis...
The Rise of the Copywriter / Designer
Marketing-savvy designers who complement their design service with copywriting can expect more lucrative projects and plenty of on-going work.
10 Steps to Your Next Freelance Client
OK, so you've pounded the streets, knocked on doors, and schmoozed 'til you're blue in the face... and it's finally paid off! You've landed a meeting with a potential freelance client!
Utilizing your website to promote your freelance design services
Your website is quite obviously your online portfolio. But the copy and structure of your website can also help you to drum up new business.
Writing Effective Sales Copy
Whether you run a home-based business or Microsoft, one thing is always true: products do not sell themselves. So what makes customers buy? Words.
4 ways to Immediately Improve Your Communication Skills (and your bottom line)
As designers, we are always looking to improve our skills by taking online design tutorials, going to Photoshop classes, buying design books and magazines, going to seminars, and more.
7 Principles Life and Business Has Taught Me (so far)
We hopefully learn and grow in our journey as people and designers. By taking a larger perspective we can learn to make these life/business principles work to our advantage and become better...
Client Revenge -- Getting Back!
I am sure this story will be familiar to everyone, not just designers, but everyone who is in client based relationships.
Creative Writing - Copywriting
Writing is an exciting industry to get into. If you truly have the heart of a writer then you should not deny yourself the privilege of being swept away into another world everyday.
FREE Stock Photo and Illustration Sites
These FREE, excellent and often little-known stock photo and illustration sites should be a mandatory part of any designer's resources.
From Print Catalog to E-Commerce
You're a designer and your client is about to give you a print catalog job and they bring up the topic of e-commerce. "Uh...well...uh..." Don't despair...
Getting Past The Tough Times
It's 9:00 a.m. on Monday morning. You have your cup of coffee and you sit down at your computer. Time to check the email. And it's logging on, and it's checking, and-d-d-d-d, there's nothing.
Have you got what it takes?
What does it take to be a good Graphic Designer in the digital era? Actually, a few things come to mind. With the new media, a grasp of the technology is a given.
Here is the One Great Secret to Increase Your Wealth and Success
A satisfied, loyal customer is really the most valuable asset you have. A lot of people erroneously believe it is always about marketing to "new" customers when in fact it is the long term...
How to Create Profitable Ideas with a Visual Journal
Creating a visual journal is a fun and valuable discipline in generating rich, new and unexpected visual ideas by constantly keeping your "visual antenna" alert.
How to Use "Image Streaming" to Unleash Creative Breakthroughs
If you have difficulty visualizing use "Image Streaming" to help generate spontaneous and breakthrough marketing and design solutions. Image Streaming is not new but was popularized by creative consultant Win Wenger in his book, "Einstein Factor" which I definitely recommend.
If You Read Nothing Else - Read This
Ask yourself these 3 powerful questions consistently and you can expect a life of adventure, prosperity and happiness...
Make yourself Into a Writer
o you want to be a writer? Not a bad idea. Writing for a living can be lucrative, creatively fulfilling and even fun. But, how do you become a writer?
Preaching What You Practice: Speaking in Graphic Tongues to the Masses
Outside of the creative industries, graphic design is seldom a religious experience for most people in the business world. In fact, a great number of professionals in other industries...
Research Lab Sites You Should Know About
You don't have to be a mad scientist to hang out in the many online labs but you should understand the power of labs to forsee new and emerging innovations, explore new ideas, share new...
Things to Remember About Freelancing
The most important thing to remember when freelancing is to be honest. If you are not honest in saying that you have the ability to do a job well, then your reputation could be tarnished.
This is My Good Friend Art
Art is a creative activity that communicates a message visually through painting, drawing, sculpting, illustrating, designing packages, photography, writing, and other mediums.
Using Colors to Connect with Your Audience
You know what you want to say, and you know exactly how you want to lay it out. Great, you're about half way home. Copy and layout are the first part of presenting your information...
Why Some Clients are Nothing but Trouble
Ever had one of those nightmare clients that is always making ridiculous requests and is never happy with anything you do? Here's why they're like that, and how to cope...
A picture is worth a thousand...dollars! How to Save Big Bucks in Purchasing Stock Photos
Pictures and graphics are one of the most important elements that a company uses to create brand awareness and communicate its message. Ever wonder where those images come from?
Digital Photography Tips Tricks & Tutorials
PhotoRescue is a flash card recovery solution that does not do anything to your memory card except read it. The files are not changed in any way.
Hiring a Photographer
These days, with the advent of digital cameras, it seems that everyone claims to be a photographer. However, if you are in need of photography to help sell your product or service...
Microstock Agency Reviews
As a photo editor and designer, I always have to ask the question 'Where do I get the right pictures from?' Until recently I used the traditional stock photo houses like 'Getty images', 'Corbis'...
Twelve Steps to Highest Search Engine Placement
Getting a high ranking in the search engines can mean the difference between success and failure. Here's twelve steps to getting highest possible placements.
Is Your Website Optimized For The Search Engines?
Is your website being found when prospects are searching on the Internet for companies, products or services like yours? Here's a checklist of questions to ask yourself.
Search Engine Optimization - A do it yourself guide
Introduction to Search Engine Optimization -- The Internet has turned into a lucrative business channel and this is no different for what we sell, which are trade show display products.
Utilizing your website to promote your freelance design services
Getting Exposure on the search engines -- You've set up your online portfolio. Now you can direct potential clients to your website when you contact them.
You are Being Lied to About Reciprocal Links!
Exchanging links has been an important part of generating traffic since the concept of Internet marketing was first established, but at least 90% of people looking to trade links don't...
7 Steps to Becoming a Freelance Graphic Designer in 6 Weeks
With the advent of open source software and low-cost hardware It has never been easier to start and operate your own successful freelance Graphic Design business. Here's what you need...
8 "Must Have" Design Skills
Here are 8 *must have* graphic design skills if you expect to compete in today's
competitive marketplace...
Audience Limitations
This lesson is designed to help you get a better understanding of audience limitations on the Internet. In this lesson, you will learn about audience monitor sizes...
Color on the Web
This lesson is designed to help you understand the usage of color on the Internet. In this lesson, you will learn about Web safe colors, RGB, CMYK and Hex color.
Develop Site Content
This lesson is designed to help you develop and gather content for a Web site. In this lesson, you will learn about content and how to organize it as well as what questions to ask your client.
File Types and Optimization
This lesson is designed to help you understand file types and file optimization. In this lesson, you will learn about GIF, JPG and PNG file formats.
Glossary
These glossary terms consist of terms for Web design and print design.
Job Tracking Process and Archiving
Each day you'll have clients come in with all types of jobs from business cards, to Web sites, to brochures. You must have a way to organize these files in order for you...
Maximizing the Print-Output Quality of Your Designs
Understanding and utilizing today's technology is vital in any business, especially in our industry of graphics. Being able to cope with the constant technological advances...
Printing Checklist
BargainPrinting.com recommends that you follow this checklist before sending your files for printing. Following this checklist will ensure that your files arrive to the printer...
Site Mapping
This lesson is designed to help you map a Web site and prepare a site for design. In this lesson, you will learn how to organize information, draw out a site map and understand page flow.
Steps of a Project for a Web Site Builder
As a new freelancer, there is nothing scarier then starting your first project. This article will take a closer look at the steps you should follow when in charge of a project.
Types of Web Sites
This lesson is designed to help you understand the different types of Web sites on the Internet. You will learn about content sites, promotional sites, portals and much more.
Usability vs. Creativity
It's very interesting that a huge debate is brewing in the field of web design right now. Design vs. Usability. Creative Freedom vs. Guidelines and Standards. Flash vs. HTML.
Web Design Tips, Tricks and Tutorials
Many people make simple forms on their Web site that could be much more attractive with a CSS basis. There is a simple tutorial on making forms based on CSS at...
