Designer of the Month Winners Jan. 2012

Check out the latest winners for the Designer of the Month contest for January 2012.

View Winners!

How ACTA would affect you: FAQ

Keep informed on what the United States Government is doing on copyright, trademarks and patents infringement. I am all for protecting our work and keeping bad folks from stealing our content, logo design, web code etc…, but this gives the government and big business too much control. Heck, with the ACTA law, you could have your cell phone searched or even your laptop searched while at the airport for what they consider copyright infringement content. To me, that means unlawful search, and how will they determine what is stolen or infringed on?

Summary: With SOPA and PIPA shelved, ACTA was somewhat ignored. Don’t know what ACTA is? Don’t worry: you weren’t meant to.
Here’s what you need to know.

Sign the petition to stop ACTA (help make the government think first before they act.)

The CSS Video Crash Course

Want to learn CSS but don’t have time to read a book? In this 8-part video series, you’ll learn CSS from scratch by following along with SitePoint author and web technology guru Kevin Yank.

Learn More

Join Paper Specs — 7 Day Risk Free Trial

Now you can join PaperSpecs Pro – Without a doubt THE online source for
paper information,specifications and samples.
Your 7-day – 100% risk-free – Trial Access Is Available Now.

Learn More

Bureau of Labor Statistics — Graphic Designers

I was surfing the Internet and ran across this link to the Bureau of Labor Statistics about graphic designers. Interesting read, but I was mostly looking at how low the average designer really gets paid as well as the growth of our industry, not much has changed over the years. The graphic design industry is growing, but salary always seems to stay about the same year after year while everything else around us tends to get more expensive. I sometimes feel we are part of a slave labor force, always on, always providing and always expected of immediate delivery and immediate client satisfaction (you should all know this, every client seems to think we have an easy button on our keyboard). I have been a graphic designer for over 22 years and the pay pretty much has stayed the same all these years with some growth in salary, but not by much.

Read More

Marketing Techniques for a Bad Economy

Adjusting your marketing techniques in a bad economy to sustain your creative business is not just smart, it’s a necessity. Big companies cut expenses in a recession, and you should too. That doesn’t mean that you stop marketing. You need to consistently market your business to prospective and existing customers. Instead of stopping your marketing tasks, do them on a shoestring with these “cheap” marketing techniques.

Telemarketing

Don’t neglect or fear your telephone. It’s great for taking incoming calls, working on projects or for personal use. What about for telemarketing? When was the last time you picked up the phone to initiate a relationship with a prospect? Here are some ways to do that:

• Call prospects and ask them to set up an appointment with you to discuss how you can help them boost sales or be more successful.
• Conduct interviews on the phone where you ask prospects about their needs to determine whether they make a good fit for you.
• Hire someone else to make your calls if you lack the time, energy or confidence.

Each state has its own laws governing telemarketing, so you’ll want to check those out before you start calling. The laws may vary for calling business owners versus consumers. If anyone asks you not to call again, simply take them off your list.

Press Releases

These may seem old-fashioned in an age of tweets, YouTube videos and blogs, but press releases still work. There are online and offline media outlets that could pick up your news, including Google News. For example, you can write a press release about a new tool and how you’ve used it successfully as a designer. You can submit it to news syndicators so that it gets distributed around the web. Individuals searching for that tool online may come across your press release since the name is used as a keyword. Radio show hosts, television reporters, bloggers and others might contact you for an interview or link back to your website as part of a story. One press release can raise awareness about your products and services much faster than organic searches in Bing or Yahoo!

Direct Mail

Very few creative professionals are willing to send letters to past customers or leads. It’s much easier to send out a newsletter or email updates. You can stand out from the competition if you send a well written sales letter and personalize it with a handwritten envelope. Everyone you send a letter to will more than likely take the bait, because fewer marketers are using personalized mail these days. Hire a copywriter to help you write your sales copy and maximize results. Offer something of value in your letter, such as a free report, to entice them to contact you.

The key to low cost marketing is to be consistent. Schedule your marketing tasks on a daily basis and hold yourself and your team accountable to completing them. You will have to invest a little money, whether on postage, business cards or long distance calls, but these cost much less than expensive advertising and marketing campaigns.

Don’t Give Clients What They Want

Most of us would like to think we give clients what they want, right? The client comes to you with an idea for a website, landing page, application, or other project, and you do everything you can to deliver a product that meets or exceeds their expectations. But what happens when what the client “wants” is at odds with what the client needs?

Read More

Logos: Getting Ready for Trademarking

This is an interesting article on tradmarking your logo, getting ripped off and more…

Read More

This is Way Cool!

Apple’s iBooks Author App Creates Controversy

iBooks Author Requires Selling Original Books Through iBookstore, Says Apple’s Controversial Contract…

Read More