2009 HOW Design Conference Wrap Up

It’s Monday. I’m back in Lauderdale after the 2009 HOW Design Conference. This was my first time speaking at HOW and, for that matter, my first time attending. It was, in a word, brilliant. The HOW staff went above and beyond to put on a memorable, educational and overall fun event in Austin.

I arrived in Austin on Wednesday. En route, I realized I had left my watch on my dresser and my mobile phone in the car. “Gee,” me thinks, “I’m off to a great start.” Fortunately, I was able to have my phone overnighted to my hotel.

I went to the Austin Convention Center directly from the airport to check in and ensure that my presentation was all in working order. I’m not real big on Powerpoint. It seems I always have font issues. So, I did up the visuals as a Flash slideshow and saved it as an swf and also as Mac and PC projectors. I also saved the native FreeHand file as a pdf, just in case. I popped the files on a CD, two flash drives and also put it on my server. Paranoid? Me, paranoid? As it turned out, I used the pdf as a full screen presentation. Flash didn’t want to play nice come the day of the show. Typical.

While I was checking things Wednesday in the Speaker Ready Room, Jonathan Gouthier, of With Creative, stopped in to check his presentation. In a case of “really, really small world,” it turned out that Jonathan knows my stepbrother and his wife. How weird is that? Given that Austin’s motto is “Keep Austin Weird,” I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.

As I wandered aimlessly around the main floor a bit later, who should I run into but fellow speaker and friend, Toots Caboose, a.k.a. Jeff Fisher of Jeff Fisher Logomotives. I hadn’t seen Jeff in quite a while and it was good to hook up.

Next, it was time to check into the Radisson, a couple of blocks from the convention center. In a fortuitous turn of events, my room wasn’t quite ready. The desk attendant was on the phone and I overheard, “... Okay, I have you set up in a smoking room ...” Truth be told, I smoke. Yeah, yeah ... I know. But this time it worked to my favor. I said to the desk attendant, “Gee, if I had known you had smoking rooms, I would have booked one.” She said, “Oh, you’d like a smoking room? No problem. Because I forgot to ask, I’ll give you a BIG smoking room.” Such a delightful young lady. And boy, she was true to her word.

I went up to my 8th floor home for the next several days, opened the door and walked into a corner, sun-drenched suite. Sweet! It had a living room, kitchen, large bathroom and a bedroom, complete with a king size Sleep Number™ bed. It also had three two-line phones, two desks and two large screen television sets. “Yeah, this’ll work,” thinks me. As a matter of fact, I made a conscious point on Friday to sit in the living room and watch something mindless on the tube, just so I could feel like HOW got their money’s worth.

Wednesday night’s opening reception was a lot of fun and I had the opportunity to meet several great folks. I had been up since 3:30 AM and by the time I finished the day, I was so ready to crash on that comfy bed.

Thursday was presentation day. I was scheduled for 10:45 - Noon. Sadly, Von Glitschka, of Glitschka Studios, was speaking next door in the same time slot, Jonathan’s was around the corner and Peleg Top was speaking a few rooms down. I really wanted to hear all of them.

My session was titled, Consultative Selling for Graphic Designers. I figured this would be about as exciting to many designers as watching paint dry, but a topic they, and especially independents and small shops, needed to learn. I was pleasantly surprised when the room filled up.

Many, many thanks and bows at the feet of Katie Dehner, HOW's crackerjack copywriter who creates all the conference materials and, no doubt, a lot more. Katie helped me get the room set up and made sure all was well with session. She and her HOW cohorts also w0-manned the conference registration desk, answered all my silly questions and ensured I didn't get lost in the place.

Design diva, Debbie Millman, also showed up. I’m thinking, “Wow. Debbie Millman at my presentation? Who would have thought?” As it turned out, Debbie introduced me with some gracious words.

The session went well and even ran a wee bit over. But, the lunch break was next, so that worked out. I had lots of great questions from the audience after my talk.

Later that afternoon, I had the chance to catch Ilise Benun’s session, Do You Have What It Takes to be a Successful Freelancer,? along with help from her Marketing Mentor partner, Peleg Top. The session was excellent. I’d worked with Ilise on a few projects over the years, but we’d never met in the flesh before. It was great to have the chance to talk for a bit with her and Peleg.

Friday it was Behind the Scenes with Hoops & Yoyo,™ with creators, Mike Adair, Bev Carlson and Bob Holt and Logo Design from Texas to New York, by Felix Sockwell.

Later that afternoon, I couldn’t miss Jeff Fisher’s session, Why Pay for It When You Can Get It for Free? Jeff presented a great talk, as expected, covering marketing and promotion techniques, along with using social networking. The bonus was watching him speak while wearing his Toots Caboose clown nose. (Sorry, Jeff. I couldn't resist adding the image)

Friday evening was all about the BBQ. I joined Karen Larson, of Larson Mirek Design, Jeni Herberger, of Jeni Herberger Creative Concepts and Big Fish, Steve Gordan, of RDQLUS Creative and, of course, the always delightful Mr. Fisher at Iron Works BBQ. Great food and conversation.

Saturday, I listened to Wayne Geyer’s, Write More Good: Copywriting for Visual Thinkers. It was a thought-provoking session and I learned a lot. That was follow by a stellar closing keynote address by World Studios,’ Mark Randell, titled Design Ignites Change.

Sadly, the conference was at a close. Jeff and I hooked up for lunch and shared a taxi to the airport. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport seemed like HOW: Part Two with HOWies scurrying hither and yon.

All in all, it was an excellent experience. If you get the chance, try to swing over to Denver for next year’s conference. You’ll be glad you did.

See you in Austin!

These days, it’s more important than ever to stand out from the competition and make the most of your skills. Invest in yourself today by signing up for the HOW Design Conference in Austin, Texas, June 24-27—where I’ll be speaking this year.

Whether you work in-house or at an agency, freelance or run your own business, the HOW Conference has sessions targeted directly to your particular business and career situation.

Tailor your program to fit your needs by choosing from more than 60 sessions on:

• Getting the most out of your software, from Photoshop and InDesign to After Effects and Flash
• Finding inspiration and transforming it into creative design solutions
• Negotiating like a pro to get what you want at work
• And more

Can’t make it for the whole Conference? Take advantage of daily and individual session options.

Make a wise investment this year—head to Austin June 24-27 for the 2009 HOW Design Conference. Visit HOWconference.com to find out more about sessions, special activities, pre-Conference workshops and more.

See you in Austin!

Here are some great tips from Marketing Mentor, Ilise Benun

Here are some great tips from Marketing Mentor, Ilise Benun. She and Peleg Top will be sharing more at the upcoming Creative Freelancer Conference in August. See my previous post for more info.

8 Tips for Creative Soloprenuers
Brought to you by Ilise Benun and the Creative Freelancer Conference
August 27-29, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago
www.CreativeFreelancerConference.com


Look Closely and You’ll Find Your Market
When building your market, don’t start from scratch if you can avoid it. The foundation of your business should be rooted strongly in something you know well and in which you already have some expertise. Even if you’re just starting out, you’ve got a history. Past employment experience, a recent pro bono or side project, or even a hobby can be used as a diving board.

If you’re making the transition from corporate work, it’s important to build on that investment, even if you are sick of the field you are coming from. It will be much easier to leverage the relationships and the knowledge you already have than trying to do everything at once. Starting a business and approaching a new market simultaneously is double the work. Once you have a business under way, then you can move toward new markets.

Cherry Picking The Best Prospects
One of the benefits of being a freelancer is that you don’t need hundreds of clients. You can afford to target your market very specifically. If your market is non-profit organizations, you don’t have to reach out to thousands of them. Instead, you can choose the ten or twenty-five or fifty you want to work with and pursue only them.

Always keep your eyes open for the choice prospects whose names you come across online and in magazine articles. Then, take a moment to write them a letter, send them an e-mail or just pick up the phone and call to introduce yourself. This is a cold call, yes, but what makes this kind of cold call instantly warm is your genuine interest in this company.

Plus, it’s very flattering to your prospect to hear that you are calling because you have chosen them based on what you’ve seen and what you have to offer. If there really is a fit that you can describe clearly, they just might agree to meet with you. And that may well develop into a lucrative and productive working relationship, either now or later.


How to Get Out of a Conversation
Some people have no trouble getting into conversations; it’s getting out of them that presents the problem. So if you don’t start conversations for fear of not being able to stop them, here are 3 strategies to experiment with:

Get a refill. If there’s food or drink involved in the event, you can always say, “I think I need a refill.” Or you can smile and say, “Excuse me. I need another one of those Swedish meatballs.”
Involve another person. Introduce another person into the conversation. Then say, “Excuse me while I let you two get to know each other.”

Stand up. Sometimes you don’t have to say anything. Just stand up! Your conversation partner is likely to take the nonverbal cue.

How to rate your prospects
Not all prospects are equal. Some are better than others. Some are worth more effort than others. But how to keep track of it all when the phone is ringing and the email is piling up?
The first thing to determine a rating for each prospect. For example:

“C” = prospects with a casual interest
“B” = prospects with a qualified need and a possible project
“A” = qualified prospects with an actual project
“A+” = prospects who have given you a verbal commitment but haven’t yet signed on

Once you know where all your prospects stand on this scale, you can then determine the best way to contact each (and the proper frequency for each prospect). A creative solopreneur typically pursues a “C” opportunity three or four times in the course of one month. A “B” lead is worth a few more tries (and for a bit longer). While an “A” opportunity deserves more persistence for a longer period of time.

Be sensitive to each situation, and temper your persistence with your gut feeling. If the prospect in question travels a lot, or is an extremely busy executive, it’s unlikely she will drop what she’s doing when you call, but she still may want you to stay in touch.

What is Your Money Mentality?
Are you one of those freelancers who is detail-oriented about words or images, but fuzzy when it comes to money?

Do you know how much income you need to generate in order to pay your bills every month, or do you just cross your fingers and hope enough money comes in?

For many creative types, dealing with money is an obstacle to doing business. “I’m bad with numbers,” is a common refrain and, frankly, a common excuse used to neglect essential business tasks like billing.

One fundamental aspect of the financial end of running a design business is the mental attitude you bring to the process. Which of these statements is most familiar to you:

“I can’t stand dealing with money.”
or
“This financial thing is a challenge, but I’m going to learn it and make it work for me.”

How about these:

“I can’t afford to spend money on marketing.”
Or
“What do I need to do in order to afford the marketing I know I need to grow my business?”

It’s up to you. You can choose between an open or closed mentality. Open is better and will facilitate the growth of your business. With this positive mental attitude as a foundation, you can begin planning a business that will support you, your goals, and your future.

Why You Must Not Reveal Your Hourly Rate
In order to run a healthy and profitable business, you must know how long it takes you to do various tasks and projects. In essence, you must know your expenses, and time is a major expense. (That’s why it’s essential to track your time.)

However, your hourly rate is not your price.

It’s one of the building blocks of your price, so you need to know what it is, but use it only for internal purposes. Use your hourly rate to determine what to charge for a project, but never reveal that hourly rate in a proposal or in conversations with your client. Not only is it none of their business, it also wouldn’t mean anything to them. An hourly rate is only relevant in relation to how long a project takes, and they have no idea how long your design process takes. By talking about your hourly rate, you open the door to their assumptions.

So when a client asks you how long a project will take, never say, “This will take X hours.” The only thing they need to know about time is when they can expect to receive the deliverable.

Instead, you say, “Let me check what we have on the schedule, and I’ll get back to you with a time frame. In the meantime, let me know your deadline and I will do my best to accommodate it.”

Use Your Web Site to Weed Out Tire-Kickers
As a freelancer, you don’t have a lot of time to spare. So you don’t want to waste your time with prospects who can’t afford you. But how do you know that before talking to them?

Your web site can serve as a filter.

Post a form on your web site that prospects fill out if they want an estimate or proposal. The serious prospects will take the time to fill out your form. Tire-kickers and those shopping for price will not.

The form, once filled out, also will give structure to the request, help to focus your potential client and put in one place all (or most) of the information you need to get started preparing a proposal.

Beyond that, this structure also gives your prospect a sense of how you work and some of the requirements of working with you. It’s part of your positioning as a professional.

Here are some of the questions you should include on your web site’s proposal request form:

How did you hear of us?
Briefly describe your company.
What is your immediate need?
Do you have a budget?
What is your deadline?
How and when is it best to contact you?

How to Deal With Scope Creep
Scope creep – when uncontrolled changes affect the scope of a project – can be the bane of a freelancer’s existence. If you don’t address it with a client, you easily could squander all your profit on a job.

Scope creep sets in when a project is not well-defined, well-planned or well-managed, or when there is a change in direction. If this happens early in a project, it may be a sign that you didn’t ask enough questions at the outset, or that you underestimated the project.

When this happens, above all, don’t procrastinate. The most important aspect of managing scope creep is communication. As soon as you see that a project is veering off course and that you will be spending more time or more money, you must advise your client immediately and decide together how to handle it.

If, for example, in a status meeting or phone call, it becomes obvious that what you are being asked to do is outside the scope of the project, say so right away: “That is outside the scope of the project as we outlined it in the proposal, so we’ll need to review that and possibly revise the pricing. Are you aware of that?” Then, initiate a “change order” to document the changes.

It’s also a good idea to include a reference to scope creep in your contract so there are no surprises. A simple paragraph that outlines the process if scope creep starts to happen will plant the necessary seed so that you can bring it up much more easily later.

HOW magazine announces launch of Creative Freelancer Conference in Chicago

HOW magazine is teaming with creative-industry consulting firm Marketing Mentor to present the first and only business conference for self-employed creative professionals, the Creative Freelancer Conference, August 27-29, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

The event is expected to draw several hundred solopreneurs from a variety of creative disciplines—graphic designers, copywriters, illustrators and photographers, as well as solo practitioners of interactive, interior and industrial design.

“Anyone who makes a living selling creative services on a freelance basis (or would like to) will benefit,” said HOW editor Bryn Mooth. “The business challenges we’ll address are not unique to designers, but they are unique to creatives who are flying solo.”

Those challenges will be addressed by a panel of creative-business experts, including Marketing Mentor co-founders Ilise Benun and Peleg Top. They’ll share best practices for marketing and positioning, talking to clients about money, building client loyalty, crafting proposals and contracts, maintaining a work/life balance and other skills critical to freelance success.

The conference program also includes breakfast roundtables by topic, networking events and optional, one-on-one business reviews of attendee portfolios, proposals and marketing materials.

Online registration is now available at CreativeFreelancerConference.com. Attendees who register by July 15 will save $60 off the $495 registration fee. Groups of three or more will also receive the discounted rate.

Published since 1985, HOW is the creativity, business and technology magazine for graphic designers. It’s also the force behind the HOW Design Conference, the Mind Your Own Business Conference and the In-HOWse Designer Conference.

Marketing Mentor is a mentoring and consulting firm specializing in the creative industry. Founded by Ilise Benun and Peleg Top, their expertise lies in marketing and business development. Their mission is to help creative firms market their services, get their ideal clients and create the work/life balance they want.

Marketing Mentor & HOW Magazine Need Your Help

My friend, Illise Benun and her Marketing Mentor partner, Peleg Top, are teaming up with HOW Magazine to develop a conference for creatives. But they need your help. Here's the scoop:

This conference, presented by Marketing Mentor and HOW Magazine, will be created for designers, illustrators, copywriters, photographers and anyone who wants to earn a living by selling their creative services. We're looking to create an event that is focused, affordable and provides lots of networking. But first, we need to know what creative freelancers want/need.

Can you take a quick 3-minute survey *(by this Friday, Dec 7)*
and share some of your thoughts about this idea?

Here's a link to the survey.

HOW Magazine Hosts The 2007 In-HOWse Designer Conference

The editors of HOW magazine have assembled a powerhouse line-up of today's hottest art directors, creative managers and industry experts for the 2007 In-HOWse Designer Conference — September 9-11 at the Hyatt Regency Austin, Texas.

It's the business event for in-house creative managers you can't miss — 3-days packed with intense workshops, professional advice, creative rejuvenation, and even a little group therapy.

Registration is now open at www.inhowseconference.com. Last year’s event sold out quickly, so be sure to sign up right away to reserve your spot.

You'll enjoy exciting, inspiration-filled sessions from a select panel of experts, each with their own unique background. They'll share what's worked for them and what hasn't, and identify best practices on everything from rediscovering "play" in the workplace to refining your operational processes.

You'll network with hundreds of your peers all facing similar in-house challenges and identify methods for balancing your multiple roles. And you'll leave feeling revived with all the insight you need to build and manage a creative team that's downright indispensable to your company.

It's going to be a real lifesaver.

Don't miss out on this one-of-a-kind business conference. Registration is now open, and super easy with our secure on-line form at www.inhowseconference.com. Plus, we're offering deep discounts for 3 or more registrants from the same company.

Don’t delay ... register yourself (and your co-workers) today.
www.inhowseconference.com.