FM Walsh & Associates Inc.

Two cool things happened while I was in LA this weekend.

The first is that the Easter Bunny drove by on a Harley on Easter Sunday morning - I love this city!

The second is that I attended the West Hollywood Women’s Leadership Conference on March 22nd - what a powerhouse event. Put on by the City of West Hollywood, it attracted over 100 women from the political, public service, non-profit, corporate and small business arena. Amazing women with amazing stories.

My favourite story of the weekend was the web designer who when she started out her business was charging very little for her services, and hence, making very little money. A year ago, she decided she had enough and did two things to significantly increase her profitability. First, she raised her hourly rate significantly and second, she started charging clients for all the changes and extras they wanted. She admitted she was worried that she would lose clients and go out of business. What actually happened is that she has never been busier and clients happily pay her prices. That’s the funny thing about being confident in your value to clients - you don’t have trouble charging what you are worth and you don’t have trouble asking for payment. Negotiating a decent salary or charging a fair market price for your product or service is not imposing on others or being pushy. It is good business. Make sure you put it into practice.

This post is guest blogged by Isabelle Swiderski, Creative Director of Seven25 (http://www.seven25.com), who provides 6 tips on finding the right designer to work with.

Starting or growing a business is like an endless first date. You want your organization to make the right impression and to be memorable for what it stands for. You want it to be recognized and praised for how it expresses and presents itself. Right?

So why is it that some business owners so often come up with flimsy excuses to justify producing their own company’s identity and promotional materials? While I’m the first to try to demystify what we do as creative consultants, there is something to be said for hiring a professional. The most obvious one is that in this competitive market you need to be visible; sending your organization out there without proper branding is just plain cruel - you’re setting it up to be teased or, worse yet, completely ignored.

Here are a few tips I’ve learned over the years to facilitate the process of finding someone who can help put you on the map:
1.Set aside a realistic yearly budget for marketing and design. If you have no idea what design services might cost, call a few studios and get budget quotes. Alternatively go to the library and consult the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: 
Pricing & Ethical Guidelines. It outlines pricing guidelines for design services for organizations of various sizes.

2. Do your homework. Visit the Graphic Designers of Canada’s website —or your country’s equivalent. These sites are full of tips on working with designers and feature links to reputable studios and independent designers in your area.

3. Narrow down your options to 3 studios whose philosophy, size, or aesthetic strikes a chord with you. Consider working with an individual rather than a studio if the size of your budget or project is more suited to it.

4. Meet with them to discuss your specific needs and to see if you might be able to work together. Take a good look at samples of previous work, not to verify that they’ve already done exactly what you need for someone else but that they are able to resolve a variety of design problems in appropriate and engaging ways.

5. Be upfront about your budget and clear about your goals. A designer’s skill set shouldn’t be limited to making things aesthetically pleasing. It should also encompass strategic thinking to find the best ways to overcome your specific challenges and build visibility for your company.

6. Get written estimates from each short-listed candidate outlining the deliverables and, if the deadline is looming, a timeline for completion.

Once you’ve found the right fit, the relationship should be one of partnership where you can each benefit from the other’s expertise to make a better end product. You’ll be on your way to the second date in no time at all!

(Isabelle Swiderski is creative director at Seven25. Design & Typography Inc., a full-service multidisciplinary design consultancy with international experience based in Vancouver, BC. http://www.seven25.com/

People often question the value of going to networking events, tradeshows or conferences. They comment that the time spent out of the office is not a good investment as they rarely have the time to do follow-up with any prospects or connections they meet. They come back with business cards that end up sitting on their desk - often for weeks or months. Something you mean to get around to doing one day. Not following up on these leads is costing you money so let me outline a simple system you can put in place to use for every event you go to, so you don’t lose out. Here’s what I do:

1. Define clear objectives for every event I go to. What do I want to accomplish by going? Are there particular people or companies I want to meet? Connect with the speaker or the organizers? Before I walk through the door I know exactly what I’m looking to do.

2. Block off time in the morning the day after the event to do follow-up.

3. When someone gives me their card I’ll make a quick note of anything I need to do or remember about them; then I put all the cards into one place while I’m at the event.

4. The next day, I’ll pull out all the cards and determine the next action I need to take with each person - arrange coffee, book a presentation, call them to discuss training or coaching, or send them information they asked for. Then I do it right away. My rule is that all follow-up after an event has to be done within 2 business days of meeting that person. By blocking off 2 hours the morning after the event for follow-up, I get it all accomplished.

5. File the business cards - use the system you prefer - paper or electronic. Just make sure you get it done quickly. There is nothing more frustrating than having to dig through a pile of business cards looking for that person you want to get in touch with.

Implement this simple system and you’ll be surprised at how little time it does take and how many opportunities that will open up!