I have a hard time promoting my paid work. My "volunteer" work or community arts initiatives I have no problem talking about, pitching to the media, etc. But when it comes to my own graphic design, grant consulting, public relations, it is tough for me to sell myself. I am thinking perhaps this blog could come in handy for this.
So I am putting out to the universe that I want to grow my business and get new clients.
Here are some questions I have for myself:
- What do I have to offer a client?
- What am I looking for in a client?
- What is/are my ideal project(s)?
- How do I convey this in my promotional materials (website, business card, etc.)?
Possible action steps:
- Create e-newsletter and email list of past, current and potential clients
- Gather testimonials from past and current clients
I consider writing down these thoughts "micromovements. I found this concept years ago in a book by Sark. "Micromovements are tiny, tiny little steps you can take towards completions in your life. I'm a recovering procrastinator, and I have a short attntion span, so I invented micromovements as a method of completing projects in time spans of 5 minutes or less." (The Bodacious Book of Succulence, 1998)
My goal is to blog about my process, ideally encouraging me to move forward and help manifest my goals. I'm also interested in what others have to say about this!
8 comments:
Based on my own desires to use my blogging as part of a larger plan to motivate myself to actually do a few things that I keep thinking I want to do, I think using your blog for promotion of your work is a good idea. A blog is basically a website. One of the things I wonder about is if I should start a second blog that is completely devoted to blogging about philanthropy and consulting to non-profits to keep it more "professional" or if I can combine both into one blog? Any thoughts about that? Since some of my posts are very personal - an might turn off potential clients - should I play it safe and start something else? But, do I have the time and energy to do both? And, the most important thing, can I drive enough people to it? I did add it to my page on LinkedIn and an going to see if I can combine that then venue with others to GET THE WORD OUT!
As one of your clients, I can honestly say that I love the elegant, creative designs you've done for me (business cards and two logos). I would be very interested in knowing more about your design process, and I think prospective clients who check out your blog would benefit from that information. I also think it would be a very good idea to describe what you're looking for in a client or who your ideal client would be. At first that sounds odd -- a client is a client, right? But I think a prospective client who reads your blog and understands what you specifically have to offer him or her will be more likely to contact you and ask you to do a job. Also, I know you do other types of work besides graphic design, but I don't know much about your grant consulting and public relations work. I look forward to learning more.
Margie, I have the same question about having multiple blogs. Right now, I have three and I barely updated them. I am wondering if I should just start a blog called Julie Ray Creative and lump everything under it - my graphic design, community art, other peoples' creative projects, etc. Or do I just change the tag line of IdeaRodeo?
I think it's great that you want to drive more people to your blog. If it's ok with you, I can tweet about your blog and put it on my Facebook page.
Alice - great feedback. I am wondering if I should change my blog name to Julie Ray Creative to keep everything consistent. What do you think?
Julie, I don't think you should give up Idea Rodeo, which I think is a great name for a place where your business, your art, other people's projects, and new possibilities can come together. In other words, I think all three of your blogs could fit under the Idea Rodeo umbrella.
Thanks Alice. I agree. What do you think about the new tagline for the blog? Is that too specific?
This is a whole other Raging Sage meeting right here! :) While I don't run my own graphic design business and may not be able to give pointers on the self-promotion aspects of your queries, I too had an issue with "compartmentalizing" my art/design/writing/stuff-I-like web presence in re-designing my website 2-3 years ago, much less finding common threads in my work that I could "tell a story" about in a concise way. Using blogging software (Wordpress) for my website (http://www.artdivastudios) has helped me put everything I do under an umbrella of multiple themes and media, as opposed to set categories like you might see in a lot of designers' portfolio sites.
Although I guess it depends on what kind of thinker you are naturally. Are you detail-oriented or big picture? (I think I know the answer so that's a hypothetical question ;)) I'm still working on the quick-and-dirty message of the "who I am, what I do, why I do it," ubiquitous in some form on almost every design company's site. And while I think it could help to have that sort of statement prepared, then again, I'm not really a nutshell sort of a person, and who says you have to be anyway?
Regarding Twitter, I like it to post random things that may not warrant a whole blog/writing entry, which is why I have a Twitter feed on my website. I use it to share news about whatever projects I'm doing though, since I have contacts on Twitter that may not look at my website regularly. Same with Facebook and MySpace.
For inspiration, I love my designer-acquaintance Rachel's company website in Austin. She also sends out an email newsletter to clients and contacts every so often. They're beyond informative -- they're interesting to read and well-designed. I'll see if I can find a copy to forward you. http://www.creativesuitcase.com/
This is long overdue, but Bravo! Bravo!
I'm sorry that I didn't say so when I originally read this entry right after you posted it - I was in this weird funk where I could not bring myself to type anything anywhere on the Internet. I think I'm finally snapping out of it.
But back to the subject at hand...
This is so awesome, Julie! Boy can I relate to the fears and general cluelessness about self promotion. What brave steps you are taking! I am totally in awe. I love the concept of micromovements. It sounds a lot like doing the next right thing, or moving your feet in the right direction, sayings I have come to love and to live by. I love the time limit of five minutes, too! I may have to get this book.
I'm glad you're keeping Idea Rodeo. And how did I miss that you have two other blogs?! I am going to have to track them down now...
Post a Comment