Don’t be lazy—pick up the phone I know it’s tempting, but don’t do it. Electronic communication makes it so easy to do business without ever talking to your client, but don’t get swept up in the virtuality of it all. There are times when you must have a real-time, live exchange with another person. And one of those times...
If you hate the idea of cold calling but are going to hunker down and do it anyway because you know it’s a good way to reach your best prospects, here are the 3 things you need to have ready before you pick up the phone:
Clear short spurts of time everyday for marketing There’s no “good” time to do marketing. So if you’re really busy and you’re waiting for a slow period, you can stop waiting right now. By the time things get slow, it will be too late: that’s the essence of feast or famine. The cruel truth is that fitting in marketing...
“2 is the new 1.” What I mean is that because we get so much email and voice mail, I’ve noticed that even my good friends and clients often don’t respond unless I ping them a second time. That’s how they know I really want to talk to them. Just one more reason not to be discouraged by a...
When calling prospects you must be prepared to address the 2 most common responses you will hear: 1. “We’re not in the market for that right now.” This means the obstacle is timing. All you need to find out is when they will be in the market, then be sure to reach out during (or before) that window of...
You hate cold calling, I know. That’s fine. But it’s still one of the most effective marketing tools for getting exactly the kind of work and the caliber of clients that you want – rather than being forced to take whatever comes along. That’s why the most successful design firms bite the bullet and do it. And that’s why...
That’s the question du jour these days. The answer: it depends. If you don’t yet have a web site, a blog can serve as a Phase 1 web site. (Indeed, some designers even use a blog as their one-and-only web site.) A blog literally takes 10 minutes to create and you don’t need any technical expertise. However, you have...
The beauty of being a designer is that, because every company needs to market itself one way or another, almost every company is a prospect. Sometimes, all you have to do is tell someone what you do and they say, “I know someone who needs a web site (or a brochure or a fill-in-the-blank).” In fact, once you open...
One of the things they don’t teach in design school is how to promote your services. (That’s why I have been teaching it for the past 20 years, through my business, Marketing Mentor.) Whether you plan to get a job or start (or already own) a design firm, it is essential that you know the basics of self promotion....
