If you are not actively involved with any social networks you need to stop reading this and sign up for a few. If you are not using social media to get your business out there and interacting in a new way with your clients, you are missing a huge opportunity. Now with those big words out of the way,...
Inspired by fellow contributor Chris Costello’s post Paying Your Dues My career also started humbly and I still think about those experiences every time I interview a young designer. I went to Phoenix for interviews near the end of my senior year. I had researched the top firms I hoped to meet and had sent them all hand-made...
By Justin Ahrens Illustration by Justin Ahrens I recently had the opportunity to do something I’ve always hoped to do – visit Africa. I visited for several reasons, but I think my biggest motivation was my belief that firms need to do work outside their “normal client” environment, especially when that work helps organizations that so desperately need it. At...
By Justin Ahrens Illustration by Justin Ahrens Last post, I talked about creating a designer “farm system” that works for everyone involved. Of course, that doesn’t matter much if you don’t have the work. So, how do you “shake the marketing tree”? First, you need to know that there’s no magic bullet here – and I’m sure you’re...
By Justin Ahrens Illustration by Justin Ahrens This past June, I had the privilege of going back to speak at the HOW conference. My talk was entitled “Designer Sobriety: Life is crazy, so how do you balance life, joy, and great work?” My point was to share my thoughts on running your firm as life throws its inevitable ups and...
I hope you enjoy my list of five wonderful things that have recently brought me inspiration. They are in no particular order…. iPhone: I know this is overused. But, my iPhone is so crazy-easy to use! I really tried to not include it, but the truth is that I have been completely inspired since the minute I bought...
I have to be honest. I giggle sometimes at people who include quotes in their email signatures. Usually, it’s because the quote just doesn’t make sense. The others I laugh at only because I’m jealous that I don’t have one as good. One day, I read this quote on one of my client’s emails: ...
So the end of year is here. Hopefully, you had a great year, or you were at least able to get what I call another sandbox pass. That means you made enough to stay in business and play in the sandbox another day. What to do now? I recommend taking a few minutes to reflect and clean off your...
