I have worked with over 200 clients who've contacted me though this site since 2006. It always amazes me how WordPress developers especially don't use WordPress to get more work. Stick with me on this one. There's a lot of good stuff here about what works NOW, even though SEO, Google and online … [Read more...]
12 Powerpoint Slide Design Crimes and How To Solve Them
Although many over-sensitive designers may wince at the very mention of the words "Microsoft Powerpoint", the fact remains that many of my clients have to use it. Powerpoint is as ubiquitous as it is unpopular. Just because you are using what some consider to be an instrument of torture, … [Read more...]
Don’t Be A Web Designer
I write a lot about my web design business on this blog. I have also two successful products called Running A Web Design Business, an e-book and a video course. But I always say that you shouldn't provide only a web design service. This is because, since I started the business in 2006, only … [Read more...]
Ideas into Pixels: Designing Websites For Clients
As web designers, we are regularly engaged in one of the most challenging practices: transforming ideas into pixels. The process starts with a conversation and ends up with a website but, how do we get there? Is it always via the same route? How can we avoid some of the pitfalls? The initial … [Read more...]
Justify Your Web Design Work To Your Clients
One of the biggest mistakes we as web designers can make is thinking that our creative work will sell itself. It,s an easy mistake to make. After all, when a client chooses me out of all of the other web designers around, I feel like they made the choice because they implicitly trust what I will do … [Read more...]
How To Increase Your Web Design Prices
Web designers are, generally, afraid to raise their prices. However, a good web designer will develop a website for a client that, if regularly updated, will be a powerful marketing tool for years to come. And, that,s worth money. The client billing life-cycle Usually, if you,re … [Read more...]
How To Be A Great Web Designer With Paul Jarvis
Download this podcast. I was absolutely sure that this Design and Marketing Podcast interview with Paul Jarvis was going to be excellent. And, I was right – don't you just love it when a plan comes together? http://youtu.be/B1EqcGHbFkU I knew that Paul was great in interviews because I'd heard … [Read more...]
DMP 007: Marketing for Freelance Creatives with Alex Mathers
Download this podcast I'm really excited to welcome Alex Mathers to the Design and Marketing Podcast. Alex is a freelance illustrator who has been on my radar for many years primarily because of his excellent RedLemonClub site for freelance creatives. I joined his mailing list back in 2009 (I … [Read more...]
How To Deal With Nightmare Clients
Wait ... did someone say nightmare clients? Well, they do exist. To some they're known as "late payers", others refer to them as "time wasters", I like to call them "ex-clients". But here's our definition of a nightmare client: a client who either wastes time or money (which is, essentially, … [Read more...]
DMP 003: How To Design A Logo
Here is our third Design and Marketing Podcast where we welcome back Tara Roskell, who we featured on our first podcast, to talk about designing logos. Tara and I have been "blogging buddies" for a long time, by the way. :) http://youtu.be/llkSbwexFOE Tara, a highly experienced … [Read more...]