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, I admit I went into the idea of social marketing my business a bit skeptical. But here is what I quickly discovered: talking to my clients about social media marketing was a great “in” to talking about a larger piece of their marketing planning.
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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 promo pieces, well-written letters and a great resumé. To my surprise, I got interviews at all but two of my top 15 choices. Not too bad for a guy who didn’t go to a school exactly known for design - nope, not bad at all…or so I thought. (more…)

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 Rule29, we do a mix of work for little or no fees. This makes my advisors nervous sometimes, but it’s this work that really makes us feel like we’re making a difference in the world. It’s a feeling that monetary compensation can’t create. Some of you may also do this type of work and hopefully you know the feeling – the feeling of helping the greater good. But like everything else, you need to make sure you keep it balanced. There have been times we’ve taken on so much complimentary work that it has hurt the productivity of our mainstream work. And that’s when you just need to back off. You can’t do any good for anyone if you run yourself into the ground. (more…)

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 aware of the many volumes dedicated to this subject. But, what I’d like to do is share what we have done, and see if it might work for you. (more…)

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 downs at you. I was excited about this topic because it’s on my mind daily, and it’s more fitting than ever for me right now. I’m running my second design firm, which is in its eighth year, soon to be nine. My studio is home to anywhere from seven to nine wonderful people, depending on how busy we are, and I’m also a dad of four. Our firm is now at the point where I can count on a certain amount of work flow, but recently some of my clients have slowed down significantly. Now, that little alarm is going off in my head signaling that I need to speed up the new-business horse a bit. (more…)

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 it and still am months later. On a recent trip, I researched a destination, called for reservations, and mapped it in a few minutes and four screen touches. It is brilliantly designed to be easy, and yet it functions better than any other comparable device. I really think it may be one of the best items I’ve ever owned. (more…)

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: “Make your plans to fit the circumstances.” It was attributed to General George S. Patton, Jr.

Patton Speaking with Lt. Col. Lyle Bernard, at Brolo, Circa 1943

I didn’t laugh at that quote. In fact, it got me thinking. No matter how busy I am, I needed take the time to make a marketing plan, a plan of action for my company. Simple or complex, I needed to take the time­ so I could do something. I’d always wanted to do this so that my decisions would be more proactive instead of reactive, and I also knew that I had to put it in writing so that I would have a roadmap to getting things done. Since I’ve developed a plan, it has really helped the company grow. It’s also helped me to understand what works and doesn’t work when it comes to marketing my
studio.

I guess you could say that I’ve learned to make my plans fit my circumstances. With that in mind, here are few things I’ve learned that can help you make your plan:

Do Your Research: Go through your client list, and examine what you’ve done to attract and maintain the clients that you enjoy. Are they in a particular industry that you’d like to find more work in? Were they referred by another client? Did they find you because of your Web site, a brochure or a PR effort? However you got them, maximize that channel to attract similar types of clients.

Stretch Yourself: Pick a method that expands the way you typically market yourself, for the experience and the possibility of where it might lead. The worst thing that could happen is (more…)

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 sand toys before digging into another year.

In 2003, the bottom fell out for us. We lost a bunch of work due to budget cuts. So when 2004 started, I was concerned about what the future held. I wanted to make a change, or at least, do all I could to rally the troops and get them to enjoy the year as much as possible. Based on the advice of a couple trusted friends, I did a few things that literally changed the way I now do business. I recommend incorporating the following ideas into your plan for the new year:

Take a full day (and a couple nights) to reflect on the year, look at your books, and think about your employees, office, and clients. Even if the company is just you, take the time.

- Make a Keynote presentation of the projects you are most proud of, and show it to the team. Talk about each project for a few minutes, reminisce about clients, tell funny stories, and share some things you learned. Also, make sure to choose at least one project per designer or team member to complement.

- Talk constructively about the mistakes you made, what you learned from them, and how to ensure they won’t happen again. Present new systems and/or checks and balances.

- Give each team member a chance to talk about their favorite moments. In fact, this year I distributed a pre-meeting questionnaire and asked everyone to write down their favorite moments, things they (more…)