The Golden Age of Design

We lucky few are to be congratulated! Those designers and design strategists among us have, in my opinion, entered the industry exactly at the right time. Never before has design been more valued. Elevated from a “marketing service” to a corporate ethos, design has just recently been rightfully recognized as an unique strategic business building, and uniquely profit-generating tool.

“Show Me the Money”

While we now live in the golden age of design, we also live in the age of accountability. Despite its recent attacks, there’s still a whole lot of “Six Sigma” analysis out there: a large number of executives who live and die by their ability to quantify their every decision based on its direct impact on bottom line profits. So how does design survive under this specter of financial scrutiny? Can design be quantified? (more…)

One of my favorite communicators, Heidi Miller (aka, The Podcasting Princess) once shared a great tip for getting the most out of a book: instead of trying to get everything the author is saying, see if you can take away one thing from the experience.

At first, it seems nuts: I’m gonna read a whole book to learn one little thing?! Well, no—not exactly. You might learn a whole lot of stuff; you might come back to it later to learn a lot more.

But the “One Thing” rule means you don’t have to come back to it later—it frees you up to be in the moment and absorb what you will while you’re reading it, and also ensures that what you do read won’t completely evaporate once you’ve turned the last page. It gives you a small, manageable task instead of a huge, daunting one. (more…)

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 is before you quote a price. (more…)

One thing that can take you from overwhelmed newbie wandering in the forest to seasoned design traveler is learning to automate (and eventually, delegate) as many tasks as you can. The less you’re bogged down in detail, the more time you’ll have for the big thinking that precedes big earning.

You’re probably well on your way to speeding things up in your favorite design programs; tell me you can’t execute something in Photoshop ten times faster than you could when you first sat down with the Lasso Tool. Try applying a few of these tricks to your communications, and see if you don’t free up some valuable time for cooler stuff, like making art…or money! (more…)

A certain amount of communicating with clients, vendors, and associates has to be handled fresh each time it happens. But a surprising amount can be repurposed and tweaked a bit to apply more exactly to the situation at hand.

Those pesky inquiries you get again and again (or will get—trust me) are great to have a boilerplate ready for. If you spend time creating one really masterful email, then you’ll save time by sending virtually the same thing out again and again. Consider developing a boilerplate for the following: (more…)

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: (more…)

Graphic design may be a career choice that lacks geographic boundaries, but there can be a great benefit in local networking, starting with your city’s chamber of commerce. Joining the chamber of commerce has tons of advantages… (more…)

You can be a great communicator without being a great designer, but you will never be a great designer unless you are a great communicator.

Or you might, but no one will ever hear of you, much like the famed tree falling in the forest with no audience. Obviously, you’re not going to become a virtuoso overnight, but there are some basics to keep in mind as you begin your journey. (more…)

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 when you’re busy is essential because it’s not something you do only when you’re slow. You will eventually have to figure out how to fit it into a very busy life, so why not start when it’s busy?

This is an issue I’ve been addressing with many Marketing Mentor clients recently, so here are a few of the solutions we’ve come up with: (more…)