You’re interested in becoming a freelancer? Want to design stuff? Websites, logos, branding? Okay, well here are a few tips to get you started.

Getting Ready:
Business Name, Business Card, Website, Facebook Page, Twitter, Etsy store (if you want to)

• Business name -  Think hard on this one, making sure it’s unique and memorable but also describes what you do. Design a logo (you probably already have one in mind). If your baffled by the idea of designing a logo for your own business, then invest in some help so you can make it good. It’s okay, don’t sweat it. Designers are often their own worst customers!
• Cards -  Design something that defines you and your business. Get them printed. I really like overnightprints.com. They have a full color rounded edge card for under $30 for 500. Can’t beat that! Be sure to put all your info on them – phone, website, facebook, twitter, etsy….
• Website – Stretch your wings and get yourself a hosted WordPress site. Sign up with Bluehost for your hosting, and you’ll get a free domain. You can use purchase one of StudioPress’s Genesis Themes to get started and add a custom designed header (since you are a designer!) and tweak the colors to match and you can be ready to go.
• Social Media – get started on a Facebook page for your business, twitter, etc… and get followers. Post about what you do and post about things that people would be interested in. Some personal, some professional. Stay away from politics. Make freebies, post the on your site and then promote them on your Social Media outlets, share designs that you love, start following people you respect, comment on their posts and tweets. …
• Blog – if you have a WordPress site, be sure to blog and them promote your posts on Social Media. Helps spread credibility and keep your name in people’s minds.

Gather Knowledge

• Start learning about what you want to do -  Find designers/writers that you like and follow them in your reader/Twitter/Facebook page. Comment on their stuff. If there is someone you really love, email them and tell them that you think they’re awesome and ask them for advice. This works especially well if you have a niche market. For example, you may be interested in designing food blogs. Find a few great food blog designers and email them. Tell them that your starting in the business and really admire their work. Ask if they have any advice for you. Send them a link to your site. Let them know in a non-pushy way that you’d love to help them out if they are ever in a rush.
• Online tutorials – if you want to learn how to make a certain effect in Photoshop, for example, just search for it. For example, type “how to make vintage photo in Photoshop” and see what you get!
• Conferences – if you have the money and are close enough, sign up for conferences in the line that you want to be in. Graphics, Photoshop, Adobe, Social Media, Blogging, Design…
• Find someone you like and offer to do free work for them to learn what they do.
• Find designs/site you LOVE and try to recreate them. Now, you don’t want to actually COPY someone’s work into a live website or logo someone will use. But you can use this as a little ‘homeschool’ design. By taking apart the things you love, you will learn how take those techniques and apply them in a new way.

Getting Jobs

• Freelance Websites – try sites like freelancer.com, guru.com, project4hire.com or this list from Hongkiat, and bid on jobs. Once you have your website up and a portfolio, you should start getting jobs. People will be able to see what you do and will hire you.
• Cold Calling – this is what I did when I started out. I had fliers, business cards and my portfolio and I literally walked in places and/or called and made appointments with marketing directors, media people, etc.. Find your local hospital, college or university, newspaper, local magazine, realtors offices, print shops, web design companies, marketing companies, community website and offer your services. Get their business card. Follow up. I used to send Thanksgiving gifts out to people I had talked to so they would remember. Write a thank you note. Make them remember you.
• Linked-In -  those business cards you picked up… find those people on linked in.
• Free work – offer free work to your church, organizations you like or designers/writers you like, You build up your portfolio and get experience. Just be sure that you put a time limit on it, or you might end up swamped with so much pro bono work that you don’t have time for paid work
• Fliers, etc… – Put up fliers in your local coffee shops, community areas, chamber of commerce, etc…. This might seem a little ‘old school’, but it’s simple, cheap and might just work.
• Consider joining professional organizations – A great way to network. Chamber of Commerce. Your local Small Business Development Org. And, of course, when you go visit, ask them if they need any work. Ask to meet their web designer, their marketing manager, etc…
• Go to local design, print, web businesses and offer to help out when they’re in a jam -  Tell them all that you can do and tell them they can try out your services for a reduced rate to see if they like your work. Ask if they’ll take a look at your portfolio and consider recommending you to their clients if they’re looking for a designer.
• On Etsy, you can go simple and offer Etsy shop and other shop banners sets – a custom designed banner, buttons, etc… just got to etsy and search “banner”. You’ll see.

Ideas on Services you can Offer

• Copywriting for websites/blogs – you can just write copy for websites or offer to blog for them. You can get these jobs on elance.com as well. Especially since you have real world experience in it.
• Social Media Management – huge! This freaks people out, especially most people over the age of 35. Offer to set up small business with a Facebook page, Twitter account, blog, Flickr, Youtube, Pinterest, etc… Get a Social Media management software (free) like Tweetdeck or Hootsuit and teach them how to use it. Or, better yet, for a monthly fee, you can do it for them. Like I said before, you can always set up the Social Media for a fee and then maybe offer to blog, post, tweet, etc… for them for 1 month for free or for a reduced rate so they can see how awesome you are and how they can’t live without you!
• Website design – I do use Photoshop for almost all of my designs. Even print design, unless it has a ton of text, like a newsletter. I design all my websites in Photoshop. So, you can do that, too. And you don’t even need to know how to code anything. With a few tips, you can design a website in Photoshop, send it to a coder and have them code it for you if you’re not ready to learn code yourself. I HIGHLY recommend using WordPress for your platform. It’s a blogging software (as I’m sure you know) that works great as a Content Management System (CMS). And it’s easy to use. All of our sites are in WordPress. If you make your own site in WP, then you’ll know how to do it for others.
• This is what I’ve learned – it is a rare person who is a very good designer AND developer (coder). So, often, developers outsource to designers and vice versa. Don’t feel bad about focusing on what you’re good at and outsourcing the more cumbersome parts of the job.

You can do it! When I first started out, I actually found some of my best clients by cold calls and by randomly emailing designers that I admired. I emailed one guy because I saw he lived in Texas and I really liked his designs. We wrote back and forth for a while and then he hired me to design a site for him. Eventually I had designed about 20. More recently, I emailed the designer/developer of a very popular website (she has a cooking show on the Food Network), because I realized she was a Texan and a WordPress designer. Turns out she went to the same college as I did lived only 1 hour a way. We’ve become great friends and have gone to a design conference together in San Francisco.

You just never know what will happen when you combine your passion for design with a few tools and the willingness to reach out and ASK! Ask for advice, ask for work, ask for tips. The design community is, overall, a very generous place!

www.CampBluebonnet.org

BestWebGallery.com

DesignShack.com

DesignSnack.com

Flickr’s Web Design Inspiration Collection

SiteInspire.com

TheBestDesigns.com

VandelayDesign.com

WebCreme.com

WebDesign-Inspiration.com

WeLoveWP.com

Studiopress.com

Here are some categories and definitions that will help you navigate social media:

Traditional Communications

• Don’t forget the traditional methods of communication:
• Web Content (yes, I classify this as traditional!)
• Brochures
• Newsletters
• Email
• TV/Radio
• Billboards
• Print Ads

Unlike what some may say, traditional communication is not dead, just different. You need to integrate all of your social media tools with your traditional communications to make your organization’s promotion a complete circle. Include your social media links in your email newsletters. Insert a flier into your product packaging to encourage customers to follow you on Twitter or like your Facebook business page. And we’ve all seen and heard business adding their social media links to radio and TV ads.

Pull it all together and get it connected. Don’t let yourself get too overwhelmed with the number of options. Choose a few that will work best for your industry/business. For example, since Santa Clara Design does not see clients in our office, a location based check-in service would not serve us well. However, for our clients who have local business, location based services should be a key element of their social media campaign.  Choose a few outlets that work for you, and get rolling. Then, you can allow your customers to choose THEIR favorite method of keeping in touch with you and your services, and they won’t be disappointed!

I am beginning a new series on Social Media and Small Business. Really, any business or organization can benefit from this information, but since my primary focus is assisting small businesses, that is where my thoughts point first.

I moved into the social media realm because I saw a need with my clients. Many wanted to get involved with social media, but were terrified and overwhelmed. Many felt they we’re smart enough, quick enough or young enough to “pull it off”. As I began getting more involved personally and with clients, I learned some things that I hope help them and might help you as well!

• First, I want to remind you that there is NO ONE who knows more about your business and the way it best reaches the community with it’s message than owners and employees of the business.
• Media is media. Communication is communication, when it gets right down to it. At one point or another, newspapers, radio, television and the Internet were considered new forms of media and now they’re labeled as “traditional” media. So “new” media doesn’t mean that only “experts” or young hotshots can successfully operate your social-media team.
• Nothing replaces knowledge of the basics of marketing, combined with knowledge of your business-related goals.
• From the beginning, the basic objective of every successful marketing strategy has been the same – establish or develop stronger connections or relationships with people.
• While some may suggest that “everything has changed” and that “traditional media is dead”, I’d like to suggest, rather, that media and communication IS new, more real, more organic, and less controlled. But, it is still very much the same: creating relationships, building trust and demonstrating quality.
• Yes, there are a few technical things to learn, but not that many, really compared to other forms of media – printing, web design, etc… You need a computer, a few accounts and the ability to communicate in relatively succinct sentences!

It’s pretty simple. Communication still all comes down to building relationships. I count ‘success’ not by the number of followers or ‘likes’ I have, but by the number and quality of the interactions that my social media outlets provide me.

More to come!

Since the design element of our work is very important to us, we’ve fine-tuned our methods and have become pretty good at determining our clients design style from the outset.

New clients are given a questionnaire, asking them to think about various design elements. Here are a few things we like clients to consider:

1. Content-focused or Graphic-focused? Do you want your visitors to focus more on the content of your site, or do you want them to be inspired by the feeling the design offers. Content focused sites might apply to news, or heavy blogging sites. Graphic-focused sites might be better suited for sites offering an experience, such as travel, religious sites, certain products, clothing and venues. What do you think will best suit your purpose?
2. Minimalist or Elaborate? Do you like a clean, white background, with a few stand out graphics and clean, readable fonts? Do you like lots of white space and clean lines? Or, do you like plenty of texture, layering and color blends in your design. Would you like your site to have several different areas of interest or interaction? Does a collage look appeal to you? Keep in mind that BOTH styles can be equally informative.
3. Take a look at your brand. If you have a set logo, that is unalterable, that might help you determine your style, especially if you have invested time and money with a marketing professional to brand your business. You can use your branding look and feel to help lead the design of your site. Is your logo clean and sharp, or more artistic. Is it something you want to feature prominently on your site? If so, your logo may be the place to start.
4. Are you developing a relationship or pushing a call to action? What is your site about? Do you want to draw visitors in and have them return again and again? Or, are you trying to have your visitor make a commitment, make a purchase, sign-up or give feedback. Maybe you want to do both. Either way, this is an important aspect of design, since a call-to-action element usually needs to be fairly prominent on the homepage as well as secondary pages on a site. If you are more focused on developing a relationship with your visitors, then you want to highlight your website’s personality, your ‘connectiveness’ (blog interaction, social media, categories of content). Simply said, you want your visitors to find a home to come back to.
5. What sites do you HATE? Sometimes working backward is the easiest way. If you find it hard to put into words what you like, try finding 3-5 sites that you hate and explain why. You might discover very quickly a theme in your ‘dislikes’ that translates quite easily into what you do like.

Conclusion:

Doing a little bit of homework beforehand can make your web development experience much more rewarding. From my experience, clients who know what they like and don’t like, and are confident in those opinions are the most enjoyable to work with. It is our job, as the web designer/developer to help you ask yourself the right questions. And maybe to ask more questions after that. We want YOUR input, because we want you to be thrilled with the end result!