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Business - Page 21

Learn how to run your design business, work with clients, manage expectations, and handle your finances.

Business / 10 Jun 2011

What to Do With Your Portfolio’s Contact Form: 3 Popular Solutions

You’ve got your portfolio site almost finished and it’s time to tackle that task you’ve been putting off: the contact form. Some designers love forms, but many of us find them boring and annoying and would rather spend our day creating anything else.

One of the most difficult parts of this task is simply deciding what fields and questions to place in your contact form. What information should you be gathering from potential clients? Today we’ll answer that question by looking at three different common solutions.

Business / 9 Jun 2011

Outsourcing Your Own Brand: Pros and Cons

Should designers outsource their own website or personal brand? It may sound crazy but the practice is more common that you might think.

Today we’re going to attempt to look at both sides of this issue and explore the good and the bad of letting another designer define your digital identity.

Business / 24 May 2011

Survival Tips: Doing Free Design Work for Friends and Family

As a designer, you’ve no doubt encountered situations where friends, family members, neighbors or even mere acquaintances ask you for a favor in the form of free design work. If you’ve ever given in to one of these requests, you probably know how quickly they can get out of hand.

How should you respond to these requests and what should you prepare for if you take one on? Today we explore the wonderful world of pro bono design.

Business / 23 May 2011

Marketing Your Business With Viral Social News Communities

Internet marketing can be a tough gig. It doesn’t come easily and often requires a detailed understanding of how the Internet works. The copious opportunities for social networking only clouds the judgement of marketing agencies.

When first building out your business, it’s important to recognize your branding tactics. The viral marketing techniques used in popular websites work best with memorable headlines. Within communities such as YouTube and Facebook it’s never been easier to get your small business recognized.

Business / 18 May 2011

What Skills Does It Take to Get a Job in Web Design?

There is an ever-raging debate in the design community regarding whether or not web design and web development jobs should overlap (if so, how far?). For example, should a Photoshop layout guru also know how to write HTML and CSS? How about JavaScript and PHP? Where does it end?

Ultimately, this debate isn’t settled in design blog posts but in the real world where businesses are hiring freelancers and employees with very specific qualifications in mind. Today we’re going to explore what employers are looking for in a new hire and how you can prepare yourself to land the job.

Business / 3 May 2011

3 Reasons Logo Design Clients Suck (And How to Respond)

Logo design has to be one of the trickiest pieces of design work when it comes to dealing with clients. It seems almost inevitable that what you imagine will be a quick and easy job turns into a nightmare of never-ending reworks.

Today we’re going to discuss what types of problems typically arise in logo design and how you can prepare for them.

Business / 13 Apr 2011

4 Social Media Myths Every Small Business Owner Should Know

Your company can’t survive in this new digital age without social media. It’s a revolution that will change the way you do business for the better and triple your customer base in months.

Sound familiar? Today we’ll take a look at what greedy Internet marketing companies want you to believe about social media and how it compares with reality. Before you spend money on an expensive campaign, you’ll want to read this.

Business / 17 Mar 2011

A Freelancer’s Guide to Preparing for Retirement

Life is tough as a freelancer, especially when it comes to planning for the future. Today we’re going to discuss some hard facts about how to financially prepare for your retirement on your own.

You won’t find an article filled with vague tips on being frugal, instead we’ll introduce you to some basic financial instruments that you should be familiar with so you can decide which are best for you.

Business / 11 Mar 2011

How Dogs and Rats Can Make You a Better Designer

Today we’re going to venture far outside of the designer’s typical learning bubble. We’ll leave Photoshop behind and pick up the tools of a marketing executive studying consumer behavior.

This article will teach you two distinct approaches to impacting your target audience. Knowing these terms and theories will not only help you become a more effective designer, they’ll also make you look super smart at work!

Business / 4 Mar 2011

Free Websites: Who Has Them and Which You Should Use

It’s the dream isn’t it? A completely free website! No paying greedy designers, no web hosting free, no purchasing of a domain; just a pure and simple free presence on the web.

The world of free websites has come a long way in recent years, there are some truly viable options that just might suit your needs. However, there’s always a catch! Below you’ll find out which services have restrictions that you can live with and which you might want to avoid.

Business / 25 Feb 2011

10 Expert Tips for Selling Your Designs on Etsy

Etsy is a community that fascinates me. Thinking it was limited to scrapbooks and crafts I paid little attention to the site for years, but recently I discovered that there’s a lot more to this group than meets the eye. It turns out there are several very talented designers on Etsy making a decent amount of cash selling stock designs.

Today we’re going to take a closer look at some of the successful sellers of graphic design templates on Etsy to see if we can glean any trends and tips from them.