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In this episode 20 of the Design and Prosper podcast, we have 20 ways that you can get graphic design clients. It’s not as tricky as you think.

Hey, I’m Kris

Donna 0:16
And I’m Donna. And each week we’ll be having unscripted, honest conversations about running a graphic design business.

Kris 0:23
We’ve been graphic designers and educators for the past two decades and have both run multiple six figure graphic design businesses. We have experienced it all the highs and the lows of success.

Donna 0:34
We want to share with you, the good, the bad, and the messy. All the tips and secrets, the bits that worked. If it didn’t help you create a thriving and profitable Graphic Design Studio.

Kris 0:48
Not sure how to price your work, head to Design and prosper.co forward slash free pricing guide and download the ultimate pricing guide for graphic designers.

Hey, Don, how you going?

Donna 1:02
Hey Kris, I’m well thank you. How are you?

Kris 1:05
I’m very well. Thank you so much for taking the reigns last week and doing such a great job with the podcast. It was so good to listen to.

Donna 1:14
Oh, good! I definitely missed you though. These animated hands..

Kris 1:19
Yes, I have animated hands too.

All right. So today, we’re talking about getting clients for your graphic design business. And it’s actually not all that mysterious.

Donna 1:32
No, it’s not.

Kris 1:34
It’s not. But in order for people to pay you, they first need to know that you exist.

Donna 1:40
Absolutely. It’s a bit of a no brainer.

Kris 1:43
It’s a no brainer! I feel like that’s where a lot of designers are falling down that just invisible. People don’t know about them.

Donna 1:51
Absolutely. They forget, they forget that they have to tell people that hey, here I am. Yes, I’m over here, people.

Kris 1:57
And the ways that we’re going to go through, they are simple. It’s really is a no brainer. These 20 things but one thing that it does take it will take courage.

Donna 2:09
Yes, absolutely. It does. It takes a lot of courage.

Kris 2:13
Yeah. James Wedmore posted a quote recently on Instagram, which we thought was so good. It really speaks to this. And he wrote, sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage. just literally 20 seconds of embarrassing bravery. And I promise you something great will come out of it.

Donna 2:32
Thank you, James, we loved that it’s such a great quote, really is, it really does sum it up. Just do it. It’s so nice that rip the band aid off, it’s really, really quick. And if you can get the courage to do that, it really will make a massive difference to your business.

Kris 2:51
Yes, because some of these ideas will require you just to take a deep breath and put yourself out there out of your comfort zone, but it will be worth it. Trust us.

Donna 3:02
Trust us. Absolutely. One thing that was a quantum shift for us was to swap out the word sell with the word serve. Serving is something that comes so naturally to us. We love to share our knowledge and we love helping other people.

We really do.

We do it was beautiful, wasn’t it, Kris? It was like, oh, my goodness, swapping those two words out, has made a massive difference to how we show up.

Kris 3:29
How can we serve? That just made so much sense because for us selling felt a bit icky, it felt, you know, like we’re tooting our own trumpet and shouting from the rooftops like, ‘look how great we are!’ And it just left us feeling a bit uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Donna 3:44
Yes. Feeling is really exaggerated in the very early days of business when you’re building up an audience from scratch, and the majority of your audience are usually friends and family. Let’s face it. And and you haven’t you put yourself out there. And you know, it really is the magnifying glasses on you at that time, isn’t it?

Kris 4:05
Yes. So this is how a lot of us are starting businesses, right. So we’re starting, pulling back already. We’re not shouting from the rooftops because we’re starting off with this weird little audience that is our friends and family. And so you feel like you can’t do it. So it’s setting the pattern for shying away from really promoting yourself.

Donna 4:26
Absolutely. That’s such a good point, Kris.

Kris 4:28
Yeah, yeah, it’s a pattern. And we just got to break these patterns. And here in Australia, we also have this weird cultural phenomenon. It’s called the tall poppy syndrome. So it’s a weird reference, but it just imagine a field of beautiful poppies and there’s just one lone poppy flower that is taller and brighter and bigger than the rest. And the idea is that that tall poppy that should be cut down and it’s trange…like why? Like, it’s somehow immodest or in bad taste somehow to be shining brighter than the rest.

Donna 5:02
Yeah. And we just want to chop that thing down. You come back down here with the rest of us. Yeah, it’s such a funny Aussie-ism.

Kris 5:11
Yeah, definitely poppy syndrome. And, you know, you can get ridiculed and shamed for like, being the shining star for shining brightly like, and it kind of flies in the face of our really, you know, we’ve got this funny culture…like it’s it’s humorous, like it’s kind of irreverent and self deprecating, and we have this saying, it’s to take the piss, to take the piece that is something. Which is to mock others and put others down a notch, but including ourselves.

Donna 5:40
Yeah, we we are not exempt. Yeah, absolutely. And this is really different from the more outgoing and really confident selling approaches seen in the US, for example. We’ve learned so much from our entrepreneurial U.S friends, who seem to naturally sell and serve with such positivity and enthusiasm.

Kris 5:59
They do.

Donna 6:00
They do, it’s so beautiful to see. And that confidence is something that we have really been able to look at and be inspired by and learn from.

Kris 6:10
Yeah, we have been inspired by….I’ve even, you know I’ve followed so many people over the years, like artists and designers and, they’re actually saying, ‘we have got the most beautiful thing that you can buy’. And ‘we just love it so much. We can’t wait for you to have this in your life’….stuff like that. And it’s like, wow, I can’t believe they’re saying that but how beautiful?

Donna 6:34
How beautiful!

Kris 6:35
I’m in, I want!

Donna 6:37
I’m in that’s right!

Kris 6:39
They are inviting people into the purchase.

Donna 6:42
Absolutely. And that belief, that self belief, and that worthiness is just so powerful. It really is contagious. You will get people going, Wow, yes, please, like you did, Kris. It is a contagious approach, which we want you guys to get into.

Kris 7:01
So if you’re feeling a bit shy about promoting yourself, just think about it as ‘How can you serve people?’ Because if you hide your business away, you’re actually doing a disservice to the people who need you.

Donna 7:15
Absolutely. And isn’t that a beautiful spin on it? How many people could be transformed by your wonderful offerings?

Kris 7:23
Yes! So we need to shift our mindset about this. Because there are many, many ways to let people know you exist. And we have got 20 to get you started right now.

Donna 7:35
Yes, let’s dive in. This is so much fun.

Kris 7:39
Yeah. So the first one is engage on social media. So this might seem like an obvious one. But so many designers are still not doing it.

Donna 7:49
They’re not visible, it is a no brainer. It’s where it’s at. Everybody knows that. That’s where they need to be, everybody we speak to knows, ‘I know, I should be posting on Instagram. And I know I should be doing this in Facebook’. But they’re not. They’re just not showing up in those places.

Kris 8:07
And we’re not just talking about posting here, which is definitely part of your strategy. But we’re talking about engaging. So in Facebook groups, there are Facebook groups out there that are chokers, full of your target market your niche. Sorry I’m giggling because because I said ‘chockers’.

Donna 8:23
I love that. I’m giggling as well.

Unknown Speaker 8:27
Very,

Kris 8:28
Very, Aussie!. So they are chockers guys, they are chockers full of the good stuff. There’s people just waiting to get advice on branding, for example. You’re just going to swoop in and answer their question. Or they don’t know where to start. And you’re going to provide helpful feedback and be the go to person….gee, that person is really helpful. Who are they? And so your Facebook bio is going to have it optimized so that if they hover over your name, they will be able to see where you’re from and what you do.

Donna 8:57
yeah,

You will become the authority. And it’s really, really easy, because you are an authority, and you do have the answers. And you can help solve these problems. And it’s really, it’s really so simple and a no brainer to allocate the time to be able to engage. Like Kris was saying, it’s not about posting, it’s about engagement. Of course posting is is included, but the engagement, pre posting and post-posting is really, really important. That’s where all the juiciness lies.

Kris 9:31
And doing it in an authentic way so that it’s not just like a robot’s doing it. Yes, you’re actually liking things you actually like. You’re actually making genuine comments that are specific to the post, not just like a random ‘love it!’.

Donna 9:45
Relevant, really relevant information. Information that will help to transform the other person. That’s the key.

Kris 9:54
Yeah, it’s about following people who are your ideal client as well. And genuinely engaging with them. Not just in a kind of sleazy, slimy kind of way. It’s like, you really see them, and you really want to help them.

Donna 10:10
Yeah. Okay. Number two, send out a direct mail campaign. We’ve talked about this in previous podcasts where the beautiful direct mail campaign is something that we feel is undervalued and underrated.

Kris 10:24
Underused.

Donna 10:25
Underused, absolutely, Kris. So we think that this is something that if you sort of put your mind to, have a think about who you want to be working for, the type of work that you want to be doing, and go and get it. And approach those people directly, the person, the decision maker, the person who can say yes to you, that’s the person that you need to be targeting. That person that industry, go and get it. And so yeah, a direct mail campaign really does showcase your design sensibility, your approach to creativity, the printed form, which we love, and really is missing at the moment in and to be able to have something tactile to hold is a really sweet experience that people are missing out on. So it does make you feel really special.

Kris 11:16
huh?

Yes. Direct Mail was a really big part of the growth in my first graphic design business. And we did it regularly. We had it scheduled in we have to do X amount every month. But we always followed up with a phone call as well. So don’t expect just to send something out, and people will just, ‘oh, I’m just gonna bring these people, they seem so fabulous’. And they might do that that did happen. But what was most effective was following up with a phone call. And the the rate of conversion with that was very, very high. I think we only sent out about five a month. And we would get enough business from just doing that. And there were very targeted people who we thought ‘you need a rebrand. You need us’.

Donna 11:57
And you could speak directly to them. That’s the whole…that’s in the name ‘direct mail campaign’.

Kris 12:03
Exactly.

Donna 12:04
You are speaking directly to that person. So you’re touching on their pain points, and you’re providing solutions. And you’re saying here I am. I’m right here, I’m ready to go as soon as you are. But that follow up is really key to be able to do that.

Yeah.

Kris 12:19
And those follow up phone calls were not easy. No, they were very difficult. But we had a script, and so that made it easier. And we’d just check in and see if they received it and see if they had any questions and see if there was anything we could help them moving forward with or if they wanted to make a meeting. So you have to be quite direct about it. So yes, direct mail is very powerful.

Donna 12:39
Yes. And scripts are great, as Kris just said there. Guys, as often as you can sit down when you are calm and measured and write scripts for a lot of the communication that you do on all of these touch points that we’re talking about today. Because when you are prepared, everything will flow beautifully and really with ease. So making the time or carving the time out to create scripts so that you’re ready and prepared and measured. It’s wonderful. So you’re not sort of all ‘oh no, I haven’t heard from them. And I’ll just quickly call or call them or call them’. You actually have it scheduled that you’ll call them and you have a script ready to go. And it just makes it all so much easier.

Kris 13:22
It does. So number three, attend business networking events.

Donna 13:26
Eep!

Kris 13:29
I know it’s a bit of an ‘eep’, it’s a bit of a drag. But even consider speaking at events, because we found this to be very successful in broadening our reach. Where we were based his regional area, and so there was a lot of good business networking events, where we could speak on branding, for example. So we had a whole bunch of branding talks that we could do. But even just attending these networking events, you meet people, you meet marketing managers, you meet business owners. It can be very powerful. And these days, there’s much better events than what we were attending when back in the 2000s. Like, beautiful, specific events for a certain niche. There’s just so many great events.

Donna 14:16
You do have to do some digging, though. And you do have to put yourself out there. And you’ll find a lot of these events are spoken about and advertised in Facebook groups. So you do need to make sure that you are looking in the right places and getting invited to these events. I actually always found it a lot easier to speak at an event rather than just to be at an event because I was able to go there with purpose and understand what my role was. I always get a little bit intimidated by networking, so for me, that made it (for some people that might you might go no way that’s public speaking!), funnily enough, happy to do public speaking. But I found it really awkward in in the actual networking there afterwards. So whatever, whatever gives you the courage and ease , then tackle it from that angle.

Kris 15:08
What you might need is a networking business, buddy. So if you don’t have a business partner, it’s because I found it easy attending with my co director. So it wasn’t so hard. So if you’ve got a friend who is in business who could come with you, and also to sweeten the deal, I like to book in things that had a yummy breakfast so it wasn’t such a drag. You know, like, ‘Oh, I can’t believe I have to go to this thing. Oh, well, at least I’ll get some really nice food’. So it can put a positive spin on it. And also just a little COVID note, I know a lot of things aren’t happening as much as they used to. Things are, you know, depending on where you are in the world at the moments things can be easing up. But there’s still a lot of online networking events, and you can still connect with people that way. So there’s zoom networking. There’s so many, we’ve been a part of them.

Donna 15:56
Yeah, definitely look out for those. That’s a great one.

Number four, visit a potential client in person, and leave behind a beautiful promotional piece.

Kris 16:07
Now, this is a scary one.

Donna 16:09
A lovely printed tactile piece. Yeah, it’s a really scary one. It’s like, Oh, you know, you might be having a bit of a fan moment where you go, I really want to work with this person, or I really want to work with these clients. So you are putting yourself out there. But making an appointment. And visiting that person shows a lot of courage, it says a lot about who you are. And then to be able to leave a piece behind, a promotional piece behind as a little reminder, it’s just such a fabulous tool. And Kris and I both use this as one of our strategies in our businesses, and had success. People love to know the person behind the brand, they’d love to know, oh, this is the person that will be working on my work. It shows so much initiative. And so the potential client goes, wow, look at you go, this is amazing. If you’re doing that for your business, imagine what you’ll do for my business.

Kris 17:04
And even if you don’t have an appointment, if you just woke up and just hope that you could meet with the business owner, you might only get as far as the office manager. But that’s still okay. Because office manager’s are very powerful, and they can have a lot of sway. So your beautiful smiling face, dropping off this gorgeous thing…it still has power. And depending on the size of the business, you very well might meet the owner of the business. So give it a go.

Donna 17:31
Give it a go. Absolutely.

Kris 17:33
But do your research, make sure you have an understanding of busy times and quiet times. Like if you’re thinking I would love to work with this restaurant, don’t be going at their really busy time. Maybe even going sitting there and have a coffee, see what’s going on, see what the vibe of the place is. That’s actually not a point that’s on here, but it’s a really good point. Go into the business or shop from the business if they if they’re a shop or a restaurant or what have you.

Donna 17:58
Yeah, absolutely. 100% that’s key, isn’t it? And you generally you probably will have been there or shopped there or have had a coffee there if it’s a if it’s a restaurant, and that’s why you’re interested in doing work for them.

Kris 18:12
Or use their service, like if they’re a yoga studio. Go to a yoga class. If they’re a health care provider, maybe use their service. Like, is it something that you could make an appointment and actually experience? What a beautiful way to ask the work after that, like talk to them?

Donna 18:28
You could just say, I’ve just been here experiencing what you have to offer and would love to work with you on your branding. Do you have somebody working on your branding at the moment? Is that something that I could help you with?

Kris 18:40
That’s brilliant.

Donna 18:41
A lot of small businesses are actually going solo with this stuff. So they don’t even realize that they can engage a brand manager or a designer.

Kris 18:50
Oh, yeah. So true. So number five, set up a referral system. Actually ask clients, current clients you love for referrals.

Donna 19:02
Yes, this was one of the biggest strategies in our business. We got a lot of business from referrals. I think your businesses were the same Kris?

Kris 19:10
Definitely. Yes.

Donna 19:12
When people work with you, they know love and trust you. You’ve delivered for them, you they understand your processes. They’re excited by the work that you’re delivering. They talk about it. They talk to their their peers, they talk to their colleagues, they talk to other businesses, and before you know you’re getting a phone call. And it’s a fabulous, fabulous experience when you receive those phone calls from referral clients.

Kris 19:36
This is the sort of thing that’s going to build up momentum over time. So you’re not going to get a whole ton of referrals like in the early days of your business. But there’s ways that you can encourage it as well, especially if you have a really amazing connection with a client. So we set up referral systems where we had a gift card that we would give them. We decided not to do just the straight money into the account which is also an awesome way, by they way. So what we decided to do is a gift card because we wanted the person to have a treat. We wanted them to have something that they had to spend on themselves and not on their business.

Donna 20:10
So great. Yeah.

Kris 20:12
Yeah we went through that, and we were thinking about our current clients and what they might like. And so we do that as their referral. So it could be $100 Visa card, for example, or $150, whatever. You know, for a bigger one, maybe it’s slightly bigger, but it doesn’t have to be too big because they’re going to do it anyway. They’re going to refer you because they love you. But another way you could do it is actually have it a bit more officially set up through the business where you get them to send you an invoice, and you have an agreed amount, and then you pay the invoice when you let them know I’ve got a new client, thank you for the referral. And they send you an invoice and then you pay it. So there’s a few different ways.

Donna 20:49
There’s a few different ways to do it. Yep. And it’s usually the referral fee is paid upon engagement or deposit from another client.

Kris 20:59
Oh yes, not just from the referral.

Donna 21:02
Not just from a referral. Just make sure that the client that is referred to you engages signs, a contract maybe even makes it pays a deposit. And that’s when you pay your referral fee.

Kris 21:13
Yes, and it’s such a good point. And I’m so glad you mentioned it because you don’t want to have any confusion with this. And maybe you could even limit it even further. Like they have to sign up with a minimum $3,000 job, for example. Or they have to sign up to one of your brand packages. Like it’s not just that they come along and get you know, a business card. And then you have to pay this person a referral fee. So make sure it’s very clear, you need a contract for that.

Donna 21:39
Yeah, but it’s definitely a fabulous system to put into play.

Kris 21:43
It is.

Donna 21:44
Number six, have an opt in or a lead magnet on your website.

Kris 21:49
Yes, we talk about opt ins and lead magnets quite a bit. So we’ve also done a podcast episode about it. The key thing with having an opt in a lead magnet on your website is that it’s going to position you as the branding expert, or the expert in website development or whatever it is that you might be offering. So make sure you listen to that episode, because we cover five ideas to help get you started. And it’s a really juicy one.

Donna 22:15
Yeah, absolutely great. Number seven, you could sell some products on say Etsy or creative market.

Kris 22:23
Yeah, so products like templates. What happens here is you might be selling a DIY template for a client. And you might think ‘well hang on, is that really going to get me clients?’ But it really does. There’s so many people talking about this working for them. So you’re putting a beautiful template online for sale. And then people actually don’t want to do it themselves after all.

Donna 22:49
Absolutely. Yeah, they don’t. They actually go yeah ‘I’ll purchases this DIY but I really don’t want to do it myself’. And I’d like little changes or little tweaks, and since you are the person who created the template, then you have the knowledge. So I’m gonna go to you and see if you’ll do a bespoke one for me.

Kris 23:05
Yeah, or even not anything to do with the template. It might be like, I love this template so much. I need a logo that matches it.

Donna 23:13
Yes, that’s right.

Kris 23:14
Yeah, my logo sucks. So I’m going to get this person to do my branding whole package and my website, because I love their style so much. And I’ve really enjoyed using this template.

Donna 23:25
Yeah, we, like Kris said, we are hearing a lot of people having lots of success with. So yeah, it’s definitely worth it. And you could be really strategic and create three templates for the purpose of marketing and promotion in this way. So that you create them solely for that purpose and put them out there.

Kris 23:43
Yeah, with the purpose of leading them into your sales funnel. Because once they’ve purchased once from you, they’re much more likely to purchase again. There’s so much research around this. There’s a lot of people talking about the tiny offer. So this could be your tiny offer, you just have a little thing that might be $29. Or it might be you know, $60. And then they’re in your marketing funnel, they will receive your emails, your updates, and then they’ll find out all about your beautiful packages that you have to offer as well. And they will think actually I really need that.

Donna 24:13
Yeah, yeah, that’s it. Number eight, guest blog on other platforms such as Medium You can position yourself as a graphic design expert. This is a really good one.

Kris 24:26
It is. There’s so many other platforms that have guest bloggers, so why not get your name out there? We’ve found people this way, you know, in terms of other areas of expertise, like it might be copywriting or SEO or what have you. So get out there with your really good opinions on things. So it could be about an article for example, 10 ways to make sure your website is lead converting for example.

Donna 24:50
Yeah. Or maybe brand audit. Yeah, yeah.

Kris 24:53
Become the expert.

Donna 24:55
Yes, that’s it. We always want you to position yourself as an authority on the subject.

Kris 24:58
Yeah, this next one is about being an authority as well, it is number nine and it is—be a guest on a podcast. Now be a guest on a podcast where your niche will be listening.

Donna 25:09
That’s the key. Yeah.

Kris 25:11
Yeah,

No point in just any old podcast. So which podcasts are your audience listening to? And is there any potential for a branding expert to go on that podcast? And you could start talking about your amazing offerings, and your amazing perspectives on a podcast. Very powerful.

Donna 25:33
Yes. And it’s, you do have to do a little bit of work. This is one of the modules in our in our one to one sessions we have with our clients, where you really do have to take a deep dive into your target audience. And where they are, and what podcasts and be listened to is one of those things that you would you would uncover in your journey to discover exactly who your target market is. So really understanding that target market and really understanding where your niche is, we’ll make sure that you place yourself on the right podcast.

Kris 26:10
Yes, so good. All right. Number 10, is send out press releases to get some free exposure for your business.

Donna 26:19
Absolutely, guys, this is such a good one and was a really successful strategy for both Kristine and I in our businesses.

Kris 26:27
It really was.

Donna 26:28
It is about getting to know people on online platforms or the print platforms that have the power to enable to publish this for you. Have a relationship with them. And they are the people that you may even send a little direct mail campaign to—to get on their radar so they understand what you were doing. And be willing to have a conversation with them about your business. And often it’s it’s a yes, it’s almost it’s almost an immediate yes, every time you reach out. Because they are looking for things to publish. These editors are looking looking to find news….especially in local and regional areas. Who’s doing what and how are you doing it, they want you to come to them. They want you to knock on their door and say, hey, I’ve got this wonderful thing that I’d like to talk about, and that they really receive you with open arms. So it’s a really untapped resource that we think is a wonderful avenue for exposure.

Kris 27:30
Yes, we had a lot of success with it. And I know times have changed, and newspapers aren’t what they used to be. But there might still be publications out there that would be great for you to feature in maybe in the business section. That’s where we used to target all the time, the business section. And we did form a really good relationship with the business editor of our regional paper. And it was amazing. Every time we had something new, we would send out a press release.

Donna 27:57
Yeah, we were the same.

Kris 27:59
And there’s heaps of templates online. If you’re confused about how to do a press release, don’t get bogged down in that it’s so easy, really. There’s a formula and a format, and there’ll be free templates online all over the place. And you just send it out, go for it.

Donna 28:11
Yeah, absolutely.

Kris 28:13
Email it with some photos. The trick is to write it like it’s going to be published as much as possible. So they don’t have to do much work. They want their job to be as easy as possible. So if they have to do a whole bunch of writing, that is just too hard. So make their job easy and you will get published.

Donna 28:30
You will get published. And even though the landscape has changed a little bit from print to digital, they still exist. People are still reading those type of publications and they just reading them online, they still need the content.

Then number 11….sign up to business directories.

Kris 28:48
Yeah, there’s heaps of business directories online.

Donna 28:50
There’s heaps.

Yeah,

Kris 28:52
Some some of them you have to pay to be a part of which might be a worthwhile investment and have a look into it. There’s ones that will have categories for graphic designers and people will be looking for graphic and brand designers and web designers on these. So for example, if you’re a Squarespace designer, Squarespace has a portal where web designers can put their offerings out there and people are searching for them.

Donna 29:16
That’s right. And not just anybody can get on that list. You have to be certified as a Squarespace designer. We might not be using the right word there. verified, but you do have the credentials to be there. So would be almost like a little bit of an application process to go through. Because Squarespace is not going to put just anybody up there on their directory. You will be qualified to be there.

Kris 29:40
Yeah, Showit has it as well. But that’s just for web design. There’s so many…there’s so many others. So start digging and finding this gold and start looking you guys. It’s worthwhile.

So number 12. Use paid ads. Yep! Paid ads!

Donna 29:57
Instagram, Facebook, Google ads.

Kris 30:00
Who would have thought, a graphic designer using a paid ad. Why not? Why not? You don’t see it that often. And when I do see it, I think well done, you, that is so cool that you’re doing that. It’s a really great way to build your audience and start generating interest.

Donna 30:18
Yeah, absolutely.

Kris 30:19
You can start small, you don’t have to have a big investment, just just play with it. Just start off with a $5 a day investment and see what happened. Maybe $15 a day. I think I read somewhere that a budget of about, oh, gosh, I’m gonna say the wrong number. But it was more than $5 it but it wasn’t big, it was something like 15 or $20. Start with that per day and just experiment and see what happens. Vary the ads, do some split testing to see what’s going to work.

Donna 30:48
Yes do some testing. That’s the key, I think. I actually think I read somewhere else, it was $10 a day. So really, it’s minimal. Whatever it is, it is really minimal. But it’s split testing is really important just to see what’s happening and make sure you measure it, that’s the key.

Kris 30:51
And by that we just mean, you know, have ad A and ad B and use both and see which one’s performing more highly than the other. And then you can inform your future ad strategy moving on.

Donna 31:17
And there’s lots of analytics that you can look at that are built into each of those platforms. So you don’t even have to go external to get those analytics, they’re there. So tap into those resources that are already existing.

Kris 31:31
Alright, number 13. Make sure your SEO strategy is strong. SEO is search engine optimization. I’m sure you guys all know that. But it’s really important, we believe. You can DIY this. And you know a lot of people are bootstrapping their businesses. And that’s okay. But we really do recommend you get an SEO expert to help you with this, because they have tools and ways of finding things that us lay people don’t have access to. So yeah, make sure that all your copy—you know you’re using the right H1s, the H2s and all that sort of thing. Make sure that that is going to help you because why not get that lovely organic traffic? You know, when people search for graphic designer in your city, for example, why not get that amazing, organic traffic to your website?

Donna 32:18
Absolutely, it is so, so powerful, when you do understand your SEO and get it right. You can literally go from being on page 17, 18, 19 and beyond up to the first page or second page just by making those immediate changes to your H1s, H2s and H3s. It’s incredibly powerful stuff. So yeah, it’s a no brainer to be at the top of your list.

Kris 32:47
It is, yes.

Donna 32:49
Okay, number 14. Pin regularly on Pinterest. Pinterest is the tool of choice for 99% of designers out there, I’m sure. When it comes to conceptualizing and researching and navigating through your creative process. I don’t doubt that I’m absolutely sure of it. But what it also is, is a wonderful avenue to promote your business. So making sure that you actually place pinnable items onto Pinterest, as well as just saving pins. It’s really phenomenal in the strategy that it can bring to your business.

Kris 33:29
You can pin from Instagram, from your website, you can just upload pins, and then direct people to where you want them to go. So make sure you’re pinning your beautiful work so that you are building your audience and getting new leads from your gorgeous pins that you’re putting on Pinterest.

Donna 33:46
This is really important. When you are pinning your work from all of those avenues that Kristine just said, clients are seeing that because even when they’re thinking about seeing a graphic designer, they’re still thinking about their brand, and they’re collating their own board. And they’re curating their own idea of their vision and where they’re going. And so your beautiful work will be there for them to pin and save. So it’s it’s really it’s just such a beautiful platform to to utilize.

Kris 34:20
Okay, number 15. Offer free discovery calls on your website. Yes.

Donna 34:26
This is a good one,yep.

Kris 34:27
You can have a book now link in Instagram now as well. So you can offer free discovery calls from multiple places, which is really cool.

Donna 34:36
People want to talk to you people want to have a chat. They might be you know, percolating ideas around their brand or what they’re wanting to do with their their marketing and their their approach. And they just want to talk to somebody and if they’re able to book in a discovery call with you, that’s your opportunity to shine. And to be able to speak to their needs and offer them solutions and really there is a high conversion rate once you get on a call.

Kris 35:03
There really is.

Donna 35:04
Because they can see, oh, my goodness, this person is going to be able to solve my problems for me. And you will have all of your other ducks lined up in a row, you’ll have a portfolio to show them, they’ll have access to the way that you work and the type of work that you do. And that conversation about how you can directly transform them is often the thing that will make them go Yes, please sign me up.

Kris 35:31
And they’ll feel really seen as well, because you’ll be asking strategic brief questions as well. So they’ll feel like that you’re really delving deep into caring about them and wanting the very best for them.

Donna 35:42
Absolutely, yeah.

Kris 35:44
And it’s just a great strategy. And then it’s such an easy leading to the quoting process after the discovery call happens.

Donna 35:52
And we recommend that the discovery calls are wherever possible via a platform like zoom, where you can meet the person, you can actually be looking at each other. And it’s just elevates that connection to the next level.

Kris 36:07
Make sure you get them to fill in as pre qualifying questionnaire before you get on to the free discovery call. So you have a bit of a heads up about who they are and what they want to achieve. And it also can help them understand the potential investment as well.

Donna 36:23
Yeah, and it really just optimizes that call time because your discovery call might be a 20 minute call, or half an hour or whatever. We probably wouldn’t recommend any longer than that. And just really make sure you maximize every minute of that discovery call. So you get to the nitty gritty and, and get to the point where you can talk about engagement, and working out how you can work together by the time you get to the end of that call.

Kris 36:50
Mmm. All right.

Donna 36:53
Number 16. This is really, really hard. And we literally go ‘hehee’ when we think about this, but make cold calls.

Kris 37:02
Mm hmm.

Donna 37:03
It’s a hard one.

Kris 37:04
Yes. And once again, you need a really good script for this. So that you don’t feel like you’re just this slimy salesperson who’s just annoying the office manager and trying to get through to the manager or trying to get through to the business owner. There’s ways that you can do it that just feel good. And it is scary. But it is one of those things where we go back to the beginning of the episode, we’re talking about that quote, where it takes 15 seconds of insane courage, because once you get on there, it’ll be okay. And then it’ll be done. And then you can just go, ahhh, you know, it doesn’t matter what they think of you. And chances are, they’re going to really like what you have to say, especially if you’ve really carefully selected who you’re calling, and you can really see an opportunity, you can really see that they need what you have to offer, you really could see how they could be transformed by you. So you go into it with that kind of confidence. Like you can see it, it’s a no brainer.

Donna 37:57
Do your homework, be prepared, and it just gets easier and easier. That’s right.

Kris 38:03
It does. So with with cold calls, because they are so scary, you could limit them, but you could challenge yourself to maybe do five a month, and then do them as early as you can in the month. So it’s like one of those ‘Eat That Frog’ things—get that off your list. And you go wow, I’m so proud of myself. I’ve made five cold calls, how awesome am I?

Donna 38:21
Yeah, and test it, test that. And then if you’re finding that you are having really high conversion rates from that, then increase it to 10 a month. So all of these strategies that we’re talking about today are things that you test. You try it, you test it, you measure it and see what works best. And then implement those things that are working really effectively for you.

Kris 38:45
Because we’re not saying for you to do all of these 20.

Donna 38:48
No!

Kris 38:48
We want you to pick maybe three that you do really, really well. And go for it. And test and measure. It’s very important to measure this. So you have your little spreadsheets—we’ve got systems for all this. We love our spreadsheets! And just to track it to see how many leads were converted? How many did we do? And then see what kind of results you’re getting? So we better get back onto the list. What are we up to?

Donna 39:14
I think we are up to 17. Create reels, carousel posts and stories on Instagram, because people love short form video content and things that move. Anything that’s animated. We love it. Don’t we just love it?

Kris 39:29
We do. And as we know, Instagram is such a wonderful platform for designers. It’s just so beautifully visual. And with Instagram, it’s really important to use their latest features. And at the moment, it’s reels, but we’re finding carousel posts a very, very powerful too in getting lots of followers and lots of reach. So carousel posts are where you have really informative educational content. So it might be thinking about what problem you’re going to solve for your client and helping them With say, eight tips or 10 tips.