The Designer's Guide To Marketing And Pricing: How To Win Clients And What To Charge Them

by Ilise Benun

Do what you love and make money!The Designer's Guide to Marketing and Pricing will answer all the common questions asked by designers trying to stay afloat in their creative business - and also successful designers who want to put a little more thought into their operations. Whether you're a freelancer, an aspiring entrepreneur or a seasoned small-business owner, you'll learn everything you need to know about how to market and price your services.This book shows you how which marketing tools are most effective and how to use themcreate a smart marketing plan that reflects your financial goalsplan small actionable steps to take in reaching those financial goalsdetermine who your ideal clients are and establish contact with themturn that initial contact into a profitable relationship for both of youtalk to clients about money and the design process - without fearfigure out a fair hourly rate and give an accurate estimate for a projectYou'll learn the ins and outs of creating and running a creative services business - the things they never taught you in school. Plus, there are useful worksheets throughout the book, so you can apply the principles and formulas to your own circumstances and create a workable business plan right away.

Genres: Design, Business, Nonfiction

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Samra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is sooo necessary! Because it helps to understand how to place yourself out there.

[Annie Smidt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be useful for a freelance designer starting out, I think, though it's rather dated ("you may have heard of something called 'linkedin' that you might want to check out!") and also very AIGA-esque. By the latter, I mean, it's got a very traditional/print designer mindset — even though it ostensibly discusses web design. It's all about how old-school design firms worked, not web shops or advertising agencies, or anything especially modern. That said, it's got good advice for that design firm-y milieu — if such a thing is still a thing. I guess it is.

I read this, chiefly, because I am trying to kick my own ass as regards to my pricing policies, and wanted to review some basic best practices — which I know, but needed to be told again so they'll sink in. The marketing and branding part was a bore to me (though, again, good for those starting out and for non-strategic/non-branding-related designers, if there are such a thing). Super obvious stuff about how to network and that you should have a website (really.) A lot of it I sneered at a bit and disagreed with. A lot of it seemed overly prescriptive, and especially unforgiving to the different styles, personality types, ethics and preferred tactics and ways that each of is different and brings different stuff to our business. The insistence that everyone needs to be making cold calls from a script, for example... just NOT the way some of us choose to do business (regardless of whether it "works" or not)! But I guess prescriptive makes sense for a beginner's guide.

The pricing section had the basics I wanted to review. All stuff I've done lots of times during my career, but I wanted to do it again, and this was helpful. I basically just needed someone to tell me four thousand times that profitability is crucial, and this book did the trick there.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book for pricing and it had some good worksheets... that I yet to fill out. My feeling is if you can't market yourself you probably shoudln't be designing for others. That's just my own opinion. They had tips on networking and ways to get your name out there. But that seems rudimentary. Maybe if you're right out of school this would be the book for you. Or even a fine artist who's good at their craft and doesn't know how to sell their items.

[Gage · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you run your own design business and struggle a bit with the business side of things, then this book is a must read. Very easy and interesting read, it won't put you to sleep, and is full of practical advice and design business knowledge. Finding a niche, getting clients, and making a profit – it has it all.

[Danita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bravo! Excellent book for graphic designers. Worth every penny and more. Packed with everything you need to know from marketing, pricing your work, what goes in a proposal or contract, to why you must have a personal brand, ways to find clients and how to grow your business.

You won't be disappointed with this book. It's a keeper.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for anyone that is building a design business. They address several things that I hadn't even thought about. I do wish they would have included a standard range of prices for the more common projects.

[Elizabeth George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful!

[Quinn Corte · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately this is a bit dated and not really inspiring. I found the sections on calculating your hourly rate and contracts/proposals to be the most helpful.

[Ashley Cadaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read for any designers! Incredibly useful and easy-to read.