this identity system for the shammas group asserts them as an idea-forward umbrella company over several successful family businesses. they bought the historical petroleum building in 1959 and use it as the home base for their headquarters, so this identity is a recognizable replica of the top floors of the building, putting them in the penthouse offices with the lights always on.
[l-r: photo by jennie cook; photo by gregory han]
this labor day, jason and i attended an eat-in event organized by the LA chapter of slow food and my friend emily ho among many other people & organizations. this was a great opportunity to sit down with friends, neighbors, and some who drove in from other areas of LA to share manifestations of our favorite recipes, talk, enjoy food, and write letters urging our politicians of choice to support the child nutrition act—because kids deserve healthy food in schools.
being a big diy-er, cook & local food supporter, this event appealed to me on a few levels. i made a butternut squash au gratin, which was salted & peppered cubed squashed baked with homemade yogurt and some great hard portuguese cheese i got from the farmer’s market. i got to taste some amazing dishes, such as a red cabbage & fruit slaw, a mustard seed potato salad, some amazing spiced apple iced tea, some spicy fruit & cucumber salad, and some of the favorites from the whole foods fresh prepared foods [whole foods was a sponsor]. i had a great time offering & explaining my own dish, and getting some great offers in return [hey, try my lentil salad! we have zucchini marmalade! did you have the fig jam?].
i love community events like this. we had a great time, met some really awesome people, and got fantastic ideas for spins on our own dishes. do a potluck when you can and share your family recipes and fun food traditions!
[l-r: genevieve margherio, joy worthen, kirk roberts, and me! photo by bruce wayne stanley.]
before i ran my own practice, i probably would have laughed at anyone who told me how much networking i’d be doing, and how much i’d enjoy it. i used to think of it as something i had to make time for, or something i regretted not doing when it came time to move from one job to another. sure, it’s something i do for business, but if you do it right you make a lot of friends. and then you have margaritas!
the creative freelancer conference stressed to us that we’re not competitors, but co-workers. even in leaner times like these, there is enough work for everyone. i prefer to see us all as choices, a client could choose me, or one of my colleagues, and they do so for a reason that is not about us competing because we don’t offer the same thing. addressing this upfront brought the level of camaraderie way up, and allowed a lot of us to talk in-depth about our experiences in business, with clients, in times of challenge and success.
once we all got honest and brave and started asking the revealing questions, this theme emerged that i hadn’t noticed before: creatives are highly empathic people. we can take on your stories, information and motivations, consider them carefully, and spin them into communication vehicles that become far more than the sum of their parts. but there’s this fine line between being empathetic with communication efforts, and taking on client concerns to the degree that we compromise the quality of our work with compromised time & budgetary resources. my overall takeaway about creative personality disorder is that we have to put our abilities to wrap our heads around our clients in check when it comes to business negotiations and set realistic limits so we don’t end up over-committed & under-compensated.
on the upside though, creative personality disorder leaves you with a room full of really awesome, funny, quirky, highly social people who aren’t around this many other people like us nearly often enough. i was networking before i got there, rooming with beth goldfarb which has turned out a great new friendship with a fantastically talented colleague. i think we met our first conference buddies in the hallway on the way in. everyone was itching to say hi & see each other’s business cards and connect, it was so exciting to meet everyone, share laughs & design hugs. this lunch, pictured above, was a group of 12 people who had to split into 3 tables. the 3 designers i sat with all have uniquely beautiful work [go see for yourself], but more than that, they’re super nice people [and their clients have a lot to say about how much they love working with them].
which brings me to the session on networking—socially & online, that is:
the astoundingly simple secrets to making social media work for you with colleen wainwright
i’ll admit right off the bat that i’ve seen this talk twice and i didn’t take notes this time around. wainwright is a veritable portal to so many fantastic sources of information, i honestly preferred to watch her talk than write things about it. i’m lucky and i see her often enough that many of these things have become conversation topics rather than bullets in a talk, so i encourage you do to the same. reach out to her, talk to her—hire her to help you figure out your marketing strategy! in the meantime, i’ll do my best to give you the goods:
– social media online is a new way to network with a much bigger pool of people than would be sustainable without the internet.
– online networking is all in how you use it. choose your voice first, then create a consistent presence online.
– be useful, be specific, be nice: talk about relevant things directly to your audience in a supportive, helpful way.
– create a manageable list of networking sites you can commit to regularly maintaining.
– don’t be afraid that it’s a time-suck: you determine your level of involvement.
– if you feel overwhelmed, lurk awhile before jumping in. when you feel comfortable, start participating.
– approach participation from a place of support. post helpful info, offer to connect people you think would like to meet.
– speaking of awesome, go read these free reports by chris guillebeau and consider his call to “be awesome.”
– and check out chris brogan and his book, trust agents.
if you need some cold-hard facts about social media and the effect & reach it has, this video sums it up nicely:
probably the main reason a lot of us came to the creative freelancer conference last week was to talk about clients! for solopreneurs, every client is different and a big part of our job is reading them and interacting with a variety of personalities. the sessions on presentations and client-wrangling had me taking lots of notes and laughing in acknowledgment.
effective presentations for creative solopreneurs with darryl salerno
above and beyond the givens about speaking clearly and making eye-contact [though those are no less important], salerno approached his talk from the position of knowing the personality types of your decision-makers and tailoring your presentations to work with how they best deal with information. he breaks them down thusly:
– the thinker: content-driven, logical, likes facts & data. give them organized information with references.
– the feeler: interactive, perceptive, experience-driven. talk about impact, context, build rapport with them.
– the intuitor: theoretical, conceptual, likes the big picture. focus on uniqueness, global & future impact.
– the sensor: perfectionist, impatient, likes actionable steps. start with conclusions first, be the problem-solver, keep it brief.
once you have your audience figured out, keep these things in mind when creating your presentations:
– your presentation is about them, their concerns, needs, company & situation.
– it’s not what you say, it’s what they hear: choose your words carefully.
– use storytelling that is relevant, authentic, and connective.
– use humor as a bonding agent between you and your audience.
– ask questions periodically to keep your audience engaged; offer Q&A to relate to individuals directly.
– order your topical progression: an inital situation > business objectives that address the situation > communications objectives that support the business objectives > and strategies of how these objectives will address the initial situation—bring it back around.
– follow the 3 P’s of presenting: prepare, practice, perform!
dealing with nightmare clients with michelle goodman
after taking time to collectively commiserate about some of our less-favored past clients, goodman took the anti-victim stance that working with difficult clients isn’t about them—it’s about you! people are who they are, but it’s up to us to know ourselves, clearly define our policies, and make conscious choices about working with the best clients for us. in the meantime, there are strategies for dealing with some of the more challenging personalities out there before anything truly unfortunate happens:
– add a “how i work” page to your web site [i have a process outline here]
– set up an in-depth discovery meeting before a project starts to explore good fit and identify specific goals.
– set limits on preliminary time and travel before projects start.
– set expectations by defining scope, naming a project manager, and checking in at regular milestones.
– separate the serious clients from those who are less committed by instituting a non-refundable deposit or a cancellation policy so you can concentrate on those who are ready to work.
– address your policy on revisions and provide info on how to keep them to a minimum before the project starts.
– research potential clients ahead of time, conduct a credit check if it’s a particularly big project with a new client.
– make friends with someone in accounting [this can get you a lot farther than you think!].
if you do find yourself at odds with a client that comes to a financial disconnect, and you know you’re in the right, use the resources available to you:
– stop & withhold unfinished work
– look into collections & small claims and decide which is best for the situation in question.
– report them to the better business bureau or industry-specific watchdog association.
the first 2 thursday morning sessions of the creative freelancer conference dealt with the business-end of design: taxes and proposals. creatives notoriously struggle with balancing out the finer points of paperwork in our lives, so these sessions are a great mix of new & innovative information as well as cheerleading to keep us all on the right path.
money-saving tax solutions for creatives with june walker
walker started off the morning sessions with a lot of helpful tax advice, first and foremost that creatives have a specific set of concerns with our businesses and it’s important to work with a tax professional who understands how the law best applies to us. rather than give a run-down of standard deductions, she explained how some deductions can be interpreted differently in various situations, and dispelled some common misunderstandings of tax law. her book, self-employed tax solutions is a great value and comes highly recommended as a definitive reference guide for self-employed creatives.
the essential rules for writing and presenting proposals with peleg top
if you find yourself spending too much time crafting proposals that don’t necessarily get you the work you want, it’s time to take a better look at your marketing process and redefine how a proposal can work within it. top offers the 3 elements in an effective sales cycle to work toward using your proposal as a recap of a sales meeting rather than using it as a selling tool: put a strong brand for your business in place, operate a well-oiled marketing machine to attract ideal clients, and have the right conversation with potential clients:
– ask how they chose your firm and how they define their challenge as well as a successful solution.
– ask them to define their market, goals & objectives, and what models they’re using.
– ask where they are in the buying process, speak to the decision-makers and ask how their process works.
– ask what kind of research has been done and will it be available to you.
– ask what level of involvement they want from you: strategy or execution?
– based on these criteria, ask about the 2 most critical resources allocated: timeline and budget. talk about both and agree upon realistic solutions in person!
once you get your potential client to this point, the proposal itself should be a recap of the discussion as a project scope, timeline, list of deliverables and cost estimate. the support info you include should be boilerplate copy you have on file, including terms & conditions, and information about the design team. this system should change how you approach proposals and minimize the time you spend preparing them. always present in person, and stay in touch with clients who are still on the fence—they may just need more time to decide. once they do, get a signed contract and a deposit check—and get to work!
[photo by bruce wayne stanley]
my brain is just starting to wind down and parse the creative freelancer conference i attended last week, august 26-28, 2009 [produced by HOW magazine & marketing mentor]. in a nutshell, it was an incredibly motivating, inspiring, and highly connective conference that got all us indie professionals in an awesome hotel setting and let us loose on a varied intensive of marketing, business and management education.
i was particularly curious about the opening night presentation by petrula vrontikis, what will your freelance business be when it grows up? this session addressed growing your business in a sustainable way so that it is always balanced and relevant to your markets, clients, and the ways you work over the course of your career. vrontikis outlined many of the common motives, pros & cons of working on your own, and main points to revisit over the course of your career to stay on track. below is a list of some of the key takeaways i liked:
– keep your skills fresh & ahead of the curve; add relevant skills as the market demands.
– happiness is sustainable: some will be happier hiring employees while others will prefer working solo.
– diversify your work across a few industries and clients for variety and security.
– be voraciously involved in your target markets so you can stay ahead & change with them.
– balance your billable work with good management, relationship & professional practices.
– it’s easy to let life changes compromise your career—stay involved and commit to your practice.
– never become complacent about personal creative growth—it’s a necessity, not a luxury.
– work directly with the visionary of any project, for the sake of the quality of your work.
– be honest with clients when they have not allocated enough time or money to a proposed project. the quality of your work depends on having proportionate time and money to the task at hand.
my favorite piece of advice was “you should be working differently at 40 than at 30. and differently at 50 than at 40, and so on…” a healthy trajectory is one that moves off an emphasis on the daily grind and toward writing, speaking, mentoring and generally giving back some of your experience to the industry at large. timely advice as i’ve recently been in touch with LA area chamber‘s pillar program about speaking to high school kids about graphic design.
more about the other topics of this fantastic conference will follow throughout the week. i wanted to recap it all in one post, and realized i had way too much to say!
the big day is here! my sister’s album in a dream releases today. and with it, a good amount of exciting press:
gretchen parlato on the 411 blog
gretchen parlato, with others, on the international review of music
in a dream review from billboard magazine
review of “butterfly” from in a dream on jazz.com
buy the album online now at gretchenparlato.com!!
Why Hiring a Freelancer Saves Money by Candice Adams
every time the economy slumps, layoffs abound, and businesses & budgets can only pay for what they need as it comes, the opportunity for freelance work increases. i’ve watched it happen twice in my own career, and i think adams outlines a common scenario that many businesses go through when they can’t afford to keep the staff designers they have, or the bigger studio they used to hire. unfortunately, i’ve seen too many of them turn to far less-experienced in-house employees, asking them to take on 2 or 3 different job responsibilities, framed as an opportunity to grow. this panic response leaves the all-important job of marketing in a down economy in the hands of an inexperienced and likely overloaded employee at a critical time of transition.
rather than consolidate everything in-house, consider strategic consolidations that make the most appropriate use of employees, while outsourcing special-attention projects to experts in the field on an as-needed basis. indie professionals cut out salary & benefits packages, freeing up your budget to pay for their expertise and final deliverables at a much lower cost than keeping someone with half the experience or less on staff.
this is a timely article for me, since the creative freelancer conference is next week in san diego!
Client and Employee Appreciation Events, To Have or Not To Have? by Janis Flagg
as a graphic designer with a lot of event design experience as well as a handful of excellent event planners & producers in my midst, i’m glad to see an article addressing what has happened to the event industry in the economy downturn. appreciation events are some of the most impactful ways to reaffirm and say thank you to the clients, vendors and employees who stick by you and your business. flagg outlines how events have multiple functions of marketing, thanksgiving, and asserting a confident position in the market with your most important supporters.
parlato design studio 