Start & Run a Creative Services Business. Susan Kirkland
don’t do so under ideal circumstances. More often, the ad agency you worked for lost a big account and had to cut back; or your salary was unjustifiable against billings. Sometimes you just annoy the wrong person. I worked at an animation studio and jumped when an art direction opportunity came along. The ceo interviewed me and fell in love with my leave-behind cartoon promotional piece. Unfortunately for me, the job he hired me for involved statistical publications: page after page of tabulations without a single cartoon in sight.
For the first six weeks I worked for him, all my employer talked about to his young wife was that cartoon and my amazing talent. She was standing next to him when he said he wanted me to decorate his new mansion because his wife had no taste. This was at a company cocktail party, and even if I could draw the expression on her face, you wouldn’t believe it. From that day forward, she decided I was the enemy and hounded him to get rid of me. He couldn’t tell me to my face that he was firing me or explain why; he instructed his cfo to do it. This genteel English gentleman walked into my office appearing quite overburdened. “I really don’t know why, but I’m supposed to fire you,” he said, looking puzzled.
Much earlier in my career, I worked at a downtown advertising agency and found myself working with an accomplished copywriter who turned out to be a great mentor for me. This creative director sported a Bette Davis pageboy hairstyle, smoked unfiltered Camels, and drove an old mg with the top down even though she was in her late forties. She lived with her gal pal in a big house in the suburbs.
One day, the owner of the company introduced me to a young man. “This is our new trainee and I expect you to show him the ropes.” He had just graduated from the local state college. About a month later I was fired; they said my work wasn’t up to snuff. The creative director pulled me aside and informed me the trainee was the son of the agency’s largest client. My firing had nothing to do with the quality of my work. The new employee was receiving twice the salary for half the education and none of the experience. After this happens to you a few times, you start looking for alternative ways to earn a living. You, too, can decide to create a job outside the realm of office politics.
4. Find Your Professional Edge
No matter what you may have heard, talented people are drawn to other talented people by sheer magnetism. That inborn urge to raise standards pushes creatives above competitive mode. In the right environment, an encouraging, nurturing spirit takes hold of the principals, and true creatives revel in their compadres’ success. If, in contrast, you find yourself mired in petty politics and devoting creative time to tripping up the other guy, you’ve lost your focus. If you’re tired of playing games instead of creating great design or you’ve had it up to here with secretaries that think they have a better sense of type usage than you, then you are ready to freelance.
Maybe you just want to supplement your regular income. The reason doesn’t matter. Nor does it matter what industry you work in now or where your experience lies. If you’ve got the motivation, you can succeed as a freelancer because people always need literature, websites, business cards, or whatever creative output you decide to sell. The challenge is how to attract them to your particular skill set, how to keep them coming back, and how to defend what’s yours. There are some very specific things you can do to jump-start your business and start drawing in customers, and these are not limited to sending out little postcards by the thousands. Above all, don’t follow in the footsteps of the famous designer I mentioned earlier. If you have a conscience, you’ll spend most of your time looking over your shoulder, which will dilute the satisfaction of your success.
Even if you haven’t established good discipline, there are certain characteristics that set professionals apart from amateurs. Read over this list and work on the areas you have not yet developed. Dust off and revisit the business skills you haven’t used recently. As a freelancer, you represent yourself and are working for your own profit, not as an employee and not for the financial benefit of another person. If you were a clock-watcher or paced yourself on the job, get ready for a major restructuring of attitude.
4.1 Distinguish yourself from the competition
As a freelancer, you can provide value-added services to your clients. Perhaps you have a unique style of illustration or a working knowledge of local printers. Maybe you can offer an extensive type library and the know-how to use it, or a lengthy history of working in your client’s industry. Whatever your skills, be prepared to describe them in detail. Distinguish yourself successfully, either through a unique promotion or ability, and you will stand out from the competition.
4.2 Showcase your abilities honestly
Your client will be greatly disappointed if you show him fantastic samples but he finds out later that you can’t handle projects at that level. Do a little soul-searching before you construct your portfolio and make sure it truly represents the services you are qualified to sell. Remember, you’ll be working by yourself and probably won’t have anyone to hand off work to that you can’t do. As you learn more and your work improves, add samples to your portfolio that reflect your full range of abilities.
Focus on how your skills add value, and offer solutions not previously tried.
4.3 Know your client’s business
Before you make an appointment to see a new or potential client, do your homework. Learn as much as you can about the client’s business and have a few compelling suggestions about how you can improve his creative work. Focus on how your skills add value, and offer solutions not previously tried. For instance, suggest the use of humor or concept development that stresses soft sell rather than hard sell. If you have examples of work designed for the same industry or service as your client’s, make sure you include them in your portfolio. Previous experience in the same area relieves some of a potential client’s anxiety about your familiarity with his business or industry.
4.4 Strive to build long-term relationships
Bring all the same virtues you would to friendship, but don’t expect your client to reciprocate until the benefits you provide are realized and trust is established. Trust is built over time, so if you have a prospect who hasn’t approached you with a job, take him out to lunch. People want to know they share a similar set of values before they will trust you with their work.
4.5 Share your resourcefulness and problem-solving skills
Provide specific examples of how you might handle a creative problem. Offer solutions and detail how you rescued a previous project. However, be careful about making suggestions for improvements to your client’s previous design pieces. You never know how much the client had to do with the design, and you might end up insulting his taste. Keep your opinions about someone else’s work to yourself, because they may create hard feelings and subtract from the trust you’re trying to build with your new client.
4.6 Stay in close contact during a project
Remember that your client has an active interest in his project. Understand that providing timely information is imperative when a decision needs to be made that affects price or delivery of the finished job. Resist the urge to give the go-ahead without your client’s approval, no matter how much pressure you are under.
Resist the urge to give the go-ahead without your client’s approval, no matter now huch pressure you are under.
4.7 Treat everyone respectfully
You may only work with the owner, but everyone in the office plays a part in building a business. You never know who will be responsible for projects in the future. Keep in mind that employees share opinions and experiences; make sure all their experiences with you are positive.
4.8 Join professional organizations
Find your local chapter of the Art Directors’ Club, the Production