Start & Run a Creative Services Business. Susan Kirkland
go off for a week’s worth of golf. Spend at least part of your time cultivating new business. You’ll feel much better about time spent looking for your next job than you will about perfecting your swing (and guilt will always yield a YIP!). Of course it’s more fun to curl up with a bowl of popcorn in the middle of the afternoon and watch a Cubs game, but that won’t make the car payments. Have a plan and stick to it. You’ll reap the rewards of good work habits: an abundant project list, loyal clients, and a healthy bank balance.
2.8 Upgrade phone lines and Internet access
Depending on your location, the type of Internet access you use, and whether there are teenagers in your house, installing an extra phone line with a dedicated phone number might be required. If you use a dial-up connection for your online work, an extra phone line may be a necessity. Don’t be embarrassed about having dial-up instead of broadband. There are 48 million dial-up users in the USA alone. The only drawback is that some online features (like video) will not be accessible. If an extra line for the dial-up is beyond your budget, an easy, low-cost alternative is using digital voice mail provided by most local phone companies to handle incoming calls while you work online. Your calls will be answered before they ever reach your phone, sparing clients a constant busy signal.
If you have online access via a cable modem, wireless T1 or T2 broadband, consider getting rid of your phone line altogether and using an online provider such as Vonage. They supply an adapter box that connects to your modem interface. Plug your phones in and start dialing. You can realize incredible savings by eliminating your phone and long-distance carrier and opting for cable phone service. Current offers include a $40 credit for customers who make referrals plus the same amount in credit for the new customer. The most popular plan in the us offers unlimited nationwide calls and 500 minutes of international long distance for a flat monthly rate that is less than you pay for local service.
Choose your Internet service provider (ISP) according to the type of creative work you do online.
Keep in mind that your cable broadband must be at least 500k to prevent signal falloff, when your party’s voice trails off into the void. If you don’t mind a few empty, extended pauses, try it on your 256k modem. Most of these services will allow you to keep your local phone number or even create a new number with your choice of area code (as long as it is not taken by somebody else). With the advent of deregulation, satellite phone and cable companies are offering lucrative package deals bundling phone, Internet, and television services for a set fee. Keep in mind some companies require a contract while others do not. In the US, visit www.bundlemyservices.com to look for deals.
If you never want to miss a call, a mobile phone is the obvious answer. One scriptwriter I know sleeps, eats, and showers with her cell phone within arm’s reach. Having a cell phone also solves the dilemma of nonbusiness calls competing for telephone time. It’s easy to restrict the use of your cell phone to business calls by only giving the number to clients.
What about facsimiles? Most people use email to send documents these days, but if you deal with clients who are reticent to enter the digital age, you may be required to have a working fax machine. If so, a dedicated line may be the best choice for ease of operation and rapid exchange of hard copies. Let your volume of work determine need.
Choose your Internet service provider (ISP) according to the type of creative work you do online. If you send large files for output in this worldwide market, broadband is definitely worth the expense. Different areas have different services available. There are many options even in rural areas, and the selection is growing. Whether you choose satellite dish access, cable modem access, wireless access, DSL, ISDN, T1 or T2, or dial-up, make sure you choose a reliable server and an isp that meets the demands of your business.
Most service providers experience some glitches as they struggle to keep up with and work out the bugs in the latest technology. That said, don’t let a bad choice make you miserable. Ask professional peers what providers they prefer and be prepared to change yours if it’s less than satisfactory.
If your means of Internet access (e.g., cable) requires a special modem, make sure you shop for it online. My local cable company charges $129.99 for a modem I found online through Yahoo! Shopping for $34. Checking sources online is well worth your time. Another good source is Buy.com, especially for wireless routers.
2.9 Create a business image
Creating a dedicated work space includes creating a professional image. Even in today’s digital era, you will need a business card and some form of stationery, either as a workable template that you can print as needed or a professionally designed letterhead package printed by an old-fashioned letterpress printer. You will also find it useful to have a JPEG image of your business card to include with email correspondence. Remember one of the keys to creating a successful image: act as if.
If you are capable of competing with industry leaders, make sure your image shows it. Looking for serious work requires a serious image appropriate to industry expectations. If you want to be a clown, make your business card colorful and fun, with a wild and crazy typeface. Otherwise, use good sense when selecting your identity font; choose something well-proven that doesn’t shout, “I’m an amateur.”
Creative counsel requires cutting-edge imagination, yet nothing detracts more than the latest-fad fonts. If in doubt, consult a professional designer. However, don’t let all this conservatism inhibit your creativity. The creative services field allows more leeway than other business arenas when it comes to self-promotion. My advice is to rein in your wildly creative side just a tad so you don’t frighten the average businessperson. If you scare them, or suggest you are completely uncontrollable, they won’t hire you.
An important aspect frequently overlooked by the overzealous marketer is clarity: Can you read the phone number or do you need a magnifying glass and a translator to figure out what it says? Can you only read it because you know what it’s supposed to say? Your client won’t know what it says and won’t be able to reach you because of it.
Remember the purpose of your business card. It was from the lowly calling card that the business card evolved; it gives the recipient an impression, one carefully controlled by design and stock selection. (Victorian society first had social cards featuring only a name, then calling cards, then the business card evolved.) Subtle details create the desired impression, so tread carefully.
Steer clear of flashy thermography, which is a cheap substitute for engraving. Would you cover your Jaguar’s dash with pink shag carpeting? Wear climbing boots with a Yves St. Laurent strapless gown? Probably not. Thermography has the same effect for those who know the difference between true engraving and expanded plastic powder sprinkled on ink to raise the type.
Lay a good foundation when you create your work space, and both your creativity and client list will grow.
Another thing to avoid at all costs is handing out your business card for personal purposes; this will dilute its effect and render you quickly cardless. It’s bad form to hand out business cards in a bar; use your business card to get business, your personal card to get dates.
Keep in mind the code of card turning. The code was originally intended for social cards. As Judith Martin explains in Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, such cards “are hardly used now that people imagine they have better things to do with their time than to ride about in their carriages all morning, paying calls on one another. So you may amaze and delight your business acquaintances, as well as mystify them, by turning cards on them.” She continues: “There are four statements you can make just by bending your business card’s corners. They are: visité (upper left), meaning you have appeared with the card in person; félicitation (upper right), meaning that you congratulate the recipient; congé (lower left), which announces that you are leaving town; and condolence (lower right), which is, of course, an expression of sympathy. If you promise to revive this custom, Miss Manners will permit you to get funny with it by, say, turning both bottom corners for ‘Too bad, I’m leaving you’ or both right corners for ‘Congratulations on your