5 Tips for Success in the Business of Design
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So many designers feel as if they can do it all, but the truth is that they can’t! especially when it comes to balancing their checkbook. The money you spend on these professional will end up being a small fractions of what you spend if you get audited. Fines, time and productivity lost and the headache, it’s just not worth it for you.
It is almost universal, many your designers don’t want to spend the money, (which sometimes they do not even have) on such “luxuries” as an accountant. The problem is that these are not “luxuries”, these are as essential to your business as air is to humans. Let’s face it, there is a reason why “bean counters” are usually not good designers, that part of their brain is not as developed as the other part that “counts”. In the same manner, most designers are not good “bean counters” and that is why you need a professional to do it for you.
And as for the cost, some accountants would be open to bartering their services for your design services, so the cost may not be as high as you imagine.
Here at our offices we stop and manually back up our work stations every Friday at around 3pm. That is in addition to a network wide backup which is constantly on.
These days both Macs and PC’s have software (and hardware) that automatically backs up everything, it’s so easy, it’s a sin not to do this. It is also worth mentioning to that backing up on an external disk and storing that disk away from your physical location is very important in case of a fire or break in.
If you choose to backup your stuff manually, that’s ok too. With USB portable hard-drives being so cheap these days, you can easily back up 1 TB worth of stuff for about $100. Imagine how long it would take you to recreate all your clients work, if you lost it somehow?
Make sure your work area is fully ergonomic. If you don’t sit well, eventually you’ll start feeling the pain, in your back, arms, hands and neck. That pain will slow you down if not outright stop you. And chronic pain is no fun , especially as that sort of pain is the kind that lasts and lasts and lasts. You only have one body, take care of it and it will take care of you.
What you need to have is an ergonomic keyboard and mouse, preferably a trackball mouse, so less of your hand is moving, an ergonomic chair and foot rest, fitted to a desk that is at your eye level. Of course this is really simplified, but much more can be found on the web. And, you might consider hiring an ergonomics expert for a few hours to help you out.
A portfolio website is a must-have now our days. And a portfolio site that is easily update able is essential. Your choose of platform for the site is not that important what is important is your ability to update it on the fly from anywhere in the world. But your own site is only one part of the “battle”, social networks are also very important in terms of promoting what you do. Make sure you belong to networks of both your peer and your potential clients.
Build a brand – your own brand. Approach your personal and professional life with meaning and purpose. Be mindful that anything you do can affect the way your brand is is regarded by potential and current clients. Yes, your work speaks volumes about you, and displaying it in a cool website is important, but what you wear, where you work, how you talk, your good or bad breath, they all do the talking for you.
Always have a business card near by, you never know who would want your card and what that interaction can do for you. On that note, make sure you have a cool business card, often times it is the only thing that represents you. People will be more inclined to check out your website if they are initially impressed by the card you hand out.
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nice tips
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Thank you for this wonderfull blog, I have been lurking for some time, many thanks to the Admin here too.
Hello, thank you for this article! Found it via Yahoo, definitely going to be visiting here more often!
A very professional looking business card is really very important in promoting your business. It makes good impression among customers.:”"
Really interesting article. Thanks for moving along the time for me with an excellent read.
Interesting article. Were did you got all the information from…