Graphic designers excel at creating a unique brand identity for their clients. But as a designer, before you can do any work for clients, you have to develop a strong brand for yourself and encourage those clients to come to you.
Once people get to know who you are, they start to identify you with a particular area of expertise or understanding.
Establishing your authority and credibility gives you an edge over other designers in your niche or industry. When you turn your freelancing hobby into a branded business, you are actually on your way to become an entrepreneur.
Here are five ways you can you can successfully establish your freelance design brand:
Create a Blog
Your blog is a great place to show off your knowledge and expertise to your prospective graphic design clients while also generating organic traffic.
Search engines are likely to rank your website better if you include the keywords that your design clients use when searching for the info you provide. When starting a blog, do some research to find out what your potential customers usually search for. Any specific phrases, keywords or trending themes you uncover will set a good foundation for your blog.
Participate in Forum Discussions
Another great way to increase your visibility is to participate in forums explicitly created for the design community. This way, you can interact with other designers and also reach their set of customers and followers. Forums offer exceptional opportunities to make new friends and score more business.
Hold a Webinar
Many designers shy away from arranging a webinar, but they’re another great way to demonstrate your authority. The best way to begin is to set up a mock webinar to practice before you go live. Your audience can be your friends or family. This will help you determine whether you have enough content to cover the entire length of the webinar.
Give value to the feedback you receive during and after a webinar, and you will get more confident over time.
Send Thank-You Notes to Your Best Clients
Even though technology has taken over more traditional methods of marketing, the art of sending hand-written or personalized thank-you notes is still popular.
Not only does this trend present a softer image of your company, but it is also a great way to retain your best customers without spending a fortune.
Make sure you customize your direct mail envelopes with your company’s identity; this will reinforce your brand and encourage clients to take you seriously.
If your audience is particularly multifaceted, you may want to send different types of mail to targeted areas. For situations like this, companyfolders.com/envelopes offers an extensive selection of custom envelope design styles ready to be custom printed with your business’s logo; it’s a great place to start when you need different envelopes for different audiences.
Consider including a promotional product with your direct mail package. Recipients tend to hold onto these for a long time, which means that they’ll receive constant exposure to your brand.
Keychains are a particularly popular option because of their usefulness and portability. A wide selection of keychains can be found at forevergifts.com/key-chains; again, this is particularly useful when you need to specialize and target your marketing pieces.
Submit Work to Design Competitions
Design competitions promote individuality and celebrate creativity. Besides, who doesn’t want to earn a prize or a little extra money? However, winning is only part of the process. It is more about spreading your brand name throughout the design industry.
You can easily participate in local or online design competitions that showcase the work of both seasoned and upcoming freelance graphic designers. Make sure you participate in a contest that lets you reach your target audience.
Bonus Tip: Make Cold Calls
In addition to creating your online presence and marketing your work, the traditional method of cold calling also works if you are willing to service smaller companies.
Reaching out to clients through social media, email marketing or even through a phone call can help you land your next project. Staying in touch with potential clients eventually lets you launch your brand. Don’t forget to ask for a testimonial once you complete a project.
How to Pitch Your Clients the Right Way?
Convincing new clients to choose your freelance design over other companies can be tricky. There is so much competition in the industry that you must make all moves carefully. One mistake can taint your image and cause irreversible damage to your brand.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when contacting someone through email, on a website, by phone, or when meeting in person.
- Begin with a polite introduction
- Identify an issue and propose your solution
- Give updated contact info
You can also offer giveaways or discounted packages to make your pitch more tempting. This is a great way to create a sense of trust.
Final Thoughts
Regardless of the niche or industry, even the most seasoned freelancers have weathered a work drought at least once in their lifetime. This is a scary time, especially if your freelance design work is your only income source, but a strong marketing and brand-building can help you bring your business to the next level.