Archive for the ‘Business’ Category
Adobe Digital Publishing Platform – Welcome Back to the Show, Adobe!
Today Adobe announced the upcoming release of the Digital Publishing Platform that is built upon Creative Suite 5. This technology, though not available publicly as of yet, was used by WIRED to publish their first iPad edition of their magazine. Having seen the WIRED digital magazine on my iPad, I’m excited to see what this Digital Publishing Platform can do. In the FAQs Adobe has posted, they mention that InDesign CS5 was a core element in the creation of the WIRED Reader. I love creating print collateral with InDesign and look forward to a chance of creating interactive materials in it. I’m hoping that the publishing platform will allow me to provide new services to clients where we can turn what use to be ‘plain-Jane’ PDFs into more interactive pieces that really engage the reader.
And in case you’re wondering, this platform appears to be fully compliant with the Apple Developers License Agreement, so it shouldn’t go the way of Flash. It also takes advantage of HTML5 technologies – showing that they are not being too stubborn in their quest for Flash acceptance. The plan is also to make this support multiple platforms, so the iPad isn’t the only tablet/device out there that will take advantage of this.
I’m happy to see Adobe is embracing new technologies like the iPad even if Flash is not supported. What the WIRED digital magazine shows is that Adobe is still tops in producing creative materials, static or interactive. Welcome back to the show, Adobe! [Adobe via Gizmodo]
How Did it Start?
Posted in Business, Guest Posts, on May 12th, 2010 by Carlos.
This post was originally published on the How Did it Start blog as guest post. Please check out their blog!
We asked Carlos Perez, owner of Pérez Design + Communications Inc., how he got his start.
How Did It Start?
I had been doing design work on-the-side since 2001, but I never took it too seriously. My commitment lay with my full-time job and employer, while the business added a little (and I mean a little) extra pocket change. In 2005 I had opened up a bank account, registered a business name (Pérez Marketing Communications) but I didn’t really know what I ever wanted to do with it in the long term. In fact by the fall of 2007, I was ready to call it quits on my side business as it really wasn’t generating much business, nor was I particularly seeking it. Paying $12 a month on a business bank account I barely used really started to feel like an unnecessary expense.
Things turned around in October of 2007 inside the Wells Fargo Theatre in the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO. I was one amongst hundreds in attendance of the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Artists) Design Conference. My employer at the time allowed us to visit one such conference a year, and it was my first and consequently last that I would take advantage of. I was listening to some pretty incredible people speak about the influence of design on society. But oddly enough, it wasn’t the big speeches with moving words that really got me. It was the people I was sitting with in the audience. A substantial amount of people had a glow of blue on their faces cast by their MacBook laptops as they worked on a variety of projects. I had left my IBM ThinkPad at the hotel… it would have been embarrassing to reveal it in that crowd. I didn’t know if it was true or not, but in my mind, I was sitting amongst self-employed folks working on stuff that they really loved. I saw people working on brochures, invitations, websites, logos and more. At the time, I had quite a cool job as an Industrial Designer in a high-tech company, but oddly, after seeing these other designers work on such a variety of projects, I began to feel jealous.
Playing the Role of Accounts Receivable and the Associated Pains
Posted in Business, on April 30th, 2010 by Carlos.
I just finished reading the Wall Street Journal article entitled, More Freelancers Fight to Be Paid, and would have to agree that for self-employed individuals collecting on your accounts receivable can be a daunting task. It can be like asking Howie Mandel to “open the case” and hoping for the best. Having to play the role of the Accounts Receivable agent is perhaps one of the reasons that keep people away from running their own business, or perhaps something people who jump in too soon fail to realize they have to do. It can be tough, and it can be ugly. But if you play your cards right and follow your gut (assuming your gut leads you in the right direction on most occasions), you can minimize those pains.
No one wants to work for free, which is essentially what you are doing when you are unable to collect on your invoices. Not only have you put in the time doing the work, but you then need to put in the time to collect on your receivables. I personally think one of the major reasons that land freelancers in hot water is accepting everyone and anyone as a client. The temptation of the potential work and income can be so great that you might wind up turning a blind eye to some red flags that should be signalling you to turn away. Sometimes it takes being burned a few times to be more picky in choosing your clients.
Trust is a Two Way Street
I’ve turned down work because things just didn’t feel right with the potential client in initial meetings. In one scenario, the client seemed very skeptical of me, asking me how they knew I wouldn’t just use a prepackaged web template when designing their site, and that I was actually doing the work myself vs outsourcing it for cheap labour abroad. If someone isn’t willing to trust you and respect you as a professional, don’t give them the pleasure of blindly trusting them. The potential income can be hard to turn away, but imagine doing the work and not getting anything for it. Or even just doing the work and having to put up with a character that treats you poorly. That’s time you could have been spending on finding other work with reputable clients. Of course, it’s not always so black and white. Skeptical potential clients aren’t always bad clients. They themselves may have been burned in the past by freelancers. Ask them about it. If they are making valid points, there might be hope for you still. If, however, they’re claiming that the designer was in the wrong, but you don’t necessarily agree with their arguments, tread lightly.
Ask for Credit References
Asking for credit references is quite common and any company that is worth doing business with will gladly provide you with them. If they start balking at this stage, perhaps heading for the door will save you a lot of work and unpaid time. Sure, they will always refer you to their best and happiest creditors, but the fact that they have happy creditors at all could be a good sign.
Can’t I Just Request A Down Payment?
Yes, you can. But it won’t always work. Many commenters to the WSJ article suggest that requesting down payments on projects is the way to alleviate these issues. However, some companies have policies that won’t allow that, but it isn’t necessarily a sign that you need to turn and run. Red tape can be so thick, especially in large companies, that multiple payments can very time consuming and difficult. Sometimes, clients may simply be hesitant because of their own past experiences with being burned by a freelancer. Do what you can to alleviate those concerns. Just imagine you were looking to outsource some of your work and the scrutiny you would employ in choosing someone. If, however, they are down right rude about not wanting to pay you a deposit, that’s just poor business sense, and you might be better off skipping the project and the client altogether. If you are going to ask for a down payment, you need to put some work in before you invoice for your first cheque to show the client you are serious about the project. Even it if it’s just an initial proposal on how you intend to approach the project, a gesture like that can put the client at ease and let them know you will be following through on your end of the deal.
Asking for Your Money
I’ve luckily only had to wear the pesky and persistent Accounts Receivable hat on a handful of occasions. Generally, it was for clients I knew would pay (from having a history of payments that were on time, and just being generally trustworthy people), but I had to remind them about outstanding invoices that had gone past due. It happens, people get busy. Heck, I have even forget to follow-up on invoices because I was too busy to realize they were overdue. Your first attempt at collection should stay civil, but direct. Crying foul too often and too loudly can backfire in the longterm. Being confrontational right off the bat can anger your client and possibly delay your payment further. Sometimes it can just be an honest mistake. If, however, you are getting the run-around and lame excuses, you might need to start stepping up your game. What I find can help is talking to the Accounts Payable person/department (if they have one of course). The person you are dealing with on the project on a day-to-day basis may not know the accounts payable process well enough, so cutting to the chase can get you some answers. Don’t do it behind their back though – it won’t earn you any gold stars.
Bad-Debt
If you’ve exhausted your options and know you won’t be collecting on your invoice, check with your accountant to see if you can write the amount off as a bad debt expense. You should at least not get taxed on something you never wound up collecting on!
Unfortunately, being in business for yourself means that you will run into deadbeat clients from time to time, and lose your shirt in some instances. Fortunately, being the sole decision-maker let’s you make the final call on accepting a client or project. Be smart about your choices. You don’t have to say yes to everything that comes your way. When you find clients that pay, hold on to them, and make sure you let them know you appreciate their business.
FreelanceFolder Article on Deadlines
Posted in Business, on April 23rd, 2010 by Carlos.
FreelanceFolder has a good article about keeping to your deadlines and how you can stay on task. While I agree with general premise, I’m not sure it’s always the designer’s fault that deadlines are missed. As my comment suggests, I find in a lot of instances, timelines are missed because clients haven’t provided all the necessary information/content/feedback, etc. Keeping your clients aware of the part they play in meeting deadlines is just as important as making sure you’re doing your part. I’m fortunate to have clients that understand that deadlines are both the responsibility of the designer and the client. [FreelanceFolder]
Hourly rate? Not here… How about value or per project pricing?
Posted in Business, on April 22nd, 2010 by Carlos.
As I’ve been monitoring the Tweet-o-sphere the past couple of days, I’ve noticed the topic about designers charging by the hour or using value or per project pricing coming up several times. I also had a conversation about it with a friend the other day as he had just recently took his own business full-time so I figured it would be useful to write something about it.
From my days of working in the Corporate Communications department of my previous employer, I worked with a lot of small design firms and freelance designers. They didn’t, from what I could tell at least, charge by the hour. I never thought much of it to be honest. We were getting great quality work done for a fair price. I never bothered to care if it took them 5 hours or 5 days. Well actually, I did. I wanted it done in less time because it meant we got our projects delivered faster. Our team was constantly under the gun to deliver faster than humanly possible, and having designers we could turn to so we can make that happen was priceless. There’s no doubt, they knew that, and priced accordingly. In turn I knew I was getting quality work done, and turned around quickly. It was win/win.
When I started up my own business, I really felt that an hourly rate could do an injustice to the skills and efficiencies I had developed as a designer. The main question sticking out in my mind was “Why should I be compensated less for being more efficient than the next guy?” Seriously. Especially when your efficiency is a result of having a better understanding of the client, their requirements, the tools you use to complete the job, etc. What’s the incentive to work faster when you get paid more for the longer you take? The argument can be made that with hourly pricing you are aiming for quantity. So if it does take you only 6 hours to finish a job, you have more hours left over to take on more work. But the exact same logic can be applied to value pricing, you just wind up getting compensated for more than just the time you put in. I’m convinced that when you charge by the hour, it’s part how much time you actually put into a project, part how much time you think should go into a project and part how much time a client thinks should go into a project. So really, maybe an hourly rate is not a truly accurate measure anyways.
In practice, setting a per project price or a price based on value can seem daunting, especially if you are use to charging hourly. How much IS a project really worth? I can’t provide any magical formula to figure it out, it’s just something you get better at as time goes on. Talk to other designers to see what they charge. Talk to people in similar positions as your clients to see what they would expect to pay. Talk to your clients to see what they think (admittedly, not many will open up too much about it). To be completely honest, I still use time as one of the factors that help me calculate my estimates, but it’s not the only factor. Others can be: what the project is worth to you, what the project is worth to the client (that’s a hard one to figure out), the unique value proposition that you bring to the project (e.g. are you an expert in packaging design, are you an expert in 3D renderings, etc.) and the turn-around expected, to name a few. Practice makes near-perfect in this sense. Sometimes you will lose your shirt because something you quoted actually wound up taking much longer than you had anticipated, making your effective hourly rate peanuts. It’s bound to happen, but it can also work the other way, where you fire off a project in a good amount of time and you are compensated well for it. I’m convinced it really just balances itself out in the end, so it’s not always worth sweating the details.
There will still be plenty of potential clients expecting hourly rates. I’ve lost a handful of opportunities because I didn’t have an hourly rate, and wouldn’t divulge one. It’s just not the type of compensation model I feel comfortable with. But if you’re not comfortable with something, why do it? Value or per project pricing isn’t perfect, but I think it helps to minimize the commoditization of design work. In a world where everyone considers themselves to be a web designer or Photoshop expert just because they swiped a copy of Adobe Creative Suite from a bit torrent site, there is a need to set the truly talented folks apart. I think pricing projects differently is one of the first steps in making that happen. It acknowledges your expertise, and the true value of the work you are doing.
FreelanceFolder
Posted in Business, on April 14th, 2010 by Carlos.
Here’s a handy site you should have bookmarked. FreelanceFolder has a slew of articles geared towards freelancers and self-employed individuals. Here’s a description from their site:
FreelanceFolder is a community for freelancers, entrepreneurs, work-at-home business owners, and web-workers. We strive to bring you the articles, information, and community you need to succeed.
One of their recent articles entitled “The Fear of Freelancing: Why You Could Be Hurting Yourself” speaks to a topic I’ve touched upon in the past with my post, Quitting Your Job. It makes for a good read. Check it out. [FreelanceFolder]
Dell Small Biz Days of Deals – Starts Today!
Posted in Business, on April 12th, 2010 by Carlos.
Dell has started up their deal machine once again, this time with the Dell Small Biz Days of Deals. It runs from today, April 12th until April 23rd (weekends excluded). You can usually find some pretty great deals when they do these, so keep checking back to their site for the latest. It’s not just Dell hardware that goes on sale, but plenty of third party accessories like external drives, TV’s and more. [Dell via RedFlagDeals.com]
Can You Call in Sick When You Work from Home (and for yourself)?
Posted in Business, on March 31st, 2010 by Carlos.
How do you call in sick when you are your own boss? Are you actually able to hit the pause button and rest up as you should, or does the proximity of your working quarters beckon you do get just one more thing done before you rest a little more?
I decided to write this post as I feel the onset of a cold coming on… a few wrong moves at this point and the days ahead can be worse than they need to be. But even still, I’ve been doing work almost as per usual… replying to emails, laying out a brochure, etc. I’m by no means incapacitated, but I have to wonder that if I worked elsewhere would I be making the trip into work? I was always a strong believer that you shouldn’t go to work when you’re sick – mostly so you don’t spread it around to your peers. However, when your peers are two cats who are immune to your common (human) cold virus that excuse jumps out the window.
So why is it so difficult to take some time to rest and step back? Perhaps that entrepreneur gene is stronger than that cold virus? I do find it hard to not just waltz (or crawl) into my office to do some work and prevent from falling behind on my to-do list. Thinking back over the past 2 years of self-employment, I’m not sure if I ever didn’t just work one day because I was sick… sure there were days I did much less because I felt like my sinuses were going to explode, but to stop altogether… I don’t know. It seems like stubbornness prevails, though it shouldn’t. Sigh… back to work. 
For you work-from-homers – do you have similar experiences?
Good Read on Self Branding
Posted in Business, on March 30th, 2010 by Carlos.
Here’s a good read from My Ink Blog on how self-employed folks need to think carefully about their own brands. It makes many interesting points regarding the separation between your true personality and the brand persona you may have created for yourself, and how that affects your communications over social media. I could relate quite well which is why I created a social media brand, Keys That Click, that is separate from my professional business persona. Same person – different audiences. Check it out. [My Ink Blog]
p.s. If you missed it, I posted an article on branding yourself a few months back.
Do you hand over your source files?
Posted in Business, on March 18th, 2010 by Carlos.
I’ve been subscribed to a couple of graphic design groups on LinkedIn (Art & Design Lounge and Graphic Design Professional Group) for several months and I have found a topic that reoccurs is the issue of handing over source files to your clients. It appears that most people on these boards are against handing over source files to the client. I, however, am going to take a different approach and say you should. Or at least… it depends.
Having worked as both the client and as the designer/agency, I can see that it is a touchy subject for both sides. On the one hand, a client feels that they have a right to get the files seeing as how they’re paying you, and it is creative that is specific to their business. On the other hand, the designer has a right under copyright to claim the design as an original work, and fees must be paid to hand over the working files.
In the instance above it does look like the designer has a the upper hand in this discussion. But here’s something to think about: What if by handing your source files over you are actually building a trusting and long-term relationship with your client? I have found that openly handing over source files can be a relationship builder. This gesture shows that you are confident about your work, and also understand the client’s needs. If you are defensive from the very beginning you may very well scare the client away. I have had several clients tell me that they were upset at or stopped using a designer because they refused to provide them with source files. I wouldn’t be surprised if there have even been instances where they needed something done quickly, but the designer was on vacation, our out, or bored so they were completely out of luck.
You have to ask yourself what the damage to your business would be if you did hand over the files. Do those damages outweigh the benefits? I understand that most designers are worried that they will lose future business. If you hand over source files you run the risk that the client will make changes themselves or send them elsewhere for future work. But I would venture to say that you might have more opportunity to not only work on changes to your existing work, but also on new larger projects. If a client feels hassled about one project, what would make them want to come back? As long as you maintain a strong relationship with the client, they will have very little reason to stop using you. On the other hand if you have a bad feeling about the arrangement from the beginning – then why are you doing business with them in the first place?
Now I’m not saying you should not be compensated appropriately when doing this. You have every right to inform the client about potential charges that are incurred if source files are provided – but remember to walk that line carefully. If you charge too much, you might lose the sale, but then again, you might lose the sale if you don’t provide them at all.
Also, we may need to define “source file”. There’s a point where it is impractical to hand over a source file. A specific case where I may hand over a source file is with InDesign files for a brochure. If those files are comprised of several graphics that were once Photoshop PSD files, I don’t actually include the layered PSD files. I normally flatten the files into TIFF’s and include the TIFF’s in the packaged InDesign folder. If they press for something specific like the PSD – again it comes back to whether it’s worth it for you or not to do so. Then again, if it is an honest hassle to go back through your archives to find the file, then be honest and tell the client a fee will be associated with the file retrieval. After all, it is your time.
You can see there’s no easy solution to this, but I would caution against outright denying your clients access to the source files. Use it as a relationship builder and you may find that they really appreciate the gesture, and trust you more for future work. But also remember to trust your gut, because you may even be able to tell if you’re being had. If that’s the case, find yourself some better clients.
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