Resourceful Designer: Strategies for running a graphic design business

Uninterrupted time can help you become more productive.

If you want a more productive design business, arrange your schedule to have periods of uninterrupted time. Time that is free of notifications and distractions, allowing you to focus all your energy on the task at hand.

If you're anything like me, you have a million things on your mind, and a good number of them are on your to-do list. But no matter how efficient you think you are, there are only so many hours in a day, and never enough time to get things done.

But what if I told you there is a way to get more hours out of your day?

Ok, not really. Nobody has come up with a way to slow down or stop time yet. Or at least not that I know of. But there is a way for you to FEEL like you have more time and for you to be more productive. The trick is uninterrupted time. That means no distractions, a span where you focus 100% of your mental and creative energy on the task at hand.

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like you accomplished so much? Chances are, you felt that way because you were less distracted that day. One hour of uninterrupted time is equal to three hours of a regular workday, so it's no wonder you felt like you accomplished so much.

How can one hour of uninterrupted time equal three hours of regular time? Let me explain.

The University of Illinois and Microsoft did a joint study on the impact of disruptions on the workforce and recovery time after those disruptions. They tested a pool of workers, monitoring their work habits and how they were affected by typical, everyday distractions such as email notifications, text messages, social media DMs and phone calls.

They deduced that the average worker takes nine munites to return to a task after an interruption. NINE MINUTES.

They're not saying that it takes nine minutes to reply to an email or a DM. But that most people, when distracted, will take a bit of extra time before getting back to the task they were distracted from. Replying to a Facebook Message may only take a few seconds. But while distracted from their primary task, they might as well check to see if anyone liked or commented on their most recent post. Or after replying to a text message, they may as well see if any new emails came arrived. Or they may decide to take the time to refill their coffee before getting back on track.

So, on average, simple distractions like a social media DM can take you away from your primary task for up to nine minutes. And that's just time away from the task. There was a study a while back that said it takes roughly 10-20 minutes of working on something to become entirely focused on the job.

You may be thinking, "I don't take nine minutes to get back to a task after a distraction." The test subjects in the Microsoft and University of Illinois study thought the same thing. However, when interviewed after the study, almost every one of them was surprised by how long their distractions lasted.

Most of them thought they were away from their primary task for only a minute or two, when in fact, they were away from it for three to five times longer than they thought.

Even if you ignore your notifications, leaving them for later, they're still a distraction. If you don't click, the distraction still breaks your focus and interrupts your work. Which means it will take longer to complete that task.

A study on people's work habits conducted by RescueTime said the average person couldn't go six minutes without checking some sort of communication platform.

Once you add in other forms of distractions and 40% of people, never get more than 30 minutes of uninterrupted work time per day.

How does this apply to your design business?

We live in a world of communication overload. I'm sure that like me, you're bombarded with messages and notifications every day. But what you need to remember is that You Are In Control. You have the power to turn your distracting notifications off.

You've probably heard about successful business people getting up at five or six in the morning to get an early start on their day. They often say it's the most productive time for them. The reason is there are no distractions during that time since most people are still asleep.

If you're a morning person, you may want to try starting work early. Work from 6 am to 9 am and then take a break for a couple of hours to take care of all the emails, text messages and check in on your social accounts.

Or perhaps you're a night owl. Try finding some uninterrupted time by working late at night after your family is in bed.

But even if early mornings or late at night are not your thing and you work traditional business hours from 9 to 5, there's still hope. You're in control. You can choose to eliminate distractions from your workspace.

• Quit your email program.
• Turn off notifications.
• Set your computer to Do Not Disturb.
• Put your phone in airplane mode.

If you eliminate all distractions and work for a few hours uninterrupted, you'll be amazed at how much you can get done. Your concentration will improve. You'll be more focused on the task at hand. Your creativity will increase. And problem-solving will be easier. Without distractions, you'll feel like a better designer.

Aim for three hours of uninterrupted time.

Another study said the optimal amount of uninterrupted time is three hours. Three hours is enough for you to get involved with the task you've started and then slowly build your focus and creativity until you're in a zone where the outside world almost disappears. All your concentration is on your task.

I'm sure you've experienced this "Focused Zone" before. Being so focused on what you're doing that, you lose track of time and forget things like lunch.

The study claimed that focused times lasting longer than three hours might lead to fatigue, causing you to lose focus. The more engaged your brain is, the more calories you burn. And just like a physical workout, the longer you concentrate on a single task, the more drained you'll feel afterwards.

So uninterrupted time is excellent for productivity, but too much of it and you may feel drained for the rest of the day, which becomes counterproductive to the whole process of trying to get more work done.

Another study took place with young children at a Montessori school. They observed that when left alone with a task of their choosing, the children would focus for the first hour to an hour and a half.

A 15-20 minute period would follow where the children would seem a bit restless as if they were losing focus on their work. The researchers thought the kids were becoming disorderly, losing interest in what they were doing. But it turned out to be what they dubbed "False Fatigue." After this short period of restlessness, the kids became even more focused for another hour as they continued to work on their projects.

The kids were so focused that a lot of them became oblivious to their surroundings and ignored distractions introduced by the researchers.

After roughly three hours, the kids lost interest and stopped. But they looked delighted with their accomplishments.

The same principles apply to adults, including designers like you.

Times may vary for you, but three hours of uninterrupted time to set as your goal.

Finding uninterrupted time with kids in the house.

Perhaps three hours of uninterrupted time while your children busy themselves unsupervised is unrealistic. But what about one hour? Is that not feasible?

Mommy Blog Practical, By Default, shares a hack for getting uninterrupted work time without feeling "Mom Guilt" (the same solution works for dads as well.)

The hack involves using a timer to teach young kids that while the timer is counting down, it's not ok to interrupt Mom or Dad. Even young kids can learn to watch a timer.

When the timer rings, you give your kids your undivided attention. It doesn't matter what you're in the middle of doing. There's no "just a couple of more minutes." You need to follow your end of the deal if you expect your kids to leave you alone during your uninterrupted time.

Be sure to read the blog for full details.

It's up to you.

If you want to feel and be more productive, the easiest thing to do is turn off the communication overload. Limit distractions and get some uninterrupted time to focus 100% on your work. You'll be amazed at how much you can get done in such a short period of time.

Do you add uninterrupted time to your schedule?

Let me know by leaving a comment for this episode.

Resource of the week TinEye.com

TinEye is an image search and recognition company. They are experts in computer vision, pattern recognition, neural networks and machine learning. Their mission is to make your images searchable.

TinEye delivers image search and recognition solutions to the industries where searching images is mission-critical. TinEye's image recognition is used by millions of people and powers billions of searches across a wide range of industries.

What are you doing to stand out?

I was listening to a podcast recently, and the guest on the show said something about how businesses need to stand out from its competition. To which the host replied, "That's for sure, you don't want to be a penguin."

Sometimes, the most mundane things that I see, hear or read spark an idea for a podcast topic. Well, that phrase did it for me – Don't be a penguin.

What do I mean by – Don't be a penguin?

First, let me ask you, have you ever seen a large group of penguins? Maybe at a zoo, in the wild or even on TV? How do you differentiate one individual bird from the rest? I have no idea. And I suspect, unless you have an affinity for penguins, neither do you.

Unless one of the penguins has some form of distinguishing feature, they all look pretty well the same. So if I asked you to pick out one penguin from the bunch, you might have a hard time deciding since they all look the same. You would probably look harder for that distinguishing feature to make your selection easier. It's much simpler to choose something that stands out from the rest, than something that blends in.

Think of your design business.

I want you to think of your design business in terms of those penguins. Or more on point, I want you to think about a client looking for a designer.

To a client, unfamiliar with the design space, we're all penguins. As far as they're concerned, we're all the same. So how do you expect them to choose you out of all the other design businesses out there? You need to be different.

Your design business needs that distinguishing feature that will help clients chose you.

I recently had Col Gray on the podcast. Col's business, Pixels Inc, is growing because he stands out. I'm not talking about Col's Scottish accent. Sure, that's a distinguishing feature in most parts of the world. But it doesn't help him in his home country of Scotland. I'm pretty sure most of the other native designers he's competing with locally have a similar accent.

No, Col stands out because of the personal brand he's developed, Including his look. If you don't know Col, he has a very distinct look. He's almost always wearing black. He has a very long beard that grows down below his chest level that he often ties it with hair elastics.

On top of that, you never see Col without a ball cap. And not just any ball cap. It's either black or red.

So visually, Col stands out. If a company asked multiple designers to pitch them, they'd remember Col. In fact, I'm sure they'd remember him months or even years later. Col is not a penguin.

Niching.

Do you remember Craig Burton, who was on the show a while back? Craig's design business is called School Branding Matters. One look at his website or even just hearing his business name and you know right away how Craig's design business is different.

Imagine a school principal or school director looking to rebrand their institution. If presented with three or four different designers to choose from, which one do you think will stand out as the best choice? The three designers who have practically the same message on their website just worded in different ways? Or the one designer whose website says he helps schools craft compelling visual brands?

Do you get my point? The penguin that stands out is the one that gets picked.

Even niches have penguins.

Even within a niche, you don't want to be a penguin.

Take my Podcast Branding business. I know several other people in this niche that offer podcast cover artwork as a service. I also know I'm one of the more expensive options. Some of them charge a fraction of what I do. And yet, I get new orders every week. Why is that? Because I stand out.

I ask every client who hires me why they chose Podcast Branding? Most of them say it's because the other options all looked the same, and they couldn't tell which was better. But my business looked different. I presented as the most professional, and even though I cost more, I seemed more trustworthy, and I looked like the one that could help them the most.

I'm also the only podcast cover artwork service, as far as I know, who insists on meeting and talking with each client before I design anything for them.

I've had several clients tell me that was the clincher. They felt that personal touch meant I would take better care of them than any of the other services that wanted them to submit their information via a web form.

So you see,

It doesn't matter who's the better designer.

It doesn't matter who's the fastest designer.

It doesn't matter who's the most affordable designer.

What matters is which designer stands out from the others because the one that stands out is the one chosen most often.

How can you stand out?

What can you do to stand out? You could try embracing a uniquely personal look as Col has. But that strategy could take years to develop. Or you could try narrowing down and focusing on a niche like Craig, and I have. Niching automatically sets you apart from all-purpose designers.

But what if you don't want to go to those lengths? What if you don't want a unique look or to niche down?

What you need to do is figure out what makes you unique and embrace it. Emphasize it for everyone to see.

Be unique.

I knew a web designer who exuded personality on his website. For example, this is how he described part of his design process.

"Once I know the scope of your project, I'll present you with a proposal. I can do this over video, but I much prefer to do it in person. We can meet at my office or yours, but whoever's office we chose is responsible for supplying the cookies."

His site was full of small nuances such as that. And you know what, he told me that most clients he pitches to have cookies waiting for him.

I also remember this headline on his website.

"I'm a Scottish Web Designer, and I'm very good at it. Web Design, that is, I'm only so so at being Scottish."

Upon landing on his site and reading that line, you knew he was different. Some people might be turned off by his presentation, but chances are those weren't clients we would have wanted anyway. Those who did like it saw his uniqueness as different than the other designers and hired him because of it.

Don't be a penguin.

So ask yourself, what am I doing to make my design business stand out from my competition?

What can I change or do better to improve my chances of being the chosen one?

What can I do differently so that I'm not just another penguin in the rookery?

That's something for you to ponder.

Resource of the week ShortPixel

ShortPixel improves website performance by reducing image sizes, resulting in smaller images that are no different in quality from the original. The results mean faster loading web pages, which translates into better user experience and better search engine rankings.

ShortPixel can be set up to compress images as they're uploaded to your website or as a way to batch process your existing media library.

ShortPixel offers a one-time purchase or monthly plans depending on how many and how often you need to optimize images. They even have a free plan if you only need to optimize up to 100 images per month.

If you don't tell them, they won't know.

Before I launched the Resourceful Designer podcast on September 30, 2015, I sat down and wrote a list of over 50 topics I could discuss on the show. I wanted to be sure before embarking on this journey that I wouldn't run out of things to say.

Almost five years later, and 219 episodes in, I still haven't covered all 50 of those original topics. The ideas behind many of my episodes come from my own experiences in the week or weeks before recording.

Maybe I'll read something in a book, or an article or on social media that gets me thinking, and those thoughts emerge into an episode topic. Or perhaps something I hear on another podcast or TV sparks an idea. And of course, my interactions with my design clients often turn into teaching moments for the show.

All of this to say, I'm never genuinely lacking for content.

But back before I started Resourceful Designer, I wasn't so sure I'd have enough discussion material. That's why I wrote my original list. To prove to myself, I had enough things to discuss.

I remember when I was getting ready to start the podcast, looking at that list and wondering which topics I should cover first. There were a lot of good ones, after all. In the end, I settled on what I thought was one of the most important topics a home-based designer should know and "Do Your Design Clients Know What You Do?" became the first topic I shared with my audience. It's an episode devoted to telling your clients what it is you do, because, believe it or not, most of them don't know.

I know it sounds strange, but it's true. Most of your clients don't know what services you offer beyond what it is you currently do for them. And almost five years after recording and releasing that episode, the situation hasn't changed.

Earlier this week, a client I've been working with for over 20 years, dating back to my days working at the print shop, asked me to send him a copy of his logo in vector format. Curious because most clients don't know what a vector is, I emailed him questioning why he needed a vector of his logo.

To my surprise, he told me he hired a designer to create a flyer for his clinic. I immediately called him on the phone and asked if I had done something wrong that made him look elsewhere for a designer instead of asking me?

It was then his turn to be surprised. He told me no, not at all, we have a great relationship, and he loves working with me, but I do websites, and he needed a flyer.

A bit of back story.

Before I continue my story, let me give you a bit of history between myself and this client.

I designed this client's logo almost 20 years ago. I also designed his business cards and the rest of his stationary. The signage outside and inside his clinic, that was me. I've also created rack cards, postcards, posters and probably other printed material I can't recall. That's not counting his original website back in 2005 and the two re-designed sites I made for him over the past 15 years.

Back to my story.

When I reminded my client of all the things I designed for him in the past, he tried to dispute it. He told me his logo, business card, etc. etc. were all created by the print shop where I used to work. Which is correct, I designed all of them when I was working at the print shop.

However, even though he remembers me working at the print shop before starting my own business, he doesn't remember me being the one who designed his stuff. He remembers dealing directly with the shop owner on every project. Not the designer who worked on his projects.

This admission surprised me even more. He has one of the most recognized brands in our community, something I'm incredibly proud of, and yet he doesn't remember that I designed it for him. Talk about bursting my ego.

He then proceeded to tell me he's had several print-related projects designed over the years by various designers.

When I questioned him on why he never asked me for any of them – I worked at a print shop after all and know a thing or two about print design – he told me he thought I left the print shop to get into web design. I didn't realize I still do print design.

I'm not blaming my client for his shortsightedness. This situation falls wholly on my shoulders. In hindsight, it was stupid of me not to realize that in the 15 years I've been running my own design business, this client has only ever contacted me for his website. What kind of company goes 15 years without needing print design? So this is on me, not him. He had a preconceived notion of what I do, and I never corrected him.

But you see, that's the issue. I never thought I had to educate this client because of our history together. In my mind, I had designed all sorts of print material for him. So it only made sense that if he needed anything else, he would come to me. But in his mind, I was his "web guy," and he never considered me for any of his print projects.

Unfortunately, he signed a contract and gave a deposit to the other designer for the flyers. So I'm out of luck there. But he did assure me the next time he needs something he'll let me know.

What's even more frustrating is he's referred several web clients my way over the years. This makes me realize how much I probably lost because he wasn't referring me for print design. I can only shake my head at the situation.

Silver Linings.

Fortunately, there is a silver lining to this story. When this happened earlier this week, and I knew I would use the experience to create a podcast episode, I went back and listened to that first episode I released. In it, I shared similar frustrations. But I also shared a strategy I used that helped—something about which I completely forgot.

When I recorded that episode, I was used to sending quarterly emails to all my clients, letting them know what sort of fun projects I had completed recently for other clients. I would make sure to include a variety of web and print jobs, including t-shirts, trade show booths, vehicle wraps, etc. It was a way to showcase my work and inform my clients what I was capable of producing. And it worked. Clients would often contact me after receiving my email asking for information on one of the projects I mentioned. They would inquire if I could do something similar for them.

Their messages would often contain lines saying something like, "I didn't know you did that." So I had the solution to this problem. And then I forgot about it. As life would have it, what started as a quarterly email became less frequent until it eventually drifted off my radar altogether. It's been a few years since I sent one out, but I now plan on reviving the practice ASAP.

In the meantime, after this enlightening conversation with my client, I did send personalized emails to my clients. I personalized each one with details about the client's business, our relationship and their industry, but before editing each email, I composed a base email to use. Here's the base email I wrote.

Hi [client's name]

As we approach the far side of the pandemic lockdown, and life slowly gets back to the "new normal," more and more businesses are being allowed to reopen.

A lot of people are wondering how their past routines will be different as we emerge from isolation. Now is the perfect time to let your clients know what to expect from you.

If you require new or updated marketing material, please let me know. Here are some ideas for you to consider that may help your marketing effort.

• Posters
• postcards
• flyers
• T-shirts
• Signage (interior/exterior)
• Display stands
• Vehicle wraps
• Digital Ads (Google, Facebook, Instagram, etc.)
• Website updates
• Trade Show Supplies

If you require any help designing these or any other print or digital material, please let me know. I'd love to help.

I wish you all the best in your return to operation.

Sincerely,

Mark Des Cotes

As I said, I added to or altered the content for each client. I didn't want them to think it was a blanket email I was sending out to the masses. I wanted each client to think I was writing just to them. And you know what? I already got my first hit.

A website client read my email and contacted me to design a postcard for her shop. Not only had she never considered a postcard until she read my email, but she also forgot I did print design since I was her "web guy."

Let your clients know what you do.

All of this to say, don't take for granted that your clients know what services you offer because there's a good chance they don't.

It doesn't matter if you list your services on your website, you showcase different projects in your portfolio, or you explain them in your marketing material. Because chances are, your existing clients are not looking at that stuff. After all, they already know you, or so they believe, so they have no reason to look into what you do.

Unless you keep reminding your clients what services your offer, there's a good chance they'll only know you for that one project they hired you to do. So take this time to reach out and inform your current and past clients about all the things you can do for them.

Who knows, you may get lucky and pick up some new work from it.

How do you let your clients know what you do?

Let me know by leaving a comment for this episode.

Resource of the week Gravity Forms

I've been using Gravity Forms for several years, and I love it. It's the easiest, most trusted tool for creating advanced forms on your WordPress website. Packed full of time-saving tools and features, Gravity Forms is more than just a form creation tool; it's a form management platform.

Build and publish simple or complex WordPress forms in minutes. No coding or guesswork required. Simply choose your desired fields, configure your options and embed the form on your website. It's that easy. And with so many built-in integrations with some of the most popular partners on the internet, Gravity Forms makes it extremely easy to connect your website to platforms such as PayPal, MailChimp, Dropbox, Freshbooks and so many more.

I install Gravity Forms on every single website I build. What else can I say?

Have you ever considered YouTube as a way to market your design business?

Ask any marketer, and they'll tell you that if you're not doing video, your missing out on a massive part of the market. In the past couple of years, revenue generated through video marketing has outpaced all other forms of promotion. And of course, YouTube is the number one place to be if you're using video. But how do you use YouTube to promote a graphic or web design business?

I'm no expert when it comes to YouTube. I would consider myself an absolute novice. But as you know, when you want to learn something, your best option is to learn from someone who's doing it successfully.

In today's episode of the Resourceful Designer podcast, I'm talking to designer Col Gray, owner of Pixels Ink, a logo and brand design studio in Dundee Scotland. We discuss how he's making significant strides with his YouTube channel, Pixels Inc, as a means to market his business.

In this episode you'll hear us discuss:

• How Col got started on YouTube.
• The strategy he decided to embrace.
• Why he chose business people instead of other designers as his target audience.
• How he finds topics for his videos.
• How YouTube is a long term marketing strategy.
• His experience in getting his first client through YouTube.
• What makes a video engaging.
• What equipment you need if you're just starting.
• The equipment Col uses to optimize his show.
• His video process

Equipment and software mentioned in the episode:

• Rode Smart Lav Mic
• Canon G7X camera
• Davinci Resolve
• Adobe Premiere
• Camtasia
• ScreenFlow
• Tube Buddy
• Morning Fame

What's your experience with video and YouTube?

Do you have a YouTube channel for your design business? Please share it in the comments for this episode.

Communicate clearly and jargon-free.

Pixels. Bleed. Wordmark. Hero Image. SSL. White Space.

I imagine, as you read each of those words, your mind quickly thought of each one's meaning and how you use them.

To you, a designer, deciphering these words uses up the same amount of brainpower as reading the words eggs, horse, car, or house. There's no need to burn brain calories contemplating them since they are second nature to you because you're familiar with the jargon of the design industry. You wouldn't be much good as a designer if you didn't know what pixels or bleed or a wordmark, etc. were.

But you deal daily with people who are not in our industry. That's why they hire you, after all, because of your creativity and knowledge of all things design.

But sometimes, that knowledge can become a crutch—especially when dealing with clients who don't know what we know.

I recently had a Zoom chat with a new client looking for podcast cover artwork. The gentleman was in his 80s and starting a podcast about the commonalities between creationism in religion and science. He's a retired professor of quantum physics with an in-depth knowledge of string theory. He's no dummy. Some may even consider him a genius.

However, during our discussion about his podcast cover artwork, he asked me what a pixel was. He had read how podcast cover artwork should be 3000px by 3000px square. He was unfamiliar with the term but rightly surmised that pixels are a form of measurement. But he had no idea how big or small a pixel was because, in his vast knowledge of the inner workings of our universe, pixels had never come up.

This goes to show you that even the brightest minds don't know everything from every field. And nor should they.

Maybe you're thinking, "The guy was in his 80s, so that's understandable. However, most people these days know what a pixel is." And I'll concede that point. I, too, believe most people know what a pixel is.

However, if you ask a non-designer how wide 300 pixels are, they probably couldn't answer. You, on the other hand, could probably make a reasonably accurate guess as to how wide 300 pixels are. That's because you're familiar with them. You work with pixels daily and therefore have a good idea. For the rest of the world, there's no reason for them to know how wide 300 pixels are.

Let's get away from pixels.

What I'm getting at is jargon is an excellent way for us to learn, for us to share information and communicate with our peers, and for us to instruct the next generation of designers.

But jargon has no place when communicating with our clients unless you explain what you mean by the terms you use.

For example, I never tell a client I'm installing an SSL Certificate on their website because they have no idea what that means. Instead, I say I'm installing a security certificate because most people understand the word "security." I then further explain, in terms they know that a security certificate encrypts the communication between a visitor's web browser and their website. So when the browser and website are exchanging information, it's like that information is put in a sealed envelope and handed to someone to deliver it to the other side. Nobody can see what's in that envelope until it reaches its destination, and the appropriate party opens it.

Without a security certificate, it's as if that information is delivered back and forth on sheets of notepaper that everyone can read.

When explained in these terms, a client can understand the importance of an SSL Certificate without knowing the jargon.

When you're talking with your clients, be conscious of the terminology you use. If you need to use jargon, make sure the client understands what you are saying. If you're not sure, ask them.

For example, "I think a wordmark would suit your brand. Do you know what a wordmark is?"

Don't presume the client knows what you're saying. Give them a chance to learn during the process by asking. They'll appreciate and trust you more for it.

Clients are guilty of using jargon as well.

Communicating with our clients is not the only time jargon comes into play. Our clients are just as guilty of this when they deal with their clients or customers.

Industry speak, another word for jargon is seen in marketing material everywhere, mucking up the message it's trying to relay.

Your job as a designer isn't to create pretty designs for your clients. It's to ensure your designs tell a precise and accurate message, a message that provides a solution for your clients. One that those who see it will understand.

One of my clients is a Chiropodist (foot doctor).

When he acquired a new state of the art laser unit to help him treat various foot ailments, he asked me for a new brochure to help him spread the word. Rightly so. It was a great addition to his clinic. However, the way he wanted to spread the news was all wrong.

He sent me the text for the brochure he wrote himself. Copy that included all sorts of technical information about his new laser, information full of jargon that only other chiropodists would understand and find appealing.

I could have taken the information he supplied me and designed a beautiful looking brochure that would have ultimately failed. It would have failed, because his target market, people with foot problems would be confused by the industry jargon and not understand the benefit they'd receive from the new laser unit.

Instead, I sat down with my client to discuss not what the laser does or how it works or the technology behind it. But how it benefits his patients, what it means as far as their treatments go, how it speeds up the healing process requiring fewer and shorter visits, how it's safer than the older traditional methods for treating different foot conditions.

We eliminated the jargon and explained in easy to understand terms why people suffering from foot problems should book an appointment with him.

And you know what?

After distributing his brochures to doctor's offices and clinics around the area, he saw a spike in new patients asking about his new laser treatment. I'm convinced that replacing the jargon with easily understood copy is what made that project a success.

Your job is to ensure your client is thinking about their project from their target's point of view. It doesn't matter what your client thinks or likes, just as long as it appeals to their target market.

Convincing your clients.

It's not always easy to convince clients to think in terms of their target market. I know. I've been a designer for over thirty years, and I still have trouble doing it. But here's something you can try.

Ask your client to imagine that a grade-schooler is doing a research project on their brochure, website or whatever it is you're designing for them.

With the information provided, do they think a grade-schooler would understand it? If not, then they should change the wording of the message.

If they argue that their target market isn't grade-schoolers, remind them that according to studies, when interpreting instructional or informative texts:

• 49% of the global population have basic or below basic reading skills. (In the USA that number is 52%.)
• 12% of the global population read at a grade 9-10 level or lower. That's the same percentage in the USA.
• Only 2% of the global population read at a grade 11 level and up.

What this means is, people have a hard enough time comprehending the instructions or information they read that you shouldn't complicate it by adding jargon to the mix.

There are some exceptions when jargon is beneficial.

I recently built a new website for an engineering company that manufactures control systems for industrial plants, hospitals, hydro dams, airports, etc. Any business requiring industrial automation.

My client didn't need this website to attract new clients. They needed it for recruitment. The problem they faced was weeding out the skilled and capable engineers amongst the hundreds of resumes they receive every month.

So in their case, we used all sorts of industry jargon that only the most qualified candidates would understand.

Since its launch, they've received few resumes, but the quality of candidates increased.

So there are some instances where jargon can be beneficial. But in most cases, jargon should be saved for conversations amongst your peers.

When talking to your clients, you should make a conscious effort to minimize the jargon you use or at least explain it in terms your clients will understand.

And don't be offended if they ask you to clarify something. There are no dumb questions when posed by the uninformed.

If you take care of your clients, they'll be more impressed and more loyal to you.

Resource of the week Coolors.co

Coolors.co is a super fast colour scheme generator. Press the spacebar and create beautiful colour schemes that always work together.

Coolors.co also allows you to pick colours from uploaded images. You can adjust and refine colours by temperature, hue, saturation, brightness and more. You can also save your pallets for easy future access.

They also offer an IOS and Android app as well as an Adobe Add-on for Photoshop and Illustrator to display all your pallets in your programs.

Do you offer Website Maintenance to your web clients?

[sc name="pod_ad"]Offering Website maintenance is a great way to make extra money while putting in minimal effort. It's right up there with print brokering as a way to supplement your design income.

Way back in episode 9 of the podcast, I shared 12 ways designers can earn extra income. On that episode, I mentioned making extra income by offering to host your client's websites. Since then, I've made a few changes to the way I operate. I no longer provide web hosting on its own. Instead, I offer website maintenance, and I make a lot more money doing so. And so can you.

The typical lifecycle of a web design project.

• A client approaches you to design and build their new website.
• You agree on a price, get the contracts signed and receive your deposit.
• You get to work on their site.
• When it's ready, you present your client with their new website.
• You make any requested adjustments until they're thrilled with what you did for them.
• They pay the balance owing to the project, and you launch their site.
• The client is happy with their new website. You're pleased with the money you earned—end of the story.

Once this process is over, you may or may not hear from that client again until they need a new website in a few years. That's providing they don't meet another web designer between now and then. If they do, then all bets are off.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

By offering a website maintenance plan as part of your web design services, you retain that client on the books, and chances are when they need new web work in the future, they'll turn to you because of your ongoing relationship.

Plus, wouldn't it be nice to earn a recurring monthly income that gives your clients piece of mind while costing you very little in return? If you are not offering a website maintenance plan as part of your services, you're leaving easy money on the table.

Offering a website maintenance plan doesn't require much tech knowledge.

The best part of a website maintenance plan is if done right, you don't need much tech knowledge. I didn't know much when I started. And to be honest, there's still a lot I don't know. But I don't have to know much for my plan to work.

What a website maintenance plan looks like.

Website maintenance plans differ from designer to designer. However, let me break down what my website maintenance plan looks like.

When I started offering website hosting in 2005, I charged my clients $12/month. When I switched from hosting static HTML sites to hosting WordPress websites, I raised my hosting fee to $35/month. Then I attended WordCamp Ottawa and met a fellow designer whose business was very similar to my own. However, instead of just hosting his client's websites, he was offering a website maintenance plan. After hearing about his success, I immediately implemented it in my business. I raised my price to $69/month and expanded my offering from simple hosting to a full-fledged website maintenance service.

Some web designers may find $69 per month expensive. But it's not. I know designers who charge much more than I do for their website maintenance plans.

Look at it this way, if you're building $500 or $800 websites for clients. Then yes, they'll find $69/month expensive. However, a client who pays several thousand dollars for a website, won't hesitate to pay $69 or more each month to keep their investment safe. That's what a web maintenance plan offers, safety and peace of mind.

My website maintenance plan consists of:

• Managed WordPress hosting (I have a shared hosting plan that I divide and resell to my clients.)
• Premium licence fees for themes and plugins.
• Unlimited email accounts for the client's domain name.
• An SSL Certificate for their site.
• Malware Scans.
• Weekly WordPress Core, Theme and Plugin updates.
• Daily website backups to an offsite storage location.
• Enhanced Website Security.
• Uptime Monitoring.

In return for these monthly services, my clients get a stress-free website. They don't have to worry about their website getting hacked. They don't have to about keeping their site updated. They don't have to worry about evolving security measures. They don't have to learn how to manage their own website.

Instead, my clients can concentrate on growing their business, knowing that I'm taking care of their website for them. Over 90% of my website clients see the value in my maintenance plan and sign up without hesitation.

Variations on website maintenance plans.

Some web designers offer a certain number of non-carryover hours as part of their monthly plan that allows a client to request small updates to their site. I don't provide this. If a client wants changes to their website, I bill them extra.

Some web designers offer to maintain their client's website regardless of where the site is hosted. I don't provide this either. If one of my clients wants me to manage their site, I insist they host it with me. This way, I'm familiar with the web host, which makes it easier to fix any problems that may arise.

A website maintenance plan is not a lot of work.

Maintaining a WordPress website doesn't require a whole lot of effort. Other than keeping WordPress, the theme and the plugins updated, there's rarely anything to do.

Most of the work is done before launching the site and continues working month after month without any input required.

I use SiteGround to host my clients' websites. They help me set things up, and their 24/7 support means I can count on them should I need help with anything. Here's what I install on every client website I maintain.

• SSL certificate (Your web host may be able to help you with this).
• A backup plugin (I use BackupBuddy from iThemes)
• A security plugin (I use iThemes Security Pro)
• Malware scanning (I use both iThemes Security Pro and SiteGround for this).
• Uptime monitoring. (I let SiteGround monitor the site uptime for me.)

Should anything go wrong with a website, If it crashes during a plugin update, or gets hacked, I can quickly restore it by reverting to a previous backup and have it up and running again in less than 30 minutes.

That's it. There's nothing else for me to do. Except collect $69/month from the client. It's that easy.

How to start offering a website maintenance plan.

The first thing you need to offer website maintenance is a web host. There are many great web hosts you can choose from, but as stated previously, I recommend SiteGround.

• A good web host can help you with most of the hard work.
• When taking over an existing website, a good web host can help you migrate it to their platform.
• A good web host can help you install SSL Certificates.
• A good web host can help you update and add DNS Zone records as required.
• A good web host can help you troubleshoot site issues that may arise.

Basically, a good web host will help you do the things you're not comfortable doing.

Once you've chosen a web host, the next thing you need are plugins to manage your security and backups. I prefer iThemes plugins for this, but there are many other good ones you can choose.

Finally, if you want to get serious and maintain a growing number of websites, you'll want a way to minimize your time. iThemes Sync is the platform I use to maintain all my client websites. From one dashboard, you can monitor, update, backup and restore all the sites you manage, saving you precious time every month.

Website maintenance doesn't require a lot of time.

On average, I spend less than 5 minutes per month, maintaining each client's website.

Of course, not all of the $69 I collect goes into my pocket. I have to pay for the hosting fees, the SSL certificates (if they require something other than a free one.) Theme and premium plugin licenses, etc.

So maintaining ten client websites takes less than one hour per month at $69 each, which turns into a great hourly rate.

But what if something goes wrong?

I suggest you put a small percentage of your monthly fee aside in case of an emergency. In the rare case that something goes wrong with a client's site that is beyond your abilities to fix, you can easily hire an expert to handle it for you.

What to look for in a web host.

Here are some things to look for when searching for a web host for your clients' websites.

• Dedicated WordPress server: Shows they understand WordPress.
• Reputation: Look at reviews.
• Cost: Get the best bang for your buck, but be careful of dirt-cheap hosting services.
• Performance: What servers and OS are they using?
• Scalability: Can you upgrade or grow should the need arise?
• Uptime: Look for 99% uptime or higher. 99.9% is best. Nobody can guarantee 100% uptime.
• 24/7 Customer Support via phone, chat or email.
• Help/Training Resources: Document library to help you learn or get out of a jam.
• Security: Good to have, but doesn't replace a premium security plugin.
• Bandwidth: Make sure they don't limit you based on site traffic.
• Storage: Unlimited websites doesn't mean as many as you want. Read the fine print.
• Domain Names: Good if you don't already have a service for managing domains.
• Email: If you offer email as part of your website maintenance plan.
• Site Migration: It makes it easy to move a site from another host.
• Ease of Use: An easy to use backend.
• CDN: Servers web files from various locations around the globe.
• File Access: FTP or File Manager for when you need to poke around.
• Exit Strategy: Easy to leave should you want to migrate to a different web host.
• Additional Services: Backups, Malware scanning, Updates etc.

As I've already mentioned several times, I recommend SiteGround as a great web host with all of these features.

Website maintenance is the best form of passive income for web designers.

Offering a website maintenance plan is a great way to supplement your design income. I estimate between 30%-40% of my annual income is from monthly website maintenance payments. This recurring income allows me to continue earning money while on vacation or at a conference.

You can do the same. You're already designing the websites for your clients. Why not go the extra step and offer them the peace of mind of a worry-free website by providing a website maintenance plan? Both you and your clients will benefit from it.

You can thank me later.

Is your side gig a hobby or a business

I had a conversation with a fellow designer recently who works full-time for an ad agency and periodically takes on small design projects on the side. He called it a hobby. That got me thinking, what is a hobby and does what he's doing qualify?

Hobby vs. Business

Standard disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, accountant, tax expert or business advisor. The following is solely my opinion.

Hobby: A hobby is an activity done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. A hobby encourages the acquisition of skills and knowledge in that area.

Business: Business is the activity of making money by producing or selling products such as goods and services. Simply put, business is any activity or enterprise entered into for profit.

By those definitions, any design work you do where you get paid should be considered a business venture. At least you would think.

When does a hobby become a business?

According to the IRS, a hobby is an activity that an individual pursues without the intent of generating a profit. "Intent" is the keyword here. Meaning it's ok to make money pursuing your creative hobbies as long as it wasn't your intent, to begin.

For example, let's say you have a screen printing machine and print yourself graphic T-Shirts. If someone sees one of your shirts and offers you money to make one for them, it's still considered a hobby, because it wasn't your intent to sell the design or shirt when you created it. However, if you designed and printed the shirt with the hopes of selling more like it, then it's a business.

An artist who paints for the joy of it, and sells the odd painting to cover the cost of supplies is considered a hobbyist. But as soon as that artist decides to showcase their paintings, in the hopes of selling them for a profit, it becomes a business.

If you create something because you want to help a friend, a family member, your church, a local organization or charity you support or your kid's sports team, and they offer you money for your generosity, as long as you intended to help them and not of making a profit, then it's not a business dealing.

However, if that friend, family member, church, organization or charity asks you to create something for them in exchange for payment of some kind, then your acceptance is based on the knowledge you will be making a profit. Therefore it's a business transaction.

Why is the distinction between hobby vs. business important?

The distinction between hobby vs. business is essential for tax purposes. Yup, blame it on the government. If you are making a profit from something, they want their cut. But that could be a good thing.

If you are making money from your "hobby" or "side gig" you should want the taxman to take a cut. Why? Because as a hobby, you can't deduct losses and expenses on your tax return. But once you're hobby is classified as a business, you are entitled to the same tax advantages other businesses enjoy. Including home business expenses or additional costs that don't typically apply to income from your day job. Who knows, declaring your hobby a business, may even end up saving you money on your taxes.

Check with a professional.

Rules may differ depending on where you live, so check with a professional in your area to see if your side gig or hobby qualifies as a business. Keep in mind; you have to be actively seeing to make a profit for what you do to be considered a business.

But be careful. Even if you are actively seeking to make a profit, don't just declare what you're doing as a business without checking with a professional first. There are stiff penalties for claiming business expenses on your taxes if you don't qualify for them.

What the IRS is looking for in declaring a venture a business.

The IRS has a vague outline for determining the state of your earnings. However, here are some rules that may help you achieve business status with your hobby.

• You engage in your activity with continuity and regularity.
• You're taking actions to improve profitability.
• You keep accounting and business records.
• You consult professional advisors to help improve profitability.

Officially declare yourself a business.

The easiest way to get the IRS or any government tax agency to view what you do as a business is to make it official.

• Name and register your business.
• Open a business banking account
• Begin collecting sales tax if applicable
• Hire a CPA and other advisors.

There are no guarantees the IRS or whatever taxing agency there is in your country will consider you a business. But if you officially register as one, chances are they'll agree with your assessment.

Is your design business registered?

Let me know by leaving a comment for this episode.

Resource of the week Savvy Social School

If you're looking for a simple, easy (and fun) way to use social media as a tool to grow your design business, the Savvy Social School takes you from wasting time to feel confident that you're making the right choice for you and your business.

Savvy Social School is the BEST training and coaching resources for entrepreneurs wanting an online presence who are tired of GUESSING and STRESSING about social media.

I've been a member of the Savvy Social School for almost a year now, and it has helped me grow the social media presence for my business, which in turn has translated to paying clients. You can do the same.

Are you a Pixel Pusher or a Design Thinker?

Do you exude confidence when dealing with your design clients? If you answered no, you could be losing out on valuable business.

Designers usually fall into one of two categories: PixelPushers, and Design Thinkers.

Pixel Pushers rely mostly on instructions to do their job. A client or art director tells them precisely what they need, and the designer uses his or her skills to create it. Pixel Pushers can be amazing designers. Capable of turning those simple or vague instructions into something beautiful. However, Pixel Pushers tend not to exercise their creative powers as much, since they let other people do the conceptual thinking for them.

Design Thinkers, on the other hand, not only know how to use the tools at their disposal to create stunning designs, but they also have the skills to imagine and conceptualize those designs from scratch. They think up vague ideas, the smallest of thoughts and massage and expand on them until they turn it into something amazing.

Now, of course, I am harsh with these distinctions. There is no hard line separating Pixel Pushers and Design Thinkers. Pixel Pushers do require design thinking skills to turn someone else's ideas into reality, just as Design Thinkers need the technical expertise to turn their own ideas into reality. In fact, in most cases. Design Thinkers started their careers as Pixel Pushers. Following the instructions of someone more experienced than them.

Think of your path. Were you ever a junior designer? Did you ever follow the instructions of a more senior designer? That's how I started. The print shop hired me straight out of college, and without any experience working with real clients, I relied upon the other, more knowledgable designers around me for guidance. It's how most of us start and grow as designers.

Some designers are content with that life, content with the limited creative freedom they have, as they design things based on someone else's ideas. There's nothing wrong with that. I know several designers who enjoy what they do, while recognizing the pressure of the design concept, dealing with the clients, the success or failure of a design campaign, is all on someone else's shoulders.

But for people like you and me, being a Pixel Pusher isn't fulfilling enough. We want more.

We want to deal directly with the clients. We want to come up with the design ideas ourselves. We want to manipulate those pixels and bring the images from our head to life. We want to revel at the successful campaigns we design for our clients and learn from the failed ones because that's what makes us better designers.

But how do you go from being a Pixel Pusher to a Design Thinker?

One word, confidence.

Confidence in your skills. Confidence in your knowledge. And confidence in your ability to do what it is you do, without the need for instructions from anyone else. You're probably reading this because you either run your own part-time or full-time design business or you're dreaming of one day starting one. So chances are, you fall into the Design Thinker category. Congratulations, and welcome to the club.

But, just how much confidence do you have?

There's a wide range of Design Thinkers, and where you stand among them is mostly determined by your confidence level. That's why you see some self-employed graphic and web designers who are struggling and barely getting by, while others are hugely successful. It's not their design skills that separate them. It's their confidence level. Their confidence when they deal with clients. Their confidence in their abilities. Their confidence in what they charge. All of this adds up to greater success.

Think about it. How much confidence would you have in a lawyer who tells you they're not sure about your case? How about a surgeon who says they've seen the procedure they're about to perform on you many times, but have never done it themselves? What about an auto mechanic who says, "sure, I'll have a look at your car, but I have no idea what I'm looking for?" Your trust in them would be very low, giving you second thoughts about proceeding with them.

Now imagine your interactions with your design clients. From the client's perspective, how are you coming off? Are you exuding enough confidence for them to know you're the right person for their project?

• If you quote with confidence, clients are more likely to accept your price and hire you.
• If you present your project proposal with confidence, clients are more likely to trust your instincts.
• If you submit your design concepts with confidence, clients are more likely to agree with your ideas.

So, how do you exude confidence?

Here are my thoughts combined with a few ideas I read on articles about confidence in business from entrepreneur.comand wisdomtimes.com.

Stop waiting to feel confident.

Confidence is a state of mind that grows the more you practice. You don't have to feel fully confident before starting anything. Start small and expand on it. Begin by "acting confident," even though you don't feel it. The more you practice this, the more your mind will shift, and soon you'll stop acting and actually start to feel confident.

Keep in mind that a little fear and nervousness are healthy. Even the most confident people still experience these emotions. Don't let them stop you from feeling confident.

Focus on the benefits to your clients.

A great way to grow your confidence is by focusing on the benefits you bring to your clients. Concentrate more on how your work will help your client and less on how you're going to accomplish that work. If you show confidence and make it clear what the client is getting by working with you, you're halfway to getting them to agree with you.

Be direct.

Tell your clients exactly how it is and how it's going to be.

• This is your price.
• This is my proposal.
• Here are my designs.

Clients will appreciate your directness and see you as a professional.

Learn to accept rejection.

If you want to be confident, you need to be able to accept NO as an answer and move on. Every time someone says no to you, think of it as one step closer to getting a yes response.

If you confidently give a quote and the client rejects it, move on. If need be, use what you learned and adjust your price on the next similar project to quote.

Package yourself for success.

To show confidence, you should look the part. Dress well for the client. Wear formal attire for corporate business clients and something clean, casual and yet still professional for more relaxed clients.

Correct your posture.

Your posture is a clear indication of your confidence level. If you're slouching, you come off as insecure, lazy or disinterested. The straiter you sit or stand, without looking stiff, the more confidence you'll exude.

Do your best, and worry less.

Stop worrying about what others think of you. If you doubt yourself, people will sense it. Focus on the things you do well and learn and grow from your mistakes. If there are things you don't do well, hire someone else to do them for you.

Focus on your future.

Gain confidence by focusing on your Vision Statement.Your business' Vision Statement will help guide you towards your long term goals and give you confidence in your decision making. It will help you refocus on what is the most important moves for you and your business. Proceed with confidence with anything that enables you to reach that destination.

Embrace positivity.

The more positive you are, the more confidence you'll exude. When dealing with clients, look for the positive aspects in their criticism. Focus and expand on what they liked about your design, and put aside and forget the things they didn't like.

Let go of small mistakes.

Nobody is perfect; we all make mistakes. Don't dwell on small errors. Don't obsess over what you did wrong, Instead, take responsibility, apologize if you need to, fix the mistake if you can and move on.

Practice and continue to grow and improve.

The more you know, the more your skills improve, the more confident you'll be. Confidence is like a muscle; it gets stronger the more you use it. So keep practicing it in your day to day life. Try acting more confident with family and friends and everyone you deal with on a day to day basis. You'll soon see a positive change in the way they react to you. Invest in yourself and your business will grow.

Don't be afraid to ask for advice.

One of the best ways to show confidence is by admitting you don't know something. Let your client know with confidence that what they're asking is beyond your abilities, but you'll find someone with the required skills for their project.

Conclusion.

If you want to be a highly successful design business owner and not a struggling artist, you need to show confidence in all your business dealings.

• The more confident you are, the more money you can charge.
• The more confident you are, the more focus and dedication you'll put into your work.
• The more confident you are, the more your clients will trust and enjoy working with you.
• The more confident you are, the more your clients will refer you to others.
• The more confident you are, the less stressed you'll be while running your design business.

So go out there and be confident in everything you do.

How confident are you in your business?

Let me know by leaving a comment for this episode.

Resource of the week SiteGround

SiteGround, in my opinion, is one of the best website hosting companies out there. I have several of my own as well as clients' websites at SiteGround. They offer easy 1-clickWordPress installation and allow multiple domains and websites on one hosting package. And if you are already hosting your site elsewhere you can take advantage of their free migration tool to have your site moved from your old host to SiteGround.

Do you have a vision statement for your design business?

I heard this quote on a podcast recently.

Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.

I looked it up, and it turns out this is an old Japanese proverb. It means if you have a vision, but you don't do anything to achieve it, it's nothing more than a daydream. However, if you take action, without any sort of vision to guide you, the results can be chaotic and possibly catastrophic.

I know that sounds kind of dire. But many new businesses, including graphic and web design businesses, never achieve their full potential due to a lack of vision. That's why having a vision statement is essential.

The difference between a Mission Statement and a Vision Statement. What is a Mission Statement?

The purpose of a Mission Statement is to define the what, who and why of a company at the present moment. It's kind of an action-oriented instructional roadmap for how a business operates. It defines the purpose of a business; it's function and objectives.

What is a Vision Statement?

A vision statement, on the other hand, defines where the company, in this case, your design business, wants to be in the future. It guides you in your decision making when it comes to setting goals to reach an eventual destination.

When comparing the two, a Mission Statement is a journey, one you take to reach your destination, the Vision Statement.

As Jessica Honard, co-owner of North Star Messaging + Strategy, a copywriting and messaging company, puts it "A mission statement focuses on the purpose of the brand, the vision statement looks to the fulfillment of that purpose,"

In most cases, a Vision Statement is shared within an organization, while a Mission Statement is shared with the public.

Why do you need a Vision Statement?

The primary purpose of a Vision Statement is to give you focus. Many business owners, including designers, start businesses without any focus. And without focus, you can end up all over the place.

You know you want to start a design business, but what does that entail? Finding clients and designing projects for them? But what else?

Do you want to be still doing the same thing 3-4 years from now that you're doing today? Do you want to be working for the same types of clients? Do you want to be doing the same kinds of design projects? Do you want to be making the same income?

Without a proper vision to follow, you may end up being very busy but not accomplish anything. A vision statement creates a clear picture of the future of your business 3-4 years from now.

What's the difference between a vision and a goal?

Think of a vision as a mindset, a position to strive for in the future. It's something you want to achieve, but it isn't as measurable as a goal.

For example, your vision might be to become a recognized design influencer. Your goal to achieve that vision might start with talking at 30 regional and national design conferences within the next three years. Visions are more abstract, something to dream of. Goals are more concrete, something you can measure.

Having a Vision Statement makes it easier to create goals. Goals that help achieve your vision.

A Vision Statement for your design business.

If you don't have one already, you need to write a Vision Statement for your design business. Figure out a destination, a place you want to be in three to four years from now. Then figure out how to get there.

The purpose of a Vision Statement is to inspire you, encourage you, to push you.

• What do you need to do to fulfil your vision?
• What do you need to stop doing because it's preventing you from achieving your vision?
• What do you need to learn that will make it easier for you to reach your destination?
• Who can you partner with to help you realize your vision?

Without a vision for your future, it's easy to get bogged down by the day-to-day details of running your business. It's like you're on a boat in a river without oars. You're making progress, but you have no control over the direction you're going. You have no idea how far you'll get, you have no idea where you'll end up down the river, and you have no idea when you'll get there.

Do you see why it's essential to have a Vision Statement for your business?

Writing your Vision Statement.

There are no templates or plans to follow when writing a Vision Statement. It can be as short as one sentence or several pages long as long as it outlines what you want for the future of your business.

Things to consider.

Set it in the future but write it in the present: Your Vision Statement shouldn't reflect what you are doing now, but where you hope to be 3-4 years down the road. However, you should write it in the present tense as if you've already achieved it. It will help encourage you.

Make it challenging: Your Vision Statement needs to challenge you; otherwise, what's the point? Make it attainable, but it shouldn't be so easy that you lose focus over time.

Make it clear: Focus on one or two goals for your future. That's all you need. Don't stuff your Vision Statement full of grand ideas. They'll only distract and possibly confuse you.

Make it general: Your Vision Statement, although defined, should be general enough to offer direction but not instruction. Meaning, it should say where you want to be, but not how you're going to get there.

Make it inspiring: There's no point setting a vision for yourself if it doesn't encourage you to work hard to achieve it. Infuse some passion in what you write and allow it to inspire you.

Keep it short: Your Vision Statement should be simple, easy to read, without any fluff. Something you can memorize and repeat to your self as you work towards achieving it.

Examples of Vision Statements

Here are some visions statements by companies you may know.

Patagonia: "Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis."

Amazon: "To be Earth's most customer-centric company where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online."

Ben & Jerry's: "Making the best ice cream in the nicest possible way."

Habitat for Humanity: "A world where everyone has a decent place to live."

Walgreens: "To be America's most loved, pharmacy-led, health, well-being and beauty company."

Southwest Airlines: "To become the world's most loved, most flown and most profitable airline."

Do any of these inspire you?

How to use your vision statement.

Once you've written your Vision Statement, use it as a guiding light in everything you do with your business.

Your Vision Statement will help you decide what clients and projects to take on and which ones to pass on. Your Vision statement allows you to identify distractions from opportunities. The better your vision, the more productive you'll be because you know where you're going.

Use your Vision Statement as part of your strategic plan, share it with your partners, contractors and clients to communicate where you envision your future.

A vision statement can change.

Your vision statement is a destination. Sometimes destinations change.

It's nice to know where you want to be 3-4 years down the road, but a lot can happen in that time. New opportunities may come your way that will change your vision. Or you may encounter roadblocks that force you to change your plans. And maybe, as you and your business grow, your priorities may change, and you'll want to review and alter your vision statement to fit your changing needs.

Trust your gut. If it's telling you your vision of your future needs to change, then do so. It's your business, after all. A Vision Statement should not be a set of blinders to the world around you. Don't let it limit your opportunity to grow your business in a different direction than initially intended. But have one nonetheless.

All the best companies have vision statements. Don't you want to be considered one of them?

Do you have a Vision Statement for your design business?

Share your Vision Statement with me by leaving a comment for this episode.

Tip of the week Emoji Shortcut

Here's an easy way to type Emojis on your desktop computer. From any text box, press this key combination to open up a pallet of Emojis for you to choose from.

Mac = Control + Command + Space Bar Windows = WIN key + "." or ";" (depends on your version of Windows)

Do you have enough of these?

When it comes to running a home-based design business, there are some things you can never have enough of. Here's a list of twelve you should consider.

1) Printer supplies

You should always make sure you have spare ink cartridges and extra paper on hand. It's never fun when you need to print something, and you can't because one of your ink cartridges is empty of you ran out of paper.

2) Input devices

It's always a good idea to have a spare input device for your computer. Perhaps an extra mouse, trackpad, trackball or pen and tablet to operate your computer. Should something happen to your primary instrument, you'll be glad you had a spare.

3) Digital storage space

When it comes to graphic/web design, you can never have enough storage space for your digital files. The price of hard drives keeps dropping, so there's no reason not to have extras on hand.

As for cloud storage. You are always better off purchasing more storage space than you believe you need. Chances are, you'll end up glad you did.

4) RAM

Whenever you purchase a new computer, you should try to maximize the amount of RAM you get. The more RAM you have, the longer your machine will last as software and operating systems become more demanding on memory. The extra cost upfront will be worth it if you can get an additional year or two out of your computer.

5) Backups

It's better to be safe than sorry. And that means having backups of your backups. When disaster strikes, you'll be glad for the redundancy.

Services such as Backblaze make it extremely easy to backup your computer and physical hard drives. BackupBuddy by iThemes is my plugin of choice when it comes to backing up WordPress websites.

6) Business cards

I don't understand people who don't have business cards for their design business. They make a great marketing tool. And at such a small cost to produce, the return on investment is well worth it.

7) Cables

You can never have enough cables. Power cables, charging cables, connection cables are just some of the various wires you should have on hand. You never know when you'll be required to connect a new device and not having the proper cable can cause unnecessary delays.

8) Connection ports

Most computers come with a limited number of connection ports. I'm talking about USB, Thunderbold, Video, Audio, etc. Devices that add extra ports are convenient in avoiding having to juggle your connections.

9) Internet Bandwidth

When it comes to graphic and web design businesses, the faster your internet, the better. Don't skimp on your internet plan. You'll be glad for the faster speeds. Plus, you get to write it off on your taxes as a business expense.

10) physical storage space

Your home office should have sufficient storage space to keep all your "stuff." Drawers, shelves, cabinets and closets are a must to keep your work area organized.

11) Suppliers contractors

Try to keep a list of people who could help you with your endeavour. Web and graphic designers should keep lists of copywriters, photographers, developers, illustrators, translators, printers and anyone else you may need to call upon for future projects. Even if you have your go-to people. It's good to know others just in case.

12) Peer support

Working from home can get very lonely. To battle the isolation, you need to build a community of peers you can connect with regularly. Join clubs, organizations and networks that keep you connected to what is happening in your local area, your niche and your industry.

What can you never have enough of for your design business?

Let me know by leaving a comment for this episode.

Resource of the week Udemy

As graphic designers, we need to keep our skills and knowledge in peak form. Udemy is one of the best places to learn new skills or brush up on rusty ones. Udemy offers a wide variety of courses for all stages of your career. I've personally bought courses on SEO, Google Analytics, Facebook Ads and more. Have a look today and see what you're going to learn next.