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How do I send invoices and track sales?<br />
Go Media uses Quickbooks. This is a somewhat complex piece of financial software,<br />
but it’s great. It takes a while to learn, but it’s worth it in the end. Don’t<br />
try to understand all of it at once… just learn as you go. Start by focusing on<br />
how to generate an invoice. Little by little you’ll learn more over time. Your accountant<br />
can help you too once you have one. QuickBooks even offers credit<br />
card processing for a small fee. There is also Freshbooks, an online bill app that<br />
uses PayPal and other payment methods. We have heard good things about it,<br />
so check it out.<br />
Pricing is a Sensitive Issue<br />
Pricing is a sensitive issue and it’s really competitive in this industry. I’ve seen<br />
well known and extremely talented designers are losing jobs because there<br />
are more aggressive novices who charge next to <strong>not</strong>hing and are “stealing”<br />
jobs away. In a down economy, clients<br />
are really attracted to this low price and<br />
are willing to take a sacrifice in quality<br />
and experience to save money. Industry<br />
veterans complain that this drives down<br />
the overall value of design services, but<br />
that’s typically how things go in a competitive<br />
industry.<br />
Don’t undersell yourself.<br />
You can only survive on<br />
ramen and rice for so long.<br />
To remedy this, designers are going to have to offer more value for their services<br />
if they want to stay competitive. Offering consulting or brand advice, or<br />
offering to help advertise or promote the customer are things you could do to<br />
add value to your services. You need to give the client MORE than just a Photoshop<br />
file. Think about it.<br />
How to Snag Those Big Clients<br />
How do some designers get to work on big-deal projects like new tees for Air<br />
Jordan? Or how do you design the merch for bands like Metallica or Miley Cyrus?<br />
Before I tell you how it’s done, let’s look at the pros and cons of big clients.<br />
THREAD’S NOT DEAD • Jeff Finley<br />
I’d say any designer who currently works for indie brands would certainly benefit<br />
from working with bigger fish. Of course you’ll reap all the great benefits of<br />
working with a big client, but surprisingly, you’ll benefit just as much from the<br />
slips & falls. Sometimes the fish are too big, the stakes are too high, and the<br />
expected output is overwhelming.<br />
Pros of Big Clients:<br />
• Big clients can pay you more than you are used to.<br />
• They can open doors to new opportunities and exposure.<br />
• They provide a relatively consistent income and almost<br />
always pay for your work.<br />
• Large clients add credibility to your portfolio; it proves<br />
you can handle the work load.<br />
Cons of Big Clients:<br />
• Sometimes the opportunity is so in demand they can get<br />
away with paying you less.<br />
• More hoops to jump through for approvals and getting<br />
paid takes longer.<br />
• They have their own rules for working with designers that<br />
might override your current protocol for client interaction.<br />
• If you happen to lose the client, it can be devastating if<br />
most of your income relied on that client.<br />
Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems<br />
Go Media landed a large web project for a Fortune 500 company in 2007. It was<br />
extremely stressful and <strong>dead</strong>lines were crushing, but we wanted the opportunity<br />
to prove ourselves on a big project. It was the most money we’d ever been<br />
Freelancing 19
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