Issue #27
June 16, 2006

Welcome to Inside Freelance Design (IFD), your free, bi-weekly e-letter from American Writers & Artists Inc. Every other week, you can receive this special alert with secrets, tips, and insights from AWAI's graphic design pros to help you improve your skills and reach your goal of becoming a professional graphic designer in the fastest time possible.

IN THIS ISSUE:
  • 12 Top Website Mistakes … and How to Avoid Them
  • Quick Tip: Do You Really Need a Blog?
  • The IFD Mailbag
  • EXTRA! EXTRA! News and Job Opportunities
Are You Committing These 12 Deadly Website Sins?
By Kammy Thurman

Promoting your services online is a must. It creates instant credibility and additional marketing opportunities. And it's a great way to showcase your design skills even if you have a thin portfolio.

But your site needs to communicate clearly and succinctly with visitors. Here are 12 website sins that get in the way of clear communication, and can even cost you a potential client:

  1. King Kong sized files – Great animation may be fun to look at, but it's a pain to wait minutes on end to load. Most people won't bother … and they'll leave irritated. Show prospects you respect their time by providing information in a quick, clean manner.
  2. Bad structure – Design your site so it makes sense to visitors. What kind of information will they want? In what order? Use direct marketing strategies to lead readers from one paragraph to the next, and one page to the next—just like you'd lead them through a sales package.
  3. Leading readers astray – If you've ever clicked on a page only to discover there's no way out, you know what it's like to get stuck in a website quagmire. You want to make it easy for viewers to find their way around your site, so provide a navigation bar on every page. Also link the pages so they can back out of a page to the previous one if they wish.

  4. Trying to include everything – I recently visited a copywriter's site that included everything about her but the size of her Grand pappy's boots. The purpose of a website is to communicate what makes you different from other designers – not just a storehouse of disparate samples and information.

    So before you do anything else, put together a focused marketing message and design around that. If you're not sure how to approach this, you may want to partner with a copywriter to work out content before you start designing.

  5. Unproofed copy – Don't do like the artist whose site reads, “Ignore the typos. I'm fixing them when I move to a new server.” Your site is probably the first impression a potential client gets of you. Make it the best one possible, even if that means farming out the copy to ensure a professional image.
  6. No contact information – You want potential clients to contact you. Include your full contact information on every page so they don't have to go hunting for it—because they won't.
  7. Readers can't download important information – Your business doesn't exist only in cyberspace. Make sure readers can easily download your bio, resume, and other key information to keep on hand if they choose.
  8. Delaying entry – If visitors didn't want to enter your site they wouldn't have come there in the first place. So dump the gateway page and let readers in immediately.
  9. Flash intros – If you're a web designer specializing in Flash and you want to show off your skills then by all means use a short Flash intro. Otherwise, don't do it just because it's “cool.” Your visitors are busy. They're at your site for one reason: to see what you can do for them.
  10. Maddening Music – The beauty of music is in the ear of the beholder and the tunes you like might give someone else an instant migraine. Save music for your personal listening pleasure.

  11. Automatic audio on every page – I viewed a site last week where the “guru” had a voice-over starting automatically on every page. Plus more audio buttons for every product.

    At one point there were two different conversations coming through my speakers at the same time. The only way to stop them was to leave the site. So I did. Use audio clips sparingly – if at all – and for very specific purposes.

  12. Unidentified Icons – Icons and navigation buttons defeat your purpose if viewers don't understand what they mean. If it doesn't make things easier and clearer for viewers, don't put it on your site.

Create a site that does its job well. Potential clients will appreciate your efforts … and you'll appreciate their new business.

To learn more about web- and e-letter design, join us in November for FastTrack to Graphic Design Success 2006. Master Designer Roger Parker and Mike Klassen will join forces to show you the best techniques for designing the ever popular e-letter and give many easy to use tips for creating your own website.
http://www.thedesignerslife.com/fasttrack2006/

* * * * * * * * Highly Recommended* * * * * * * *

You're Working Too Hard… and Not Earning Enough

Join Lori Haller live on Wednesday, June 28th from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. as she reveals her secrets for earning $150,000 to $200,000 a year as a graphic designer, working from home part-time.

http://www.thedesignerslife.com/webinar/

QUICK TIP: Do You Really Need a Blog?
By Kammy Thurman

You've undoubtedly heard the term “blog” … and wondered if you need one. A blog (combination of the words “web” and “log”) is like an online diary. It frequently contains information posted every day or every few days.

Blogs are popular because blogging software doesn't require any technical knowledge. You type and send. It's that simple.

Properly used, it is a powerful marketing tool. Here's why:

  1. A blog's continuous new content keeps your site fresh, making it more attractive to search engines.
  2. By adding a page linking to vendors, organizations, interests, and inspirations, you get them to link back to you. This increases traffic to your website.
  3. A photo-uploading feature lets you showcase your work on your blog with little effort.

A blog is an excellent way to build your expertise. Renowned copywriter, Bob Bly, uses his blog to discuss copywriting, marketing, and business issues. He asks for reader opinions on each topic, keeping the discussion lively and informative.

As a graphic designer, your blog should focus on professional issues — an extension of your professional personality — rather than a daily diary.

For more information, or to set up your own blog free, go to www.blogger.com.

* * * * * * * * Advertisement * * * * * * * *

Everything You Need to Land New Clients Fast…

Learn how to work with clients effectively…keep them loyal decades into the future…get paid what you're worth…and leave your competition choking on your dust!

http://www.thedesignerslife.com/ultimateguide/

FROM THE IFD MAILBAG…
by Kristin Schwarz

Hello, everyone!

We start today's mailbag with a question from a Founders Circle member of interest to all graphic designers.

Dear AWAI,

I've read a lot about pricing copywriting but very little about how to price graphic design work. I have finished the copywriting course and am working my way through the graphic design course. I want to offer both services to my clients. I have developed a fee schedule for my copywriting and want to add fees for graphic design to that. Do you have any suggestions on where to find a listing of what other designers charge?

Thank you any help you might have.

Dawn

Hi Dawn,

Thank you for your inquiry about pricing you graphic design work. We frequently receive similar questions from other graphic design members regarding pricing design projects and working with clients. That is why American Writers and Artists Inc. created a 3-part teleconference series with graphic design masters.

Our first call is called “Start Earning What You are Really Worth” with master designers Lori Haller and Peleg Top. Peleg shared his pricing grid in PDF format with our members and walked them through the pricing of a real-life project. We've received raving reviews from our members on his presentation. There is still time to download Peleg's pricing grid and download a recording of the 3 calls. For more information go to
http://www.thedesignerslife.com/getthecalls/

Hi Friends,

I am using a starburst in one of my layouts to announce a free bonus. However, I find it very tedious to create a starburst that has the “perfect” amount of points. It takes me forever to create 20 different starbursts until I find the one I like. Is there an easier way? I am using InDesign.

Linda

Dear Linda,

There is indeed a way to experiment with the number of points of the star without creating many different versions.

Start by double-clicking the polygon tool. You are presented with a dialog box asking for the number of sides in the polygon. If you're experimenting with starbursts, start with between 5 and 10 sides.

Then put a number in the “Star Inset” setting (in percent) to create the points of the star. The higher the number, the sharper the star points. Try between 10% and 15%. Click “Okay” then click the curser some place on the page. You will get a star with the specified number of points.

Then if you press the Up Arrow on your keyboard while dragging the polygon tool, the number of star points increases.

Press the Down Arrow and the number of sides decreases. Press the Space Bar while dragging to move the star to a different position. This works for creating other polygons as well. This tips works also in Adobe Illustrator.

Once you get a starburst shape you like, save it as a new Library of graphic images [File > New > Library], to an existing Library, or export it as a Snippet. We'll cover InDesign Libraries and Snippets in more depth in a future issue of Inside Freelance Design.

[Ed. Note: If you have a question or comment for Kristin, please send it to:
insidefreelancedesign@awaionline.com, Attn: Kristin Schwarz.]

EXTRA! EXTRA! News and Job Opportunities
  • GRAPHIC DESIGNER - Harte-Hanks, a direct marketing agency, needs a graphic designer to join their team in their Langhorne, Pennsylvania office. You must be knowledgeable (and have the samples to prove it) of print, direct mail, and online design. You should know Quark, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Fireworks. Send your resume and five work samples (either pdf files or an online link) to jobopportunities@harte-hanks.com.
  • GRAPHIC DESIGNER - DiversiTech, a leading supplier in the HVAC industry, requires a graphic designer. You'll create design solutions that meet the needs of engineering, marketing, sales, and product development. There's a technical aspect to this position, which means you must be equally comfortable creating schematics for products. Send your resume to hr@diversitech.com.
  • GRAPHIC DESIGNER - Esurance, one of the fastest-growing auto insurance suppliers in the nation, seeks a graphic designer. You'll create online and print collateral materials that support the esurance brand. You must know the Adobe design suite along with Dreamweaver and Flash. Send your cover letter, resume, and a link to your portfolio to Esurance, 747 Front Street, San Francisco, CA 94111. Or visit: http://jobs-esurance.icims.com/esurance_jobs/jobs/candidate/job.jsp?jobid=1342&mode=view
COMING NEXT ISSUE:
  • How to avoid the “I Can't Get Anything Done at Home” Quagmire
  • Quick Tip: How to Get Free Paper Samples
* ABOUT INSIDE FREELANCE DESIGN *

Inside Freelance Design is a FREE bi-weekly newsletter from American Writers & Artists Inc., available to AWAI members and friends.

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