The Graphic Designer's Business Survival Guide

Congratulations! You’ve got your own graphic design business—a dream job. Now for the reality part. As you’ve probably discovered (or will soon), the creative life comes with tons of noncreative tasks: hunting for work, writing proposals, organizing processes, tracking bills, and stressing about staying solvent. The Graphic Designer’s Business Survival Guide will help you succeed. Packed with real-life business wisdom you don’t learn in design school, this invaluable guide reveals the secret for building a profitable, sustainable business: communicating with clients and prospects on their terms.

That means understanding marketing objectives and corporate culture, quantifying design decisions in ways that management can relate to, and cultivating sound business practices.

Packed with insider tips and techniques from the author’s own experience transitioning from struggling freelancer to highly valued creative consultant, as well as a wealth of client letters, production schedules, nondisclosure agreements, creative briefs, time tracking templates, progressive billing forms, and other sample documents, The Graphic Designer’s Business Survival Guide explains how to:
• Develop a unique market niche that sets you apart
• Create a website and portfolio that highlight design solutions
• Do pre-pitch research and deliver winning presentations
• Establish a reliable system for tracking billable hours
• Use cold-calling strategies even sales phobics can master
• Make design decisions based on bottom-line results that clients value

Great designers don’t always have great design businesses. The Graphic Designer’s Business Survival Guide helps you stand out and succeed with your professionalism, efficiency, and consistent business focus.

Lawrence J. Daniels is past president of DanielsDesign Inc., a New York–based branding and communications design firm that has been a consistent recipient of major industry recognitions for outstanding achievement.