Clint Walkingstick

How do I get clients?

This can be a misleading question. It assumes you’ve already identified a few things about yourself and your work. It also assumes that you’ve made repeated attempts at asking for the work.

If you know how what you do helps, you can more easily talk to others about how it will help them reach their goals.

Answer these questions before you ask “How Do I Get Clients:”

• What kind of work do you love doing?
• What kind of work do you catch yourself doing while you procrastinate on the work you’re “supposed” to be doing?
• Do you have any examples of the work you love doing? Chances are you do because you naturally turn back to it when faced with doing work you don’t enjoy.
• Why do you love doing this kind of work? Give yourself 120 seconds to think about why this kind of work feels right to you and then write it down.
• How does this kind of work add value? How could it bring someone closer to their goals? Does it save them money? Does it save them time? What sort of frustration does it help them avoid?
• Who currently uses this kind of work? Make a specific list of people you know.
• Who could benefit from this kind of work? Make another specific list of people you know.
• Have you told all the people on both of those lists that you do this kind of work?

Chances are you haven’t. The people on your list are the BEST place to start. If they can’t be helped by what you do, be bold. Ask if they know someone who can and if they’d be down with sharing that information with you.

If they are, you have a whole new list of real people you can legitimately contact. The only one who’ll feel weird about it is you and you MUST bust through that feeling.

Pro’s aren’t afraid of talking about what they do and how it helps others.

Take another look at your lists of people. Do you see any patterns like common industries or job titles? Where do people from those industries go? What do they read? What industry groups are they a part of?

A little internet research will help you find the answers. Researching these questions will help you find new areas for you to explore. Go help somebody!

My Morning Routine as an Independent Graphic Designer

With the exception of being away or being sick, these the things I actually do almost every morning.

My good friend Brian posted this question to his Fbook page:

Brian G. April 17 at 1:04pm
Question for all you morning gym-goers. Do you eat before or after? What’s your morning schedule look like? I’d love to get my life a tad more organized.

My response, yes, evidently I’m one of “those” people:

I prepare my gym bag the night before that includes clothes for the next day. I keep a locker at the YMCA that contains my swim gear and a pair of gym shorts and my shower flip-flops.

My alarm goes off at 4:58am. I make one fried egg, put it in a container with a lid, put my pants on, grab my gym bag and drive to the YMCA, approximately 5:10 a.m. Once parked at the YMCA (approximately 5:20 a.m.), I eat my fried egg (that’s cooled off by now). Then I head toward the front door of the YMCA (unlocks at 5:30 a.m.).

Next I head to the locker room, get into my swim jammers and swim a mile. Or if it’s Tuesday or Thursday, I put on gym shorts and lift weights for an hour. At approximately 6:30am I’m done with either my swim mile or with working out. I shower and brush my teeth, then head home.

I get home a little after 7 a.m. and pray through my ever growing prayer list on my phone. When I’m done praying I read the next Bible study section in my Bible App. The boys wake up at around 7:00 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. I make them and Kacey scrambled eggs and I make my coffee and make two more fried eggs for myself. Then we get Ike ready for school and Kacey or myself walks him across the street to class. By the time I get home from waling Isaac to school it’s almost 9 a.m. Time to work.

I hate getting up early. But if I don’t, my spiritual, mental, and physical health suffers. I am not a morning person. Getting up sucks. But before you start complaining, talk to your grandparents about their childhood. Then, suck it up, be an adult, set goals, and work toward achieving them.

Decide what’s important in your life and make time for it. You do that right now anyway, but most folks spend their time instead of investing it. I’ve learned that if you’re not working to make your own goals a reality, someone else will always be calling the shots over your schedule. You’ll be stuck building their dreams instead of yours.

This is not a “do exactly what I do” thing. That would be stupid. Everyone has different lives and goals. My point is as I’ve told you before, hard work is the minimum requirement. Focus works. Knowing what your goals are is probably the first step. Then just break the big goals down into small ones and there’s your to-do list. Slay your day!

Brian G.:This is perfect. Thanks man!

Pricing Design Clients

Full Disclosure: This entire post is about my pal Jason Blumer and his firm. I’m writing this just to get even more amazing information out of him to help my little business work better.

 

That aside, Jason has some incredible insights into the process of choosing the right people to work with. The design process in an intimate one, in that, you have to work closely with your clients over time.  

Here’s the big idea I wanna share: Make sure you have a process in place that filters out the people who are the wrong fit for your business. The folks that make it through your filter that have the greatest chance of making you fall in love with your work all over again.  

 
Design requires love. Design void of love is easy to spot. It’s inauthentic, ineffective, and in the way. It’s always trying a bit too hard to get your attention. Then, there’s the design that gets completely ignored. Great design has a “visual quality” that’s easy to spot in a crowd.

 

So, where does that “visual quality” come from. It comes from designers who give a damn. It comes from clients who care about the way their serve their customers. It comes from designers who can translate their clients passion for what they do into visuals that compel their customers to act.

 

I’m getting a little off subject here so let me get back on track. Jason, I’m a believer in what he does to help designers succeed. If you want to succeed in this business do what I did and go buy his eBook and read it. It’s cheap and it will shift the way you do business in a positive way.

 

If you’re not into reading he also does a highly informative podcast. Go check it out.

Advice for Design Students

— Tuesday, April 18th, 2017 —

Let’s kick this off with a quote: #clintlovesquotes

The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life. — JESSICA HISCHE

Make the things you want to see in the world. No one will ask you, certainly no one will pay you. Make it because it needs to be made. Make it because you can’t go to sleep at night until it exists.

If you don’t take money, they can’t tell you what to do, kid. — BILL CUNNINGHAM

Ask forgiveness, never for permission, you ain’t never gunna get it.

Look around for problems to solve. They’re everywhere. Offer up your solutions and never wait to be asked.

Get specific about what success means to you. It will be different than everyone else in the class.

Do not allow someone or some thing else attempt to define it for you because they will try.

You have immense power to accomplish amazing things. Work for a purpose, not a paycheck.

Make a plan, work the plan. Make damn sure it’s your plan. Stabbing in the dark ain’t no kind of future.

Nothing bad happens when I push myself toward a goal. Nothing good happens when I don’t.

Comfort is Americas chief export. Like anything that’s wonderful, too much of it will kill you dead.

Stick around people that energize you and avoid folks that don’t. Spend zero time around folks that drain you.

Hurdles are part of the race. Fail often enough, and with the right attitude and you’ll make, what science calls, discoveries. So, go make some discoveries.

It’s a shame when the only person who doesn’t believe in you is you. What’s the worst thing that could happen if you started to believe in yourself?

Keep a student mindset. Always be learning and applying new skills and knowledge. Smart people know that they don’t know everything. So, they keep learning. Do what smart people do.

Procrastination and Perfection are your enemy. — JAMES VICTORE

Never perfect. Everything is practice. Invite folks to watch your progress. The right folks will be your advocate, the wrong folks will fade out.

Know when it’s done enough to show people and then immediately show them. Don’t put it off otherwise you’ll never show em.

You only get one body, if it ain’t workin’ you ain’t workin.’ Invest the time and focus on making your body work well.

We all have plenty of time and money for the things we truly value. Your check register and your calendar tell others what you value more loudly that your mouth.

If you don’t actively make time for the things you value, please don’t be surprised when those things go away. Invest your time and money by playing the long game. A marathon mentality is your escape from the rat race. Slow and steady wins the race. Let the tortoise set the pace.

Be selfish with your gifts, at least at first. Make stuff for you and show folks. I’ve noticed that the creative life is like one long game of (make) show and tell. It’s supposed to be fun.

If you’re a designer and you’re not having any fun it’s your fault. — Tad Carpenter

Relax. Make something for fun. Then do it over and over again.

WARNING: Awful Dad Joke coming:

Graduate Summa Cum Laude from UBU. You just ain’t no good at being someone else.

It’s the work you pour your passion into that’s most powerful. Work that displays passion will have the most impact on the tangent of your career.

No one will know (or care) how your super power (your work) can help them unless you show them. They can’t value it until they see it. So, let em see how amazing you are.

The things you tell your self in your head will either propel you or poison you. The good news is that you get to decide which one will happen.

If some drunk on the street yelled in your face the things you tell yourself you’d laugh your butt off and or punch em dead in the nose. So why take it from yourself?

Self-bullying is a real thing. Get into the habit of externalizing the things you say to yourself and immediately shift your brain toward the reasons why those things are false.

The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist… Do not misunderstand me, danger is very real, but fear is a choice. —From the Movie After Earth

Know the difference between Danger and Fear. One is very real and the other is completely made up.

Anybody can do or be nothing. Are you better than nothing? Prove it.

Fear stops two kinds of people: Cowards and Weaklings. Feel the fear and do it anyway, they call that courage. Make a plan for the danger and work the plan.

What if the things you complain about are the things you’ve been put on this planet to fix? Pay attention to the next thing you complain about. The Universe may be showing you an opportunity. It may be giving you to chance to shine by throwing a difficulty or two your direction.

Think about it, if you complain about something, you’re probably not the only one. So, make a move. Be part of the solution instead of being another lazy bystander. The world already has enough of those.

The next time you feel like complaining, pause and give someone a compliment. Or better yet, think of three things you’re thankful for and write them down, or say them out loud.

I’ll wrap up with two questions:

What would happen if you kept all the promises you make yourself?

What are you hiding? Let’s remove grades, and deadlines, and clients, and bills, and rules from the table. What’s that thing you wish existed in the world. Pour your passion on it and get it out of your head. Be brave enough to allow the substance of your heart to call the shots, just this once. Work on making that thing you hide – it has the very real potential to make you great.

Thank you. Here are some resources:

Burning Questions

Good Design Advice

Bad Habits you can stop TODAY

The Power of Less

The War of Art

My Thoughts

If I were in your shoes I would call (on the actual phone) the following agencies and ask to schedule a portfolio review with the creative director:

• funneldesigngroup.com
• ghostokc.com
• staplegun.us
• vimarketingandbranding.com
• thirddegreeadv.com
• masonandmoon.com
• am.com

Treat the portfolio reviews like a job interview and ask about unpaid internships. Do MORE THAN ONE portfolio review.

The portfolio reviews will give you an excellent picture of where your skills need to be in order to work successfully in this industry.

Working an unpaid internship will give you a real taste of what it’s like to work in the design industry as well as build up some necessary real-world experience.

Best of the luck you make for yourself! Your pal, Clint.

Comfort is Americas chief export.

Every day and in every moment we’re consciously or unconsciously answering the question:

Do I value my goal more than I value my comfort?

Or maybe this question: Do I value my dream more than my comfort?

What is your comfort keeping you from?

You must acclimate yourself to the discomfort of maturity.

How to Make Good Design Choices

This was for a talk I gave at the OKC WordPress Users Group on Monday, March 27th, 2017. In hindsight I should have called this talk, Unicorns, Cake, and Clients.

At some point in your career, you might ask: Who is my client?

Imagine you’re out hunting in a misty forrest early one morning. It’s still dark outside, the air is crisp an cool. You’re gently treading your way along deep horse tracks. You’ve been up for hours and you’re beginning to think that this hunt will prove to be fruitless.

Suddenly you hear a healthy snort. It’s close. You crouch down in the underbrush of the forrest floor as the sun slowly starts to peak through the mist and clouds. They break for a moment letting a ray of bright orange sunshine pierce the densely packed tree trunks. And then you see it.

In a clearing about twenty feet in front of you there stands a magical unicorn. It’s mane glittering in the morning sun. Looking through the branches, you have to squint your eyes at the glint of its golden horn.

The time has come. So, you quietly slip an arrow from your quiver and place it across your bow. Slowly, you draw the arrow back and align it perfectly. You aim just behind the front shoulder of the magical beast. That’s when you remember…UNICORNS AREN’T REAL.

The “Ideal Client Profile” or ICP, is a wish list of client attributes. Fun to think about except for the fact that they have one glaring flaw. That person you just described doesn’t exist. So, who do you already know that most closely fits the profile?

Instead of imagining an ideal client, talk to one. Which one do you LOVE working with? Take em out to lunch and interview them. Study them, where do they go and why, what do they read and why, what was their last major purchase and why did they make it, how did they make that particular purchasing decision, what’s their favorite brand of clothes, cars, and cans, and why. All this information will reveal to you insights that your competitors don’t have and will never get.

Now that we know who we’re helping, how can design help? A good question to start with is: How do I make good design choices?

The answer to that question, involves a cake.

My friend John wanted to impress his wife for her birthday. I’ve only ever seen him use the microwave. But, he wanted to bake her a delicious and impressively detailed cake. So, he researched all the best cake recipes and found the perfect one for a carrot cake. He worked and worked on this carrot cake to make it just right. And he did a great job.

At the big party, he presented the detailed carrot cake to his wife. We all said Wow! Everyone took a selfie with the cake, it was wonderful! Hashtag jealous, Hashtag yum. That’s when I noticed the look on his wife’s face.

She looked confused and said, “Thank you for your hard work but…I don’t like carrot cake.” One of my friends made an airplane crashing noise and we all laughed. She went on, “I thought you were going to make me a Dutch Apple Pie for my birthday. The one I rave about every Thanksgiving. The one my Grandma always makes.”

More than a little deflated, John set the amazing carrot cake on the table. And said,“Does anyone here like carrot cake?” We cut it up and ate it and it was amazing. He handed some cash to one of his wife’s friends and ten minutes later she walks through the door with a grocery store apple pie. We warmed it in the oven and it tasted really good too. Birthday party saved!

The mistake John made is the very same mistake we may have all made at some point in our career.

I’ve learned that design has the power to make amazing things, that no one wants. That’s why it’s so important that we get this first step right.

The first step in every successful design process I’ve undertaken is filling out a creative brief. You can call it a client questionnaire, you can call it a game plan, you can call it a treasure map for all I care but you will not be successful making websites without one. It is the lens through which all design decisions are judged.

Otherwise you’ll end up making a very pretty website that’s also very useless…or one that’s pretty useless. I see that you see what I did there!

How can a creative brief help me design a website? I’m glad you asked.

Ask you client what their favorite things are and why. Their answers may take your design a surprising direction. One that connects with them in a way you could have never known otherwise.

Ask your client what their customers care about. If you wanna get really crazy, ask to interview your clients best customers. Having their feedback is key to moving your clients closer to their goals.

ASK: If your website were only able to do one thing, what would you want it to do?

Ask them what’s missing from their current website? What do they wish their current website could do?

Design choices are less about “good vs. bad” and more “effective vs. ineffective.” The bigger the pile of effective design choices, the better it works, the faster your client will reach their goals, and the happier their customers will be.

Have you ever experienced poor design? I sure have. Just visit any state agencies website. Stack enough non effective design choices up and you’ll end up with a fine work of Modern Art. It’s interesting, but it doesn’t help move your client closer to their goals.

By figuring out what your client wants, you can avoid delivering something that doesn’t fit the direction they want to take their website.

Ask: What do you want your site to do best? Then, get rid of everything that does not help their site do that thing.

Don’t let your website get in the way of helping your client serve their customers. The easier you make it for their customers to do what your client wants, the bigger the hero you’ll be to your client.

Make the brief the “bad cop” to keep the project on track and to keep all the design choices pointed toward the same goal.

TIP: For some excellent client information, show them five to ten websites and ask them what they like and dislike about each. Don’t just send them a link to the web form. Talk them through your brief in person if possible or on the phone at the very least. So much is communicated through body language and tone that you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage to rely on a web form.

Study the things your client positively responds to on the websites they choose. The things they focus on are the things they’ll look for on their site when it’s launch time.

Your challenge is to find the best way to use those things to help them reach their stated goals.

There are tons of Ideal Client Profile PDFs and Creative Brief templates online. But I’ve made a list of good questions to keep in mind specifically for this talk tonight. It’s available on my blog for you to download and use, right now. I hope our brief time together has proven helpful to you as you continue to serve your clients.

Helpful resources/books:

45 Incredibly Useful Web Design Checklists and Questionnaires

Design for Hackers

Hack Design

Don’t Make Me Think

A Book Apart