Take the Designer Challenge:
Why You May Be a Starving Artist Now and What to Do About It
Learn Which Areas You’re Strong In and Which You Can Use Some Expert Advice


  1 Marketing
   
yes no Do you struggle in identifying who your target market is?
yes no Would it be worth it for you to buy a resource that would teach you how to attract the clients that you wanted to work with and leave out the ones you don't?
yes no Would it help you to learn the fears and reservations your target market has in working with designers? How much would it help you if you could easily address them?
yes no Would you make more money and get more clients if you knew how and why your prospects hire graphic designers?
yes no Are you unsure what your prospects are really looking for - rather than guessing, do you think it would help you to know what they really want?
yes no Would you expect you'd make significantly more money if you had a clear marketing strategy that attracted more prospects?
yes no If you could learn specific approaches to separating your business from other designers, do you think it would be easier for you to get more clients?
yes no Would you jump at the chance to learn what your prospects and clients are really thinking?
yes no Would you like to learn how to communicate with your clients in a meaningful, personal and valuable way?
 
  2 Sales
   
yes no Do you feel uncomfortable being in a salesperson role?
yes no Would you buy a training book that you knew was going to make you a more effective, more confident sales person that brought in more money?
yes no Would it be worth it for you to read real life examples of successes and mistakes other designers have had?
yes no Do you think you would make more money and sell more if you had access to some insider secrets that you know would give you more confidence?
yes no Do you think you'd make more money if you knew exactly what questions to ask to find out exactly what your client's pain was, what they want and how much they can pay for it?
yes no Would it help you to have a written down, concrete script you could use to qualify prospects on the telephone?
yes no Rather than feeling like a greedy sales person, would you like to learn something called consultative selling, which makes you feel good about selling and more successful?
yes no When you interview a client for the first time, would you like to have an organized set of questions you can ask to find out about the client's competition, customers and expectations?
yes no Would you like to feel after your interview with the client that you have a crystal clear idea of what her/his expectations are and what general creative direction you're going to go with the project?
 
  3 Pricing/Billing
   
yes no Do you sometimes wonder how you're priced versus other graphic designers?
yes no Do you often wonder if you are priced too low or too high?
yes no Are you unsure about or uncomfortable addressing price issues with your prospects and or clients? Would you like to learn how to feel confident in addressing price?
yes no Are you uncertain how much your time and talent are worth?
yes no Would you benefit from learning how to price your talent so you make the most money you can?
yes no Do you have trouble or feel awkward collecting money from clients that owe you?
yes no If there was an easy way to ensure you got paid on time and without hassle, would you love to learn it?
 
  4 Retention
   
yes no Do you want to keep in touch with your clients but don't know how to do it?
yes no Would it help you to know the most effective, most cost-effective ways to keep in touch with your clients?
yes no Do you avoid following up with your clients because you feel you are bugging them?
yes no Do you think you would benefit from written down, concrete "keep in touch" strategy to communicate in a meaningful, personal and valuable way with your current clients?
yes no Would it help you to know how and when, and exactly what to say in order to get your clients to give you an outstanding testimonial?
yes no Would you get more sales if you knew how and when you should talk to your clients about future projects she/he will benefit from having you do?
 
  5 Referrals
   
yes no Do you wish your clients would refer more people to you?
yes no Do you feel your clients could refer more people if you have a clear referral strategy to for them to send you more business?
yes no Do your clients sometimes send you referrals that aren't a good fit for you? Would you get better referrals if you knew how to educate your clients on who you are looking for?
yes no Would you benefit from learning how to set up a referral bonus program?
 
  6 Personal Goals
   
yes no Do you feel you could be more successful as a freelance designer?
yes no Do you feel you deserve to make more money as a freelancer?
yes no Do you feel that if you have insider knowledge you'd be able to learn the ropes faster on your way to becoming successful?
yes no Do you sometimes wish the business side of design was easier?
yes no If you felt more confident that you had access to proven successful strategies, do you think you would be able to significant increase your earning power?
 
 
Click Here to Get Your Score point(s)


How did you score compared to other designers, and what should it indicate to you?
Above you’ll find 9 marketing questions, 9 sales questions, 7 billing questions, 6 retention questions, 4 referral questions, and 5 personal goal questions for a total of 40 questions.

You scored out of 40.
The average designer score was 25-35


If you scored more than 36 points congratulations, you are at the top of your class
30-35 points, you did okay. If you invested a little time to tighten up these areas you could go from doing okay to doing fantastic.
26-30 points, you’ve got some work to do but you’re starting to build a foundation. Making an effort to learn and apply some expert strategies can easily help you bring in significantly more money and make your business much more enjoyable.   
25 points and below, you might think this is the worst position to be in – not at all. You have absolutely the most to gain by getting some expert help. You now know you could definitely benefit from learning from some insider tips and techniques, and you have any easy way to get a hold of them with the Being a Starving Artist Sucks book.



Now that you know your score, what should you do about it.
  1. Nothing. There’s no rule that you have to do anything at this point. Even if you knew you could do so much better by taking some action today, you can still decide to do nothing. You can continue doing what you’re doing now and just hope things improve, but that rarely makes you successful, does it? I am guessing that if you went to the bother of taking this challenge (you took a positive action - good for you!), you want to give yourself the best chance for success you possibly can. Being a successful designer is too important to you to rely on hope and luck, isn’t it?

    There are literally thousands of designers scouring the Internet for free information, wasting hours upon hours thinking that if they sign up for enough free information they'll learn the secrets to success. Maybe you've tried this approach, or you're trying it now. The truth is, most designers that try this pick up small tidbits of information but never learn the skills and strategies to get past being paid as an average starving designer - they just keep searching for the next free resource.

    If you're combing the Internet for as much free information as you can find just like loads of other designers, will you gain any competitive advantage over your colleagues? How much time will you need to burn digging for free information that you could have been earning money on a project? How much is your time worth?

    Bottom line: if you are earning less than $75/per hour for your time or you're earning less than $50,000, you need a book like Being a Starving Artist Sucks.

  2. Start reading a lot of books. Let’s face it, this stuff isn’t rocket science but there is a lot to running a successful freelancing design business. That’s why over 75% of freelance designers don’t make it past 3 years – it’s tough. There are a lot of good resources out there by Seth Godin, Jay Abraham, Michael Port, Robert Cialdini, Jeffrey Gitomer, Alan Weiss and Tom Hopkins, just to name a few. These are terrific resources, but if you don’t love reading book after book, this might get boring. It’s taken me several years to go through these all of these books, and I have a passion for studying.

    You’ll find these authors are outstanding – some of the most brilliant people in their industry, but keep in mind they don’t focus their books on helping graphic designers. In fact, you’ll have to search long and hard to even find mention of a graphic designer. If you were to have one book in your library, wouldn’t it make sense to have one specifically geared towards helping you and other graphic designers with the explicit challenges and problems that you face?

  3. Hire a business coach or marketing strategist. I did this as well and it paid huge dividends. In the first year I hired one I tripled my revenue. But it did cost me over $2500 to do it. Sure it was worth it, but making that initial investment can be a scary one. Working with an expert business coach can really give you a terrific competitive advantage, but expect to work hard, and make sure you do your homework so you hire a good one (there are a lot of bad ones out there).

  4. Buy the Being a Starving Artist Sucks book.
    I wrote the book so of course I am going to try to sell it to you, but this book wasn’t written to make money. It was written to help designers just like you avoid the expensive, time-consuming mistakes that I made as a struggling graphic designer. I wish I’d had this book during my first couple of years as a freelance designer, I would have saved thousands of dollars, made twice as much and wouldn’t have wasted hundreds of hours doing things I thought were going to make my business grow.

    The insider information in this book isn’t theory from an author who’s never been in the trenches as a freelance designer, but someone who’s gone through the same trials that you’re going through. This is real, easy-to-understand advice you can use and apply immediately to become a more successful designer, not boring gibberish you often find in college text books. Starting to sound good? Order your copy by clicking here.

    If you’re a new freelance designer or if you could you some expert advice in the areas that almost ALL designers struggle: pricing, marketing, negotiations, customer service and sales, don’t you owe it to yourself to have access to expert advice and knowledge that takes other designers years to learn? If success is important to you, and you don’t want to wait years learning the hard way (as I did), order your own copy and learn how to make money, attract more clients and start building the freelancing design business you’ve always wanted.
 
         
 
 
  © 2007 Can-Do Graphics, Being a Starving Artist Sucks