As business gets tighter, it's smart to know more about business. Which is why we've compiled the best of HOW's business content into one
Designer's Good Business Guide—an easy-to-use PDF that you can purchase and download.
The
Good Business Guide features great advice on opening, managing and growing a design firm, from the top consultants in the industry and from successful design-firm owners. Think of it as a business coach on your desktop: 180 pages for just $15.
Here's what's inside:
FEATURES
Balancing Your Business
How many clients should you serve? In what categories? And where? Three
consultants who work exclusively with creative fi rms offer advice to
help you develop the ideal client mix for your business.
Work in Progress
Early in his design career, Klaus Heesch
screwed up and screwed off. Now he runs the award-winning studio Juicy
Temples. Find out how this bad boy turned around and made it big-time.
Rethinking Pro-Bono
Want to really do some good with your talents? Our business expert helps you get strategic about your pro-bono efforts.
Mark Your Calendar
Promos, e-mails, cold calls: It's easy to
get caught in the deluge of marketing tasks. So here's a stick-to-it
schedule for promoting your design business in the next 12 months.
'Til Death Do They Part
In a business where client turnover
is the norm,
Charles Anderson Design has been designing for the French Paper Co. for
nearly 25 years and counting. Do you have what it takes to forge such a
successful client relationship?
Get Down to Business
Designer Stefan Bucher offers this fill-in-the-blank worksheet to help you understand your professional self.
Start Smart
So you want to go into business for yourself and
be your own boss? Before you quit your day job,
here are 8 tips for striking out on your own, from
designers who've already made the break.
COLUMNS
Measuring Design
You know you need to speak your clients'
business language, but how can you defi ne your work's bottom-line
value? A British organization is helping designers do just that.
How Much Should You Charge?
HOW's recent pricing survey shows
what designers around the U.S. are charging. Learn how to determine
your hourly rate and use it to set the right fees for your work.
Re-re-rebranding
Crafting your firm's identity is a massive,
often painful, project. This Minneapolis digital design studio
reinvents its I.D. every 150 days. Are they crazy? Try strategic.
The Corporate Game
If your dream client list includes large
corporations, you'll need to learn the rules of working with the big
boys. Here's how to navigate procurement, politics and power plays.
