Remember how you told your parents you wanted to be an artist when you grew up and they calmly tried to explain to you how some jobs will keep you well fed, with a roof overhead, and others will leave you, well, a starving artist? Luckily, you were born into an era of unparalleled technological expansion. The demand for digital artistry has opened a whole new world for creative types with an eye for layout and design and the technical wherewithal to bring their artistic sensibilities to the online arena. Of course, it’s not enough to be good at what you do; there are plenty of competitors out there ready to snake your prospective clients. You also need to promote your business in order to ensure that the right people find you and choose you over the competition. So here are just a few tips that will have you up to your eyeballs in work.
Branding
A good place to start is with branding. You’re probably having visions of massive ad campaigns that have no discernible or quantifiable effect. This is a common misconception surrounding the term because many people feel that “branding” is only something large corporations do, probably in order to convince an unsuspecting public that it’s okay to take over foreign markets (driving local business out), engage in unfair trade practices, and pollute to their heart’s content in countries that don’t have strict environmental regulations. Okay, so maybe you haven’t thought about it that much. But let’s be clear on one thing: branding helps everyone.
You need to at least formulate an idea of what your business stands for, or your ideals (try writing a mission statement), how you want your customers to perceive you, and how you can go about ensuring that clients have the best possible experience so that they become your brand ambassadors. It costs you nothing to consider the benefits of branding and it stands to improve your business dramatically.
Networking
However, there are more direct means of self-promotion. One easy step to start with is becoming a joiner. Networking is an essential part of promotion and it is often free (or at least inexpensive). Call your local Chamber of Commerce to find out what you need to do to join up, as well as the potential benefits of doing so. Then look for industry forums to join online. Some have job boards that you can post your services on or use to look for work. You may even get some overflow from colleagues you connect with, so it’s well worth the effort.
Ad Sharing
But what about advertising? Isn’t that how most businesses promote themselves? The answer is yes, but it can be pretty expensive. Here, too, the internet offers solutions. If you have a business website (and you’d better) you can try ad sharing. It’s generally free and all you have to do is host member ads on your own site while they host your ads on their sites. It’s pretty straightforward. But you can also use social networking accounts (Facebook and Twitter) to bring advertising efforts to friends and followers, reach out to related blogs to seek reviews and offer discounted services for their members, or even try “appvertising” (running ads in select apps). The point is, the opportunities for promoting your business online are practically limitless; and there are so many ways to get your name out there for less (or even for free). You simply have to be proactive and display the same creativity that landed you in graphics design in the first place.
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Evan Fischer is a contributing writer for The Web Shoppe –Website Design Fargo, handling all of your website design, marketing, and content management needs.
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