Switching from a freelance designer to an entrepreneur in this business is a lifetime task. You will have to rely on excellent relationships, but also to put much more effort into every aspect of your new business. However, with the right marketing moves, you can come much closer to your goal of becoming a successful design entrepreneur.
Nurture your real-life and online relationships
Whether you are starting your design business or trying to improve the brand image you already have, you always have to nurture your relationships. Social media is a place where many things happen nowadays, in and out of business. Therefore, your collaborations with other brands, partners, and influencers through social media are crucial. The establishment of your design brand is impossible without working with the right people.
However, it should not be the only thing to think about if you want to establish your brand correctly. Face-to-face meetings, as well as design events and conferences, are also vital for your success. Events are excellent places to meet both future partners and customers. Through promoting your ideas and products, you can build long-lasting relationships that can be beneficial to both (all) sides. But, if you start losing money from an old collaboration, without any further benefits and progress, don’t hesitate to terminate such a relationship.
Engage your customers
We have spoiled customers nowadays. Lack of recommendation or a few bad reviews might lead them to ignore your brand. Therefore, to get recommendations and excellent, five-star reviews, you have to work on your relationship with them and improve customer experience. First of all, provide all the necessary information and details about your services and products on your website. Think about any questions they can ask, and try to give answers to it.
However, if they still want something to ask through email, social media platforms or phone, you should respond as quickly as possible. A quick answer builds loyalty and trustworthiness. Also, engage them on social media with interesting posts every day. Make quizzes, polls and loyalty programs, and think about other unique content opportunities. With such a strategy, you will build a loyal customer base, which will further lead to recommendations (both offline and online). You can even go a step further and create a WordPress-based social media platform for your design business.
Work on your SEO and improve Google rank
Building a strong online presence is impossible without working on your SEO, especially if you are in the early days of your business. You have to introduce your brand to the broader audience, and the only way to do it is through organic search and ads. Hence, all your content, whether it is product or service page, blog post, images, and other stuff, has to be SEO optimized. Keyword research is crucial, as well as implementing your content strategy. Besides, try to make visually rich content and create engaging posts on social media.
Ads are also an inevitable tactic for establishing your brand and building awareness. A few well-placed ads on Google, Instagram, or Facebook can do a massive job. Also, try to learn as much as you can about link building strategies that work for business and tech niches. Design is a universal field, and you should never limit yourself only to tactics strictly related to your area. Creating authority through link building is essential for success in the design niche. Implementing all these methods correctly will lead to higher ranks on Google, which will further lead to more prospects, and, in the end, sales.
Effectively manage other designers
For leading a successful design business, you have to possess excellent entrepreneurial skills and characteristics. First of all, you have to know how to manage other designers. You need to provide clear instructions about all the tasks and details regarding each strategy – don’t expect that your designers will read your mind. Also, always be there for all additional questions, and even support those employees who don’t hesitate to ask questions. Designers’ work is to solve different clients’ issues. To do it correctly, they have to know precisely what their tasks require. According to the people behind an innovative master of arts degree in design management, entrepreneurs in this field should be leaders capable of combining creativity, managerial skills and entrepreneurial mindsets within the constraints of current business realities.
Besides, provide them regular feedback – weekly or monthly depending on mutual agreement. You always have to be honest, even when you have bad news. Also, if there is room for improvement, organize additional meetings, and explain your ideas about future steps. When it comes to meetings with clients, don’t hesitate to bring two or more of your employees to the meeting. The best way to get an excellent result is to allow direct communication between clients and other designers. And finally, always be supportive of their creative ideas and processes! Don’t be the person who stifles someone else’s opinion before hearing it.
Design is a specific niche, and you have to understand this market well in order to succeed. Besides that, you need to carefully pick your employees, partners, and clients, and also, to continually work on your marketing efforts. I hope understand, how you will become success as a design entrepreneur
The article was written by Jennifer Hahn Masterson, the Lead Content Strategist at Spread the Word Solutions.
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