Ilise Benun - The Designers Guide To Marketing And Pricing: How To Win Clients And What To Charge Them

Rise Benun and Peleg Top

founders of Marketing-Mentorcom

The material in this book springs from many different sources: from our own experiences over the last twenty years and from those of our clients, our colleagues and even the people in our personal relationship circles. But without the designers we have known, we would not have been able to write this book, much less develop the material. So we begin by thanking everyone we've ever worked with for allowing us to observe and learn from their experiences.

We are especially grateful to the great folks at F+W Publications, who have supported this work from its inception, by giving both of us our first speaking gigs, and Ilise her very first published article and then, ten years later, her first published book (Self Promotion Online, 2001). Without HOW Magazine, HOW Books and the HOW Design Conference, we would not be where we are today. That is a fact.

We'd like to specifically thank Amy Schell, who approached us after we gave the Pricing and Marketing Workshop at the HOW Design Conference in 2006 and said, "'This needs to be a book." From there, she smoothly shepherded us through the process. We also thank Amy for being the most flexible editor a pair of writers could have. She knows when to step in and when to step out of the process. Also, we are grateful to all F+W staff we've encountered over the years, in particular Bryn Mooth, Sara Dumford and Colleen Cannon. And to David Baker, Emily Cohen and Robert Middleton for allowing us to reprint their material-because we could not have said it better.

Ilise Benun is the co-founder of Marketing Mentor, as well as an author and national speaker.

Her books include Stop Pushing Me Around: A Workplace Guide for the Timid, Shy and Less Assertive (Career Press, June 2006), Self-Promotion Online and Designing Web Sites://for EveryAudience (HOW Design Books). She is also co-author of The Art of Self Promotion and PR for Dummies, 2nd Edition. She has been featured in The New York Times, Inc. Magazine, Self, Essence, Crain's New York Business, HOW Magazine and Working Woman. She has given presentations for national and international trade organizations, including The HOW Design Conference, American Marketing Association, Business Marketing Association, AIGA, Graphic Artists Guild, Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario and NY Designs-a program of LaGuardia Community College/CUNY.

Benun started her Hoboken, NJ-based consulting firm in 1988 and has been self-employed for all but three years of her working life. She has a BA in Spanish from Tufts University.

Peleg Top is an entrepreneur, a business coach, a consultant and a mentor to the creative industry. After more than sixteen years running Top Design (www.topdesign.com), a successful and profitable Los Angeles-based design firm, he now focuses on helping designers market and brand themselves while becoming smarter and happier business owners. Top has spoken at industry conferences, including the HOW Design Conference and has also authored design books including Design for Special Events: 500 of the Best Logos, Invitations and Graphics (Rockport 2008) and Letterhead and Logo Design 8 (Rockport 2003).

In 2003, he and Ilise Benun co-founded Marketing-Mentor (www.marketing-mentor.com), a one-on-one mentoring program and marketing resource center for the creatively self-employed.

Peleg currently resides in Silverlake, California with his partner of eleven years and one very spoiled Dalmatian. He is a certified trained chef and loves hosting great dinner parties.

Marketing-Mentor.com is a resource for creative professionalsby creative professionals-who want to grow their business. We help you focus on the business side of your creative business. We provide the tools you need. Then we point you in the right direction so you can do what needs to be done.

Working with both beginners as well as veteran creative professionals, we offer one-on-one coaching, training workshops and seminars through which we teach you everything you need to know about business growth, pricing and the art self promotion. We help you set realistic goals, show you how to reach them and then keep you on track until you do. With Marketing Mentor by your side, you'll learn how to make your creative business work for you.

At Marketing-Mentor.com, you will also find a growing resource of tools and educational products you can use to take your business to the next level. Visit www.marketing-mentor.com and be sure to sign up for the free half hour phone consultation-don't worry, it's not a sales pitch. It's just a way to get a taste of how Marketing Mentor can help you grow your business.

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