Susan Kirkland - Start & Run a Creative Services Business

Creativity is a blessing, but even when you have a bountiful supply, guidance is required to apply it productively. This is particularly true in the creative services field. You must know the basics of your profession before you sell services to a client. This book will not teach you the basics of your trade; no book can.

Like most fields in the arts, work in the creative services industry requires some formal education to teach you to apply your gifts in a professional manner. Either enroll in an accredited college or art school or volunteer with an established expert in your field. Just as a doctor with a medical arts degree requires hands-on experience, so will you. You will need a period of apprenticeship under more accomplished people in your field. Finally, when you know what youre doing (and only you can be sure that you do), you may be ready to risk self-employment.

Going into business for yourself is always a financial risk. Starting a creative services business has its own risks. You might make a mess out of a project that was beyond your experience. You might not know how to produce something you design. (This is cited as the number one drawback to hiring someone right out of school.) Or you might lose a client because you cost them a bundle of money when you specified the wrong ink color. Theres nothing more painful than spending your own money to redo a botched job.

You may be starting your creative services business due to unemployment, retirement, or because youre not happy taking orders from someone else. Whatever the reason, I want to emphasize that basic skills in your field are required before any book on starting a business will help. Be sure you have the tools required to do the job right, both mental and accoutremental, before you launch your business.

No matter what the economic climate at the time you read this book, finding good clients is hard work. What this book will do is teach you how to start a creative services business from scratch, how to build a client list that fits your skills, and how to protect what youve built. It will provide a series of steps to help you avoid trouble, show you how to get out of trouble, help you identify signs of impending trouble, and give you tips on what to do when you get into trouble. However, it cannot teach you to trust your instincts. It will not bolster your ego during cold calls, give you tips on anger management, or get your spouse to respect your efforts at generating cash. In other words, it cannot address every eventuality. As you will discover, being in business for yourself requires many kinds of skills. Therein lies the challenge and the reward.

Despite pressure to play it safe by sticking with your day job, you owe it to yourself to follow your entrepreneurial dreams. Its up to you to create the life you want. In the field of creative services, the competition is stiff. The market is flooded with web designers who have no training in design, desktop publishers who have no education in typography, even secretarial help competing for newsletter work. One of your greatest assets, aside from creative skill, is your ability to rise above the competition and make potential clients take notice.

I hope the stories I share in the following pages provide some insight into the creative services field. Ive shared my own mistakes in the hopes that the information I learned will help you achieve the results you desire. Finally, remember: Believe it, and you can achieve it.

1

Getting Started

Freelancing can be big business if you follow a few simple steps to build a solid foundation. There has never been a better time to market yourself as a freelancer in the creative services field. With the web overcoming distance and travel, computers replacing drafting tables, and typesetters going the way of the Edsel, you can build a business based solely on education and experience.

1. Advantages to Self-Employment

For the first time in history, designers are free to create without specifying typefaces, counting characters, or waiting for type galleys. They can get client approvals from proofs available online. Writers are capable of pumping out turnkey newsletters with the help of software templates and distributing their publications online without spending a penny on printing or postage.

Once you master a knowledge of appropriate font usage and the elements of grid design, youll be able to use your computer to generate a decent income. Finally, you really can have a profitable home-based business without stuffing envelopes but only if you have an affinity for isolation. If you thrive on working alone and find that solitude recharges your batteries, you wont miss personal interaction. If you feel energized after flexing your interpersonal skills, youll need to find outlets for them online, on the telephone, or at appointments.

In a recent survey, people with full-time jobs cited having a close friend in the workplace and a flexible schedule of prime importance. The same group responded that rank and title were more important than pay. These are easy job satisfactions to arrange when youre a freelancer. You decide your schedule, title, rank, and salary. Of course, the flip side of that equation is making enough money to pay your salary. I know one freelancer with a secret stash of business cards bearing the title Supreme Lord and Master of the Universe. He says it helps when working with his more frustrating clients and reminds him of his power as a freelancer to walk away.

2. Launch Your Business Effectively

If you cant muster the small amount of capital required to invest in a computer, check out your local university or community college. Trade creative skills for computer time and work with the students on their school newspaper. Besides giving you some hands-on experience, this is a great opportunity to update your knowledge about whats hip in university life.

If you thrive on working alone and find that solitude recharges your batteries, you wont miss personal interaction when freelancing.

As an entrepreneur, you might qualify for a low-interest loan from the Small Business Administration (SBA) in the us. Application is simple if you follow the guidelines set out on their website, www.sba.gov, and fill out a few required forms. Depending on your location, you may even qualify for a HUBZone classification. (See Chapter 5 for more information about HUBZone classifications.) In Canada, Canada Business Service Centres, www.cbsc.org, provides information on sources of funding for small businesses, which vary from province to province/territory.

Once you get your equipment, the world is at your fingertips as long as you follow a few simple tips for building your freelance business. Dont get creative like one famous designer who started out in the in-house design department of a major corporation. About a year before he decided to launch his now legendary design studio, he started requisitioning computers, software, and furniture from his employers purchasing department. These items were delivered to his new studio and were up and running the same day he submitted his resignation. He walked into his completely outfitted studio ready to hire five other designers. Few people knew the trick to how he made this smooth transition; most admire him and marvel at his business acumen.