Learn everything you can about the BUSINESS of graphic design. The books "The Business Side of Creativity" and "The Creative Business Guide to Running a Graphic Design Business" by Cameron Foote are great resources for any designer. The
articles section at CreativeLatitude.com (and other pages on the site) also provides a great deal of info. You will find info on contracts, and other aspects or the design business, at
CreativePro.com,
CreativeBusiness.com and
CreativePublic.com.
Here are some ways I market and promote my own design efforts:
Networking: Make EVERYONE you know aware of what you are doing - family, friends, neighbors, former clients, local businesses, etc. Join a local business organization, chamber of commerce, industry related organization (International Association of Business Communicators , local ad federations, marketing associations, Women in Communications, public relations organizations, AD2, etc.) and network with people who may need your services. ALWAYS carry your biz card with you.
Direct Mail: Target the businesses with which you would like to work and send them a postcard, brochure or flyer about your services. I haven't done a direct mail piece for about 14 years but when I did I had ten new clients over a period of several weeks and I was still getting work from the one mailing five years later.
Web site: If you don't have a web presence you had better get one established. Your potential clients will EXPECT you have one. Most of my clients come to me by way of my web site - and 80-85% are from outside my home state. Links on other sites (like your client's) will draw a clientele your way.
Online directories: Make use of free and paid online directories to get your name and contact info out to possible clients.
Press releases: One of my major methods of marketing/promotion is sending out press releases about my work. Make a list of editors in your area and send them releases about your business - announcing the new business, new clients, completed projects, design awards....
Paid print advertising?: Some designers swear by it - in 25 years it's never been effective for me. I do no paid advertising - including Yellow Pages.
Industry design competitions: The majority of my marketing budget goes to cover entry fees in industry design competitions. Having pieces honored results in work being printed in design annuals and other design books. I have at least one potential client a week contact me because they have seen my work in a design book at their local bookstore. It also gives you "bragging rights" for press releases announcing your accomplishments.
Work with nonprofits: A good way to promote your business is to do pro bono, or discounted, work for nonprofit causes you support. You should get a credit on all the pieces being produced for the organization. You also have the opportunity to meet a lot of business leaders in the community who serve of the board of directors or are involved with the group. I discourage designers from ever doing free work for "for profit" ventures. In doing so you convey that your work has little or no value - and that's what they will remember if you go back to them for future projects.
Being the expert: Writing articles for publications, making yourself available to the media as an industry expert and being a speaker are all excellent methods of promotion. I recently spoke to a group of high school "Art Careers" program students, a community chamber of commerce and an association of landscape designers. I was even paid for two of the three presentations. All resulted in clients. I was once contacted by a potential client who was given my name by someone who had heard me speak to a group of Small Business Development Center educators FOUR YEARS earlier!
The dreaded "cold call" would be at the bottom of my list: I don't enjoy cold calls and I'm not comfortable doing them. Over the years they have not been an effective method of getting new clients.
Here's some published resources that might be helpful in your marketing:
Designer's Guide to Marketing, by Betsy Newberry
The Art & Business of Creative Self-Promotion, by Jerry Herring & Mark Fulton
The Graphic Designer's Guide to Creative Marketing: Finding & Keeping Your Best Clients, by Linda Cooper Bowen
Off The Wall Marketing Ideas, by Nancy Michaels & Debbi J. Karpowicz
HOW Magazine's Annual Self-promotion and Business issues
Get Noticed!, by Sheree Clark and Kristin Lennert
Self Promotion Online, by Ilise Benun
Self-Promotion for the Creative Person : Get the Word Out About Who You Are and What You Do, by Lee Silber
Designers' Self Promotion: How Designers and Design Companies Attract Attention to Themselves, by Roger Walton
BRAG! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It, by Peggy Klaus
Hope that helps some....
- Jeff