What better time than now to be a graphic designer? Not only are graphic designers in high demand, there are literally hundreds of thousands of opportunities for work. At the same time, competition is fierce, and you have to work hard to differentiate yourself from other designers. You have to go beyond the brochure.
Now, I’m not picking on brochures: They’re essential to businesses and an excellent source of income for graphic designers. Still, when you plan a path for growing your graphic design business, you must consider all of the opportunities available to you.
One of the best ways to set yourself apart is to identify a niche and market it online through your own website and through your profile on freelance websites such as Elance, ODesk and Guru. Choose something you’re truly passionate about and market exclusively to your buyers whenever possible.
Approach it from your customers’ point of view. Let’s say you’re developing a new iPhone application and you need some icons. You log on to Elance, because you know that you can choose from thousands of freelance designers based on their samples, fees and personality. You narrow it down to two providers: the first is a design agency that handles all aspects of design, and the second is a freelancer that specializes in icons. Who do you choose?
I would choose the freelancer because I need icons and that is, specifically, what she does. Here’s a short list of new business opportunities (read: niches) you can consider taking advantage of for your graphic design business:
- Icons
- MySpace pages
- Logos
- T-shirts
- DVD/CDs and covers
- Advertisements
- Stationery
- Corporate identity kits
- Press kits
- Animation/Flash/visual basic
- Illustrations
- Newsletters
- Posters
- Catalogs
- Booklets
- And, of course … brochures
The ability to do all of these will pay the bills; the aptitude to identify and market a niche will make you rich. People hire experts who are better at doing exactly what they want than anyone else – and so they hire those who fulfill their niche needs.
What do you do better than everyone else? Is this how you promote yourself? Why or why not?
We discussed it two years back at this blog. ,
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So I’ve started a new one, just to make it easy. ,
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Crazy and Loy, how do you promote yourselves? Do you have links to your websites?
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