One of the quicker ways to start, perhaps, but not to sell is to establish your own store. By establishing your own gallery of pre-made logos, customers can browse and choose the best logo that suits their business. This may prove to be a slow moving process, as you would have to brand and advertise your skills to gain viewers and potential purchases. As an established name with positive reviews and quality work to display allows this issue to recede as time goes on and more work is purchased. This is also a way to develop relationships with those looking for logos, but are unsure of what they want or how to start. This is a good way to pick up freelance work.
Freelance work, although not steady at times, can help you develop a reputation and get noticed by competing jobs for clients and doing so well, that they decide to refer you. Singular clients can lead to higher payoffs, as the logos they request are personalized and made, checked, and remade. This is a big contrast to having your own store, as each sale is a one and done. Freelance work and working closely with clients, on the other hand, requires more time and work to be put in so that the finished product is satisfactory to the client. Discussions and revisions are unavoidable here, leading to higher creative skills being required and editing skills being tested. Keep in mind that not all freelance logo designs are going to come from bottom dollar customers. There may be a day when you are contacted by high ranking, well paying companies in order to create their logo.
Beyond freelancing on your own, you can also establish yourself with a freelance site that already has a built up client base and a noticeable traffic of buyers. This cuts out the work of looking for a customer base and trying to get yourself noticed on the always busy world wide web. Most customers may not come back time and time again for logos, or they may! As stated above, positive reviews and recommendations are always a bonus to aim for when establishing yourself and working to keep yourself in the game. Some freelance sites will even put you up against an arrange of competition in order to “win” jobs and the competition can be fierce. Winning, however, is much sweeter and more rewarding when you have overtaken and completed the project offered successfully.
When thinking of ways to multitask in branding yourself, social media is key. By using platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, you can display yourself along with your work. This allows you to gain a following and be seen by people looking for graphic designers. Multitasking begins when you are seen by the right people and they make requests to purchase already displayed designs, or challenge you to create something new. Remember that currently, Instagram is a haven for businesses, big and small, which makes it a great place to establish a presence.
Bringing both a personal feeling of your own store and accessing someone else’s established traffic, you could look into directly selling on a logo selling website. This allows you to display past made logos and build clientele for new logos. It is reported that past sales are displayed on most profiles for clients and designers alike, which allows everyone to get a feel for each other and as a designer, you’ll be able to get an idea of what your client wants before you dive in.
Are you hoping to land a potentially permanent gig and not work that may only come in spurts? There are several established businesses, such as Logo My Way, that will hire graphic logo designers to work with customers in bringing their visions to light. Possible opportunities offered can include that of creating pre-designed templates that interface users can customize, and/or creating specific logos upon assigned requests. Many of these businesses offer the consumer expert advice and assistance, so your customer service skills could be exercised as well. Not only does this path offer a more fluid income, but it also heralds a chance to expand your creative ideas, abilities, and overall horizons as a designer. This is a much bigger goal and it is recommended that you start working on the above opportunities in order to build and establish yourself as an active designer.
Collectively, as a graphic designer, technology makes careers readily available and opens opportunistic doors with each finished job. Not only do your logo designs carry the brand’s name, they also carry your legacy of being the creator while adding experience to your name and resume. While not all designers prefer the same thing as the next, it never hurts to dabble in the industry to get the hang of things and determine where your natural niche might lie. That being said, there are many options out there for graphic designers to explore and find a comfortable market to engage in that brings confidence and adds quality to their work. Take the availability of technology at your fingertips for granted and start building the graphic design career you’ve been dreaming of!
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by Joe D – Loves writing about startups, logo designs and branding.