Business Insights
Go Media Podcast – Episode 21: Why Should Designers Use A CRM?
In this episode, Jeff, Bryan, and Bill sit down with Chris Finnecy from TrellisPoint to talk about CRMs and why a small design firm like Go Media should be using them. We looked at all of the benefits, as well as reasons why people tend to avoid them, and try to determine what is stopping Go Media from bringing in a CRM into our every day lives.
How to Make (and Save) Money as a Graphic Designer
One question we get asked with great frequency is simple, yet profound: “How do I make money as a graphic designer?”
Jeff did a fantastic post about this very topic in September of 2012 called, “Side Income Strategies for Designers.” Check it out. Awesome, creative tips there.
We thought we’d take a different slant on the post this time, with wisdom coming from Go Media President William Beachy’s book, Drawn to Business. While Jeff went into side strategies, we’ll discuss strategies directly related to your growing business.
If you haven’t been introduced yet to the greatness that is Drawn to Business, it’s a nuts and bolts guide to how Bill built Go Media from the ground up. In it Bill outlines a 15 year journey, including years of struggle and growing pains, all bringing him to create the best agency in Cleveland web design, custom branding and print.
If you haven’t picked it up yet, what are you waiting for? It unlocks all the mysteries of our success.
Go Media Podcast – Episode 20: Our 2013 Year in Review
In this episode, Jeff, Bryan, and Bill get together to talk about the successes and failures at Go Media in 2013. Listen to the Podcast [powerpress] [iframe width=”100%” height=”166″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”no” src=”https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/129473045&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true”] Sponsors of this Episode This episode was brought to…
Go Media Podcast – Episode 19: Drawn to Business Q&A With Bill Beachy
In this episode, Bill gets together with the readers and new buyers of his book, Drawn to Business, to answer followup questions.
Build An Engaged Social Media Following Now: Tips for Designers
Entrepreneur and Marketing Connoisseur Kumar Arora knows social media like the back of his hand. Fellow Clevelander and start-up wonder for ventures including Rogue Eyewear, iLTHY, Black Rose Entertainment Management Group and ICTech Ltd., Arora has an impressive history in the field. A few things in Arora’s backpocket? Developing campaigns for Coca-cola, Verizon, Redbull, Live Nation, Puma as well as starting on grassroots and viral campaigns for performers like Machine Gun Kelly, Jay Sean, DJ E-V. He is no stranger to growing communities at a rapid-fire rate.
Arora has a few suggestions for designers, like himself, who yearn to gain a following too. In an age of #followme and #tagforlikes though, he reminds, “developing a community that cares is always better than having a group of people who don’t engage.”
Not only buying “likes” bad practice, but will also get you nowhere fast.
Beating Busters: How to Identify and Avoid Bad Clients
Hi Go Media faithful! Bill here! I’m back to deliver another teaser article from my book, Drawn to Business. This week’s piece deals with one simple fact: in business, you’re going to get ripped off. Get used to the idea. Over time, luckily, you will learn how to spot what I like to call a busters, or bad clients. Here is a list of the different types of busters I’ve come across over the last 15 years in business. Hopefully my bad experiences will spare you the same headache. Look out for these guys!
How to Create a Winning Email Marketing Campaign
Email marketing is a great way to blast your brand to the millions of fans following your every move. But like anything else, there is an art to creating the perfect campaign that will not only be worth reading, but worth opening in the first place.
We asked our friend Fabio Carneiro, over at Mailchimp, to share with us some words of wisdom on this very topic. Read on for Fabio’s 7 tips to creating an email marketing campaign that matters.
Go Media Podcast – Episode 18: What We’re Thankful For in 2013
In this episode, Jeff, Bryan, and Bill get together to talk about what services, tools, apps, books, and philosophies we’re thankful for as designers, developers, and business owners in 2013. Listen to the Podcast [powerpress] [iframe width=”100%” height=”166″ scrolling=”no” frameborder=”no” src=”https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/121312084&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true”]…
Go Media Podcast – Episode 17: Advice for a Graphic Design Student
In this episode, Jeff, Bryan, and Bill get together respond to an email we received from Sarah, a graphic design student who wanted advice on how she should step into her career when she graduates. We’ve also been working hard…
How to Launch your Freelance Business: 9 Simple Tips
So, you’ve been fantasizing about taking the big leap in the freelance world. Maybe the three days at Weapons of Mass Creation Fest was just the little push over the edge you needed. Maybe the current job market looks so grim, that making it on your own seems like the best solution. Or is it that you just cannot stand living to create something you don’t believe in one minute longer?
You’re not alone. We chatted a bit with freelance designer Dan Stiles, known for his vibrant, bold and bright screen-print art prints and rock music posters honoring such acts as The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie, Ray Lamontagne and Sonic Youth, about his decision to dive in head first. Rena Tom, of Makeshift Society in San Francisco (a sweet co-working space and clubhouse for creative freelancers), also contributed. And lastly, we drew some gems of knowledge from both our experience here at Go Media and Bill Beachy’s book, Drawn to Business.
We Asked, You Answered: My Biggest Challenge Running a Design Business
Here at Go Media, we’re buzzing about the release of Bill Beachy’s book, Drawn to Business including new extra goodies! This nuts and bolts strategy guide highlights the successes, failures, the in and outs of growing a design firm: namely, ours.
Go Media Podcast – Episode 16: Recovering from WMC and Launching Drawn To Business
In this episode, Jeff and Bill get together to talk about how everyone’s been doing now that WMC Fest 4 is over. We also look forward to next year and what things need to change as Jeff’s vision continues to…
How to Extract a Budget from your Client
Hi Go Media faithful! Bill here! I’m back to deliver another teaser article from my book, Drawn to Business. This week’s piece looks at how to extract a budget from your client. Ready? Here goes.
Extracting a Budget from your Client
It’s a commonly held belief that giving a vendor your budget upfront is a fool’s approach. Because of this, many clients will play dumb when you ask them for a budget. That’s fine. Don’t be a jerk. It’s still important to have a money conversation early on. You need to qualify your clients before you spend a minute working on a proposal for them. In those cases where a client doesn’t give me a budget, I’ll give them my ballpark pricing. This starts with me asking enough questions to get a general sense of their project. Then I might say something along the lines of: “OK, Bob, this sounds like a fairly typical website design: Homepage with slideshow, About, Services, Contact Us and the whole site to be responsive, correct? Great. Obviously, we’re going to need to get into the nitty-gritty details about your website in order for us to provide you with an accurate time and cost estimate. However, just so I can make sure our firm will be a good fit for you, my very rough estimation on a website like this will probably be somewhere between $15K and $30K. Does that sound reasonable to you? I just want to make sure we’re not wasting each other’s time.”
Go Media Podcast – Episode 15: An Interview With Jon Contino, WMC Fest Is This Week!
In this episode, we sit down with WMC Fest Speaker Jon Contino. We talk to him about starting his design career, where he pulls his inspiration from, and what he feels about people using his techniques in their work. Plus,…
Why a Custom Website is so Expensive (Part 2 of 2)
In short, because it takes a lot of time. More time than most outsiders can imagine. But why?
Web 1.0
Go Media’s founders started building custom websites in the 90’s. In those days, a typical website was comprised of the standard Home, About, Services & Contact. This is commonly referred to as a brochure site. It was often static html and rarely changed in a year. There was very little thought going into SEO. There were rarely contact forms. It might have had five graphic images, total. Publicizing your email address was considered perfectly safe. Javascript, on the other hand, was feared by the industry.
Go Media Podcast – Episode 14: An Interview With Adam Garcia
In this episode, we sit down with WMC Fest Speaker Adam Garcia. We talk to him about starting his design career with his friends in the music industry and how he overcomes fear in his everyday design life. We also…
Why a Custom Website is so Expensive (Part 1 of 2)
In short, because it takes a lot of time. More time than most outsiders can imagine. But why?
Web 1.0
Go Media’s founders started building custom websites in the 90’s. In those days, a typical website was comprised of the standard Home, About, Services & Contact. This is commonly referred to as a brochure site. It was often static html and rarely changed in a year. There was very little thought going into SEO. There were rarely contact forms. It might have had five graphic images, total. Publicizing your email address was considered perfectly safe. Javascript, on the other hand, was feared by the industry.
Go Media Podcast – Episode 13: Interviews With Nick Disabato and Caroline Moore
In this episode, we sit down with WMC Fest Speakers Nick Disabato and Caroline Moore. We talk to Nick about his experience as an interaction designer and publisher from Chicago. And we talk to Caroline about her experience as a photographer…
Go Media Podcast – Episode 12: An Interview With Brandon Rike
In this episode, we sit down with WMC Fest Speaker Brandon Rike. We talk to him about his experience in designing music apparel and how he become one of the top designers in the field while betraying the institution. We…
The Responsive Pricing System
Hi Go Media faithful! Bill here! I’m back to deliver another teaser article from my book, Drawn to Business. One of the most common questions I get from young designers who are either freelancing or starting a firm is “What should I charge for my design services?” So today we’ll cover The Responsive Pricing System, Go Media’s own system of pricing/billing. Here goes.
Go Media Podcast – Episode 11: An Interview With Mark Brickey from Adventures in Design
In this episode, we sit down with WMC Fest Speaker Stage MC Mark Brickey from The Adventures in Design Podcast and Hero Design Studio. We talk to him about the challenges of podcasting, the Circle of Trust, and why being…
Drawn to Business: Customer Retention Insights
Hi Go Media faithful! Bill here! I’m back to deliver another teaser article from my book, Drawn to Business. Today we’ll cover a topic vital to operating a thriving design firm: Customer Retention. Take good care of your customers. Nothing will…
Go Media Podcast – Episode 10: An Interview With Jess and Tim from Kern and Burn
In this episode, we sit down with WMC Fest speakers Tim and Jess from Kern and Burn. We talk about their upcoming book, the entire writing process, and how they overcame some of the roadblocks of self-publishing.
Go Media Podcast – Episode 9: Myths of Owning Your Own Design Firm plus an Interview with These Are Things
In this episode, we talk about the myths of owning your own design firm and we also sit down with WMC Fest speakers Jen and Omar from These Are Things. This was also the first “live” episode of the podcast.