As soon as I wrote the headline for this article, I realized – more than usual – that what I’m about to say is just my opinion. And that what I’m suggesting you don’t do can actually work in some circumstances.

But I think there’s a better way and I’ll tell you what it is in just a bit. First, let my tell you what happened.

I received an e-mail from someone trying to drum up business as an Internet researcher. He was soliciting copywriters who might need the services of a researcher as they’re writing copy for a client. Can you see the first mistake he made with me?

Mistake #1 – I haven’t marketed myself as a copywriter for about 5 years. I state on my website that I work with businesses on the layout and design of their marketing material. So when I get an e-mail that is clearly targeted to copywriters, it gives the impression that this guy hasn’t done his homework. Somewhere he had old info, or misinterpreted something, and didn’t bother to check the facts. Not good for a researcher.

Next… The e-mail wasn’t just sent to me. I could see about 15 other names on the To: line. I knew about half of them.

Mistake #2 – C’mon… At least pretend that I’m special and you’re just writing to me. It’s bad form to solicit business with everyone’s name on the To: or even the CC: line. At the very least do a BCC: (Blind Carbon Copy.) Even that’s bad form, but if you’re going to be lazy, use the BCC. Ideally, you’d send an individual note to each person.

This e-mail was a great example of “spray and pray”… spray it out to lots of people and pray you get some response. But in this case, it just shows a bit of laziness. Not exactly the quality I want in a researcher or any other type of freelancer I work with.

Moving right along… The e-mail had different sized fonts throughout the letter… most of it bigger than normal, some smaller.

Mistake #3 – Granted, with so many different e-mail programs, it can be hard to come up with an e-mail that you know will look perfect in every single case. But especially when you’re sending an e-mail to multiple people, you have to keep it simple. It might have been wiser to send a Plain Text e-mail instead of Rich Text. Remember what they say about making a great first impression.

Next up… The e-mail suggested that I recommend him to any clients who needed a researcher. That way, I wouldn’t be paying for his services, my client would.

Mistake #4 – On a certain level, this isn’t a bad idea. But make it worth my effort. When someone refers business to me, I give them a percentage of the sale. And I have partners I work with who do the same for me. So if you’re going to make the first three mistakes, and then suggest that I recommend you to my clients, at least try to grab my attention by making it financially worth my time. Even putting aside the money issue, you better show me some proof that you’re good before I recommend you to my clients.

Which leads us to… No proof.

Mistake #5 – Every significant promotion I’ve worked on as a designer has included proof that the claims being made are true. This is extra important for clients reaching out to brand new customers. The e-mail I received – which is a promotion itself – had no proof that his services were valuable. I know a researcher can be valuable, but I’d want to know why this guy in particular is valuable. Unfortunately, there was no proof in the e-mail. It came across more as, “Here I am! Hire me!” Maybe he has proof. If so, he should have dropped a little nugget in the e-mail to pique my interest.

Finally… The e-mailer’s website and e-mail address were from an Apple-hosted site.

Mistake #6 – OK… this can be a bit nit-picky, but I’ll just lay it out from my experience and many, many chats on the subject with clients and colleagues. Perception counts for a lot. These days, it is incredibly easy to setup a website with a personalized URL and e-mail address. Take the time to look as professional as possible. A personal URL and related e-mail address based on your business name or your job comes across as more professional.

Any of these mistakes on their own might not have been too big a deal. But when combined, it simply doesn’t give the best first impression.

When I get an e-mail from you like the one this gentleman was sending, it should inspire me to respond to you directly, not blog about everything you did wrong for everyone to see.

Earlier I promised a better way. Let me spell it out and you can decide which method (his or mine) might be best. Or maybe you have a better solution.

Judging by the names on the list that I recognized, he was reaching out to some good people. How much better would it have been to contact each person personally? Send a personal e-mail or make a phone call.

If it’s an e-mail, ask to schedule a time to talk on the phone and explain what you’re offering. The best social media tool is the telephone for a one-on-one conversation with someone. That’s the quickest way to get to know someone and begin developing a meaningful relationship.

Here’s something you might use or adapt: “Hi, my name is _____. I’m an Internet researcher, helping clients and copywriters quickly and efficiently gather the necessary information to create winning promotions. I’m looking to develop partnerships with other copywriters and was hoping to talk to you on the phone… learn what your needs are and show how I might be a valuable member of your team based on work I’ve done for other clients. If we find there’s not a good fit, no problem. I’d still find it valuable to learn more about what you’re doing in case there’s a good fit down the road, or if a client of mine might need your services.”

During that phone call, ask a lot of questions. The answers to those questions will help you determine if there’s a good fit.

If not, I think you will have left a better impression which is important… not a good fit now doesn’t mean there can’t be a good fit in the future.

What else could you do? How about a link to a video introducing yourself? How about a free report on the value of a researcher and why you’re the right one to choose? How about a case study showing what you brought to a project?

Like I said at the top, this guy’s method might work in a few cases. But my belief is that you’ll have even greater success using a more personal approach.

After the last article about my one-year anniversary on Twitter, I recalled something that’s worth mentioning.

As a freelance designer on Twitter, are you just talking about design (something cool in Photoshop, something you learned in InDesign, etc.) in the hope that clients will see what you have to say on the subject and hire you because you know your design tools?

If so, that could be a mistake.

Now if you just want to talk about design and primarily connect with other designers on Twitter, that’s fine.

But clients don’t really care about the nuts and bolts of design. That’s why they hire you so you can care about it for them.

So what do clients care about? Great question! I’m going to let you mull that one over yourself.

If you don’t have enough clients right now, I’d be willing to bet you don’t have a really good answer to that question. Or if you do, you haven’t done a good enough job of showing prospects that you know the answer.

If you’re using Twitter to attract clients, talk about what’s really important to them.

I hadn’t realized this until I looked at past articles on the blog, but I’ve been on Twitter for just over a year.

I said when I first started that I would update you as I tried to figure out if Twitter was for me.

If you’re interested in those past articles, here they are in order:

http://mikeklassen.com/blog/2009/06/04/despite-many-doubts-im-on-twitter/

http://mikeklassen.com/blog/2009/06/27/twitter-the-journey-continues/

http://mikeklassen.com/blog/2009/09/22/at-least-one-benefit-of-twitter/

It was interesting for me to reread those articles and see whether my feelings and approach have changed.

Here’s the short answer to what I think of Twitter today: I don’t really like it.

Here’s the much (much) longer answer… and these are based on using Twitter for business, not personal use…

It’s hard to stand out in the mass of tweets

For the most part, any one with a decent number of followers isn’t really paying attention to what you’re saying any more than you’re paying attention to what they’re saying. If you’re spending so much time on Twitter that you can read everyone’s tweets (assuming you follow at least a couple hundred people), you probably should focus more time on finding new clients.

As soon as your tweet comes through to your followers, it starts getting pushed down as newer tweets come in. Suddenly, your message is gone.

Your tweet could literally arrive just as one of your followers is running off to the bathroom and by the time they get back, your tweet is long gone simply because  each new tweet that flows into your follower’s Twitter viewer pushes yours out-of-sight. (In newspaper language, we might say your tweet quickly moves below-the-fold.)

Granted, there are people with a strong fan following. What they say is read by most of their followers. But with the millions upon millions of people on Twitter, I think those folks are the exception.

My approach today: While I hope everyone who follows me is interested in what I have to say, I know that’s not the case. Some people follow you simply because they expect you to follow them in return to boost their “Followers” number. Others just want to sell you something right now. Bottom line: It’s a numbers game.

What I learned is that when I post links to articles that I write, it helps my search engine ranking and can be helpful when people are searching Twitter on topics related to what I do. There’s a lot of value in that.

Whether anyone following me reads it is almost secondary… kind of like a happy bonus.

You can’t please everyone, but you can drive yourself batty trying

I have to admit to changing my approach to Twitter multiple times in the last year based on what I felt people wanted.

Some people don’t follow anyone who doesn’t engage or re-tweet. In other words, if all you’re doing is promoting your stuff, they don’t follow you. (Mental note: tweet a lot.)

Some people won’t follow you if you tweet too much. I unfollowed one gal – a business coach – who seemed nice enough, but she tweeted multiple times an hour. I couldn’t figure out how she managed to get any work done for her clients. (Mental note: don’t tweet a lot.)

Some people won’t follow you if they don’t like your picture. (Mental note: Go with a logo.)

Some people refuse to follow anyone who doesn’t use his or her own picture. “It’s social media,” they argue… they don’t want to connect with a logo. (Mental note: OK… back to a picture.)

Some people will unfollow you if you direct-message them. (Mental note: Ugh! Is all this really worth it?)

It’s easy to forget to do things your own way. Yet as you try to figure out how to properly use Twitter for your freelance business, you’re not totally sure what “your own way” should be.

My approach today: When potential clients go to my Twitter page, I want them to see information or links to articles that will help them or show I’m an expert in my field. Maybe it’s my own content, or maybe I’m retweeting a great article or link from someone else.

For the most part, no more chit-chat on Twitter for me. A couple of people I respect take this approach. Twitter doesn’t consume their lives… they simply use it as a tool to promote ideas they believe in and are passionate about.

The chit-chat model can work for people. I just decided it was no longer for me. (OK, I may do a little, but not as much as I used to.)

I followed you, now you should follow me, right?

This is back to the numbers game I mentioned earlier. It’s clear that some people who follow you have no interest in what you do. They’re just in full-blown “boost the numbers and try to get people to buy something” mode.

And I’m OK if with that if you feel that’s what you need to do. But I’m no longer returning the follow if you’re not saying anything I don’t think I’ll find value in.

I do look at the recent tweets of new followers. If you’re saying stuff I think I can learn from, I’ll probably return the follow. But I no longer feel guilty for not following some people who follow me.

The funny thing is, if you don’t follow those people, they’ll usually unfollow you after a few days. So much for thinking they initially followed you because they actually liked what you have to say.

And I don’t feel bad if people I follow don’t follow me back. I follow people because I think I’ll get value from what they say. If they don’t feel that way about me, they shouldn’t follow me. (But, of course, we’re back to the real issue of how much I or anyone else can truly follow what everyone says.)

My approach today: When someone new follows me, I’ll see what they’re about. If I think I’ll learn from them, I’m happy to follow them back. But because I get so many followers who are in constant sell-mode without offering any sort of real value, I’m more picky about who I follow.

To wrap this up…

I hope I don’t sound bitter or anti-social. And I know some people are having great success on Twitter. I simply found that my marketing efforts were better placed in other areas. Your mileage may vary.

In truth, I really want to have a deeper connection with people. But I’ve found that desire is not being satisfied on Twitter.

I’d prefer to share ideas with people in forums where we’re not limited to 140 character tweets that disappear from view almost as soon as you send them.

I think I said in my first article a year ago that I see Twitter as a business tool. If it’s not doing enough to pull in business, I have to evaluate how I use it and even whether I use it.

For now, I’ve found my comfort zone and the journey continues…

I’m working with a new person at a company I’ve worked with for about a year or two now.

Since I haven’t been working with this person in particular too long, I took a moment to let her know what other layout services I offer.

And that’s the first lesson today… let your clients know what else you do.

I’ve probably told this story before, but I had one client years ago who had hired me to layout the same type of projects he saw me laying out for another client.

One day, he and I were talking on the phone and I mentioned that I was in the middle of a book project. His response? “Oh, I didn’t know you did book layout. We may need you for that.”

I have to admit that I was a bit stunned. I had assumed before he hired me that he had been to my site and saw the other types of projects I could handle.

Nope… he hadn’t.

Lesson learned. I realized that I needed to make sure my clients knew everything I could do for them.

I was applying that lesson this week to this other client I’m working with. After listing what else I do, I also mentioned that I would appreciate her dropping my name to other people she knows who might need those services.

Her response is interesting and one I love to hear:

“And I will certainly pass your name along to anyone who needs design help. You’ve been so easy to work with, I would be happy to recommend you.”

The part I love? “You’ve been so easy to work with…”

Let that sink in.

She didn’t mention anything about the quality of my work, although I’m sure she appreciates it. The fact that the company has been using me for a while would lead you to believe they do like my work.

But the part that seems to stand out most for her is that I’m easy to work with.

You might not believe just how important that is to your success as a freelancer, whether you’re a designer or another type of freelancer.

You’re not the only freelancer out there. And odds are, you’re not the best one in your category either. But being easy to work with can lead to more repeat business and referrals than just about anything else.

Think of your client. He or she is trying to manage all sorts of projects. Some of that stuff has to be put into the hands of off-site people, like freelancers. Right there is an extra layer of stress.

That person has to trust that you’re doing your thing and staying on schedule without the benefit of being able to walk over to your cubicle or office to check in.

When you’re easy to work with, and making all the communication between the two of you as pleasant as possible, it’s noticed. It’s appreciate. And it’s one of the main ingredients in getting called again for future projects as well as getting referrals.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Dean Rieck.

You might have run across Dean from articles in DM News, Inside Direct Mail or any number of other publications he’s been in.

As a copywriter, Dean, and people like him, are partners with us as we work to create successful marketing material for our clients.

So I read with interest his Open Letter to Direct Mail Designers.

One thing that stood out to me was this comment:

I’m not trying to win awards. I don’t care whether people are impressed. My only concern is helping the client increase profits. I sincerely hope that is your concern as well.

And hopefully that’s your goal. The best award you can “win” is a happy client who keeps coming back to you because you’re helping him make money.

I’ve told this story before, but if you’re new here… One of my first clients years ago needed a cover for his special report. I got way too fancy with Photoshop. In an e-mail back to me, the client said, “My wife hates it.”

His wife was right. It wasn’t good. The second version was a winner, but I was still embarrassed.

To this day, I cringe when I think about it. But that’s part of the rookie learning experience.

However, there’s no harm in learning from what other more experienced people have learned. So read what Dean has to say and take it to heart.

Your clients don’t really care that you’re a whiz with Photoshop or that you’re Adobe Certified in InDesign. That’s great if you are. But if you can’t apply that to successful direct mail pieces, your client isn’t going to be impressed.

Unimpressed clients hire someone else.

Just finished reading The Wealthy Freelancer by Steve Slaunwhite, Pete Savage, and Ed Gandia.

Before I go any further, I’ll tell you that I was quoted in the book. And in a pleasantly surprising move, they sent me a copy. (Thanks, guys!)

So with that out of the way… Get this book!

I’ve complained before that, as freelance designers, there are not a lot of books for us, especially compared to our colleagues in the copywritng field. There is Being a Starving Graphic Artist Sucks which is a fantastic boook. But beyond that, it’s a bit thin.

The Wealthy Freelancer, though, is not specific to copywriting even though that’s what you may know the three authors for. Freelancers of any type will get something out of this, including designers. (I can’t recall anything in the book that wouldn’t apply to us.)

I’ve been freelancing for a while and have learned quite a lot in that time. So I’m always thrilled to learn something new, or read about a new spin on things. This book is full of that type of material.

The first thing that grabbed me was in the first chapter. It’s The IDEA Matrix for Mindset Mastery. A lot of beginning freelancers could stop after reading that and feel they got their money’s worth.

Over on page 192, they made a great point about about dealing with client e-mail that every freelancer should consider.  (It’s a change I made after I read it. Wish I had figured that out on my own years ago.)

I don’t do “reviews” and this shouldn’t be considered one. And, frankly, their website will do a far better job of telling you about the book than I can.

But when I run into something really good like this, I want to mention it so you can explore it further and consider it for yourself.

I will say what a said when talking about the “…Starving Graphic Artist…” book: If you’re going to buy The Wealthy Freelancer, commit to taking action on what you read. Simply reading the book isn’t enough.

I’ve run into too many people who read books like this for the momentary high or boost of enthusiasm they get. But a week after reading the book, they haven’t done anything with the information.

If you don’t consider yourself a “wealthy freelancer” right now, and read this book but take no action on it, you have to question whether you really want to be one.

You can’t walk away from this book with finding a least a couple of things you can start doing immediately. If you can’t find something, it’s not the book… it’s you.

So if you’ve been struggling a bit and feel this book is for you, make a commitment to take action on what you read. If you do, I think you’ll find yourself making far more progress than you have to this point.

I got slightly involved in a conversation about whether designers should give their source files to clients.

I say slightly because I gave my answer, but never went back to see what other responses there were to the person’s question.

The reason I didn’t go back was two-fold. First, my position (give clients your source files for free) rubs a lot of designers the wrong way. Second, I’ve seen all the reasons designers give for not giving up source files (or for charging extra for them), so I’m not likely to read something I haven’t seen before.

I’ve thought a lot about my position and asked people I respect about their positions. And I suspect people with a differing view have thought a lot about their stance. No point in arguing about it then.

But there is an angle that comes up that I want to toss out for your consideration.

Whenever you take a position in the design world that runs counter to popular opinion, inevitably someone will say, “Doing things that way hurts the design community.”

I see this a lot when people start slamming sites that offer cut-rate logos or even sites like eLance where the bidding process brings down the price of a project to almost free. You also see this with people who oppose spec work.

They feel it’s a threat to their livelihood. Fair enough… just don’t ask me to buy into that.

As I examined my thoughts on this a bit deeper, I realized something: I don’t really see myself as only a designer which is one reason I don’t get hung up on a lot of these “designer” issues or what might be happening in the “design community.”

Yes, I design. In fact, it’s mainly what I do. But I also write copy, write articles, provide general marketing advice for clients and prospects, teach… and there’s probably more that I’m forgetting.

I guess if I only saw myself as a designer then, yeah, perhaps I’d be scared by anything that I felt threatened my livelihood. But I’d be more concerned that I let myself get into that situation. It’s not much better than being an employee at a company doing a single task and hoping I don’t get laid off.

As a freelancer, you’re free to develop your business into something that is more than just the main task that you started out with. That makes you far more valuable.

I say this so that as you’re building your design business, you don’t stop with being a designer only. Expose yourself to related fields, like copy and marketing, so that you have more to offer your clients.

When you do that, you’re less stressed about what others in your industry are doing or what they’re worried about. And believe me… they generally don’t care about you unless you’re doing something they don’t like. That’s when you hear from them.

There are a lot of people who can design like I can. But, it’s all those extra things that keep clients coming back year after year. If I were only a designer, I could be replaced by someone cheaper… who would also eventually be replaced by someone cheaper.

Plenty of business only want “cheap.” That’s fine… don’t worry about them. Experience has shown me there are plenty of clients who value, and will pay a fair price, to designers who not only design well, but offer extra value.

Oh… back to source files for a moment. Be sure and e-mail me if you ever run across a business that fired a freelancer because the freelancer handed over the source files without making a stink about it. (Whether free or for an agreed-upon fee.) My guess is I’ll never hear of that happening.

But I can tell you with certainty that freelancers have been scratched off the call-back list because they did raise a stink about handing over source files.

In a way, it’s kind of funny. Freelancers in general can fall into this trap of “You’re hurting the community!” thinking. It doesn’t happen anywhere near as much in the corporate world where you do what’s best for you and your clients, not what others in your industry or niche think you should do.

If you do it their way and it doesn’t work, are they going to be there to bail you out? Probably not, and that tells you all you need to know.

I don’t want this to come across like I’m giving the middle finger to other designers. But the fact is other designers aren’t the ones having to pay your bills. They may think that their opinion is best for the design community, but that’s very, very questionable. And it sure doesn’t mean it’s best for you.

For me, I always keep in mind that I work for clients, not other designers. I do what’s best for me and my clients. If that bothers some other designers, sorry.

Just something to think about.

A few years back, I was introduced to FlashPaper as a way of displaying my portfolio work online.

PDFs are most common, but sometimes the file size would be larger than a Flash file. And there were some easier zoom-in and move-around functions that I liked with FlashPaper. FlashPaper files could also be embedded in your site for automatic viewing when your site loaded.

Since most computers had a Flash viewer installed (and still do as I write this) having a portfolio in Flash wasn’t a big deal.

Now, it is.

In fact, I’m in the process of replacing my Flash portfolio pieces with PDFs.

The reason?

My iPhone, and soon-to-be-arriving iPad, don’t like Flash. More specifically, Apple doesn’t like Flash. (If you’re somewhat of a technology geek, you know the Apple vs. Adobe issue that’s been going on since the arrival of the iPhone.)

While the world doesn’t revolve around Apple, there’s enough of a user base (in the millions) that you can’t ignore the fact that their iPhone and iPad won’t display a Flash file.

I trust you can see the dilemma for someone like me who has had all his portfolio pieces in Flash.

It’s not unusual for me to be out somewhere and use my iPhone to show someone my site. But the portfolio pieces are a no-go because they’re all Flash.

Click on one of the Flash pieces and you get a pop-up that basically says, “Yeah, right. Nice try. Ain’t gonna happen.” And from there, a potential client moves on.

With an iPad, my site and portfolio will look even nicer, but I’m going to feel silly if I can’t show people my actual work while we’re on my site. And I certainly don’t won’t people who are browsing the web on their own with those devices to give up and move on.

It doesn’t matter whether you have an iPhone/iPad, or even if hate Apple… the fact is millions of people will be using those two devices. Don’t lock them out from viewing your site and your work.

I know it’s nice to get fancy with your site and portfolio, tossing in whatever technical tricks might be available. But what good is it if large groups of people can’t see it because of technical limitations on mobile devices?

Yes, you could also have a mobile edition of your site. For a freelance direct market designer who works mainly on print projects and doesn’t have website experience, I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble, but that’s just me.

You could hire a specialist in website design to help out. But I know most people reading this blog are beginning direct market designers and my guess is your budget doesn’t cover a web designer at this point. You’re still in DIY-mode when it comes to your site.

As always… just something for you to think about.

My bank is in a small town as is more-often-than-not pretty quiet and empty when I go in. Today was a such a day.

As I was filling out my deposit slip, is was impossible not to overhear the bank manager at her desk talking to one of her workers. I got the sense it was an employee review. (And if so, it really should have been done out of earshot of customers and the other workers. But then I wouldn’t have this story to tell you.)

The manager was telling the worker that managers want employees that are proactive, not reactive. Managers don’t want to have to micro-manage their staff. And if this worker wanted to get anywhere in her career, she was going to have to be more proactive.

I really wish I could have sat in on that whole conversation because I’m fascinated by the process people use to try to motivate others if they’re under-performing.

So, what does this have to do with you as a designer? Plenty.

One of the reasons clients keep giving me projects is because I’m more than a designer. You can find designers anywhere online these days… and you can pay them next to nothing if you’re willing to look around and take some risks.

But when you’re able to go beyond design… that’s when you find yourself with a full schedule.

A client gave me a testimonial this week and part of it read:

I appreciate your attention to detail, friendly exchange, and willingness to work with creative solutions to the little hiccups that come now and then.

It’s that last part I want you to focus on. When “hiccups” occurred during this project, I didn’t simply throw it back to the client and say, “Well… what do you want to do here?”

Instead, I either put a potential solution in the layout for the client to see, or outlined possible solutions in an e-mail if that was more appropriate.

That’s a part of being proactive… seeing a problem and coming up with a solution.

Reactive designers may not even be aware there is a problem until it’s pointed out by the client. Or, they know there’s a problem but dump it in the client’s lap without any solutions.

That type of designer isn’t as highly valued as the proactive one.

Part of your job as a designer is to solve problems and make your client’s life easier. Dumping problems back in their lap without possible solutions does not make their life easier.

Maybe you could compare that to an auto-mechanic who says, “Yeah… there is definitely a problem with your brakes. Any idea how I should fix it?” Uh… no… that’s why I hired you. You’re the expert!

Another area where you can be proactive is in recommending other marketing vehicles to clients.

For example, a client hires to design a postcard that ask prospect to visit a website for more information. Does the client have a free bonus for those folks that might encourage a better response? Have they created a special landing page for that postcard promotion so they can easily track results?

These questions don’t even necessarily require more design work… it’s simply you helping the client to think things through or consider ideas they might not have come up with on their own.

Proactive leads to a busier schedule. Reactive leads to more free time than you probably want to have in your freelance career.

When I started in design, my knowledge of fonts (or typefaces, if you prefer) didn’t extend much further than Times and Arial.

Now, my work is primarily all about fonts in terms of choosing the right ones and using them properly.

But I ran across something the other day that I wish I had when I started. It’s a nice PDF of font combinations that work well together, especially in subhead/body copy usage.

It is just one person’s opinion, but if you’re starting out and totally lost, one person’s opinion is a big help.

From the list on the BonFX site, I favor the Myriad/Minion combo. I also use Myriad/Garamond a lot. Like any designer, I actually use a number of combos, but those two work really well for the types of projects I do.