A bit of an explanation is in order before I get into today’s topic.

I’m not famous by any stretch of the imagination. But for various reasons, my name is known a bit related to AWAI and their Graphic Design Success program. I’ll tell you why in just a moment.

Because my name is out there in connection with the GDS program, I get contacted a lot by people who are considering buying the program. When I was just starting out, it was no problem to answer questions about my journey to where I am now because I had the time.

For anyone who knows me, I’m not very good with short answers. My feeling is that if someone is sincerely asking for my help, I want to give them all the information I have. Thus, e-mails from me could be very long as I took a lot of time to address all the issues someone would ask me about.

Again, that was no problem when my schedule wasn’t filled with projects. But that’s not the case these days. My schedule is packed, so I can’t get as involved in things like forums or e-mail conversations where I’m addressing the same questions over and over again.

That’s one of the main reasons for this blog… to share when I can based on my schedule and hopefully reach a lot of people all at once. It’s also why I wrote a book about going freelance… to address the same questions I was getting month after month.

That leads us to today’s topic. One of the top questions I get asked is whether AWAI’s Graphic Design Success program is worth the money. I’m going to lay it all out here, then when I get asked the question in the future (or when someone is doing a search related to the GDS program) I can send them here.

Full Disclosure: I’m now connected to AWAI in a variety of ways. I’m an affiliate for the GDS program, I do layout work for them, I’m on their Wall of Fame, I’m listed on their Meet The Pros site for the program, I’ve helped with a little bit of the content of the updated GDS program, I’ve been a teacher at their Bootcamps, etc.

You’ll either read all that and think I’m as biased as anyone can be, which is a bad thing in your mind. Or that I probably have more useful knowledge about the program than lots of other people, which is a good thing. If you think I’m biased, fair enough. I completely respect that.

OK, time to get into it. (See? Look how much I’ve written just as a setup for this topic. Brevity: It’s just not my gift.)

As many of you know, my plan was not to be a graphic designer. It was the writer’s life for me. I outlined all that in the book. But I thought I might make more money as a copywriter who also had some design skills to offer.

I already knew of AWAI because I owned their copywriting program. Because of that, I knew they also sold a graphic design program. So a few years back when a potential job came up that needed both design and copy, I bought the Graphic Design Success program to learn about a topic I knew nothing about. I was fine when it came to writing, but totally clueless about direct market design.

I love to learn new things, so the GDS program was a lot of fun for me. Just about every page was teaching me something new. And when I’m into something new, I really try to throw myself into it. For example, the same day I ordered the GDS program, I made a trip to the bookstore to buy whatever books and magazines might be relevant.

On that note, here’s one of those questions I get: Is there anything out there cheaper than the GDS program that I can buy to learn about direct market design?

Well, when it comes to things that teach “direct market design”, it’s pretty thin. I’ve lost count of the number of clients who have said something like, “I need someone who understands direct market design. I’m tired of getting burned by designers who can do all sorts of fancy stuff, but don’t understand direct marketing.” So it’s certainly a specific skill-set and direct market clients know it.

In this case, I was probably lucky to know nothing about design because all the knowledge I was gaining from the GDS programs was just related to direct market design. In other words, I didn’t have to “un-learn” the types of things they teach in college design programs. It’s all good stuff, just not terribly relevant to direct marketing.

No doubt there are other resources out there, but I haven’t run across much. And it is something I look for. There is a wonderful, out-of-print book called Designing Direct Mail That Sells. And there are good books that cover basics like setting up a grid. But an indepth look at direct mail design principles? A bit of an untapped market if you ask me.

There are books covering advertising, but they’re more of what we call the “Madison Avenue” type of advertising. It’s the type of stuff that is harder to track results for (something direct marketers hate) and seemingly designed more to get awards for the ad agency than actually making sales. That last point may be a bit harsh, but that’s just my opinion.

So I’m not saying there’s nothing else out there that covers this specific topic. I’m just saying there’s not much that I’ve run across or that covers things so thoroughly.

Another “sub-question” is this: Does the program teach you how to use the software direct market designers use? Not really. Nor could it if you stop and think about it. Some DM designers focus in different areas such as print, illustration, website design, etc.

So consider all the software one might use: InDesign, QuarkXPress, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Expressions, Flash, CorelDraw, Painter, Publisher. And then there are programs no longer made, but still on plenty of hard-drives and valid tools for DM designers: Adobe GoLive, MS FrontPage, Freehand and many more.

No program could cover every possible title someone might have. And if it did, you’d need a forklift to move the binder around.

(Quick Note: You don’t need to learn every piece of software out there. I don’t want you thinking you have to be an expert in everything. You don’t.)

My suggestion to people in this case is to get a subscription to Lynda.com. It’s not cheap, but for one price you get access to every program they cover and they cover a lot!

Here’s another question I get: I have some design background, so is the program just going to teach me things I already know? Sorry, but I have no idea. Even if I had the time to hear about what you know, I wouldn’t know how well you know it. Know what I mean? (But you can solve that dilemma on your own. I’ll mention how in a minute.)

For a short time, I taught a continuing education class on copywriting at a local college. You teach the same content to a room full of people and some are going to take away more than others. So, for example, perhaps you did take a course on design, but I have no idea how much of that you really have a good grasp on.

Finally, when people tell me they’re hesitant to buy the program because of the cost, I remind them that AWAI offers a 30-day, money-back guarantee. So you buy it, look through it, and if it isn’t for you ask for your money back. I know getting a refund for anything can be a little inconvenient, but if you’re not willing to exert some effort to get started in a new career, maybe you need to reassess whether you’re ready for a new career.

Starting a new career is a challenge. I’ve worked hard to get where I am now. I didn’t just buy the program and wait for something to happen. I soaked up everything I could from it while at the same time picking up information from any other source I stumbled across. Then, I applied that knowledge to what clients need. But at least with the GDS program, I had a solid foundation to build upon.

Notice how I italicized ‘applied’ in that last paragraph. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to who read everything in sight, but never apply it. They confuse information gathering with true progress. Part of making progress is gathering information. But if you never apply it, what’s the point?

There’s a popular saying: “Knowledge is Power”. But that’s wrong. Some will say the use of knowledge is power. That’s wrong, too. It’s the use of accurate knowledge that’s power. Of course, that doesn’t work as nicely as a pithy saying. And in our case, power should probably be restated as career advancement.

In other words, you could buy the GDS program (or something else) and read it from beginning to end. But if you don’t apply it, it’s not going to do you any good.

I know I’ve sounded like a shill for the program. But here’s the bottom line for me: The program got me started on the right foot and changed my life for the better. Simple as that. I’m writing this in the comfort of my own home-studio, living where I want to be living, working on projects that I enjoy, not projects that some boss tells me I have to do. I set my own schedule and while I have those moments where I’m working long hours, it really is my choice to do that.

I have bad days where it seems things aren’t going right, but they’re few and far between.

I’ll end with my favorite quote from a freelancer in Daniel Pink’s book Free Agent Nation:

“Working when, where, how much, under what conditions and for whom I want.”

As they say, That’s the life for me!

(Now, for your own good, get up and stretch your legs a bit.)