Why You Are Losing Clients (How to Stop)

We spend a lot of time on Freelance Folder talking about marketing. That is because good marketing is very important to a freelancer’s success. It is important to get those clients in the door and signed up for your products or services if you are going to earn enough to really support yourself as a freelancer.

For some freelancers, though, that “in” door is actually a revolving door. If this is you, it may seem that no sooner do you get a client signed up for your products or services than they leave. You have no idea why you are losing clients, but you know that it has to stop.

This post should take some of the mystery out of why freelancers lose clients. It will also provide some tips for how to hang on to the clients that you do have.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE ON FREELANCE FOLDER

Why hire a graphic designer?

Think you can’t afford a graphic designer? Think again. Here are six reasons why you should hire a graphic designer.

1. Saves you time.

You’re an expert at your business. Graphic designers are experts at graphic design.They know how to create materials that attract the attention of your target market while visually conveying your business’ image. By taking advantage of their expertise, you’re able to save time and get the project done right. (Besides, do you really want to sit down and try to design your own marketing mate- rials?)

2. Distinguishes your organization.

Good graphic design will quickly communicate your marketing messages to your customers. Just by looking at your materials, they’ll get an impression of what your organization is about, the feel of your organization, what it would be like to work with you, etc.
The importance of a strong visual presentation cannot be understated. As human beings, we rely heavily on what we see in the world.A good graphic designer knows how to manipulate colors, fonts and images in order to create the best impression for your company.
Great graphic design merges art with marketing – it takes years to master. But once mastered, the results can be amazing.

3. Cuts through the chaos.

Every day, Americans are hit with over 3,000 attempts to snag their attention. The right design can help your message stand out and be noticed rather than getting over- looked.

4. Makes you look good.

Wonderful design combined with well-written copy will add a level of professionalism and elevate your business’ image to a higher level.

5. Helps you understand what you want.

Let’s say you know you need the help of a graphic designer but you’re not sure where to start.A graphic designer can help you organize your thoughts and get a handle on your concept.Then, that graphic designer can take that information and turn it into eye-catching, results-driven design.

6. Help you be objective.

Many business people are too close to their business so it’s difficult for them to see not just faults but also strengths. Graphic designers can come in and be objective, really seeing how best to sell the business, the image, the products or services.Then they can design your materials for maximum results.

13 Beautiful WordPress Themes

So many WordPress themes are available for free download. Here is a small pick of 13 really nicely designed ones that have been released within the last few months. Some of them also have allocated space for 125px adverts and header ads. And remember they are all free to download! If you want to add any to our next collection that are released throughout the October / November period, drop us a comment.

Click here to view all the themes.

How Much Should a Web Design Cost?

Article by: Pearsonified

Every week, I get emails from potential clients who all want to know one thing: How much for a design?

Nine times out of ten, my answer causes them to run for the hills. Scary thing is, based on industry buzz, my prices could actually be considered totally reasonable by comparison. Don’t believe me? Well, today you get the whole scoop – my prices, their prices, and my always-priceless editorial commentary on the subject

My Prices

For the sake of argument, I’m going to constrain today’s post to blog design only.

When people email me and ask for a quote, I always follow the same process. I visit their current site and determine the following:

• The current CMS platform (WordPress, MovableType, Drupal, etc.)
• The scope of the site – how many unique styling elements will be required for specialty pages?
• The perceived complexity of the re-design. Does this person want a graphical masterpiece with all kinds of bells and whistles?

Generally speaking, there’s not a whole lot of variance in these areas from blog to blog, so after checking out the site in question, I usually have a good idea of how much to charge. Now, to answer the question you all want to hear…How much is all this gonna run ya?

At this time, blog designs start at $1500. This price is for a blog that has minimal graphical complexity, no customized icons, and no logo production. What you do get at this price is rock-solid, hand-crafted, browser-tested CSS, XHTML, and simple (but striking) graphic design.

In most cases, bells and whistles like plugin support, unique page designs, and extra graphics push the price up into the $1800-$2000 range. From there, the price is largely dictated by page-specific CSS/XHTML production and custom graphic design. It’s totally conceivable that a pimped out blog could run as much as $3000. Rest assured, though, that it would be totally badass, and the recipient of the design would receive mad props for having such a killer online abode.

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Sorry about the poor updates!!

We are sorry that we haven’t updated the site since last month, but we have been very busy here at Eri Design. April is our busiest month, and its very important that we focus on our clients, since they are our first priority. But we haven’t forgot about you, our regular blog visitors. Please visit us back soon and we will have new articles.