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Paul Boag, a famous web designer and host of one of the coolest web design podcasts out there, Boagworld, did a great presentation on how to get clients to say yes to your designs at the 2008 Future of Web Design Conference.
Paul talks about how to make clients understand what we do, while giving us some tips on how can we make them approve our work. I highly recommend you to watch the video below, but for those who do not have 35 minutes spare, the video is summarised below.
NB: In the video you can not see the slides on the projector but you can see the slides here. I suggest you have a look at the slides before watching the video.
So, how do we get clients to say yes?
Paul kept stressing that the designer’s relationship with clients is fundamentally flawed.
We have to face the fact that a big part of our job is to nurture our client relationship. In many ways, we treat the clients like Monarchy and see ourselves as their servants. Often times we follow their leads, in a submissive way, and are afraid to express our opinion.
It’s time for us to change, moving from a master/servant mentality to a peer to peer mentality. We have to take the role of an expert and make them perceive us that way. But how?
Change The Relationship: Be the expert
Have a methodology. A methodology puts you in control. It enables you to set expectations with the client and lets them know what is coming.
Clients want to have a sense of what is coming next. Explain the process, the stages the project will go through. Have a design process. This way you’re setting yourself up to be the person who’s in charge of the relationship. Put yourself in your clients shoes: They are nervous & unsure if they did the right decision to go with you. Make them feel confident in the situation. Make them feel confident that picking you, your studio was the right choice.
When kicking off a project, make sure that there’s a thorough research phase (depending on your process this can entail: success criteria, business objectives, competitive analysis, priorities, user personas, user expectations, site personas) All of this research will help you explain WHY you are doing what you’re doing later on. You need to prove that you are the expert by justifying your decisions. You will have to constantly refer back to the information you gathered in the research phase.
Justify it also by referring to third party experts. People love facts and figures. By referring to other experts, you become an expert by association. Write down everything a client has agreed to, that way you can refer back to it. View full article »
This article was written by Gino over at YouTheDesigner.
1. Wanting Great Designs for Cheap Prices
Because everyone seems to have Photoshop and know a designer nowadays, many clients tend to have a bad idea of what design is worth. While it can be ok to have low prices when you are starting out, when you are confident enough and your work is good enough you should come up with prices that make it worth your time.
Many clients also try to outsource their projects to India and other places where designers work for rock bottom prices, but you need to stick behind your work and hold out for those clients who know what you are worth. Let them know why you are the best choice! View full article »
In the beginning, it’s okay to take on low paying jobs. During school, I did a ton of freelance. I took on nearly every job that was offered to me including work from Virgin Records and followed that up with some small logo comissions. If you feel that there’s some valuable portfolio pieces and knowledge to be gained from a lower paying job, by all means take it. I wouldn’t recommend working for free though. Your schooling and talent should be worth at least some compensation! View full article »
Gain Detergent with Febreze: Gym
So you want to know what is the best mouse for designers and/or web addicts? Well on the weekend I bought the Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse, something that has been on my wish list for a few months and I believe it is the best mouse for designers and/or web addicts…
The best feature that differs this mouse from any other is the ergonomics and how it fits into your hand – it fits pretty much like a glove, its so perfect! It’s the perfect weight and is super comfortable, perfect for a graphic designer or web addict who never leaves the computer.
The next best thing would have to be the scroll wheel which glides through pages depending on how fast or hard you flick the wheel – this is so so so cool, I repeat, so cool. A great demo of this function and on the whole mouse can be found on this 2 min video.
The next best feature of the mouse would be the buttons on the side of the mouse (see pic at top) which allows you to scroll through your applications with your fingers instead of using Alt+Tab. There is also another handy search button on the top of the mouse which means you can search documents or the net with just a click! Really useful!
It also comes with a stand to recharge the batteries on 
