The past few weeks have been really slow for my jobs.  I actually took two graphic design projects & finished the work.  Then wasn't paid on either of them.  Having that happen a few times is enough to build trust issues with anybody.  The last person was pushing me to have it finished right away giving me creative control.  When I finished and provided a customer watermark proof, I asked for any feedback so we could make it right.  Here is the response I got, "I am the assistant, when my boss comes in if he likes it we will set up payment."  Ok, first of all that is not how it works.  You commission me to do the work, I ask for feedback...I'm told I have creative control & if the boss "likes" it...I get paid.  I was so upset.

  But now something good came up, I've been told that I will be able to do freelance for a company on a multi lingual publication.  That should prove to be a nice flow of work.  Also my partnership with Geisha Events, an automotive industry marketing company has announced the launch of their website.  So hopefully I have two new sources of income, my task there would be to make event flyers & car renderings for sponsorship programs.  That would be a good thing too because I love that world.

To celebrate I made some original art for my online gallery and my webpage.  It seems depressing when I look at it, I thought this was supposed to be celebration art.  Perhaps tonight after I go to the gym and relax my mind and body, I can sit down and make something that is not so angry to look at it.  Here it is for my blog readers to enjoy.

"There are no right and wrong ways to work in this business, but there are some basic common-sense practices. Work very, very hard and always be prepared; never give up; and once you get the job, give them more than they ever expected, Shine!"

Jimmy Smits 

Hitting a wall.....


Every business has it's ups and downs....I'm currently in a down right now.  It seems that no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get customers.  Or I get someone who wants work done, then won't pay me when I finish.  It's getting a little frustrating at the moment.  I'm currently having to use my facebook fan page www.facebook.com/superfungeektime to post up my services.  I don't like advertising to my fans, because that is not why they like my page.  I'm waiting on my ad to go into print, even then I feel like I won't get any business.  Oh well, I just keep making samples and sending them out to potential clients and hope someone...someday will actually pay me.  Sigh.

The good news is, I entered a design contest for Lexus.  The chosen rendering will go to production for a one off custom car & will be showed at SEMA this year in Las Vegas.  That would be great, considering they put the designers name on the car.  At this point, I'm trying anything.  Even shots in the dark.

  If you or anyone you know needs any kind of Graphic Design work done, feel free to visit my website.  www.DesignBeyondStyle.com

"You just never give up, no matter how hard the challenges are, and observe this world with a healthy dose of criticism and don't just follow the herd like somebody else might do."
-Renny Harlin 

I got friends in low places

Knowing people is such a great thing, I try to talk to everyone I can.  Get to know them, what they do & how I can stay connected to them.  Whether it be phone, email, facebook...linkedin.  My girlfriend says I talk to too many people.  But I do this for a reason, you never know who can help you out later on.  Of course I try to do my part in this relationship, trying not to be a leech.  I like it to be a symbiotic relationship, "how can we help each other."

I've been trying to come up with new ways to advertise my small graphic design business, but keep my costs low.  I covered it in an earlier blog. This is proving difficult though, while there are some great free ways to advertise....I won't get the exposure like actually paying for advert space.  The other night I had someone call me up out of the blue.  They were letting me know that they are creating a ten page magazine/ visitors guide for a large festival.  Everyone in attendance (over ten thousand) will receive this pamphlet.  She told me that she had an open ad space & knew I was struggling to get some business.  So she offered me the 4.25x 3.75" ad for free.  All I had to do was design it.

My heart raced, I immediately sat down & began to work on the ad.  I love how it came out, it shows the facts but it also shows how creative / artistic I can be.  I'm really glad that I take the time to get to know so many different people.  My social networking so far is working better than any website or listing could do.  My suggestion, get a business card that stands out & begin shaking hands...engaging conversation and PASS OUT THOSE CARDS!


"It's all about people. It's about networking and being nice to people and not burning any bridges. Your book is going to impress, but in the end it is people that are going to hire you."
Mike Davidson 

Freefall

Lately I've been feeling so overwhelmed.  With my day job, my small business...girlfriend...friends...family...truck maintenance.  It's a lot sometimes for one person to handle, but I always like to put one foot in front of the other & look forward.  Always keeping a positive mental outlook.  That has gotten me through most of it with ease.

“Every step gets him closer to greatness...or disaster.” 

― Jody Feldman, The Seventh Level

I find myself working on a lot of customer art projects, I realized that I had not made anything for myself in a few weeks.  So i began to take my lunch break at my day job to drink some soup & create.  Mostly I have been happy with the results.  It's surprising how freeing taking just one hour a day & doing what I want can relax me.  The first thing I made symbolized how I was feeling at the time.  A little in awe & not sure of the road I was on, but feeling confident about the destination.  I call it freefall.

Now this is all well & good, but I need to focus on my business.  Not my own creative desires right now.  But I thought....why can't I do both?  So I created my new banner for my facebook page.

I'm glad I can have fun like this with work, it makes it so much more bearable.

“It's hard to beat a person who never gives up.” 

― Babe Ruth

Daily Ritual

Oh Craigslist, what did we do before you came around?  Newspapers, magazine articles, to be honest I never read those ads.  I would always skip over them to get to the good stuff.  Because I was never picking up a newspaper to find a service, I just wanted the news.  Now with CL (craigslist) I look for services, sales etc.  Every two days I have to repost my ads and delete my old ones.  It's time consuming and I usually only get one person calling with a project that I can't even do.  Look here, I make it fairly clear what my services are.  And yet I'll get someone calling me to ask if I can fix a car, or do I have a room for rent.  It's kind of ridiculous & I don't think I can make my post any clearer.  However, I keep posting because I never know where my next job is coming from.  It could be from CL, or by word of mouth, even that business card I put down at the local starbucks.

I would like to find more services like CL, but it seems like it's one of a kind.

Needed a Break

After working like a madman these last few weeks, I decided to take the weekend off.  My first few days off in a few weeks.  Well, that's a half truth, I took 1 1/2 days off.  I had a project deadline & there was a good four hours left of work on it.  So I spent four hours on Sunday morning getting it done.  Other than that, it was relaxation time.  We all decided to go to Glen Ivy day spa, it was mineral hot springs...and massages.  We came out feeling wonderful, also took some time to do a little yoga and meditation while I was there.  All in all, the day trip was fantastic!  A funny story, involving sun tan lotion.  I am horrible with suntan lotion, I always forget to put it on.  This time I did remember however, I didn't put enough on & some parts of me are burnt & some parts are still completely white.....it's a real problem.

On Sunday I spent time with my family and had a mexican food feast for Father's day.  It was awesome, margaritas & tamales.  I brought my dog over to play with my Mom's dogs & they got along great.  Looks like it's back to the real world however, time to start focusing on my work & my small business Design Beyond Style  At least Dexter had fun!

Creative Marketing.....

When you start your first business, in my case a sole proprietary.  I am learning that all of those wonderful people that make up a company...the warehouse worker, the HR rep, the janitor....and so on ad infinitum are so important.  Once I started my small business I had to become all of those people.  Including a job that has always interested me, Creative Marketing Director.  What is a creative marketing director you ask?

The creative director is charged with determining the best ways for us to visually represent our company’s identity online. It's very much a people-oriented job, involving development of high-level concepts for design projects. It also involves working with internal and external clients, pitching designs, and understanding client needs. At times, we require you to develop visual designs, and at other times, the Creative Director will be responsible for recruiting and managing third party design firms as well as internal design resources.

That's what it is....it's a lot of work.  It's means making my presence known to non existent people.  Not only that, I'm starting with no budget for any kind of marketing.  How do I get around this fundamental flaw of funds?  Simple, I have to be open & creative.  Such free services as Jihoy, Craigslist, Yelp and others have been really good to me.  I have also taken to creating a facebook page (once again...creating potential customers from nothing)  As well as my blog here.  Having grown up in the 80's, I also wanted to hit the streets (non internet)  I find that community boards at local colleges, coffee houses & centers for religion are good places to pin up a few business cards.

The blog is happening not so much to "wrangle" customers, but to provide a documentation of my experience in my new venture.  I want to be able to look back & see where I could have done better.  Hopefully I can fill the large shoes that have been placed on me, with a little bit of cash a grass roots marketing campaign is simple.  But I have to wake up every morning & renew my free classified ads & go back to those community boards and place my cards down again.  Hopefully this won't be for too much longer.....hopefully.

Design Beyond Style.com  <----Check it out

A .com makes all the difference

When I was in high school & the internet was still very new, having a .Com website was a big deal.  Not just anyone could have one.  I had a lot of small Angelfire websites (i'm dating myself) They were fun, and cool projects.  Back then we had to do all of our web design using HTML coding only.  Now technology has made it so creating a website is so simple, anyone could do it.

I had another one of those long URL websites for my new freelance graphic design business.  I felt like I was in High School again, passing out my business card with http://paulcmartin2012.wix.com/superfungeektime.  It's kind of hard to be taken seriously.  However my small business isn't seeing a lot of customer influx yet.  It's still just a lot of word of mouth & a few online referrals.  Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for every single customer.  But I wanted my business to be taken seriously.

As of today I announced on my businesses Facebook page....I have a Dot Com website.  My first one ever!  I'm so glad my first website is a really important thing to me.  Not like some of my other sites, for a blast from the past visit http://www.angelfire.com/co2/V8stang90 (my first website I ever finished)  Now compare that to my new www.DesignBeyondStyle.com.  The difference is night & day.

I'm so glad that there are so many small business articles online with people who have gone through the same upward struggle I am right now, and they are gracious enough to share there secrets.  The web has some great people, who like to share knowledge.  Suddenly the big scary world isn't so terrifying.  The piece I made below kind of shows what I was feeling at the time that I started this adventure.....I'm the little guy.

The start of something big....

Several weeks ago I tried to apply within my company for a higher paying position, I took the tests & went through the interviews.  I was then told that my business had found someone who could do the same job for cheaper.  Instead of going with someone that they could rely on & trust, they went with the more economical route.  Who can blame them?  I would probably make the same choice if the company was mine.  It's a dog eat dog job market.  The strange things is, at that moment when I was told I didn't get the job.  A strange calm fell over me.  I wasn't agitated or disgruntled.  Everything got very clear for me, I thanked the manager for the chance and went back to my old desk.  A thought began racing in my head...why couldn't I start my own small business?

I began to read everything on the subject of small business ownership.  I decided to play on my strengths which is graphic design.  After doing a little bit of minimal (free) advertising, I found my phone & email began to come alive with freelance job opportunities.  Small here and there work, then something amazing happened.  I acquired two contracts with legitimate businesses.  I was so happy.  Of course, I couldn't become complacent just yet, I am still a long way from this small business paying my bills.  I have to continue to think of new innovative ways to market my skill set to my niche customer base.

I began by making a webpage, a very colorful yet simple design to let people know what I do and how to contact me.  I then came up with the name...something that screams awesome,  Design Beyond Style.  I reserved the name through the state and it's mine.  I am days away from making my webpage a .com, so much is happening so fast.  Of course I want it all & I want it now.  But I have to remember to take it slow.  A lot of small businesses suffer and perish before they are ever discovered.  I need to play it smart right now and continue to acquire projects from customers.

I still have that job that wouldn't promote me, but a certain calm comes over me when I go to work now.  Because I know that when I leave that job & go to MY job, I will be treated and paid exactly what I deserve.  Because I'm the boss, it feels so good to say....the boss.

Design Beyond Style Website

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