Positioning

what considerations do you need to take in order to make a positioning statement? and what is a positioning statement?

1.Positioning is a choice. It is the intentional effort of a business to hold specific ground in some highly competitive real estate- mind of the customer

2.You must know what you are good at, you need to decide your position instead of the client figuring it out for you. You make an elevator speech, keep it simple and effective.

-Elevator Speech or positioning statement- Also referred to as a brand strategy, positioning strategy, or brand positioning statement, a positioning statement is a succinct description of the core target audience to whom a brand is directed, and a compelling picture of how the marketer wants them to view the brand.

Working with Clients

What does it take to satisfy clients? Also From a clients point of view what does our world as a designer look like?

1.What does it take to satisfy clients? It depends on the individual client, but generally, it takes far more than great creativity. I’s a question of perspective.

-From a clients point of view our world as a designer looks something like this:

-Creativity is only one aspect of communication

-Communication is only one aspect of marketing

-Marketing is only one aspect of business

Working with Clients

when you discuss results with a client what are the key things you need to remember?

also what do you need to keep in mind before these key things?

1.You need to choose the clients bad work. Your obligation to your clients is to produce results- not always award-winning creative efforts, just the results they are looking for.

-When discussing any assignment with your client, it is important to adopt (and the client senses it as well) this results perspective:

-Creativity is nothing more, or less, than a means to an end;

-Please the client, not your personal creative muse;

-Do the best you can within the time, cost, and strategic constraints given to you.(not to be confused with achieving absolute creative perfection.)

Working with Clients

What do clients fear most from a creative supplier? How do you keep a clients mind at ease?

1. What do clients fear most from a creative supplier?

Misdirected or inappropriate creativity

2. How to put the client’s mind at ease:

1. make sure the client is absolutely comfortable with your work style

2. Be on time for appointments. In buyer/seller relationship, the buyer (client) can be late but seller (you) should never be.

3. Wear appropriate business attire- it shows you are a business person, not  creative flake.

4. Be informal but friendly- nice people are more trusted

5. Go over working procedures and scheduling- it shows that you are methodical and organized

6.talk about schedules and deadlines-it shows they are important to you

7.ask about any unusual procedures you should observe- it shows you think ahead

8.Treat the client’s creative input as important- it will help later with approvals

9. Ask if there is anything specific you can do to make the assignment gol smoother- it shows you care

Don’t leave until both you and the client have a clear understanding of what happens next, and when.

Working with Clients

What are the 2 problems in getting clients to say yes? While there is no single, fail-safe way to present ideas to a client, what are a few things you can do to increase the odds of success in your favor?

1. Problems in getting clients to say yes come from 2 possible areas:

A) You’re not doing a good enough job convincing clients of your problem-solving abilities

when you receive the assignment (refer to the assignment questionnaire);

B) You’re not doing a good job showing how your solution actually solves their problem.

2. While there is no single, fail-safe way to present ideas to a client, here are a few things you can do

to increase the odds of success in your favor:

1. Be as concerned about “selling” the concept as the concept itself.

2. Insist on enough time.

3. Summarize the input you were given.

4. Explain your approach in the context of the client’s objectives.

5. Show one concept.

6. Stay in control.

7. Always be opinionated, but never be inflexible

Working with clients

How do you recognise a good client?

1. A good client:

1. Never asks you to do speculative work or adopt unprofessional procedures.

2. Has projects with well-defined objectives, budgets, and timetables.

3. Doesn’t waste time in unproductive meetings, is organized, provides complete information.

4. Provides adequate time to do good work — a week or more, depending on the job.

5. Demands great work — and recognizes it when they see it.

6. Doesn’t nitpick over minor details and style.

7. Is objective and consistent in comments and criticisms.

8. States as precisely as possible what is wrong, but never tells you how to fix it.

9. Appreciates your talent and effort, and doesn’t begrudge you your financial reward.

10. Pays within 30 days

Determining Price

There are 6 basic methods a design firm can use to determine a final quoted price. They are?

1. There are 6 basic methods a design firm can use to determine a final quoted price. They are:

1.average hourly rate

2.individual hourly rate

3.per-page rate

4.past results

5.sales price

6.total cost plus

Estimating your cost and determining your value

what does the hourly rate represent and reflect? What are the 4 perspectives of value?

1.The hourly rate only represents your cost plus your profit. It reflects the time spent in producing the job. But it does not reflect a third critical variable: value.

-value is complex. But can be seen in a number of perspectives

-value is what the finished product is to your clients bottom line. They aren’t interested in results, not process. How well did you solve their problem?

-value is what the finished product means to your bottom line. Does this job represent a unique opportunity to break into a new market area? Establish prestige?

-value is your firm’s reputation for delivery, service, ideas.

-value is the demand for your firm. Relative to the supply of competent competitors.

In estimating your price consider the mix of your floor cost, profit margin and value component.

Estimating

Do you know how much to charge? What is the bigger picture? Some people assume that pricing is the most important factor in buisness success. And this being so, tehy tend to underprice to ensure they will egt teh work. ("If i sell low, I'll stay real buisy, and I can make my losses with higher volume.") What are the 2 fatal flaws to this thinking? What does a good client that knows that the quality of creativity depend mostly on?

1. here are 2 fatal flaws to this thinking:

1. working hard at lower prices can lead to creative burnout.

2. building a reputation for low-price work attracts smaller, less sophisticated clients, while repelling the larger clients with the good assignments.

2.A good client knows that the quality of creativity depends mostly on:

a) your understanding of the problem

b) your freshness and enthusiasm for a challange

C) how much you charge

-The first rule in pricing is not to over emphisize its importance.

Costing

Selling your service as a profesional designer can be as simple as multiplying your time spent by your hourly rate. Give examples of a good and a bad method to stay in buisness.

1. Example of a bad way to stay in buisness

Some firms use "the going rate"-("figure out what the client will pay, and tell him that's what it will cost.") This method is NOT a good way to stay in buisness. Why? because this only takes in to account what the client is willing to pay, but it doesnt tell you whether you can make any money at this selling price.

2. This is a good way to stay in buisness

If you intend to make money, you must set a price hat brings in more than you spend. The first step in setting your price is computing your actual costs. This is the single most important tool in setting design fees.

Estimating

What is the "floor" and "ceiling" concept? Also how do you calculate the true cost of an hour in your design firm's time?

1. It is vitally important that a design firm know where these 2 points are at:

1. Floor- when you know your costs for doing a job you have established this. This is the minimum below which you cannot go and still make any money.

2. Ceiling- the point at which a firm prices itself out of its market.

2. when you arrive at your "floor," you have to calculate the true cost of an hour of your design firms time. Once that cost is established, it should be reviewed once or twice a year, and adjusted (more likely,upwards) to remain useful

Costing

How do you calculate your hourly rate? How do you calculate the initial operating budget?

1. How to calculate your hourly rate:

-simple and bad: 3X salaries- multiply salaries times 3 to get a rough estimate based on 1/3 for salary. 1/3 for overhead, and 1/3 for profit. This is a simple but not particurally a reliable method.

-slightly more complex, but better: Sum of the parts- actual and anticipated salaries, plus actual and anticipated total overhead costs, plus desired profit.

2. How to calculate your initial operating budget:

fixed+variable+profit=every estimate

Design Firm Management

what are the organizational principles PCB and BCP? What is the 3 design philosophies?

1.Definitions of the organizational principles:

PCB- (practice centered buisness) depends on how the job looks

BCP- (buisness centered practice) depends on how we look at the job

2.Design philosophies:

strong delivery

strong service

strong ideas