The Designer's Guide To Marketing And Pricing: How To Win Clients And What To Charge Them [Paperback]

Ilise Benun (Author), Peleg Top (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2008

The Designer's Guide to Marketing and Pricing will answer all the common questions asked by designers trying to stay afloat in their creative business - and also successful designers who want to put a little more thought into their operations. Whether you're a freelancer, an aspiring entrepreneur or a seasoned small-business owner, you'll learn everything you need to know about how to market and price your services.

This book shows you how to:

• learn which marketing tools are most effective and how to use them
  
  
• create a smart marketing plan that reflects your financial goals
  
  
• plan small actionable steps to take in reaching those financial goals
  
  
• determine who your ideal clients are and establish contact with them
  
  
• turn that initial contact into a profitable relationship for both of you
  
  
• talk to clients about money and the design process - without fear
  
  
• figure out a fair hourly rate and give an accurate estimate for a project

You'll learn the ins and outs of creating and running a creative services business - the things they never taught you in school. Plus, there are useful worksheets throughout the book, so you can apply the principles and formulas to your own circumstances and create a workable business plan right away.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A marketing consultant to creatives since 1988, Ilise Benun partnered with designer Peleg Top in 2004 to create Marketing Mentor, a company dedicated to teaching self-employed creatives how to market their work. Benun's marketing articles have been featured in national publications such as The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, The Journal News, The Denver Post, Inc. Magazine, Self, Essence, and Working Woman.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: How (March 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600610080
• ISBN-13: 978-1600610080
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ilise Benun is an author, consultant and national speaker, the founder of Marketing Mentor.com and the co-producer of the Creative Freelancer Conference.

Her books include "The Designer's Guide to Marketing and Pricing (HOW Books), "Stop Pushing Me Around: A Workplace Guide for the Timid, Shy and Less Assertive" (Career Press), "Self-Promotion Online," and "Designing Web Sites:// for Every Audience" (both HOW Books) and "The Art of Self Promotion." She also co-authored "Public Relations for Dummies, 2nd Edition" (John Wiley & Sons) with Eric Yaverbaum and Bob Bly.

Her work has been featured in national publications such as HOW Magazine, Inc. Magazine, Self, Essence, Crains New York Business, Dynamic Graphics and Working Woman, The New York Times, Toronto Globe and Mail, The Washington Post, The Denver Post and more.

Benun has given presentations for international organizations, including American Marketing Association, Business Marketing Association, the National Association of Women Business Owners, the HOW Design Conference, Freelancers Union, AIGA and Graphic Artists Guild, Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario, Advertising Photographers of America, ASMP, Editorial Freelancers Association, NY Public Library, the NYU Entrepreneurship Summit, the 92nd St. Y and many ad clubs around the country.

From her home office in Hoboken NJ, Benun spends her days coaching creative professionals who are serious about growing their business, one-on-one and in small groups. She started her business in 1988 and has been self-employed for all but 3 years of her working life. She has a B.A. in Spanish from Tufts University. More info here: http://www.marketing-mentor.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A much needed book in a sea of Marketing books!, July 11, 2008

By 

Patrick Mccoy Jr. "Patrick McCoy" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Designer's Guide To Marketing And Pricing: How To Win Clients And What To Charge Them (Paperback)

When I first picked up this book it was because it was recommended to me by another designer that I respect and trust. I have to whole hearty admit that in the beginning I was very skeptically of what this book could offer to me. Over the past few months since I started my design business I have read tons and tons of marketing books only to find out that the basic marketing principle seems to be the more you do the better the results. In the end marketing is one thing I have seen most designers struggle with on many of the forums I visit and websites I look over. The fact is most people are not natural marketers or good at pricing themselves. But in the end is this book going to change that?

I am proud to announce that this book should change many of the things you do. If your a firm believer in hating marketing books that try to sell you other pieces of marketing junk from the authors website then you will love this book. Both of the author's are very clear in their goals and it's obvious that they have the experience and know how of running a business and making it successful without you having to buy anything else they sell. Some people judge books by nuggets of real solid information and I have to say this book is one of the few that I dared not to skip any pages for fear of not getting another good tip or piece of advice to make my business better.

For those who are looking for the guts of the book, the book is separated by two portions: Marketing and Pricing. Two huge issues on a designers plate when they are trying to start a business. The marketing chapters are really well thought out, anyone who has run a design business is going to shake their head through this chapter as they cover many of the things that most of us DON'T DO but should. They even provide worksheets to be filled out at the end of most areas so that you can keep track and build. The pricing chapters are also solid and help you to think about pricing in a new light through the eyes of seasoned designer which I honestly thought was going to be a waste of the book but wasn't.

PROS: Decent amounts of information, good worksheets that help you to build your prefect business, NO in book marketing like Guerrilla marketing or any of those other marketing guys who write books and not really understand what they sell and it feels good to buy from a REAL designer.

CONS: NO printable worksheet on the website (I hate marking up my books), no real talk about what happens if you don't have trade organizations in your market, no real talk about expanding your marketing across the country or internationally.

OVERALL: The book is very well worth the money you pay. While a few glitches in my mind kept it from being a 5 star I feel that it is still the best on the marketing for designers. It has become my recommended book of choice and I really enjoyed reading it and I'll enjoy going back to fill out the worksheets when I read it again.

Patrick
[...]

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hugely Helpful, April 4, 2009

By 

Kayle Simon (Clarksville, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Designer's Guide To Marketing And Pricing: How To Win Clients And What To Charge Them (Paperback)

I have several times ordered books or tapes that I thought would help me with making decisions about how to move my company forward, how to price, how to market, etc. They have all fallen short with too-general advice or off-subject musings. This one is actually doing what it says it will do...I'm finding it's almost like a road map, helping me to pick my direction, pushing me to think differently, and clarifying things that used to confuse me. Bravo!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works for other professions as well, October 30, 2009

By 

John Hood-Fysh (Albany, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Designer's Guide To Marketing And Pricing: How To Win Clients And What To Charge Them (Paperback)

I love the just plain common sense approach used in this book. It covers all the subject matter needed to help you win customers (the marketing) and then determine what to charge them, and how to have the dreaded money conversations. I have actually read the book once through, and am now working through the material. Ilise and Peleg did a great job. Well worth the price.