Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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
[...]

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!

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.

I like the way it's written...it's clear and concise. The success stories focus a bit more on the benefits and not as much on the anxities...but still great encouragement that takes the sting out of marketing yourself and your work.

Concepts are express in a very clear way. It goes straight to the point.
The design is very good. I am very happy with it!

Good foundation for the Design industry and the entrepreneur. I really enjoyed the information on pricing. Very easy to understand, and very important to understand from a designer standpoint. Very good worksheets to track your efforts. I recommend.

If your a freelancer of any sort, not just a designer, and you need help with your marketing then this is a book you should read. The information supplied could readily apply to almost any entrepreneur regardless of the profession.

One thing about this book, it really forces you to think about what your doing and what you want to become. There are many many fill in the blanks throughout the book causing some deep introspection for the reader.

The pricing section has some good points as well that you should read. But, I think the heart and soul of this book and the one that will have the biggest impact will be the marketing section.

This book is one of the most practice-oriented I've ever read. It's structured in a "question-answer" way to give useful advices and tools for starting and managing creative business in design. To help readers following authors advices they included fill-in blank forms which makes reading this book an interactive and involving process. I would strongly recommend Marketing and Pricing for starting enterpreneurs as well as mature ones to review thier existing practice and to get broader view on managing creativity and design.

I'm not a designer myself, but I own a web design company. This book had some great advice, and really did a good job of targeting some specifics to the design industry. Despite having read plenty of marketing books already, I picked up a few new things from here. The info that's common in business books was presented as well, but in a way that it directly pertained to the design industry.

Great job!

This book is phenomenal. A few weeks after reading it I had made my biggest sale to date for my company. A video production in excess of 25K. No work of a lie this is the best book that has happened to my business and I promise you that if you read everything in this book and fill in some of the questions you will be on your way to success as a designer, video producer, editor, cameraman or any other artist. Its a real confidence booster that talks big numbers and money and gets you thinking like a real professional about your funds and artistic talents. The difference between a starving artist and successful artist, besides artistic talent, is all in the marketing.