March 26, 2024
Dear Reader,
I kept thinking my work wasn’t good enough. And then when it was, I kept thinking I was missing some other technical design skill. And it was this missing technical skill preventing my freelance career from taking off. So, I read more books on design, and took more online design courses.
Here is the thing. Keeping technical skills current is important. Learning new skills will allow me to offer more services, too. But, it doesn’t matter if it isn’t reaching the eyes and ears of potential clients. And reaching the eyes and ears of potential clients isn’t something often talked about from designers. The most you’ll hear about on the topic is share the work you want to get.
Fear not, it’s talked about by entrepreneurs. Lead generation, client acquisition, marketing (aka sharing work and the design process), closing clients, automation, feedback loops, and bookkeeping. These are key skills that I find to be underserved in the design community.Â
And, they can be found more readily in books about being an entrepreneur. So I recommend taking time to read books like that. Here’s a few I’ve really enjoyed recently: (a) E-myth Revisited (b) Four Hour Work Week (c)The Lean Startup (d) The Secrets of Power Negotiating (e) 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
I hope to see you more.
Signing off,
Taylor
Owner | Designer