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Break out of the cubicle and gain the business savvy you need to launch your own freelance web design business with Starting Your Career as a Freelance Web Designer! Written by seasoned pro Neil Tortorella, this book guides web designers step-by-step down the path to success and helps them avoid common pitfalls. Jam-packed with practical know-how, this book also contains the wisdom and advice of noted industry authorities and business leaders. Readers will learn how to draft a solid business plan, negotiate contracts, manage time and money, deal with taxes, manage projects and clients, determine rates, and create winning proposals.
During the past few years, portfolio management and self-promotion have taken on a far greater role within a graphic designer’s business model. The degree to which they can increase their earned revenue through exceptionally defined, marketing-oriented promotions and portfolio management is paramount. These individuals and agencies now identify their product as cultural tourism and stress the role of their work as economic generators. This book defines the core elements of self-promotion and portfolio creation and provides the insights graphic designers need to showcase their work in unique and creative ways. Case studies demonstrate the different techniques designers use to create successful portfolios for different audiences and measure the results of those efforts. The book also details how often portfolios should be updated and distributed and determine workable budgets to produce a great portfolio.
According to the Shyness Institute in Palo Alto, Calif., half of all American adults consider themselves shy! If you're one of them, don't worry! There are skills and techniques you can learn which will allow you to grow out of your shell and become a friendly, assertive person. Learn these simple strategies and you will get along better with colleagues, be seen as a strong, team player, get the promotions you deserve or the clients you want and, ultimately--and naturally--succeed in business. You can conquer your shyness and learn to present yourself confidently in a wide variety of business situations, from speaking up at a meeting, to taking credit for a project, to asking a busy boss for a deserved raise.
The design bar is at an all-time high for those brave enough to participate in the industry. Today's designers must be clear on all the steps necessary to create work that stands out in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Unfortunately, most design books only focus on type, color, and layout issues. The Design Matters series takes a more in-depth approach, allowing designers to learn not only how to create work that is aesthetically appealing, but also strategy-driven and smart. This compilation features the best of the Design Matters series, indispensable guides to design, in one handy volume. Design Matters focuses on developing, creating and implementing brochure designs, logo designs, packaging, and portfolios. The compendium includes all the essential information needed to execute strong designs in concert with beautiful and well-crafted examples, so that designers can successfully hit the mark every time.
With traffic to personal blogs and online journalism sites on the rise, there are more blogging opportunities than ever before. With the right approach, a blog can be an extra source of cash, or it can be a business unto itself yielding thousands of dollars a week, all earned on your own schedule, from the comfort of your home office, and writing about the topic of your choice. If that sounds too good to be true, this invaluable book will prove to you that it can be done. Unlike other guides, Starting Your Career as a Professional Blogger goes beyond the basics to show you how to earn a living while doing what you love. Experienced blogger Jacqueline Bodnar takes offers a comprehensive overv...
The ultimate source for beginning professionals, working professionals looking to make a change, and entrepreneurs wanting to go out on their own, this friendly guide details every business aspect of commercial graphic design, including how to: • Create a portfolio • Make initial contacts • Develop a financial plan • Set up an office • Acquire supplies and equipment • Price your own work • Market on the Web • Nurture a growing freelance business • And much more In a market-by-market survey, the author devotes entire chapters to selling one’s work within every venue, including magazines, ad agencies, book publishers, greeting card companies, small business, and Web sites. ...
A Friendly Guide to Launching and Maintaining Your Musical Career It’s tough to make a living from one’s love of music, but Sheila E. Anderson shows readers how to do just that in How to Grow as a Musician. This encouraging yet realistic guide covers everything from developing and learning one’s craft to managing the business aspects of a musical career. This second edition expands on performance tips, self-promotion tactics, and steps to improve one’s networking skills to make fruitful connections. Anderson shares her insights as well as practical advice from successful musicians and other industry professionals on topics such as: Composing and recording Understanding and negotiating contracts Putting on a performance Getting and keeping gigs Utilizing social media And more How to Grow as a Musician is packed with candid views on everything from overcoming failure to the art of writing a song to doing that all-important ego check. Whether they’re just getting started or have been in the business for years, all musicians will reap the rewards of this thoughtful career guide.
Dialogue is often overlooked as a necessary and potent instrument in the novelist’s repertoire. A novel can rise or fall on the strength of its dialogue. Superb dialogue can make a superb novel. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “Action is character.” George V. Higgins said, “Dialogue is character.” They were both right, because dialogue is action. It comprises much, if not all, of the clarifying drama of any novel. How much physical action can there be in 300 pages, even in a crime novel or a thriller? And all conflict, even physical, begins as dialogue. Hough explains how dialogue can reveal a character’s nature as well as his or her defining impulses and emotions. He says there must ...
An Engaging and Accessible Guide to Achieving Sustained Access in the Music Industry As a musician, how can you blend art and survival and still keep loving the business? The Musician’s Career Guide, written from the perspective of someone who has engaged in the daily struggle that all artists encounter, provides clear strategic support and advice in a knowledgeable, reader-friendly voice. From preparing for an audition to business planning to protecting one’s mental and emotional well-being, The Musician’s Career Guide marries practical tips with in-depth resources, anecdotes and stories to learn from, and comments for consideration and self-reflection. This book is a tool musicians c...
From marketing and promotion to client communication, this essential guide covers everything graphic designers need to know to achieve ultimate success. The author finds answers all the tough questions with: Practical advice for establishing - and maintaining - a high profile within the design community; Personality-driven text that makes readers feel like they're getting advice from a trusted friend or peer; Timeless information that designers of all levels can use to navigate the inevitable tough spots in the industry; Straightforward strategies for tackling such tricky business issues as contracts, pricing, lawyers and accountants; In addition, there are invaluable sections on recovering from big career mistakes and giving back to the community. This is the book graphic designers have been asking for: a business guide that isn't too stuffy for creatives.