How to Succeed as a Graphic Designer - Part 2: Creating a Sense of Community

Welcome to Part 2 of the How to Succeed as a Graphic Designer series, in the
last installment, I discussed the importance of exposure and how to obtain it.
In this article I will discuss the importance of developing a sense of community
and how to go about doing that successfully.

Creating a sense of community is vital to the success of many freelance
graphic designers, especially those that obtain the majority of their business
from local entities. Community, or the simple act of having common
characteristics, enables designers to be more personable, which in turn leads to
a greater designer-client relationship.

You can go about creating a sense of community a variety of different ways
and no one is unable to accomplish this, humans all have something in common
with each other which is the first step to developing community… establishing
a connection.

When you are out and about at the grocery store, local festival, or meeting,
be friendly. Everyone enjoys meeting new people on some level and first
impressions are incredibly important. Establish “community” by asking a few
questions about the other person, take a genuine interest in them and endeavor
to remember their answers to the best of your ability. People will most likely
remember you better when their first encounter with you was a pleasant
experience.

Another method of encouraging a sense of community is choosing to use more
personable language on your website. You can establish a connection with a
potential client by breaking the barrier created by faceless corporate language.

The next step in creating a sense of community is maintaining the connection.
Follow-through is vital in showing not only that you are a designer of your
word, but will greatly strengthen the relationship between you and the potential
or current client.

Exchange contact information with as many people as possible, there is no way
of maintaining a connection if you don’t have a way of getting in touch with
somebody. Hand out your business card liberally, invite people to add you as a
friend on Facebook or MySpace, start an email newsletter, or give them a call.

Even if you don’t start out talking about what you do for a living,
employment is bound to come up in conversation sometime and is a perfect
opportunity to give your “elevator speech.” Even if the person your are
conversing with isn’t in need of your services, almost everybody knows somebody
who could use a little help in that area.

The potential for increasing your client base is enormous, all because you
established a connection and maintained it. This is by no means a comprehensive
look at steps to creating a community, there are many, varied methods in
addition to the ones I mentioned. Feel free to let us know about your favorite
methods in the comments below… Stay tuned for Part 3!

About the Author

Mike is a freelance web and graphic designer who runs Digital Revolutions. Feel free to add him on Facebook or send him an email.