A Quick Fix!?

caramel creative

caramel creative

New Member
Hi Everyone,

Just joined the forum & this is my 1st ever posting so apologies if this covers old ground (which it probably does!).
I'm a sole-trading designer here in Cardiff - emphasis on the 'sole' & hence the reason for the joing the forum where I'm so glad to have read so many posts that relieve my sense of isolation!
Like so many others the credit crunch has knocked me slightly off course and I've ended up offering all kinds of discounts, special offers, etc with a degree of success but don't want to be viewed as some kind of 'bargain basement'
Have also, again maybe like some of you out there, had my business overdraft facility rather spitefully removed by a bank that shall remain nameless for now (suffice t say they have a non-white horse in their logo!!) & so find nyself with an immediate cash flow problem that I need to rectify.
Anyway, what I suppose I'm asking is if anybody can offer any advice to get a bit of a 'quick fix' financially - not a loan, but any service or product I could offer to existing & potential customers?

Many thanks,

Mark
 
Hi Helen,
Sorry for the delay in reply have been out all day & just got in;
I basically do anything & everything (logos, brochures, stationery, web, etc) - my background is as a traditional graphic designer who's evolved like probably loads of others here into a web designer (albeit simple HTML stuff) as well
I've got a couple of web package offers/schemes (aimed at small business start-ups & restaurants) on my homepage at moment that I get a reasonable response to:
Caramel Creative | Design Agency in Cardiff, Graphic Design in Cardiff, Web Design in Cardiff, Graphic Designers in Cardiff, Website Designers in Cardiff, Design Consultancy in Cardiff, Corporate Identity in Cardiff, Stationery in Cardiff, Business C
...but fear as mentioned in my original post that it may be 'cheapening' my service a bit.
Any ideas welcome?
 
It is a bit of a toughy.... Don't worry about cheapening your brand too much... as long as your covering your costs at the end of the day. We have probably all had to do it.

I offer monthly "discounts" on some of the forums I frequent, like at the moment I am doing a special on logos for the month of September only. (there is only a teensy weensy discount, but as soon as you mention the word "discount"... people are interested :icon_wink:)

What else are you doing to drive your brand, have you tried visiting local businesses with flyers and stuff?
 
Hi again Helen,
Thanks for the feedback;

I suppose I've been fortunate enough to get a lot of 'word of mouth work' recently but obviously realise that that can never be relied upon solely.
I've got a good relationship with a local publisher here who produces a monthly 12pp A5 advertising mail out of local services who gives me a free bit of space with that but it's difficult to measure how succesful this is.

Also, re: your idea discounts - I have a free listing on Touch Local who have a special offer feature that I've never really utilised properly that perhaps I should (incidentally what kind of forums do you feature yours on? are they local business ones?)

I've also in the past produced a couple of HTML mail outs to a large list that I aquired but feel that they get received pretty much as I would do if I was the recipient - deleted! so any ideas on how this method could be improved upon very welcome?

I've just finished a basic CMS site for a local restaurant here in Cardiff
Las Havanas Tapas Bar and Restaurant Cardiff | Tapas Bar in Cardiff, South Wales, Restaurant in Cardiff, South Wales, Salsa nights in Cardiff, South Wales, www.lashavanas.co.uk, www.lashavanas.com.
that I'd like to push to other restaurants as an example, but the issue I have encountered is that the only restaurants who have an email address usually have a site already; similarly targeting new business start-ups - getting an email contact is quite difficult unless you buy quite an expensive list from someone like Thomson Local Directory, so again any ideas on reaching these would again be very welcome.

I have considered producing flyers and dropping them around, but I suppose to summarise I'm one of these designers who loves actually doing the job, but is not confident/doesn't really like selling my service!

Incidentally, as a total newcomer to all this forum stuff, your opinion on my website/portfolio would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks again,
Mark

Caramel Creative | Design Agency in Cardiff, Graphic Design in Cardiff, Web Design in Cardiff, Graphic Designers in Cardiff, Website Designers in Cardiff, Design Consultancy in Cardiff, Corporate Identity in Cardiff, Stationery in Cardiff, Business C
 
It is worth it... I have just recently secured two logos from that september discount I was talking about. Just don't come on and undercut me LOL! :icon_wink: :icon_biggrin:
 
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