Paid Members John Matrix Posted April 23, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2015 After years of working for voluntary organisations and more recently, commissioning these services for clients on a regular basis, I've decided to take the plunge and start my own business. I'm not a graphic designer, or web designer by trade, more a self taught enthusiast - but my years of working in sales, PR and marketing mean that as well as being able to put together something reasonably attractive, I also understand how to structure it with practicality in mind. My aim is to make design services accessible to businesses on a budget - I have experience of running clubs on a shoestring, and working for small businesses for whom promotion is essential, but all too often, a luxury, so I want to remove those barriers by offering an affordable web and graphic design service to those hard working organisations who deserve to look good when doing what they do. As long term poster here, it goes without saying I'd love to work with a pro-wrestling or MMA company, established, or up and coming, but more generally I'd appreciate the support of the UKFF with a simple follow on your Social Media channels as I attempt to grow my audience. In return, I guarantee you a generous mix of promotional output, recycled gags from my UKFF repertoire and, true to form, regular posts about action movies and the men who star in them. If you'd be interested in working with me, you can check out my website: www.bewater.co.uk And, if you're willing and able to help me spread the word, you can follow the adventure on social media. https://www.facebook.com/letsbewater http://www.twitter.com/letsbewater Yours humbly, John Matrix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undefeated Steak Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Congratulations, John. Your site looks great. I did something similar a few years ago (although the sites weren't on your level, they were more small business brochure sites). I wouldn't let not having a degree knock your confidence - it's one of those industries where a lot of the time you find the people without qualifications to be the best ones at it. If you're aiming at the smaller businesses then I can't stress how important offline marketing is. Doesn't matter how minor it is. I got two clients whilst getting my hair cut and another client that came through one of those. I got a few leads (just as I was finishing doing it) from printing some A5 flyers and putting them in newsagent windows and on notice boards. One of the biggest pieces of advice I can offer is to not sell yourself short. That was my biggest problem when I was starting out. I'd quote £195 and the client would expect me to do three week's worth of solid work on it. The client needs to know that you'll do a good website for them, but at the same time if they're expecting a top-end website, they'll need to find a different designer (or arrange a higher fee). Don't underestimate how many people still struggle with social media (a lot of smaller business owners won't own a computer or smartphone, or even really know the ins and outs of the internet). Speak to them on their level. One thing that infuriates me with designers is how they'll talk using jargon or, worse, use £5 words that sound so out of context. Get a feel for your client and use language that they can relate to. Nothing turns them off more than them having to ask what you mean. A lot of smaller business owners will not want a website. There's no way to get them to change their mind. They've been stung two or three times before and they think it's more hassle than it's worth. *But* they'll be on Facebook. I'll bet you anything that their cover image looks terrible, out of focus, and cheap. Probably some text on their written in Comic Sans too. It's their only online presence. Offer to redesign their Facebook cover image (you can make these look really good) for £24.95. Aim to get 8 cover image jobs booked in a week (word of mouth spreads like wildfire, especially when the word 'Facebook' is involved, you'll get 8 people a week asking you after a couple of months). Then, every Friday you can go down to your favourite coffee shop, sit for 5 or 6 hours and create them all. £200 in a day, and you've sat in your favourite coffee shop! Good luck with it, John. You'll have customers you want to deliver a Leg Drop to and weeks where you're sure the best course of action is to go down the job centre. But when you can take your laptop to a test match in summer and watch some cricket while you're working on a design in the sun then you'll feel like a king! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members John Matrix Posted April 23, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2015 Thank you so much for the positive feedback. I really appreciate it! Some really invaluable advice that means a lot more knowing you've been there and done it. I know I need to get pounding the pavements, the launch has been a bit premature, as it was supposed to coincide with Nurun from the Apprentice launching her site, as she has a big following and lots of contacts after being on the show, so that was part of the strategy initially, so I got my ducks in a row, now her site has been delayed and suddenly i'm out there flying solo - no bad thing mind you. I'm fortunate enough at the moment, that I have a day job to fall back on, but that means it's a lot of late nights, but I used to do that many years ago when I ran a community group, and there was no money in that.. and as with any small business owner, you get out what you put in, I always knew that going in. I especially love the social media branding tip, that is great, simple and fits my philosophy to a T, so consider that idea plagiarised! :-) Is that what you do now out of interest? I've seen in other posts that you run businesses. I guess I have lot to learn generally about working for yourself, regardless of the field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undefeated Steak Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 You're welcome. I'm not an expert but if there's anything else you need advice with (I was better at the sales and marketing than the design) then just drop me a message. It's good that you're still working your job. Yes, you can say goodbye to proper sleeping patterns for a while but it'll soon be worth it. The best ways to get clients (or leads at least) - Word of mouth (always the best) - Friends, family and workmates (and people they know) - A5 flyers (newsagents, community hall boards, anywhere you can pin them really) - General socialising and networking (always have a business card on you, you never know who you'll bump into during a day) - Facebook groups (there's always local network groups where you can share your services) - Gumtree (certainly if it's popular in your area) - Messaging local business on Facebook (not sure if you can still do this or whether it'll be flagged as spam) - Blog. Write a weekly blog, or guest blog if you can You're ace at MS caricatures - have you thought about doing a competition where somebody can get themselves drawn? It's not much but it'll get local people talking about your company. You'll soon find the industries you connect with and the ones you don't. Remember that the word 'free' flicks a switch in British people's minds! I don't do website design for customers anymore. Funny you should ask though as I've been considering it recently. I got into eCommerce and things are *finally* starting to take shape. Looking back I should've done the design service alongside the eCommerce sites but I wasn't expecting things to take so long. There was a lot of false starts, fall outs with suppliers and everything else you get with a start up. I ran a catering business for a while but I hated it. It wasn't something I particularly enjoyed and the returns were minimal on the work you had to put in. I've got a five-year plan that I'm working on with these sites and I'm drawing up plans to launch a small fulfillment centre later this year or early 2016. It's stressful and I've put literally everything I have (or had) into it but I'm hoping it'll pay off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members John Matrix Posted April 23, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2015 It's funny, I work in sales and marketing, and yet I'm a terrible self promoter. Part of it is not feeling like I've really 'earned' the right to do this, but I deal with designers on a daily basis, and some have the most incredible technical ability, and not a club about what actually looks good, others understand marketing and simply wont deviate from the 'formula' alienating clients in the process, then there's others who know what they want but lack the skills to achieve it. I'm somewhere in the middle of all of those, i'm well rounded, but not elite in any one particular field which is why I've got such grounded expectations. I've received nothing but positive feedback to date, from people who do know what they are doing, I guess I just need to get a few more satisfied clients under my belt and I'll start to believe the idea's got legs. Again, thank you so much for your support and ideas. I wish you every success with your project, you seem very switched on, and clearly have the drive for it, experience tells me people with that skill set tend to do pretty well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted April 23, 2015 Moderators Share Posted April 23, 2015 Looks really good Matrix. Really happy for you to see you doing this just a few short years removed from those real career woes you were going through before... Good luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members John Matrix Posted April 23, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2015 Thanks Chest. I'm lucky that events have conspired to give me a bloody good kick up the arse the past 18 months. Now I just want to get out there, express myself, and hopefully help some deserving organisations in the process, if I take on Steak's idea above, you just know i'll be using you with a shotgun as my example of what the lucky winner could expect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Nick James Posted April 23, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2015 Wishing you all the best in the venture, Matrix. You deserve it, you're a top bloke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members John Matrix Posted April 23, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2015 As are you my friend, thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted April 24, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted April 24, 2015 Hey man - best of luck to you from me too. Hope this really takes off in a big way for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted May 5, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted May 5, 2015 I contacted "John Matrix" having read this thread recently as I'd had a little idea for a T-Shirt/print in my role with a Hull City supporters' group but obviously money is tight for a volunteer organisation. This was exactly the sort of thing I'd been looking for. I gave JM my budget, which was tiny really, and he kindly offered to help out. Frankly, for the quality of work, the timescale and the professionalism - he's been absolutely robbed. The result is outstanding. I'd love to see this get off the ground because it can be intimidating to have an idea but worry about the cost of quotes. I also hope that JM can build it to the level where he's making the sort of money his work deserves. JM is a seriously nice guy and easy to work with which, whatever you are paying, never hurts. Will definitely use again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members John Matrix Posted May 5, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 5, 2015 Thanks Rick, really appreciate the endorsement. I hope that'll carry some weight on here coming from one of the forums big guns. You guys are exactly the sort of organisation I wanted to work with when I set up. I wont be able to retire early, but it's immensely satisfying to work with groups like HCST - I've been there, and I know the graft that goes on in those voluntary groups, so I'm especially grateful for the opportunity to help. If anyone else is in the market for an affordable design service, that could be a poster, flyer, DVD cover art, website, logo, I mean literally, you name it, please do get in touch. www.bewater.co.uk @LetsBeWater Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted May 7, 2015 Moderators Share Posted May 7, 2015 Matrix - you should think about putting a link to your page in your sig. There's a lot of people who don't come in to classifieds, or even if they do might remember later when they need some help that they saw this thread but not be able to find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthofsin Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Hope this works out for you John. I've been doing a lot of graphics stuff on the side for a number of years and, like you, i hold no formal qualifications. DVD covers, posters etc. I've always found the work to be quite rewarding. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Majik Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Well, JM got himself a job due to this, so stay tuned for his (upon pain of death) outstanding work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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