Enterprise Lecture 1 - How to get yourself out there

Main points from the lecture:

• Check the Design Council regularly - they gather research into what's going on in the field of design - where the work is coming from, income levels, new thinking approaches to design etc. 

Interesting trends:

• 1.87% of design businesses employ less than 10 people
  2.16% of design companies are in the North of England
  3.Only 23 % of design companies are in London
  4.57% of design companies say they collaborate with other companies or practitioners on client briefs
  5.28% of designers are free-lance.
  (Good knowledge to have for when it comes to me thinking about what companies to look at for "placements" or whether to go freelance.)
  Also check artscouncil.org 
  Income patterns in visual arts:
  
  
  
  
  MARKETING
  Marketing Roles:
  1.Identify customer needs to develop new products - identify the needs of customers, be aware of local, national and global trends and keep ahead of their needs by being aware of new technologies that will create demand.

  2.Develop pricing strategies - be aware of pricing levels so you can price your work that represents the right kind of value for your customers.

  3.Promote products to a target market.

  4.Identify distribution networks - understanding how to get your work in the best place to be accessible to your target customers.

  5.Add value to your product through customer benefits

  6.Monitor the performance of the products - If you monitor your sales patterns over a year of 5 year period you will be able to see  what your customers do and don’t like about your work.

    A schematic to demonstrate the development cycle for new products.

  

   Feedback is vital in order to grow and move forward with my practice.

  Diagram showing a range of issues to consider when putting together a value proposition.

  

   Technology: what kind of technologies can I use and can I use them differently? 

  Methodology -  plan work and communication with people.

  Products: what are the features? what are the benefits?  When describing benefits , you must define what type of person is benefiting. Identify the user to understand the benefits. 

  Solution: Innovative or adaptive? Radical or evolutionary? Etc...

  Alliances: Who do you know? Get contacts! 

  People: people in business - the skills, experience and expertises they have.

  Services: additional services such as offering free advertising to my clients on my website will help differentiate my practice/company from others.

  TIPS FOR A VALUE PROPOSITION:

  1.Make it short

  2.Be specific

  3.Use your customer’s language

  4.Pass the ‘gut feeling test’

  Another approach to writing a value proposition:

  

  Describe what skills, values and ambitions you have (internal) and then describe what customer needs you are interested in addressing
  

  Detail you past experience including any awards, exhibitions or testimonials.

  Outline your key ambitions or future directions you will take in your work.

  
  

  GO TO NETWORKING EVENTS!!

  Gallery openings, trade fairs, craft fairs, art markets. 

  
  

  NEGOTIATE AND CLOSE THE DEAL!

  
  

  B2B - BUSINESS TO BUSINESS -

  Graphic Designers work with small to medium sized businesses such as churches, clubs, shop owners, solicitors and small manufacturers.

  Your business selling services / goods to another business. 

  "

  Services, on the other hand are ‘Intangible’. You cannot touch, weigh or measure the things you buy from service organisations. You cannot touch or smell an education, nor put a massage in a carrier bag, You cannot put the creativity in an advertising campaign, nor wallpaper design on the weighing scales. These are all services and what they do is change the condition of people, places, experiences, businesses and goods but you are not always left with anything tangible after you have benefitted from the service." (E.G. Google, HSBC)

  
  

  Basic principle of marketing: 

  

  
  

  Product - whether you're providing a service or supplying goods - describe the features and benefits to communicate the value to the product to customers. 

  Price: Be aware of market values by seeing what other companies who offer similar products set their prices at. Do not underprice!

  Place: Point of sale needs to be in the most convenient place for target customers. 

  Promotion

  
  

  KNOWN AS THE 4 P's