Speaker 1People don't know what a graphic designer does. They simply don't. They think you open a Photoshop and make things happen. I mean, yes, we make things happen, but we do way more than just moving objects around, selecting colors, and using some text. Welcome to the Profitable Graphic Designer Podcast. My name is Katie Sandel, and this episode was brought to you by Aventive Academy, an online business education platform that helps brand, graphic, and web designers get more clients, increase their pricing, and build a profitable design business. We have online programs, courses, and templates that you can use, and you can find out more about starting and growing your freelance design business at Aventive Academy. That's AventiveAcademy.com. One of the mistakes in my career was that I called myself a graphic designer. I mean, I can't say this was like the biggest mistake in my business or anything like that, but the mistake really was calling myself a graphic designer instead of like a business owner or, you know, CEO or founder or something like that. Entrepreneur or something like that. It's just like everything, just not a graphic designer. And there are two reasons for it. And the first is because people don't know what exactly we do. They don't know who we serve. And maybe in their mind, a graphic designer does something completely different than what we actually do. And even now, when I say a graphic designer, it's so broad. You, maybe you do something completely different than what I do. When I say that I'm a graphic designer, designer. I see myself as designing logos, you know, doing brands, brand identities, working on colors, fonts, maybe even like packaging design versus someone else who says I'm a graphic designer, but then maybe they would do PowerPoint presentation or someone else would be a graphic designer and they would do website design. And I know they might be website designers, like using that word websites. However, they can go under a graphic designer. So if you keep calling yourself a graphic designer, you might get different answers on what that actually is. And that's just answers, but different thoughts, depending on who you talk to. Some people will see you as a PowerPoint presentation designer. Some people will see you as a logo designer. Some people will think you design banners and posters and things like that. So I think it's really important to. To clearly define who you serve and what exactly you do. And when you say that you're a graphic designer, it doesn't stand out. It just sounds blah. And I know that it's our official profession and it's okay if you're a designer within an agency and you have a full-time job and all that. And then, you know, people don't really care exactly what you do. But if you're a freelancer looking for new clients, looking for those meaningful connections, so that you can grow your business, then you really need to have not just a sales pitch, but you really need to nail down what you do and who you do it for. And use that, you know, those sentences over and over again, so that people can really know who they need to connect you with. But yeah, again, if you are a graphic designer within an agency, you work for a design studio or a marketing agency or whatever it is, or you're just like, you know, part of an internal thing, then you need to have a graphic designer within an agency. So if you're a graphic designer, within a company, then it's fine. When you say I'm a graphic designer, I work for Amazon, I work for that and that company, it's fine. Like you don't have to go into details what exactly you do because people, you know, they don't need to know and you don't care to explain to them in detail what your day job is. But if you are a freelancer, a business owner, entrepreneur, trying to grow your own business, then it's, it's totally different. So as a freelancer, you need to figure out your things, like kind of like things to say in order for people to remember you. And I'll give you an example. So let's say you are, you know, a graphic designer, but you design most of the time. So, you know, as graphic designers, we can design so many different things. But let's say your focus is on branding, and you do logo design, you do visual identities, you know, colors, fonts, all that. And then maybe labels, packaging, something like that. You would need to say those words. So instead of saying, I'm a brand designer, this is what my focus is on. This is who I work with. That's another thing, like you clearly need to know who you work with. Today, I went for an event. And when someone asked me, what is that that you do? I was like, branding and packaging design, because I was at that specific event where a lot of people have, their products. So I knew that those are the words I need to use in order for them to remember me. And there were a lot of people who work with the same target. So if I use, that I work on packaging design, they will remember, oh, there was that girl who can help with these products, you know, so it's really important. And also remember, you know, you don't always have to say the same thing, depending on who you talk to, and you know, where you go, you can use different, like, what would that be like a title? Sometimes you can be I'm a brand designer, and I focus on logos. Sometimes you can be a packaging designer. Sometimes you can be a web designer. Sometimes you can be, I don't know, like a label designer, like whatever it is, whatever you want to focus on. Everything is better than just saying I'm a graphic designer, because saying that you're a graphic designer is just so broad, and people, people will not remember you. And yeah, like, also saying who you want to work with is super, super important. So now when I go for networking events, I would be like, I'm a branding and packaging expert. And I focus on working with health and wellness businesses, specifically skincare lines, or something like that, like, depending on who I talk to, again, you know, if I'm going to talk to someone who has, let's say protein shake, I would be so focused on, like, on the health and wellness beverage, you know, like, I would talk about labels and packaging, and I would call myself, maybe branding and packaging designer for wellness, I don't know, consumer packaged goods, or drinks, or shakes, or whatever it is, like, I would specifically talk to that person. And I wouldn't just say, Oh, I'm a graphic designer, you know. So that's kind of from the marketing perspective, from positioning yourself and explaining, to your potential clients and potential referral partners, like explaining to them what you do and who you serve. Now, when it comes to so this is the second part now, because at the beginning of this podcast episode, I said that there are two reasons why not to call yourself a graphic designer. And the first one was that, like to position yourself differently, so that people can remember you and know what you do, and who you work with. And then the second one is, it's kind of like internal, and it's a mindset thing. If you let's do let's do this. So if you just say it out loud, even if you're just a freelance designer, say, I am a graphic designer. And then say, I own a design business. And see how that feels. See how you feel. You feel way more powerful when you say that you own a design business, even if it's just you. I mean, it's your business. So you are the CEO, you are a business owner, you are entrepreneur, even if you have one business, you I'm sure that down the line, you will start branching into different things. Everybody has done it. And maybe, you know, not something in completely different industry, but maybe you'll start developing online courses, or paid PDFs, or writing a book, and then basically, you're expanding and becoming an entrepreneur, not just a business owner. But, you know, that's now a different topic. However, if you say that you're a graphic designer, versus a business owner, your actions will be different. Why? Because you will feel more powerful, more empowered when you're a business owner. And now you need to make things work. You have to figure out where to find clients, you need to figure out your pricing, your proposals, maybe your niche, positioning, messaging, like your core values, why you have what you have, like, why did you start this business in the first place? Why didn't you just find a 9 to 5 job? Or, you know, like, whatever it is, it will all make sense when you say, when you see yourself as a business owner, versus, oh, I'm a graphic designer. I mean, nothing wrong with being a graphic designer. We all are graphic designers. But you have to stop calling yourself graphic designer, if you want to see progress in your business as a graphic designer. I hope that this makes sense. And, you know, it's, it's really just the mindset thing. And, you know, if you see yourself as a graphic designer, it's harder to build a company, it's harder to position yourself as a business owner. And, you know, if you see yourself as a graphic designer, it's harder business owner it's harder to see yourself as someone who is building something some someone who is growing something and someone who is trying to to become someone since I was already talking about networking events and you know I was talking about networking events from different perspective from the perspective of people who you talk to as they wouldn't know exactly what you do but if we look from the perspective of like you from your own perspective when you go for a networking event or when you meet someone online and when you say I'm a graphic designer it's fine I mean nothing wrong with that right like we are graphic designers but it's totally different when you say that you are a business owner that you have your own agency and they see you as an expert even more than you are a business owner and they see you as an expert even more than you are a then when you say that you're just a graphic designer it's so weird but it's in human nature that as soon as they hear oh I have my own business they will I think at least I think even though I've heard some stories where people would be like oh you have a hobby or something like that like it really depends on who you hang out with I don't have people in my life who would not take me seriously or anything like that and I I've never had so I can't tell really like from that perspective but like every time when I would go somewhere or meet someone new or whatever it is it was like I would always get like that respect like I see it in their eyes when I say oh I run my branding agency or even when I was starting like yeah now I have branding agency and now I have employees and contractors and all that but when I was a freelance graphic designer I would you know I would be saying I am a graphic designer and I have my own design studio or something like that I mean as I mentioned I was making that mistake of calling myself graphic designer but to be honest like when I first started meeting people in the business world I did call myself a graphic designer and that was really confusing luckily I figured that out maybe like after a year I mean it's a long time but still it's it's it's okay and that's when I transitioned into oh I'm a graphic designer and I have my own agency. This is what I offer you know things like that and now when someone asks me okay so what do you do I would say like oh I'm a business owner I run my own branding agency and we offer that that's and that's for that that's you know like depending who I talk to again so yeah just calling yourself something else it's like anything besides a graphic designer I know it's going to be helpful for you know if you're trying to grow your design business if you're trying to get clients if you're trying to position yourself as an expert in something like you have to you have to use different words because graphic designer is so so broad and one of our students at Avento Academy he said that he hates when someone would tell him that he's a graphic designer he's constantly saying I'm a brand designer. I am a brand designer I am a brand designer I own a company and we do branding and designs and so on and he he truly believes that that's what helped him stand out from other designers because he wasn't just another graphic designer he's a brand designer and his focus is on branding so that's just an example like if you do branding if you design logos you select colors typography like full visual identities. Then you're going to have a brand designer and you're going to have a brand designer and you're going to have a brand designer and you're going to have a brand designer at least you know start from there it's going to be really really helpful for you and for people around you to know exactly what you do and who they need to connect to it so yeah just stop calling yourself a designer a graphic designer you are a designer but even even that so even that mistake that I just made in this podcast episode when I said stop calling yourself a designer you see how a designer is so so broad you can be an interior designer you can be a graphic designer you can be a web designer you can be what like so many different options and then when you add graphic designer okay that's kind of a little bit less broad but still very broad the next would be brand designer instead of graphic designer the next would be a logo designer or packaging designer or a web designer so like it has to be more specific and it has to be more specific and it has to be more specific than just a designer or just a graphic designer I hope that this was helpful and I hope that you will see results as soon as you stop calling yourself a graphic designer and again it's you know two main benefits the first one is just how other people will see you and the second one is your actions like how you are going to see yourself and it's really important how we see ourselves because if you see yourself I am a graphic designer you will try to get every single client on the web you will try to get every project and I'm sure you've heard this if you're trying to get everyone you attract no one because you know like you don't stand out you are just a designer just a graphic designer like how are you different why would they hire you and actually let me let me tell you something a little bit off of this topic but maybe it's not today even I was at that event and there was a guy who he's starting like an alcoholic beverage and when I asked him oh do you already have a logo I mean he was not my target but I was just curious and you should be curious too like always every time when I meet someone who already has a business who already has a logo quality has labels or websites or whatever is that that you know that you offer ask them how did you design your logo who did you hire where did you find that person because then you will know what you need to do too so this guy he's starting an alcoholic beverage and they're launching in like four or five months from now but he already had a business card so I kind of like already so the logos so the colors fonts all that so I knew that they you know they're they already have it they already work with someone and I asked him like hey you know do you already have a logo I was pretending like I packaging like all that and he's like yeah yeah we do and then ask him how did you find a person or a company that worked on on your branding and he said he asked a friend and it was like a friend of a friend who does branding and design and then that person I think designed like a logo and something else for them and then that person referred someone else who does website for them so long story short it all it was all referrals it was all word of mouth and that's why it's important to connect with people you know besides just figuring out how people find how people find graphic designers or brand designers web designers it's also important to connect with people and when I asked him okay how did you then decided like how did you decide to to work with that branding agency what if there were other branding agencies and he said because this branding agency specializes like in alcoholic beverages and I was like what like that's awesome you know so he found the right fit and our clients are looking for the right fit too your clients are looking for the right fit so you have to make sure that you are the right fit like he he would never hire me like my focus is on the health and wellness businesses his company doesn't really go under health and wellness it's an alcoholic beverage I don't want to talk too much about it but it's definitely not definitely doesn't go under health and wellness you know so it's you know it just just a random tip in this episode on like always ask people where they find graphic designers or brand designers web designers and so on and why they hired them because then you will know what you need to do in order to get your dream clients as well now I don't remember exactly where I left off and like what else I wanted to say I just knew I have to tell you this this one thing because I found it like so interesting but yeah again that's you know kind of like from the client's perspective and what's in their mind when they hear about graphic designers the other thing that I already talked about in this episode is how we see ourselves and if you see yourself as a business owner versus just a graphic designer then your actions will be different you will just just that feel of being more kind of like powerful and like oh I have my own business I'm not just a freelance graphic designer I'm a business owner and then on top of that I am a graphic designer within my branding agency or within my design agency or whatever it is you know what I mean so yeah that's it for today and I hope that this was helpful to you I know it's something that has helped me and you know kind of like grow my business because I've been doing a lot of I stopped seeing myself and calling myself a graphic designer and I positioned myself as an expert within the graphic design industry by calling myself branding expert for XYZ, depending on who I talk to. So yeah, hope to see you in the next episode. Thank you for joining us today on The Profitable Graphic Designer. In addition to this podcast, we have created some amazing online courses to help you set up your business, get more clients, and scale to the income level you desire. If you need help developing your freelance portfolio so it stands out, if you want to learn how to create proposals, new clients will say yes to, if you're still trying to figure out how much to charge for your services, and if becoming the go-to designer for your dream clients is your goal this year, then I invite you to enroll in my signature 12-week program, The Profitable Designer, or one of our other specialized online courses. To learn more about the programs and get started, visit AventiveAcademy.com. See you next time.
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