Help your clients find you
In January 2018, I decided to start charging NGN 100,000.00 for logo design. I was inspired by the invoice I peeked into at FourthCanvas.
I didn't get my first break until August 2018. Thank you, Kitan. It was for a company called 115Garage. It was a 7-day project; logo design.
For the rest of 2018, I got an extra total of NGN 550,000.00 from about 5 clients. The company was fairly young; it was a big win for us. We were doing something worth doing.
As we approached the new year, we knew we needed to make more money else there'll be no business to run. The question was there.
How do we make more money? How do we sell? How do we find clients?
People.
We toil day and night, building our portfolio, applying for jobs, trying to get a break. You're constantly worried of where to find your next gig. You're bothered about stunted growth because someone else with your experience is charging higher.
You're somewhere in a village, and no one seems to need design. You can't relocate because you know no one in Lagos. So you're stuck in Ijebu.
You have cool plans for yourself, but you never seem to be able to afford them. You want to work on crazy projects but the clients don't turn up.
Pause.
Reflect.
This used to be me. Honestly? This is still me, partly. 4 out of 5 people reading this with you right now are probably in the same dilemma.
While there are a handful of ways to fix this gap, some you might have heard from me, the issue I find myself having is the practical application of these techniques.
Give me a second here, I need to go back to writing like myself, 'cos what's this marketing nonsense that I'm saying.
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Right! I'm back.
I have a theory that clients are constantly searching. Your first priority is to get found ... not sell.
Think of it like this. As long as you have a skill, you're in the marketplace (maybe a mall, if you've never been to a market).
Praise, think of your favourite marketplace/mall. Great! You are there to get some tools; let's say a DIY toolkit.
If it is ShopRite, I have three options. One, walk aimlessly across all the aisles till I find what I want. Two, walk up to an assistant and ask for help. Third, look up—the aisles are usually titled with hanging cards.
Now, imagine you are the DIY kit ... you don't get checked out if you're not found and added to the shopping cart.
The first question to ask is, "where am I?"
Because sales happens after you've been found, not before. The discussion about pricing, client engagement, etc cannot happen if the client hasn't found you.
So, where are you?
In 2018, for the first eight months, I was in my room, in my estate. I was also a 300L student of Computer Science, so I was in school. I was on Instagram, mildly and all I did on YouTube was binge Chris Do.
Check this out.
Would a NGN 100,000.00 client find me? Nope.
The second question is "who can afford NGN 100,000.00?"
Is it a tech bro? A cosmetic retailer? A wholesaler? A church? An event?
When you ask yourself this question genuinely, it spurs quite a litter of questions. Where do they stay? What do they look like? How do they spend? Who do they trust? How do they find services when they need them? Do you have anything in common with them?
However, the question that is most valuable to you is "how do they find services when they need it?"
Here are some general pointers.
They tweet "does anyone know who does XYZ?"
This customer journey is so interesting because the factors that lead up to success are so numerous.
- Your customer looks out for tagged accounts on two basis. One, from his trusted circle; two, with the most tags. Your strategy? Identify the online circles on social media and engage harmlessly with at least 2 or 3 of them. Engage as a person, and engage as a professional. Do not spare words when the opportunity comes to discuss what you do on the platform. Keep them in the loop of your discussions. Share achievements, and share your work. Do really good work, the kind that gets you noticed by them. Find crowd circles like #designtwitter, #techtwitter and be an active contributor. It takes very little effort in the Nigerian industry to develop a style and be different. Build online networks via GIF replies, sharing your mundane interests in sitcoms, Netflix and gaming. Applaud people, because they're more likely to applaud you back. Randomly tweet, "this is an XYZ stan account" at someone who's in a circle you want to be a part of. Plus, ensure you actually stan them.
They search Google and/or Behance
Here is usually to backup a previous find. Build a portfolio, let it contain only your best work and nothing less.
Go all out on it. Paste the links everywhere you can, in the most interesting way possible.
They want to refer you to someone
You'll be surprised at the amount of people who really don't have a directory of designers.
Build a network with people who know people you want to work with. Talk about the work you do, but don't sell.
Tell stories about how you do work. Document and share with the world how you work/think. Indoctrinate people with the content you create, so that they can talk about you in a way that you can be found.
They like the work you did before
At every opportunity possible, do good work. Do not sit back and let anxiety tire you the fuck out because you want to end the project as quickly as possible.
For you, Praise, how you do this might be different. The main idea is finding which stores your customers check, who they speak to, and ensure that there's a touchpoint there that leads them to you.
So, how did I get my first client?
I did a pro-bono project. It was a 19-day long event, and it was a huge one in Akure. We got two contracts from that pro-bono. The clients were financial sponsors of the event.
Actually, we got three.
115Garage, EnergyUp, and Small Alhaji, currently the youngest member of the Federal House of Representatives.
115Garage brought in numerous referrals, one with the Ooni of Ife. The Ooni client got us a brand and retainers' deal with a US/Nigerian tech company worth almost NGN 1,000,000.
The company led us to meet someone who knew someone, and we handled ScholarX's event—Acadafest. We met Godwin Tom, and went on to work him on three Wande Coal music covers among other stuff.
People.
A cup of coffee. A free handbook. A shoutout. Even, a little hello. People only talk about people they see and notice.
Obscurity is your enemy.
You're not expensive. You're simply talking the wrong people. A civil servant will not buy a Lamborghini. Yet, it doesn't mean the Lamborghini isn't worth selling.
Happy Sunday, and yes, Ciao.
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