At various point of running our businesses as designers we need to find ways of attracting new clients. This could be because we’re having a dry period, recently after we’ve started up the business, – or because we have spare time due to loosing current projects. The reasons for needing new clients can be many and the ways to get more of them are numerous.

In this article we’ll give you some simple ideas on what you can do. There are tips here for both freelancers and business owners.

Most ways of getting new clients are logical and sound very easy to master, but actually remembering when important can be a challenge. In this article we’ll have a look at some tips that can help you succeed a bit better with this part of your business. You may have thought of some of this already, but I’m sure this also can be a valuable reminder.

Let’s have a look!

Put your focus on the local community

The internet has given us all a much bigger stage where we can work as creatives. This often leaves us overlooking some of the possibilities that can be hidden in our local area. If you need new clients – why don’t you try to have a look at local companies and offer your services in your area? Ways to do this can be talking to friends, advertising in local newspapers and magazines and attending conferences related to your niche. Many times these can be easier to get a good relationship to as they are closer, speak your language and so on.

Go meet potential clients in person when possible

If you’re working to get new clients within a reasonable distance, you should definitely consider giving them a visit. Most companies receive a lot of phone calls and emails daily, so it can be hard for you to stand out from everyone else. By meeting them in person you’ll get to hand out your business card, have a chat with them and show them your face. This counts more than most people think. Just give it a try, and you may be in for a surprise.

Use your online contacts

We all have Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and more these days. But are we using social media well enough to promote our business and services? For many of us this is something we can improve upon. Something as easy as sharing our portfolio with more people, telling that we’re available for projects and so on. And it’s definitely allowed to market your business online to friends as long as you’re not overdoing it. Unless your online contacts know what you’re doing and that you’re available for projects, they wont hire you or recommend you to their friends/other contacts.

Design contests and crowd-sourcing

Taking part og design contests or crowdsourcing projects is a great way to get some experience and also get your name out there. As they’re always popular and only one winner, this is not a stable way of making an income, but if you have some spare time on your hands it can be a nice alternative. The designs you submit can be made part of your portfolio and help you attract new potential clients from all over the community.

Offering something cheap/for free

Depending on what you offer, there can be a lot of competition. One good way to have new clients give you an important first chance is by offering something cheap or for free. Then they get the chance to see what you can offer without taking too big risks. Then they will come back again later if they are happy. Examples of how to do this; offering a free amount of business-cards for client that order something, free logo design when someone’s buying a web design, free photo-retouching, contests and giveaways on your website and so on. It’s all about getting clients to notice you and using your creativity to make it happen.

Advertise

Advertising is underestimated these days. Many seem to think that all of their money should be spent on business-cards or the website. Both are very important, but never forget that advertising can be very powerful. Ads in local newspapers (online or offline), websites that have the type of visitors you’d want as customers or maybe getting an ad in a niche magazine? It’s a great way to reach new clients and stand out a bit.

Doing your best

Last, but not least, you have to do an excellent job with the projects you’re getting. Word of mouth is many times more powerful than any other way of trying to attract new clients. Do your best to give your existing clients excellent service and end results that they just love. If this means spending an extra hour once or twice, I can assure you that it’ll be well worth it.

Conclusion

Getting some new clients doesn’t have to require any “magic”. Often times you’ll see that a traditional down-to-earth approach can give great results. A key is being able to remember what one can do, plus focusing on that without trying to do too much all at once. If you’re just sitting there, you’re letting luck decide what happens. By trying out some of these methods, you’re definitely raising your chance of succeeding. That’s many times what it’s all about: taking action.

We hope these tips can be a bit useful to you and wish you the best of luck!

When it comes to web design it seems typography is the one area often left out of the loop. This is ironic in a sense as typography is what truly powers the web. What are websites without any content, after all?

As the web has advanced we have seen trends in web design rise and fall. Today I’ll be going over some of the most common typography tips for designers and how you can apply these to your current web projects.

Keep in mind these are only tips as I’ve seen showcased throughout the web. As layouts change from site to site you’ll notice there is no single rule for designing awesome type. Implement your own concepts to develop the perfect web typography in any setting!

What Makes Digital Typography Different?

You may question why we even need to consider digital type. What makes web copy so different from newspapers or books? The main consideration is the media from which you’re reading – a computer.

Staring at a dimly-lit computer screen and reading letters off a page gives a completely different feeling than picking up letters off pages in a book or magazine. It is also much easier to access content through the Internet where books are physical objects. This is a huge constraint when comparing the two areas considering you have access to hundreds of millions of articles just through Google alone.

Digital type also isn’t just for desktops anymore. Netbooks have become very popular for reading blogs online and mobile devices are seeing rampant growth. This new technologically powered era is a testament to what humans can build with a bit of hard work and determination, especially considering how quickly we’re advancing.

These facts alone should show you just how different digital type is. This ushers in an entirely new set of rules and regulations for type backed through a screen. And as our views on design grow so will our extension of copy.

Spacing and Padding and Margins, oh my!

When talking about digital text it may seem a bit backwards to start with spacing, however this is a key element in content readability. The amount of space you place between your website’s elements dictates how quickly your reader’s eyes can dart from section to section.

10 years ago you’d be hard pressed to push beliefs that extra spacing can help. Most websites were running 10px Arial font squished together paragraph after paragraph streaming down the page. Setting a strong value for your line-height will give your paragraphs (and your visitors) room to actually breathe.

You’ll also want to ensure there is enough margin spacing set after each paragraph. Distinctive spacing within text blocks can help align your reader’s eyes with the content flow on the page. Anywhere from 15px-25px is perfect for a bottom margin set on all your paragraphs and even a few headings.

Bigger Font is Simpler

You may have noticed by now that most websites and blogs today are not working with 10px or 11px Arial anymore. Serif v sans-serif fonts are irrelevant in the larger scheme of things. Focus is driven towards the size and clarity of the type rather than the type face.

Giving your font extra space helps on many fronts. It allows visitors from mobile devices a fighting chance to actually comprehend and understand your content. It also gives them a sense of accomplishment by barreling through 10-12 paragraphs of largely-typed font.

As humans we thrive for completion of goals and objectives. This is what makes video games so fun! Opening up an article online and reading through all of it can create a huge sense of accomplishment into many people – placement of larger fonts greatly helps with this feeling.

This is not a waste of space, this will not take up “too much” room or cramp your site’s design. Quite the contrary. Larger fonts will actually fill in open areas in your design and spread your content around. Your site will actually seem larger than it really is since the backbone of your entire layout (the content) is filling up most of the room.

Use the Right Styles for the Job

There are only a few typographic elements most designers will concern themselves with. These include paragraphs and heading elements, also blockquotes and hyperlink designs. When starting your stylesheet keep markers for all of the typographic elements you’ll need.

h1-h6 may be a bit much if you don’t need to have so many detailed areas. Personally I will develop styles for h1-h4 and add on extra if I need the other two. Keep in mind how your page headings will separate large areas of content and outline what you’re talking about.

Many visitors will actually skim your page content rather than keep up with every word. This is why unique styles for headings are so helpful. You can give your visitors some useful information by breaking up your page with not only large, distinct styles but extra spacing as well.

Most of these tips will fit well into any type of design. Elements of type generally stick by the same rules throughout all forms of web design (which makes them easy to work with).

Consider playing around on other websites to see what other developers set for typographic styles. The current age of web design is an exciting one and new design trends are popping up every week. As a result many changes will take place in design standards but it will always hold true that proper typography can never go out of style.