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by Andrew Lam-Po-Tang
I was recently at an AGDA Nuts & Bolts function which was held at the National Press Club in Canberra. While waiting for the presentation to start, a few of us had a drink in the Members Bar. As you'd imagine, most of the people in the bar were journalists rather than designers. I noticed one of our members walk in, grab a drink and then start to 'work the room,' focusing on the journos. Business cards must have been exchanged at least a haf dozen times in the space of 30 minutes. Very impressive, I thought, and yet most designers I meet are extraordinarily shy about that sort of thing.
The irony is that many studios rely heavily on word of mouth for their business. If that's the case, why aren't there more designers out there 'working rooms'? Another member I know belongs to a marketing association for the express purpose of meeting marketing managers and consultants and yet another one belongs to the DIA because it's a great way to meet interior designers and product designers who are all potential clients or collaborators.
Maybe it's the hit rate that bothers designers. After all, you can easily spend two hours and a couple of drinks for nought. On the other hand, if you think of the marketing process comprising three basic steps - Awareness, Predisposition and Sale - then networking is clearly a great way to work through the first two steps in one hit. It can be hard work, no question, but how else are you going to meet new potential clients if word of mouth is your primary marketing channel?
What I have noticed when watching great networkers is that they have short, focused answers for the following questions:
- So what do you do?
- What kind of work do you do?
- What's the work like?
They use their answers to position their studio, explain their distinctive approach to design and communicate their passion - all of which are critical pieces of information when trying to market and sell a studio's services.
It may sound very artificial and corny to actually spend some time working out 2 minute answers for each of these points, but really it is no different to the work that designers do for their clients when they are designing a corporate profile or a packaging design. These are also things that you need to work out for your own business plan, so you'd actually be killing two birds with one stone (so to speak).
Take a look at the Landor Associates web site. It is very light on samples of work and text, but what text is there is strictly focused on positioning the firm and the work it does. Short and to the point. Not necessarily a designer's cup of tea, but they are talking to their clients, not themselves.
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The views expressed this article are not necessarily those of AGDA. Please note that the information in this article is the opinion of the author only. I can therefore accept no responsibility for actions taken on the basis of this information. Copyright Andrew Lam-Po-Tang (andrew@lam-po-tang com), 1998-2008. Permission is granted to freely copy this document in electronic form, or to print, for personal use. Reprinting for non-personal use will require the express permission of the author (which I will generally be very happy to give).
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