Prepwork for GTS: The Cold Approach

by ThomasNo Comments

“I’m really not comfortable with the cold approach,” I said to her as we walked from tent to tent at the Tucson Festival of Books. The last half hour had been a series of approaching prospective clients, chatting for a few minutes, and trading business cards. It’s a bit awkward to head up to a complete stranger and ask them for a job. She responded, “But if you don’t do it, you won’t get your name out there.”

I looked over at a booth I passed up. Their book jacket design, their advertisements were on display. “I can help these guys,” I thought.

“Go.”

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Serendipity and The Tucson Festival of Books

by Thomas1 Comment

Serendipity is good fortune in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries. Like my friend suggesting we all go to The Tucson Festival of Books just as I’m preparing for a networking conference with a goal to work with book layout. The timing on this, and all the other little things one needs to do when starting a business, is falling together perfectly.

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Business Card Basics

by Thomas1 Comment

When designing an identity, the primary element that spawns the entire creative package depends on the client. Are you like FedEx, where your primary contact with potential customers is the delivery truck? Are you like Hot Wheels, where your presence in the marketplace is the packaging? When I look at marketing myself, it’s the one-on-one contact. I’ll be heading to the GAMA Trade Show in a little over two weeks, and my hope is to make several contacts there and hope that some of them will pay off in freelancing opportunities that grow into a great relationship. But to do that, I’ll need something to leave behind with the potential client, something that is going to be my main point of contact with them. That item is a business card.

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