Running a successful business involves more than raw talent, as any freelance graphic designer rapidly learns. Your graphic design abilities are the heart of your brand. However, they will not help you gain clients if no one knows who you are and what you do. Also, it will not determine how you can help them.
That is why learning how to market your freelance graphic design business is so important. Particularly in Dubai, where graphic artists are in high demand and competition is fierce.
In this article, we will discuss how to establish a professional internet presence, market your brand, and expand your freelance business as a freelance graphic artist.
- Finding your area of expertise
- Creating a strong online presence
- Making a physical business card
- Networking: an extremely underrated tool
- Inquire about recommendations and referrals
- Marketing your design services
- Freelance graphic design in Dubai: The bottom line
- How can we help you get started freelancing in Dubai?
1. Finding your area of expertise
Before you get too deep into the rest of the advertising tactics listed below, you should first narrow your focus. Decide what type of graphic design services you will offer. It is also crucial to research what clients in the United Arab Emirates are looking for.
Do you want to concentrate on logo design? Infographics? Brochures? Websites? As a designer, this is something you have to keep in mind.
You may provide a range of services. However, it is important to think about each area independently when you plan how to promote a freelance design firm. Because your audience’s needs will differ drastically depending on what they are looking for, and so will your promotional efforts.
1.1 How does defining a niche help you promote your freelance design business?
This allows you to perfect your talents in a specific situation. Also, it makes it easier to sell your company. Do not promote yourself as a multitasking service. You will impress potential clients if you demonstrate that you are an expert in the design style they are searching for.
Of course, your niche does not have to be something extremely specialized from which you can never stray. Working with a few distinct categories of clients or projects may be more practical in some situations.
1.2 Your skills can help you reach the right audience
When it comes to marketing your talents and gaining new clients as a freelance graphic designer in Dubai, your design expertise is only one-half of the puzzle. How you use marketing and advertising to your benefit is a significant tool to increase your clientele. As well as how you use those approaches to attract them. If you specialize in a specific type of graphic design, you should consider your projects from the client’s perspective.
Furthermore, you must fully comprehend the requirements of your target audience. Understanding them will help you plan how to sell a graphic design firm effectively. Make an attempt to express these in writing. They will inform your entire freelance graphic artist marketing methods. The more seriously you take this phase, the more successful you will be at marketing your graphic design company.
Only you can truly understand your clients’ minds, but here are some instances to get you started:
- If you provide logo design services, many of your clients are likely to be small business owners on a budget.
- For social media, your clients will most likely want a quick response. This is in order to keep up with the fast-paced nature of social networking.
- Your clients will want to know that your work will resize nicely when printed. That is if you design print graphics like brochures or banners.
You will gain a better knowledge of how to promote your graphic design firm if you can pin down your audience.
2. Create a strong online presence
The next step is to get your company on the right channels. As a freelance graphic designer in Dubai, this is where you put all of your design assets. Also, you will have testimonials, and work examples together to create an appealing business presence.
This phase entails creating social media profiles for your company, as well as a website, portfolio, and freelancing platform profiles.
2.1 Make a website
A portfolio is a must-have item. Clients in the visual arts want to be confident in the style of work you produce before they engage you. And the most obvious approach to display your portfolio is through a website.
Building a portfolio website can be done in a variety of ways. Your needs and level of web design confidence will determine which one is best for you:
You have ultimate control over every aspect of your site with a self-hosted WordPress website. It does, however, necessitate some technical knowledge or a willingness to learn as you go.
There are website builders that have intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces that allow you to create great portfolio websites without touching a line of code. These sites, on the other hand, will never be completely configurable, and they can be more difficult to optimize for SEO.
Also, there are portfolio-gathering websites that require the least amount of effort from you and put you in front of clients looking for graphic design services. While they do make it simple to publish your portfolio, you are not actually creating your own website. As a result, your marketing and personalization possibilities will be significantly constrained.
3.2 Create a blog (and keep it updated)
A blog is an excellent addition to your website for attracting new clients as well as demonstrating your expertise. Do not worry if you are afraid of the written word. To write a successful blog, you do not need to be a graduate-level grammarian. The majority of readers are searching for a casual, conversational tone.
All you have to do is write posts about industry news, projects you are working on, and your thoughts on the world of graphic design on a regular basis. Consider the kinds of things your ideal client is looking for or interested in. Also, never let your blog get stagnant. Make an effort to add a new post at least once a month.
Not sure how to use a blog to advertise a graphic design business? The following tactics will help you locate the ideal posts to attract new clients.
3.3 Employ the services of a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm
- Make your website seem beautiful on multiple interfaces like mobile phones and desktop computers.
- Optimize the performance of your website so it loads quickly.
- Ensure you are sharing enough information with your website visitors.
These are just a few of the things your SEO company can do. If you are a fantastic graphic designer in Dubai but lack exceptional writing skills, an SEO specialist may be able to improve the content on your website and blog.
3.4 Use social media
You can also use social media to demonstrate your skills and acquire some notoriety. Also, you may establish yourself as an influential voice in your field and a sought-after designer. You can do this by sharing fascinating and valuable information with others.
Social media provides a strong platform for artists to connect with fans, raise visibility, and improve revenue. But there are a lot of options: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Google Plus, and LinkedIn. That is before you include creative networks like Behance, ArtStation, and Tumblr. Second, because it is impossible to devote time to every platform, choose two or three key channels, become an expert in those areas, and use them for specific objectives.
For instance, you may use Facebook to drive traffic, Instagram to expand your reach, and Pinterest to sell your products.
4. Make a physical business card
Instead of an email, some of the best clients you will ever meet may greet you with a handshake.
As a graphic designer, much of your work will be done on a computer, and you may have a digital business card as well as a digital presence on websites like LinkedIn for marketing purposes. When you are looking for local clients, though, a real business card can be useful. Visiting local companies and selling your services can be one of the finest ways to attract clients.
5. Networking: An often forgotten tool
While networking is beneficial in almost every professional field, it is especially beneficial in creative fields such as design, not only for meeting new clients but also for developing a network of colleagues who can be relied on for support or collaboration.
As a sole freelance graphic artist, your contacts are likely your most valuable asset. This is regardless of whether you plan to advertise yourself online or offline.
5.1 Connect with your target audience online
Visiting message boards and forums is an excellent method to meet other designers and possible clients. Use the sites to talk about new software, receive help with projects, and offer advice to other designers. In your signature, you can add a link to your site for each board.
Consider who your target audience is, and then search the web for sites where they hang out online: Facebook groups, discussion forums, blogs, and industry news sites are all good places to start.
Your goal is to identify as many conversations as possible where you may lend a helping hand or offer an expert opinion. Do so in a real and helpful manner, not as a thinly veiled sales pitch. Making friends, establishing your design skill, and expanding your network are all goals. If you do it properly, leads will start to come in spontaneously.
5.2 Make personal connections with your target audience
Usually, a freelancing designer underestimates the value of face-to-face networking. It is for a reason that you designed those gorgeous business cards. Now it is time to put them to work. The objective here is to simply attend networking events where possible design clients may be present.
Offline networking with other designers or firms at industry events, conferences, or even social meet-ups can also help get your name out there and create opportunities to get your business card into the hands of possible clients. After then, make sure to connect with your new contacts online to continue the conversations you started in person.
6. Inquire about recommendations and referrals
One of the simplest and most efficient strategies to market your design firm is to just ask for referrals. Your previous and existing clients might be a great source of new business.
When a previous client agrees to give you a recommendation or refers a new customer to you, it is always great, but you may also expedite the process by making specific requests for referrals. If you have your own website, you can include a page or section dedicated to client quotes. You can connect those quotes with the visuals you made for those clients or the projects you worked on for them.
You can also ask your clients to tell other business owners or friends about your services after each project is completed. Marketing and advertising take money, but a verbal or written recommendation from a previous customer is free, and your customers will most likely be delighted to share information about your work with anyone who needs graphic design help.
7. Market your design services
Are you looking for a way to promote your graphic design firm in a place where your clients are almost certain to be looking for you? The best place to start is through online freelancing marketplaces. As a freelance graphic designer, the number of online markets where potential clients are looking for your services is endless.
8. Freelance graphic design in Dubai: The bottom line
Some independent artists and designers earn more money working from home than they would if they worked for an employer, but others struggle to market themselves to others. As a freelance graphic designer in Dubai, you must demonstrate to clients what kind of work you can produce for them, which you may do by creating your own website and networking with other designers.
Building your own business is one of the most valuable lessons you can learn when considering to be a freelance graphic designer in Dubai. It only takes one client to start your journey as an independent business owner, and it is critical that you make the most of that first encounter in order to increase your chances of receiving more employment.
9. How can we help you get started freelancing in Dubai?
Setting up your business as a freelance graphic designer in Dubai can be a challenge without proper guidance. However, with the right orientation, that dream can become a reality. We, at Connect Freelance, can provide you with the assistance you need so that you are able to make a name for yourself in the design business.
Would you like to receive more information? You can contact us by writing an email at contact@connectfreelance.ae. Our specialists are ready to answer all of your questions and guide you in the right direction.
Our agency is looking for talented, high-quality professionals who want to work with us. You can take a look at our open positions by going to thetalentpoint.com. Also, you can send an email with your application to contact@thetalentpoint.com.