http://savvycard.net/andrewsale/andrewsaledesigns/
Andrew Makes Money Designing SavvyCards
Like many graphic designers out there, Andrew makes his living doing lots of commercial design. While Andrew can (and has done) just about anything, he really enjoys and is exceptionally good at conceptualizing and designing corporate identities for his clients: logos, letterhead designs and business card designs. While other online business card solutions position themselves as replacements for regular paper cards and hence as alternative solutions to Andrew, Andrew appreciates the fact that SavvyCards don’t cut him out of the loop.
In fact, Andrew believes that SavvyCards are great complements to existing paper business cards. “Because SavvyCards are actually rich, mobile optimized, fully-featured digital hubs for all your online media, they are not simply business cards. So, instead of doing away with printed cards, why not create both? In this way, SavvyCards allow me to add another service to my Corporate ID offering. And that’s important to me. Instead of trying to compete with or strip away the revenue I make designing paper business cards, SavvyCards empower me, as a designer, to generate additional revenue. All without incurring any cost.”
SavvyCards are creative-friendly. The downloadable Photoshop template and powerful provisioning system give designers the power to fully customize brand experiences. This is important to Andrew and his clients. “Brand control is the number one reason my clients are resistant to pre-designed solutions and hire me instead. The creative freedom I have with SavvyCards is part of what makes them so valuable. Plus, once you design your first one, you realize how easy they are to create. The more you do, the faster you get so you end up making the same amount of money in a smaller amount of time.”
Andrew Makes More Money From Existing Clients
“SavvyCards are a great selling tool. I contact existing clients and let them know I have this really cool new online business card that’ll make it easier for them to stay in touch with me, and then send them my SavvyCard. Once people see it and interact with it, they have to have one for themselves. Seven out of ten times, I’ll get phone calls back asking when I can design SavvyCards for them and their employees. Without even trying, I’m generating new business for myself.”
Andrew finds that once he does SavvyCard designs for clients, its easier to re-engage with them for other work. This is particularly true of clients that may have been “off the radar” for a while. “As every designer knows, staying in front of your clients and being a proactive force in the genesis of their advertising and promotional plans eventually leads to more work and a stronger relationship. SavvyCards give me a reason to get in touch with clients and re-establish relationships. In that way, SavvyCards have been an invaluable business development tool.”
The fact that every SavvyCard has a unique QR code certainly doesn’t hurt, either. “Since SavvyCards act like mobile optimized websites and are so flexible, lots of clients want to create SavvyCards not only for themselves and other employees, but for things like products, events and promotions and then use that QR code in other artwork, whether it’s for their website or printed material. So there’s work to be had designing those pieces or updating old pieces to contain that new QR code. There’s a lot you can do to generate business here.”
Andrew Uses SavvyCards to Generate New Work
“Without a steady supply of new clients, my income would suffer,” Andrew states. And anyone in the creative industry knows this to be the undisputed truth. And while SavvyCards don’t change the fact that you regularly need to book new clients to keep growing your business, they do make it a lot easier to break the ice and attract new ones.
“Before I would send out letters, work current contacts for referrals, place online ads and that sort of thing. And while that of course works to a degree, there was always this challenge of actually engaging a person’s interest in my services when I wasn’t actually there to do it personally. Now that I have my SavvyCard, it’s a whole other story. People see my card and it’s like they are meeting me in person. That full graphic of myself on the front of the card is amazingly powerful. I’ve gotten people calling me who tell me they feel like they know me already. Plus, the graphic impact of SavvyCards is astounding. When people see my SavvyCard for the first time, they’re impressed. That gives them a level of confidence in my services that I could never foster through other types of sales tools, even printed flyers and brochures. The process of interacting with my SavvyCard makes the entire introduction process intimate and builds trust, and ultimately, that’s why people call me rather than other designers.
Andrew Uses His SavvyCard to Stay Visible
Andrew also understands that reaching out to clients on a regular basis is important for staying at the forefront of their minds. “Because content on a SavvyCard is so easy to change, I’ll often make updates that my clients will find interesting or valuable and then let all my clients know so they can check them out. Since SavvyCards live online and the changes I make to mine propagate automatically to everyone who has my card, my clients don’t need to download or update anything. It’s a cool way to stay in touch with them on a regular basis. I’ve often thought about doing fun things, like putting up new, creative photos of myself or my work every other day or every week. Something like that could be an especially fun way to celebrate obscure holidays or events, and would make my card a really fun destination. ‘Hey, wonder what Andrew’s pic is like today?’ But to be honest, since I’ve gotten my SavvyCard, I’ve been too busy, really.”