By Ros Hodgekiss,
Community Manager
at Campaign Monitor

Pitching a new service to your clients is never easy, regardless of how compelling you perceive the case to be. When the service is email marketing, there’s an additional twist—often your introductory conversation will not so much consist of explaining what it is (‘a compelling way to get in touch with your customers’), but deconstructing what it isn’t (‘spam’).

So, how do you bring your clients around to seeing the value in email marketing? What can you charge for? Perhaps most importantly, what’s in it for the designer? In this article, we’ll go through some of the core selling points you can pitch to your clients and the range of services that you can offer.

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Why should my clients be interested in email?

If you have the blessing of tech-savvy clients, then getting them to be involved in email marketing, or even self-manage campaigns shouldn’t be a great stretch of the imagination. Even if your clients are distinctly hands-off, here are some reasons why they should consider collecting subscribers and sending campaigns:

It works

Regardless of the size of your clients’ enterprise, email marketing is a channel that consistently delivers return on investment, for comparatively little cost or effort. In fact, on average it delivers almost $44 in revenue for every dollar spent. Your client can use email to facilitate a relationship with their customers using personalized messages and relevant content, support other marketing channels such as social media and print, or simply widen their sales funnel to receive more inbound enquiries. What’s better, you only send to people who have expressed an interest in hearing from your client, unlike the pay-and-pray approach of placing an ad in your local paper (that inevitably ends up in the compost heap).

It’s targeted and measurable

One of the great advantages of sending email is that the results are readily available—and fast. Your clients can look at reports and discover what’s working and what’s not, then rapidly make tweaks. As we touched on earlier, email is targeted—if your client believes a certain segment of their subscriber list will respond better to an email promotion or message, then they can send to that group only, or run split tests to identify what tactics work best. That can’t be said for a lot of other marketing channels.

It’s easy to use

It doesn’t usually take much effort to set up an account in an email marketing application and let your clients access reports, or edit email templates themselves. Web applications like Campaign Monitor, MailChimp and My Emma handle the administrative niggles such as unsubscribe and bounce management, maintaining deliverability and even invoicing. This allows you and your clients to simply get on with the fun stuff — designing sweet email creatives and optimizing your campaigns.

It’s flexible

The beauty of email is its flexibility. Does your client want to promote time-sensitive events like holiday promotions or product releases? Or do they value communicating with their customers based on their interests or purchasing habits? With email, you can tailor your message to specific audiences, land your campaign in customers’ inboxes at exactly the time you want and drive engagement in creative ways. Get your client excited by suggesting they use email to tie in with new or existing campaigns like customer surveys and seasonal sales. Or look at their marketing pain-points—if your client is concerned about their carbon footprint, introducing email newsletters or catalogs is a great way to lessen their dependence on print media, while providing customers with a more convenient (and timely) way to keep in touch.

It’s hands-on

Get your client involved by sending them a demo newsletter featuring their branding, giving them access to an account in an email marketing application, or setting up an email template that they can customize using an in-app visual editor. If they can take a part in the campaign lifecycle, or simply view post-campaign reports, they will not only see how manageable it is, but be reassured that the money they spend produces quantifiable results.

If this isn’t enough to convince your client, take a look at Beautiful Email Newsletters or Campaign Monitor’s email design gallery to find fresh ways email is being used to drive customers to a site, supplement promotions or simply get in touch. For a lot of folks, HTML email is synonymous with spam and slow-loading graphics. Show them that it can be done legally and professionally and you may have a new convert on your hands.

Your email templates can be just as beautiful as your landing pages

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Charging for email marketing

Just like any web design project, providing email marketing comes with its own set of potentially billable tasks. Regardless of whether you bill at a fixed-rate or by-the-hour, here are a few of the services you can charge for:

Template design

In a similar vein to designing and building a site or landing page, you can charge your client for creating and testing an email template. If done right, a solid template can also save you a lot of recurring work in the future, too—your more savvy clients will be able to use the template to insert their own content and send campaigns with little intervention, time and time again.

Campaign review and consultation

Providing insights into campaign results and suggesting email optimizations doesn’t have to be something that you trade for a cup of coffee – you only need to read a case study on A/B testing to realize that it’s serious work. Develop a mature email marketing strategy by trying different approaches to the use of subject lines and email content, developing key learnings from campaign results or diving into Google Analytics to track conversions.

Amends

Client-issued changes are often the bane of a designer’s life. A lot of folks offer a few rounds of amends as part of the normal testing and sign-off process, but as soon as you start amending email templates based on your recommendations, or substantially refactoring campaigns, it becomes a billable item.

Delivery

Delivery is potentially one of the more obtuse line items you can include when billing a client. If you’re on a monthly plan with a service provider like MailChimp, then it effectively costs you nothing on top of what you would usually pay. When billing your clients, however, it’s often used to charge for tasks like production and testing.

Using Campaign Monitor’s internal billing system, you can set your individual clients’ delivery and per-recipient sending fees as you see fit, providing the opportunity to come up with flexible pricing schemes while still having these marked as line items on system-generated invoices. For example, if you’re offering a complete design-and-send service, your delivery fee can be marked-up high enough to cover production costs, or if your clients are sending on behalf of themselves, you can set your prices competitively to encourage frequent sends. Alternately, you can bill independently of an in-app invoicing system, say, by simply a charging a monthly fee for your services. It’s entirely up to you.

Charging your clients markup on top of Campaign Monitor’s base rates also provides the opportunity to generate passive income. If your clients send their campaigns themselves, any amount they pay above the base rates will be sent to you each month as profit. Campaign Monitor is rebrandable and all invoices are white-label, so your clients won’t know that they’re paying anyone but you.

You can rebrand and customize Campaign Monitor to make it your own

For more tips and advice, take a look at this comprehensive article on charging your clients for email marketing.

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Lets get the party started

The great news is that if you’re already developing sites commercially, you’re ready to offer email to your clients—most of the tools required are free to use, plus there’s an abundance of resources to help you on your way. Furthermore, you can set your own prices, offer your clients everything from templates, to comprehensive campaign management and not dramatically change your business model while you’re at it. If you’re going to add to your service offering this year, give email marketing a try—not only will it clear your clients’ misconceptions, but it could possibly bring a new revenue stream to your business, too!

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Your Turn:

Do you provide email marketing services to your clients? If so, what types of services do you charge for—template design, consultation, delivery?

This is part 3 of a 4 part series that looks at dif­fer­ent approaches to free­lanc­ing and which one may be best for your sit­u­a­tion: Part 1: Working Full-Time while Freelancing and Part 2: Working Part-time while Freelancing.

Freelancing Full-time

To me, there is nothing like the feeling of running your own freelance business. It’s one of the most rewarding —and most challenging—things I have ever accomplished.

I spent the majority of my design career working full-time as a Creative Director for a publishing company while running my freelance business on the side. A few years ago, I left to start a business with a partner who was a friend. I ended up leaving that business after one year because of some unexpected issues that arose. My wife and I were expecting our first daughter at the time and I was fortunate to return to my previous employer and soon to my former position.

That was a tremendous learning experience, however, that made me much stronger and wiser. I resolved that the next time, I would only go into business for myself and I would be much better prepared for success. That ‘next time’ was a little over one year ago and, so far, has been such an incredibly rewarding experience.

But what was it about the allure of running my own freelance business that kept drawing me to it?

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The pros:

Control
When you freelance full-time, you are finally in control of your own destiny. You’re no longer at the whim of a company buyout or other circumstances that are beyond your control. My business is dependent upon many different clients and I’m constantly gaining new clients through word-of-mouth, referrals and a little marketing here and there. If I do lose a client or two, the impact on my overall business is minimal—or at least short term as I continue to pick up new clients.

Freedom
Being an independent designer is the ultimate freedom. Want to work from home? Then do so. Want to take time off? Then take it. You set your own schedule. Sure you have to be self-disciplined and motivated for it to work—but how powerful is that to no longer be under the control of an employer’s rules and restrictions?

Flexibility
My wife and I have two young daughters. I didn’t want to be the Dad who gets off at 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. and has to face an hour commute home. And if one is sick or has a special event coming up, I don’t have to ask someone’s permission to spend time with my own child. Think about how crazy that sounds! I didn’t want to look back on this time of their lives and have any regrets.

Ownership
You get to create your own brand that uniquely reflects who you are. You’re the one who lays out the vision and direction for your business to go. That was very appealing to me as a designer and entrepreneur. I was used to designing brands, websites and marketing materials for other companies. Now I had the opportunity to apply my knowledge and skill to my own business.

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The cons:

I even hesitate to call them ‘cons’—perhaps ‘challenges’ might be a better term. Fortunately, each one can be addressed and managed, but let’s take a look at some of the biggest challenges.

Many Hats
As a full-time freelancer, you have to wear many hats. You’re now the bookkeeper, the receptionist, the owner, the designer, the salesperson, the collections department and even the janitor.

Long Hours
There is no doubt that with success comes hard work. As a result, you can find yourself working longer hours than if you just worked full-time.

Feast and Famine
If not careful, you can experience the feast and famine cycle where you may have little work or receivables coming in for a while. Then by contrast, the next month you may be faced with multiple projects that are all due at the same time.

Isolation
A common theme of freelancing is feeling isolated if you don’t take the proper steps to guard against it. Sometimes, it can even lead to depression.

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Summary:

The pros far outweigh the cons here in my opinion. You just have to be aware and manage the cons so they don’t get out of control. I believe when you freelance full-time, you can experience the most rewarding and creative time of your life. It takes hard work and dedication, but so does anything in life that is worth having.

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Your Turn:

What is your experience? Do you freelance full-time? How long have you been doing so and what are some of the biggest rewards—and challenges—that you have faced?

This is part 2 of a 4 part series that looks at different approaches to freelancing and which one may be best for your situation. In part 1 of this series, we discussed working full-time while freelancing.

Work a part-time job while freelancing

The pros:

I call this the ‘hybrid solution’—working a part-time job while freelancing full-time. It can be a good transition from working full-time to going completely on your own, especially if you have limited savings or a spouse and family to support while building your new freelance empire. Many of the pros from having a “regular” job still apply—the steady paycheck, the social aspect, the steady paycheck…

But now you have more time to devote to building your freelance business. The steady pay gives you some security, knowing it will be there. And the additional time should be used to do client work, attend meetings, network and market the you-know-what out of your freelance business.

With some part-time jobs, you can work evenings and have your work day free to devote to your freelance business, which works well for communicating with clients. Or you may have a job where you work weekends or a couple days a week and you can freelance on your days off.

While working part-time, you can often increase the amount of hours you are working to help you get through slow periods—or decrease the amount of hours when you need to as your freelance business grows.

In short, you can combine the best of both worlds and ease down the steps of the shallow end of the pool rather than jumping off the high dive. Let’s face it, sometimes it can be hard to let go of the security of the 9–5 world, so this approach could be a good compromise.

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The cons:

You likely won’t have any benefits—or you will at least have reduced benefits—compared to working full-time. So you may have to pick up your own health insurance or go on your spouse’s plan. Of course, in the U.S., health insurance can be hard to come by and expensive.

You may make less money until you build up your freelance business, so you will need to be prepared to tighten up or work from a budget. If you don’t have adequate savings in place, this can make for a very stressful situation.

You may have to work a part-time job that is completely unrelated to your creative field. But there are many who actually prefer that and say it gives them some needed variety. So depending on the individual, that can be a pro or a con.

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Summary:

I recommend this situation as a transition between working full-time and freelancing full-time. For those who have fears about making it as a freelancer, this offers some security and peace of mind.

For most people, the long-term goal would be to phase out the part-time job and focus solely on the freelance business. Set a goal of at least 6 months of income in savings, establish a good client base and assign a date to cut ties with the corporate world forever!

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Your turn…

Are you currently working a part-time job while freelancing? What type of job is it? How long do you plan on working part-time while freelancing? Please take a moment to comment below and let me know what you think!

Photo by David Hilowitz

This is part 1 of a 4 part series that looks at different approaches to freelancing and which one may be best for your situation.

Work a full-time job while freelancing

Freelancing is one of the most flexible careers you could have. In Part 1, let’s take a look at what is probably the most common arrangement—working full-time while freelancing (or moonlighting, as it is often called).

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The pros:

Working full-time certainly has its advantages—a steady paycheck and benefits such as health insurance, 401(k), paid vacation, paid sick time, profit sharing, and vision plan are the most notable. A few of the more employee-centered companies may even offer non-traditional benefits such as flex time, telecommuting, daycare, paid gym membership or a multitude of other benefits.

Chances are you don’t have to worry about being responsible for bringing in new clients, paying the rent, making payroll, purchasing new equipment, hiring or firing. You can focus on what you do best — design, programming, writing, illustration, photography, etc.

Most likely, you work a set schedule, say 9 am–5 pm from Monday–Friday. You can plan to do things, knowing your evenings and weekends are free. If you’re not a salaried employee, you probably get paid overtime for any additional hours you work.

Working for a company or agency also gives you a place to go, a routine to establish and a group of peers with whom to associate. You may not realize it, but you benefit from the social interaction of a work environment.

Now, combine working full-time with freelancing.

By freelancing, you can earn more, have more creative freedom, enjoy the satisfaction of building up your own business and get all the credit for a successful project.

Especially if you’re just starting out in your career, the supplemental income from freelancing can help you save for your first apartment, buy your first home, get married, start a family, etc. You can work as much or as little as you want, generally speaking, because you know you have that steady paycheck coming in from your full-time job and that your benefits are covered.

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The cons:

Sounds like working full-time and freelancing is perfect, right? Unfortunately, it’s often not. There is a downside that may not be obvious in the very beginning.

There are no perfect companies. OK, maybe one or two. But most often, your full-time job can become a great source of stress. You may have an overbearing, controlling boss whom you can’t seem to please. Or maybe you disagree with your boss’ decisions or actions. You have to deal with office politics and unruly co-workers. You get stuck doing tasks that you don’t feel should be part of your job. You have to play by the rules — someone else’s rules — which is sometimes hard to swallow for creatives.

Maybe you haven’t received a raise in a long time. Your living expenses keep going up, but your pay stays the same—so you are ultimately losing money.

The economy takes a downturn and you face uncertainty of job cuts or worry about business. Suddenly, the security of that steady paycheck and benefits doesn’t seem so secure anymore.

You work long hours at nights and on weekends freelancing. Maybe you don’t mind the work, but it’s starting to affect your relationship with your spouse, your family or your friends. Everyone else is out having a good time, but you’ve got this big project that’s due, so you’re stuck in front of the computer. You feel as if you are working two full-time jobs.

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Summary:

In my experience working full-time and freelancing can allow you the income level you desire to achieve the things you want, but comes at a price. The long hours, the lost time with friends and loved ones—all need to be taken into consideration. Weigh all of your options and decide if this is the best move for you. I recommend this situation if you’re trying to achieve specific goals, but not as a long term solution.

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Your turn…

Are you currently working a full-time job while freelancing? What challenges do you face? How long do you expect to do both? Please take a moment to comment below and let me know what you think!

Well, hello there. Glad you stopped by. Let me tell you a little about this blog, what we will be covering and who is behind it.

The Freelance Show is here to offer tips, advice, articles and resources to graphic designers, web designers and other creative entrepreneurs who are new to freelancing—or who have haven been freelancing for a while, but want to grow their business.

My name is Neil Brown, founder of the Freelance Show. I have freelanced and worked as a Creative Director for a little over 12 years now. I now run my design business, Brown Advertising, full-time from my home office in NC. I cut my teeth in print design, getting in on the tail end of some archaic paste up duties involving a wax machine, layout sheets, an X-acto™ knife and border tape. (Man, in some ways, I miss those days!).

I am passionate and fascinated by the advances in web design and technology. I was a little slow to entering the web design arena but now it makes up the majority of my design business. I feel I’ve learned a lot about design—and a lot about business and dealing with clients.

One thing I that has been constant over my career is that I enjoy helping others who are just starting out, or really anyone who I can help. It’s certainly not to say I know it all, nor have encountered every situation because I am still actively learning and growing my business to take it to that next level myself.

I also enjoy teaching, which I do on occasion as an adjunct instructor in the graphic design department of my local community college. So the Freelance Show is the natural progression of me wanting to help and teach others and, in turn, continue to grow and develop myself. It’s a win-win combination of giving back to the community and getting in return.

I hope to offer a friendly, casual and helpful environment at the Freelance Show where designers and other creatives can throw out ideas, contribute to conversations and develop relationships. I try not to take myself too seriously and if I have an occasional typo, please forgive me—I don’t write for a living

So again, welcome, and I sincerely hope you return to visit and take a few moments to interact here by leaving comments and adding your points to the articles.

Here’s to your freelance success!

Cheers,

Neil Brown

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Photo by Takomabibelot