How will I promote myself - what do they want to hear?

When looking at the promotion and place aspects of the 4Ps of marketing I used the Marketing Communication Mix to analyse which method of promoting myself and my skills would be the most promising. Personal selling seems the strongest and most direct form to getting clients/design agencies to notice me, especially when starting out from scratch with no experience. 'The difference between a good designer and a successful designer is self promotion.' (Computer Arts, Dec '09) It will help me build a relationship with the client and make me more memorable. It is no good just sending design firms emails, no matter how personalised you make them. People like to think they're special so face to face contact is where I can add value. It is considered one of the most effective promotional techniques as the designer can show their skills but also listen to feedback and a successful sale through a good relationship could mean further sales with that client in the future. Having a strong contact list is vital to getting myself out there and my name heard.

However I can't just rely on direct selling as a way of promoting, as it is time consuming and I need to be producing at the same rate as I'm selling. Another way to target my clients and build stronger contacts, that could also be seen as time consuming and costly, but very worthwhile is to use the direct marketing approach. This is a highly effective way to show how you can add value to their company but it requires research on my part to know what they need and to come prepared. Simple things such as designing the perfect business card or tailored promotional packages to hand to clients in person are vital for them to remember you. If I was to freelance especially, business cards or magazine inserts need to clearly show my name and what it is that makes me stand out from competition. I don't want clients being unclear about my skills saying; 'What is it she actually does again?'

There are other approaches that could all be relevant in some way, but by choosing the most effective distribution channels to reach the market it saves a lot of money, time and effort instead of advertising on TV or via a poster and the only people that end up seeing it are those who aren't even looking for design work, for example, or selling yourself short just to attract more sales.

This is where the idea of 'place' comes into consideration. As well as personal selling and direct marketing, the Internet is an indirect but vital place in the design industry that I should look at. Having a clear, simple website to show my design portfolio is much needed but as well as keeping that up-to-date, it needs to be easily accessible. The last thing I want is to be on the 12th page of a Google Search, where potential clients looking for a reliable designer never see me. Including key words in the website increases my chances of it being found in general searches. Advertising on popular sites, such as social networking sites, in the form of banner links down the side panel is another place and form of promotion within the Internet to target potential customers. Using the Internet as a placing strategy also has another advantage. My website can not only show off my work and skills but there could also be an area of it for dealing with customer services, enquiries etc so that any comments can be voiced and any problems can be dealt with. This is another reason for clients to feel satisfied and want to use my services and skills time and time again.

I believe you are what you do, so on that note through direct selling, marketing and indirect marketing - via the Internet, or even via an agent once I become more experienced and can afford to pay them (who can do the selling for me), I will hopefully get my name out there, build up contacts and successfully promote myself through the right places.