eDesign-Pro Company

Author: Kathleen Toler

  • Diary of a Chic Mommy: Graphic Design {Event Button}

    Diary of a Chic Mommy: Graphic Design {Event Button}

    Tyesha contracted me for hosting and a blog transfer to WordPress from Blogger a while back and we’ve since developed a great working relationship so I was thrilled when she came to me for a Christmas event button. She sent me the background she wanted and gave me an idea of what she wanted reflected on the button, which I turned into the following graphic:

  • Tips for Clients Who Contract Work-At-Home Professionals

    Tips for Clients Who Contract Work-At-Home Professionals

    If you are a work-at-home professional, you’ll want to read Tips For Work-At-Home Professionals. If you are a client, continue reading the article below for some useful advice when conducting business online.

    1. Do your research. Would you buy the first house you see? Would you lease the first vehicle you come across? Some people spend more time deciding on which brand of sugar to purchase than they do which individual or company they desire to entrust their online presence to! Just because someone has good pricing, good terms, and a nice portfolio doesn’t necessarily mean they are reputable. Find out what their policies are regarding references. Ask around about them — social media is a powerful tool. Search Twitter using keywords that match their business name. Look through their portfolio and see if you can contact a random client by locating their website to inquire about their experience. Whether it was wonderful or horrible, most people are more than happy to divulge that information, especially if the company happens to offer referral bonuses!
    2. Be reasonable and perhaps even somewhat flexible. More and more people are doing business with individuals who work at home. Why? Because generally they are more accessible, less expensive, and willing to go the extra mile for their clientele. I have no problem catering to a 2am client with a crisis if I happen to still be awake. This being said, one must also take into consideration that in addition to being businesspeople, we also have lives — lives which, from time to time may interfere with our accessibility and perhaps even our work schedule. We all know that most benefits require us to make small sacrifices… one of the sacrifices you may have to make in order to reap the mountain of benefits you experience from contracting work-at-home business owners’ services is that you may experience delays. You should expect any delays to be communicated to you as quickly as possible. If you are asked to extend the target deadline and it is at all feasible for you to do so, you should be willing to grant an extension for appropriate circumstances. You may even be able to talk them into including a little something extra for the inconvenience :) I’ve been personally known to extend hosting for up to an entire year for patient clients who understand that life happens!
    3. Be receptive! We all have our preferences, and that’s great. There is nothing wrong with knowing exactly what you want. However, I’ve seen clients totally butcher amazing work and turning it into something the designer cringes at the thought of attaching their name to! Respect the experience and expertise of the people you trust to make your blog or website look good and give serious consideration to their insight and feedback. Let them take your ideas and translate them visually… and aesthetically. Just because you may like something doesn’t mean it looks nice and when it comes to online presence, it is important that the visual translation of your ideas ends up being something attractive and appealing. Something to basic won’t hold anyone’s attention very long, but something too busy will wear them out before they make it halfway through your site. Let the professional you choose assist you in deciding on what works — and what doesn’t! In the end, it’s always up to you, but being receptive of their input will benefit you greatly.
    4. Communicate clearly and thoroughly. Explain what you want in detail and avoid supplying one-word answers or answering questions with a simple yes or no. Most of the time, when you contract services you will receive a survey of some sort or at least a simple questionnaire. This is meant to relate more information about your project and provide a more insightful glimpse into where you want to go with it. For example, answering ‘What is your favorite color?’ by saying, ‘Blue,’ or ‘Have you ever had a website or blog before?’ by saying, ‘Yes,’ doesn’t tell someone much about you. Explain what shade or shades of blue you enjoy and give a little more of an idea of the type of website or blog you’ve operated or been associated with in the past. Things like this may not seem like much to you, but they communicate critical information to us!
    5. Read the terms of service or terms of use as well as any other posted policies thoroughly. If you are unable to find terms of service on a business website, request a copy prior to contracting services. Many terms stipulate that by requesting and/or approving a quote, submitting payment, or engaging in any sort of business directly with the company, you are bound to adherence to their terms regardless of whether you have read them or not… therefore, make sure you have read and fully understand them. If you have any questions, ask beforehand. If you believe the terms are unfair or will not protect your interest in the event something goes wrong, ask if their terms are negotiable. If not, keep looking until you find someone with more reasonable terms. When you feel uncomfortable, it’s always better to shop around. However, if the company has a solid reputation and a satisfaction guarantee, you are probably safe with more strict terms because any type of guarantee on services requires that they protect themselves from being taken advantage of.

    Recommended reading: check out The Four C’s of Successful Working Relationships!

  • Tips For Work-At-Home Professionals

    Tips For Work-At-Home Professionals

    Being that I am a work-at-home mom, I spend a lot of time online — I go to school online, have conducted web, graphic, and virtual assistant business through eDesign-Pro since the beginning of 2005, and have developed friendships and partnerships by connections I’ve made through social media. I have a network full of other business minded mamas (and papas)! Because of the growing blogosphere and the desire of parents to be able to support their family with incomes generated from the comfort of their homes, there is a sort of “underground” economy developing through ecommerce between mom-and-dad-owned online businesses and the clients who contract our services.

    Lately, I’ve recognized a complete disregard for standard business practices and it seems necessary to make a few points on both sides of the debates I’ve seen take place. Because I am a designer, many of these will cater directly to my industry but most of the advice here should easily be cross-applicable to other professions as well. If you’re a work-at-home professional, continue to the article below. If you are a client, you’ll want to read the Tips For Clients Who Contract Work-At-Home Professionals!!

    1. Be professional. I had a friend tell me about an experience she had with a designer who treated her rudely, talked to her like a child because she was unfamiliar with the new platform she was moving to, and conducted business very fleetingly without any defined priorities. When you market yourself as a professional, it doesn’t matter if you are working at home or in a business environment — your practices and your communication should be defined, particular, and straightforward. Respect your clients in your dealings with them. It only takes a few seconds to proofread an email and assign an appropriate subject line. Small details like this reflect well on your business.
    2. Execution is crucial. We know as work at home parents, things can — and often will — come up. When you are scheduling jobs, don’t overextend yourself. Make sure you are allowing enough wiggle room so that when life happens, it doesn’t affect your ability to deliver on time. In those times when life throws its curve balls and you have no choice in late execution, communicate unexpected delays in a timely fashion to your clients so that they aren’t caught off guard at the last moment. As soon as you know their project won’t be complete when expected, so should they! Also, know what your clients needs are when you start. If a client is meeting an event deadline for a new website launch, that information allows you to reprioritize so that important dates aren’t neglected when deciding how to rearrange projects and discerning between which ones have target dates that can be pushed back and which ones cannot.
    3. Treat every client like your best ever. Word of mouth travels at the speed of light! If you make it a common practice to treat every client and prospective client as though they’ve been doing business with you for years, chances are eventually that will be the case… and more importantly, they will be more likely to confidently recommend you to others as well.
    4. Develop terms of service and/or terms of use and have them readily available. Your potential clients should be able to locate and access your terms without having to request them or click some tiny little hyperlink contained in your fine print. Post your terms in a conspicuous place. This saves time for everyone involved because they should have a firm understanding of how you conduct business before even contacting you, and in the event they are unwilling to adhere to your terms, they won’t even waste time bothering to contact you in the first place. Make sure your terms are clear, concise, and reasonable. Anything too stringent may be losing you significant revenue.
    5. Be willing to learn. Occasionally you will come across a client who has a project that will challenge you. When you’re met with completing a task you are not entirely familiar with or knowledgeable about, don’t be afraid of reaching out to others in your field or even consulting your favorite search engine in order to find the answers. There is a plethora of resources available online. Take advantage of them! This will help you in the future and will you to presently — and continuously — provide quality work to your clients.

    Recommended reading: check out The Four C’s of Successful Working Relationships!

  • The Four C’s of Successful Working Relationships

    The Four C’s of Successful Working Relationships

    The following are considerations that came about as I published Tips For Work-At-Home Professionals and its counterpart, Tips For Clients Who Contract Work-At-Home Professionals … be sure to check them both out once you reflect on these:

    1. Clarity — Document everything with extreme detail and in writing. It will ensure clarity and protect both parties in the event that there is a dispute. I tend to conduct consultations strictly through email so that everything I tell a client is accessible later on should a problem or question arise.
    2. Communication — Consult one another and make decisions as a team. If you have a telephone conversation, an email should immediately be drafted following the conversation which summarizes each thing discussed and the client should be required to acknowledge receipt of it and confirm its contents so that there are no misunderstandings. When making any decisions about a project, the client ultimately has the say-so but in an ideal situation, careful consideration is given to insights from both the client and the professional.
    3. Compassion — Business isn’t always just business. Sometimes people deserve a break; understand when something unexpected happens and try to work around it as best as possible.
    4. Completion — In the end, business is just business. Get the job done and do it well. Businesspeople, maintain contact with your clients throughout the process and let them know when the project is complete. Clients, offer to provide a testimonial about your experience and if you were satisfied, tell your friends and family. Work at home professionals depend on word of mouth advertising over any other form of promotion!
  • Garden Of Many: Graphic Design {Header Banner}

    Garden Of Many: Graphic Design {Header Banner}

    Lisa is a good friend and client of mine who came to me recently with several projects, all of which will eventually be featured. For now, however, the showcase will simply be kicked off with the header from her personal blog which I’ve just completed installing. Lisa’s Secret HideAway @ GardenOfMany.com is her “baby” … she blogs about her personal experiences and also performs reviews and works with companies so she wanted something reflective of her title but catchy, fun, and semi-professional in appearance. This is what we settled on and I’m thrilled that she’s in love with it!

    Click to enlarge: