The Next Job

For a project based firm to run smoothly you almost always have to be looking for the next project before you finish the ones you have in house. Because you are trying to build a monthly billing total with little bricks it takes lots of them and they run out in weeks or months – not years.

This is a curse of project work. Most designers just accept this as the way things are in our field but that’s not the case. The insourced approach we take at Bridge allows us the luxury of not having to constantly worry or panic about what is coming next. That is a benefit for Bridge but my whole reasoning behind this was not about the internal benefits to our firm.

Think about the time, energy and expense you put into landing the next project. Now, what if you could re-direct that energy to your client instead of your business? What if you put as much effort into landing work and building their business as you do chasing down the next web site or logo? And to take it a step further, is that not what you are supposed to do in the first place? Design, marketing and advertising is about generating new work for the client. We get it when it comes to our own firm because in order to stay alive we have to feed the funnel. But, if you apply those same skills COMBINED WITH your design skills to the benefit of your clients the equation changes.

Placing a business generation framework around your design expertise will help your clients grow, prosper and in the end will result in you needing fewer projects because clients that benefit from your skills will want more of what you are doing.