Day 7 and 8: Rest for the weary

I was sick yesterday. I shouldn’t use that as an excuse, but I didn’t do as much yesterday as I should have. I will include what I did in my list, but it sure wasn’t a lot. I was not well. By that I mean I was falling apart and miserable. Today though- I’m on top of it. Today, I was a freaking WIZARD. Now is the part where you’d ask, well did you make any money? and I would have to say… no. BUT BUT I did do some important work today. I think. Today was sort of a free work day- but not in the way it shouldn’t be. Firstly (and I’m still finishing it up) I did a poster for a charity show… and secondly… I’m beginning work with an individual pro bono… but I told him that my normal rates would be way more than he can afford, so I’m just going to do the work and tell him later. I’m trying to do what Sean said for work that you really want to do but don’t want to charge less for. So- I’ll do it free and hope it all pans out to be more. I think, for this particular project, it really could be. We’ll see I suppose.

The List of greatness (today begins at 3):

1. Downloaded a good, free Contract Sheet. This was good because it highlighted what I and my clients are each responsible for and have rights/ownership to.
2. Collected a bunch of free mockups from Graphic Burger and Makerbook. I also found about the quickest “HOW TO” on using others’ mockup files…
   1. Open the .psd file inside Photoshop (CS4 or higher)
   2. On the Layers palette locate the smart layer. Double click on the layer thumbnail to open the smart object container (.psb file)
   3. Inside the .psb file you can find a placeholder design used for demonstrations. Hide or delete the placeholder logo,  then drag and drop your own artwork into place.
   4. Hit save and return to the original file!
3. Listened to Sean’s podcast #186:  How to self promote without feeling like a loser. It was a good, short one about content marketing (even if he didn’t call it that). He spoke of providing value in what you promote, answering the questions people ask (and encouraging them to do the asking in the first place), and adding a newsletter subscribe at the end. You should be enriching the lives of the people you reach out to. If your content or whatever you’re promoting brings value and enriches- then you should promote it!
4. Did a poster for a Fashion Show in Atlanta that is raising money for St. Jude’s Children. In general, she’s easy to work with (which is good since it is free work), but I wish she would have just taken the first version of my poster, not requested changes. The changes make it look more sad, not better. I’ll post a final version of it to this whenever she responds with what design she prefers. And if it all doesn’t work out, it’s a shame, but I mostly did this as my “learning” for the day. I downloaded a template then recreated it (sort of) myself to better understand the layering the original artist created. It was psychotic with a lot of unnecessary paths (which, I of course, eliminated). Anyways- we’ll see if she likes it or not. She likes it! This is a really, really nice poster. See?
   
   
5. Sent in 9 CL ad replies… and for the first time ever, DENIED more than I replied to… 14 ads. There will be no idiots of CL today though. While many of them were just ridiculous (one offer that was mildly tempting traded orthodontic work for branding materials…), I don’t care to bash anyone today. I’m too tired and still recovering from yesterday. I don’t have it in me to be spiteful.
   1. Saying no to SO MANY ads sucked, but I can’t take myself down to the level where I hate my clients and what I do. If some of the ventures we’re working on get going more quickly, I’ll be too busy to deal with assholes. So why do it now? I want to continue to love what I do- and subjecting myself to designer cruelty is how you end up hating it.
6. Talked to a new venture head. He is looking to start a gaming-related business (NDA) and needs not only graphics work (a logo I’ll post later on, not until he gets his IndieGoGo started or says I may) but people in general to help him make it happen. So we’re going to see what we can do for him. It could grow into something much larger and quite fun. I told him that I will do the graphics work pro bono when he asked me about compensation. Why? Because this matters and I don’t want his piddly little $20 or $50. I’d rather create a logo for him and tell him what it is worth later so he appreciates and understands the VALUE of what I’ve created. If I charge him a paltry amount, he’ll think that’s what it is worth or that I THINK it is worth that. This is not the age of scarcity mindset anymore. This is the age of being worth it. So I’m going to do this for free (to start at very least)… so… it’s worth MORE.

So today was SUPER productive and super not. It’s weird, but I’m starting to feel better every day about the company I’m building. It is becoming painfully clear some of the steps I’m going to have to take to improve the quality of my work (mostly because they cost a ton), but I’ll get there. I AM getting there. For now though, I need to rest a little and try and recover- hitting tomorrow full steam ahead!