How To Sell Your Design

Smashing Magazine posted this article yesterday, and I thought it was worth sharing. A big part of my job has become customer relations, learning how to sell a client on a design concept or brand. Designers tend to think of the art of the design, but forget about the business aspect of it. Here are 5 tips to remember.

1. Pretty doesn’t mean effective: statistics are your friend!
Designers like to show off portfolios. It can look stunning, but business people like to see numbers. What was the conversion rate on that opt in? What was the bounce rate and average time on site? What was the most clicked on link from the home page?

2. Every design should have a measurable goal
Saying that the goal is to “build the brand of XYZ” or “create an online presence” is basically meaningless to a business-minded person. A goal is only a goal if it is measurable.

3. Your site should have one clear path
As a customer comes to your site, you want to be in complete control of the 1st thing they see, the 2nd, the 3rd, and all the way down until they accomplish your goal that you’ve set. In other words, they have entered your sites “funnel” or “chute”.

4. Remember the swiss army knife
One of the best analogies I’ve ever heard about design came from Marissa Mayer at Google. She said that Google tries to think of its design like a Swiss army knife. It has tons of features neatly tucked away inside, but you don’t see them all at once. A first time user might come to the site and just the main knife is flipped open. It’s immediately clear what the main benefit and purpose of this thing is: it’s a knife. But for the advanced users, a little thumbnail catch is still visible so they can slowly start to pull out lesser used features when they’re needed.

5. Provide performance metrics
Finally, if you really want to impress business people, put together a little report of how a design performs. It doesn’t have to be fancy — maybe a little spreadsheet (those business types do love Excel) with some basic metrics you can pull off of Google Analytics like visitors, time on site, most popular funnel path, and even a goal conversion rate.

Conclusion
This article may offend some designers. You may think it’s off topic, not your concern, or counterproductive to good design. That’s fine — take what works for you and leave the rest.

Speaking in a language the customer understands is key to good communication in any business. Whenever you get deep into a field and become an expert, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that the rest of the world doesn’t think like you.

Read the full article here.

The Plow Creative

Like Corey posted two weeks ago, members of our parent company met in San Diego this last weekend to discuss and shape our “Ministry Division.” After some great meeting time, here’s where we stand:

1. We are storytellers. It is our passionate desire to team up with ministries and churches that wish to communicate their distinct story to their target/community. Most every ministry/church needs a logo, website, etc., that’s always the same. But, on top of that, every ministry/church has a reason for existence that is God-given and completely unique to them—that’s where we want to be.
2. We want to share. Jesus commanded us to share the Gospel with all the nations. On the same note, we don’t want to hold on to everything we do. As we move forward, there are several ways in which we are going to be sharing our work. Think open-source and strategic partnerships.
3. We wish to be good stewards. As God has blessed us with his mercy and grace, we too would like to bless others. We have some exciting plans in the mix that will allow us to give back to a handful of organizations and operations. Stay tuned!

All that to say that we are on the verge of some pretty exciting times. And, we’d like to take this opportunity to unofficially announce the birth of The Plow Creative.

Not Art. Submission 6.

“They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” This passage is another example of how beautifully Jesus paints a picture of false profits using words. They, or even we, may look gentle and kind, but inside are wolves looking for the kill. I wanted the art to reflect this, let me know how you see it.

Worship vs. NBA

I came across this video this morning, and thought it was too funny not to pass along. It gives us a peek into a world where worship services are like NBA basketball games. Enjoy!

HT: Collide

Is This Where We’re Heading

Every once in awhile I see something that reminds me of some disturbing trends of Christianity. This is one of them. Is this where we are heading, living in a bubble that looks like the rest of the world? I love the headline, “Trade in your trouble for a bubble”. How true is that?

What do you think? Is this what Christianity has become?

HT: FFFFOUND!

Not Art. Gospel. Free Downloads.

Not Art. Gospel. is an artistic view of each topic on the Sermon on the Mount. It has been about a month since we started this project, and it is amazing to see what God is doing with this. Some amazing doors have been opened, and some great conversations have started from this. But what is most important is that the words of Jesus are being discussed. We want to create art that will lead to God, and we pray that this project will be for His glory.

Please download the posters, print them, hang them, and then talk about the words of Christ.

DOWNLOAD “LOG”

DOWNLOAD “MONEY”

DOWNLOAD “MOTHS & RUST”

DOWNLOAD “DIVORCE”

DOWNLOAD “GATES”

Not Art. Submission 5.

This poster marks the 1/4 mark of our project. God seems to be opening some amazing doors, and I am excited to see where this leads. So here it is, the Narrow and Wide gates. This is one of those verses that always troubles and reassures me at the same time. Our path will be hard and we will get off course. But we know that it will lead to eternal life.

Look for the hi-res art for the first 5 next week. Take them, print them, and share the gospel.

Not Art. Submission 4.

I usually post these on Mondays, but I had this one done, so here you go. Divorce is a tough topic. It affects most of us, but it’s also something the church seems to hide. Jesus’s words are very strong in this passage, and I hope the image captures that. Let me know how you see this.

Fish Fun

I know we are to be fishers of men, but this is still fun.

HT: TENDKILL

Who are we?

The company that we work for has been going through some major changes over the past couple months. Kyle and I are now fully in charge of the “Ministry” division, and will be meeting next week to determine who we are. What I would like from you is some feedback or ideas that can make our company more than just a company.

Here are some ideas we have been kicking around:

1. Give Back Campaign. Percentage of profits go to home building in Mexico.
2. Church Planting Kits. Everything a church plant could need.
3. Ad Agency Attention. Every new church/ministry would get the attention of our full staff when needed.
4. Just Say NO! We will know when to tell a church/ministry no on a idea when needed.
5. Open Source Creative. We don’t want to hold on to everything, lets give some away.
6. Church Training Kits. Sometimes an older congregation needs to be trained on new marketing.

These are just some ideas, but I want to hear from you. What do you like, and what do you dislike. If you are a Pastor, what would be helpful to you?