FROM

PASSION
TO PROFIT:
11 DAYS TO TURN
YOUR PASSION
FOR DESIGN
INTO A STEADY
PROFIT
GraphicDesignBlender.com presents

FROM PASSION TO PROFIT:

11 DAYS TO TURN YOUR PASSION FOR
DESIGN INTO A STEADY PROFIT

Publication date September 2011

Written and published by: Preston D Lee

www.graphicdesignblender.com

Graphic Design/Layout: Will Phillips Jr.

www.sleekdesignstudio.com

Version 1.0 © Copyright 2011

Preston D Lee and GraphicDesignBlender.com
All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any

form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, without prior
written consent from the publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quota-
tions in a review. You may store the pdf on your computer and backups.
You may print one copy of this book for your own personal use.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the author’s

experience, knowledge and opinions. The author and publisher will not be
held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
DAY: PAGE:

01 GETTING YOUR MIND IN THE 09

RIGHT PLACE

02 NAMING YOUR DESIGN BUSINESS AND 12

OTHER IMPORTANT DETAILS

03 MAKING YOUR FIRST PIECE OF PROFIT 15

04 FINDING CLIENTS TO FUEL 19

YOUR BUSINESS

05 PROJECT MANAGEMENT TIPS TO 23

BOOST PRODUCTIVITY

06 SETTING AND REACHING GOALS 28

07 FINANCE SECRETS YOUR ACCOUNTANT 33

DOESN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW

08 STAYING CURRENT ON YOUR 38

DESIGN SKILLS

09 FINDING STEADY PROFIT THROUGH 42

PASSIVE INCOME

10 DEALING WITH GROWTH AND 46

HIRING PEOPLE

11 CONTINUING SUCCESSULLY FOR 51

THE REST OF YOUR CAREER
 D AY

01
GETTING
YOUR
MIND IN
THE RIGHT
PLACE

DAY O N E 09
 Hello and welcome to the first day of the rest of your life.

Ok, maybe that’s a little over dramatic, but if you’re anxious to turn your
passion for design into a steady profit stream, it’s actually not far off!

Purchasing From Passion to Profit shows some serious initiative on your

part. You made a great decision and I know you won’t be disappointed.

The first lesson in this course deals with getting your mind in the right
place. Let’s jump right in:

WHAT IS THE RIGHT PLACE?

You might be wondering what I mean by “getting your mind in the right
place”.

“After all,” you might be saying, “I’m taking the course aren’t I? I already
know that I want to make money as a designer (or run a successful busi-
ness, or whatever your motivation is for taking this course).”

That’s probably true. But do you think of design as a business yet?

That’s what today’s lesson is all about.

So what’s the right place? The right place for your mind to be is in the
business world. From now on, when you work with clients, attempt to hit
deadlines, find new clients, market your design services, and work on de-
sign projects, you need to have your eye on one thing:

Business success.

DEFINING AND AIMING FOR SUCCESS

However you define success as a designer, you need to constantly focus
on that. Whether you want to be rich, work from home, hire tons of em-

10 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

ployees, work on big projects, or sell your design firm one day, you’ve got
to constantly keep your eye on the target.

I’m not here to tell you what goals to set. But I am here to make sure you
keep your sights set on those goals once you set them. If you set solid
goals and keep them in the forefront of your mind each day, you’ll be suc-
cessful.

Throughout this course, we’ll talk about goals, plans, and a whole bunch
of other important details, but the first step is to get your mind in the right
place.

Think of design as a business and you’ll be well on your way to moving

from passion to profit with your design career.

Hold on tight, because the next 10 days are going to be exciting! So get
some sleep tonight and I’ll see you tomorrow.

TODAY’S EXERCISE:
In order to start getting your mind in the right place, take half
an hour today and write down 10 goals you have for your
business. They should be business-oriented goals instead of
design-oriented ones.

EXAMPLES:
“I will maintain a client pool of 10 clients or more”,
“I will find a new client every week”,
or
“I will finish projects on time and collect payment promptly”.

DAY O N E 11
 D AY

02
NAMING
YOUR
DESIGN
BUSINESS
AND OTHER
IMPORTANT
DETAILS
12 PASSION TO PROFIT
Hi there and welcome to day 2 of From Passion to Profit!

I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s introduction to the course, but now it’s
time to buckle up and hold on tight. The real fun and hard work start to-
day!

Each lesson and accompanying exercise will help you come one step
closer to starting your own successful design business.

NAMING YOUR BUSINESS AND OTHER

IMPORTANT DETAILS
Today’s lesson is all about getting started, rooting yourself firmly in the
ground and not looking back.

And what better way to kickstart your design business than to find a killer
name for your business, right?

WHAT’S IN A NAME?
As I interact with designers each day, one of the most frustrating scenarios
they ask me about is naming their design business.

I understand.

It’s a big deal. After all, you’ll have to stick with this business name for a
while. It can be a little nerve racking. But, hopefully, by the end of the day,
you’ll have a handful of great name ideas that you can then explore further.

Have fun with this! Take time to make sure your business name reflects
who you are as a company.

See you tomorrow!

DAY T WO 13
 EXERCISE 2:
Today’s exercises is to get out a paper and pencil (or what-
ever your brainstorming tool of choice is) and start writing
all of the words you can possibly think of that relate to your
business.

If you’re a web designer, for example, you might right down

words like:

Web, Code, Programming, Design, Internet, HTML, Layout,

Grid, User, Point, Click, Site, Navigate, Browse, Convert.

Take this seriously. Write down hundreds of words. Maybe

even thousands.

From those words, perhaps you can find a solid business

name like “SitePoint”. (Although I have a feeling that one
might be taken.)

I’d love to hear what business name you come up with.

PS- If you’re having any trouble with deciding on a business

name, perhaps you’ll find this GDB article helpful:

Using your own name vs. Using a business name

14 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

 D AY

03
MAKING
YOUR FIRST
PIECE OF
PROFIT

DAY T H R E E 15
 Hey there and welcome to Day 3 of From Passion to Profit. Today we’re
going to talk about a subject that will literally either make or break your
design career.

Making money.

Even though money isn’t everything, you need to make enough money to
support yourself, perhaps a family, and (hopefully) create a pretty good life
for yourself.

Today’s lesson will help you know how to make enough money to keep
your design business afloat.

PROFIT IS A MATH GAME

You’ll hear lots of myths about how to make good money as a designer.
And some of them might be true, but here’s what I have learned after over
7 years of working for myself:

Making money as a designer is simply a game of math.

And it’s simple math. You have to make more money than you spend.

A SIMPLE RULE
It’s the simplest rule of business: your revenue has to surpass your expens-
es. It’s the only way to make money. Even if you make $1,000,000/year, if
you spend $1,000,001, you’re in the hole.

It seems easy, right?

But you wouldn’t believe how many designers and entrepreneurs overlook
this vital piece of advice. They go about their business buying new equip-
ment, taking clients out to lunch, and giving out discounts in the name of
good PR.

16 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

They spend too much.

3 SOLID WAYS TO SAVE MONEY

AS A DESIGNER
So today, I’m including a short list of ways to save your design business
money.

1. Don’t buy new equipment unless you can justify it as a money-maker.

If it won’t bring in more money, don’t spend money on it.

2. When you spend money, make sure you spend it well. It’s wise to make
a plan on recovering every dollar you spend on your business.

3. Avoid superfluous or unnecessary expenses such as taking clients to

lunch, subscribing to expensive magazines, renting lavish office space,
or outsourcing to expensive counterparts.

Now that we’ve discussed how to save money, it’s important to know how
much you should charge your design clients in order to make a significant
profit for your design business.

Today’s exercise (see below) will help you do just that! Have fun with it and
I’ll see you tomorrow.

DAY T H R E E 17
 EXERCISE 3:
Today’s exercise has been a turning point for me and many
other designers who I have helped coach over the last few
years. Today, you’re going to figure out how much you
should charge, how much you should save, and how much
you’ll make during this next year with your new design busi-
ness.

The key to the exercise is a tool (that not many people know
about) provided by FreelanceSwitch.com. You can find the
tool here: http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/

Your homework, should you choose to accept it, is to take

45 minutes and really fill out this form. Take time to set
financial goals, learn what your optimum hourly rate is and
what your break-even rate is.

This task should open your eyes to the truth about how
much you should be charging in order to make a significant
profit with your design business.

Good luck and have fun with it!

18 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

 D AY

04
FINDING
CLIENTS TO
FUEL YOUR
BUSINESS

DAY F O U R 19
 Hi and welcome to day 4 of From Passion to Profit. Today’s lesson is all
about finding new clients to fuel your design business.

Although there are a few ways to make money without clients (we’ll talk
about that more in Lesson 9: Finding Steady Profit Through Passive In-
come), you’ll most likely need a solid client base in order to run a success-
ful and profitable design business.

Luckily, GraphicDesignBlender.com is all about helping you find, keep, and

impress clients. We’ve posted a few great articles and discussions about
finding new design clients, two of which you can find below.

How to find design clients

OPEN DISCUSSION: How do you find new freelance design clients?

But, you didn’t purchase this ebook just to reread the same old tips from
the blog did you? Of course not. I promised “secret-packed” lessons and,
today, that is exactly what you are going to get.

So without any further ado,

MY TOP 2 CLIENT FINDING SECRETS

These are the kinds of tips I don’t share on GDB all the time. They’re the
top secrets and tips I have found useful as I have worked to build a solid
client base that has kept my design business afloat.

1. NOT ALL CLIENTS ARE CREATED EQUAL

If you’re new to finding design clients, you might be tempted to take
any client you can find. Perhaps you think all clients are created equal.

I have learned from personal experience that they are not.

Sometimes, it’s a better investment of your time and efforts to reject a

potential client than to work with any old client that comes your way.

20 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

 Focus your efforts on finding excellent clients.

KEEP CLIENTS AROUND FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE

Many designers think the key to design business success is to maintain
a constantly-changing, evolving client pool. Meaning, many designers
think they should work with a client, finish a project, and bill.

But there’s an old business lesson that says “It’s easier to keep customers
than to find new ones.”

That tip is so true.

Find ways to convince your current clients to stay with you for multiple
projects. How? Do a great job on your first project together and, right
when they are happiest with the project, offer to update something else
(a website, brochure, etc).

For more on keeping clients around for a long time, read the following
article:
How to convince your design clients to hire you again

DAY F O U R 21
 EXERCISE 4:
Today’s exercise will help you find new clients to fuel your
design business and keep them coming back for more proj-
ects.

Pull out your brainstorming tool of choice and brainstorm 50

ideas for finding new clients and 50 ways you can set your-
self apart from your competition during the design process.

I know, 100 ideas is a lot. But if you only write down 10 or 20,
you won’t ever get past the obvious choices.

I did this exercise a few weeks ago and was amazed at the
great new and creative ways I came up with for finding new
clients.

After you have a great list, pick 3 options that are your favor-
ite and make plans to put them into action this week!

You’ll be finding clients before you know it.

22 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

 D AY

05
PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
TIPS TO
BOOST
PRODUCTIVITY

DAY F I V E 23
 Welcome back to From Passion to Profit - today’s lesson is all about proj-
ect management.
 
If you’ve been staying on top of each of the exercises so far, you already
have a few business goals, you have a business name picked out, you
understand the basics of making a profit as a designer, and you have found
(or are working diligently to find) a few clients to begin fueling your busi-
ness.
 
Now it’s time to start working on a few projects. And the more success-
ful your business becomes, the more difficult it will be to juggle multiple
clients, multiple projects, and the many tasks that they entail.
 
So you need a system.
 
Here are a few top secrets to project management that I have discovered
while working in my own design business:
 
5 PROJECT MANAGEMENT SECRETS
THAT REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE
 
The following project management tips are ones that I have found useful.
They help me avoid stress, save time, and make my clients happy. I hope
they’ll help you do the same as you continue on this amazing journey.
 
1. NOT ALL PROJECTS HAVE THE SAME LEVEL OF IMPORTANCE
When juggling more than one project, it’s important to remember that
not all projects are created equal. Some require more attention, some
require more frequent action, and others require you to get a lot of
feedback and interaction from clients.

You should customize your plans according to the needs of each

project. Never get in a cookie-cutter mode when it comes to project
management.

24 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

 Consistency is good, but be consistently creative on managing each
project in a unique way.

2. MOST URGENT AND LEAST FAVORITE FIRST

It’s always tempting to work on the “most fun” or “most interesting”
projects first while you put aside the projects that bore or frustrate you.

Solve this common problem by tackling the most urgent projects first,
followed by your least favorite. After those projects are taken care of,
you can work on whatever project gets you most excited.

Believe me, if you do it the other way around, you’ll find yourself pro-
crastinating and using some projects as an excuse to put off others.

3. DEVELOP A SYSTEM THAT WORKS FOR YOU

Even though I am very technologically oriented, the best way for me to
organize and manage multiple clients and projects is to create real-
world paper folders. I print everything that pertains to any particular
project.

And that’s just what works for me.

Take time to find what works for you. Develop a system, modify it as
needs arise, and stick to it! Soon you’ll be managing projects like a pro.

4. REVIEW PROJECT STATUSES EACH MORNING AND EVENING

It’s easy to let projects slip through the cracks unless you’re constantly
reviewing their status, what remains to be completed, and what your
near-future plans are.

Take time each morning and evening (or at the beginning and end of
each of your work periods) to review the status of your current proj-
ects. Keeping these projects always at the forefront of your mind will
help you manage them more successfully.

5. FORCE YOURSELF TO BE ACCOUNTABLE TO YOUR CLIENT

DAY F I V E 25
 Project management is a hard thing to hold yourself accountable to.
It’s easy to justify procrastination or laziness to yourself.

To overcome this common problem, notify your client of your mile-

stones and timelines. That way, you’ll force yourself to finish a task by
the particular date that your client is expecting it by.
 
I hope these 5 simple secrets will help you as you develop a project man-
agement system for your design business. Good luck!

26 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

EXERCISE 5:
Today’s exercise is pretty simple, but very important. Take 45
minutes today and set up the basics of your project man-
agement system. If you want to do it on paper, create your
forms and folders. If you choose to do it online, research
good project management tools like basecamp that you can
use to streamline your workflow.

By the end of the day, you should have the basic structure of
your project management system completed.

Then, if you have already found a few good clients for your
business, add their projects into your system as much as
possible.

DAY F I V E 27
 D AY

06
SETTING
AND
REACHING
GOALS

28 PASSION TO PROFIT
Hey there - You’ve made it halfway through our 11-day journey together.

Congratulations!

Hopefully you’ve learned a few top-notch secrets that will help you build a
successful design business.

Today’s lesson covers a topic that I find extremely important: setting and
reaching goals.

Have you ever read the book or watched the movie Alice in Wonderland?
In Alice in Wonderland, Alice gets lost and asks the Cheshire Cat for direc-
tions. “I was just wondering if you could help me find my way.” asks Alice,
debating between the two paths in front of her.

“Well that depends on where you want to get to,” responds the Cat.

Then Alice says something she’ll come to regret: “Oh, it really doesn’t mat-
ter…”

Responding to the girl’s foolish statement, the Cat teaches this important
lesson, “Then it really doesn’t matter which way you go.”

Why do I bring up this seemingly silly analogy? Because Alice lacked vision.
She lacked drive and a sense of direction.

She lacked solid goals.

Much like Alice, if you don’t know where you want to end up, it won’t
much matter what you do today. Conversely, if you have solid goals, you’ll
know exactly what you have to do today to be successful tomorrow and in
the future.

Goals are priceless.

DAY S I X 29
 ATTRIBUTES OF GOALS THAT WORK

It’s one thing to set goals. It’s a whole different task to set goals that will
help you achieve something worthwhile. Have a look at the following at-
tributes of goals that work.

1. MEASURABLE.
Perhaps the most important attribute of a successful goal is to make
it measurable. Whether your goal is financial (I will make X dollars this
month) or project-related (I will finish each project on time), they must
be measurable.

Avoid goals like “I will be successful”, “I will find clients”, or “I will build
my portfolio”. Such vague goals, while well-intentioned, are hard to
measure which makes it hard to know if you have ever succeeded.

2. POSITIVE.
Goals should be stated in a positive way. Avoid goals like “I won’t sleep
in past 9 am”. Instead try something like “I will wake up in time to start
work at 9 every day.”

Studies show that it’s more easy to follow a positive goal than a nega-
tive one.

3. PERSONAL.
When setting goals, make the personal to you. Some people try to set
goals like “My clients will always return my calls within 24 hours” or “My
invoices will get paid on time.”

Instead try something like “I will follow up daily with clients who do not
return my calls” or “I will require a fee for late invoice payments.”

The only person you really have control over is yourself (and maybe
some employees to a degree, but only maybe). Set goals that reflect

30 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

 actions you have direct control over.

4. REACHABLE.
Last, but not least, your goals should be reachable. There’s nothing
wrong with ambitious, audacious goals, but perhaps something like “I
will make $1,000,000 in profit during my first year of business” might
be a little too ambitious.

Only you can decide if your goals are reachable. Don’t underestimate
yourself, but make sure you can reach your goals. Otherwise, you are
more likely to become discouraged and stop setting goals.

Setting goals is one of the most liberating aspects of running a business.

If you’re not accustomed to setting and reaching goals, you might find it
a bit awkward at first, but once you get the hang of it (see today’s home-
work), you’ll fall in love with the feeling you get when you reach a goal
you’ve set your mind to.

Good luck in all your goal-setting and goal-reaching!

DAY S I X 31
 EXERCISE 6:
Today’s exercise will help you set effective goals like we
talked about above.

Get out a piece of paper and pen (or your favorite note-tak-
ing tool) and write down a goal.

Remember to keep it measurable, positive, personal, and

reachable.

Under each goal, write down a few solid plans that will help
you reach the goal. Then put those plans in to action as soon
as possible.

Repeat this step for at least 6 major business goals. If you’re

having trouble, have a look at the sample goal below:

GOAL: I find 3 new projects each month.

PLAN A: I call or email previous clients 30 days after finishing

their last project to follow up and offer more services.

PLAN B: I cold-call at least 3 businesses each week with a

solution-based proposal.

PLAN C: I ask my current clients for referrals multiple times

throughout the project’s lifetime.

32 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

 D AY

07
FINANCE
SECRETS YOUR
ACCOUNTANT
DOESN’T
WANT YOU
TO KNOW

DAY S E V E N 33
 Today we’re going to talk about something that can be perceived as very
boring, but is extremely important:

Finances.

After all, the course is titled From Passion to Profit. How can we have a
successful course without talking about money?

In Lesson 1, we talked a little about getting your mind in the right place,
understanding that you have to see your passion for design as a viable
business.

Then in Lesson 3 we talked about making your first piece of profit. We ex-
plored the importance of making more money than you spend – a seem-
ingly obvious piece of advice that many designers fail to understand.

Today, we’ll talk all about how to make sound financial decisions, how to
manage your money, and what it takes to be financially responsible. To-
day’s lesson will cover finance secrets your accountant doesn’t want you
to know.

FINANCE SECRETS YOUR ACCOUNTANT

DOESN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW
1. MONEY MANAGEMENT IS ALL ABOUT DILIGENCE.
A lot of designers and entrepreneurs are terrible at managing money.
Not because it’s hard, but because it takes diligence.

You have to track any and all spending you do from your business
budget. You must account (see why it’s called accounting?) for every
bit of money you spend. If you’re diligent in tracking your earnings and
spendings, you’re halfway to financial success.

34 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

2. YOU MUST ESTABLISH A SEPARATE BANK ACCOUNT
FOR YOUR BUSINESS
One common pitfall that new entrepreneurs make is not separating
personal finances and business finances. Set up a separate bank ac-
count for your business income and expenses and never cross the line.

When you spend personal money, use your personal bank account.
When you spend business money, use the business account.

Simple.

3. PAY YOURSELF AND ADJUST YOUR SALARY AS NEEDED

Some people have asked me, “Why can’t I spend business money on
something personal? If I own my business, then the money is mine to
spend anyway, right? What’s the point of working for myself if I can’t
spend my money?”

The answer here is simple: you can spend your money.

But not your business’ money.

Establish a budget for your business and give yourself a good salary
when you can afford it. If business does well, give yourself a raise or a
bonus. But you always have to make sure you’re not wasting away your
business money on personal things.

Include in your budget things like marketing expenses, equipment ex-

penses, traveling costs, project expenses, rent, office supply expenses,
etc.

After you’ve taken care of the needs of the business, you can pay your
employees (you, most likely) as much as you want!

DAY S E V E N 35
 4. ESTABLISHING A BUSINESS BANK ACCOUNT
IS EASIER THAN YOU THINK
This might sound silly, but something that stopped me from starting
my own business for a while was the thought of filling out mounds of
paperwork for some state, federal, or bank financial manager.

The day I decided I couldn’t wait any longer, I went into my local bank
and they set me up immediately with a business bank account.

While it may not always be so simple, those who are sole proprietors
will find this process extremely simple since you are the only person
they need to assign to the account. It basically becomes a secondary
personal account (in terms of how it functions) where you can track
and store your business finances.

5. SAVE NOW, GET RICH LATER

I’ve known my fair share of wealthy people in my life and they all share
one common trait: they’re frugal.

Some entrepreneurs feel like if they can spend lots of money, they
aren’t being successful. Not true. Work hard, save your money, pay
yourself well, but don’t be gluttonous and you will find yourself sitting
on a pile of money by the end of your design career.

There are so many more options than frivolously spending money

when it comes to business. You could hire employees, saving you time.
You could sell your company, making you more wealthy than if you
had continued in it. Or you can cash out once you hit certain financial
goals and find yourself with a nice nestegg.

Spending now is a terrible idea. Saving now will prove to be an excel-

lent one.

36 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

EXERCISE 7:

( 2 P A R T S )

Today’s exercise will help you move forward financially with

two very important tasks.

1. SET UP A BANK ACCOUNT FOR YOUR BUSINESS.

Find a way to separate your business finances and your
personal finances. Go to your bank and find out what
it takes to set up a business account. Then fill out the
paperwork and set it up. From this day on, you should
never mix your personal finances with your business
finances.

2. FIND YOUR PREFERRED TOOL FOR TRACKING

BUSINESS EXPENSES.
Whether you prefer to use your own Excel spreadsheet,
write it down on physical paper, or use a particular
software, find a good solution for money tracking to-
day! Some suggestions might inclue WAVE accounting,
QuickBooks, or FreshBooks. Start tracking your finances
meticulously today!

DAY S E V E N 37
 D AY

08
STAYING
CURRENT
ON YOUR
DESIGN
SKILLS

38 PASSION TO PROFIT
Today is Day 8 of From Passion to Profit. Today’s lesson is all about how to
stay current on your design skills. It’s a super-important thing to consider if
you want to keep an edge on your competition so let’s jump right in.

WHY SHOULD I WORK HARD TO

STAY CURRENT?
Think about what life was like for a graphic designer 20 years ago. They
focused almost exclusively on print material or worked with traditional me-
dia like television.

Even in the last few years, it’s been amazing what new opportunities have
opened up to designers. For example, I make my freelance living entirely
from web-based design. I design web sites, facebook pages, twitter back-
grounds, profile pics or avatars, and more – things that didn’t even exist 20
years ago.

Imagine what sorts of things you’ll be asked to design over the next 5
years. Who knows what kind of technology will come along. And any time
technology comes along, so do new opportunities for designers.

10 PLACES THAT CAN TEACH YOU

NEW DESIGN SKILLS
Admittedly, these sites will all be outdated within the next few years (there
will be even better sites that will take their place), but the following is a list
of a few web sites I recommend for keeping your design skills up to date.

Most of them are jam-packed with design tutorials that will help you de-
velop new and essential skills as a designer.

1. Blog.SpoonGraphics.co.uk
2. Line25.com

DAY E I G H T 39
 3. CSS Tricks
4. Psdtuts+
5. Webdesigntuts+
6. Vectortuts+
7. Nettuts+
8. Phototuts+
9. Abduzeedo
10. Web Design Tutorials

40 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

EXERCISE 8:
Today’s exercise should be a fun one! Take half an hour to-
day and scour the internet for more web sites that will offer
you helpful tutorials and help you stay up-to-date on your
design skills.

The goal for today’s exercise is to find at least 10 more sites

that you find useful depending on your area of expertise
(logo design, print design, web design, etc.), but I would rec-
ommend making the list as large as possible.

Once you find them, be sure to subscribe to them via RSS,

email, twitter (or whatever means you find most helpful).

Refer to these sites frequently for new techniques on how to

be the best designer you can be.

(Just a word of caution: make sure you don’t waste your

entire day every day to reading tutorials and learning new
design techniques. They’re helpful, but they don’t pay well.)

DAY E I G H T 41
 D AY

09
FINDING
STEADY
PROFIT
THROUGH
PASSIVE
INCOME

42 PASSION TO PROFIT
Hi and welcome to what I think is a very exciting day at From Passion to
Profit. Today, we’ll be talking about passive income. Passive income is an
excellent way to subsidize your design efforts and help you make a steady
income that you can count on year-round.

I’m really excited about this one because it changed the way I ran my
design business and made me much more financially successful. Let’s dive
right in!

WHAT IS PASSIVE INCOME?

Passive income, simply put, is income that you make without putting a lot
of continued effort into the process.

For most people, passive income takes some initial work to set up and get
the ball rolling, but once the ball is rolling, you can let it roll for a long time
without haveing to continually push it.

You make money passively – or without a lot of effort, work, or action.

WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT

PASSIVE INCOME?
Passive income is becoming very popular (or arguably already is very
popular) due to the ease of such income streams in the long-term scope
of a business.

But why should you care about passive income, right? You’re a designer.

You design. They pay you.

That’s the status quo. Today, it’s time to think outside the box.

I think all designers should work hard to establish a few steady streams of

DAY N I N E 43
 passive income so they can maintain a steady cash flow year round. Some-
times, client pools dry up. Sometimes clients pay late. And sometimes you
simply don’t make enough from a project to make ends meet. The solu-
tion: find multiple avenues of passive income.

3 TIPS ON MAKING PASSIVE INCOME

AS A DESIGNER
There are plenty of ways to make passive income as a designer. Some
obvious answers include the ones you always hear about: selling graphics,
code snippets, stock photos, etc. on sites like ThemeForest.net.

But today, I’d like to offer a few passive income ideas that you may not
have thought of.

1. PRODUCT SALES
If you haven’t noticed already, this ebook (which I genuinely hope
you’re enjoying by the way) is a source of passive income for my busi-
ness. I am writing these lessons once, but will always make them avail-
able to blog readers who want to get a little more out of their visit to
GraphicDesignBlender.com.

2. BLOGGING ABOUT DESIGN

Some of you might be asking how blogging can be a passive income
machine. The truth is, at first is won’t be. You’ll be blogging alone (un-
less you have a stash of cash somewhere to hire writers) and you won’t
sell any ads, ebooks, or products.

But, if you play your cards right, you’ll eventually get to the point where
your audience is large enough and passionate enough about what they
read on your blog that they hunger for more.

At that point, you can pay writers and focus on selling ebooks or other
products. Sure, it will take some extra monetary output each month,
but the idea is to make more money than you spend, right? (Remem-

44 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

 ber our previous lessons on finance?)

3. AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
If you haven’t looked into affiliate programs yet, you’re missing out.
There is a lot of money to be had in affiliate programs.

What is affiliate work? Essentially, you help another company sell their
product or service. Take amazon for example. Once you sign up for
their affiliate program, you can promote their products and they will
give you a small cut of the money each time they sell something you
recommend.

Be aware, though. There are much better affiliate programs than ama-
zon.

A few I use include, overnightprints.com, mojothemes.com, and

themeforest.net.

The best way to promote your affiliate links is to encourage clients to

use a specific printer, web hoster, etc.

EXERCISE 9:
Today’s exercise is all about finding an affiliate program that
will work for you. Do some research online, find some af-
filiate programs you’re interested in, make a plan and get to
work!

With a little work upfront, you’ll soon be making money

overnight. Good luck!

DAY N I N E 45
 D AY

10
DEALING
WITH
GROWTH
AND HIRING
PEOPLE

46 PASSION TO PROFIT
Today is an exciting day for From Passion to Profit! Today, we’re going to
talk about dealing with growth and hiring people. It’s exciting because,
if you’re to the point where this information is applicable, then you have
come a long way in your design business.

If you’re hiring people and dealing with growing pains then you probably
have done (or are doing) well for yourself.

So with that, I’d like to split the lesson today into two primary sections:
dealing with work overload and expanding your market reach.

5 SOLUTIONS FOR WORK OVERLOAD

1. OUTSOURCE YOUR WORK.
I’m going to have a lot of people get mad at me for saying this (be-
cause I already have on the blog), but one way to lighten your work
load is by outsourcing.

I don’t necessarily mean you have to hire people in sweatshops to do

your work for practically no pay (that’s what used to make people mad
at me). I mean, you should hire someone else to do the work while you
manage the project.

If you have too many projects to handle at one time, why not hire an-
other designer to help you? Then take a percentage off the top of the
project for management time.

2. BECOME A PROJECT MANAGER

Give yourself a promotion. If you have more work than you can
handle, perhaps it’s time for you to start managing more and design-
ing less. You can outsource or hire other designers and manage client
relationships.

Of course, if your passion is not management or business, perhaps

this isn’t a good route for you. You need to find a good balance be-
tween hiring and managing other designers and enjoying working as a

DAY T E N 47
 designer yourself.

3. HIRE A PROJECT MANAGER

Conversely, you could also hire someone who can manage all your
projects and client relationships for you. Be careful if you decide to go
this route, because you don’t want to create a boss for yourself. The
best option in this scenario is probably to adopt a permanent partner
to help you grow your business.

4. WORK WITH OTHER FREELANCERS

If working with a permanent freelancer doesn’t float your boat, you
can always work on a per-project basis with other freelancers. You
could hire them for smaller design projects while you handle the big-
ger accounts.

Alternatively, you could hire a freelance accountant, freelance copy-

writer, freelance account manager, etc.

5. FIND SPECIALISTS WHO CAN HANDLE WHAT YOU CAN’T

Lastly, you can lighten your load by hiring people who are good at the
things you are not good at. You could hire a finance specialist, project
management specialist, or client relationship specialist for example.

3 WAYS TO REACH NEW MARKETS

If you’re doing well dealing with growth, perhaps you want to explore the
opportunity of expanding to new markets.

You’ll want to make sure you have a good grasp on your current market
before taking your design business to new markets, but if you’re looking
for new business, a refreshing change for your business, or more income,
reaching out to new markets could be the ticket.

48 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

I’ve included a few ways designers can reach out to new markets below:

1. EXPLORE NEW GEOGRAPHIC AREAS

The first option is pretty obvious. You should explore new geographical
areas for untapped possibilities. You could try as close as a neighboring
city, or as far as a distant country.

2. EXPLORE NEW NICHES

Take time to find hidden opportunities within niche groups. Perhaps
you can specialize in web design for non-profits, logo design for small
business, or an even deeper niche. The nice thing about niches is that
communities within them are pretty tight-knit. People talk. And that
means they’re more likely to recommend you to a colleague or friend.

3. EXPLORE NEW SPECIALTIES

If you’ve been making a lot of your money from logo design, perhaps
it’s time to branch out and work on entire branding campaigns. Try
new specialties, but beware of spreading yourself too thin. Sometimes
a Jack of all trades turns into a master of none.

I hope some of these growth tips will help you as you begin to see more
and more growth with your design business.

Best of luck!

DAY T E N 49
 EXERCISE 10:

( 2 P A R T S )

Today’s exercise is divided into two parts: one for networking

and hiring and one for reaching new markets.

GROWING AND HIRING

It’s important to hire the right people when the time comes.
With that in mind, now is the time to be networking with
other designers and learning how they work, what they do
best, and what makes them successful.

Reach out to other designers. Meet them online or in person.

Offer to help them with their projects, struggles, or concerns.

When the time comes, you’ll have a great network to pull

from if you need to find a temporary partner, freelancer to
outsource work to, or whatever needs come your way.

EXPLORING NEW MARKETS

Secondly, take time to explore a new market today and make
plans on how to penetrate it. Make a decision on what new
market would make the most sense for your design business.
Then make a plan of action on how you’ll contact potential
clients in your new market, how you’ll market yourself differ-
ently, and how you’ll succeed in two markets at once.

50 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

 D AY

11
CONTINUING
SUCCESSFULLY
FOR THE
REST OF
YOUR
CAREER

DAY E L E V E N 51
 I can’t believe today is the last day of From Passion to Profit. It makes me
a little sad to think our short journey here is over, but the good news is,
hopefully over the last 11 days you have been able to take your passion for
design and start making a profit and a viable business.
 
Today, I want to talk about a few ways you can continue on this journey to
success as a designer. Today’s lesson is all about moving forward with the
same drive and determination you have had during this course.
 
CONTINUING ON YOUR JOURNEY
First, let me say congratulations! You’ve made it a long way. Although it
was just 11 short days, we’ve learned a lot together and covered a lot of
ground. I hope you’re already finding loads of success (if you’re not, just be
patient and work hard. Success will come eventually).
 
Now, a few recommendations I have for moving forward on your journey:
 
First, please don’t be a stranger. Visit me frequently at GraphicDesign-
Blender.com, engage in conversations, leave comments, and drop me a
line (contact page) if you have concerns, questions or if you just want to
chat about something.

I’m always happy to talk about your design business and help you as much
as I can.
 
Secondly, remember that the things we’ve talked about in these lessons
are not just a one-time exercise. They need to be repeated over and over
again. Repeat the lessons frequently by reading and rereading this ebook.
You’ll find new nuggets of wisdom each time you read it - I guarantee.
 
Constantly strive to find new ways to get clients, make a higher profit, set
and reach goals, make some passive income, and all of the other business-
building tactics we’ve talked about in this course.
 
Thirdly, continually redefine success for you and your business. Perhaps

52 FROM PASSION TO PROFIT GraphicDesignBlender.com

today, your goal is to make a certain amount of money each month from
your design business. As your business grows, readjust your goals to reflect
your current situation.
 
Goals should never become stagnant. As you set and reach your goals, set
new ones, reach them and keep going on that path.
 
Lastly, never give up. Be persistent. Don’t let people tell you that you can’t
do something you want to do.
 
I sincerely wish you the best of luck in all of your business and design ef-
forts! I know you’ll be a great success.
 
Don’t be a stranger!

EXERCISE 11:
Today’s exercise is a little bit different (And somewhat selfish
on my part). Would you mind taking 10 minutes and let-
ting me know what you thought of the book? Go ahead and
email me at graphicdesignblender.com/contact.
 
It can be short or long, kind or rude, but I’d love to know
what you thought about the book. Perhaps what you liked,
what you disliked, what you would have liked to see, and
what worked out perfectly for you.

Thanks again! I hope you enjoyed our time together.

I certainly did. I hope to see you around!

DAY E L E V E N 53