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Show Notes

We want to hear what you have to say about the podcast.

Sponsor of this Episode

This episode is sponsored by WMC Fest 4. WMC Fest is the premier art, design, and music festival in the Midwest. Uniting creative dreamers and doers since 2010. WMC Fest takes place from August 16th through 18th at Cleveland Public Theatre. 20 speakers, 20 designers, and 30+ bands.

Go Media Quick Tip: Don’t Over Think Things

• Be a little naive, jump in, and figure out how to swim later.
• A common theme we’ve seen after interviewing a lot of the WMC Fest speakers this year is that they didn’t always know how to do what they wanted to do. They just knew that they wanted to do it and worked out the kinks as they ran across them.
• Take advantage of your naivety.
• Dive in, take a risk, and don’t get bogged down by the details.

What’s Go Media Been Up To?

• Bill is now finished with the first draft of his book. It’s in the hands of the editor.
• It’s Spring, which means some office reorganization. The design and Arsenal team moved their desks around. Plus, our storefront restoration project should be beginning soon. Most have moved away from the center of the office.
• Heather Sakai also worked on cleaning up our storage areas, which allowed us to store all of the new WMC Fest merch coming in.
• Bryan and Bill have been interviewing the new group of interns that are coming in over the Summer.

Customer Retention: A chapter from Bill’s new book ”Drawn To Business: Designed For Success”

• If you can keep the customers you already have, you’ll save yourself time, energy, and money. Historically, we were always seeking new leads instead of being proactive on retaining those who were already here.
• You can only make a first impression once. How you come out of the gate with that customer will dictate how well things can move forward. The initial steps and deliverables are so powerful. If you stumble out the gate, you create a sense of wariness. It can cause negative feelings towards the project, which could result in work being looked at with a far more critical eye.
• Know what expectations you need to meet by setting those expectations with the client.
• Under promise and over deliver. Over promising outrageous expectations will cause disappointment if you can’t meet those expectations. It will also put you in a position where you no longer enjoy doing the project because you’ve put yourself under a lot of unnecessary stress.
• Being realistic to a client, by giving them some news that they don’t want to hear, allows you to set realistic expectations that both sides can agree upon. And, if you set the bar too high, the client will expect that kind of turn around the next time, and that’s not necessarily a client you want to retain.
• The relationship is key to customer retention.
• Be an advisor, not just an order taker. If you see an opportunity for your client to do something better, offer that advice.
• Stay in touch with your customers. It doesn’t matter how or why, give them a call, or shoot them a quick email, to let them know you’re thinking about them. Watch a movie or read a blog post that reminded you of your client, tell them. You reaching out to them could spur conversation about new projects and opportunities.
• Give your best customers your cheapest rates.

Links

• The Old And New Project
• Weapons of Mass Creation Fest 4
• Go Media Twitter
• “Lux” by Braid
• StrongOdors.com
• Troy DeShano Twitter

Credits

Hosts: Jeff Finley and Bill Beachy
Producer: Bryan Garvin
Recorded at: Go Media

Sponsorship Opportunities

Interested in sponsoring the Go Media podcast, either episodically or exclusively? Well, hit us up at podcast@gomedia.us if you are interested in advertising your business.

What Do You Think?

We want to hear what you think about the latest episode of our podcast and what topics you would like to see covered in upcoming episodes. Comment below with your suggestions.

The post Episode 8: Interview with WMC Fest Speaker Troy DeShano appeared first on GoMediaZine.

Listen to the Podcast

Show Notes

We want to hear what you have to say about the podcast.

Sponsor of this Episode

This episode is sponsored by Mockup Everything. With Mockup Everything, you can produce high resolution, photo realistic mock ups of your designs. There are at least 5 new templates released every month. From iPads to billboards to t-shirts: if you have to mockup anything, use Mockup Everything.

WMC Fest is holding a benefit show on March 22nd, 2013 at the Beachland Ballroom. It’s the first Weapons of Mass Creation event in 2013.

Go Media Quick Tip: Executing After Inspiration

• Comes from ideas pushed in “Execute”, a new book by Josh Long. Based on the principle of executing after inspiration. He wrote a book about Drew Wilson who built a Stripe-powered app in 8 days.
• We are filled with inspiration and creativity all of the time, and because of that, you should take advantage of it. Clear your schedule and finish what you’re inspired to create.
• Don’t stifle your energy because you think you’ll burn out.
• Several weeks ago, WMC Fest’s Music Director, Jesse Sloan came to Jeff with the idea of doing a WMC Fest-themed show at SXSW. The original thought was prepping it for next year. But, the week before SXSW, Jesse decided he couldn’t wait and hopped in a van ready to take SXSW 2013 by storm. So, Jeff created the artwork and got a rush order through to Jakprints. Jesse secured the venue with the help of 1Up PR, and Truth About Music scheduled the bands and put on a last-minute show. Even Wired.com found the event and helped publicize it on their Instagram feed.

Wired.com’s photo from the WMC Fest event at SXSW.

What’s Go Media Been Up To?

• Jeff’s been putting more and more hours into WMC Fest and prepping for this Friday’s benefit show at the Beachland Ballroom.
• Bill’s been spending more time with his upcoming book titled, “Drawn To Business: Designed For Success”.
• Bryan’s been prepping the podcast to start streaming the recording live, including a live chat for instant feedback. Expect an announcement on that soon.
• The sales team has been bringing in a lot of big projects, which is helping Go Media reach their design sales goals ahead of schedule.
• Liz has left Go Media as she moves up in her career. We’re happy for her success, but sad to see her leave.
• Simon Hartman has been officially hired and will start at Go Media in early April. He was the former Zine editor, but will now help run The Arsenal.

Jeff and Bill discuss Bill’s new book in recently reorganized GoMP Studios.

Closing Deals: A chapter from Bill’s new book ”Drawn To Business: Designed For Success”

“Every battle is won or lost before it’s fought.” – “Art of War” by Sun Tzu

• Starting with a well-designed proposal is an important step in the process of building trust.
• Go Media normally gets our leads through the contact form on the site.
• We follow that up with a phone call to create that initial personal contact. That call is also to qualify the project: is there a budget that meets their requirements? Do they have real needs that you can fulfill? We qualify before setting up the discovery meeting, so that if the project is outside of our scope, then we didn’t waste their time scheduling a meeting that won’t go anywhere. A budget is a necessary thing to discuss. If the lead isn’t willing to offer that up, find out what they want out of the project, and give them a ballpark figure of what something like that would cost.
• After a lead is qualified, we schedule a discovery call with a member of the design or development team. We have a master questionnaire that we try to get answers on before going into the proposal stage. Whether or not you land a lead is determined in that discovery call. Having that budget up front, along with the full project scope, will give you the proper information you need to land the project you’re writing the proposal for. Every piece of the proposal needs to be written around the needs of client. It doesn’t need to be written from scratch every time, but create a template. Write segments for all services you offer, that way you can plug it in or remove it as needed, and then tailor it to that specific project.
• What goes into a good proposal?
  • A cover letter should include some kind of connection between you and the client. If you have a shared passion or there was a comical moment in the meeting, write about it. Also thank them for coming to you for the project and show that you are excited for the opportunity. This is your introduction to the proposal and to working with them.
  • In your overview and requirements, include what the client wants and needs, why they want to do it, and why your solution is the right one.
  • Also share your process. Make sure everyone knows what is expected from the client experience. That way you aren’t playing telephone with your sales team. They need to sell what you can do with the energy that you will be doing it with. The client needs to know what the expectations are, and everyone on the team needs to know that ahead of time so those expectations can be either met or exceeded.
  • For the purposes of the proposal, include a cost estimate that summarizes the main sections of the project.
  • Since they’re reading your proposal and since you know the project, provide some additional related services that might make sense for their project.
  • Provide samples of your work as well as testimonials.
  • Always provide some terms and conditions that cover guarantees and how they can accept the agreement and any liability.
  • Our proposals are our contracts. If they put a down payment on the project, then they have legally accepted the proposal. So, there is no second document that they need to sign.
• Choose a program that works best for you. We chose InDesign, because it gives us the most flexibility to design a beautiful proposal, yet it still allows the sales team to edit it easily. Your proposal is a direct reflection of your design ability. It needs to be beautiful and easy to use and understand.
• Complete the personal connection by hand-delivering the proposal. The client gets to see your face, they get to shake your hand, and now that they “know you”, they’re more apt to call you to ask questions or have a conversation with you to negotiate. If it’s a huge project, why not travel a long distance. Build the relationship up so that the proposal is not a faceless document.
• After you’ve delivered the proposal, follow up within 3-5 business days. You don’t need a specific reason, other than to make sure that they received the proposal and to see if they have any questions about it. Since you reached out to them, even if they chose someone else, it’s possible that you still have an opportunity to land the project by negotiating with them.

Links

• The Beachland Ballroom
• Weapons of Mass Creation Fest 4
• WMC Fest Benefit Show on Friday, March 22nd, 2013 at the Beachland Ballroom
• “Execute”, a new book by Josh Long
• Go Media Twitter

Credits

Hosts: Jeff Finley and Bill Beachy
Producer: Bryan Garvin
Recorded at: Go Media

Sponsorship Opportunities

Interested in sponsoring the Go Media podcast, either episodically or exclusively? Well, hit us up at podcast@gomedia.us if you are interested in advertising your business.

What Do You Think?

We want to hear what you think about the latest episode of our podcast and what topics you would like to see covered in upcoming episodes. Comment below with your suggestions.

The post Episode 7: How to Close Design Leads appeared first on GoMediaZine.

Listen to the Podcast

Show Notes:

Sponsor of this Episode

This episode is sponsored by Mockup Everything. With Mockup Everything, you can produce high resolution, photo realistic mock ups of your designs. There are 10 new templates released every month. From iPads to billboards to t-shirts: if you have to mockup anything, use Mockup Everything.

Go Media Quick Tip: Landing Projects with Good Proposals and Communication

• Mark on your calendar 3-5 days after you’ve delivered a proposal to follow up. See if they have any questions or concerns with the proposal or estimate. It’ll usually start a conversation which will give you another opportunity to land the project.
• Find out why you were or weren’t chosen. Why did they decide with another company? Or, what was it about you and your proposal that sealed the deal? By doing this, you can find out what adjustments you can make on future proposals that might make for a better experience.
• Sometimes, spec work is okay.

What’s Go Media Been Up To?

• We’ll be having our annual Year in Review company-wide meeting this month. We’ll be heading out of the office for the day and going up to Punderson State Park for a day of reviewing last year, setting goals for 2013 and some general team building and fun. Lots of prep has been put towards that.
• Bill’s been spending more time with his upcoming book titled, “Drawn To Business: Designed For Success”.

How Did Weapons of Mass Creation Fest All Start?

• The idea for WMC came out of an ad campaign we were going to run for The Arsenal. We flew in artists that we admired to our studio for a photo shoot to feature them and their work with the tagline, “I am a Weapon of Mass Creation.” However, the photo shoot became a secondary part of the event as everyone was sharing stories and sketches and just enjoying the company of other artists in the community. They all wanted to do this again at some point. Simultaneously, Jeff Finley wanted to start an art/music fest. We combined the two ideas into one, thinking it would be great to bring in artists and let them share their stories while having a bunch of bands to see. Boom, WMC was born.
• Todd and Jeff were connected by Jenny Kelley, from Kelley Green Web. Todd came from NeoVentures, his own event planning business.
• Jesse Sloan was brought in to organize and schedule bands. Jesse and Jeff were connected because Jesse was a fan of Jeff’s illustrations and wanted to work together with him. He also plays in the band Cherry Cola Champions.
• The first fest, which could have been called “Jeff Fest”, was a punk rock music fest with Jeff’s favorite artists and designers. He even screened a few films from some of his favorite directors.
• The third year, Joseph Hughes was brought in officially after volunteering the year before to organize and schedule speakers. Joseph was able to sell the fest from a fan’s perspective. So, he was able to tell speakers why it’s important and why they should be involved in ways that Jeff couldn’t.
• Creativity doesn’t just have to live on the West Coast or the East Coast. We want to make Cleveland a destination for creativity and inspiration.

What’s Coming in WMC Fest 4?

• WMC Fest 4 will be in Cleveland Public Theatre in Gordon Square. Instead of having each part of the event isolated at different locations, this year everything will be under the same roof. There are multiple stages in this amazing theatre. One place to buy tickets, one place to enter into the community experience.
• Another huge change is that there will be more seating for all speakers. So, no need to save your seat. You can get up after a speaker, go see a band, come back later that day and still be able to find a seat.
• Hopefully no more power failures. We’ve hit power failures at every Fest so far. But, CPT was built for simultaneous events.
• At Cleveland Public Theater, there will be a bunch of different spaces inside of a beautiful 101 year old building. You like beautiful decay? It’s here in this “fun house of design”. 1 theater dedicated to bands, another for speakers. Featured music acts will also be on the main stage. There will also be an outdoor stage for music again this year. The design gallery space will be a huge upgrade this year. We’ll also be doing video and audio streaming of the event, as well as putting on live podcasts throughout the event. Rumor has it that Adventures in Design will be coming to Cleveland to do a live podcast…
• WMC has been very organic with it’s growth. But, we constantly have been trying to outdo ourselves each year without spreading ourselves thin.
• Melissa Olson and Katie Dawson are helping Jesse organize this year’s band list. Music options will be changing as well. Not just one or two genres. Alternative and punk will still have a presence like always, but we’re opening our minds to jazz, alt-country, big-band, etc. It’s not about bringing in bands that everyone’s heard of. It’s about bringing in up and coming creative leaders into the community.

(From left to right) Bill Beachy (in red), Todd Gauman, Jesse Sloan, Jeff Finley and Bryan Garvin (in flannel) recording Episode 6 of Go Media Podcast.

Question of the Month

From a financial standpoint, an event like WMC Fest costs anywhere from $75,000 to $150,000 to put on. Go Media puts in a portion of that cost and, at times, has barely broken even. Over the last 3 years, we’ve depended on our Kickstarter fund to help support this event. However, some fans questioned our annual usage of the fund raising platform, so we’re considering dropping it. But we’re not sure!

So, we ask you now: for an event in it’s 4th year, is it acceptable that we are still using Kickstarter as a fund raising platform? 

In the meantime, we’ll be doing a benefit show on March 22nd, 2013 at the Beachland Ballroom. It’s the first Weapons of Mass Creation event in 2013.

Links

• The Beachland Ballroom
• Weapons of Mass Creation Fest 4
• Cleveland Public Theatre
• Go Media Twitter

Credits

Hosts: Jeff Finley and Bill Beachy
Producer: Bryan Garvin
Recorded at: Go Media

Sponsorship Opportunities

Interested in sponsoring the Go Media podcast, either episodically or exclusively? Well, hit us up at podcast@gomedia.us if you are interested in advertising your business.

What Do You Think?

We want to hear what you think about the latest episode of our podcast and what topics you would like to see covered in upcoming episodes. Comment below with your suggestions.

The post Episode 6: Weapons of Mass Creation Fest 2013 Kick Off! appeared first on GoMediaZine.

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Show Notes:

Sponsor of this Episode

Header images features image files from our new Arsenal product Texture Set 5

This episode is sponsored by Mockup Everything. With Mockup Everything, you can produce high resolution, photo realistic mock ups of your designs. There are 5 new templates released every month. From iPads to billboards to t-shirts: if you have to mockup anything, use Mockup Everything.

Go Media Quick Tip: Put Together A Monthly Report

• Every month at Go Media, we produce a 1-page document that recaps hours, cash flow and “boos and bravos” for that month.
• Don’t drive yourself crazy by trying to analyze your data every day.
• With monthly reports, you can get a good idea of what you’re doing well and what you need to improve on.
• It’s important to remind yourself of what you’ve accomplished.

What’s Go Media Been Up To This Year?

• Go Media’s failed attempt at only working with larger companies. It lead to some horrific months, however it lead us to rethink our pricing model and it pushed Bill to go back to school to get some business education.
• When you’re only trying to hit home runs, you miss the base hits, and those can be crucial when times are tough. We started using some different metrics to decide what type of work to bring in based on how empty our schedule is. If we don’t have any work planned in 2 weeks, then we’ll adjust what our project price minimum is. Be willing to negotiate if your plate is empty.
• We assigned staff members to be “owners” of our revenue stream properties. For example, Marissa took over Mockup Everything and Liz took over Arsenal. That way, the work isn’t just on one person’s shoulder, and we can treat them more like clients rather than something we worked on when we had some free time.
• We redesigned the entire Go Media brand. New GoMedia.us, Mockup Everything and Go Media Zine designs were rolled out, and we’re planning on releasing the rest in 2013.
• The birth of the Go Media Podcast.
• We moved most of our hosting over to Amazon CDN, which gave us a better, more reliable service for about $600 less a month.
• We launched “Lorain”, our new WordPress theme. We wanted to be able to provide a better solution for clients looking for a custom theme but without a large budget. Building our own theme also allowed us to ensure that we could fully support it when there are changes in plugins and in WordPress itself.
• We installed a full gym in the second floor of the building.
• We lost a few dear staff members. Adam Wagner moved to San Francisco, Adam Law moved to Seattle and Heather Mariano is having a baby later on this year and will be focusing on her photography career.
• We brought on some new staff members. Bryan Garvin was brought in as front-end developer. Jenny Kelley was brought in to build the new Account Services department. Lauren Prebel was also brought in to help Jenny grow the sales team. Aaron Roberts was brought in as a Junior Designer. Sarah Traxler was brought in as our new project manager.
• We have some internship opportunities available.
• Weapons of Mass Creation Fest and On The Map Cleveland were both successes.
• Networking and “getting out there” is now a priority. Jeff spoke at and coached fellow entrepreneurs at Bad Girl Ventures. Jenny and Bill set up a booth at the COSE Small Business Convention.
• The release of Bill’s book has been delayed until the middle of 2013.

Bill Beachy excited for the Go Media Podcast.

What’s Upcoming in 2013?

• New Arsenal site, rebuilt from the ground up. It will also be a marketplace for artists we admire and trust.
• Improving the gym, and cleaning up the second floor in general.
• The store front renovation project will continue in the Spring.
• WMC Fest Benefit Show happening in March at the Beachland Ballroom.
• We will be launching our in-house design management suite. It’s been available for beta testers, but we’re ready to make it live for everyone. A new Prooflab.us will be launched in early 2013 to support and sell it.
• WMC Fest 4 will take place at Cleveland Public Theatre in August.
• On The Map Cleveland 3 will take place in November.

Links

• Bill’s conversation with David Mariano about continuous improvement for leaders
• Bill’s appearance on Evolve to Grow Radio
• Go Media Twitter

Credits

Hosts: Jeff Finley and Bill Beachy
Producer: Bryan Garvin
Recorded at: Go Media

Sponsorship Opportunities

Interested in sponsoring the Go Media podcast, either episodically or exclusively? Well, hit us up at podcast@gomedia.us if you are interested in advertising your business.

What Do You Think?

We want to hear what you think about the latest episode of our podcast and what topics you would like to see covered in upcoming episodes. Comment below with your suggestions.

The post Episode 5: 2012 Year in Review appeared first on GoMediaZine.

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Show Notes:

Go Media Quick Tip: Under Promise and Over Deliver

• Know what it is you can actually deliver.
• Hold back the desire to make crazy promises just to get a project.
• Hand-off between sales person and the designer is critical.
• Review proofs with the sales person before presenting.

What’s Go Media Been Up To?

• On the Map – Event recap with Chris Comella.
• Arsenal – Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
• Jeff and Jenny recently spoke about Crowd Funding and Social Media at Bad Girl Ventures and the Shaker Heights Launch House.
• “Brand Positioning and Advocacy Process” work book for designers by Jackie Bebenroth coming out next year.
• Bill attended a “Goldman Sachs 10,000 Businesses” event and met Warren Buffett.
• Bill transitions from being a designer.
• Another update on the storefront renovation.

Jeff Finley and Bill Beachy talk on the podcast while Bryan Garvin takes notes.

Questions Asked

• Do clients get in the way of good design?
• How do you deal with criticism when working with clients? - Jessie Ng
• How you guys develop Creative Briefs? – @josephnicklo
• How do you differentiate yourself in an ever homogenizing world of digital design and communication? – Stefek Andrzej
• What are the pros and cons of being a Jack of All Trades vs. having a specialization? – Raji Purcell
• How do you price your services? – Michael Greeves, Benedikt Hoffman and Anthony Gargasz

Links

• Go Media Arsenal
• Vintage Letterpress Textures - Jeff’s favorite Arsenal texture right now.
• A Designer’s Guide to Pricing - Bill’s column about how to charge for your services.
• The Commoditization of Design and a Good Customer Experience – Podcast Episode #2 where we had a more indepth of how to set yourself apart when Design becomes a Commodity.
• On The Map (OTM)
• Go Media Twitter

Credits

Hosts: Jeff Finley and Bill Beachy
Special Guest: Chris Comella
Producer: Bryan Garvin
Recorded at: Go Media

Sponsorship Opportunities

Interested in sponsoring the Go Media podcast, either episodically or exclusively? Well, hit us up at podcast@gomedia.us if you are interested in advertising your business.

What Do You Think?

We want to hear what you think about the latest episode of our podcast and what topics you would like to see covered in upcoming episodes. Comment below with your suggestions.

The post Episode 4: Pricing, Haters, and Bad Clients appeared first on GoMediaZine.

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Show Notes:

Go Media Quick Tip: Setting up Metrics for your Business

• What are metrics?
• Setting up stats to clearly identify success and weak points in your business.
• Bill’s story at his Business class.

What’s Go Media Been Up To?

• On the Map – Date is Nov 9th. Be there!
• Arsenal ReDesign – products integrated into developer’s stage.
• COSE Small Business Conference (Bill and Jackie speaking, Go Media had a booth).
• Storefront Renovations update.
• A client hated one of our designs.
• Hurricane Sandy, leaking roof, losing power.
• Hiring Project Manager & a Jr. Level Designer.

Jeff Finley & Bill Beachy discussing “What’s Go Media Been Up To?”

Topic: The Role of a Designer

Special Guests: Connie Ozan & Julia Briggs in-studio

Julia Briggs and Connie Ozan discussing “the role of a designer”

• Define “Designer” (graphic designer, not industrial/interior).
• Define “Role” (what’s the context? role with a client? role in the world?)
• Labels like Designer, Graphic Designer, Art Director, Artist, Commercial Artist, Illustrator.
• Artist vs. Designer?
• Evolution of a Designer over time.
• Ideal Role vs. Actual Role

Roles of a Designer

• Context
  • With a client/boss
  • With other team members
  • With your wallet/bank account
  • With your self/your own products
  • With society/the world/the environment
• Production Roles
  • Commercial Artist (art as product), Illustrator
  • Visual Designer, Pixel Pusher (make stuff look pretty)
  • Style Jockey (designer performs his/her style)
  • Idea Generator (designer ideates on behalf of client)
  • UX Designer (how will the user actually USE this?)
  • Front End Developer (HTML/CSS/JS)
• Non Production Roles
  • Salesperson (communicate value)
  • Order Taker/Client Pleaser (similar to salesperson)
  • Strategist
  • Educator, Researcher (understand)
  • Business Consultant
  • Therapist, Psychiatrist (helping client understand themselves)
  • Facilitator (extended family, connector)
• Social/Worldly Roles
  • Environmentalist
  • Social Changer
  • Innovator
  • Risk Taker (society expects creative people to take the risks)

Go Media Designer, Adam Law discussing “the role of a designer”

Go Media designer and On the Map creator, Chris Comella talking about the “role of a designer” and the upcoming On the Map screening party

Links

• Go Media Arsenal
• On The Map (OTM)
• Go Media Twitter
• Twist Creative
• Blue Star Design

Credits

Hosts: Jeff Finley and Bill Beachy
Special Guest: Julia Briggs, Connie Ozan, Adam Law and Chris Comella
Producer: Bryan Garvin
Recorded at: Go Media

Sponsorship Opportunities

Interested in sponsoring the Go Media podcast, either episodically or exclusively? Well, hit us up at podcast@gomedia.us if you are interested in advertising your business.

What Do You Think?

We want to hear what you think about the latest episode of our podcast and what topics you would like to see covered in upcoming episodes. Comment below with your suggestions.

The post Episode 3: The Role of a Designer appeared first on GoMediaZine.

Listen to the Podcast

Show Notes:

Go Media Quick Tip: Elevator Pitches

• What is an elevator pitch?
• Go Media’s elevator pitch is?
• Bill’s story at his Business Class.
• How you can create a better elevator pitch.

What’s Go Media Been Up To?

• Feedback from first episode.
• On the Map – Date is Nov 9th.
• Jeff’s speech at AAF Cleveland.
• Shoutout to Mark Brickey of Hero Design, Adventures in Design Podcast.
• GoMediaZine launch & discussion with Wilson via Skype.
• MockupEverything launch and response from community. Future plans.

Wilson Revehl in his studio in Florida discussing the new GoMediaZine design

Topic 1: The Commoditization of Design

Special Guest: Dan Morgan in-studio

Veteran photographer Dan Morgan looking handsome

• Discussion with Liz Hunt and Dan Morgan.
• Automation of design processes.
• Oversaturation of competition.
• Technology makes it easier to produce pro results.
• Products that solve common design problems.
• Race to the bottom. How are designers affected?
• How photographers have dealt with it.
• Offering consulting and strategy, not just design.
• Service based agencies getting into the product business.
• Other products that are commodities – websites, themes, vectors, fonts etc.
• Selling your own products.
• Arsenal Marketplace.

Topic 2: Selling the Customer Experience

• Instead of only selling your skills, talent, expertise, portfolio – sell the experience
• Rethink what your product is – is it your logo? Or the experience the customer gets while their logo is being designed by you?
• A well made logo is really the end result. It’s a commodity.
• Going golfing. Gifts.
• Never eat alone. Lunch with customers.
• Messaging, takeaways, project milestones that reward the customer.
• Good Experiences: Starbucks example.

producer Bryan Garvin in the editing room

Jeff and Bryan prepping to record

Links

• Go Media Arsenal
• Mockupeverything.com
• Go Media
• On The Map (OTM)
• Go Media Twitter

Credits

Hosts: Jeff Finley and Bill Beachy
Special Guest: Dan Morgan, Wilson Revehl, Liz Hunt
Producer: Bryan Garvin
Recorded at: Go Media

Sponsorship Opportunities

Interested in sponsoring the Go Media podcast, either episodically or exclusively? Well, hit us up at podcast@gomedia.us for sponsorship opportunities.

What Do You Think?

We want to hear what you think about the latest episode of our podcast and what topics you would like to see covered in upcoming episodes. Comment below with your suggestions.

The post Episode 2: The Commoditization of Design and a Good Customer Experience appeared first on GoMediaZine.

Listen to the Podcast

Read below for an outline of topics covered in this podcast.

What’s Go Media Been Up To?

• WMC3 is over
• Launch of .us Redesign
• We’ve been working on the redesign of the Arsenal
• WMC4 Date/Location Announcement
• Hiring Jenny Kelley as Director of Account Services

What To Do When The Well Runs Dry:

So a lot is going on in our world. But, we also have been pushing ourselves through a down time. Not many client projects coming in, so we’re focusing on internal ones. But, that only can help for so long. So, what do we do when the well runs dry?

• watch your spending
• reach out to clients for new projects
• beg for money
• delay paying your bills
• stay busy
• find inspiration
• beware of inspiration overload
• overcome motivation struggles
• come up with ideas to generate interest & excitement
• remember to be healthy

On The Map (OTM)

The podcast concludes with an interview with On The Map (OTM) creator, Chris Comella conducted by Go Media gal, Liz Hunt.

• Where Cleveland is, what cool things there are here, and where Cleveland is going.
• Urban flight in Cleveland and the loss of CLE business, Dredger’s Union
• Cleveland’s on the upswing and how OTM is helping businesses in the area
• When is the 2012 event?
• What’s currently in the pipeline for On The Map?

Links

• Sponsor: Go Media Arsenal
• Mockupeverything.com
• Go Media
• On The Map (OTM)
• Go Media Twitter

Sponsorship Opportunities

Interested in sponsoring the Go Media podcast, either episodically or exclusively? Well, hit us up at podcast@gomedia.us for sponsorship opportunities.

What Do You Think?

We want to hear what you think about our 1st ever podcast and what topics you would like to see covered in upcoming episodes. Comment below with your suggestions.

The post Episode 1: What to Do When the Well Runs Dry appeared first on GoMediaZine.

Go Media president Bill Beachy sits down to give you some daily inspiration and advice. Bill shares his years of experience building Go Media into the company it is today. Topics in this video series include Getting Started, Happiness, Humility, Patience, Flow, Focus, Productivity, Business Systems, Courage, Eating Well, Obstacles, and Creativity.

For more information about Bill Beachy, check out his bio on gomedia.us. Bill is currently accepting opportunities to speak at your event, university, or business.

View all episodes of Daily Inspiration here

Sponsored by Prooflab
The Daily Inspiration video series is brought to you by Prooflab – a client and project management app built and used by Go Media for designers.

Hope you enjoy the video!

Or download the podcast

The post Daily Inspiration: Patience appeared first on GoMediaZine.

Go Media president Bill Beachy sits down to give you some daily inspiration and advice. Bill shares his years of experience building Go Media into the company it is today. Topics in this video series include Getting Started, Happiness, Humility, Patience, Flow, Focus, Productivity, Business Systems, Courage, Eating Well, Obstacles, and Creativity.

For more information about Bill Beachy, check out his bio on gomedia.us. Bill is currently accepting opportunities to speak at your event, university, or business.

View all episodes of Daily Inspiration here

Sponsored by Prooflab
The Daily Inspiration video series is brought to you by Prooflab – a client and project management app built and used by Go Media for designers.

Hope you enjoy the video!

Or download the podcast

The post Daily Inspiration: Go with the Flow appeared first on GoMediaZine.