You see them everywhere. You probably have several in your wallets right now. Yes, I’m referring to the plastic cards that are your membership, ATM, credit, and even business card.
So while being a freelance designer has its perks – working with clients you like, setting your own hectic schedule, achieving a work-life balance, it also means there will be months when little to no work comes in.
So how do you keep afloat?
By creating a sideline stream of revenue that will not take focus away from your actual tasks of designing but will continue to increase your bottom line in many years to come. I’m talking about offering products in addition to your design services.
A perfect example would be customized plastic cards. We all know what their for, so the next time you design a card, offer to produce them as well.
Branded merchandise is not just t-shirts
Image courtesy of Natesh Ramasamy
For designers, we probably get approached with the task of designing promotional merchandise. We’ve all been there – t-shirts, coffee mugs, umbrellas, caps, and pens. While there’s nothing wrong with creating and spreading some brand awareness, why not move towards something a little more unique?
For example, if you’re designing flyers for a restaurant client, why not extend the offer to design a member card? Tell them that they can give these out to their regular customers which they can use to collect points for a free meal.
Another example would be for your corporate clients. Depending on how big the company is, most would require a staff ID or badge. If you’re at work reading this, you may have one hanging from your neck that’s been customized, too.
So while our main task is to design and visually communicate for our clients, it’s also in our best interest to propose unique and fresh ideas that can help them stand out from the crowd.
Present yourself before the competition does
With the end of year holiday gift-giving season coming up in just a few short months, it’s the time in which business owners are looking for an edge over their competition. This is a great opportunity for the hungry designer to identify, approach and pitch gift card ideas.
Image courtesy of frankieleon
A customized gift card is not only the #1 selling gift item every season, but it has also been known to increase overall foot and click traffic to a business, both in-store and online. Most importantly, 72% of gift card customers will spend an additional 20% more than the original value of their gift card. For even the mom-and-pop outfit down the street, that’s a huge increase!
So designers, here’s a tip to increase your income. If you want to start offering customized plastic cards to your clients, check out the products and services being offered by Plascards. For getting a feel of what type of plastic cards they have, head over to their site and request for samples which you can then showcase to your clients.
If you’ve got an existing plastic card service, why not give them a try? Plascards is offering our readers a 10% discount when you enter the code ‘GC1PC’ during checkout!