#9 Ben Burns @TheFutur - Teaching designers how to run a creative business
Ben Burns is an award-winning designer, a digital director at Blind, brand strategy design consultancy, and COO at The Futur (business education for designers). Ben has a fascinating story that took him from charging 50$ a logo to 100$ an hour and that ultimately changed his career.
In this episode, we talked about topics related to running a creative business such as :
why you should not look for more clients but better clients,
what to say to your clients when you try to raise your rates,
and how to sell brand work at the premium rates (5 or 6 figures).
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE
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Show notes:
2:20 How Did Ben get into design?
11:30 What skills does Ben look for when hiring designers?
11:00 Ben's years in law enforcement
13:10 How Ben got back to design after his time in a police department
20:00 Is "charge more" really a good advice for someone who is just starting out?
23:35 How Ben increased his rates from 50$ a logo to 100$ per hour over night
28:45 What to say to a client when you try to raise prices (Ben's script)
31:50 Who is a good client?
33:10 How and when do you ask a client for a budget?
36:10 How do you sell branding work at premium rates?
40:00 Why you should niche down (and how to do it)?
43:45 What is wrong with traditional design schools?
46:45 What skills do young designers who apply at Blind and Futur lack?
48:30 Curriculum of The Futur's courses
50:10 The worst advice being given to young designers
51:40 What advice would Ben give to young designers
52:30 What is the one thing about design Ben changed his mind about?