What if being a one-stop-shop is actually possible?
Hi all! What a crazy past month it has been for me personally. I had the best month of business ever in terms of clientele and revenue (no I’m not a millionaire now, so don’t get any ideas of posing as my long lost 20th cousin who’s in a bind and needs “help”). On top of that, I finally took a vacation. My first one in about 2 years and not just any vacation. I took the trip of my life and stayed in Tahiti in French Polynesia for a week. All I can say is that it was absolutely the most beautiful place I ever went to in my life. So many stories and things I learned from that experience.
***Note: Want to know more about my Tahiti trip with what I did on a day-to-day basis? Sign up for my INNER BLOG CIRCLE to receive exclusive content and future promotional give-aways!
Without any further to do, I received a lot of good feedback from my last blog post about “4 COMMON THINGS I DO NOT DO FOR A LIVING THAT PEOPLE THINK I DO”. Not only do I believe it gave people a better understanding of what I don’t do, I believe it resonated with the occasional frustrations people in my profession and even other professions not related to mine deal with. For this blog post here, I decided that the best follow-up to clarifying what my services DO NOT include would be to promote what exactly I DO do (and no it’s not dodo).
Before I address my specific specialties, I want to explain my “doing business as” title. J Graphic Communications is my formal business name. Personally, I’m not a fan of titles in general, hence why it’s ok when someone calls me by my name in business as long as the work gets done and everyone is happy. Why I call my services J Graphic Communications is because we use graphics to communicate our business/organizational identity. Therefore that doesn’t just entail one particular thing or specialty. I utilize 3 main branches with multiple subcategories to accomplish this goal for my clients.
1) Graphic Design. This is the most important foundational piece to my main business concept. The term “graphic design” has become such a broad, generalized phrase that I believe most people don’t really know what it actually is. By definition via dictionary.com, graphic design is “the art or profession of visual communication that combines images, words, and ideas to convey information to an audience, especially to produce a specific effect”. How is this art accomplished through what I offer? I do logo design, stationery design, print ad design (this includes flyers), web ad design, informational design, packaging and label design, photo-editing, book design, page layout design and more, using the Adobe Creative Suite as my tools to “work the magic”. The bottom line is graphic design is all geared around presentation, especially for branding. Having a great brand presentation is essential to the success of a product (and the product itself of course).
2) Web Design. As you might know, there is this thing called the “internet”. Also not sure if you realize this, but it has completely transformed our way of life. Paper as a whole is slowly vanishing from our daily lives in favor of web-based apps and sites. Therefore, having an aesthetically pleasing, well-functioning and solidly programmed website Is an absolute must for businesses and organizations today. Honestly, I’m amazed at the amount of really bad websites out there, and the amount of people who still refuse to allow their web presence to be updated and boosted accordingly. I design program websites and can write content for websites to be built in Wordpress, Squarespace, and Shopify. I do service from other platforms like Wix, Weebly, and Ionos, but the first 3 platforms listed are what I prefer to work in and I have found work best for clients in terms of budget, visual appeal, customer service, functionality, responsiveness (the working in both desktop and mobile), basic site SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and capabilities. Whether it be small updates to an existing site, small website design, and programming, e-commerce (online shops) or creation of large informational sites, I can do it.
3) Social Media Management and Promotion. This very well intersects with the infinite value of the internet. Social media itself has changed the way we live and do business. It had become the way we connect with people and organizations. PM’s, reactions, comments, hashtags, DM’s, postings, reviews are our daily routine. According to a study based from brand24.com, 78 percent of small businesses attract new customers through social media. For me, I offer social media management and promotion to clients because most of the time, it’s small businesses that struggle to keep up with it. I do prescheduled postings, photos, simple graphics, video features, updating and maintenance of pages (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Business Listing), reviews and paid advertising for clients.
4) “Wait I thought you said 3 main branches, Joe?”. Yes, I did. But I also wanted to include other extensions of what I offer:
- Blog writing (knock on wood)
- Product photography.
- Digital Illustration.
With all this being said, I have been asked why I don’t just focus on one area and make it my strength. I then ask the question, “Why can’t I just do all these services very well at the same time?”. I look at professional athletes. They never do just one single thing. For example, a basketball player has the job of shooting the ball into the basketball and engaging on defense. But there’s a tremendous amount of work involved in that sport or any for that matter. A guy like Lebron James is always training hard and practicing on every single facet of his game so that he can be what many are calling him today, The GOAT.
He works on his shooting, his defense, his pivoting because its part of his job to be the best. In the same manner, I look at all I offer as something I’m capable of doing even if there are things I can improve which there always are. It’s a challenge for me. I don’t shy away from challenges. I face them head-on and don’t quit until I’ve mastered them. I have one job. And it’s to boost my client’s visual impression, and I aim to do that at the max capacity of the ability and creativity I carry. That’s why I aim to be a one-stop-shop as much as possible. I hope this provides a lot of clarity and definition of what exactly I do for a living. Any questions? You can always just ask me. More to come. Let’s Go!
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