It’s a small world, after all!
I hadn’t been getting many good clients through Craig’s List over the past several years, mainly, because there are so many “out there” service postings…a lot of spam, because it’s a free service to post a listing. So it’s hard for people to really weed through the bad to find a good business match.
Last week, Craig’s List started charging $5 to post a service listing. I figured I’d give it a try since the cost was low. Within the next few hours, I got all kinds of inquiries that weren’t spam emails, but legitimate businesses looking for design help!
This past Friday, I met with a new client who found me through Craig’s List. He came to my home office to go everything he needed. He runs a non-profit for business education and had gotten a grant to help with his marketing materials.
I was excited, because I love helping non-profits and giving back to my community (I do this by giving non-profits a huge price break). And, the new client would be able to give me a lot of referrals as he was helping his own clients. It was a win-win for both of us!
Today, I got started, first converting his poor quality JPG logo into a vector format. This led to logo tweaking and a color change, something I wouldn’t have been able to do with a flattened JPG. I also worked on a postcard, brochure and new business card throughout the day.
Later this afternoon, I got a phone call from Tana…the woman who has been doing my braid extensions for over three years. She was calling me from new clients office to say she just started working there and was blown away when her boss (Felix) showed her my business card and said I was doing his graphic design.
Seattle has a population of over 700,000, which seems big to someone like me who grew up in a tiny, rural town. But, today, it seems a lot smaller after talking to Tana!
I don’t run in Tana’s circle and only see her about once a month. She knew I did graphic design and was always saying that she needed to get my help with something she was working on in the community. She never got around to really asking for my help, but I beat her to the punch (since she was referring to Felix when she was talking to me).
Coincidence? Maybe. I just think it was amazing that my hair person can really vouch for me and make Felix more confident in his choice to hire me!
Important Note: Be nice to your service providers…you never know when your paths will cross and they could influence a business decision!