Michael Janda is an award-winning creative director, designer, and agency veteran. In 2002, he founded the creative agency Riser, which provided design and development services for clients that included Disney, Google, Warner Bros., Fox, NBC, ABC, National Geographic and many other high-profile brands. Michael sold his agency in 2015 and now spends his time speaking, developing books, courses, and social media content to help creatives level-up. He is the author of “Burn Your Portfolio” and “The Psychology of Graphic Design Pricing.”
Very interesting to hear this design perspective, I'm a photographer myself. But I find it very interesting to hear you guys geek out on your passion! Learned something new things for sure, thanks! 😃🔥
I always struggle with what to name the 3 Tiers so they are distinctive. I avoid numerical names (I, II, III) or unuseful (gold, platinum, etc. premium...). Any thoughts on this?
Incredible episode guys, I love how you went deep on one specific pricing technique/strategy here for 45min. I loved every second of it, more of these deep dives episodes. So good! 🔥👏
This is the best podcast! I love everything you share. You are speaking into everything I am experiencing. I have had my Brand Strategy Agency for 25 years. I love your insight into the business side of a creative business. You make me laugh at the things that would normally stress me out. My worst clients have helped me create amazing contracts for my future clients. Understanding the difference between a bully and a difficult client is huge. Thank you for everything you do and share.
This is the unfortunate truth sometimes. I’ve pushed back on clients that I have established a good relationship with, but often the best course is to finish the job, get paid, not work with that client again, and for sure don’t put it in your portfolio and hope they don’t tell anyone you did the design work for them haha.
Thanks for your words! I needed to hear someone talk about the emotional damage. I feel like that and it’s much less than what you are sharing. I need to move on but I still can’t.
10mins into this video and I already know I need to revisit it with a pen and paper in hand. Thanks a lot Psycho Mike-o and Brad “the Thunder from the Tundra”.
True. Also knowing who and where my items come from adds value to me. It's more human. When I buy things online I don't know who's shipping and selling the items most of the time. Brick and mortar stores in general have more credibility. Social interactions feel important for exchange of goods. Hypothetically you could never leave your house now days. That can't be good.
In my humble view, it takes just a couple of years as a freelancer to understand these basic points. Such podcasts are missing the art of negotiating, understanding human behavior, deep diving into team management, leadership skills, etc. because this truly sets us up for failure or success. I've lost many clients over the years because I wasn't easy to work with (and why, that's a long debate) but I've also gained tons due to the same personality attributes that kept the other clients away. Success comes to those with similar personality traits - easy to work with, etc. graphic designing, video editing, SEO, etc. just not all that difficult to deliver. Much more to add, but this briefly explains my view.
Your perspective is spot on! The soft skills like negotiation, understanding human behavior, and leadership are often the game-changers in freelancing. It's a journey of balancing technical skills with personal growth for lasting success.
I worked for Publicis Groupe for 16 years, one of the largest agencies in the world. People think a pro is that you have a steady income but thar is a farce. Someone with a pen can change your livelihood with a stroke of a pen. Even if you are responsibly saving and investing, that 1 person can change the course of your life with one stroke. I like this new adventure of living and dying by my own sword. I am weighing freelance v. Boutique. This was a great convo--thank you.
Absolutely loved this podcast! The personal stories combined with practical tips and strategies are so valuable. Thanks for sharing such a wealth of knowledge! 🎙️🙌
This was a great video with tons of value. I'm a motion designer, and email outreach is always mentioned by business "gurus" in my field as a good way to find new work. My experience and gut always told me that was a bunch of BS. I also had the thought this morning to get on Upwork, but dismissed it as being "below" me. Thanks for dispelling that myth as well and reminding me to stay humble. Keep up the awesome work guys!
Troll video to get people to work for less than the going rate. Don’t ever settle for less because if you do you’re just lowering your future potential income.
Hmmm…no income is better than working for less than the “going rate?” That’s a hard perspective for someone to swallow if they don’t have any revenue and their rent is due next week. The circumstances people face have an effect on their willingness to do “less than ideal” projects at “less than ideal” prices. We discuss it in detail in the full episode of the podcast. This is just a short clip, probably not enough for you to accuse it to be a “troll video.”
Christina is a very good artist and her husband is one of the prominent visuall effects technical directors Allan McKay. Good to see that you invited her.
That's awesome to hear! Staying on top of things and maintaining those connections is so important. And yeah, sometimes follow-ups can be a bit much for some clients, but it’s all about finding that balance. Keep up the great work! 💪
hi Michael I first heard of you with Chris Do on the Futur and bought your book "The Psychology of Graphic Design Pricing" You are my go-to mentor as still working the kinks out of my creative business
glad you found it helpful! Keeping in touch even after a project ends can make a big difference. Wishing you the best of luck as you put it into practice!
The imposter syndrome... It is so relieving to know that established professionals have the same doubts and insecurities as the beginners sometimes. Thanks for sharing ☺️🙏
could you guys do a show on hardware recommendations for current and future designers? For example, which hardware specs work best with SaaS like Wix Studio/Webflow, and demands like Adobe apps, Figma, and 4K footage. I feel like there's no good advice on that for freelancers/agencies to help in buying laptops and desktops. I have a 32GB XPS 15 and a XPS desktop and sometimes 4K drone footage is still a drag on productivity, and Wix Studio is actually kind of laggy, but that's probably their servers
