Words to the Wise

Every day, people buy millions of dollars worth of goods and services from companies that operate solely or partially online. Some of these goods and services are bought within seconds, others require buyers to develop some sort of affinity, or trust, for the company and its product or service.

But where does this trust come from?

Believe it or not, there are actually studies on the topic of trust that you might be interested in. The 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer and Harris Interactive Reputation Quotient (RQ) survey are just two of the more popular sources.

If you dig into the Edelman survey, you’ll find that people have historically trusted industry leaders, doctors, lawyers (mostly when it’s YOUR lawyer) and even government officials. This year’s Edelman survey brought a very new type of person to the list of people we trust.

This year, the number one answer to “Who do you trust?” was: “People like me.”

And while people are touting this “I trust people like me” trend as something new, I don’t see it as new at all. I think most people have always trusted others who have a certain familiarity to them. I think the difference is that people have developed a certain distrust of the industry leaders, et al, who used to top the list. So who does that leave to trust? Ourselves…or people like us.

In fact, there’s a quasi-famous line that’s been morphed through the personal development bookshelves for years: “People tend to like people who are like themselves.”

The fact is, trust does not come from million-dollar Superbowl ads. It doesn’t come from funny spots about cavemen, Mr. T or the truth fairy. Trust occurs between you and someone like you.

In business, trust comes from people on you front lines - the ones who interact with with customers on a daily basis. The ones who really, truly solve problems, who understand the product and genuinely believe in their work.

Richard Edelman put it very succinctly when he said “Employees are the new credible source of information. We have data that shows an employee blog is five times more credible than a CEO blog - and I say this as a CEO blogger.”

Jason Pedley is a professional copywriter and Internet marketing consultant based near Raleigh, North Carolina. Contact Jason Pedley today - mail@jasonpedley.com or (860) 886-3455.

In part one of my interview with Shannon Brenek, we talked about her work as a freelance designer and as a designer during her agency days. In part two of our discussion we’ll talk about how Shannon keeps her design skills sharp and how she address the issue of shrinking client budgets…

Jason Pedley: I’ve seen your work dating all the way back to our Sonalysts/Mohegan Sun days, and it’s consistently excellent work. How do you go from agency settings to a freelance setting without getting ‘design atrophy’? How do you keep growing your skills on your own?

Shannon Brenek: Well thank you! As a freelancer and stay-at-home mom, I have tried to channel my design skills in different ways so that I can continue to be inspired. The CADC position allows me to be involved with designers from all over the state, so even though I am not designing as often, I’m consistently meeting with other design professionals, which is really important. Even if you’re having lunch. Because you always talk about projects and it gets your mind going.

Also, teaching at Mitchell College allows me to approach design a whole different way. Teaching design makes you go back to the fundamentals, the basics. It reminds you what bad design is. And how to avoid it. And I take every opportunity to design SOMETHING. Notecards for Christmas presents, invitations for birthday parties.

JP: Budgets aren’t what they used to be, and clients generally like to keep as much of their money as possible. What do you say to a client who has a small budget for design projects?

SB: When meeting with my clients, the first question I always ask is “Do you have a budget in mind?”. And they never do. It goes back to the first question of whether the client really knows what they want. So I always try to present a proposal that has at least two different cost levels. That way, I can show them exactly what they get for their money. Small budgets are fine. But make sure the client knows exactly what they are getting for that, including how many rounds of revisions they can afford and what type of printing. If you have it all laid out for them, there’s no disappointment later.

Lessons from Part II with Shannon:

• When good designers aren’t designing…they’re still thinking and talking about design.
• Giving options with two different cost levels will help  client sort out budget issues.
• If you lay everything out upfront (number of revisions, production quality, etc.), you minimize (or even eliminate) your chances of disappointing a client.

Look for more of my chats with the graphic designers, web designers, developers and other experts who are part of my “Partner Services.”

As part of my new and improved website that will be online in the coming weeks, I’m adding more “Partner Services” to my existing line of copywrting, SEO and web content development services.

Part of my partner services involves graphic design. I’ve worked with many in my time, and have built a good relationship with a few whom I would call my best-of-the-best. One of the best is Shannon Brenek a designer out of New London, Connecticut working under her brand: Grey Dog Design. She’s worked at some top-notch agencies, and I’ve had the pleasure of working with Shannon during our full-time days and as freelancers.

I took a few minutes recently to talk to Shannon a bout her services and life as a designer.

Jason Pedley: You’ve worked with clients of many shapes and sizes. How do you get to heart of what they want in terms of design, regardless of how much corporate red tape you run into?

Shannon Brenek: Well, there’s a big difference answering this question, depending on whether I’m working as a freelancer, or working for an agency. Since an agency has account people who figure this out for the designer, I’ll answer this as a freelancer! I’ve found as a freelancer, that the key to finding out if your clients even know what they want is to ask a lot of questions. I’ve discovered, that lots of times, the client really has a very basic idea of what they want and it’s my job to try to read them to find out what OPTIONS they want. Then I can move forward. It’s all about options, I think. Rarely do you hit the nail on the head the first time.

JP: Recently, you were named executive director of the Connecticut Art Directors Club (CADC). How does being involved in a club like that help you with your clients and your design skills?

SB: Well, again, as a freelancer, it’s a tremendous opportunity to be part of a community in which I can share ideas and see what other people are working on. Especially since I work solo. I’m a big believer in research and inspiration before I begin a project. And by that, I mean that I need to look at the world, magazines, the internet, other design work, to get inspired for a project.

My students at Mitchell College often get frustrated that they get a project and sit directly in front of the computer and try to get started with a blank page. For me, that doesn’t happen. And I try to explain to them, that you need to build from inspiration. So meeting with other designers is a great place to get inspired, for agency designers as well as freelancers. I might see something that someone else has done and file it away as an idea for a future project.

JP: “Can we make the logo bigger?” “Can we use a black background with white type?” How do you explain to clients the dangers or pitfalls of them having too much control while you work on their projects?

SB: The client always wants control. Always. In the end it is them that you are promoting, so of course they want to have a hand in that. Understandably.

If the client REALLY insists on something that I know will look horrible, I try to steer them in a different direction through the design, I try to show them something that they want and then something that I feel is more appropriate. Some you get to put in your portfolio, and some you don’t.

Lessons from Part I with Shannon:

• Rarely do you hit the nail on the head the first time with a client project.
• Inspiration is the cure for a blank screen. Find where your inspiration hides.
• “Some projects you get to put in your portfolio, and some you don’t.”
• If your client wants you to design something that might not be the most appropriate, compare it side-by-side to something more appropriate.

You can catch part two of my interview with Shannon in an upcoming post.

A couple more facts for your day - as if you didn’t have enough:

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The annual amount by which McKinsey & Co. estimates the U.S. is "overpaying" for health care: $477 billion

The fraction of U.S. health care spending represents as part of global health care spending: 50%

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Percentage of Americans who had, by March 2008, made summer vacation plans: 16%

Percentage that did so by March, 2007: 48%

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Number of new ‘major’ airports China is expected to open by 2020: 97

Number of new airports expected to open in the U.S. in the same period: 2

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Estimated value of coins going unused in the U.S.: $150 billion

Value of unused coins per household: $90

Cost to the U.S. Mint to make one nickel: 7.7 cents.

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Sources: John Kador , CEO INfact research, General Administration of Civil Aviation of China , U.S. Mint , Coinstar , American Research Group

Just a quick shout out to Google for wanting to keep the sun out of my eyes.

A tube of SPF 75 for my head would have been nice, too.

Oh well, now I have a thinking cap…er…visor.