Start a DTP or Graphic Design Business 5. Develop Your USP

We’re going to get personal in lesson 5 of our Start a Desktop Publishing Business Email Course. Tell me, what’s so special about you? What makes you unique? How will you convince prospective clients that you’re the designer they should be doing business with?

This and the next few lessons will explore issues related to you, your qualifications, your target market, and how you are going to find customers for your new business.

Missed a lesson? Get it here: http://desktoppub.about.com/c/ec/83lost.htm

Lesson Five
What’s So Special About You?
USP is your unique selling point. Also called your unique selling proposition, it is what sets you and your business — or you as an individual — apart from your competition. It can be an actual fact or a perceived difference or specialty. Every business needs one.

Start a DTP or Graphic Design Business 3. Find Your Niche

Lesson Three
Finding Your Niche in Desktop Publishing
What kind of work comes to mind when you think of desktop publishing? Brochures? Business cards? Newsletters? There are dozens more types of design projects that can be created in whole or in part with your computer and desktop publishing and graphics software.

Start a DTP or Graphic Design Business 2. Skills Assessment

Lesson Two
The Design Side of Freelance Design
It’s not unreasonable to believe that a person thinking of starting a desktop publishing business is doing so because they already do some kind of design work (either as part of their job or for personal projects) and want to make money doing something they enjoy. But that’s not always the case so let’s assess your current design and desktop publishing expertise with these quizzes.
http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/freelance/a/design_skills.htm