There are some really amazing website and graphic designers out there. They can come up with the most creative pieces. Unfortunately, being able to create and sell those designs doesn’t usually come hand in hand. Most of the time creative people shy away from the selling process. Let’s take a statistic from the music industry that probably applies to all creative businesses: The music business is 10% music and 90% business.

So how do you as the creative, learn to sell what you create? You don’t need to learn to be a fully-fledged salesperson, but you should learn the basics of selling. Here are some things you can do to help get you started.

Take a class on internet marketing

If face-to-face selling is not your cup of tea, one of the simplest things you can do is to learn some Internet Marketing techniques. You can find courses online, or you might find a teacher locally to you. You already know how to design a website but driving traffic to it and then turning your visitors into paying customers takes some well thought out strategies.

Tell people about what you do

Instead of trying to sell your design service, tell people about it. This means you must network with other people.

A good technique to use is to order some business cards and give 25 of them out every day. Go to local networking events, business lunches etc.

Referrals and repeat business

Being good at what you do is one of the best ways to attract and keep customers. When your work speaks for itself, you are more likely to get repeat business. When you do get repeat customers, you should work on keeping them happy because sometimes they can become the lifeblood of your business. These happy customers are also more likely to refer other people to your business.

You can build a good size customer base with repeat and referral business especially as your reputation grows. A good way to keep up with customers is to use a database. Good contact management software can help you remember to keep in touch with your customers. Send them a card or a gift for their birthday, Christmas, or other special events. This helps to keep your name in the forefront of their mind.

Selling is a skill that can be learned by anyone. You don’t have to be the best salesperson in the world but you do need to be able to sell enough to stay in business. After learning and implementing some selling techniques, you will position yourself to move away from being a starving artist to one that is constantly sought after for their work.