But today’s the day to celebrate at least one major failure. Turn it into a flag and salute it. Throw a party and honor it. Raise a glass and toast it.

Pull that failure over to a quiet corner and listen to it. Learn from it. Use it. See what you can do to make it a friend. Because the only failure that’s fatal is the one you let bury you.

Check 30 Days to Creative Bliss for more doses of design inspiration and creativity exercises.

HOW’s Creativity Issue is Now Available!

Creativity is the catalyst behind the biggest and brightest ideas. Dive deep into this issue of HOW Magazine and take the reins of your own creative prowess.

Get this issue now!

The bottom line: If you’re not already collaborating with colleagues in different time zones (or working remotely yourself), you probably will be. As such, consider these tips for effectively managing remote working relationships:

Keep in close contact

From virtual meeting tools like Skype and GoToMeeting to phone, e-mail and IM, there’s no shortage of ways to stay in touch. Identify the communication preferences of your co-workers to keep the information flowing. If you’re a manager, periodically assemble the entire staff for an in-person meeting, even if it’s only once or twice a year. In terms of building team morale and maintaining productive work relationships, there’s still no substitute for face time.

Spark (virtual) water cooler conversations

In traditional office settings, the informal discussions that take place in the break room or at departmental happy hours help to build team morale and establish camaraderie. Try to simulate this dynamic by sending occasional e-mails to your team with links to stories that will foster interesting design discussions or elicit a few laughs. A little levity can go a long way toward building rapport. Plus, who doesn’t love a good Comic Sans joke?

Mitigate misunderstandings

Avoid problems by taking conversations of a highly sensitive or complicated nature offline. Rather than shooting off an email or IM (where it’s hard to read tone), it’s better to pick up the phone or save the discussion for the next time you see your colleague in person, if the subject matter can wait.

Squash squabbles quickly

Despite your best efforts, interpersonal issues may arise from time to time. Whether you find yourself in a heated disagreement or simply don’t see eye to eye with a colleague, don’t let tension fester. Instead, schedule a call to talk things through and clear the air. If multiple people are involved, get everyone on the call to ensure all parties are on the same page.

Be respectful of time

When scheduling virtual meetings or conference calls, keep everyone’s local time in mind. Sites like timeanddate.com and Time Zone Converter exist to help you figure out what time would be most convenient for participants. Also, eliminate confusion by providing specific time zone information in the invitation (e.g., “The brainstorming meeting is set for April 27, 4 p.m. EST/1 p.m. PST.”).

Aim to accommodate

If you’re new to a remote working situation, realize that you may need to be extra flexible, especially in the beginning. If few people share your arrangement, you might be under more scrutiny from your boss and peers. As such, provide frequent status updates and be easily reachable. Keep in mind that you might need to field phone calls or respond to e-mail outside of core business hours, at least until everyone gets to know your schedule.

In addition, make sure you’re fully engaged whenever you interact with colleagues from your remote location. If you are participating in a virtual meeting via video chat, for instance, you’ll want to dress appropriately and tidy up your workspace. Show colleagues that you take these discussions seriously by closing yourself off to potential disruptions. The sound of honking horns, clanking dishes or barking dogs in the background won’t endear you to anyone.

Regardless of how hard you’re working, you won’t help your cause if you present an unpolished image. After all, despite the rise in remote working, the myth of the distracted pajama-clad telecommuter is alive and well.

1. Clean up digital debris. When you apply for a position, assume that hiring managers are going to search online for information about you. Google yourself, check privacy settings in your social media accounts and scrub any questionable content. The same off-color comments or risqué photos that amused classmates could lead prospective employers to question your professionalism. When in doubt, make friends with the Delete button.
2. Link in. You’ve been on Facebook and Twitter for years. You have a WordPress site. You joined Pinterest before it was a household name. But if you’re not on LinkedIn, you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage when it comes to your graphic design career. The world’s largest professional networking portal has more than 150 million members, with students and recent college graduates representing the site’s fastest-growing demographic.
3. Fill in the blanks. Professional networking sites like LinkedIn provide space where you can summarize who you are and your specific graphic design career goals. An incomplete profile is a missed opportunity. Craft a clear and concise bio that highlights your relevant work experience, internships, education and objectives. Help employers and recruiters find you by using keywords common to the graphic design industry when describing your skills and interests.
4. Add value. It’s fine—and expected—that a portion of what you share online will be of a personal nature. But keep the “what-I-had-for-lunch” updates in check. From a job-seeking standpoint, you’re far better off writing about graphic design industry trends, sharing links to noteworthy articles or posting images of your latest graphic design work.
5. Use discretion when connecting. Networking sites make it easy to reach out for job leads, introductions and general career assistance. But proceed with caution. You won’t get far if you inundate contacts with requests but rarely return the favor. Be gracious when asking for help, offer prompt appreciation and look for ways to reciprocate. As the saying goes, give and ye shall receive.
6. Critique with care. As you’re probably well aware, a great deal of design commentary occurs on social media. If you jump into the fray, showcase your knowledge and critical thinking skills, not your ability to conjure up harsh zingers about others’ work. (Example: “Who’s the genius who created the ugly new logo for #GenericCompany? Horrible!”) A series of cogent critiques will impress hiring managers; an endless string of sarcastic quips won’t.
7. Build your brand. Designers help companies build brand awareness. But is your personal brand imaging consistent and cohesive? For instance, consider creating a Twitter background featuring design elements that appear on your resume and online portfolio. If you’ve committed to using social media to find a job and for ongoing professional purposes, you also might sync your Twitter feed with your LinkedIn or Facebook accounts.
8. One final tip: Proofread. No matter how witty or insightful your posts, you won’t be taken seriously if they’re full of typos. Mistakes are magnified, for instance, when you only have 140 characters to work with. Slow down and proofread your status updates and tweets. While the web is a more relaxed medium, the basic rules of writing still apply when using social media to find a job.

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6 Actions that helped my business grow 25% since CFC 2011!

Have you ever wondered how people move on, grow their business, how they become successful? Well, me too! So I decided to stop putting off going to the Creative Freelancer Conference and (in the spirit of Nike) said to myself - Just Do It!

I had already spent my budget for conferences, so I had to get creative. With a birthday coming up, my reply to the usual suspects for birthday gifts was simple - "I need to get to a conference!" (Isn’t it funny if you just make a decision, the rest usually fails into place. And it did.)

So here's what I did and you can do it too....

1. Be Hungry for Knowledge and put it to use! If you are always in learning mode, you’ll never be stagnant, you’ll always be growing. If you are evolving and moving forward, your business will automatically follow. Luke Mysse (also speaking at CFC this year) never stops learning, allows space to cultivate creative solutions and he’s making a pretty big difference in the world. I read everyday as well. From blogs, magazines, books, to whatever I need to so I can connect, learn and grow.
2. Get the right tools. I also take advantage of tools that help me be more effective. I was keeping track of my hours, but once I tweaked my accounts payable/ receivable software, I was freed up to be more productive and less obsessive about billing. Check out Freshbooks and FunctionFox.
3. Interact, be present and engage~ First, I search out ways to interact and engage with colleagues, for example the HOW conferences, LinkedIn and email. I knew I really needed to overhaul my website, especially the portfolio section. So I created the Portfolio Mafia, enlisted some trusted colleagues to keep me accountable and just got it done.

Von Glitschka says “Designers are victims of the graphic precedents they set.” So I took his advice and only show my best work in my portfolio and I only show the kind of work I want to do. Second, I look for ways to genuinely interactive and partner with current and potential clients.

Allen Murabayashi (also speaking at CFC this year) encourages “Be where your clients are. Go where your clients go and have fun with them.” By attending an International Conference that hosts one of my target markets earlier this year, I not only showed a current client support, I gained more projects from a new one and touched base with 3 other potential clients. A good investment indeed.

This is the first part of how I grew my business an extra 25% since the last CFC. Watch for Part 2 tomorrow.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you and see you again this year in Boston! Details and registration here for CFC, June 21-22 in Boston.

6 Actions that helped my business grow 25% since CFC 2011!

Have you ever wondered how people move on, grow their business, how they become successful? Well, me too! So I decided to stop putting off going to the Creative Freelancer Conference and (in the spirit of Nike) said to myself - Just Do It!

I had already spent my budget for conferences, so I had to get creative. With a birthday coming up, my reply to the usual suspects for birthday gifts was simple - "I need to get to a conference!" (Isn’t it funny if you just make a decision, the rest usually fails into place. And it did.)

So here's what I did and you can do it too....

1. Be Hungry for Knowledge and put it to use! If you are always in learning mode, you’ll never be stagnant, you’ll always be growing. If you are evolving and moving forward, your business will automatically follow. Luke Mysse (also speaking at CFC this year) never stops learning, allows space to cultivate creative solutions and he’s making a pretty big difference in the world. I read everyday as well. From blogs, magazines, books, to whatever I need to so I can connect, learn and grow.
2. Get the right tools. I also take advantage of tools that help me be more effective. I was keeping track of my hours, but once I tweaked my accounts payable/ receivable software, I was freed up to be more productive and less obsessive about billing. Check out Freshbooks and FunctionFox.
3. Interact, be present and engage~ First, I search out ways to interact and engage with colleagues, for example the HOW conferences, LinkedIn and email. I knew I really needed to overhaul my website, especially the portfolio section. So I created the Portfolio Mafia, enlisted some trusted colleagues to keep me accountable and just got it done.

Von Glitschka says “Designers are victims of the graphic precedents they set.” So I took his advice and only show my best work in my portfolio and I only show the kind of work I want to do. Second, I look for ways to genuinely interactive and partner with current and potential clients.

Allen Murabayashi (also speaking at CFC this year) encourages “Be where your clients are. Go where your clients go and have fun with them.” By attending an International Conference that hosts one of my target markets earlier this year, I not only showed a current client support, I gained more projects from a new one and touched base with 3 other potential clients. A good investment indeed.

This is the first part of how I grew my business an extra 25% since the last CFC. Watch for Part 2 tomorrow.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you and see you again this year in Boston! Details and registration here for CFC, June 21-22 in Boston.

Following are the “ins” and “outs” of the job-hunting scene today:

Creative Renegade: Solo copywriter and sustainability evangelist, Tom Tumbusch of WordStreamCopy, celebrates 10 years of freelancing

Working as a full-time freelancer was a lifestyle choice for me from the very beginning. It's made my professional life about so much more than a paycheck because I get to work with some of the most honest, talented, and creative people I've ever met.

My only regret is that the Creative Freelancer Conference didn't exist yet when I was getting started—it would have helped me to build a great client base faster and spend less time learning the ropes by trial and error.

My first act of "renegade creativity" was to launch a business in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. I walked away from the family publishing company I was being groomed to inherit. The market was awash in doom and gloom and a lot of people thought I was crazy, including my father and former boss.

I moved to another city with four month's savings and no work. After a few months with an agency to get settled, I paid a designer friend to whip up a logo and business card and started pounding pavement with no idea what I was doing.

I ate a lot of my own chili for the first year and a half, working and living out of a third-floor apartment that didn't always have heat during the day. By 2003 I was doing well enough to get a home loan. I tried everything from technical writing to magazine articles to direct mail, getting valuable coaching from Ilise Benun and Peleg Top along the way. (I even wrote some of the original marketing copy for the first CFC.)

In 2009 I re-launched my business with an emphasis on sustainability. While I still write for a diverse client base, I actively pursue companies with sustainable missions. Since the re-branding I've intentionally emphasized my personality when I promote myself. I don't try to disguise that I'm a freelancer. I don't talk about "scalable solutions" or "thinking outside the box" on my website, and I inform clients on my FAQ page that Mrs. Tumbusch gets my undivided attention on weekends.

In April I celebrated my first ten years as a full-time solopreneur. Today my father envies MY business.

Are you a "creative renegade?" If so, tell us how?

SUBSTITUTE. Substitution enables you to develop alternative ideas for things that already exist. Ask questions such as: Can we substitute something else for an annual report or one of its parts?  What’s another approach we could take to an annual report? Can we change the rules? Can we use other materials or a different process in our solution?

COMBINE. Creative thinking often involves combining previously unrelated subjects and creating something new. Ask questions such as: What different ideas about annual reports can be combined? Can we combine the purpose of an annual report with something else? How about a combination in packaging? Can the package be combined with the form? What can be combined to multiply the possible uses of an annual report? Can we provide an assortment, ensemble or variety?

ADAPT.One of the paradoxes of creativity is that in order to think of an original concept, we must first familiarize ourselves with the ideas of others. Ask questions such as: What else is like an annual report? Does that other thing suggest any new ideas about how to approach an annual report? Does the past offer a parallel we could use? What has worked before? Is there a similar format we could mimic to create a different kind of annual report? What have others done? What have the experts done? What different or unusual contexts (i.e., historical or future) can we put our client in? What ideas can we adapt from the worlds of sports, television, books, politics, movies or religion?

Check 30 Days to Creative Bliss for more doses of design inspiration and creativity exercises.

Brainstorming Toolbox

• Caffeine for the Creative Team: 150 Exercises to Inspire Group Innovation.
• The Ultimate Creative Workshop Collection.
• The Accidental Creative DesignCast Series.

MAGNIFY. An easy way to create a new idea is to take a subject and add something to it. Ask questions such as: What can be added to the annual report? greater frequency? extra features? Can we maximize existing strengths? What can be magnified, made larger or extended? What can add extra value? Can we make an annual report do more things? What can be duplicated? What’s missing that could be useful? How could we carry an annual report to the dramatic extreme?

MODIFY. Any aspect of any idea can be modified to further enhance that idea. Ask questions such as: What can we alter about the annual report to make it better? Can we change its meaning, name, color, form, shape? Can we give it a new twist? What doesn’t feel right about past reports? What can we do differently? Can we change the perspective? How would my art teacher design an annual report? My father? Our clients’ competition? da Vinci? Napoleon? Bill Gates? Michael Jordan?

REPURPOSE. A subject takes its meaning from the context in which you put it, so when you change the context, you explore other uses. Ask questions such as: In what other ways could an annual report be used? Are there new ways to use it, as is? Can we make it do more things? Can we find other benefits? Can we modify it in some way to fit a new use? What’s being wasted that can be put to use? Are there extensions or spin-offs we could explore?

See if their techniques can become part of your creative process.

Check 30 Days to Creative Bliss for more doses of design inspiration.

HOW’s Creativity Issue is Now Available!

Creativity is the catalyst behind the biggest and brightest ideas. Dive deep into this issue of HOW Magazine and take the reins of your own creative prowess.

Get this issue now!

Because I’m convinced that the key technique to writing a graphic design proposal that gets you the job (this goes for a web design proposal or RFP response too for that matter) -- especially the big ones -- is this:

Devote as many pages of your design proposal to the client – your understanding of their needs and your recommendations for them – as you do to yourself and your qualifications.

In developing the Designer's Proposal Bundle I read a lot of graphic design proposals and I was amazed at how many of the proposals were all about the designers and not so much about the project at hand.

If you're working on a graphic design proposal template...
25 per cent of the proposal document should be devoted to persuasively written and completely customized text about your client's project in the following areas:

• Project Goals. This is where you essentially regurgitate what you’ve heard the client say and/or what you’ve been able to dig up about them online, or know from your experience with them. This shows how much time you’ve invested and how well you’ve listened.
• Project Recommendations. Since doing spec work is off limits, it helps to share your ideas and recommendations verbally, so the prospect knows you’ve given it some thought and have ideas at the ready.
• The Process. A client who doesn’t know you has no idea what they’re buying. Go into detail about how you work as it relates to the project. Unless you describe the process, explaining how and why you do what you do, they can’t imagine it, can’t justify it, can’t value it and therefore can’t pay you what you want for it.

Read more on this in my latest "Down to Business" column for Applied Arts. And if you are looking for sample proposals (or 11 of them!) check out the Designer's Proposal Bundle in MyDesignShop.com