Did you notice that lately less customers contact you for marketing campaign design or a website development? It happens because your clients pause their businesses and cut you from their budget. If it didn't happen yet, it will happen very soon since the ongoing spread of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is forcing many businesses to shut down and cause bankruptcy.
Yes, Coronavirus sounds like the end of the world. There is no vaccine or treatment, and public health officials are still learning how it spreads. None knows what the future bring, but you still can be safe as a graphic designer during pandemic.
As any modern occupation graphic design provides a variety of B2B and B2C physical and digital services. Being a graphic designer means you and your business are affected in case a global catastrophe such as a world war or zombie apocalypses occurs. That means your potential or currents clients won’t be interested in your services anymore since the only thing they will care about is their live, health and financial stability. Their survival instincts are stronger than a new corporate design look. That’s exactly what is happening currently in the world.
In case you wonder how to be safe check the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public. If you check the news you probably also heard about the The Coronavirus' Impact on Financial Markets and the Economy. But how does the terrible 2019-nCoV affects graphic designer and creative agencies around the globe? How can your design business survive this horrible disaster?
In case you wonder how to keep your design service on track follow the suggested tips:
Go Remote
Start enjoying remote work @ Unsplash.com
You probably heard it is advised to isolate yourself from public places, or you’ll be isolated by force at some point. Being a graphic designer gives you an amazing opportunity to keep it safe by working from home and contacting clients or team members online, you just need a strong internet signal and life is good. It means less risk to get any disease by a physical contacts and a surface touch (unless it’s your mobile or laptop).
If you are a part of an office team remind your boss it’s a #Coronavirus time so everyone around you HAVE to stay safe. In case your boss doesn’t get it (and many don’t), explain that working from home means you secure your immune system, you don’t spread the disease, you still provide design services for the company as normal and you won’t ask for a vacation after all.
If you are a remote freelance designer or an agency you’re lucky already. Just read this article and find out what type of potential clients to look for during the pandemic times.
If you’re an owner of a physical marketing or design agency better send all team members back home and make sure everyone is safe and sound. Make a plan for a remote working system, using a virtual planner such as TRELLO or Asana, open online mailing on cloud computing, productivity and redesign your website. Remote employees gives a great chance for a marketing or design business to save a budget and look for more opportunities for distance project and remote talented people around the globe.
Find New Relevant Clients
"Looking for new clients" @ Unsplash.com
Financial crises affects all kinds of offline and online business. It will or it is disturbing your design occupational already. Large companies and retailers like Apple and Nike have made headlines during the 2019-nCoV outbreak, as investors anxiously await news on whether the virus will impact the companies’ abilities to make sales.
The best advice for graphic designer or a marketing/creative agency would be to look for new customers and industries that gets a profit in time of a global catastrophe. Yes, it might be called a feast in time of plague but it might also be called widen horizons and survive as a business.
Think who can make money during the crises outbreak? Pharmaceuticals companies and bio medicine startups, video streaming and delivery services are just some of the sectors that could continue to benefit as the virus spreads further. An increasing role in the organization of work will be given to new technologies, algorithms, automation of production and processes, virtual reality processes. And what type of potential clients should a graphic designer look for?
Online shops and e-commerce - no need to touch anything, just a click and you’re done
Medicine and Pharmacy
Online Entertainment (Netflix and Amazon Prime all day long in isolation),
Mobile Apps and Games
Social Media and Blogging (actually blogging is getting strong, and bloggers NEED designers desperately)
Cyber and Data
Fintech and Online Payments – PayPal and Payoneer are good examples
These are just a few examples in case you're already struggling to get new design projects and feel like something is going wrong.
Bad choice companies that are going down because of #Coronavirus:
Travel companies that are losing billions currently
Transportation: car rental, public transport, etc.
All kinds of Physical Shops and Markets - shopping centers are empty
Banks and offline payment
Energy and Gas - Falling oil prices will lower gas prices. This will reduce costs for the global economy.
Public entertainment – Louvre is closed, the Fashion week was almost cancelled. Due to the outbreak of #coronavirus, mass events are canceled, museums, galleries, libraries and theaters are closed.
Beauty and fashion brands - none cares about their look during pandemic unless it’s a fashion blogger, right? Many brands even had to temporarily close their stores: for example, Nike and Adidas temporarily closed about half of all their outlets, and in the rest they limited opening hours.
Play Small, Win Big
Small businesses owner @ Unsplash.com
Give a preference to work with a small business which will probably be affected financially less then a big company. Big companies such as Amazon are releasing most of its employees and as the financial crisis comes closer many office employees will find themselves without work. Small businesses which have quite same monthly income won’t feel the financial crisis as much as large firms.
Geo Location Matters
Look for new global clients who are affected less by Coronavirus @ Unsplash.com
Probably you heard that for now Coronavirus travel Europe and spreads through the USA. In this case check the country your client comes from and weather it’s effected by Coronavirus right now. For examples, Israel closed it borders and stopped international flight at all which mean the country is going to be a terrible financial crisis at some point. At the other hand Cyprus is the only country which has no Coronavirus affected people (for now).
Create Relevant Design Content
An example of an artwork that sells @shutterstock.com
Save yourself and your business by researching actual news and updates which you can use for your business so it keeps on floating and is not affected too much by lose of clients.
For example, start designing relevant photos and illustrations, 3D images, animation, write articles and blogs. Sell it online to stock sites or send it as your portfolio to potential clients. Use your best skills to see what graphic content is relevant for the current global situation and use it best way possible!
Help other designers know how to prevent a global lose during the financial crisis by sharing this article.
And don’t forget wash your hands after reading this post!
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