TASK 3 - How Will I Promote Myself

Evaluate the most suitable marketing methodologies for your own practice and the most effective methods to reach your potential customers.
It is essential to make reference to some of the methodologies in the 'Marketing Communication Mix' and evaluate the 'Place' that will give you the greatest competitive advantage and be convenient for your clients / customers.
This is an exercise in applying that theory - it is not appropriate to wright about the theory itself.


MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MIX

• Advertising - Any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.
• Personal selling - Personal presentation by the firm’s sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relationships.
• Sales promotion - Short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service.
• Public relations - Building good relationships with the company’s various publics by obtaining favorable publicity, building up a good "corporate image", and handling or heading off unfavorable rumors, stories, and events.
• Direct marketing - Direct communications with carefully targeted individual consumers to obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships.

I would like to work in a design studio where there are plenty of opportunities and interaction with customers, where I am able to build a face to face relationship. To get myself notices I would need to place myself at the centre of of all design and somewhere that is easily accessible; preferably in London. 


I aspire to live in London after I graduate as I feel that this is the centre of design in the UK, it is also very accessible and there are many business opportunities. I understand that the cost of living will be significantly higher by living in London other than cities in the Midlands and cities in the North. I aim to work in a reasonable sized studio or company where there are many design opportunities and a range of clients / customers. This will enable me to have a diverse range of skills and experience with various different briefs and clients. I also will be working on a free-lance basis which would mean that I would have to get my work into the eye of potential clients and ensure that my work gets noticed. For this I will need to maintain a public / online portfolio using free blogs and websites such as Behance, Flickr, Blogger, Facebook, Tumblr. In addition, by effectively Networking I can ensure people will hear and see my designs. Naturally, the more Industrial experience I have, the more skills I will develop and the more employable I will be. 
When contacting design studios, agencies and companies I will send my creative CV and send them links to my online portfolios. Before contacting them, I will research more into what each of the studios and companies are about and what they are looking for to make sure that I am what they are looking for. I will use a informal tone of voice when writing to them and let them know a bit of who I am, what my work is about, my previous Industrial experiences, my graphic design education, my aspirations and  how I will benefit them as a designer. 
For effective Networking - I will ensure that I attend any relevant exhibitions, galleries and events that are related to graphic design as well as asking around people I know for any design jobs or industrial experience.