My role is primarily to develop and oversee the artwork for print projects such as direct mail appeals, quarterly newsletters, promotional posters or other pieces. I’m also responsible for the design of new website content, which includes our monthly appeal and other promotional landing pages.

One of the projects I’m most excited about that is well under way at this point is our main site redesign. Before my arrival CURE had been working with an agency that helped them develop their current site (www.helpcurenow.org) and greatly improved their online donor experience. However, the site was designed more than two years ago now so it is time for a realignment. We have several goals in the area of usability and site architecture, but the thing that really get’s me motivated is making it look better and making the content more engaging. You can see a preview of our initial groundwork here, at conceptfeedback.com.

Not only is my work rewarding but I’m really grateful to be part of an organization that I can stand behind their purpose and mission. At it’s core, CURE has a mission thrust of bringing hope and healing through both medical work and spiritual ministry. Sharing the Gospel of Christ and introducing our patients to the One who wants to heal their whole person is just as much a part of what CURE is all about as bringing them physical healing through surgery.

In the past week I’ve had the chance to really see CURE’s mission in action in response to the earthquake crisis in Haiti. One of the CURE hospitals is in the Dominican Republic where we regularly send a team of our surgeons into Haiti for clinic work (every 3 months). When the earthquake happened last Wednesday, our doctors in the DR were able to respond almost immediately by getting together a team of 5 and flying in 500 lbs of supplies to start assisting in the medical relief work on Thursday. They have been there since, and we are currently planning much more relief work. You can follow the story here, at the CURE Blog. If you’d like to support the work that CURE is doing in Haiti, you can:

1) Give online at: http://helpcurenow.org/haitirelief,

2) Text “CURE” to 85944 to give a $10 mobile gift, or

3) Update your twitter and facebook status with the following: Help CURE in Haiti: http://helpcurenow.org/haitirelief or txt CURE to 85944 to give a $10 gift. Follow: http://blog.helpcurenow.org

Networking is one of the single more important things about being in business for yourself. Scratch that – it IS the single more important thing. OK, debateble, but the point is to be successful in any industry, it’s always about who you know.

Now it is true that just because you know the right people, you are not always guaranteed success, either. But knowing people goes a LONG way. There are other key factors too, like your character, your reputation, your talent and your work ethic. But often times those don’t mean a hill of beans if nobody knows who you are or what you do. Being honest, this is one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in being in business for myself. Looking back now I can see that when I started in business my existing network consisted very little of people who even knew I was a designer. I have really had to work at spreading the word about what I do.

One of the ways I’ve learned to network as a design professional is via online communities. There are many. Some geared toward design, some toward business, some for personal use, and these days who doesn’t have a facebook account? The cool thing is that all of the social networks out there today often don’t compensate for real world contacts. But they certainly can serve a purpose. The perspective I have on it is that it’s like anything else in life, you’ll get out of it what you put into it. If you just sign up for social networks and check your messages once in a while, you’re not really “networking.” But if you approach it as a real tool to meet new people and connect with people you know in new ways, you can truly get a lot out of them.

Here’s a few I’ve enjoyed participating in:

• Behance Network
  The Behance Network is free social network specifically for creative professionals where you can post projects from your portfolio and network with other creatives. There is a wide range of artist represented from graphic and web designers, to illustrator, motions graphics professionals, fashion artists and photographers. The network is invitation only, but you can request an invitation, and pretty much as long as you are not a spammer I think they will let you in. Each project you post allows you to upload images, video or audio files, as well as descriptions and links. You can even send people links to your projects that have an “ad free” version. Other members can leave comments on your project pages, and you can request feedback, although I’ve found not too much real constructive feedback takes place on the site. Mostly people just say “great job” when they like something but seldom leave actual constructive criticism. Overall it’s still a great place to meet other creatives, get inspiration and showcase your work either as a primary online portfolio or a supplement site.

• ConceptFeedback.com
  Concept Feedback is a great site that is still in Beta, and developing quickly. The idea is you can sign up for free to be part of a member community where you can critique and review concepts of other members, and likewise receive feedback on your own concepts. Although the member community is still quite small, it seems to be a very active community. I just heard about it a couple weeks ago, but already I’ve posted several projects and gotten lots of valuable feedback. Postings can include graphic design, illustration, web design or other projects.

• Linked In
  Linked In provides a terrific resource that has more of a professional atmosphere, complete with your profile page acting as an actual resume. But the part I like most about Linked In are the professional groups you can join. They are basically like forums, where you can post questions or discussion topics. I’ve used the Linked In groups many times to get solutions to problems or just get other people’s perspective on topics. The group I’ve personally found to be most valuable is called Designers Talk, for all things design related. There’s another group called Design + Develop that focuses more on issues facing designers who are turning into web developers.

• Twitter
  Twitter is one of the fast growing internet phenomenons of all time. And although nobody knows how long it will remain popular, it seems micro-blogging has certainly found a niche that is here to stay for a while. For anyone not familiar with Twitter (really?) the concept is that you can post short updates about yourself, your business or whatever you like in 140 characters or less. While the premise doesn’t necessarily sound that fantastic, people and businesses alike have found very creative and innovative ways to use it. The most popular use for twitter, however, may be sharing links to articles or resources of interest. It’s also a great tool to drive traffic to your website or other featured resources.

• Facebook
  With more than 250 million active users and more than 150 million people who log on every day, Facebook has become a staple of modern technological society. It’s only common sense for anybody who’s interested in networking to create a presence on Facebook. Does that mean you need a fan page for your business? Not necessarily. I have one, but more as a formality. I still primarily just use my personal account to meet people and network with those I know. But just don’t under-estimate the ability you have via Facebook to meet new people and connect with those you know for business or personal means.

• Logopond
  Logopond.com is a gallery style site where users can create a profile and upload logos they’ve designed. It serves as a nice place to showcase your logo work, or just a good place to browse other logos for inspiration. You don’t have to sign up just to browse.

The important thing to remember with any of these resources is that you have to make them work for you. That is, they don’t just start working for you because you sign up – you need to use them and get involved by posting content and connecting with other members, etc. But if you are willing to put in a little effort, you’ll likely be surprised to find out how much of a benefit they can be. I particularly have enjoyed participating in discussions on Linked In’s member groups, which provide a very valuable forum for someone who is often accustomed to going weeks without interacting with a client or colleague in a face to face manner.

What resources have you found that help you be successful at networking? Have you had any experience with any of these I mentioned? What about others? I’d love to hear about it.

For Part 3 I’m going to share some insights on staying organized and motivated, two things that help you build and keep momentum as a freelancer. Stay tuned!