I made quite a lot of mistakes when running my freelance fashion design business. Yet the number one mistake was having all these great ideas and thoughts in my mind, and not sharing them to attract the clients I desired. This is also known as point of view marketing. Here’s why it matters.
Whilst designing is a skill, and a niche is the part of the world that you specialise in designing, your point of view is what you see from the part of that world where you reside. It’s why you do what you do and it’s also the way you do it.
When you have a point of view and express that, the client is already sold on your work before you have an initial chat. It eliminates a lot of time and effort and also weeds out the nightmare clients who just don’t ‘get’ the value you bring to their business and the impact you can have on their profits.
Point of view marketing repels the clients who just want ‘any’ freelance fashion designer (and tries to knock them down on price) and attracts the clients who specifically want to work with you and are happy to pay for your expertise. This means you don’t get the ballache clients who are really lovely people but just don’t inspire and fulfil you. Better clients means more inspiring and meaningful work which means you feel a much greater sense of significance in your work and you also become a strategic partner.
What is Point of View Marketing?
It’s important to have a clear handwriting in your work and equally important to have a clearly thought out, future resistant niche. But point of view marketing for your freelance fashion design business is neither of these. Your viewpoint is the thing that helps your perfect client see their problems in a different light, a way they had never considered; it makes them say “wow, I never thought of it like that”. When your point of view marries up with your ideal clients’ thoughts and plans for their business, or makes them see the problem you solve for them from a new perspective it makes them want to follow you, connect with you and have a conversation about how you can work together. Whilst this might feel complicated, put simply, point of view marketing is telling the truth from what you see from where you stand in your freelance fashion design business. It’s a very natural way to express yourself; it’s saying “regardless of us working together, this is what I recommend”. If they don’t buy into your concept then they aren't going to buy your services which means you will repel the ‘crap fit’ clients and attract the beautiful, interesting and inspired brands of the future, and who doesn’t want to work with those.
How To Build Your Point of View.
External perspective is key when you are building your point of view marketing message. Get yourself a journal for the sole purpose of cultivating thoughts on your point of view (I recommend Leuchtturm1917) and start free writing. What makes you angry about the state of the retail industry? What ideas do you have that are worth sharing? What secret thoughts do you want to share that could really shake up your niche in your industry? What kinds of products would you design if you were given your own brand? Why? Keep this journal and write in it regularly, maybe after a really great day (or a terrible one) working on a client brief. This is the time you are most likely to be full of ideas about how you want to change the retail landscape for the good of the planet (and where you see brands making a real mess of it too). Buddy up with a fellow freelance fashion design business and have a brainstorm. Allow them to listen to your point of view and ask them to relay it back to you. How does it sound? How does it feel in your body? Exciting? What is the feeling in the pit of your tummy or your chest? Fear? This is a sign you are on your soul mission and you would do well to pursue your instincts.
Earn More, Work Less.
It’s a rebellious decision to decide to follow a creative career in fashion & textiles, and it’s an even more rebellious decision to go down the freelance path. Mother Earth needs your expertise, your design skills and your unique point of view. The retail world is changing and we need you to make a positive impact on it. You are insanely talented, you are a changemaker and there is a great future ahead when you express your point of view in all parts of your freelance fashion design business.
When you cultivate your unique marketing message you become the only one that can fix the problem for your ideal client, which means you can earn more, work less, and spend more time with those you love.
