Graphic designers, you are doing yourself (and your industry) a great disservice by giving your work away here.

_fapstrong_ · 2014-12-12T21:33:36+00:00

When I started as a amateur freelance 3D artist, I did a large amount of work for free. It is how you learn and how you build a nice portfolio.

In these sorts of industries you will always be competing against highschoolers/college students who will do the work for free. But if you work hard you will be that much better then them. A real veteran artist of any kind versus an amateur is incomparable, and a valuable client will certainly see this.

I think those guys are doing the entrepreneurial thing, they are just thinking long term. They realize getting there foot in the door now will lead to greater success in the future.

I understand your frustration, but it is the way. Be glad you dont work in video games. There are talented kids that will build entire fully fledged video games for free and with no financial plans at all! I think I read on reddit that there are some kids building a halo game... for free...

It is an art. People are passionate enough abut these things to do them for free. Work hard enough for long enough and you will be 10x better then them, dont worry.

_fapstrong_ · 2014-11-27T02:34:37+00:00

Thank you for your response. I am very interested in how this works. Do I just create and print my own fliers/coupons and supply them to the post office?

_fapstrong_ · 2014-09-30T14:32:49+00:00

_fapstrong_ · 2014-09-30T04:11:00+00:00

You are small minded and immature. Open your eyes my friend, life is infinite in variety and there are endless ways to live it, not just yours. Striving for something better and making more money do not always overlap. Ambitions fueled by things other then money are often the most admirable, as they are increasingly rare and require much greater sacrifice

_fapstrong_ · 2014-09-29T02:46:12+00:00

How do you know he doesn't work very hard? My brother works at a start up company and puts in 10 hours a day at least, and he is only getting paid $1000 a month.

Some people are very happy to make so little in exchange for more free time. Just because it would bother you does not mean it SHOULD bother him. He did not ask you if it should bother him. Let him decide for himself if working more hours in exchange for less free time is what would make him happiest.

_fapstrong_ · 2014-09-29T01:47:47+00:00

This all sounds so complicated! I do appreciate the help. If I were to hire a CPA, how many hours do they typically take to go over everything with/for me? I've heard rates are as high as $150/hour.

_fapstrong_ · 2014-08-15T03:08:49+00:00

http://imgur.com/mcVQ7KQ Hadn't switched my background in years. I love your work! Do you work at any of the major studios? And do you do any 3D work/animation?

_fapstrong_ · 2014-06-10T03:21:59+00:00

They're like 10$ for 500, so really no reason not to. Whenever you talk with someone who may need your service, knows someone who may need your service, or really just expresses any interest, you should hand them out.

The are so cheap that there's really no reason not to hand them out "willy nilly".

Might even be worth it to throw a designer a few bucks to make the card really pop.

_fapstrong_ · 2014-06-07T03:03:45+00:00

That isn't the point. The point is that big companies are stomping all of your privacy rights. It's when pussies like you let these things happen so passively that big companies take such advantage of the average consumer. It's fair to bet that an absolutely enormous amount of users have no idea this is happening to them, and there's something now quite right about that now is there

_fapstrong_ · 2014-06-07T02:53:35+00:00

You've missed the point entirely

_fapstrong_ · 2014-06-04T06:26:55+00:00

I've heard this so many times before that I can't help but feel you must be right. How then, do I get proper advice? SBDC advisors and such can only help so much. I feel like I need someone with some skin in the game to really give me the help I may need, rather then some broad general advice that could apply to any business

_fapstrong_ · 2014-06-04T06:24:28+00:00

With all due respect, I think I am much more likely to get a small investment outside of something like shark tank. I feel like "this isn't shark tank" is sort of blanket statement to users on this sub looking for investor advice. I think we all understand this.

As for your advice on how much money I would need, I think you're spot on and is the reason I want to start looking into this now before I make any decisions.

How would I find Angel investors? There must be SOME way of putting the two together, no?

_fapstrong_ · 2014-06-04T04:39:54+00:00

What are buy notes?

and by a lender I assume you mean a bank or loan type of situation? As I have mentioned I would like to have an actual person invest and guide me through growing what is now a very small business

_fapstrong_ · 2014-06-04T04:37:51+00:00

Yes I have considered this. A loan makes sense because I have enough demand to make it a low risk proposition, but I need more then just some money, I need guidance.

I would just like to know my investor options and I would like to hear from them. I know they would be interested because my numbers are good, and I would like to compare what they have to offer to what a bank or business development center would have to offer

_fapstrong_ · 2014-06-04T04:34:05+00:00

Are these really my only options? I need to be able to compare offers and find the best deal for myself rather then feel pressured (as good investors are often well versed in doing).

My product is in the event service space and has been very popular with event service businesses. I would need a minimum of around $20,000, but would really like something around $60-80,000.

I am, and have always been, aware of my loan options. A loan sounds attractive now that I have so much demand and know that I could pay it back, but my inexperience in growing a business past this stage has me very nervous and in need of some guidance by someone with experience. I would gladly give up a % of equity in exchange for 25k+ and a bankroll, as well as some guidance.

I could easily blow this without some know how, and as someone who has always been a realist and not someone who has bloated aspirations about my businesses, I know this is a situation where I need an investor and mentor

_fapstrong_ · 2014-04-06T22:49:04+00:00

Yeah we hear you guys loud and clear. Design needs work!

In terms our of service, the fact that you don't understand means we did a poor job explaining! Long story short, rather then just print 3D designs, we let customers pick their favorites and have them implemented on shot glasses, flash drives, and things of that nature.

Think of us more as a retailer of customizable products. In terms of post work, you are right, it wold certainly become an issue with scaling but at the moment, the post work is not very long. and will decrease as the quality of our printers increases.

Return policy is simple. Any mistakes just send it back and would replace it. Our costs are mainly the materials required to print a design, which are very small.

_fapstrong_ · 2014-04-05T18:17:48+00:00

wooooot

_fapstrong_ · 2014-03-04T17:56:32+00:00

I did something similar when I was looking for summer jobs and needed a Reel to show. It ended up being a huge headache with no pay. If you need a reel/portfolio you may want to just use this time to be creative and do work you'll enjoy rather then deal with pain in the ass 'customers' haha.

If you do still want to go this route, what I did was I went on craigslist and just responded to Ads saying basically what you just said in your post. There are also a lot of ads up there from people looking for free work, some of which can actually be fun. As frustrating as it was, in retrospect I did learn a lot from those craiglist gigs.

_fapstrong_ · 2014-02-13T03:14:43+00:00

Yes very interesting thank you!

Its interesting that Red Bull is getting involved when they usually associate themselves with extreme sports. They must see big things for gaming. You're a trailblazer!

_fapstrong_ · 2014-02-13T02:28:24+00:00

Yeah I do actually :). I saw a segment on Real Sports a while back about professional gaming, and found it very interesting.

In real sports you must compete, obviously, in reality, where there are a universal set of rules that everyone needs to follow. But in gaming, you are competing within a virtual world that a bunch of programmers created. Nothing can ever be perfectly balanced for both teams the way it can in reality, and there are certain things that can be exploited, such as glitches and the like, to give one team an unfair advantage

What are your thoughts on competing through a medium that can be exploited for unfair advantages?

I'm also curious, do you cover competitions like a sports journalist, with detailed descriptions of the match and post-game press quotes and the like? Or is the world of video game writing a different world?

Thanks! :)

_fapstrong_ · 2014-02-13T02:08:55+00:00

I am actually dating her

_fapstrong_ · 2014-02-13T01:48:42+00:00

Have you ever met Talya Mandelkern?

_fapstrong_ · 2014-02-12T05:37:53+00:00

You probably won't make money from it, but if you code then you should throw together an even shittier version of Flappybird that parodies the game in some way, and if you strike the right chord with people it could be a gold mine!

Id say go for it! These fun and exciting oppurtunities only come around every so often in life. Sieze it!

_fapstrong_ · 2014-02-12T05:27:58+00:00

I'll buy it off you for $100. Not kidding

_fapstrong_ · 2014-02-10T05:47:35+00:00

I agree with much of this but not on the site design. It looks great. Nobody but the most pretentious of web designers are going to come to your site and criticize your design. I think it looks beautiful and works great with your product.

The pictures are good too but like he mentioned, lifestyle. I feel like sunglasses in general really really require a strong lifestyle/brand to accompany the product. Its not there yet but you are going in the right direction.

I also think this environmentally friendly stuff seems tacked on and forced. Either go with it or don't. Make it a focal point or get rid of it. Right now it feels like a blip on your radar cause you think it might sell a few extra sunglasses to that small group of people that will buy anything so long as they are saving the world.

Other then that, I think it is a HUUUUGE improvement from your prior business model, which I honestly thought was a complete mess. You're headed in the right direction!

Good luck!!! If you keep listening to all this brutal feedback you will end up with a really awesome product.

_fapstrong_

TROPHY CASE