Michael Janda

Apr 30 2021 21 mins

Michael Janda Podcast artwork

Michael Janda is an award-winning creative director, designer, and agency veteran. In 2002, he founded the creative agency Riser, which provided design and development services for clients that included Disney, Google, Warner Bros., Fox, NBC, ABC, National Geographic and many other high-profile brands. Michael sold his agency in 2015 and now spends his time speaking, developing books, courses, and social media content to help creatives level-up. He is the author of “Burn Your Portfolio” and “The Psychology of Graphic Design Pricing.”

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How to Create a Portfolio Site That Will Land You a Design Job and Freelance Clients

Apr 30 2021 82 mins

I have wanted to create this content for so long! In fact I've done several coaching calls like this for design students who are looking to land their first job in the creative industry. This video is a collaboration with my friend, Parisa Moghaddam, who lives in Vancouver and is working to get here bachelors degree to find her first job in the creative industry. In this video I sh

Close More Sales With This One Big Tip! (How to Respond to an RFP - Request for Proposal) 🔴

Apr 20 2021 7 mins

Someone from my creative community on Instagram asked me this question, “I’m running ads using Google Ads and I’m getting leads that are asking for proposals! But I’m frustrated because I’m not closing any deals. What am I doing wrong?” This person is receiving RFPs (Request for Proposal) but not closing the deals. In this video I give you the answer to this question an

The Best Way to Invoice Your Clients and Why 50/50 Billing Sucks

Apr 19 2021 13 mins

Most creative entrepreneurs are making the mistake of invoicing their clients 50% at the start and 50% at the end. This invoicing strategy sucks! In this video I explain why invoicing 50/50 is a bad idea for your business and I will teach you a better way to invoice for your projects. ******* Check out... The Ultimate Freelance Course https://michaeljanda.com/courses/ This six suit

8 Pricing Rules for Designers and Freelancers

Apr 15 2021 12 mins

When I started my freelance career, that grew into my agency, I had no understanding of any of the calculations and strategies that I have taught in my book The Psychology of Graphic Design Pricing. Trial and error, both successful and unsuccessful, taught me to develop these systems and strategies I used to bill more than $30,000,000 in creative services. In this video, I share a

Selling Design and Growing an Agency with Michael Janda and Bless Varghese

Apr 13 2021 64 mins

This video is an episode from "The Bless Show" a podcast by Blesson Varghese where provides valuable content and insights for creative designers to help them improve in their careers and businesses. In the episode, Michael and Bless discuss strategies for selling creative services and some insights from Michael's transition from freelance designer to growing his agency. The origina

Pricing Structures FREE Mini-Course for Freelancers and Creative Agency Owners

Apr 05 2021 28 mins

Learn how to structure your business relationship with your client by using the proper pricing structure. In this video Michael Janda examines the pros and cons from 6 different pricing structures that he used at his agency including: Fixed Bid, Hourly, Retainers, Bucket of Hours, and Partnerships. Choosing the right structure for your engagement can make the difference between a p

Are Smokers More Creative Than Non-Smokers? The answer may surprise you.

Apr 05 2021 2 mins

This is one of the most interesting questions I've ever been asked in a live QA session. In this video I was chatting with my friend Sorav Jain about a variety of topics that we face as creative freelancers and entrepreneurs. One of this questions was "Is it true that people who smoke are more creative than people who don't smoke?" I think my answer may surprise you. ******* Learn

What You Should Do (and Think) When Your Client is Unhappy

Apr 03 2021 15 mins

If you work as a creative long enough, you will inevitably have an unhappy client. It might be your fault. It might be their fault. It might be nobody's fault. The fact is that not everyone is meant to work with everyone. Some people just don't click. In this video, Michael Janda walks you through what to do and what to think when you have an unhappy, dissatisfied, or even angry cl

The 3 Best Tips - How to Succeed as a Freelancer

Apr 03 2021 5 mins

My neighbor is starting a boutique agency, he recently asked me my top 3 tips for succeeding as a creative agency. I thought about it for a few minutes and then landed on these 3 tips and the inspiration to make this video. If I had to distill down the advice from all my books, content and 20+ years as a creative entrepreneur into the ultimate 3 things you need to succeed as a free

Pricing Deep Dive with Michael Janda and Creative Waffle

Mar 18 2021 83 mins

Pricing creative services is a big challenge that so many creative freelancers and agency owners face. Price it too high and you lose the project. Price it too low and you don’t generate enough profit. In this video, Michael Janda gives a deep dive on pricing creative work for logo design, web design, print design and other creative services. The conversation circled around prici