Latest / Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson / From College Sweethearts to Design Innovators with Mike and Tori Logan: Mastering Collaboration, Client Relationships, and Branding Strategies

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From College Sweethearts to Design Innovators with Mike and Tori Logan: Mastering Collaboration, Client Relationships, and Branding Strategies · Ready Set Collaborate with Wanda Pearson

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Ready Set Collaborate podcast with Rhonda Pearson, where we will dive deep into the world of networking, collaboration and partnership, unlocking the secrets to a successful team working within innovation.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Whether you're an entrepreneur, a creative professional or just someone eager to understand the power of networking and collaboration, this podcast is your go-to resource.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Join us as we explore the stories, strategies and insights from experts, entrepreneurs and thought leaders who have experienced the magic of networking and collaboration to achieve successful results.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Tune in to Ready.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Set Collaborate podcast on a journey towards achieving your goals with host Wanda Pearson.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Ready Set Collaborate podcast with Wanda Pearson the Art of Marketing Strategy series.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Today I want to speak life into someone who has been a cornerstone in the journey of this podcast, my marketing manager, diane Freeman, the sponsor of the Ready Set Collaborate podcast, isn't just a guiding star in the vogue of our brands, but a beacon that cultivator watering, nurturing and believing, sometimes even more fiercely than I did, in our ability to unite small businesses with intention of growth and shouting them out to the world.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: She is the maestro behind the melody that is Ready Set Collaborate.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: It speaks to the readiness to take in new challenges, the preparedness to set sights on higher peaks and the underlining spirit of a collaboration that fuels genuine success.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: She is passionate about helping entrepreneurs get to the goal of excellent clients through the marketing maze.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Check her out at her website, bscenesocialmediacom that's spelled with a B-E like a B scene S-E-E-N.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: Socialmediacom.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: Or find her on social media at bscenesocialmedia Diane Freeman.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Thank you, diane, for being a sponsor to this podcast series, the Market the Art of Marketing Strategies, and I want to thank you.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: So make sure everyone please subscribe, follow and share and like on all podcast platforms Spotify, apple Podcasts and more.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: The Ready Set.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: Collaborate with Wanda Pearson.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Now let's get on to the show.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Ready Set.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Collaborate with Wanda Pearson.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: I am so excited to have my guests, tori and Mike Logan of Perfectly Different Design, and I'm excited for them to share what they actually.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: You know what they do, and the good thing about it is that this is my daughter and son-in-law and they are actually my web designers and my graphic designer, so I am so excited to have them on the show because they have a lot to offer here.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: So I am going to talk about well, say hi guys, say hi, say hi to my audience, but I'm going to talk about your bio and I love the bio that you wrote, um, uh, and it really tells you how you all created this name.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Perfectly different design, yes, but let me just tell about your bio Two star cross lovers with a passion for beautiful design and a heart for the people Mike and Tori Logan have been creating since they were in diapers yes, she has, and they haven't looked back.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: They were in diapers yes, she has, and they haven't looked back.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Both college graduates from Georgia State University's Ernest G Welch School of Art and Design, the DISS duo has made it their mission to help small businesses, nonprofits and churches reach their goals by offering specialized design solutions.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: They reside in Atlanta, georgia, with two daughters, lila, six years old almost almost seven and Kaya, four years old, and love mentoring couples and watch watching rerun of the office in their free time.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: Boy, you are definitely old souls.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: The office I haven't seen that in a while.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: That's classic tv yeah, yeah, no, yeah, the office, my god, that's been out for a long time, so yeah, yeah, it's so funny yeah, yeah, well, you probably used to watch it.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: Uh, when you put us here but, yeah, but I am so excited to have them on on this podcast because this is my new series that I'm offering as far as helping and educating people on what we do to actually collaborate and how we collaborate, and collaboration is the key to success.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Right, that's what we call.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: Success is collaboration.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: But tell us a little bit about yourself before I dive into the questions.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: Mike and Tori.
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks for having us and thanks for asking.
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: We have perfectly different design.
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: It's a mouthful but it means a lot.
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: But we actually founded this company back in 2013.
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: So it's a little over 10 years old.
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: Right now, our main focus is just partnering with small businesses, nonprofits and churches really to help them with their overall design experience.
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: So we help them with their branding, we help them to get just nailed down great websites with high-end social and print assets as well, and that's been our focus.
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: It's been a different journey getting here over the years, but that's where we're at today.
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: I know as far as our story and our name.
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: I think Tori can share more about that because she started that whole part.
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I know for me growing up and my father having his own print company and asking me to design a publisher and you know the passion for me started there and I loved art all my life and so I saw design as an avenue to essentially make money in college.
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: That's what we focused on and I told him we met Look, we're going to have our own business, you know we're going to do this.
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: I told him we met.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Look, we're going to have our own business.
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: You know we're going to do this and growing up with probably being entrepreneurs like that's the avenue I want to go in.
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: And he took the leap of faith to leave his job last year and God has been blessing it just tenfold, so that part has been really encouraging.
• 6:20
  Speaker 4: And the name was actually inspired by a song by Karina Pagian called Perfectly Different, and the lyrics of the song just describe our relationship and so we had a perfectly different wedding, work, conferences, and so everything about us is just perfectly different.
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: So it only was fitting to name the company for a different design.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: I love that you said that to her, because I remember just you going to your daddy daddy's office and he always said you're going to be doing what you're doing.
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: I didn't realize you was doing publisher for him at that time, during that time.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: So she was forced to go to work with him.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: Ok, you got to go with your daddy to work.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: But yeah, but I'm so excited that you actually, and also with your sister who does interior design, right, so the design, the creativeness, and the family, and Mike, I am so excited that God who would think that for somebody to retire at such a young age?
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: I wasn't that young when I retired, exactly.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: And then you follow guys, the guys away as far as and he's been the whole time.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: I'm just so excited about the success that you all have come to be, and especially together, and you're teaching your kids that design as well, that art.
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: They are teaching us.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: So Tori is actually my artist.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: She does paintings.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: You can't really see the painting behind, but she does beautiful paintings but also my logo that we're going to talk about.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: See, there it is, yes, beautiful.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: I have one in my house too Two, three, but my logo, which is WD Pierce Associates.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: Tori created that and started the website for me and Mike took it over.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: Now Tori's taking it over, so I don't mind, they just take care of me.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: That's why you have an entrepreneur family and over.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: So I don't mind, they just take care of me.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: That's why you have an entrepreneur family, and that's what it's all about as far as the creativeness that we have in the family.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: So thank you all for definitely being who you are and being perfectly different.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: Design I love that and as you explain that, that makes sense.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: Wise name that, yeah.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: So I'm going to ask you some questions.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: So I think you already answered some.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: So what inspired you to pursue a career in branding, web design or print design?
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think this was definitely her idea.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: I will say that when we got married actually when we started dating, I think when we met we both were artists.
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: We were already artists wanted to pursue graphic design.
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: One because it was fun, but two, I think, as artists we saw that graphic design was lucrative.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: It was one way for artists to actually make a living in this world today.
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: So I think that we have that in our sights.
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: But I guess, in regards to where we're at today, I didn't want this.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: I didn't.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: I did not want to have my own business.
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: I didn't mind being an employee and doing that whole thing for the next 30, 40 years.
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: But I think honestly for me, what led me here to this point I guess both of us was just, I think, over time, doing more work for more clients on the side, doing stuff here and there and seeing that it was fun to do that while we still worked our nine to five jobs.
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: But honestly, it was just last year just praying and just seeing where God was leading us and what that next step was and just seeing how you know.
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: It's almost like you are working for somebody for so many years.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: You are getting training through that and you have to ask yourself what is that training for?
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: Is it just to stay there and keep doing their thing?
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: or is it to?
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: eventually go.
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: I have this network and I blow for myself, so that's what kind of landed me here, but for you it can be different.
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I would also say the pandemic was a major game changer, with my job cutting my hours, with me being at home with the kids and us needing to supplement that income.
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: And so he quickly had to pivot and really God just brought us clients out of nowhere.
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: Like God supplemented what we needed to make to keep on living.
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: And so that was a major time in our life just where God just kept providing and I think for us, seeing how lucrative the business was during that season, it with him, he was doing it part-time and so for us we saw okay, if we can make this much doing it part-time, how much can we make doing this full time?
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: And I think really last year, when he was at his last job, him seeing, okay, I want to work from home, I want to be, I want to have the freedom to go to my kids' stuff at school and different things and just having that freedom and that's, I think that's what really shifted him to say you know, what?
• 10:51
  Speaker 4: I'm gonna take a leap of faith.
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: I'm gonna leave my job because I know that God is going to provide because he has been so yeah, yeah, that's awesome, that's awesome.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: So, and that is so true, the pandemic really helped us pivot a lot of things, like when I created my own brand, right, and you know with the WD Pearson and when I started doing webinars with other entrepreneurs and how can we help each other.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: So that pandemic and it didn't stop.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: Actually, the business grew.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: Of course, I served as an illegal shield, idea, smart shield and small business but that actually helped those people who wanted to get into their own business and had the passion, instead of going back to the nine to five.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: What have I always wanted to do?
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: So that was where I came in with my WD Pearson associate to coach them, consult them and I really love the story of what you all talked about this and in fact, I told her okay, I need a logo.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: What do you want to, I don't know, just create a logo.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: And this is what she created WD Pearson Associates LLC.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: I got my LLC, so I helped a lot of people get their LLCs and then their home business as well, and small business.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: But, yeah, you are so right, that pandemic boy.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: It can either hurt you or help you.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: And this helped us Right.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: How do you differentiate between a brand and a logo?
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: And this helped us right.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: How do you?
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: differentiate between a brand and a logo?
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: That's a great question, honestly.
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: So think of it this way.
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: I'll go one step before.
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: There is a brand and there's also branding, and those terms are used interchangeably in our industry, but they're a little bit different.
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: A brand think of it this way A brand is the intrinsic internal values of who you are as a company.
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: So that's like your name, your values, your purpose, like what you stand for, who you are, your history, all that.
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: That's your brand.
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: Your branding is how you portray who you are.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: So it's your logo, your color palette, fonts, web design, all those things that are more external.
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: So your logo is a part of your branding, whereas your brand is more on the inside.
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: So one way to view, to say for you like your brand is Wanda Pearson from Chicago.
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: Like this background this is my story, but my logo like yours.
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: There it may be your outfit, this is one piece that, that that shows others who you are and paints a picture of your brand internally.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: If that makes sense, yeah.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: No, that makes a lot of sense, because that's actually my next question how do you approach brand strategy for a new client?
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: So you created my my and Tori knew I love purple right.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: So how do you approach creating that brand strategy for a new client?
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that for us, what we've learned is that one.
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: It can be a very slow process, but it helps to ask a lot of questions.
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: This is like anything else in life, Like our business is really just working with people and seeing what their values are and seeing what the values of the audience is and then going from there.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: But you start by just asking a lot of questions because our job is to get to know them as well as we can.
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: Because our job is to get to know them as well as we can because we want to visually represent them in a way that's going to bring in the folks to their business or to whatever they're doing.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: So asking a lot of questions and I think for us from that point, it's finding creative solutions.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: I think a lot of times for a brand, people try to do too much, they try to show or they try to convey too much all at once.
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: But think of it like anything else in life, like when you're trying to get to know somebody or you want them to get to know you.
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: This takes time, it's a process and we don't have to talk about everything all at once in one conversation.
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: So we help them to boil down the essence of who they are, who their business is, what they stand for and what they want to accomplish the essence of who they are, who their business is, what they stand for and what they want to accomplish and then from there figure out okay, how can you creatively and purposefully convey that to your audience so that they not only know you and trust you, but you can convert them to actually partner with you and buy from you, and so on.
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: Okay, and that makes sense.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Tori, do you have anything to add to that?
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: No, that was great.
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: Is that it all?
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: Is that at all?
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: is that at all?
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so, yeah.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: So what are some of the common mistakes that businesses make when trying to build their brand?
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: And you may have already touched on that, mike.
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm trying to give an example of one that we worked with in the past.
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: I know, as of right now, really for our business, I've done more of the hands-on branding stuff.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: Tori actually works full-time with Bridge Point Church as their designers.
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: We have different hats.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: I've been doing more stuff for the business as of late to answer all these, but I think that one of the biggest mistakes was that your question.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: One of the biggest mistakes, that yeah, when they're trying to build their brand.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: What are some of the biggest mistakes?
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: One of the most common ones that I can see is them making it too personal, because a brand, in its essence, is I view it within three sections it's a combination of your values, like what you care about today, your aspirations.
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: So who do you want to be 5, 10, 20 years from now, and what does the market need?
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: What does the market value?
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: Because that may be different from the other three things and it's all those three things together.
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: But if you make it all about you and what you like, that's fantastic, but that's not going to attract your audience Because they may not like what you like or they might think how you think.
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: So I think, knowing that the whole purpose of a brand is to, yes, show who you are and to convey that, but it's to build a bridge and form a connection with your audience.
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: Okay, we see these things in a simple manner.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: We both value these things.
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: Let's partner in some way.
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: Let's offer a service to you or products that's going to help you in your life and really lift up how we both value this similar thing, if that makes sense.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and it makes sense Exactly.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: So let's talk about the design process.
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: So can you walk us through your typical web design process?
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: Yes, at this point I oversee most of our web design.
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: Honestly, I think the same as before.
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: Our process is boring, but it is lots of questions.
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: Typically we will have a call with a client for 10, 15 minutes just to really understand three key things.
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: One, what their primary goal is, what they're hoping to accomplish.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: What is the function of the website?
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: Is it informational?
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: Is it to buy a product?
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: Is it for an event?
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: What's the primary goal?
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: What is their budget and what's their timetable?
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: Those things right there.
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: Once you nail those down, you can find out whether or not we're the best option for them or they should go with somebody else.
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: But once we have those nailed down and if we're aligned, if we see a path for us to help them, we will send a very detailed questionnaire that some clients buy on board.
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: Honestly, I'll be honest, that questionnaire is a litmus test for whether or not we should engage, Because oftentimes, whenever clients will engage someone like us for help, they think.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: Ok you're going to do it all for me.
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: I'll drop it off.
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: You'll do it when this is more of a partnership, like you mentioned before, that the whole goal is for us to collaborate.
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: We're the same way Like for us to serve anybody they have to come in forehand and let's partner together so we can build this dream that you have.
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: So we'll send this questionnaire and typically, if they're willing to go through it, it shows us okay that you're willing to commit not just financially but the time to partner with us.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: We can go from there.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: But from there so we just go through a very typical design process.
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: We will build out like wireframes and prototypes of the site based on what they've offered us.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: That will be in line with a site map.
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: It's just a simple menu of what the site's going to have.
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: We'll go on from there and build mockups.
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: We will do different things before the actual site is built, because what you don't want to have happen is you have this $5,000 site finished and it doesn't meet their needs, and then what do you do?
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: You go backwards.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: So we have steps in place to really test things out and just to refine the vision and the idea before we get to the final launch date, so that everyone's pleased with the final product.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: And that goes with the value ensuring your website design aligns with the client's brand right as far as whatever you design.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: So that actually goes with what we're talking about anyway.
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: So what are some of the common challenges you face in web design projects?
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: I'm trying to think Honestly.
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: I feel like I can share about that, but I feel like some of the common challenges that we face with web design fall on with just design in general, whether it's for print or social media.
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: I feel like it can be some of those common things I want to ask you, like for you right now.
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: For Tori, her main niche is really print and social design, but how have you noticed some common challenges that you face in that realm?
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I would say using common challenges just with, like clients.
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I would say using Common Challenge just with like clients, and then for me it's one thing is just like when clients don't give For me.
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: My client is a church, but I deal with different people to make the design different ministry leaders, I should say.
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: And so one of the common challenges I've run into is just not having enough information, and so I have a process.
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: I have a form for how I like to receive information, an intake form, so that way it's all neat and I have all the information.
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: But sometimes people text me their information and what happens?
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: It's happened twice lately but I don't have all the information I need.
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: So then I have to go back and ask for more questions and inquire more, and then there's more back and forth and yeah, so that just it delays the project.
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: One, because it's like this whole I need to know the price of the event and different things like that.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that is, and that's something I want to ask you too, tori, is how does print design differ from digital design and a print and design project?
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: So how does it differ in the print design from a digital design?
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: So how can you tell us about that?
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah, so yeah, I was actually working on some print design platter last night, but yeah.
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: So the difference is like, with the print design, you're going to touch it, you're going to feel it, you're going to interact with it, and so it's important, when I'm designing for something that's going to be print, for it to be large enough, something that Mike always tells me all the last night.
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: I'm like, okay, this is big enough.
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: Especially for a poster.
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: You know, because if you're, if I'm designing something for social media, I know how big it's going to be.
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: I could see the square.
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: It's easy.
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: But when I'm designing something on my computer, and it's going to be 18 by 24, my computer looks great, but then when it's printed it's oh, maybe that's too small.
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: And so that's one of the major differences that I've experienced is just making sure that the print design is going to be sufficient, like a yard sign.
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: So I make yard signs to make sure that the design is big, because I've seen it so many times, even just driving by, where churches will have posters and the font is too thin and so you can't read it.
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: And so if I can't read the text, then it's just not, it's a fail because it doesn't work yeah, that makes sense.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: That makes sense.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: I love that comparison because I tell you when, when the print gets small and you can't see it and you're driving by, you need to have something that stands out at you.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: As far as doing it, how do you ensure the color accuracy and quality in print design?
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: How do you make sure that the color matches with your quality in print design?
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: I think that when it comes to color and honestly, typically for our clients who value that color, I come to a point because the reality is that when you're printing usually with printing there are different methods, but the most common for us that's just fast and efficient is digital printing and with that there's always going to be some skew with colors from print.
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: That's just going to happen.
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: But whenever color is of the most importance there, is a process where typically for us we would work with pantones.
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: Pantone is just a color system where the colors are the same.
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: No matter where you are or what you're printing on, it's going to always look the same way.
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: But in that instance we would work with pantone colors and also it's probably best in that time to also just talk to the client and meet with them and have actual physical samples just to match things up.
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: Because again I think that's also where digital versus print can have issues, because things can look great on the screen Once you print them.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: It looks different Once you view them in indoor light versus sunlight, which is there's so many things to consider.
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: I think it's one going through those steps to make sure that the client happy, but also make sure that they're informed on on on the reality and the limits of how we even see color and just how there's only so far we can go along to having to be perfectly consistent, but we can still have things match to an extent to have a cohesive brand and look and feel.
• 23:26
  Speaker 4: That may not say I think it's awesome, I would say, also using the same printer.
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: So for yeah, for Mac I use the same printer, so that way I know it's going to be consistent every time.
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: So that definitely even for our.
• 23:44
  Speaker 4: We have an online store at the church and so I use one company, and so I know that all the shirts are going to be the same, all the colors are going to be the same.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: Like it's all coming from the same printer.
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that makes sense.
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: So we're winding down here, so let me ask you about how do you manage client expectations throughout a project.
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: We have a lot of meetings and conversations.
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: I think that this is true for both of us with our everyday work.
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: I think it really is one asking a lot of questions and then, after they answer them, almost repeating back.
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: Here's what I heard you say.
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: I know for me, when it comes to bigger projects, how that looks is typically, again, we'll meet.
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: I always push for some kind of email questionnaire.
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: The reason for that is because we want a paper trail.
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: After this whole podcast is over, I'm going to forget everything that you asked me because I'm human.
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: Life goes on, and that's how we are.
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: There's always a paper trail forward what happened, what was discussed, and afterwards I would follow up with an estimate, with detailed notes on what was discussed, so that we're all clear and that way, if there's any kind of question like hey, we didn't go over this, we have a clear document that details what's laid out, what's the scope of the pricing.
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: All that so that it's not you versus me.
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: It's what did we both agree on that you signed.
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: That's been my method.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, absolutely.
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: And that is so true, Mike.
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: Coming from corporate, you learned that.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: You learned to make sure you have everything in writing.
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: Corporate, you learn that you learn to make sure you have everything In writing.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: Coming from where I came from, IBM after 36 years, that's how we actually be more successful entrepreneurs, because we know what we need to do Real quickly, can you?
• 25:27
  Speaker 4: share tips for maintaining a good relationship with clients.
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: I would say just like constant communication.
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think one thing that you've been doing I mentioned was just like following us.
• 25:40
  Speaker 4: So like you do a project and then you ask for referrals, so we'll finish, finish for him, finish the website or something, and then say, hey, is there anyone else that is having design challenges or can use our services?
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: And so that way you're constantly getting new business.
• 25:56
  Speaker 4: But I think it's just important, even like for holidays for Christmas he sends out buckets of popcorn to his top clients.
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: So I think it's hard to say thank you.
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: So I think, just constantly just showing your appreciation, just constantly saying thank you, and when it comes to big holidays or different things like that, just showing your appreciation, just come saying thank you, and when it comes to big holidays or different things like that, just doing a little like something small just to show them that you care and you value that relationship.
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think with that, like one thing that we've been learning that's key is, I think, just being a fan of those who you're serving.
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: I think so often in this industry it can be very transactional where, okay, you pay me, I'll do this and then we're done.
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: But most of the folks that we work with, I try to align myself with businesses, with nonprofits, where I am right there with them, where we value the same things and we are like lockstep, because for me, I'm not just going to work for pay, then, like, I want to see you win.
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: So even after things are done, like, how can I support you, whether it is me sharing you with my other contacts, whether it's me keeping you in mind whenever someone has a need for whatever you're offering, but it's just, how can I help you to win?
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: Because it helps, because I think it helps us really battle this whole stigma that once I have my branding set, that I'm done, I'm good.
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: Like branding is not magic.
• 27:10
  Speaker 3: Once you have a great brand, you still have to market it properly.
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: You still have to do the work of putting it out there.
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: So I think by us doing that, we're showing them, hey, like we are just here to help you get your branding set up in your site.
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: But let us partner with you to do what we can.
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: Just to be a fan and just to help you to win, and that's what marketing comes into play as far as, yeah, you created it.
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: Now it's time to market it right.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: We're at the end of our time, but what has been the most rewarding part of your career so far, mike?
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: I know you said I'm retired from corporate and I'm doing my own thing, so that was mine, I know.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, real quickly tell us what's been rewarding for both of you all.
• 27:52
  Speaker 4: So, yeah, real quickly, tell us what's been rewarding for both of you all.
• 27:54
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'll say, for me what's been rewarding is just having the freedom for me to design when we want to.
• 28:01
  Speaker 4: We have our projects, we have our deadlines, but being able to get it done when in our own time.
• 28:07
  Speaker 4: I think just being parents of young children, just being able to be supportive, to be present in their lives in this season has been truly rewarding.
• 28:19
  Speaker 4: That's been something that I definitely valued since I started working and being able to do what I love paint, be able to design, to just be at home and be available, I think has been truly rewarding for me home and be available.
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: I think it's been.
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: It's really rewarding for me.
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I second that because I am.
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to lie.
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: The freedom piece is awesome and the freedom comes at a cost, because before we had this freedom, it was 10 years of me working two jobs, of me working full-time and my nine to five and part-time doing this.
• 28:47
  Speaker 3: It wasn't just always freedom, like it was 10 years of a buildup.
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: But I think beyond that.
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: I think, just going from employee to business owner, there's something awesome about pulling your skill sets and using all of them all together.
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: I feel like, again, when you work for a company, the goal is for them to pull all that they can from you for the company, which is great, but it's difficult to always utilize every part of you and I feel like, at the end of the day, many people can feel underutilized.
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: And with what we do, I feel like we can take our actual business knowledge, our design talent, like folks that we know are friends, and really combine those things together that really help people.
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: I feel like that's the most fulfilling thing by taking all parts of us and saying what can we build together and that's going to really make an impact.
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: Okay, and that makes sense.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: So we only got 30 seconds left.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: But what is the future hold for you for branding website?
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: I know it's like a long question, but what is the future hold for you now that you got your business in?
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: five to 10 years.
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: What do you think it is as far as your future, that's a great question.
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: I am not one to make absolutes.
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: Tori knows this.
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: I think that our dream, our passion is for us to just keep growing this and really just to keep making an impact.
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: I think for us this is not about just making a paycheck, but how can we really further our message, help people further God's message?
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: I think that's our heart.
• 30:07
  Speaker 3: How can we further that message of really trying to convey his truth through beauty and through beautiful visuals and really help to serve people with not just building their own businesses but those folks who they want to serve as well?
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: So, hopefully, seeing this grow and flourish, that's awesome.
• 30:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree.
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's awesome, so tell the audience how they can get in touch with you.
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: I know you just made created a new website, mike, so tell the audience how they can get in touch with you.
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: I know you just made created a new website, mike, so tell us how they can get in touch with you and Tori.
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: Yes, you can find us at perfectly different design dot com.
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: You can also just go on Google perfectly different design You'll find us.
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: We are in the process of getting all of our socials connected, but you can find our main social, which is my page on Instagram, at pddesignmljr and that's at pddesignmljr.
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: But you'll find all kinds of content there.
• 30:59
  Speaker 3: We try to keep updated pretty often and even if you're not in a space where you are trying to improve your brand or even just do anything in that space yet, it's a great space just to be inspired, because we always try to put out fun stuff.
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 31:08
  Speaker 3: It's a great space just to be inspired, because we always try to put out fun stuff.
• 31:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: That's awesome.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: That's awesome and I thank you all definitely for joining me on my podcast.
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: So make sure you follow, subscribe and also on my YouTube channel, wd Pearson Associates.
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: But make sure you follow Ready Set, collaborate with Wanda Pearson and listen to this fabulous couple about how they can actually help you do your graphic design, print design, art a lot of stuff to do, I mean.
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: I have such a creative family.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: I'm just so excited about them.
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: But thank you all so much, so make sure you follow us on Ready Set, collaborate with Wanda Pearson.
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: We're on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: We're on all podcast platforms, so just make sure you follow us.
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: So thank you, tori and Mike Logan.
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: I truly appreciate you being on this and it's exciting to really hear your perspective on what you do.
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having us.
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning into this episode of Ready Set Collaborate.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: For more information about the host, head to WDPearsonAssociatescom and, as always, stay tuned for the next episode of Ready Set Collaborating.