Marketing Yourself As A Designer - Interview With Dean Hunt

Today I've had the opportunity to interview Dean Hunt, a buzz marketing and branding expert. In the interview he tells us how designers can market and brand themselves to stand out from the crowd and get noticed.

First of all, thanks for doing this interview for Colorfreak.
Please give us a brief introduction and tell us what you do.

Sure thing, and thanks for having me. My name is Dean Hunt, I am 26 years old, from the UK, and am best known as the leader in the world of buzz marketing.

I got into the Internet as a form of income back in 2002, I had previously been training to play golf for a living, but a knee injury put an end to that.

So I turned to the Internet instead. (note: my knee is fine now)

You label yourself, amongst other things, as a buzz marketer. What is buzz marketing and how did you get into it?
Buzz Marketing is the art of getting people excited about your message. It is a great way of getting loads of publicity for free, and I got into it kinda by accident. I just wrote what amused, entertained or interested me, and other people seemed to also get excited by it.
I got into it just by trying to stand out from the crowd and getting noticed.

How can buzz marketing help designers? How can they use it?
Well, they can try and make their designs buzz-worthy. Design uses a lot of creativity, which is pretty much the key to buzz as well. So I would aim to create creative designs, design things that will make people say WOW.

What does it take for anything online to become viral? What
techniques can be used to help something become viral?
Generally, anything that makes people laugh, cry, be inspired, say WOW etc... all of these things help the viral process. You can use things like Twitter to help boost the initial spread of the message.

You give away many free, but valuable reports and PDFs. Do you think giving away freebies is a technique that designers should be
using to attract traffic? What is the best way to do it?
Yes and no. I believe in giving some stuff for free... but my mistake was to give everything for free. In theory, this is a good idea, but then, when you try and charge for things, people expect it to also be free.

You have so many creative ideas! Can you give us some insight into how you develop these ideas?
Many of them happen naturally.... although, to be honest, I study creative thinking (you can learn these techniques at www.buzzprofits.com) and that style of thinking helps a lot.

Here is a quick secret to instantly appear like a creative genius:

Do the opposite of the norm.

So for example, if you are designing a website, you could write down all the things that would normally be true. e.g header is at the top, it is a certain shape, a certain size, it loads automatically, looks professional... etc... then, ask yourself, "what if I do the opposite?"

This is a great way to appear like a genius.

You know a great deal about branding. Can you give any tips to designers on how they can brand themselves to appear unique and professional and stand out from the crowd at the same time?
I would say the best way is to do things that you think are good. For example, a lot of my content is written because it entertains me... if everyone else hates it, I will continue doing it, purely because I think it is good. DeanHunt.com is full of content that I think is entertaining.

If you do this, your own style will start to shine through.

Also, don't be afraid of going against the grain.. e.g write down a list of ten things that frustrate design customers... perhaps they change their quotes time, perhaps they miss deadlines, perhaps they are not flexible enough etc... then you can focus on one of these as your brand...

e.g Dean Hunt Designs - Hitting Your Deadlines, or We Work For FREE.

or

Dean Hunt Designs - Our First Quote is The ONLY Quote

What common mistakes do people make when branding themselves or their businesses?
They copy other people. It is better to be a great you, than a second-rate clone of some other designer.

What is the best advice you have ever been given (business or life oriented)?
You have to value your time before anyone else will. (Applies to biz and life)

What do you prefer: Being perfect or being remarkable? Why?
Remarkable. Perfect sounds like a lot of hard work ;-)

Do you have any advice for someone who has just started a new website/blog and does not have any traffic yet?
Sure, remember this: there is no such thing as a competitor, they are just potential opportunities.

Tell us a little about your killer bunnies. How have they helped
you? What other unusual techniques do you employ to promote yourself
and stand out from the crowd?

Tell us a little about your killer bunnies. How have they helped
you? What other unusual techniques do you employ to promote yourself
and stand out from the crowd?
Using Killer Bunnies was one of the most important things I ever did... you see, people never forget about them, and it helps my blog stand out from the crowd.

I was once asked: "Dean, why do you have killer bunnies on a marketing blog?"

Answer: "because nobody else does"

Dean with his killer bunnies

You run a membership website called BuzzProfits. Tell us something about that and why anybody should join.
Basically, it is where we store all the techniques, exploits and tricks that are too darn good to put on our blogs. If you join, you will get a free copy of my book "Web Traffic Orgasm", access to over 100 pages of reports and articles, you will become part of our forum community, and most importantly, I will personally help you make your site or career a success. So join Buzzprofits.com today ;-)

What other projects are you currently working on?
I was recently paid $1 million from the team behind ConstructZero.com to have my personal brand sponsored. Basically, I wear their website logo on my clothing at all public appearances, photos, videos etc... this shows the value of a powerful personal brand.

Dean with the ConstructZero logo on his t-shirt.

Thanks again for providing Colorfreak with this great interview! Any last pearls of wisdom or anything else you would like to add?
My pleasure. I have a bit of knowledge of the design industry, and I really think that buzz thinking and branding can be a ladder to escape the average. All my best to you and your readers, and I hope to help you all over at Buzzprofits.com