Recent Blog Posts - Jeff Archibald

On 10 Years of Running a Design Agency
Posted
Paper Leaf turns 10 years old today. I’m bad at stopping to recognize a moment, never mind celebrating, so I’m making an effort to do that here. When we started PL, we were as green as they come. We had no real idea or plan for where the shop would go, what it would become, or all that would cha...
Published at Jeff Archibald
3 Fundamental Traits for Success in your Creative Career
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3 Fundamental Traits for Success in your Creative Career
The following is an edited version of the commencement speech I gave to the Edmonton Digital Arts College 2019 grad class. I swear it was way more hilarious and inspiring in person. --- When Jeremy approached me and said, “Jeff, I’d love if you could give a talk at the EDAC grad ceremony", I as...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Use This Paragraph In Your Proposals And Say Goodbye To Scope Creep
Posted
Scope creep is awful. We struggled with how to handle it for years at Paper Leaf. It’s a tricky balance, isn’t it? We don’t want to be total doormats, but we’re also terrified to nickel-and-dime the client, or damage the relationship. In my experience, though, most agencies – including us, for a ...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Use This Paragraph In Your Proposals And Say Goodbye To Scope Creep
Posted
Use This Paragraph In Your Proposals And Say Goodbye To Scope Creep
Scope creep is awful. We struggled with how to handle it for years at Paper Leaf. It’s a tricky balance, isn’t it? We don’t want to be total doormats, but we’re also terrified to nickel-and-dime the client, or damage the relationship. In my experience, though, most agencies – including us, for a ...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Use this Paragraph in Your Proposals and Say Goodbye to Scope Creep
Posted
Use this Paragraph in Your Proposals and Say Goodbye to Scope Creep
Scope creep is awful. We struggled with how to handle it for years at Paper Leaf. It's a tricky balance, isn't it? We don't want to be total doormats, but we're also terrified to nickel-and-dime the client, or damage the relationship. In my experience, though, most agencies – including us, for a ...
Published at Jeff Archibald
5 Simple Rules for Better Project Communication
Posted
5 Simple Rules for Better Project Communication
Every job posting in the world has "good communicator" as a requirement, and we all think we meet that requirement. We all think we're great communicators. We cross our Ts, dot our Is, and use proper punctation. It isn't that easy though, is it? Being good at communication, especially when it com...
Published at Jeff Archibald
The Simple Change that Helped Our Agency Increase Client Satisfaction and Designer Happiness
Posted
I love design. I love being able to work with smart people to diagnose and solve problems with a dose of creativity. I love the interplay between all the core principles of design. I love constantly needing to learn new things, and put them in to practice. But let’s be honest: design isn’t perfe...
Published at Jeff Archibald
A Month in a Design Agency by the Numbers [Infographic]
Posted
I'm a data guy. It took me a while though. For a long time, Andy & I just operated on feel when it came to Paper Leaf, our design agency. Because it was only the two of us for the first couple of years, we could get away with that – there wasn't much overhead, and you don't need that many pr...
Published at Jeff Archibald
False Hustle
Posted
False Hustle
It's easy to be busy; it's hard to be productive, and the two terms are different. Raise your hand if you've spent entire days answering "quick" email after "quick" email; spent hours in your task manager organizing your tasks for productivity; spent a half-day organizing tidying up old design fi...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Why You’re Losing Proposals
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Why You’re Losing Proposals
Losing proposals, and the potentially lucrative contracts that come with winning them, just plain sucks. You know you can do that job – knock it out of the park, even. But for some reason, the prospective client went in a different direction, leaving you, your proposal, and the hours that went in...
Published at Jeff Archibald
What’s Your Proof?
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What’s Your Proof?
What do messages like We create beautiful websites that grow your business; We help businesses succeed online; and Canada's leading digital post-secondary institution all have in common? All those statements are vapid and empty; there's nothing to back them up. There's no proof. Standing by the...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Inside the Black Box of Web Design Pricing
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Inside the Black Box of Web Design Pricing
Web design costs come in a huge range of shapes & sizes. Thanks to that range, clients can struggle with understanding why websites cost what they do, and freelancers/shops can struggle with how to price their services. That's what we're going to uncover: the thought processes, variables, l...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Understanding & Benefiting From Content:Audience Fit
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Understanding & Benefiting From Content:Audience Fit
There are two pieces to the content pie. The first is the content itself – websites, blog posts, articles, ad campaigns, brand messaging, etc. The second is the audience interacting with that content. Those two pieces? They need to fit like they were forever meant to be together. You know. Kinda...
Published at Jeff Archibald
The Blunt Realities of Running Your Own Design Business
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The Blunt Realities of Running Your Own Design Business
My wife Andy and I started Paper Leaf in 2009. We were not bad at design (I think we're pretty damn good now), and really green at business. In some ways, our naivety was a bit of a blessing; had we known what we know now, we probably would have talked ourselves out of starting the business. And ...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Your 60-Hour Work Week is Not a Badge of Honour
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Your 60-Hour Work Week is Not a Badge of Honour
Your 60-hour work week is not a badge of honour. It is a problem. There is a sense of pride over being able to state that we worked an exorbitant amount of hours this week, last week, or last month. I know because I've done it in the past, and probably still do it *sigh*. After all, saying you w...
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