There are many companies out there who for one of several reasons may not have considered the benefits of using a freelancer to design their new website (or print literature/brochure etc) and tend to opt for hiring an agency to do their work simply because they don’t know any better and will invariably looked up “web design in Huddersfield” on google and approached the first few agencies that come up in their search results.
This is fine for some clients, they may prefer the traditional “comfort” factor they get from hiring a company that has offices and a staff of more than one. However, for many smaller companies, this approach is not always the best way of commissioning work and below is a list of reasons outlining the benefits of considering hiring a freelancer instead of an agency. Some you might already have thought of and told prospective clients when trying to win work, others you may not. 1. The cost Lets kick off with the obvious one everyone will have at one point considered. The average freelancer doesn’t have anywhere near the overheads of an established agency such as office space (if the freelancer does have an office, it’s likely to be smaller and with no staff) and staff so here is an immediate and tangible saving that you as a client can make. 2. Simplicity It’s easy for your project to become one of many when working with an agency. Many agencies tend to have at least one “flagship” client who demands more of their time and effort than all of the other “smaller” clients and often they’re paying for the priviledge so naturally agencies will always find more time for these clients and perhaps a little less for the smaller jobs which of course are still important, are less important. A general rule of thumb with a lot of freelancers is that they tend to work from project to project or have only a couple of projects active which means a greater level of focus on yours. 3. We’re always here Freelance is tough business, we work irregular hours to compete, often more than the 5 days a week our agency counterparts work and as such you’ve got a much better chance of pushing your project through quickly with a freelancer who may opt to work on it outside of traditional office hours such as weekends or into the night. This isn’t to say that all freelancers work all the time of course! We’re still human and like free time as much as everyone else. 4. Direct chain of communication If you’ve ever hired an agency in the past you’ll find that usually you’ll deal day to day with an account manager who then passes on your requirements and changes to a designer or developer who implements them then advises your account manager when they’re done. Freelancers these days have to be experts in a number of disciplines. It’s no use being a great designer who can’t clearly communicate with their clients. Freelancers generally have excellent procedures in place for handling both the client liason aspect of the project as well the actual implementation. This gives you the confidence that when you’re passing on your requirements for your project that you’re actually passing them directly to the person who will be doing the work! 5. You get the expertise you need Sounds a bit silly when of course you could hire an agency who design websites instead of a freelancer who designs websites but bear in mind that (linked to #1) if you’re hiring a freelancer, you’re only paying for their skills. If you’re hiring an agency, their rates will be factoring in the cost to them of employing staff who do other things that may not be relevant to your particular project. 6. Your project is more important to a freelancer This may sound like a bold statement but freelancers tend to work from project to project so yours will more often than not be the most important thing they’re working on. Agencies tend to operate with more clients and prioritise work differently, often based on the size of the client. If your project is competing for attention with a £250k website launch there’s a real danger your project may move down the to do list in favour of the big multinational company account who have demanded a launch day for a new promotion at short notice. 7. Speed Dealing directly with the freelancer who is working on your project often shortens the time to completion of your project. There’s no chain involved in getting your requirements implemented and changes can be done straight away rather than falling into the inbox of a designer in an agency who may have 20 other jobs their boss has asked them to complete by the end of the day. 8. Freelancers have networks too At this point as a client you may be half convinced about trying the freelance route when it comes to your next project but are perhaps thinking that if you hire an agency, you’re not only hiring someone who specialised purely in web design but a complete solution which gives you access not only to a designer but perhaps also a developer and a copy writer and someone who specialises in search engine optimisation. This is of course true, by hiring an agency, you’ll get enough resource to complete your project and the cost of the project will reflect this. However, don’t for a second think that freelancers don’t have great networks of contacts too. We stick together and work together on projects based purely on requirements rather than keeping all these staff on salary. 9. We do the work anyway This may come as a surprise to some clients but I can certainly speak from experience here. That project you’ve just paid an agency £900 a day to complete – well, I did it for you anyway but for much less money. Agencies often call in freelance/contract talent to work on projects that they don’t want to turn down but don’t have the in-house resource to complete at the time. I’ve worked on a number of projects as a contractor with a wide range of agencies who have effectively collected a pay-cheque at the end of the project and paid me my “share”. Why not consider removing this excess cost from day 1.. 10. You’re hiring the right person for the job As I’ve mentioned earlier in this list, your project will have specific requirements. When you’re looking to award the project you may find an agency who specialise in what you need. You might find one who does many of the things you need and can provide the remaining resource (usually a freelancer!) to do the job. When you look around for a freelancer, you’re going to be able to find someone with an exact skill set to complete your project on time and budget. To summarise Many of the benefits listed above relate to the cost difference between hiring an agency and a freelancer. One of the aims of this list was to try and dispel some of the ideas clients have about freelancers who work for themselves and operate from home offices. I hope some of the pointers give you food for thought when you’re searching for someone to work on your next project and that you see the many benefits of making use of the growing number of freelancers out there who do great work.
0 Comments
South Coast Design celebrates the success of the first ever Business in Dorset - Summer Social in PooleSouth Coast Design was pleased to host this years Business in Dorset - Summer Social. Over 120 Dorset based business owners and entrepreneurs, gave up their busy Saturday's to attend a fun, social, networking event with complimentary sparkling wine upon arrival and some excellent canapés provided by The Library Café Bar in Poole. David Hartford from Corfe Construction Ltd said :"There has clearly been a lot of effort put into this event, and it's been very different to normal networking events that I've been to in the past. It was much more laid back and everyone was out to have a good time". Attendees got to enjoy the rest of the British summer sun while sitting outside at one of Poole's thriving lounge, café bars situated a stone's throw from central Poole. Throughout the evening plenty of business conversations were had, valuable connections and referrals were made and we're sure we'll see double the attendance at the next event due sometime in the Autumn. South Coast Design would like to thank all of the staff at The Library Café Bar in Poole for all of their hard work during the night, the food was excellent and the selection of craft beers, ciders and fine wines kept all of the guests entertained.
To round off the festivities a small business quiz was held in teams of 2-3 and prizes of a large bottle of champagne for the runner's up Clair James Property Group, with the winner Dee Clayton from DeeClayton.com taking home the first place prize of a £100 voucher off a meal at the Harbour Heights Hotel in Sandbanks. Inspiring new Entrepreneurs across BournemouthOn 21st July 2015. The StartUp Britain - Bus Tour hit the sunny coastal town of Bournemouth on route around many major UK cities, inspiring new businesses and budding entrepreneurs to come on down and take advantage of one of the most well organised and quirky knowledge, advice and networking events Bournemouth has ever had the privilege of hosting. Sponsored by both Natwest & SageUK. The StartUp Britain Bus Tour was able to give all of it's thousands of visitors on the day some great informal advice to anyone looking at making that first step into being their own boss as well as offering guidance to established businesses in creating growth if they have faced stagnated marketing results. South Coast Design's very own Creative Director Bradley Marsh, alongside Jenna Cooper (Director of HI Therapies) & Matt Smith (Director of the Centre for entrepreneurs) were invited LIVE on air by 90.1 Hope FM to host a business discussion group aiming to raise awareness about what the StartUp Britain Bus Tour was aiming to accomplish, as well as sharing their own professional insight into how businesses in Dorset and Bournemouth are evolving, growing and making the most out of events such as these. Over 5,500 business owners and prospective entrepreneurs have taken part in the The StartUp Britain Bus Tour so far in just the first few legs of their UK wide tour, with many more expected to benefit from the wealth of knowledge available absolutely FREE in the later stages of their trip.
The StartUp Britain Bus Tour is due to continue on towards Swindon and further afield as it makes it way across the UK. From all of us at South Coast Design, we wish you all the best of luck on the journey and we will be watching with keen interest what new businesses sprout forth as a result of your amazing input into the UK's business economy. Top 5 tips to creating a solid brand identityLaunching a business is no easy feat. You've got the next big thing right there in front of you, the market research and study groups have shown it's potential, but getting it out there in front of your target audience is a completely different ball game, there's a reason the FTSE 500 invest hundreds of thousands of pounds a year on creating a brand people can trust. We know, you've not got the capital of a FTSE 500 company, that's why South Coast Design are happy to share their top 5 tips to establishing a brand from the get-go that people can rely on and see you as the expert in your business sector. 1) Future-proof your brand - This means getting a design team on board that will be able to create a brand identity that safeguards you from all expansion possibilities. It's fine having a fun, welcoming, informal logo for your business when you're starting out, trying to seem different and quirky. But what happens when you want to franchise your business or approach larger supply chains to take on bulk orders of your product? That cute, half-serious logo isn't so much of a useful tool now is it? You need to hit a happy medium with your company logo. A logo that not only portrays a message to your customers and clients but also keeps you looking professional for years to come, saving you on costly re-brands over the next valuable years of your companies lifespan.
2) Find what makes you different - In the vast majority of business start ups, your great idea has already been done by 20 other entrepreneurs already. Sorry to say it, or at least a variation of your business model has been attempted. Whether they succeeded before you or not is somewhat irrelevant as long as you can identify what makes you different and why customers and clients should choose you over the next sliced bread. Find out and make that your USP, keep it as the mantra of your daily marketing strategy and exploit it. You'd be surprised how many companies approach us asking us how they should market their product and while we're happy to look at their competition and find potential niches that are currently untapped. As a business owner you should really go into business knowing that your product/service is going to sell itself based on the merits that it's the first of it's kind. Otherwise you're constantly going to be following in a more successful competitors footsteps. 3) Surround yourself with inspiration - As a business owner it's hard to loose sight of the fact that you have overheads to cater for, staff to pay and invoices to manage, but that doesn't mean that you have to stop searching for inspiration to drive your brand forward. What gave you your initial drive to start your own business? Do you remember? Isolate yourself around those conditions and keep renewing your drive towards your business. Constantly remind yourself why you're where you are in the first place and keep that mantra evident in all of your quarterly marketing meetings. This will help you build a brand that is constantly being refreshed by your own self determination, which is far stronger than a brand built from the latest market trends and viral marketing fads. 4) Hire staff who know better than you - Let's face it... no one on this planet is the best at everything and at some point in a business owners mind they have to realise that. Sure, you came up with the product or niche in the market. But that's not going to translate to unarguable, solid annual revenue that ultimately keeps your business dreams alive. You need to learn that building a brand is about building a team from within and investing in the people that build up it's foundations. "You can't run an empire from the ground floor" - something I live by today. You have to be able to look at your business like a game of chess, looking down on your pieces and assessing which move is going to be the best in the current game that you're playing, against any opposition. You need to hire the Knights, Rooks, Bishops, Kings and Queens and stop opting for the Pawns if you can. They're the more valuable pieces and are going to allow you to gain more market share, acquire new clients and sell more products. 5) Invest in your brand - Your brand is the best, it is! That's why you have to invest in it. Now this doesn't loosely equate to frivolously spending on un-targeted advertising, this means taking the time to respect the niche that you're in, understand it's target market and push your brand where your potential clients are going to be looking. Sometimes this means going right to the head of the snake and purchasing adverts for a higher premium than you might be comfortable with but it will be worth it. The big players don't mess around with little fish, if you know 80% of your core market are visiting a certain website then ask for rates to advertise there. Create engaging copy that will give your viewers valuable information that they can't get from anywhere else. It's better to spend £1,000 advertising on a high traffic, quality website over a period of 1-3 months than to spend £1,000 advertising on a low traffic inferior website over a period of 12 months. We hope you found these top 5 tips to building your brand useful. They have been carefully thought out by the guys over at South Coast Design, an award winning design agency specialising on corporate branding and advertising. Plant a seed in the mind of your business prospectsBusiness card design in Dorset doesn't come any better than South Coast Design's very own seeded business cards! A hot new marketing trend that many eco-minded companies such as Dove, Tesla Motor Co and MANY more are adopting for this seasons newest business trend. What better way to leave a lasting impression on your potential clients minds than to literally grow a tree in their garden, or become their office plant mascot! It certainly, at the very least is a perfect conversation starter at your local networking events.
Our seeded business cards are the same size as standard UK business cards, fit perfectly in your wallet and pocket and are also the same thickness too, using 100% recycled paper. Impress your business contacts with a stunning design that becomes a beautiful plant. How do seeded business card work? They're not complicated at all! In fact they're so much fun to use your prospects will remember your business for years to come, or as long as the plant stays alive, that is!
If you're interested in hoping on this awesome business trend while it's still fresh contact us today! |
South Coast Design
198 Bournemouth Road Lower Parkstone Poole, Dorset BH14 9HZ T: 0844 824 0009 E: info@southcoastdesign.co.uk |