Running a nightclub, either as the owner or the marketing director, is a big challenge.  Being efficient is essential, especially because you probably wear many hats.  And in the case of the business owner, this is probably not your only business.  One way business owners deal with “efficiency” is by contemplating outsourcing their work to others.  You can outsource a TON of your work (accounting, business plan development, staffing, etc.), but we want to focus specifically on outsourcing your digital work.  It could be anything from design work, front-end development, back-end development, search engine marketing marketing, to anything else that needs to be done digitally.

There are some very strong reasons for outsourcing, and likewise the are some equally strong reasons against outsourcing. In the blog post below, I’ll take you through the pros and cons, which will hopefully prove to be helpful to those businesses who are trying to decide on whether or not to outsource.

Pros of Outsourcing

1. Stop Doing Designs Yourself!

Sometimes marketing directors or business owners think that they are graphic designers.  This might get you by for a short period of time, but you can’t be messing around with this stuff when the pedal hits the metal and your business is picking up steam.  One of the principles that is key to growing your business is that you need to be able to leverage your time and efforts.  You need to outsource your design work so you can focus on working ON the business, not IN the business.

2. Potential for Higher Income

While outsourcing work to others may increase your expenses, it also frees up more time for you to do other things, which should allow you to increase your income. Maybe the time that you save can be used to work on marketing your services, other client projects or developing new products and services.  Personally, my time is worth $300/hr.  So I look at every task in terms of “is this worth my time or is it worth paying someone else to do it.”

3. Increased Efficiency

Like any business owner, you will never have the time to do everything that you want or need for your business. However, outsourcing some work can help to free up time that will allow you to focus on the things that you determine are most important. The increase in efficiency comes when you are able to spend a little bit of money (comparatively) that will free you up to do work that will help you to make a lot of money (comparatively).

4. Allows You to Focus on Your Strengths

I’m going to use a typical nightclub as an example since the nightlife is what my company focuses on.  One of the downsides to being a business owner or marketing director of a nightclub is that that you have to do everything for your business, whether it is an area of personal strength or weakness.  Ultimately, your strength as a nightclub needs to create events and operate the nightclub to provide the best experience possible for your patrons.  By outsourcing some work that is not in your strongest areas (graphic design) you can free up more time to work on what your company is strong at.  Even if outsourcing doesn’t increase your income, if it helps to make your work more enjoyable by eliminating or reducing some of the things you dislike, it may be worth doing.

5. Transition from Outsourcing to In-House

If you are currently outsourcing and you would like to run a full-time graphic & web department with employees at some point in the future, outsourcing to an agency for now could be a good transition. Very few businesses have the financial capability to take on an employee with a set salary and benefits without funding, but outsourcing work is much more feasible. While outsourcing you can get a feel for who you might like to hire as an employee when the time comes, and you can work to increase revenues and build the business to a point where you could hire an employee.

Cons of Outsourcing

1. Your Reputation Depends on the Quality of Others’ Work

When you are outsourcing, you’re trusting someone outside of your office with your brand. Your reputation is at stake. One of the most significant reasons businesses choose not to outsource is because of concerns over the quality.  Finding the right agency with is not always easy

If you outsource to a freelance designer and he’s gone on vacation or late on the project, your reputation can take a hit.  This is a main reason why you should outsource to a design shop, and not a freelance designer.

2. More Administration and Oversight Work

We all hate babysitting.  While outsourcing can help to free up some of your time, it also means that you’ll have more administrative and oversight responsibilities. Ideally you can find a design shop who needs very little supervision whom you can trust to do quality work, but those relationships usually take some time to develop.

3. Dealing with the Middleman

In some cases you’ll hire a freelance designer or agency and they are actually outsourcing work themselves to other freelancers or agencies.  This can clog up communication and things can get sticky.  If you find out you’re dealing with a middle man, just make sure the communication flows so that you don’t even notice.

4. Reduced Control Over Meeting Deadlines

Being able to meet deadlines is a critical to keeping your your business running.  As you outsource parts of your design, or the whole thing, you will have less control over when the work is complete, as you will be relying on the agency that you have hired. This is just one of the reasons why you need to be very careful about hiring the right agency.  Also, it’s a good idea to build in some time for unexpected delays by setting a deadline for the service provider that is at least a few days prior to the real deadline of the client. That gives you time to review the work and to deal with any setbacks.

5. It Takes Time and Effort to Find the Right People

Unfortunately, finding the right person (or people) can be a real challenge, and you may go through some bad experiences along the way. During this time it means that you’ll be dedicating extra time for finding the right people and evaluating their work.

You Must Decide for Yourself

As with just about anything in life, the pros and cons mean that there is no absolute right or wrong decision when it comes to outsourcing. You’ll need to weight the pros and cons and see how they fit with your goals, your process, and your way of doing business. If you have words of wisdom from your own experience, please feel free to share in the comments.

Selecting a graphic design firm can be a difficult process at best. Initially, size and cost may be your top criteria, and they certainly do factor in to some degree, but several other aspects are just as important and worth noting. Understanding exactly who and how design services are offered will help you in making the selection process easier.

First and foremost, we are a small firm of graphic designers.  Admittedly, we’re interested in gaining your business. That being said, we believe we can still be objective in shedding some light on the process of choosing design services. This article is based on six years of observation and experience in the graphic design industry.

Large Firms (Size Matters … Sometimes)

A large design firm will give you a sense of stability just by the sheer size of their portfolio, number of staff, and resources available. They offer a wide variety of services across several media such as radio, TV, print, etc.. If that’s your situation a large firm should be your focus. On the other hand, if your project is within a specific area or two such as web, print, or multimedia, a small firm or independent designer may be an excellent choice.

Another consideration is teamwork. As the saying goes, “two heads are better than one.” Depending on the scope of the project different perspectives during the concept phase can be a distinct advantage. While multi-person firms assign a design team, many independent designers overcome this by having their work critiqued by fellow designers or submitting their work to online design forums for review.

Small Firms

Small firms and independents may not have a sample of your specific need, so it’s important to look at the solutions they’ve provided other clients. They tend to be more motivated in getting your business, so you’ll often get a more personal level of service, and work directly with the person responsible for your project. Furthermore, you’ll generally pay less due to reduced overhead costs. In many cases independent designers will have more design experience than the combined years of a design team at an agency. Many talented designers tend to either move up the ladder or start their own firm due to pay ceilings at a firm.

Variety of talent is another consideration. Large firms may have one or two copywriters or illustrators on staff to choose from. Small firms and independents have the flexibility of offering several established outside vendors to specifically fit your individual tastes, style and preferences.

Also, consider that the designer or designers working at a large firm may not be particularly interested or excited about your project, or even proficient in that area of design; they don’t have control of what’s assigned to them. While this may or may not be the case at a small firm, an independent designer will typically have a high level of interest and motivation, because they want to expand their portfolio and client list…especially if your project type or industry is new to them. If they contacted you it’s likely they’ve already done some background research on your company.

Finally, with advances in computer technology and declining prices, independents and small firms use the same or higher levels of hardware and software as large firms. They also don’t have to go through the approval process and internal IT departments, so their upgrades happen in days rather than months.

Conclusion

When you are looking for design services remember that you don’t have to know exactly what you need; that’s what a design professional is for. They will offer specific solutions according to your needs. If price is a concern, be upfront about it and ask for a range of two or three estimates. Be aware that the lower figures mean that less time will be devoted to research and concept development; it doesn’t mean that the designer is reducing their hourly rate. Less time translates into a less creative and unique piece.

Start by interviewing several design firms before making a decision. Ask them what their hourly rate for creative work is, and view their portfolios. If you’re happy with the solutions they’ve provided other clients, comfortable with the way they present themselves, and think you’d enjoy working with them…hire them. Clients who understand the value of good design realize that a talented designer has the ability to influence their existing and potential market; create a positive perception of their business, and ultimately increase their revenue.

Thinking about hiring a graphic design firm?  If so, you probably already know that there are tons of freelance designers and design firms for you to choose from and not all of these design companies are the same. If you choose the wrong design company, you could end up wasting your money; worst off, causing damage to your brand.

How can you be certain that the logo design and graphic design company you choose is right for your needs? These are the most important traits to look for in your design company.

1. Experience—WARNING:  The design industry is plagued with newbie freelancers and inexperienced companies that simply don’t know what they’re doing.  In the last year art schools have been graduating ANYONE that can open Photoshop, but not true artistic talent.  You want to make sure the graphic design firm or freelancer you hire has proper experience handling all types of design work. You need a company with a proven track record of delivering quality designs in a timely manner. Experienced companies will be likelier to take a professional approach than a new design firm.  Of course, the more experience, the more they can charge.
2. Familiarity with your industry—If you’re a legal firm, find a design firm that knows how to give a “professional services” look & feel.  It’s important that your design firm actually understands your company and knows the challenges you face building a presence in your industry. The best design company will have worked within your industry in the past, so they’ll have an idea of what type of designs work best with reaching your target audience.  Ask the all-important question:  have you done work in my industry, and if so, show me.
3. Complete branding services—In addition to offering design work, it’s also important that your design firm offers complementary services like web design, banner design, print design, and more. Designing your website is totally different than designing your brochures, but a design firm needs to have the capacity for both.  This way, you don’t have to hire a bunch of different companies to handle all of your design needs. Everything will come from under one roof, so you get a more consistent branding and marketing campaign.
4. Good listening skills— Can your design firm be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger?  Design is a cooperative process. It’s important that the graphic design firm you choose actually listens to you more than talks to you. You want them to pay attention to your needs, understand your goals, and incorporate your feedback into the final design they create. Too many design companies get angry too quickly, talk to much, ignore clients and act independently, leaving clients unsatisfied.
5. A strong portfolio—Before you hire any graphic design firm, you need to see examples of their work. The best design companies will be happy to show you samples of logos, websites, print ads, etc. that they have created in the past. If a design firm can’t show you a portfolio of their work, don’t do business with them.

Choosing the right graphic design firm doesn’t have to be a headache. Just make sure you choose a design company that has all of these traits, and you’ll be sure to choose the right service provider.

Often businesses spend as much time and effort gathering new customers as they do on anything else. It’s also one of the most costly functions of doing business. So it’s important to make sure you don’t lose the customers you’ve spent so much energy to acquire. The alternative is to continue with the time-consuming process of finding new customers from an ever-shrinking pool of prospects. And since it costs much less to keep existing customers instead of constantly replacing them, it just makes good business sense to do what it takes to keep them coming back.

Regular communication with your customers lets them know how much you value them and their business. Show them that you care by offering valuable information such as tips on how to use your products and services more effectively, event announcements, information on upcoming new products and expanded services, and special discounts on existing ones.

Why E-mail newsletters?

Using an e-mail newsletter can be an effective, low-cost method for staying in touch with your customers. It helps reduce churn and can easily generate more business from customers you’ve already spent a great deal of effort to win. Since there are no mailing and printing costs involved, it’s also very gentle to your bottom-line. Another benefit is the almost instantaneous delivery that e-mail affords. You don’t have to worry whether the Post Office will get the newsletter to your customers in time for them to take advantage of a special offer.

The Creative Complex has many clients that use us to design and their emails.  Some are e-mail newsletters while others are quick one-time promos. Customers will appreciate the regular communication and you could be rewarded with more business from your existing customer base.

Request a Quote:  Let us know if you’re interested in our email newsletters or if you have any questions about our services, we’re here to serve you.

We’ve learned a lot over the past 6 years of being in business.  We decided that we want to start sharing our experiences so we can help improve graphic design around the world.  We’ve decided to release our “secret formula” on how we handle our graphic design clients.

Actually, it’s not a “secret formula” at all.  These are things that are very “duh” if you think about them, we just don’t always do them.

Step 1:  Getting to Know the Client

When you go to a dating website, they have you fill out a questionnaire to “find your fit” with another mate, right?  This questionnaire serves a great purpose:  to tell the other person what you are like.

In the same way, you need to be discovering what your client is like.  Use these questions to interview each new client:

New Client Profile

Instructions to Client: Our goal is to put ourselves in your shoes so we can become a part of your company’s vision, goals, and objectives. We want to get to know you like we know ourselves. Please fill out this form for our internal records. Include everything that you would cover in a five-minute interview.

• About Us:  Your company’s reason for being and your guiding principles.
• Mission, Vision, Goals: What is your company’s reason for being and its guiding principles?
• Target Audience: Who is our target audience? Age, Gender, Location, Income level, Social class and occupation, Education?
• Industry: What industry are you in? Is it a growth industry? What changes do you foresee in the industry, short term and long term? How will your company be poised to take advantage of them??
• Strengths and Core Competencies: Describe your strengths and core competencies and what factors will make the company succeed? What do you think your major competitive strengths will be?
• Products/Services: What products/services do you sell?
• Tone: In what manner should we speak to our target audience? That is, should we use technical language; marketing hype; standard, straightforward English; or a combination of these tones?
• Niche: In one short paragraph, define your niche, your unique corner of the market.

Caution CrossFit came to The Creative Complex for a logo and a website. When the gym finally opened, they invited us over for a work out. Now, all Creative Complex employees have memberships to Caution CrossFit.

Creative Complex visits Caution CrossFit

Eco Twin Bin descends on The Creative Complex and now we use it every day!

I couldn’t agree more. This saying applies across the board for everyone. Although with every job, you get to the point where you need a break from the repetitiveness and need to find an outlet.

For most artists, it is in the form of personal projects that let you create with no restrictions and gives you the freedom to explore new things that wouldn’t normally be allowed during client work. We try to do this as often as we could to keep our sanity and be able to constantly evolve. We will feature our personal projects periodically in our blog from our talented designers to showcase our talents and to help inspire others to do the same and find their outlet.

This piece was done a while back and is entitled “What is.” It came about after a discussion about art and what it is to you. Prints will soon be available in our store coming soon. Stay tuned…

-Ruben Vazquez