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Expert Answers to Biz Questions
Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.
Business Design & Marketing: Freelancer, In-House or Creative Agency?
So, you need help with your marketing and your design. You have decided you can’t do it all yourself; you don’t have the skills, the time, or the inclination. So, what are your options? Luckily, in today’s booming creative marketplace, you have several valuable alternatives. You can develop an in-house team, hire a freelancer or two, or work with a creative agency.
Which of these options should you choose? Every business is different, but there are some key points that you can look at to help make the best decision for your company.
Freelancer
A freelancer can be a great resource when you want someone to step into a project where you don’t have the skills or the resources. Or a freelancer can be the best choice when you need a specialist skill added to the team. They can be a support to you in busy periods, and you will be able to downsize once you have completed a project or no longer need their expertise. But it can be difficult to find the right freelancer. Often it takes a great deal of time and a bit of trial and error to match yourself with the right person, which is not good if you are working to a tight deadline. There will always be a learning curve with getting them used to your culture and brand. And if the freelancer turns out to be less than reliable, you have the hassle of finding someone to replace them.
In-House
Developing an in-house marketing and design team is a good option as it helps you keep everything under one roof, and it also brings together everyone in a close team relationship. Having everything under one roof is efficient, and it is usually convenient. And your team will already understand your brand and your culture. But an in-house team does have its disadvantages. For a start, it can be expensive. You will need to find the right people and pay the right wages to keep them. You will also need to deal with benefits and other costs. Plus, if you need extra help on projects such as Flashbang video production where you do not already have the skills in-house, you will end up paying even more to bring extra people in. And you also miss out on the outside perspective that others bring that can breathe fresh life into your company and ideas. Sometimes you can fall into the trap of being unable to see past what you already know – you are too close to your brand to be able to develop it fully.
Creative Agency
A creative agency brings many benefits to your company. They bring expertise and specialist skills, honed from a lot of time working in the industry. They also bring high quality to the table – you will know that you can rely on this quality since you will have found an agency with top-quality feedback. They bring a new perspective to your project, too, by guiding you in different directions to those paths that you may have been stuck on. And an agency brings overarching guidance to projects, with a multidisciplinary skill set that helps you get ahead.
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