| |
| |
|
Management Information |
|
|
|
Marketing Miracle: Outsource Your Creative Services
The current economy is causing most companies to tighten their belts. With limited staffing and a restricted budget, how do you continue to promote your business? The simple solution is the occasional or ongoing use of outside resources such as graphic designers, writers, webmasters, and other creative talent. There are some real advantages to outsourcing. First, your business only has to purchase the services you need, when you need them. This saves on overhead costs such as equipment, office space, salaries, and benefits. Project costs are specified in a contract and monitored on a regular basis. Second, by outsourcing services to a firm, your organization can realize the expertise of an entire group of creative talent. With more resources, you can rest assured your deadlines are met without compromising quality. With an expanded network of creative experts, customized skills are focused on designated projects, providing a higher level of service. You may also want to consider a retainer agreement. In a retainer agreement, you pay an outside firm a specified amount each month to retain their services for your company. This can be an advantage if your business has an ongoing need for project management for websites, publications, advertising placement, and ongoing campaigns and marketing efforts. However, many people are not sure how to hire a firm. Here are some tips to help you evaluate any type of creative services: · Don't just go with the first creative firm you find. Do your research. Ask colleagues, customers, and other professional organizations for suggestions. Visit the company's website to view their online portfolio and read any articles they have written. This will help you understand the firm's areas of expertise and their approach. · Meet in-person with a representative from the firm. This will help you gain a deeper understanding of the firm's personality. When you meet with a creative firm for the first time, be sure to ask all the questions you might have about communication, workflow, billing, timelines, and so on. · When considering which firm you want to work with, take some time to review their list of clients and ask about past projects. Ask for references. · Every firm has a unique look and feel to their design pieces. Review a potential firm's portfolio to see if you like their creative work. Ask the designer if they can help you develop a targeted product that will address your unique needs. · Do you feel comfortable with the person you will be working with? Will they be able to get back to you in a timely manner? Can they meet your deadlines? · Take time to discuss their pricing structure. When evaluating the cost, ask how value is added to justify certain pricing structures. For example, working with a freelancer will probably cost less than working with an entire firm. However, it may take more time and one person has a limited range of expertise, as well as time constraints. He or she may have to outsource certain components of your project. In the long run, you may be saving money by choosing to work with a team of experts who can provide a wide range of services under one roof. Outsourcing can make your business easier to run and more profitable. You'll free up time and resources so you can concentrate on your core business concerns. Creative firms offer a broad range of integrated services to move your company forward. More than ever, business survival depends upon the ability to effectively market and promote your services, as well as keeping costs down. For your next campaign, outsourcing may be the perfect solution to make the difference in your bottom line. Wendy Maynard, your friendly marketing maven, is the owner of Kinesis. Kinesis specializes in marketing, graphic and website design, and business writing. Visit http://www.kinesisinc.com/resources/articles.html for more articles and free marketing wisdom. You can visit her marketing blog, Kinetic Ideas at: http://www.wendy.kinesisinc.com Want to harness the power of kinetic marketing? Sign up for Kinesis Quickies, a free bi-monthly marketing e-newsletter: http://www.news.kinesisinc.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Show Me the Money! Are you ready to raise money for your startup?Leslie Mitts, Managing Practice Leader at the Wharton SBDC and Lead Advisor for the Wharton Venture Initiation Program, tells us that most entrepreneurs coming through her programs are focused on raising capital, even though there are higher priorities in many of their businesses. Since fresh dollars help drive the business engine, this is a natural entrepreneurial concern. Innovation Management - Eliciting Dominant Ideas Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas. Why Half of All Mergers Fail After the Honeymoon Ends Marriages and corporate mergers in America have at least one thing in common, more than 50 percent end up on the rocks. In fact, according to a McKinsey study, only 23 percent ever recover the costs of walking down the corporate aisle. Experiences of Management Coaching (Part 2) In our experience, we have found that there are several reasons managers fail to get employees to see and acknowledge that they have a problem.They assume. Sweet Parting Of Ways Why settle for bad feelings when your employee leaves the firm? Human resource managers can help to sweeten the occasion during the exit interview, and get valuable information to help the company in the new knowledge age.More often than not, human resource (HR) managers place more importance on job interviews than on exit interviews. What Every Manager Should Know About How to Conduct Successful Training Activities Whether you are training preschoolers in the classroom or executives in the board room, here are 15 premises you might want to keep in mind the next time you're designing training activities.1. Top Ten Tips About Communicating with Your Employees Effectively Communication is the basis of who you are as a manager/leader in business. The rules are simple and the good news is that you can learn them and develop your skills. Building the Trust in Your Employees - 12 Easy Tips In Stephen Covey's great book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", he talks about the 'emotional bank account', where you have to build a credit in your relationship with the individuals who you work with (and everyone else as well!).If what you do isn't 'trustworthy', then all you have done in your gentle listening and asking great and interested questions to build, is to 'debit' your account. How To Jump Start Your Profits and Keep Your Profits Rolling There are so many ways to jump start your prifits and keep your profit rolling. These top 20 ways are essential if you want to run a successful business. 5 Steps to Identify Core Processes Part Two of Creating Well-Defined Processes SeriesNext Week: ImplementationLast week, we raised the question: how do you know where to begin? How can you identify a gap in one of your company's core processes?The answer: follow the money trail?But how do you follow the money trail, and what will that mean for your business? To answer this, let's look at five steps to identify your core processes and any needs for change.Step 1: Define Your Business ModelThe following question might sound very basic, but you should first ask yourself: what business am I in? You'll ask this because you want to follow the money trail: to identify how exactly you earn revenue and from where that revenue comes. New Job, New Culture: Do You Fit In? It seemed like a good decision at the time. A 10-percent raise, an easier commute and a chance to move up the corporate ladder. The New Five Truths of Employee Motivation Motivation is a term that is so widely used, yet many managers know little about how it really works. But it doesn't have to be confusing-in fact, it's quite simple. One Thing You Cant Hide One of the most important of all motivators at work is consideration. Employees report that the best managers they ever had were people who cared about them as people and as friends. Creativity and Innovation Management: The Creative State Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas. Using an Appraisal to Benefit Your Organization PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS BENEFIT THE ORGANIZATION:Appraisals help spot employees with potential for advancement. Appraisals bring attention to the so-called high-potentials - people who have both the will and the ability to excel in the organization. Keep The Faith - Transform The Fear FEAR! To what extent does fear rule your life? How is fear controlling or motivating you? Bring up the topic and watch people react. Our lives incorporate so many beliefs about fear- reinforced by what we tell ourselves and what we hear from others. Let the Professionals Help You Out - Outsource As your website grows in terms of attracting more footfalls, generating more business, and providing more content; it will demand more time and attention from you to continue performing. As a businessperson, it is advisable that you concentrate on your core competency, which is the reason why you created the website in the first place. Retaining An Expert -- What Every Business Owner Needs To Know As an entrepreneur, hiring an expert can be one of the most efficient ways to turbo-charge your business. However, thousands of consultants flood the Information Highway, and each one promises to positively impact your bottom line. Align The Enterprise & Make Beautiful Music Together Q: Why is a great business like a great marching band?A: The players in both organizations are in alignment.Alignment? Yes, Alignment. Leadership: Stoking The Success Train Everyone wants to succeed yet everyone has a different perception of what success means and what it will bring into their lives. It is a means of gaining financial freedom for some and for others it means a healthy, happy family life.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
