The Value of Hiring a Creative Expert

When starting a business, the two basic things your business needs is a logo and a website. 

If you have a store, maybe you can get by with selling through Etsy or social media for a while, but when it comes time to make your business legit, a logo and a website are the very first things you are going to need if you want people to take you seriously. 

I always say branding and a website are the building blocks of any business. I find it hard to imagine a credible, successful business without these two components.

Branding is the personality and identity of your business. The purpose of branding is to tell your customer or client what your business is about. It is also important for attracting your dream clients!

For instance, If you sell colorful, and exciting cupcakes but your branding is corporate looking and a bit drab, you are actually losing your target customer. Sometimes, a logo is the first impression of your business. On top of that, if you don’t have a legitimate, easy way to order online, you are making it very hard for people to order from you or trust you, which might end up turning them away. No one likes a sketchy payment system….it’s sketchy.

Now you see how important these two things are to a business. So, if these components are so important, why so often do I see people asking for a website and branding; “at a low price” “a reasonable price” “that won’t break my bank” “that won’t cost me an arm and a leg”.

I get it…. you don’t want to spend 5 figures when you are first starting a business. But budgeting 4 figures for branding and a website is not unreasonable. Both branding and web design, are very valuable services that will drive sales and build your business’ credibility. 

These are basic investments when you are beginning your business. If you want to be a serious business owner, then you have to invest like one. 

Are you thinking… Well, my business is already doing fine without these things. Okay…that’s great…. think about how much better you could be doing if you took it to the next level! You are not only going to have excited new customers but you are going to have returning customers that are going to be impressed by your growth. 

Here are some other things to think about when you are hiring your creative expert. 

They are the expert

A lot of times people end up trying to DYI because they want to save the money. Yes, I believe you can do anything you set your mind to but remember when hiring an expert, they are the expert. Especially when you are thinking about your website. 

There are so many website builders out there that have made it possible to build your own website, but just because it’s possible, doesn’t mean you should. A web designer knows the ins and outs of not only building a website but they also have knowledge about strategic design. So maybe you are a bit of a natural tech guru and you build this website you think is awesome, but your design is all out of wack! The front end design is just as important as functionality and sometimes it can be hard for non-designers to see that. 

If I am having an issue with my car, yeah I could probably look up how to fix this or that on youtube. I’m no mechanic but I don’t feel like spending the money and I am a strong independent woman. I can do it. I don’t need no man. I watched the YouTube tutorial on how to fix the thingy. And…. a week later I’m broke down in the middle of nowhere. 

I guess I should have just left it up to the expert. 

What I’m saying, is maybe at first you build something yourself that ‘works’ you spend all this time learning how to use this website builder and building your site. Then a few months down the road, you realize it’s just not working and you are back to square one, looking to hire a designer. 

get it done right

When thinking about your logo or website, this really isn’t the place to cut corners. It’s is a basic business investment. If you don’t have it done right the first time, the investment could end up costing you more in the long run.

This is not the time to bargain shop! 

If you come across a designer that is offering a logo for $20, I wouldn’t recommend hiring them. To me, that honestly comes off a bit sketchy. If your only giving someone a $20 dollar incentive to create something as important as the identity for your business, they probably aren’t going to do that great of a job.

This price actually doesn’t make any sense at all and I have actually seen people advertise their design services for this much money. A designer is worth so much more! 

Designers are often so desperate for a client they are willing to be paid nothing. 

When it comes to services, of course, negotiation is okay to some extent, but just remember negotiation etiquette. If you are looking to hire a designer and have a consultation call set up, be sure to look at their prices first to get an idea of what they charge. You don’t want to get on the phone with them and say your budget is $500 dollars for web design when they normally charge $2,500. Of course, it is also the designer's job to get an idea of what your budget is before they get on the phone with you. 

There are some situations where negotiating a lower price is acceptable and in this case, the designer will probably let you know. Or this may even be how a designer is marketing these services. For instance, if you agreed to trade services, if they are offering work for testimonials, or if they are building their portfolio. 

With that being said, there should be a happy medium. Just because a designer is new doesn’t mean they should be offering their services for free or for pennies. Again, paying $20 dollars for a logo is ridiculous. Just like you, a designer has to pay taxes on that project. 

behind the scenes 

So why exactly are design services so expensive? 

There is a lot of work behind the scenes that goes into a web design or logo design that a client doesn’t see.

Let’s take web design for instance.

Going back to those stubborn DYI’ers… You have your site up and running. It is functional. People can buy your products, or book a consultation for one on one coaching. Wait…there are a few other boring but very important things that need to be implemented. Search engine optimization and mobile optimization.

If you don’t know anything about SEO (search engine optimization), this is something that can involve a lot of time-consuming research, and attention to detail if you want SEO to be done right. SEO could actually be a job on its own. SEO is what is going to get you to show up on a search engine. If you are just launching your organic skincare line, you aren’t automatically just going to show up on the first page of Google when someone types in ‘organic skincare’. There are thousands of other skincare brands out there. That is is why it is important to do research on popular keywords that could be associated with your business and getting everything on your site optimized. It goes all the way down to how each of the photos on your website is named.

This is a component of web design you might want to think about investing in.

On to the topic of mobile optimization. Mobile optimization is simply making your website flexible for viewing on smaller screens. Many website builders market automatic mobile optimization but depending on the design, sometimes it just doesn’t work that way. Mobile optimization is very important since about 50% of your views will be on a mobile device!

If your mobile version is all out of wack and hard to navigate, or hard to read, you could lose potential clients. True mobile optimization can often require custom code. This is another reason why hiring a web designer is very valuable.

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When it comes to hiring a designer, keep in mind the value they providing for your business. 

When your business is just starting out it can be hard to make those large investments but these investments will pay off in the end. 

If you are going to make the investment, make sure it’s done right. That means you may have to pay a little more upfront, but it will be worth it. You don’t have to hire an agency a pay 5 figures, but a couple thousand dollars is a small price to pay for the value of your brand identity and website. 

Remember designers put in a lot of work behind the scenes. They conduct research and implement valuable knowledge to create a strategic design for your business that will be very beneficial to your business.

Ready to make this investment for your business? I can help you!