Why Investing in a Professional Designer can Boost your Business?
There are a lot of things to consider when running your own business, and before you swim too far in the pool of your entrepreneurial journey, you should really take a step back to analyse your business and its position in the industry.
“IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, YOU ARE PLANNING TO FAIL”
- Benjamin Franklin
Speaking from experience, when it comes to planning a business strategy, deadline or goal it is easier said than done. Putting pen to paper and having to think about your journey, visions and future is often a very personal and awakening process, however it is the first step to understanding how your dreams start to become a reality.
One of the most important steps of this process is your businesses identity and its brand strategy. To really get to understand and know what is involved, we have developed a list of steps to get you off on the right foot:
Create a Great Business Name:
Finding the right name for your business can be extremely important for your marketing and branding success. The wrong business name can fail to connect with customers and worse could result in legal issues. So here is what to consider;
Don’t limit your growth – Avoid niching down your business name so you don’t limit your business to one specific product or location. Amazon started as an online book store. Imagine if they branded themselves as ‘Amazon Books’ instead of ‘Amazon’, and then had to create a whole new brand to expand into other industries?
Brainstorm – If you have no idea where to start; my first tip is to begin by writing down some words, sentences or quotes that speak to your values, passions and products or services. Then it’s time to get creative, mix and match your words, create new words if you must, use your trusty thesaurus or synonym dictionary, or you can even head online for some help. There are a number of online name brainstorming tools including:
Shopify Business Name Generator
Namelix
Naminum
Research Online – Once you have a shortlist of names it’s time to conduct a Google, Facebook and Instagram search. More often than not you will find someone, somewhere that is already using your name. If so, you need to consider this before proceeding.
Get Feedback – Now it’s time to run your shortlist by your family, friends and colleagues. Try to get as much feedback as you can from your target audience. Your name should be easy to say, memorable and unique.
Register and Secure the Domain Name – Before you start printing your business cards you might want to check that the name is available first (for Australian businesses, you can do that at the ASIC website). If you’re thinking of having a website, head over to a domain host, such as GoDaddy, to ensure your domain name is available.
2. Create a Brand Strategy:
A brand strategy is essential for long-term success, and that does not mean to put together a couple of ideas and a logo and call it a day. The more detailed you are in your branding strategy, the easier it will be to succeed when you execute those strategies. Now a brand strategy can be hard to define but it encompasses; what your brand stands for, what promises your brand will make to your customers and what personality your brand conveys through marketing. To get you off to a good start in the right direction, we have created a Branding Checklist, which you can sort through and answer what your businesses strengths and weaknesses are and areas for development.
3. Building your Brand:
Branding defines who you are as a business, so we don’t recommend that you do all this alone. Investing into a Professional Designer will allow for you to be guided by their experiences, advice and strategies. The first steps in building your brand are to:
Select a colour pallet
Create your vision/slogan
Design your logo
Develop your website
Print your business cards and branded collateral
Set up your social media accounts
While these might seem like small decisions they can have a big impact on your brand recognition. Above all, you want your brand to look professional and cohesive. If you are looking at hiring a graphic designer or creative agency, look for one that can create all the elements you need.
Regardless of your specialty, the one thing that us creatives will never stop hearing is “I can find someone online for half the price” or “Why are you charging so much for a little logo?”
With Airtasker, Fiverr, Oneflare, and all the other platforms out there, you can find someone to do anything for you at almost any price you are willing to pay (or not pay). Sounds great, right? Not always.
These platforms seem great in theory for businesses that are looking to cut costs by outsourcing to overseas or interstate freelancers, but with the extremely low prices, it makes you question the quality and product you are paying for.
If you are looking for a quick design for an internal business presentation, then sure, a quick and cheap solution may be fine, but for a logo or something at the core of your business, you should never skip on the investment for a great designer. Branding means a lot more to your business, your customers and the value of your products than many people know.
I’m not saying there are no great designers on Airtasker and other freelancing platforms because that’s not true – some of the best designers utilise these websites to find clients. The difference is when businesses spend $50 for a logo on these platforms because it looks like a great deal and is fast and easy, without realising that the design lacks the quality that comes from a professional designer. This is just the reality – a professional designer won’t charge you $50 for a logo. These things cost a lot more time and money than $50 is worth to business.
Why Should You Invest In A Professional Designer Though?
A professional designer will cater the design to your target audience, while tying it all together to meet your brand image and desired direction. A logo is more than just a random image, icon, or text.
A professional designer will prepare the final files for you in formats that are ready for applications onto various environments. Whether it is print files, digital files, or a package of all files you could ever need, a professional designer will provide these for you.
A professional designer will create something unique to your business to compete in your industry.
A professional designer will take pride in their work and will want you to be happy with the work, so quality is at the forefront. You pay for what you get, so a low-cost project will typically have a designer that doesn’t care too much about the quality of their work. They just want to get it done in as little time as possible to make the most of their low-cost project.
If it’s an option, you should always try to support your local economy. Investing in the Australian creative industry should always be the first choice before outsourcing to an overseas freelancer to save costs.
Think of the value of your business and the expected business improvement from your professional design needs.
This one is obvious, but design is visual – consumers will always see it, so why would you skimp on the investment of that design? It’s not something you can hide away and it’s often the first thing a customer will see. You may have a great quality product but low-quality collateral to promote that product, so how is anybody going to take that high-quality product seriously?
But before you even talk to a professional designer, you need to complete the above checklist, because not only will it help the designer understand what you want and how you wish for it to be achieved, but it helps you to understand your purpose and goals for your business.
I could go on and add many more points to this list, but I think you get the idea. Quality means a lot when it comes to design work, and although cheap work from an overseas freelancer may sound like a great idea, you’re likely missing out on all the quality that is going to lead to actual value for your business’ future growth.
If you would like to discuss your graphic design or brand development needs, we would be happy to start a conversion around how we can assist. Get in touch with our team and see how we can work on turning your ideas into a reality!
