Have you considered saving some bucks buy designing your own brochure or website? $40 for a brochure template or $100 for access to a website builder for a year sounds like a steal but what is being robbed is your business’s capacity for a better branding perception and sales. Here are some reasons why you can’t afford to go cheap with your next design project by doing it yourself:
Have a Dedicated Team to Your Design Assignment
You are probably a business owner or a marketing director. You have a limited time and financial budget to put towards gathering all of the text, finding photos, fact checking, getting bids from printers and production time. You probably spend a big chunk of your time managing other people, paying bills, making sales and heck, functioning as the company’s HR/janitor/receptionist/production staff.
Do you really think that you have enough time in your day to create a unique, story telling piece that will bring in business? Heck no; you are probably working well over 8 hours a day to begin with. It’s doubtful that you will physically have the time to design a great brochure or website with attention to detail.
Cost You Less
Your time is money. There is only one of you. Only one CEO to review proposals, authorize purchase orders or interview more staff. As it is your business, there are just some things that you can’t be replaced by another person but this is one of them. Your billing rate is probably higher than the billing rate of a trained professional to create your design. Why not save money per hour by outsourcing the task?
You also may not have the connections and know-how to save on production costs. You will probably go with the first printer you find on Google, but what if your local designer knows a great printer with great prices? What if trimming your brochure a inch saves you tons? Do you have the time to overcome this costly learning curve that a designer has already gone through?
Mistakes are Less Likely
Again, a professional designer will know what they are doing. The have been doing this for years and may have even bothered to go to a university to get trained in the industry.
They can make profession recommendations that will save you money.
One example is that they will recommend a good server that will serve your website well; you won’t have a risk of paying for server features you don’t need or go too cheap by getting a server that just can cut the technical demands of your website, causing down time.
They will know the best places to find designer paper, the best printers to source to, the most economic options to physically manufacturing your brochure. Imagine accidentally ordering your brochure on paper that falls apart or printing appointment cards that you can’t write on? A good designer is likely to stop such problems in the bud. But if something slips by…
Mistakes Will be Covered by the Agency
Let’s say a print job comes back, but it is all smeared or the folds are backwards. Occassionally, it happens but it doesn’t have to be on your time. If you commissioned the designer to oversee your print production, the designer will cover the expense of re-prints if the printer doesn’t. Heck, they might not even tell you there was a problem and just over the re-prints without taking time out of your busy day.
They Live and Breathe Design
You are probably a master dog whisperer, chef, or accountant… whatever talent is needed to run your business. You may not be a great designer and that’s okay; you can’t be great at everything.
Design is a combination of technical knowledge and talent for design. I know I am not a great accountant, chef or fitness trainer and I admit it. Tons of people admit they are bad at math but are less likely to admit they are bad at an art. It is okay to admit that you were gifted with the designer’s eye.
It can be a painful thing to admit your weaknesses but once you do, you can focus on your strengths and delegate out what would be best assigned to someone else.
They Ask Questions
You are too close to your business to ask the same questions a new customer of yours would ask. What’s your philosophy? What makes your business different from your competitors? Why should i spend more money for your service here when your competitor down the street charges less?
Your designer can ask you these questions and show the answer in your design or subtly/passively answer these questions within the design.
Your designer can help uncover your business’s story. You are kidding yourself if you think you sell products. People buy brands. Brands are shaped by stories crafted by your designer. You may find that your customers feel they are buying a healthier life through clean drinking water from you but you still seem to think you are selling a physically a metal cylinder that you call a water softener. With you designer asking you the right questions, you may find answers about your company that you had no clue existed and unlock potential sales by learning your own story.
Doing It DIY Just Does Not Cut It.
Sure, you can make a DIY website with a free website builder or download a free template from the internet for a brochure but you will end up with just _a_ website or _a_ brochure but that does not mean it will be a good one. A lot of knowledge and background information about multiple design and marketing know-how combined to make a good piece and taking a one-hour course of how to use a business publishing program still will not output the same quality of work that a designer can offer you.
You have to ask yourself, can you afford to pay for that brochure or website twice over, first your attempt to create, then you outsourcing the design to a contractor?
Can you afford the loss in business that your un-mastered design skills will bring to the table? If a design looks cheap, your business will look cheap and forgetable and you are at risk for losing customers.