Is Outsourcing Right For Your Marketing Campaign Article

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Is Outsourcing Right For Your Marketing Campaign

Some tips on how to evaluate and sign freelance and agency talent.

Author: Lynne Saarte

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Many companies are outsourcing these days, from auto makers to book publishers. With the economy in a downturn and gas prices getting closer to matching the minimum wage per hour, companies have to do something to stay afloat. Outsourcing your copywriters, graphic designers and other creative talent can mean that you can put that money elsewhere, like in your brochure or catalog printing budgets.

Freelancers and public relations or advertising agencies are an excellent way to get quality work, without having to pay as much in employment taxes because freelancers act as independent contractors. You also save money in overhead costs, like office space, equipment and benefits. You can get more resources, meaning you can hire an entire creative team to work only when you need them, instead of paying salaries to people you might not use for a few months out of the year.

If you are not sure when you will need a creative team’s services, you can put the creative team or agency on a retainer. This gives you the opportunity to call up a team when needed if you have an ongoing campaign that might need tweaking or additions throughout the year.

If outsourcing is one of those options you are considering to help out your budget, here are some tips on how to evaluate and sign freelance and agency talent:

Do your research first. Do not pick the first creative professional or creative agency you find. Google “top creative agencies” and your city or state. You can get good leads from associations, like the Association of Professional Freelance Copywriters (www.aopfc.com/copywriters.html) or the American Institute of Graphic Arts (www.aiga.org). These types of associations can tell you how to find a good creative professional and many even have job boards where you can post your job, or they might have databases of resumes in which you can look through to find the professional that is just right for you.

Meet in person, if possible. If you are going with a local creative firm or creative pro, have a face-to-face meeting with them so that you can make sure that your personalities fit. Think of it as an informal interview and ask questions about workflow, billing, timelines and anything else you need to know.

Review their client list or past work and ask for references. If you are looking for a designer, looking at past work can give you a preview of what kind of design you might get. You can also judge a copywriter’s writing style from looking at past clips (writing samples).

Ask about pricing. Do they charge by the hour or by the project? What happens if they go over their allotted hours? Do they want to get paid once a month, every two weeks, or do they want an initial deposit first? Make sure to get these details out of the way first so that there are no surprises when you’re in the middle of a project.

These are just a few of the important items to check out before outsourcing to an agency or hiring a freelancer. Outsourcing can be a great experience because you can get a broad range of services and experience levels while keeping your costs down.

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About Author

Lynne Saarte is a writer that hails from Texas. She has been in the Internet business for some years now, specializing in Internet marketing and other online business strategies.

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