The main benefit of freelance workers is that your costs are directly related to a specific project need and you get expertise in that area even if you can’t afford to hire a full-time person in your business. Maybe businesses hire me for season work that normal teams can’t manage, or for special events. Unlike full-service creative agencies, that autonomously manage all elements of a specific marketing effort, freelance designers work with anyone in a company and are available for all creative tasks no matter how small or random they might be, such as formatting newsletters or invoices.
What is the value of creating a long-term relationship with a freelance visual designer?
A long-term agreement can save time and money in the long run
In other professional fields, such as finance or health, people derive many benefits from having a long-term relationship with one service provider. Over time, the provider’s familiarity with a client’s history and needs adds a value and peace of mind that cannot be measured or easily replaced. The same holds true for a modern business. Today, now more than ever before, businesses are challenged to stand out from the crowd in a global market. And to be successful – to promote their unique qualities and attract a targeted audience – a business needs to partner with a creative service who understands where they have been, where they are going, and will be there every step of the way. A successful long-term creative service partnership insures that your message stays on track, your business goals are focused, and money isn’t being wasted while your business grows.
“As a freelance designer, I feel it is important to establish a long-term relationship with my clients and their business ventures. I like to work with small businesses – to help them grow and be successful. Some businesses may get to a point where they need a full-time designer, but most find that their projects are too few and far between to warrant the expense of a full-time designer. Also, many of my clients find they need help managing the services offered by the print and web providers they do business with already. My client’s creative service requirements fall in-between an employee and an agency provider. They want someone who can work independently, but also someone they can have a direct relationship with, one who will value their business as much as they do.” – Mitra Cline
Collaboration between freelance and in-house designers
As a freelance designer I also work in collaboration with in-house designers. This can be to assist with an extra work load or to fill in with skill sets that are not normally needed. The same benefits apply in this case. As creating a productive creative team is equally valuable in the long run as each person learns more about the other.
In 2016 I will be introducing a new service for in-house teams that is a fun studio session using Original Odyssey cards. The cards in combination with the one hour imagination studio can be a fun and productive way to encourage and energize a team in the process of a project launch, advertising campaign or rebranding process.
