When you start your own business, in most cases it is because of a passion or amazing idea which you have had and want to turn into your life work. Your business starts from nothing but a thought and your personal drive, you take this little seed and nurture it grow and thrive. It becomes your baby.
Your business is a deep financial and emotional investment, believe me I understand, my graphic design business means so much to me, I feel like I always have a trail of thoughts leading to my business, thinking about projects, clients and next steps. Your own business is not a job you walk away from at the end of the day but a massive feature in your life.
Whether your business is successful or still learning to fly, your constant emotional, cognitive and financial connection to it will bring along stress. Running a business can be tricky, you are not only doing the work you are good at, what you are passionate about, but you also have to market your business, do the accounting, keep up your brand, create client relations… the list goes on.
I want to encourage you to lift some of the burden of running your own business (especially if you are a sole trader) and seek out help and assistance in the back ground workings of your business. This will allow you to get on with what you do best, and focus on doing your work, developing your products and supporting your clients.
A big stress I see in so many small and upcoming business’ is marketing themselves, getting the word out and making a consistent brand that brings customers back. You may be the best baker, but it isn’t worth a penny if no one knows about your bread. You don’t need to get a design or marketing degree to help you run your business, it is much easier and cost effective to out-source this job to a professional which has done all the training and has amassed the experience to do the work for you.
My business offers a range of services that help alleviate the pressures of marketing and brand work for small business owners. I work with you to deliver what you want and what your audience will love. Being a professional in the field, I have done the research, I know how to target campaigns and run social media accounts, I know how to brand you to bring you to the attention of your target audience.
Some services that I offer, and recommend you to consider out-sourcing include:
Logo & Branding – It can be so tempting to just put together some words and clipart and use that as your logo, or use a $5 logo generator, but your logo is your visual identifier and you should not be leaving it to chance. This one visual element has speak droves about your brand and be an attractor to the right people, and so a lot of thought and work should go into it. Along with your logo comes your entire brand, which is the way people perceive your business. If your business was a person it would be how they talk, they walk, their fashion sense, hobbies, personality. This is a lot to show, and brand normally comes through consistency of content and aesthetic. This can be a time consuming process and very confusing for people who are not familiar with the brand development/design process.
Social Media Management – This includes the creation of assets for your company to promote you in your best light and grow your brand following. A full package of SMM even includes the running of all your social media accounts for you, so you don’t even have to touch the internet to promote your business, it is all done for you, all you have to do is approve what is going online. You get all of the control and benefits, with none of the time consuming work.
Website design and management – With the world becoming so immersed in the online world, websites are a great resource to have. A place where your prospective clients and customers can go to get all the information they need. I can help you set up and run your website. This creates a point of contact for you. I can do the background research for you, do the complex coding, get your website running on a host site, design it to your liking, add in any of the features that you want. I admit that web sites are not the cheapest product to out-source but there is a noticeable difference between professionally done sites and sites which have been whipped together a place holder. DOn’t have a tick the box site (a site just for the sake of it), it will be a waste of your time, get a refined site which works for you.
Brochure and Print Collateral – Do you need some business cards, or a brochure about an upcoming event or promotion for you business? Your first point of contact should not be Microsoft word, but getting on your email and getting advise from a professional designer. They can help you if you want to create your own work, or quickly supply you with a professional and clean marketing piece which will sell your services much more effectively than a printed word doc. I have helped many clients out with simple and honest advice on their promotions, whether with free advice or developing a design for them, I even hunt down the best print production costs for them, to save them time and energy to do what they do best.
I hope that you can see some aspects of your business that you can out-source and give yourself back time to grow your business and do what you are good at. If you are in need of any of these services or would like to chat about your business and how we can make your work process more efficient and cost effective, simply message me through the below form or contact me through my email caraord.create@gmail.com.