From make-up artists to lawyers and doctors there is a variety of skill sets in each one of these professions. In marketing and web design there are assortments of professionals, too. One of the questions that comes up in pre-sale meetings is “Why should I hire a professional?” How this question is answered for a potential client influences the whole vendor/client relationship.
What does professional mean?
Why hire somebody to do something if you can do it yourself? Time and money. Professionals have extensive education and experience. Professionals can take a vision and mold it into something eye-catching. Professionals not only work with clients to understand their needs, but can offer ideas and tools to enhance that vision. Professionals ask clients: What is your vision? Can you create something yourself? Or can you explain to somebody who can actually put your ideas or implement your ideas and make them a reality? How will you take care of a site after it is live? These are the things to consider when starting an online task, from building a site to starting social media to creating campaigns.
Hire A Joe?
Because clients are also professionals, they want to get the best website possible-which is almost never the cheapest website possible. The advent of free online tools, templates and What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editors has led to many organizations thinking they can be graphic designers and marketers.
If you want to “do-it-yourself”, or hire someone who “has played with computers a lot” there are books and software packages available online to learn how to put something together. Joe’s need time, patience and the creativity to try these programs. Even if your Joe has a lot of experience, there will be some things that will need time, research and practice. There are many sites which explain the steps of social media from A-Z, but that is similar to thinking, “I’m going to write all of my contracts myself and never have a lawyer help me with my business needs, after all every form I need can be downloaded on the internet” or “I can enter my symptoms online and diagnose the cause of this ailment, without seeking professional medical advice”. And don’t forget about analytics, if you aren’t measuring what you are doing and can tie it to some revenue stream, then it may be wasted dollars.
Does your organization have the time to wait to bring your business vision to life? Or are there other things that take priority, like manufacturing, personnel, purchasing, or financing? Using social media to impact an audience is something we do everyday.
Hire A Pro?
Consider the following:
● Hiring professionals (especially a team) allows you to focus on your core business.
● A team of highly-skilled professionals offers the best web development, social media and marketing services such as: web site maintenance, web site management, redesigning and redevelopment of an existing web site, building an email list, creating a mobile site, creating a social media presence, reviewing statistics, conducting analysis and monitoring online conversations.
● An experienced web developer creates a web site faster than someone who lacks necessary training in web development.
● Professionals work with clients to help increase web traffic and ranking within search engines. Like a make up artist, we arm you with tips and tricks to help your website look great and work at its optimum best. Pro’s provide the latest relevant web news and information to clients, in blogs, training and newsletters.
● Professionals can build a site that is shopper and SEO friendly. Your target market can place orders on your e-commerce site 24/7, generating a profitable revenue stream.
● Pro’s can monitor social media channels for clients, post comments and bring issues to your attention right away.
Bottom Line
Like a professional make-up artist staying on top of the latest trends or a healthcare system using cutting edge technology, professionals work hard at staying on top of the social media, website design and marketing curve, using tools to create a look consistent with other collateral and branding.
When you hire a pro, you’re hiring someone who knows how to use an artistic eye and the technical skill to give your organization a noticeable, riveting image. Need a pro? Check out Vivid Image’s portfolio for great, eye-catching designs. Vivid Image is happy to provide referrals. The end result of any web design project should be a well designed site that helps generate maximum return on investment.
If that investment doesn’t need to pan out quickly, start reading Websites for Dummies immediately.
[...] if you want to effectively promote your business on Facebook, whether you are doing it in-house, or hiring a Pro or a “Joe”, you need to do your research ahead of time and have a plan and the resources to make it happen. [...]