Every business needs a graphics designer, regardless of what type of service you render.
For a business that offers graphic design services, these designers are the backbone of your operations. On the other hand, businesses in different sectors might need designers for one-time projects like creating social media graphics.
If you’re running a small business, while having a creative department might make sense, filling it up with staff might not.
Instead, you should consider hiring freelance designers who can help maintain your brand consistency and aid in your business growth, all at a much lower cost.
This article highlights some of the top reasons why a freelance graphic designer might be the best option for our business, along with where you can find one.
Need to hire a freelancer?
Hire elite freelance talent with WeSellTalent. From single gigs to large projects, our freelancers are ready to help.
9 Benefits of hiring freelance graphic designers
If you’re running a design agency or need a graphic designer for a few hours of work, there are several benefits you get from hiring one. Many of these make them a better option than an in-house team in most cases, but not always.
Based on your project demands, these are some of the top benefits of hiring a freelancer:
1. Reduces overall hiring cost
Freelance designers typically work remotely, and the recruitment process is quite straightforward. As a result, you’re spending much less than you would if you hire a full-time employee, especially if they’re hired on a full-time basis.
To put this into perspective, consider the direct and indirect costs of hiring an employee. You need to spend on the onboarding process, relocation package, employee benefits, pre-employment screening, and training.
Plus, there is much lower productivity due to time spent on recruitment, training, and new employee onboarding.
With freelance designers, all you need to do is have a contract in place, communicate the project scope, and let them get to work.
2. Complete projects faster
Freelance designers are experts in their field, which means hiring one won’t result in additional training costs. This is a great way to save your business money while getting the specialized skill sets you need to complete pending tasks or projects.
Employee training also causes delays in project completion, which can be an issue when you have a tight project timeline. Since freelance designers can begin their work the moment you sign a contract, it’s much easier to meet project deadlines.
3. You get the best talent
This isn’t put in a way to downplay the expertise of your full-time employees, but freelance graphic designers often have a wide range of skills from working with multiple clients.
You can get a glimpse of this expertise in the quality of work they present in your projects.
Remember, many of the top freelance designers can provide their referrals. These referrals are client feedback that implies the freelance designer has successfully completed several projects matching the scale of work you intend to assign.
4. Pay on a project basis
If your business doesn’t regularly require the services of a graphic designer, having one on your full-time payroll is not the best idea.
Since they often have minimal work, you’ll often have to assign tasks outside their expertise, which might go against their contract. An easy way to avoid this issue is to eliminate the in-house designer role and hire a freelance designer.
You can pay for their service on a project basis, ensuring you’re only spending when there is actual work to be done.
This allows you to plan for the busy periods while maintaining lower overhead costs during slow months.
5. Improved communication
As a client, you may have a vision for how you want a project to turn out, but you don’t know how to put it into words. When working with a professional freelance designer, this is the least of your worries.
Many top freelancers know the right questions to ask to ensure they’re getting all the information they need to deliver a project that aligns with your vision.
To effectively communicate your vision to a freelancer, consider creating a detailed project brief. This should include your expectations, deadlines, payment structure, and any examples of what you want the project to be like.
Doing so before hiring a freelancer shows them you won’t waste their time.
6. Get new insights on a project
Freelancers have a chance to work with clients from various industries, so they can often provide a different perspective on a project. This is great to have since they can often highlight issues that you and your team might have overlooked.
If you and your team are open to input and feedback, your freelance designer can suggest excellent alternatives that work better for your project.
In most cases, having someone outside the company look at a creative work gives room for unbiased assessment. The fresh creative ideas you get are part of what you pay for, so you should make the most of them.
7. Freelance designers offer flexibility
Relying on freelancers for your projects gives you the option of being flexible. One area where this applies is in the ability to adjust the size of your workforce based on your pending projects.
So, if you have a small project, hiring one freelancer will do, but if there is a large project, you can put together a team of freelancers to get the work done.
This option to hire on demand is a great way to eliminate the cost of hiring full-time employees that you must retain long-term. As a result, you’re saving on salaries, office space, and other overheads.
8. More affordable than agencies
When you’re looking for independent contractors to complete a project, you have the option of hiring a freelancer or an agency. An agency is a business that operates by connecting companies with talented freelancers.
However, the size of their operation often means more overhead and a higher hiring cost.
Depending on the size of your business, getting the services of a freelance agency can have a significant impact on your costs. So, your best bet is to go for the more affordable and equally talented freelance designers.
Most top freelancers prefer to work outside an agency since it allows them to choose the tasks and clients they work on.
9. Run multiple projects
Depending on your company culture, in-house developers might be restricted in the number of projects they can run simultaneously.
A company might prefer to have employees work on a maximum of two projects simultaneously to improve productivity and reduce errors.
So, what happens when no one is free?
This is where your freelance graphic designers come in. These hires can help you run multiple projects simultaneously while providing the best results. Since you’re only hiring them for a specialized task, their work ethic won’t affect your overall business approach.
Where to hire your next freelance designer?
Your company’s success hinges on maintaining the highest level of productivity while minimizing unnecessary costs to the business. By relying on the services of a freelance graphic design expert, you can improve your design projects and client acquisition.
If you agree that these freelancers are what your business needs, then you can find them using any of these options:
Check Social Media
A high-level freelance designer will want to showcase his/her work to as many potential clients as possible, and they do so using social media.
Obviously, many of these freelancers will focus on specialized platforms like Instagram, Dribbble, Behance, Pinterest, or DeviantArt that promote visual content.
On many of these social media platforms, you’ll need to learn the right hashtags to search for freelance designers.
These hashtags work like filters that connect you to the right experts for your project.
Post jobs on freelance marketplaces
Many of the best freelance graphic designers look for jobs on marketplaces since they give them a chance to connect with lots of potential clients.
So, to get your business in their sights, your best bet is to post a job listing. Many great freelance platforms, such as Fiverr and Upwork, connect you to a global talent pool.
To attract the very best talent to pay attention to your listings, ensure you provide a clear and detailed description of the project, along with step-by-step instructions on how you want people to apply.
You can also use filters, if they are available, to assess freelancers based on their history and job completion rate.
If you’re using a freelance marketplace, you may incur certain fees for using the service, so consider this. Nonetheless, the cost of running a job ad is usually much less than what you spend hiring a full-time staff.
Create a career page on your website
This option only applies if you’re running a business that benefits from a website.
Many freelancers go through the career pages of companies they want to work with in search of available job openings. So, if you’re looking for an easy way to attract top talent, ensure you have a functional career page on your website.
For this to work, you should improve your brand’s visibility online.
This usually involves various social media marketing campaigns, influencer collaboration, and referral programs. Your business will only appear on a freelancer’s radar if they know your name, which is what your brand visibility helps you achieve.
Conclusion
Freelancers are sought-after talents in any industry, making it possible for small businesses like a design agency to run with just a creative director.
The inclusion of freelancers in your team saves you time on the recruitment process and also minimizes your overhead costs.
Nonetheless, it’s up to you to decide if a freelancer will meet all your project needs, or if a team of full-time employees is necessary.