Having worked both in the corporate world and as a freelancer, I find that in most situations there are dozens of reasons why you should hire a freelance or outsourced web designer rather than using someone on staff.

Web design is not your core competency
As a small business owner, I know that it’s easy to get distracted by things that aren’t your main business because you may know a little about it. The truth is that HTML is NOT that complicated, and being the industrious person you are, you could probably throw something together. I’ve seen people try this and have their work come out OK, but what they don’t realize is that they’ve lost valuable time that they could have used to focus on their business. There’s nothing wrong with saving a little money, but the truth is that using a freelance company is well worth the investment.

Web design is what freelancers do all day
When I worked for one company, I knew their website very, very well. The difference is that as a freelancer, I get to see trends in what website owners want and get to know “the best way to do it.” That’s a great value for website owners because they can rely on my (our) expertise and judgment.

Freelancers know about a variety of products
Long ago, I gave up on “writing websites from scratch.” There are literally hundreds of pre-built solutions out there just waiting to be “pieced” together by a freelance web developer. Taking advantage of them will both reduce your TCO and increase the quality of your site because often times, these software programs thought of something you didn’t. No need to re-invent the wheel.

Your project will end some day
The biggest problem I saw my company face when I worked for someone else was that when my projects ended, they either had to re-train me for something new or let me sit and twiddle my thumbs all day. I was pretty good at finding work to do, but the truth is that it’s much easier for a company to just “stop” hiring a freelancer when a project finishes than it is to “stop” paying an employee.

Freelancers are trying to build their portfolio
Many business owners are afraid to outsource their website because they aren’t able to sit and manage the freelance company like they would their own employee. True they may need some more communication up-front in creating a statement of work, a contract and a budget. However, most businesses owners don’t realize that the freelance web designer is trying to build his own portfolio that he can be proud of, so he will natrually be willing to work extra hard to make a good site that you are happy with.

You can use CMS systems to avoid over-paying a freelancer
Another big concern about freelancers for business owners is that they don’t want to have to pay the freelance company every time they want to re-vamp their website. For these customers, we highly recommend a content management system (CMS) that allows them to make simple text edits without paying our hourly rate. If you hire us, you will only need us again if you want something major done.

Cut through your company’s red tape
Inside your company, it can seem like you need an act of congress to get something done, right? When you hire a freelance company, we do all of the work and you just need to show it to your people. You take the credit if it’s good, we take the heat if it’s bad, get it?

There are many other reasons for using a freelance company. Check out our process to see how Skyhook Internet Marketing can make a solution for you! Contact us today!

I can’t tell you how other website design firms do it, but let me tell you how we do it.

Collect information and provide a free, itemized estimate
Before we provide an estimate for your web project, we want to know all about your business. We believe that we will be much better marketers if we understand and believe in your product completely — that way we don’t have to pretend. We also want to make sure that you fully understand your problem. We have done this before, and we will ask difficult questions to make sure that the whole process is fully understood by both parties. In our experience we have come across dozens of products and solutions that will make building your website easier. There is no need to re-invent the wheel.

We will then take all of our recommendations and provide an itemized quote for you. The choice is yours which items you will do initially, which ones you will leave for later, and which ones you want to scratch all together. The final quote price will then be easily estimated.

Start with a template
The majority of our websites come from templates or pre-made designs. We find that it’s easier for most people to pick and choose what they want from a template site and then pay us only to customize it (even if it’s changed extensively) to create the kind of design they want. In cases where no customization is needed, you can save a bundle of money by using a pre-built solution by a professional graphic artist.

If you’ve already got a design in mind, we can work with that too. Our graphic artist can listen to your requests and provide mock-up designs based on what you want.

Add functionality
Once the design is solidified, the next step in website development is to add functionality. We will discuss the regions of your page that you would like to have special functionality — web forms, message boards, interaction, flash, etc. — and we will take care of the programming to make it happen.

Focus on internet marketing from the beginning
Internet marketing cannot be an afterthought. After all, your website is useless to you unless it makes you money. Before agreeing to an internet marketing job, we perform extensive keyword research to find out exactly what the competition is like. That way, we can sculpt your content in such a way to achieve maximum search engine rankings.

Final walkthrough
Your quote will also give you a timeframe for the project. You will receive periodic updates throughout the process (along with necessary communication), and will be given the opportunity to do a final walkthrough before your site goes live. All of our sites are built in a secret development area which you will have access to, and during the final walkthrough you will be able to inspect every facet of the project and insure that it is what you had in mind. Once the page is approved, we will help get the code transfered to your live server for all to see.

Continued relationship
We’ve been in business long enough to learn that even project based work doesn’t end when the project ends. We aim to develop an on-going relationship with our clients so that they can feel comfortable asking us questions and using our services in the future. If you stand still, your competition will pass you by and that’s why having a powerful internet marketing partner is so important.

If you’d like a free quote, give us a call or fill out our online contact form.

We look forward to working with you!

Dallin

This is especially true in virtual web design groups.

At Skyhook Internet Marketing, we take full advantage of every tool we can sink our teeth in to that promotes online collaboration. We use Google Calendar for planning out our timeline. We use Google Docs and Zoho for real-time, shared document editing. We have used E-groupware for project management and time reporting, and are currently giving Zoho projects and Zoho invoicing a try. It seems that with each release, these programs are making it just as easy for people to work together from across the country as it is for those who sit two cubicles apart!

Creating websites through virtual groups keeps costs down
Perhaps the biggest reason we take advantage of collaboration software to create websites is that it keeps costs down. Gas is expensive, but our team does the majority of our work from home and never has to commute! That also allows us to get an earlier start in the morning and often finish early or at least get more done because we spend our time and efforts working — not commuting! Because of this, we haven’t had to invest in an expensive office or any of the expenses that come with it. We wouldn’t use them! The same is true for office supplies, fees, etc.

Creating websites through virtual groups provides a better finished product for the customer
The real benefit of collaborating online through virtual groups is that it creates a better finished product for the customer. Because costs are down and communication is up, we are able to put a lot more effort in to our websites for the same price or cheaper than other firms. Not to mention the fact that being online all day exposes us to thousands of websites and we are often among the first to see new trends or hear about new ways to do business.

Virtual web design groups free up time to do what we want
Don’t get me wrong one of my favorite things to do is web design. But as you would probably agree, looking at a computer screen starts to hurt your brain after a while. Working in virtual groups lets us get our work done quickly so we can move on to spending time with the family, improving ourselves, exercising, thinking, organizing, etc. which, at least for me, is a huge benefit.

Virtual web design allows us to work when we feel like it
There are a lot if interests that vie for my time, and one of the things I appreciate most about online collaboration is that it allows me to work when I want. When I was in school, I was able to spend mornings in class and afternoons in study groups, letting all of my work pile up online during the day and then hammering it out at night.

Whatever evidence or reason there may be to avoid online collaboration is slowly fading away. As software applications become more powerful, there is every reason to switch to an online environment. It will give you the competitive edge over the other guys. It will help you live a better quality of life. It will help you produce better work which will in turn benefit society as a whole!

Dallin