Marketing magic - the value of an expert freelancer
An experienced person that arrives, wins everyone over, gets great results and doesn’t bust your budget … sounds practically perfect in every way.
Unfortunately, in real life good help doesn’t arrive by magic and you’re going to have to work out what you’re prepared to pay.
If your first move is some swift maths to calculate a yearly salary based on a suggested day rate, that’s a pretty normal response. Doing this tells you something about the value of the person but that’s not the same as the cost to you, because you’re not employing a freelancer on a permanent salary.
The true value of an experienced freelance marketing resource
Whatever the salary calculation you just did … that is what the freelancer is worth but that’s not what you’re paying. You’re paying for the days you use and building a relationship to access expertise that you either can’t afford, or can’t find in a full time resource.
Even the smallest organisations benefit from expert marketing
Working with a freelancer means you get the high level support you need, without the yearly salary commitment. Charities, education establishments and SMEs need intelligent, experienced people to help them make marketing decisions. If you’ve a small budget an expert can help you think strategically and create better marketing content.
Junior marketing people need support to achieve results
It’s extremely common for enthusiastic but inexperienced junior marketing people to be expected to deliver objectives they don’t understand. There’s real value in a passion to learn, but it only works if you have the right teacher. If the person in charge of the organisation doesn’t understand marketing, it’s difficult for them to brief the marketing person, which makes everyone feel demoralised.
Marketing knowledge will help you focus your efforts in the right places
Using an experienced marketing freelancer will help your internal conversations about marketing make sense. It will give you a strategic overview so that you spend your money on the right things. It will also mean that you have someone on your side when you brief web developers, videographers or graphic designers. A poorly conceived brief to a creative person will mean that you don’t get what you want. Which is frustrating for everyone and a waste of money.
Investing in a freelancer buys you more than just the days you use
You may pay for specific days or hours but working with a good freelancer should mean someone’s got your back. It means when you’re faced with a marketing problem or a communications crisis you know where to turn. Freelance relationships are more personal and flexible than a full agency approach. They can fill a temporary gap, support an inexperienced person, or help you build an internal team.
If you’ve got money, use a freelancer to create a good internal team
If you have the budget why not make it your mission to bring all communications in-house? Full control. An experienced marketing freelancer can help you work out:
The content creation you need (words, design, video, photos) and how you’d deliver this.
The marketing leadership you need and how you’d deliver this.
The technical comms support you need (websites, databases, digital marketing systems) and how you’d deliver this.
How to own and manage your website. Including a cloud-based web server, so you have control of your website hosting.
How to manage all your social media channels.
If you’ve got the budget, that’s great! I can help you build an excellent internal team.
If you’ve not got the budget, then maybe you’ll be stuck with me, supporting you as and when you need it, offering insightful advice and friendly support. Which isn’t a bad option either!
If you’d like to tell me more about your marketing challenges, get in touch.