March 1st, 2010
Outsourcing has become such a taboo practice. Companies want to employ local candidates, but sometimes it’s more cost effective to outsource projects. Well, I think that outsourcing can be a really great idea, if done correctly. Now, my idea, unlike customer service outsourcing, is to outsource an entire creative department locally whether by city or state.
There are so many small agencies out there hurting these days. They have full capabilities to run many companies creative departments, starting with conception, design, development, deployment, and marketing all the way to ROI. With all these options available on request, can small to medium sized companies trying to compete in a tough marketplace really afford to keep an entire staff full-time in house?
What if, as a business owner, you could have one company do everything you need? Perhaps you don’t have a need for a full staff of creative personnel or a development team. The solution is to have a staff of freelance employees at your disposal.
For instance, you want to put out a bi-monthly email blast promoting your hot new product. Your company has collected leads throughout the years and you want to start marketing those leads. You no longer have the resources you once did, but still need quality work. The solution we have here is outsourcing your creative department. In most cities across the U.S. there are small agencies that are setup to do just this. Give it a Google.
So, when making decisions about how to cut cost’s in your company, you can always consider outsourcing your creative department. This allows your company to focus on your products and allow the freelancers to do their magic. From basic emails, banner ads, brochures, convention booths, social media, media purchasing, websites and the list goes on… The sky’s the limit and it’s all on an as needed basis.
Tags: agencies, Banner Ads, brochures, convention booths, cost effective, Creative, creativity, design, development, emails, freelancer, full-time, local candidate, marketing, media purchasing, newsletters, Outsourcing, ROI, small business, social media, websites
Posted in Creative, Uncategorized | No Comments »
September 30th, 2009
In this digital age, everything is archived. You can Google anyone and find out almost anything their involved in. Celebrities are finding that every action they make is being stored somewhere and the entire world can see it. There’s no undo, there’s no taksie-backsie’s, no take 2.
When making decisions about how to market your company or product, sometimes the easy way is to plaster a celebrity on all your marketing assets, ensenuate that they are endorsing your product and get videos or sound bytes to back up these claims. Well, like most things in life, what is easy is seldom the correct course of action.
It is illegal to use a celebrity face, clip of their show or even their name without expressed permission and those companies that do that are in for it. If your site has been crawled by a search engine, it’s archived. Graphics, Copy, code, everything… It’s in a database and can be used against you.
So, instead of breaking many laws to make a quick buck, we always recommend knowing your audience and knowing that doing good business is better in the long run and less worrysome.
During the last few months, Oprah Winfrey has filed a lawsuit against over 500 companies for using her face, clips from her show and misquoting her on their websites. Emails, Banner Ads, ENTIRE campaigns were soley driven by her powerhouse brand, illegally. Lots of money was made by these little companies, fly-by-nights if you will, and finally someone is putting her foot down. It makes one wonder if the same campaigns and marketing tools would have been sufficiently successful without those illegal tactics?
Unfortunately, I believe those employed by these companies should understand why they are losing their jobs, why the company they relied on for a paycheck is now closed. And that the actions of other similar companies is not always the best way to go.
What can someone take away from this? If ever put in a situation where you are being asked to break the law by an employer, clearly state your objection and express the importance of copyright laws. If they still want you to break the law, I would suggest you leave that place of business immediately. That’s a road better left untravelled; and it may be a year down the line, but with bad business involved, the company is less likely to even be in business too long. It’s these types of businesses that are causing many people to be so leary about buying unknown brands on the internet.
There will always be scam artists… There will always be copyright infringement… There will always be piracy… The difference is what you do to make your business successful in the long term. it may take a little bit longer but it will last longer too!
Tags: acai, Archive.org, Banner Ads, brands, celebrity, copyright infringement, Email, Ethics, Google, illegal, law suits, oprah, product endorsement
Posted in Ethics | No Comments »
September 17th, 2009
Ok, so my blog crashed and the backup was corrupted, so here I am starting all over again. This time, I think i will keep local copies of my stories.
Tags: New Blog
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
