XBlog

When trying to figure out what your budget should be for that new marketing project, how do you figure out what you need to spend on the design in order to do a good job? Professional designers' hourly rates range from below $50 an hour to well above $200. With a cost range like this, how can you ever know if you're getting a good deal? Well, starting from the basis of hourly cost may be a major mistake. Start instead by testing whether the designer you're considering is a DWGI.

1. Does the designer you're considering speak the language of business? Do they begin by asking how the job relates to your business goals, and how it will further them? If you haven't made this clear, do they persist in knowing ? A DWGI can't do their job unless they have this information.

2.  Does the designer want to spend time with you to understand how the job will fit into your overall marketing program? DWGIs know that no piece of marketing stands alone. Every communication needs to work with your brand message, your marketing strategy, your sales efforts and your customer relationship efforts. DWGIs look way beyond the visual decoration, and deep into the heart of your marketing process. In fact they may be making numerous suggestions to you about how to improve things you didn't even ask about. (Yes, DWGIs can occasionally be a pain in the butt.)

3. Does the designer haggle with you excessively over price of the job? A DWGI knows how much work it takes to create an effective outcome and will let you know too. If you try to lowball them or haggle too much on the price, they'll most likely tell you 'good luck with your project'.  The biggest factor that makes estimating a job tricky for a designer is guessing how thorny the client will be. If you're difficult right up front, the designer realizes the estimate should have been higher. This doesn't mean there's no room for informed negotiation, but with a DWGI, you get the value you pay for.

4. Does the designer look at things from a long perspective? You may say "I just want to get the damn web site up", but the DWGI won't let you get off that easily. He'll ask questions: Why does it need to be up quickly? What are the strategies driving this site? How are you going to use it to build relationships and convert prospects into customers? How does your marketing funnel work and how does this fit into it? A DWGI wants to act as if you're going to be a client forever, even if this is the only job he or she ever does for you.

And once you get it, this is the only kind of designer you'll ever want to work with.