Easily Worth the Money
Rob Cubbon compares his client’s experiences with himself and an agency, and shows that freelancers represent more value for money:
There used to be advantages in employing large agencies for big jobs. Economies of scale, strength in numbers, experience and access to resources were benefits of the big boys over a lone ranger. Nowadays, this isn’t true. All a freelancer needs is a computer and broadband…If the scale of the job is too much for one freelancer they can simply call on someone else to help. Files can be downloaded from the freelancer’s FTP site and uploaded when finished. Every freelancer has a network of contacts each with their specialities.
In short, freelancers can charge a lot less because they have less costs to shoulder than a big company. Not having to pay rent already represents huge savings. Yet many freelancers bring the same level (or even more superior) set of skills to the table.
So if your competing against an agency for a project, make sure to highlight how much your future client will save in your bid. Sometimes this requires a little extra reassurance; you’ll have to convince people that you will deliver on your promises. Admittedly, companies can be a bit apprehensive about hiring freelancers, because old impressions die hard.
And of course, walk the talk. Lest you give freelancers everywhere a bad name.
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POSTED IN: What's Great About Freelancing
6 opinions for Easily Worth the Money
Terrell Johnson
Mar 23, 2007 at 6:53 am
I couldn’t agree with you more. I had the experience recently of working with a client who had been negotiating for over a month with one of the big local agencies in town for some print work they needed done. Over a month of negotiating, and they still couldn’t come to an agreement on the price for the work! I heard from the client that it was such a refreshing relief to work with someone like me, who could meet them to talk about the project, quote them a price, do the work (for much less than the agency would charge), and process revisions all in a fraction of the time it would take to work with a big agency. It just goes to show the value that solo consultants/writers/designers/etc provide.
Rico
Mar 25, 2007 at 6:32 am
That’s a perfect example of how quickly a freelancer can move, since he has less organizational constraints to work with. Thanks for sharing Terrell! :)
Rob Cubbon
Mar 29, 2007 at 4:06 am
The original article you quoted, Rico, is here.
http://robcubbon.com/freelance-designer-vs-design-agency/
You could have used my simplistic graphic!
There’s lots of other stuff on my site about freelancing, contracting and design, etc. Feel free to grab anything. I would appreciate a link back to my site:-)
Rico
Mar 29, 2007 at 5:01 am
Haha, sure thing! I’m linking to the original article.
goehe9
Apr 2, 2007 at 10:04 pm
This is my first time to leave the comments as a foreigner from china ,i am also interested in making money online ,but i have little experience.so it is nice to read on you blogs .
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