7 Tasks A Freelance Graphic Designer Can Get Done for You

 

You’re probably wondering what exactly freelance graphic designers can do for your brand. Maybe you have a vague idea in mind, but here are some additional duties that you can assign to a remote professional. Let’s clear things up and talk about 7 graphic design tasks that can be done by a freelancer.

1. Improving on your company’s visual identity

First things first, you can make a freelance graphic designer in charge of working on your company’s visual identity. This comprises of a bunch of elements such as logo, slogan, colors, fonts, stationery (letterheads, folders, business cards, envelopes) and many other visual elements that help customers and partners recognize your brand or organization and represents an essential part of the communication strategy.

Regardless of the size of your company, graphic designers are able to work their magic and polish an awesome logo, as well as a flawless corporate kit. This will help you pave the way for your business’ future success but also keep your business appeal fresh and up to date. If this is something you need, you can start here.

2. Product packaging design

When you need to dress up your products in some brand new, eye-catching outfits, a skilled graphic designer will create the perfect appearance to match and highlight your items’ identity, as well as attract customers. The freelancer will make your products stand out, turn them into the target audiences’ signpost to the category, and drive them off the shelves. Moreover, the specialist will have practicality in mind; so we’re not only talking about the label or wrap, but also about the actual shape, size, and functionality of the packaging. You can find a graphic designer to take this on here.

3. Designing marketing materials

From brochures and flyers to postcards and posters, freelance graphic designers are able to design your well-needed marketing materials. This process requires research, creativity, and knowledge. Having these professionally crafted, your company will make a great impact and deliver a positive customer service experience. So, whenever you need to advertise an upcoming event, market your organization at conferences or job fairs, inform the target audience about your company, have a marketing package for potential partners and investors, or simply attract more customers, all you have to do is hire a talented graphic designer.

4. Creating infographics

Whenever you need a catchy visual representation of some information or data, get in touch with a freelance graphic designer. Infographics are great for synthesizing key facts for the audience, they are extremely shareable via social media, and enhance your organization’s online visibility. Although there are several online tools for creating infographics, they are not always able to match your company’s needs. Therefore, the safest option is to find a graphic designer who has a minimal experience with this kind of materials. All you need to do is to let the person in charge know about the branding guidelines (so that the style approached maintains the consistency of the messages that have been previously shared), as well as providing them with clear information about the results you’re looking for. To tackle this type of graphic design project, click here.

5. Ebook design

There are graphic designers who specialize in crafting your manuscript and can craft it into a finished ebook. For this task, you have to find someone with awesome digital design and typography skills, who understands e-readers and has a strong grasp of traditional book layout principles. (Click here to get started). These professionals will also help you if you plan to add some advanced formatting features as well as rich media (for example video and audio) to your ebook.

6. Book cover design

If you want outstanding book covers for your publications, a highly creative and innovative designer will be a perfect fit for this job. Besides the cover, designers can also work on the interior of the books. These individuals usually have a mastery of skills with Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe Creative Suite, and InDesign – which is exactly what they need for achieving stellar results. Plus, their thorough understanding of design principles, composition, layout, and color are excellent for the great outcomes you’re looking for. If you’re looking to get your book cover designed, you can start here.

7. Designing e-mail newsletter

Graphic designers are able to craft visually appealing e-mails that get straight to the point and help you make the most of the brief chance you have with your target audience. A nicely created newsletter is essential for converting leads into customers, maintain engagement, and build long-term customer relationships. Think about it: people check their inbox every single day and they’re flooded with a bunch of promotional e-mails. You want yours to stand out, don’t you? Well, a beautiful design will not only please your audience’s eyes but will also make the text easier to read, call to actions easier to click, and people to stay away from that unsubscribe button.

It’s amazing how many tasks a freelance graphic designer can get done for you! Not to mention that everything happens remotely. Just make sure that you provide clear instructions and information about your project and expectations. To hire a freelance graphic designer to take on your project, click here.

7 Benefits of Hiring a Freelancer

Nowadays, the labor force is constantly becoming more fluid, embracing flexibility, and slowly shifting away from the classical 9-to-5 working hours. Companies that are able to adapt to change are certainly the ones that will get the upper hand. Most likely than not, your business is in need of skilled and knowledgeable professionals but is short of the required resources or doesn’t need full-time staff. These situations can be easily solved by hiring a freelancer.

Here are 7 mega-awesome benefits of working with freelance talent.

1. Vast Experience

Think about it – great freelance professionals have lots and lots of experience. They work on several projects for different businesses, which helps them constantly improve and expand their skills. Each and every task they do helps them add to their craft and valuable knowledge, building an impressive arsenal. As they are not full-time employees, they are always aiming at doing a flawless job and delivering wonderful outcomes in order to be hired again and get some good references and reviews – which also helps them enhance their expertise quickly and efficiently. Therefore, your beloved business stands to gain from all that broad experience. Awesome, right?

2. Immediacy and Quick Turnaround

Independent contractors are continuously focused on performing a superb job in a timely manner. Reliability and exceeding your expectations are high priorities for them, as they fully understand that meeting the deadlines and exceeding the client’s expectations are great ways to make a profit and be hired for other assignments in the future. When you’re collaborating with a freelance professional, you can forget about water-cooler chit chat, pointless meetings, or office politics – their goal is to get their job done as soon as possible and flawlessly.

3. Flexibility

One of the reasons why freelancers have decided to freelance is the flexibility of choosing their very own working hours. And this is an amazing benefit for your business, as well. Let’s say you own a shop that is only open from 9 to 6. However, your target audience is mainly browsing the World Wide Web early morning (before they get to work) and during the evening (after they get out of work). Therefore, if you want to get your potential customers’ attention, the best time to be active on social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), to update your blog, or to send newsletters is before and after business hours. And here is where the freelancers’ flexibility kicks in – they will craft their schedule in order to do the job at the right time, without worrying about classical working shifts. This is just one of the examples of how your independent contractor’s flexibility can work wonders for you, but there are so many others! Not to mention that if you hire a freelancer that works during weekends, you can even e-mail him or her assignments at the end of the week and have them done by Monday. Yes, you’ve heard it right!

4. Affordability and 5, Independence

When you’re hiring a freelancer who is working from the comfort of his or her home, you don’t have to worry about overhead costs. This also allows the independent contractor to charge affordable rates while covering their insurances and other expenses. While it’s nice having full-time employees who can bond, there are jobs that can be done in a cost-effective and efficient way by freelance talent. Of course, price does not have to be the only and main factor when you choose the freelancer you’re going to hire, but as long as you ask the right questions, rest assured you will get top-notch work at pocket-friendly rates.

Freelancers are used to working on their own and are able to contribute to the business bottom line right away. You will, therefore, skip the hassle you go through every time when you employ on-site staff and have to spend time and money on training long before seeing any tangible results. With freelancers, it’s enough to define your expectations, the work parameters, provide them with useful resources, and they’re good to go. Simple as that!

6. Innovation at its Finest

Usually, freelancers have the tendency to be more innovative and keep up to date with new ideas, cutting edge technology, as well as being extremely receptive to suggestions. Unlike many corporations, independent contractors are generally not dealing with pre-conceived attitudes, which gives them the freedom to offer amazing innovative ideas and easily put them into practice. Therefore, they can come up with novel solutions to any of your business issues.

7. Freedom

When you hire a freelancer, you have the absolute freedom of conveniently collaborating with an independent contractor on a need basis. This means that you don’t have to engage a full-time employee – you are able to collaborate with an external expert who will help you with streamlining your business only when you need it.

As you can see, it makes great business sense hiring freelance talent. There are a bunch of benefits of collaborating with independent contractors whose entrepreneurial spirit is lively and thriving. And, as more and more professionals are leaving their full-time jobs and choose the freelancing path, you will find the right expert in no time!

To hire a freelancer for one of your projects, click here.

How to Finance Your Startup in 8 Effective Ways

(Here’s the link to the original article)

 

So you have your business idea, your business plan, (or business model canvas if you’re an early-stage startup (check out how to make your business model canvas here), and validated its need in the market, now you need the means to get it off the ground.

Ultimately the question of how to finance your startup depends on your circumstances and what kind of business you’re starting.

There are quite a few different roads available, some can be simultaneously walked down whilst others may give you all the capital you require plus a bit extra. Let’s take a look at some of these avenues.

1. Bootstrapping

 

From the old saying ‘pull up your bootstraps’, bootstrapping means to finance your business yourself, without any outside help.

This options viability depends on your personal finances and the type of venture you’re starting. If you have a substantial amount saved and your business doesn’t call for a huge amount of start-up capital and initial running cost, it’s entirely possible to commence using just your own funds.

Bootstrapping is an effective financing method if you can afford it – you won’t owe anyone anything and you’ll answer only to yourself. It is important, however, to choose wisely and take into account possible worst case scenarios.

What happens if the business fails, can you afford to lose that much capital? How long can you afford to finance the business yourself without any sales coming in?

As the old saying goes, ‘don’t put all of your eggs in one basket’. If you’re going to bootstrap, be sure to use a sensible portion of your finances, not all of them, and always take into account living and personal costs.

2. Friends and Family

Seeking funds from friends and family is probably one of the first ports of call and can be an effective form of financing.

Friends and family know you personally, so they’re more likely to lend to you and far less likely to ask for interest on return, plus they’ll be more flexible on repayment timing. However, this method can be somewhat treacherous.

Often, family relations and good friends don’t make the best business connections. If the business doesn’t go so well, will you be able to pay them back? Are you willing to potentially sour a relationship for funding? If you’re asked for a slice of your business in exchange, are you willing to let that person have a say in your business, or pay out the same percentage in equity?

3. Bank Loans

It’s only logical to seek a bank loan when looking for finance. There are government schemes which help provide bank loans to start-up enterprises, depending on which country you live in – a simple web search will provide the information needed.

Bank loans, of course, come with interest added onto the repayments. It’s worth shopping around for the best rates and perks, as some come with added extra’s like accounting software packages and web building tools.

You’ll need a clear business plan and an idea of where your revenue will come from before a bank will even consider you, and many will require assets to guarantee the loan.

4. Angel Investors

These are private individuals who have often succeeded in business themselves and are now looking to invest their own money.

An angel investor will want a share of equity in return for their investment and will often offer business coaching and mentoring, in part to impart their wisdom, in part to speed up return on investment.

It’s difficult to come up with hard rules on this type of financing – each investor will have their own preference of industry and their own business coaching style.

If you’re able to find one who takes a shine to your idea or you as a person, then not only could you get funding, but you’ll also likely gain a valuable asset to the business.

5. Venture Capitalists

VC’s are in business to make large amounts of money in relatively short time frames, so they go for big projects (we’re talking millions). It’s unlikely they’ll be interested in early-days and pre-revenue start-ups.

If you’ve got big plans and a hugely scalable idea though, it’s worth trying to meet a few VC’s. If you get one, their expertise, market contacts and sheer amount of cash could skyrocket your venture to dizzying heights – just make sure you have a viable exit strategy before you get into bed with a VC.

6. Credit Cards

Perhaps not the best method, but financing on credit cards can work if you’re sure that you’ll be making profit soon enough to cover the monthly repayments.

It’s best to shop around for the lowest rates, but be careful when it comes to spending on plastic, if you don’t strictly keep up with repayments the monthly charges can add up very quickly.

If this method must be used, it’s best in the beginning when you require small amounts of money for short periods, it’s by no means a viable long term option.

7. Grants

Governments provide grants for a whole range of business ventures. Science, the arts and engineering are just some industries where grants are available.

It’s definitely worth searching online for what grants may be available to you. Application processes are usually quite long and you’ll have to jump through a few hoops, but securing a government grant can give your business serious credibility in the market place. A quick web search for ‘business grants’ will give you an idea of what could be available to you.

8. Crowdfunding

Perhaps the newest and most fashionable form of financing. Crowdfunding is where large amounts of people each give you small amounts of money which add up to (hopefully) large amounts of finance. Read our article on effective crowdfunding tips here.

In return you’ll have to give them something, of course, depending on the amount a person gives. Small contributions could get them a mention on your site or your marketing, for larger pledges you could give out freebies, first chances to sample your product, or even shares and equity.

Crowdfunding success lies largely in how well you can connect to the general masses. If your business strikes a chord with people, for example something environmentally friendly or altruistic, or if you’re looking to provide real technological advancement for example, crowdfunding could do quite well for you.

The second important thing about reaching people through this method is delivery. People must be able to very obviously see your unique value proposition or be able to relate to you in some way.

You can start a crowdfunding campaign here or through sites like crowdcube.com and kickstarter.com.

7 Emergency Ideas Startup Entrepreneurs Should Adapt Now

Several startup entrepreneurs have great ideas in mind but fail to turn them into successful businesses because of some common and avoidable mistakes known to the startup world. Were they avoided, these entrepreneurs might have been another set of names among celebrity founders like Mark Zuckerburg and Evan Spiegel. So, what has WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat, Uber and AirBnb (to name a few companies) done that other businesses failed to do? And what are some of the mistakes that most of them avoided to procure success? Let’s take a look below.

1. Conduct Feasibility Studies

Startup businesses usually start with an idea fueled by a deep intrinsic motivation to make it a reality. While that’s great, founders often assume their business ideas will work without adequately researching their respective industry and market. There’s a reason you’ll see this mentioned as a commonly made mistake in several entrepreneurial and startup articles – and thankfully so. Studying the industry and the market you plan to enter will provide invaluable insight and information necessary for success. Questions like “Will my business work for all age groups or will it just work for millennials?” are crucial to consider, research, and answer before doing anything else, even so much as designing a logo (no pun intended). Answering these questions can also help founders assess whether their current savings is enough or whether funding sources like angel investors, venture firms, or crowdfunding services are needed in the short term. Entrepreneurs who know their market and industry and can determine how their business fits in, will be rewarded nicely.

2. Develop a Business Plan 

Since the dawn of time, a promise by word of mouth is less valuable than the tangible. In this case, your business plan is the tangible word and foundation to your idea. An idea remains nothing but an idea until it has been carefully outlined and translated into planned out thoughts and action. Ask Napoleon Hill. There are no countries without borders and there is no business without a business plan. Business plans help in several ways and here are a few things to consider when developing yours:

• It should clearly state what problem your business is addressing.
• It should clearly describe how your business will address the problem.
• It should clearly explain how you plan to create a sustainable (and profitable depending on your business) company.

Successful founders avoid being naive and thinking their idea is quick and easy to execute. Rather, they are diligent and execute a critical thinking process every step of the way. Successful founders write down ideas and organize their thoughts to achieve better results.

3. Create an Online Presence

It’s 2016 in the 21st century. Successful entrepreneurs use the online world to build momentum. A commonly asked question to business owners is, “Do you have a website?” or “Is there an app?” Companies without an online presence risk being seen as unprofessional, strange, and non-friendly to the consumer. Successful startups take advantage of social media platforms to reach their audience, adapt extensive engagement strategies such as email marketing, and attempt to increase organic engagement. These strategies should help produce better results and positive earnings at the end of the fiscal year. Most successful companies have a modern and user-friendly website that’s also mobile friendly. If you can afford to, consider investing in a mobile app for all common devices. Find bloggers in your industry or niche to write about your product, submit press releases, and utilize Google Analytics to monitor various online metrics.

4. Build a Strong Team

Relationships are key to successful startups despite many of the stories we’ve seen where business partners go after each other in court. People tend to ignore the fact that those “fall-outs” usually happened after the company grew. Focus on building a strong team of diverse individuals with different skills and strengths. They’ll have their weaknesses (as much as you do) and might not necessarily be passionate about your business (which is fine). Settle personal differences early on and build a coercive front. As the saying goes, “It’s not personal. It’s business.”

5. Share Equity

There’s always a global economic crisis (check the news) and one thing that individuals wouldn’t mind opting for is ownership, especially in a successful or promising company. Sharing out equity to potential partners has its benefits when relationships and commitments are clearly defined. Owning equity in a company changes one’s relationship from associate/employee to “part owner”, thereby increasing that individual’s stake in the business. There’s now a greater sense of responsibility towards the startup and stronger desire for the company to succeed. Handing out equity is a nice way to keep your startup running, so avoid a take-it-all approach and share some of the pie.

6. Be Smart and Financially Conservative

Fundraising can be a pain but when it goes well, you’ll be able to bring all the prospects of your startup to life; however, be smart and conservative with your finances. Avoid buying expensive services early on. Failing to do so might thwart the progress of your startup and certainly avoidable with the range of online resources available. Always remain keen on your objectives and try to cut costs and save time by outsourcing tasks and connecting with multi-talented individuals who can effectively take on one or two roles. Outsource through platforms like Giggrabbers to save money while bringing your startup to life.

7. Determination

Many well-established companies have been praised and dressed with a number of awards for their innovations and success, but people often ignore the challenges that stood as temporary roadblocks along the way. Startups are made to make or break and it takes extreme determination and discipline to obtain the former. Everyone won’t say yes to you the first time around and all your strategies and plans won’t work out the way you want it; but be determined and resilient. Friends and colleagues might say, “Hey, your product is great!” but never buy it, and your response to that and similar challenges will determine your success. Dr. Charles Stanley once said, “Disappointments are inevitable but discouragement is a choice.” You have the power to stop or be determined enough to startup your company even when the engine fails to start.

Adapt and/or maintain these tips while avoiding the mistakes outlined above and you’ll be well on your way to building a successful startup.

Giggrabbers – The World’s First Combined Crowdfunding and Outsourcing Platform!

Giggrabbers is an online crowdfunding, outsourcing, and project visualization platform that helps individuals and businesses bring their projects and idea to life. It’s the first and only platform of its kind. In fact, crowdfunding has never been combined with online outsourcing as a service. What Giggrabbers provides is novel and very helpful to users looking to start a venture and find funding.

By combining crowdfunding, outsourcing and visual mapping tools into one software, Giggrabbers improves a user’s project management experience. Individuals and businesses can now raise funds for each task of a project through a crowdfunding campaign, outsource those tasks to freelancers, and visually map out the tasks within their project using an interactive circle-spoke wheel diagram. It’s pretty cool actually and here’s how it works:

1. Project Visualization: The project visualization tool can be used to map out simple unrelated tasks (called a simple project) or a group of tasks that relate to one big project (called complex projects). Complex projects require a user to first indicate the type of project being pursued. Based on the project type, the user answers “yes” or “no” to a questionnaire around likely tasks. For example, the questionnaire for a venture/entrepreneurial projects would ask the question: “Do you need a website?” or “Do you need a mobile app developer?” and if the user answers yes, the platform adds the task to the circle spoke wheel diagram and proceeds to the next question. This happens until all questions are viewed or eight tasks are added to the wheel diagram. For each task, the user is then asked to provide a brief description, identify their budget range, and specify a desired date of completion. (This information can be modified later.)

 

Giggrabbers’ Project Visualization

 

2. Online Outsourcing: After all tasks have been described and posted to the jobs page, the user can monitor job proposals from freelancers, namely “giggrabbers” until one is selected for each task. Additionally, a project page is created where users can view and track feedback from supporters and monitor the crowdfunding and overall project progress. The most important features of this service are that users can enjoy enhanced and interactive functionality when working on big projects. By allowing users to visually map out and outsource tasks, Giggrabbers’ circle spoke wheel prompts users to approach outsourcing as a big project kind of thing, unlike any other outsourcing platforms, allowing for a more holistic approach to project management.

Giggrabbers’ Outsourcing Tool

3. Crowdfunding: The most unique feature about the way crowdfunding works on Giggrabbers is are that funds can only be used towards hiring a freelancer to work on a project. In fact, funds can be restricted towards a specific task within the project or budget item within a task. For example, in funding a venture/entrepreneurial project that requires website development, an investor can select the website development task to fund. If the investor wishes to fund something more specific, he or she can fund a budget item within that website development task (e.g. down-payment, 1st milestone, 2nd milestone, etc.) As a result, crowdfunders have more flexibility and transparency when choosing to fund a project. They can be more certain that funds are used in a way that furthers the development of the project.

 

Giggrabbers’ Crowdfunding Tool

Every individual with a viable idea should have a fair shot at bringing it to life. In that regard, Giggrabbers exists to improve the chances of a user’s success when indulging in a project. By making big improvements to the way crowdfunding and outsourcing works, Giggrabbers hopes to bring ideas and projects to life for people around the world.

Try it today: www.giggrabbers.com

Giggrabbers is the world’s only online crowdfunding and outsourcing platform.

 

Giggrabbers – Best Online Outsourcing and Crowdfunding Outlet

Are you a freelancer looking for work? Are you craving for a start-up in a world where global economic crisis has become the keyword in every discussion and debate? Giggrabbers is a platform like no other; it is the only online outsourcing/crowdfunding platform that you can find on the face of the earth.

Believe me; I have been freelancing for over six years. I started writing on Triond, Experts Column, Bubblews and then made the transition to Elance, Guru, Freelancer and Odesk “(before it became Upwork),” Craigslist, People per Hour, Write Jobs amongst other platforms.

 

Giggrabbers – An online crowdfunding, outsourcing, and project visualization platform.

 

 

Giggrabbers is new and different. There are many talents out there in the niches of writing, music, technology, film and in other artistic endeavors but few of them seem to have the capital to propel them to greater heights in life because of high interest rates, leaving consumers with few options like crowdfunding.

There are so many crowdfunding websites available with the popular ones being Kickstarter and IndieGoGo. These platforms have provided invaluable support to numerous talents but Giggrabbers is the only platform with a two-in-one approach.

Giggrabbers Two in One Approach

Flexible Crowdfunding

Like all online outsourcing and freelance websites, there are two options when you want to sign join the website. When you click on WORK then it means that you want to offer your services either through blogging, web design or others to help a client in a project – in other words, “gig-grabbing.”

The other is clicking on HIRE. Clicking on this option means that you want to offer work to freelancers which is done by all the other outlets, but here’s the difference: Giggrabbers provides two options labeled SIMPLE PROJECT and COMPLEX PROJECT. The simple project offers options like other freelance websites but the COMPLEX PROJECT provides options such as Business Development, Event, Property Management and Venture (Entrepreneurship).

With this option chosen, Giggrabbers knows the plight of start-ups as projects typically require a lot of hands, so it utilizes a circle-spoke wheel tool that helps visualize and map out tasks in your projects.

 

Project Visualization

 

As an add-on, a crowdfunding campaign is automatically generated and started so that friends and family would be able to view your project, and as per the budget you provide and how viable your project is, they start to make deposits in order to see you realize your potential as an entrepreneur, a property manager in real estate, an event host or someone whose quest is to help people develop their business.

Crowdfunding comes with a lot of positives and with the development of several platforms “(thanks to the introduction of many online payment systems)” individuals have taken advantage of the technology by sourcing out funds and using the money accumulated to start their respective carriers something that Giggrabbers humbly provides to start-ups and individual entrepreneurs.

Crowdfunding Tracker

Not only that, but many people have a problem with Intellectual Property, and therefore in order to avoid proprietary issues, they often avoid all forms of crowdfunding. Giggrabbers is set in New York and it is regulated under the State of New York Laws so has the authenticity and credibility of both inventors and investors at heart.

Aside that, funds are sourced through the number one and the most used online payment system, Braintree Payments, a PayPal subsidiary, so payments are secure and can be refunded.

There are countless online outsourcing and crowdfunding platforms now thanks to the easy creation of websites through CSS, HTML and PHP documents; however, none of them provide two services as a combined product, something that is only available by Giggrabbers.

Are you looking for work? Are you looking to grab an opportunity? Do you have a project that requires a mastermind but do not where to turn to because you lack the funds as well as the human resource.

What are you waiting for? Sign up to Giggrabbers now and change your freelancing and crowdfunding life for the better.

https://www.giggrabbers.com/