Hewlko News - An efficient first meeting

How to get the most out of your first meeting with a designer or agency.

By answering a few questions in advance, you can ensure you are clear on what you want to get out of the meeting. If you are entertaining different vendors, this can act as your baseline, ensuring that all quotes are comparable.

What are your goals? Both Long Term and Short Term.
Do you need to attract people to your website? Do you need a professional look to your business? Do you need ongoing graphic design support? Try thinking about the problem you need solved. You might think you need a new website, a logo, or to hire someone full time, but there could be multi-pronged solutions or even simple ones like functional templates you could update yourself. If you come to your initial meeting with a list of items you think you need instead of the problem you would like solved, it can limit your team’s ability to help.

List your projects deliverables.
I know, I know, I just said not to do that. But putting some thought into this section helps your designer/agency put together a well thought out quote that covers your expectations. For example, if you are doing a branding project, think about how many people need business cards, whether people need their own name on their letterhead, if there will there be new signage for the project, etc. Getting it all down on paper before you come to the meeting can help you flush out your own ideas and then the team should be able to fill in the gaps easily.

How much budget do you feel comfortable spending for each phase/project?
What are the priorities?
Think about how much money you feel comfortable spending. If you overspend and push the budget out of your comfort zone, you will likely not feel good about the outcome. Think about the value of each project you need to get done? For example, you may only want to spend $X right now, but once the initial goal is complete and you are seeing results, you’ll feel more comfortable putting budget towards the next phase. Having an understanding of what you are comfortable spending from the beginning can help your team put together recommendations for how to optimize the spend.

What is your desired timeline?
Is there a hard deadline for your project? If it is a tight deadline, you will need to ensure you set aside adequate time to provide timely feedback and engage in review sessions so that it can move ahead as quickly as possible. Tight timelines are always a team effort! Your designer/agency might not the have capacity to take on the project within the timeline you want, but they might be able to put you in contact with someone who can.

From here, your agency/design partner should be able to put together a well thought out scope of work with specific recommendations on how to spend your budget most effectively. You can then negotiate details, finalize a timeline and move into contract phase.

NEED HELP? Check out Branding 103: How to choose the right designer / agency for your business or email me here!

Q&A with Jeff Fraser

This month’s Q&A is with Jeff Fraser of Local Propeller, a company that specializes in in Web Design, Website Maintenance and Google Ads Management. Jeff is a multi-disciplinary business owner, with a background in both graphic design and web development. He's also a killer project manager.

CONTINUE READING

Sneak Peak Alert!

My client Mount Engadine Lodge is having a contest to name their new Glamping Tents running from July 1 - 15. Sign up for the newsletter on their website to receive the announcement on July 1 to get all the details on how to enter.

SIGN ME UP!