Tannah Cantrell
When it comes to commercial work, crafting out excellent content and achieving great business doesn’t always go hand in hand. However much you want it to, sometimes things just get in the way!
Whether it’s external issues affecting your commercial business, or a lack on intel on the inside, it’s not always smooth sailing when it comes to running a company to commercial success.
However, there’s a solution.
A fantastic way of getting quality, creative work done for your company, is by reaching out to the experts. The silver knights who appear to vanquish the dread commercial work beast – we call them freelancers. Whether it’s your company logo, a brand new website or a total revamp of your marketing strategy, there’s a freelancer with the answer.
Sounds terrific – but, how do you get started?
If you’ve never worked in the creative industries in your life, it can be difficult to pinpoint who exactly you should hire to get the job done. So, without further ado, here are some handy profiles of the types of freelance jobs that should be on your radar…
The Commerical Work Dream Team – Top 5:
#5 Video & Animators
When we think of moving pictures, you probably imagine the animated films of Disney or Pixar. However, motion graphics are quickly becoming the most sought-after media.
Why?
Well, consumers simply aren’t as entertained by your standard 2d images anymore. The commercial world is becoming more and more digital, with plenty of commercial activity lending itself to the entertainment of tomorrow: animation and video.
But how can you dip into that medium?
Despite the daunting first impression, animation is used more often than you think: imagine that eye-catching advert you watched today, or that 20-minute long explainer video (that honestly felt like 5 minutes…). Because animation is so engaging, people are attracted to it, and thus want to spend more time consuming it. That leaves you, as a business, with a very pleasant solution – give the people what they want.
We have a variety of articles on how to intertwine motion graphics into your campaign, from types of video content all the way to the process of hiring an animator – however, if you’re all fired up and ready to go, you can browse our talented bunch here.
4. Social Media Experts
These are guys who are fluent in all things social media. Take your Instagram profile, or your Facebook account – your social media expert will be able to easily and quickly recognize where things are going awry, across all platforms.
However, it should be mentioned that although these people are incredibly talented, you should probably have a social media strategy in place before you consult. That way, they’ll be able to see, from your experience, what’s been working and what hasn’t.
They’ll create a perfect campaign a lot quicker than if they had to start from scratch. Plus, a great online presence can do wonders for a business – we’re talking about increased sales, greater brand awareness, and more dominance as a key contender in your market. Sound good? Check out the talent here.
3. Marketers
What does a freelancer do for marketing? Well, marketing freelancers can come in, diagnose your marketing problems – from content, all the way to brand awareness – and provide you with the solutions that your business needs.
Businesses often work super hard churning out work and content and often forget to sit back and reflect. Remember the phrase: work smarter, not harder? Well, that’s key to a successful marketing campaign. A freelance marketer can help you cut costs, and be smart about your marketing tactics. Also, onboarding a freelancer who has trained to get a high-level skill set in all things marketing can never be a bad thing – you no longer have to worry about letting the side down!
Luckily for you, your marketing freelancer will have this all under wraps anyway, so all you have to do is sit back and watch as the numbers grow up and up. Interested in hearing more? Check out our article here on how to find yourself the perfect marketing freelancer.
2. Developers
Good websites don’t build themselves.
Sure, you can use a pre-existing template from one of the very many web-hosting services – but is it really going to be stellar? That and, as a consumer, we can all recognize a Wix pre-made template a mile off!
To bag yourself a website that is both original and eye-catching – which, let’s agree, with the amount of business you’re competing with, is needed – can only be done with a professional.
Programmers and developers use a variety of tools and methods (which, a lot of it is beyond our knowledge base) to help craft you a shiny, new website that converts. They’ll also take care of all of the UX bits and pieces, i.e. making sure it’s easy to navigate so that users don’t have to treat it like the Triwizard tournament maze in Harry Potter…
Ideally, you also want a website you can edit yourself and add content to easily, but this can be easily negotiated with your web designer, developer, or programmer. We’ve got a whole host of experts waiting to help you sculpt out the website of your dreams! Check them out here.
#1 Designers
Graphic Design
97% of small businesses claim that design contributes to the majority of their success. As a customer, it’s hard to turn away from a well-designed piece of content right, right?
Well, a freelance expert in graphic design, can do more than simply flesh out your latest insta post. They can help visually construct your brand’s message (Twine has a selection of branding experts as well, by the way!), and speak to potential customers via the land of design. Not everyone has a knack for the creative, so why not represent your business in the best possible way? Consult the experts.
Their main job function is visual communication, so think branding, marketing, social media – if it’s commercial work, you name it, they can do it. Also, they’re Photoshop pros, using different fonts, graphics, colors, and shapes to get the right message across.
Graphic design is a pretty integral part of our daily lives – don’t just see it as a fancy extra! If your business doesn’t have good design and a visually pleasing look, you may as well wave goodbye to any potential customers on the horizon. The future is looking fresh and attractive – if you want to stand out, it may be worth giving your friendly neighborhood designer a call…
Illustration
An illustrator will come in handy if you need custom book, magazine, or graphic novel illustrations. They could also come in handy if you need a few business portraits illustrated, or perhaps some content illustrations to help break up the monotony of boring content.
An illustrators’ style (i.e. vector, anime, commercial, fantasy, etc.) can be a variety of things, it all depends on the format of their work. Illustration is what a lot of people first think of when the word “design” is mentioned, but it’s important to know that a lot of design is created via collaboration between many different roles.
For instance, an illustrator may collaborate with a graphic designer on a project producing a brochure. Here, the freelance illustrator would create the images for different products, which the graphic designer would then incorporate into the final design of the brochure.
If you’re in need of an illustration for your latest commercial work project, check out our top-quality selection here.
Web Design
We’ll say it before and we’ll say it again – a solid website is crucial for your business’s success.
But, you want one that stands out, right? That stops potential buyers in their tracks, and makes them want to click through product after product, or blog post after post? Que, the freelance web designer…
You see, many do-it-yourself website makers, claim that creating a website yourself, even when you don’t have an ounce of creativity in you (don’t worry, we won’t judge), is the right way to go about constructing your business’s look.
Well, we would argue differently.
You see, you’re not just creating any old website so that you have it ticked off the agenda, you need to create something that will accurately sell your business. You want your website to do the talking for you – without you having to plead and beg with your customers to convert.
Plus, it’s not just consumers you need to impress – although that is a large part of it, and you should definitely prioritize this, as the market is getting incredibly saturated... – you need to also impress Google and the likes of SEO. Think about it, do you want to be on page 15 or page 1? Working with a web designer who knows what they’re talking about, and has the creativity in them to make your website stand out, will take a huge weight off of your shoulders down the line.
But where can you get started? Don’t worry, you sit back and browse the very many incredible web designers here, they’ll do the work for you…
Bottom line
Repeat after me: freelancers are here to help.
DIY jobs for commercial work are in the past, and will only serve to waste your time in the long run. Achieving the results you want – and quickly – can only be done if you’re happy to get a bit of help from the experts. These guys have trained extensively in their specific areas, and have dealt with a great number of projects: no problem is too big!
Plus, there will always be a professional contractor out there for you – no matter your business niche, or industry. If you want to turn your business around and make commercial work easy, feel free to check out the talent at Twine.
awork
Stuart Logan
