Top 10 Ways to Hire Creative Partners

How to Amp Up Your Business by Merging In-House Teams with Strategic Creative Experts.

In this article, I’m going to walk you through some of the best ways to work with creative teams and help you figure out how to make the right choices. Wondering if your business should team up with an external creative crew? If that’s the case, how do you pick the right one, set up how you’ll work together, and make sure everything runs smoothly? I’ll help entrepreneurs make smart decisions, save time and resources to hit their targets and enjoy the benefits of teaming up with creative pros. Plus, I’ll offer tips for creatives on how to showcase their skills to the right people, identify the segments and ICPs (Ideal Customer Profiles), and understand what those customers really want and expect.

When is it necessary to seek the help of a professional creative team and what do I mean by that term?

First off, what do I mean by a ‘creative team’? I’m talking about a diverse group of professionals—designers, copywriters, illustrators, architects, marketers, social media experts, editors, photographers, and videographers—who all come together to craft your business’s image and the content that surrounds it.

While freelancers are great, especially with platforms like Fiverr and Upwork, sometimes you need a dedicated team, particularly when saving time becomes more crucial than saving money. This is often true for new businesses that are just starting and still need the resources for a full team unless there’s a solid plan and financial backing in place.

A clear indication that a creative team is necessary is when the cost of making a mistake or investing in the business exceeds the cost of having a team’s services. It’s also a good idea to consider hiring a creative team when your in-house team is overwhelmed with operational activities, and they’re unable to focus on their core tasks.

Other reasons to hire a creative team:

• Seasonality. Need for external experts to meet business goals during peak times.
• Quality Concerns. The in-house team can handle daily tasks but falls short on strategic projects critical for attracting new clients or partners.
• Limited Expertise. The existing team lacks the necessary skills or requires too much time to tackle new challenges or tasks.

What are the most effective ways of interaction and who is best suited for each?

When you decide it’s time to bring on a creative team, how do you figure out the best type of collaboration for your needs? Generally, I’d categorize the options based on how long you’ll be working together — either on a long-term or a short-term, project-based basis.

If a business needs ongoing support from a creative team for a crucial part of its operations, it might be time to consider a long-term partnership. Based on the well-known business model canvas by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur, if a creative team helps with an important resource or activity, it’s a good sign that teaming up with them would be helpful.

We have helped a paper product company that frequently launches new collections by providing our team of creative illustrators, graphic designers, and copywriters. Their work is critical in enhancing the product appeal, which ultimately drives sales and popularity, leading to greater success for the company.

Get the most out of focusing on your main business tasks by working with an outside creative team. Sure, you could create your own team, but here’s why an outside team can be better:

• Creative expertise. You get expert creative help without the trouble of finding and looking after an outside team.
• Cost savings. Save money on things like extra office space, fancy software, and big salaries for creative roles you might not always need.
• Adaptable and scalable support. Change the amount of help you get based on what your business needs, making it easy to scale up or down.

The most popular long-term cooperation schemes

Let’s look at some common ways businesses work with creative teams over the long term. 

Outsourcing (1) is when you hand off specific jobs to another company. It’s a good fit for businesses that don’t have too many projects but need a variety of creative skills.

For example, a Residential Real Estate Development company regularly partners with an external creative team to craft new brands and concepts for their projects, covering everything from naming and storytelling to creating a corporate identity and designing construction sites, sales offices, showrooms, and promotional materials.

Outstaffing (2) is a bit different. It’s when you bring in experts from outside to join your team for a while. This is handy when you need extra help or want to save some money without losing out on quality. It’s great for businesses that have busy times of the year or are growing quickly and need more hands on deck.

A client in the events industry hired us to develop concepts for stands and events during peak season. Our team of architects, visualizers, and designers helped create presentations, which were later implemented by the client. This collaboration was crucial to keep up with demand and increase revenue.

Then there are strategic partnerships (3) and retainer agreements (4), which are more about long-term collaboration. With a strategic partnership, two businesses work together because they offer services that help each other out. Retainer agreements are where a company pays a regular fee to have a creative team ready when they need them, which works well for businesses that can predict how much help they’ll need.

For example, an interior construction company could team up with a design studio. This way, they can both benefit by referring each other’s services to their clients, creating a win-win situation.

Subscription (5) models are quite flexible and clear. Companies pay upfront for a set amount of creative work, which is great for businesses with changing needs, like startups. 

Consider a startup with diverse, unplanned tasks. Initially, they might need a logo, then a pitch deck and a landing page, followed by social media images and a trade show banner later on. With a subscription-based creative partner, they can quickly address these needs using prepaid services, pausing when tasks are scarce. This flexibility isn’t typically available with hired specialists.

Performance-based (6) or royalty models (7) mean the creative team’s pay depends on how well their work does, like boosting sales or hitting other targets.

In performance-based collaborations, creative teams earn bonuses for hitting specific targets like views or sales in advertising campaigns. With royalties, creators get a share of the sales revenue when their work, like illustrations, is used in products. This also applies to copyright licensing, where fees depend on how the work is used, its geographic reach, and the number of copies made.

Lastly, project work (8) and consulting (9) are more straightforward, one-off collaborations. They let businesses test out working with a creative team without a big commitment. Consulting provides expert advice to help businesses plan their strategies better.

Our experience shows that project-based tasks like branding development often kickstart long-term relationships with clients. As businesses grow, they need ongoing creative support, leading us to develop lasting partnerships that evolve with their needs. 

In creative consulting, you get customized guidance for your current situation and a step-by-step strategy to reach your goals easily. It’s important to pick a consultant who knows their stuff, shares your values, and clicks with you personally, because the right people, not just plans, make change happen.

You might wonder, why haven’t we talked about freelancing (10)? That’s a valid point. According to a report by Upwork, freelancing will be the main way creatives work in the near future. The collaboration methods we mentioned work for freelancers as well. Still, I’ve been mainly talking about how these methods play out in organizations. 

When considering freelancers, it’s essential to assess the pros and cons. Freelancers often provide affordable rates, diverse expertise, and quick availability. Yet, their skill level and reliability might differ. 

Based on our experience, freelancers are a good fit for businesses that need creative help now and then because the benefits usually outweigh any possible drawbacks.

Your Next Steps

Instead of a lengthy conclusion, I’ve put together a visual table to clarify your options based on your specific circumstances quickly. 

If you need more than just a table, I’m ready to help. Feel free to send over any questions, and I’ll provide straightforward advice.  If you’re ready to elevate our discussion, let’s schedule a time to chat further. You can book an appointment using this link.