If you pay for it - get your money's worth

I have the utmost respect for my colleagues in the world of developing strong marketing strategies and tactics to help small business get the most for their money. I certainly have great respect for the talented graphic designers that take the concepts and strategies and bring them to life.

However, I have no respect for people masquerading as marketing experts or graphic designers when they have less experience and qualifications than my big toe.

I have lately come across a few small businesses that sell themselves as marketing support, graphic designers and copywriters. Their qualifications? They have taken a three-day pre-press course at the local college's continuing education section. They have purchased expensive software. They have a husband that is a salesman. They took English in high school.

I am not threatened by these "businesses" taking clients from my customer base. I am however completely incensed at how they damage the field of marketing and, even worse, take money out of small business' coffers without any hope of appropriate return on the investment.

I have mentioned before that cheap is often a signal of lack of quality (Cheap is a relative term so let me make it a little more clear. If you are paying your graphic designer $15/hour, there's a reason for it. If your marketing expert works for $15/hour, you are in trouble).

To make sure your decision to work with someone who says they are a marketer or graphic designer is the right decision, here are a couple of tips that can weed out the chaff:

• Ask who else they work with. If possible, ask for references that include comments on the return on the investment.
  
• Ask to see some of their work. You will be able to tell if they are good or not. And don't just think "well, it's better than I could do". You are skilled at running your business, not at marketing or graphic design. (If you were skilled at marketing or graphic design, that is the business you would be running)
• Remember that you get what you pay for. If you only pay $30 for a graphic designer, but it gets you no results, then you just wasted $30.
  
• Review their marketing materials. If their own marketing materials are not professional, engaging and worth comments, then one of two things is happening. The first could be that they have no respect for their own business which means they won't have respect for yours. The second could be that they just don't have the talent or know-how to do a better job on their own materials. And if that is the case, run screaming from the building. If they can't make their own work sing, then they certainly can't make yours.
  

Okay, I'm ranting. I have very strong feelings about small business owners not getting the best possible opportunity to grow their business. Your graphic design and marketing plan represent your business in the eyes of your customers when you are not there personally. So it actually makes all the difference in the world.