How would you choose a branding expert? What about a website designer?

[Deanna Sipe]

There are so so many professionals to choose from these days for Branding and Website Design. If you are coming out with a new video product and you want to narrow your choices down to the right few for you.... how would you do that? How would you interview the candidates to end up with the right one?

[Erik Deckers]

Figure out what your goals are, determine what you want to accomplish, and find a company who has done something like that already. Make sure they know how to do what you're looking for, and can actually come up with a measurable strategy. Ask for testimonials and referrals from their clients to see how satisfied they are.

[Johnnie Firari]

Detailed interview and checking what they have done in the past is important. I would also look for a company that truly listens to you and understands the direction you are or need to be moving in.

The individual and or company that ask you the toughest questions for you to answer, is probably going to be the best. When you sit and interview them, you would hope they make you think. They need to understand you, your business direction and be someone you want to work with.

Good luck...

[Matt Barnett]

I would caution against limiting your search to just those that have already done something like what you're looking for (though that would certainly be a plus in the comfort column). You can kind of know what to expect, but you might not get the unexpected.

You could add to the mix those who have a proven track record of creating/producing great ideas, just not necessarily in your industry. You can always compare those that have "been there, done that" to those that would come into the project with more of a blank slate.

All the best with the search.

[Julie R. Morrison]

Lodge Design in Indianapolis (Irvington) is my only go-to. Tell them Julie Morrison (Eric's girlfriend) sent you!

www.lodgedesign.com

[Jennifer Swineford]

Find someone you enjoy working with. The most skilled web designer and or marketer isn't going to do you any good if the two of you can't communicate. As awful as it sounds, it's a lot like dating. Sit down with them, talk, see who "feels" right. Double check their previous work, continuing education and client references and if everything still feels right, go for it.

However, you will find web designers who still create their web sites with tables and from a strictly Search Engine Optimization point of view that is the WORST thing you can do. CSS for layout is the way to go. It will make little diference to the viewer (except the pages typically load faster) but the search engines almost require it now.

Best of luck.

[Deanna Sipe]

Erik, Johnnie, Matt, Julie, and Jennifer thanks so much! All of these are great thoughts and I will take these ideas with me to any interviews/meetings I do. I appreciate your input. :)

[Mike Seidle]

Deanna -

Great question.

On branding:

1. Ask lots of questions about how the designer is going to help protect you from making a trademark mistake or create a logo using stock art. Nothing sucks more than having to either rebrand, get sued for infringement or showing up at a trade show only to discover a company with the same name or similar logo. Be VERY CAUTIOUS and get it in writing that firm doing your branding will indemnify you should they create an infringing image. I've seen four companies in Indy get hosed on this this year alone.

On web design, focus on designers that get usability, accessibility, search optimization and conversion optimization. The biggest mistake I see Hoosiers make buying websites is over valuing looks and leaving out features that get traffic, page views and customers. Great web design doesn't always look great. Great web design works. Yahoo, eBay, Amazon, craigslist, Google, most e-commerce sites all prove the point. Save your money for building out landing pages and conversion paths that actually help make your site get customers.

[Deanna Sipe]

Mike,

Thanks this is great advice. I will take it with me to my meetings. :)

[Carolynn ni Lochlainn]

I can tell you one to start with...and end with. SpinWeb rocks. Michael Reynolds here on Smaller Indiana is the man to contact; you'll probably interview with him. They do branding, web hosting, web presence, and such.

Otherwise, I go on my friends' recommendations, and I also look at design samples from local businesses. If you go to spinweb.net, you'll see why I recommend SpinWeb so highly.

Hope this helps!

Carolynn

[Deanna Sipe]

Wow Carolynn thanks for the tip! I checked their portfolio and it's pretty darn cool. I gave them a call right away and look forward to talking to them. :)

[Tom Marsh]

When you're hiring for a technical position, a great idea that I'm stealing from a former co-worker of mine is to have the candidate do a brief technical presentation about whatever subject is appropriate (i.e. don't have them present on Java programming if they're interviewing for a help-desk position... Unless its a help-desk for people writing software in Java, I suppose.) Pick something from their resume and ask them to do a short 3-5 minute presentation about the technology and how it works. If you're hiring a consultant, they need to be able to explain how/why they suggest things, not just follow "best practices" with their eyes closed. This will also teach you about the consultants communications skills and patience and this is important: If you can work with the person is a large portion of what you need.

So, for your web-designer, first narrow it down by the portfolios, (whose work looks most like what you're looking for, or does something similar to what you want your site to do?) and then do the interviews with the finalists. A common mistake when interviewing for a position where you aren't personally-expert at the work involved is to "over-interview"--see a dozen candidates personally and still have no comfort level whatsoever. Define what you want before you start your recruitment, and work from there towards interviewing into a comfort zone and picking your candidate.

Good luck!

[Chris Tomlinson]

Someone else already said it, but I'm going to repeat it. Make certain that you feel a relationship can be built. In my honest opinion if I can't talk to a client on a certain personal level, I don't feel we've made a connection. Now I'm not saying I want to go out and have a beer every Friday night, but during a conversation I don't mind if it skews a bit into something else like their hobby or new car or a flood in their basement.

Whether selling, buying, arguing or agreeing, you're still just dealing with people. Businesses are people and people are businesses.