Lately, I’ve noticed more and more small PR & marketing agencies and solo consultants working with a team of freelance associates.
Before I delve into why you should build your own team of associates, I want to explain what they are.
What is an associate?
An associate is a business owner or freelancer who works in or understands your industry and has specialist or technical skills you need but might not necessarily have.
Skills like:
- Web design
- Graphic design
- Copywriting
- Film/video creation
- Digital marketing
- Media relations
- Crisis communications
And even if you feel you can do a lot yourself, there comes the point when you’re growing so fast, it pays to work alongside other skilled professionals.
7 reasons to create a team of associates
If you’ve reached a point where you need a little help, here are seven benefits to building a team of associates:
1. Being busy doesn’t slow you down
Outsourcing to one of your associates gains you an experienced pair of hands, so you can continue hitting your deadlines during busy periods. This means you can concentrate on what you do best instead of working on stuff that saps time and joy out of you.
2. Two (or more) heads are better than one
Having a colleague or team of people who think differently allows you to collaborate on a project and bounce ideas around, resulting in new ideas you might not have considered on your own.
Read: Are you a “why” or a “how” person?
3. You can increase your turnover
Outsourcing lower-level work to an associate with experience in your industry but with less experience than you means you can increase your income by marking-up projects.
Plus working by yourself only allows your business to grow so far. Having a team of associates means you can take on more clients.
4. It gives you more time
Not just for taking on more clients, but in your personal life too. Giving yourself more time allows you to plan better. You become proactive instead of reactive, resulting in a more focused strategy.
And it also means you’ve got a few extra hours every week to spend with your family – or just on your own watching Netflix!
5. You give yourself more business flexibility
Having associates allows you to flex up or down without committing to changing to an agency model or by employing people directly.
Sometimes being a solopreneur is all you want to be – and that’s ok.
6. It makes you look bigger than you are
If you want your business to look bigger than it is, you can highlight your associates as team members by creating individual profiles on your website.
This is ideal if you’re not yet ready to step up to the agency model or if you just want to position yourself as a ‘big’ business.
7. It helps you stay sane!
Trying to juggle every job and wear every hat is a one-way road to burnout. A team of associates relieve that pressure, so you don’t exhaust yourself and end up losing enthusiasm for what you do.
And there’s nothing better than taking a well-earned holiday, safe in the knowledge that your team will take care of everything while you’re away.
Looking to build a team of associates?
Then why not work with me, a trusted associate experienced in working with marketing, PR and communications consultants?
I have 15 years’ experience working in marketing, PR and comms and work with consultants on a flexible freelance basis.
To see if I’m the right fit for you, why not book a free 30-minute consultation with me?
Want to get started?
Send a quick email to ali@alisonhadley.co.uk, and I’ll let you know the next step.
Image: Taken from open-source site unDraw where you can add your brand colour to ready-made illustrations.
