Naturally, your budget is an important issue in choosing a designer. I am not saying you need to fork over thousands upon thousands of dollars to the person you hire. But, if you hire the cheapest you can find and shop on price alone, I promise, you will get exactly what you pay for.

Number 2: Not all graphic design

In a highly competitive marketplace, hiring an expert graphic designer can mean the difference in whether your product or service stands out and gets noticed or in having it lost in the fanfare generated by your business rivals.

Now, more than ever, hiring an expert to create your marketing and communication materials (also called collateral materials) is one of the most vital ingredients in the success of your small business.

Hiring the right graphic designer -- a true expert -- is a bit more involved than just randomly choosing someone from the Yellow Pages or hiring your third cousin because he is creative and owns a new computer.

If you are not careful, you may find yourself hiring the wrong person for the wrong reasons, which may cause more harm than good to your small business.

This is a big deal. After all, this person will be creating the look and identity of your small business seen by all of your prospects and customers. It is essential that you don't just hire anyone.

Here are five things you need to do in hiring the RIGHT graphic designer for your small business.

Number 1: Understand that graphic design is an investment, not an expense. This investment will pay huge dividends for the image of your business and in determining its future success. You need to be willing to invest in hiring a qualified, experienced professional, rather than hiring the cheapest person you can find. The old adage that...you get what you pay for...is genuinely true.

Naturally, your budget is an important issue in choosing a designer. I am not saying you need to fork over thousands upon thousands of dollars to the person you hire. But, if you hire the cheapest you can find and shop on price alone, I promise, you will get exactly what you pay for.

Number 2: Not all graphic designe

Now, more than ever, hiring an expert to create your marketing and communication materials (also called collateral materials) is one of the most vital ingredients in the success of your small business.

Hiring the right graphic designer -- a true expert -- is a bit more involved than just randomly choosing someone from the Yellow Pages or hiring your third cousin because he is creative and owns a new computer.

If you are not careful, you may find yourself hiring the wrong person for the wrong reasons, which may cause more harm than good to your small business.

This is a big deal. After all, this person will be creating the look and identity of your small business seen by all of your prospects and customers. It is essential that you don't just hire anyone.

Here are five things you need to do in hiring the RIGHT graphic designer for your small business.

Number 1: Understand that graphic design is an investment, not an expense. This investment will pay huge dividends for the image of your business and in determining its future success. You need to be willing to invest in hiring a qualified, experienced professional, rather than hiring the cheapest person you can find. The old adage that...you get what you pay for...is genuinely true.

Naturally, your budget is an important issue in choosing a designer. I am not saying you need to fork over thousands upon thousands of dollars to the person you hire. But, if you hire the cheapest you can find and shop on price alone, I promise, you will get exactly what you pay for.

Number 2: Not all graphic design

If you are not careful, you may find yourself hiring the wrong person for the wrong reasons, which may cause more harm than good to your small business.

This is a big deal. After all, this person will be creating the look and identity of your small business seen by all of your prospects and customers. It is essential that you don't just hire anyone.

Here are five things you need to do in hiring the RIGHT graphic designer for your small business.

Number 1: Understand that graphic design is an investment, not an expense. This investment will pay huge dividends for the image of your business and in determining its future success. You need to be willing to invest in hiring a qualified, experienced professional, rather than hiring the cheapest person you can find. The old adage that...you get what you pay for...is genuinely true.

Naturally, your budget is an important issue in choosing a designer. I am not saying you need to fork over thousands upon thousands of dollars to the person you hire. But, if you hire the cheapest you can find and shop on price alone, I promise, you will get exactly what you pay for.

Number 2: Not all graphic design

Here are five things you need to do in hiring the RIGHT graphic designer for your small business.

Number 1: Understand that graphic design is an investment, not an expense. This investment will pay huge dividends for the image of your business and in determining its future success. You need to be willing to invest in hiring a qualified, experienced professional, rather than hiring the cheapest person you can find. The old adage that...you get what you pay for...is genuinely true.

Naturally, your budget is an important issue in choosing a designer. I am not saying you need to fork over thousands upon thousands of dollars to the person you hire. But, if you hire the cheapest you can find and shop on price alone, I promise, you will get exactly what you pay for.

Number 2: Not all graphic design

Naturally, your budget is an important issue in choosing a designer. I am not saying you need to fork over thousands upon thousands of dollars to the person you hire. But, if you hire the cheapest you can find and shop on price alone, I promise, you will get exactly what you pay for.

Number 2: Not all graphic designers are created equal. Just because someone says that he/she is a graphic designer doesn't mean that the person is necessarily worth his/her salt. The key here is to examine that person's portfolio of work.

Graphic design is more than pretty pictures or cool graphics. It is a visual means of solving complex business problems by communicating the essence of your business message and personality. Therefore, when you are looking at the designer's portfolio don't just take a quick look. Dig in and ask many questions about the work.

What was the design problem? How was it solved? What was the concept behind the design solution? Why were the colors chosen? Why was the format chosen? What were the results? Was the client satisfied?

If the designer can't answer these questions or answers with "I did it this way because it looks cool..." or "I used yellow because it is my favorite color..." move on.

Number 3: Hire a designer with experience. Someone fresh out of design school may be enthusiastic about working for you, but may not be the best investment you can make.

You should hire a designer who has, at the very least, three or more years of real world experience under his/her belt.

The more experience a designer offers, the better he/she will be able to steer you away from potential headaches and pitfalls. An experienced designer can suggest ways to handle your project that you may never have thought of before.

A seasoned designer will also have a good idea of what works and what doesn't work, such as the best way to format a direct mail piece or which colors and fonts work best in conveying the message and feeling you are trying to communicate.

Experience relates