It's Smart to Consider

 
After over 10 years of employment in the corporate and agency design scene, and another 10 on a smaller scale, I’ve gathered some real-life experience and feel my perspective worthy of consideration. You may think my opinion slanted because it comes from a partner of a small agency, but having lived and worked on both sides of the coin, I offer my 2 cents worth.
 
REASON #1
Sincerity
Each and every one of our clients count. We work our tails off to make sure each one is completely satisfied with our creative solutions and customer service. We research, brainstorm, educate ourselves, and keep on top of the latest marketing trends so we can find better growth avenues for our clients. After partnering with many of them for over a decade, we know our hard work, transparency, integrity, and can-do attitude has payed off. For everyone.
 
No Sale-and-Bail, EVER
Because we’re small and value each client, we work hard to maintain a long-term partnership. Larger marketing agencies have the tendency to see smaller clients as a catch-and-release opportunity. Set the hook, make their money, drop the client, then onto the next unsuspecting small fish. Even if we become a big fish, we will never be like them. We value a good nights sleep way too much.
 
REASON #2
Accessible and Speed
Smaller firms, by their very nature, are positioned to provide quick, responsive service to clients that is sometimes critical to their profit margin. Because of our accessibility, we have resurrected many an Ecommerce website from despair, getting them up and running and turning a profit once again. Our clients have direct access to our team, and through our humble environment we can maintain timely communication with them. This is also an advantage when it comes to time-sensitive promotions and events. We can finish a project in a fraction of the time of a larger agency – without sacrificing quality.
 
REASON #3
Affordability
Big agencies need to pay for a gazillion employees they have on board, rent, benefits, medical, and are, therefore, more likely to pass that overhead onto their clients. Instead, for smaller agencies like StraightFire, we occasionally outsource for things like photography, video production, or programming. The outsource vs. huge staff, keeps our overhead down but still maintains equal capabilities and talent to that of a larger agency. We can present and execute the same creative solutions to our clients at a fraction of the price.
 
REASON #4
Creative Firecrackers
Consider this. There are legions of creative front people who go to work every day at big agencies, they win awards, they get paid, they go home. But then there is us little creative people who are not only proven creative firecrackers (the ones that actually did the work that won the awards), but have the guts to start a company. That’s us — we’re the kind of creative team you want in your foxhole. Entrepreneur’s who are willing to fight on the front line for your company, and for theirs as well.
 
REASON #5
Firmly Planted
Small agencies are not big enough to lose their identities. Mark, our creative leader, has a strong vision that everyone else who works here has completely bought into and wants to see become a reality. It’s friendly, it’s fun, it’s energetic. In fact, because we are small, our interactions between each other are consistently being fed fresh, visionary purpose without a lot of wasted time in department meetings and rah-rah emails. Is this possible with a large agency?
 
Are all big agencies bad? Of course not. Many are amazing. We’re talking about percentages and odds here. But when the bottom-line stakes are as high as they’ve been the last few years, it’s foolish to immediately dismiss all small agencies.
 
Because one small fish might just give you the biggest catch.