When I started offering freelance marketing services and consulting, I immediately started getting bombarded by requests. At first this was exciting, then I realized that there was one common issue with many of the potential jobs: the clients had no clue what branding was or why it was so important. Many of them had a business name, and maybe even a logo. But when we got into details, things would get pretty murky.

I am of course willing to help any business or organization with establishing their brand. This requires some probing and ultimately results in my suggestion to first focus on creating a brand worth marketing. However, some potential clients become almost annoyed at this. Understandably so, because branding and marketing aren’t their expertise and they’re just ready to see results. But if you’re just looking for marketing services, before any good marketer (who really cares about your success) is able to help, you should have the following essentials:

A Logo…in the right file formats. Many businesses without a marketing department are functioning with the bare minimums. Potential clients often come to me with only a .jpg logo file in thumbnail size and are disappointed when I tell them that I can’t work with the poor image quality.

Clients: If you have a logo created for your business or organization, make sure you store the files in .eps, .png, and .jpg. The .eps is the most important, as it can be easily scaled and altered for various situations.

Brand colors and fonts. These are just too more branding properties that those with little to no branding experience often overlook or flat out ignore.

Clients: Great branding is consistent branding. It may not seem like it matters, but a set color scheme and the right font is important to making sure your brand image is represented properly and can make a lasting impression on your audience. Visual properties like colors and fonts play a role in the way your brand’s messaging is received by the audience and also evoke certain feelings.

The right brand name. You might be thinking, “Duh!” but you’d be surprised how many people come to me wanting me to market a business that either has no name or has a name that simply won’t work.

Clients: Make sure that you’ve settled on your brand’s name, at least for the foreseeable future. The last thing you want to do is to spend your money and time marketing a brand that won’t exist in a week. In addition, try to ensure that your brand’s name isn’t misleading or simply confusing.

I am all for creativity. Just as much as I am a supporter of simplicity. Whatever you decide on make sure you can spell it, it isn’t grammatically incorrect, it’s not stolen, and you keep it exactly the same wherever you’re putting it.

Goals. One of the most common reason I end up unable to work with a potential client is simply because they just don’t know what it is that they’re trying to accomplish.

Clients: Before you ask someone to do marketing for you, you should know what it is that your brand does and what exactly you’re marketing in the first place. There is no magic button that even the best marketer can push that suddenly makes you successful. Approach a marketer with at least some idea of what you’re looking for. What's your brand mission? Want to do Facebook? Okay cool. For just building awareness or do you actually want sales? These are things you should think about.

Again, there are plenty of marketers and brand gurus who love helping to build a brand from the ground up. There are many marketers who love to help brands figure out what they should be doing with their marketing strategy. So, if you’re looking for someone to help anywhere you need it, no problem. But, if you’re just looking for someone to put out a few Facebook ads, you should know that there are some preliminary questions that experienced marketers are going to ask.