Business

The Secret Weapon Agencies Don’t Want You to Know About

Published

2 years ago

February 24, 2024

Your brand is a force to be reckoned with, but every time you need a new design—whether it’s for your website, social media posts, marketing materials, ads, etc.—you hit a wall. Maybe you’ve tried hiring freelancers, only to find that they’re unreliable, missing deadlines, or delivering work that’s just not up to your standards. Or you turn to design agencies and end up spending a fortune on designs that don’t even capture the essence of your brand.

Sound familiar?

Then there’s the option of doing it all in-house, but let’s be honest—your team is already stretched thin, or maybe this design work just isn’t their forte. Instead of focusing on growing your business, you’re bogged down with revisions, design miscommunications, and never-ending back-and-forths with both designers and clients (each of whom probably blame the other). It’s frustrating, time-consuming, and worst of all, it’s keeping your brand/your clients’ brands from looking their best.

If this is you, you’re not the only one. Let’s take a minute to explore why this is happening.

Where Modern Brands Get Stuck

You’d think that in today’s highly connected business world, getting top-notch design work done would be easy enough. But the reality is far from it. The sheer number of options out there is overwhelming—do you go with a freelancer, an agency, or build your own in-house team? Each path comes with its own set of challenges, and none of them are as straightforward as they seem. Just because there’s quantity doesn’t mean there’s quality.

Basically, more options = more complexity. And more complexity = less efficiency.

Finding a freelancer might seem like an easy, budget-friendly option, but how do you really know if they’re any good? There’s no easy way to vet them before hiring, and many have little to no experience in handling complex projects. Even if you do manage to find a talented designer, coordinating with them remotely can turn into a logistical nightmare.

On the other hand, if you have a solid in-house team, managing the design process becomes a full-time job in itself. Whether it’s developing a website, creating a mobile app, or launching a new marketing campaign, every detail needs to be just right. The more your company grows, the more complex your design needs become, and suddenly, you’re drowning in work—too many projects, too many people to manage, and no streamlined way to keep everything on-brand and on-schedule for each client.

When hiring full-time designers or even just popular freelancers, costs can rack up quickly. Before you know it, you’re paying multiple salaries just to get the bare minimum of what you need from a design team.

Running an agency today is complicated. So it’s 100% forgivable to need outside support.

Enter: Your Night & Shining Armor, Penji

Penji is a graphic design service that runs on a subscription model, offering unlimited design projects for a flat monthly fee. Founded in 2017, Penji is tailored for businesses and agencies that need ongoing graphic design support without the traditional constraints of per-project fees or design contests. Unlike other creative platforms, Penji assigns a dedicated designer from their talent pool to each project, allowing for personalized service and continuous collaboration. Brands get a range of design services including branding materials, ads social posts, websites, apps, custom illustrations, presentations, and more.

You might think opting for a whole design team would break the bank, but it’s actually far more affordable than hiring a full-time designer (yes, we did the math). By subscribing to an unlimited design service, you not only cut costs dramatically but also avoid the endless task of sorting through freelancers who might not meet your expectations.

With this approach, you can finally say goodbye to:

The frustrating cycle of hiring and firing designers year-round
Missing critical deadlines because the work wasn’t delivered on time
A disjointed brand identity that doesn’t represent your vision
Accepting mediocre designs that feel rushed and uninspired
Overburdening your in-house team with more design tasks than they can handle

How the Process Works

Start a Design Project: The process begins when you create a design project by filling out a straightforward form. This form includes details about your design needs and allows you to attach relevant files. Penji encourages you to provide comprehensive information to ensure that the assigned designer has a clear understanding of your requirements.
Get Assigned a Designer: Once your project is submitted, Penji matches you with a designer who they believe is best suited for your project. This designer will be your point of contact, and you can communicate directly with them throughout the process. The initial draft of your design is delivered within 24 to 48 hours.
Review/Request Revisions: After receiving the first draft, you have the opportunity to review it and request revisions if needed. Penji’s approach ensures that you’re completely satisfied with the final product before it’s considered finished.
Want to see how it works? Check out a free live demo.

Choosing a Design Package

All the packages are laid out with monthly, quarterly, and yearly pricing. Starting at $499 per month for the Starter plan, you’ll be able to make unlimited graphic design requests with a 24-48 hour turnaround (Keep in mind, more complex projects like websites will take longer). If your design needs grow, you’ll have the Marketer and Agency packages to choose from.

What’s the Turnaround Time?

When using this design tool, you can typically expect to receive at least one draft by the next day. In fact, many users are pleasantly surprised to find three drafts ready for review within 24 hours. For comparison, most freelancers and design firms often take several days just to submit a single draft.

What’s impressive is the quality of the designs, especially considering the quick turnaround. This is largely because each project is handled by a different designer, giving you the advantage of having a virtual design team working on your requests simultaneously.

Using the Built-in Revision Tool

Penji has a built-in revision tool that lets you click anywhere on the design to leave a revision. It’s useful as it enables you to pinpoint what you want to change.

Even with the initial drafts being strong, you might still need some revisions. Typically, these revisions are turned around the same day or by the next day, depending on their complexity. For more involved revisions, you might be told it will take up to 24 hours, which is still a relatively quick process compared to other design services. One thing to note is that while the platform is efficient, it doesn’t offer real-time chat with your designer.

Designer Swap

You may not always see eye-to-eye with a particular designer. If their take on a project just doesn’t feel right and you’ve tried revisions, Penji allows you to try a different designer at no cost (and no awkwardness).

Is Penji Right for You?

Penji is a robust solution for brands that require a steady stream of design work. Its subscription-based model, fast turnaround times, and the advantage of working with a dedicated designer make it a compelling choice for those who value efficiency and consistency in their design projects. However, the service may not be ideal for those who only need occasional design work or are seeking a broader range of creative services (eg. 3D animation).

If you’re tired of having a design workflow that’s not efficient enough, Penji offers an opportunity to simplify and get tailored support from a pro design team year-round.

Business

Top 10 Free and Paid eCommerce Tools for 2025

Published

2 hours ago

September 18, 2025

Skylar Lee

Starting an eCommerce business is no easy feat. You have to think about sales, marketing, customer service, invoicing, and inventory all at once. Some platforms may offer those, but you need other eCommerce tools to make life easier and automate your processes. But which are the best ones? I’ve compiled a list of the best ones here.

1. Shopify

Type: eCommerce platform

Any eCommerce tools list would simply be incomplete without the mention of Shopify. After all, Shopify is one of the leading eCommerce platforms of all time. The eCommerce platform makes it easy for new eCommerce businesses to set up shop in no time. They have a bunch of tools to keep any eCommerce business around, such as branding, point of sales, email marketing, and payment tools.

With Shopify, you don’t have to create a website immediately if you don’t need it yet. If you want to start small, Shopify has a Starter plan where you can reach customers via social media or messaging apps.

Pricing:

Starter (social and messaging apps only) – $5/mo

Basic – $29/mo

Shopify – $79/mo

Advanced – $299/mo

2. Veeqo

Type: Inventory and logistics

Even though Shopify has everything you need to get your business ready from launch to your first sale, you can integrate tools into the platform, such as Veeqo. Veeqo is a logistics company helping eCommerce businesses with inventory and shipping.

You don’t have to worry about keeping track of all your products manually. With Veeqo, you can rest easy knowing they automate your stock every time there’s a sale. Plus, with shipping, you’ll have lowered rates on known logistics businesses, such as DHL and UPS. In addition, you can automate shipping processes.

Pricing: Veeqo Free, $250 per month for Veeqo Priority

3. SurveyMonkey

Type: Survey

One eCommerce tool that you should use is a survey. This helps you get a pulse of what’s going on with your customers, and one of the survey tools you should use for your eCommerce business is SurveyMonkey.

With SurveyMonkey, you’ll also know what your customers think of your products, aside from the reviews they give. Surveys will provide you with more input, and you’ll learn how to improve your products and how you can interact with your customers better. But it’s not just a tool for your customers. You can also ask your employees how they can improve your eCommerce business.

Pricing:

Team Advantage – $25/user/month

Team Premier – $75/user/month

Enterprise – Contact sales

4. Wave

Type: Accounting and Invoicing

Most eCommerce platforms will have their own payment portal. But if you want an all-around easy-to-use small business financial service software, Wave is one of the best eCommerce tools to use. They have these nifty features:

Invoicing
Payments
Accounting
Banking
Payroll
Advisors

With Wave, you don’t need an accountant. Wave helps you with your taxes, bookkeeping, and billing. And if you still need financial help, advisors are ready to help you learn more about finance terms or concepts. Plus, Wave is free to use for their Invoicing, Accounting, and Bookkeeping features. Or, you can even hire a bookkeeper to do all the work for you.

Here’s the pricing for their Payments, Payroll, and Advisors features:

Payments: 2.9% + $0.60/ transaction (AMEX: $3.4% + $0.60/transaction)

Bank payments: 1%/transaction

Payroll: Tax service states – $40/mo; Self service – $20/mo

Advisors: Bookkeeping support – $149/mo; Coaching – $379/mo

5. Rewind

Type: Data protection

Any business with a website should know that they need to back up their data. After all, you can put it right back up anytime if outages or something unexpected happens to your website. And if you don’t want to lose your data, Rewind is one of the best eCommerce tools out there.

Rewind can help eCommerce businesses protect their business from any downtime with their daily backup. If you have integrated a 3rd party app into your website, but it’s not doing you any good, you can just rewind and get back to the last time you didn’t install it. Plus, they ensure your data is secure from any attacks.

Pricing: Starts at $45/mo

6. Zendesk

Type: Customer service

Zendesk is one of the best customer service tools of all time, with more than 100,000 brands and users helping customers with their concerns. The customer service tool will help eCommerce businesses connect with customers through email, phone, or live chat.

Pricing: Starts at $19 per agent per month, billed annually

7. Jungle Scout

Type: Marketing

If you need a marketing and keyword research tool made for online sellers, Jungle Scout is one of the best eCommerce tools to use. This tool is for Amazon sellers, but you can still use this for your online store anywhere. You can grow your traffic with their keyword research feature, optimize listings, and get more reviews for your site.

They also have an inventory management feature. Plus, Amazon sellers can get more out of the tool with their finances and ads features.

Pricing: Starts at $29/month

8. Copysmith

Type: SEO/Marketing

Are you having trouble creating product descriptions for all of your items? Don’t fret, Copysmith is an AI writing tool to help you create a copy in minutes. It can be difficult trying to come up with persuasive copy that will get people to click add to cart.

With Copysmith, you’ll have an AI assistant giving suggestions from the keywords you provided. From there, you can choose from the best copy and add it to your website. Plus, they ensure that the copy is search engine optimized, so customers can visit your online store and get more traffic. In addition, you can also create bulk product descriptions for SKUs.

Pricing: Starts at $19 per month

9. MailChimp

Type: Marketing

MailChimp is best known for email marketing. But it has grown into an all-around marketing platform for any business. They have a comprehensive email marketing platform, allowing businesses to segment their audience, reach more, and analyze open and conversion rates.

Aside from email marketing, MailChimp allows businesses to create optimized landing pages and social media ads and send printed postcards.

Pricing: Free plan available, paid plans start at $13 per month

10. Google Analytics

Type: Analytics

Any entrepreneur or seller needs to keep track of their online business. And if you want to know how your online store ranks on one of the widely used search engines, you can use Google Analytics.

Most eCommerce platforms will have analytics, but Google Analytics can help you with your marketing, and you’ll know how to reach more customers. Plus, you can run ads with their Google Ads and Search Ads 360 features and get access to the Google Search Console.

Pricing: Starts for free

These eCommerce tools have proven their worth and helped other eCommerce businesses thrive in their own niche. Plus, they have also provided immense value and eased the minds of new and existing eCommerce businesses.

Business

What’s the Best Website to Get a Graphic Designer in 2025?

Published

5 hours ago

September 18, 2025

Julian Fink-Rosemary

Great design makes your business shine. But when there are so many sites out there it’s hard to discern who to get your graphic design from. This article will outline the best graphic design hire websites in 2025 along with what they offer and their advantages and disadvantages so you can make an informed choice.

#1 Penji – Best for Unlimited Graphic Design

Ranked number one is Penji simply for its unlimited graphic design subscription. You pay a flat rate per month and can request as many designs as you’d like.

Pros:

Unlimited requests and revisions
Fast turnaround (24-48 hours)
Flat rate pricing means no surprises
Team of professional designers at your service

Cons:

Not suitable for anyone who only needs one small project
Monthly subscription fee could feel expensive for one-off users

Penji is ideal if you’re seeking out graphic design outsourcing services and want to avoid freelancers and fickle situations in the future.

#2 Design Pickle – Best for Business Support

Design Pickle website: Hire graphic designer

Design Pickle operates similarly to Penji with a subscription option that’s favored among businesses needing frequent graphics.

Pros:

Unlimited design requests and revisions
Flat monthly fee
Designers dedicated exclusively to your projects over time

Cons:

Turnaround time depends on how busy designers are with other projects
Pricing is higher than other options if you’re not going to use the service frequently

This works well for business owners who are in need of constant support—but not necessarily the extensive offerings that Penji provides.

#3 Toptal – Best for Higher End Talent

Toptal makes its mark by connecting you with top-quality freelance designers. If quality is your priority and money isn’t an issue, this is the best site.

Pros:

vetted, top-tier designers
Pay as you go, or employ long-term.
Ideal for difficult design tasks that demand long-term engagement.

Cons:

Significantly higher than all other options.
Not ideal for smaller projects or finances.

Best for those who prioritize top-tier talent above cost reductions.

#4 Dribbble: Best for Creative Portfolios

Dribbble is a community where designers can share their work. You can look through portfolios and contact the people whose work you admire.

Pros:

Access to the specialized creators.
Ideal for style discovery or inspiration.
Communicate directly with designers before hiring.

Cons:

No fixed-price service
Quality ranges by creator—some might be available, others might not
Takes a lot of time to research potential hires since they’re not all guaranteed availability or skill level

This is best for those who want to see portfolios created by potential candidates and match styles with their needs.

Conclusion

No matter which site you choose in 2025, you’ll find benefits from each. Go with Dribbble if you want creative freedom in hiring, Toptal if you’re looking for exclusive freelancers, and Design Pickle if you’re seeking ongoing support. But if you want consistent, affordable, unlimited graphic design without any guessing—Penji is number one. Visit penj.co today to streamline design for your business.

Business

What’s the Best Subscription Creative Service Agency in 2025?

Published

8 hours ago

September 17, 2025

Margaret Zander

This year, we’ve witnessed how creative work moves at breakneck speed. We see brands launching faster, content increasing, and competition becoming more fierce. This is the reason subscription creative services are multiplying by the second. They are proven beneficial to businesses. But how do you choose? We compiled this short list of the best subscription creative services to help you decide.

1. Penji

Hands down, the best subscription creative service, Penji, has been making waves in the design niche since 2017. It offers a diverse range of innovative services, including web and app design, social media graphics, logo design, custom illustrations, and more. Its unlimited graphic design business model lets you send requests for as many designs as you want a month for a flat rate.

2. Reel Unlimited

For small businesses and startups, Reel Unlimited is the best subscription creative service for you. They can craft graphics, websites, and video content for you with fast delivery and unlimited revisions. You can avail of its 7-day free trial to determine if this is the right fit for your brand.

3. Designity

Taking pride in its hybrid business model, Designity combines freelance talent with creative direction. This is the ideal subscription creative service for businesses seeking strategic design leadership. It provides branding, web design, UX/UI, and a range of other marketing materials for your brand.

4. Superside

Next is Superside. This is the best subscription creative service for brands that require enterprise-level work. It has a focus on collaboration and scalability, making it the most suitable graphic design partner for large teams and global businesses.

5. NoLimit Creatives

Last but not least, NoLimit Creatives, the design service that offers both graphic and video design with flexible plans. It is most suited for agencies and eCommerce businesses. It provides a wide range of creative services, which include online ads, social media graphics, product packaging, and video editing.