Image via WikipediaScreen printing, CD reproduction, graphic design, recording, photography and all the operating costs of running a music business/band can be overwhelming at times. It’s this very uncomfortable feeling that causes a lot of people to want to go the DIY route when producing valuable media for themselves. DIY is not always a bad thing, but it’s crucial to know what you can do yourself and what you should leave to the professionals. I recommend doing a little self assessment and follow the following steps:

1. Do I have professional skills or knowledge about what I’m undertaking? All too often, people will get way in over their heads and will either be unhappy with their final product or will have to get everything overhauled by a professional anyway.
   (TIP: it’s usually way cheaper to have a professional do something from scratch than it is to have to fix something that has already been done.)
2. Is what I’m about to undertake really saving me time and money: I touched on this above, but it wouldn’t hurt to take the extra couple minutes to factor in all the costs of doing something yourself. Certain projects can seem cheap to do up front, but little extras often cause a dramatic cost difference.
3. Do I have the professional equipment? Professional equipment and software often has way more flexibility than consumer grade stuff. One example with photography is the ability to shoot and edit pictures in RAW versus just the standard 150dpi .jpg that comes out of the standard point-n-click –not to mention compatibility with appropriate lenses and lighting rigs. I have seen many a logo that was created in Microsoft Word using cheap looking fonts and rasterized clip art. If most of the words I used draw a blank… it’s probably best left to the professional.
4. How important is the outcome of my project? No really… be honest. Something that represents the look, sound, or feel of your group may not be the best thing in the world to DIY, unless you qualify as a professional… or at least you have some recognizable talent (by strangers… not friends/family that want to say nice things). Other things, like changing the oil on your touring van, making your own props for stage, being your own street-marketing team, etc. etc. don’t matter as much because they are legitimate ways you can honestly save money without sacrificing your hard-earned image.

Always be honest with yourself and know your limits. I’m certainly not against musicians following the road of DIY, as long as it makes sense and turns out well. For the rest of you, that’s why professionals exist. Cutting corners to save money is never a good thing. It’s always cheaper and less time-consuming to save your money until you can afford professional products and services than it is to hack it and do damage control after.