n our experience, pricing creative services is the hardest thing for companies like us to quantify. It’s also very difficult for customers unfamiliar with the creative process to understand, mostly because pricing creative is unlike many other services. After all, how do you put a price on an idea? When billing for our time, sometimes we creatives feel like we get the short end of the stick. Customers come to us looking for ideas and help with their online businesses. However, oftentimes they learn for the first time the colossal amount of time that goes into producing and perfecting ideas for their business.
“We often hear from clients who “just want something simple”, somehow this statement should also be synonymous with cheap. So really what the customer should say is “we just need something really cheap”, because generally what they want is never simple.“
If it was, then everyone would be a natural at graphic design or programming. You wouldn’t need any post-secondary education or decades of experience in your field.
As professional developers, designers and curators, we are often expected to donate huge portions of our time, simply because we know how to do it, so, therefore, it must be easy. The reason this stings is that it’s partially true. We absolutely do have the experience to do the things you want and need. In fact, we have so much experience in the realm of creativity that we even know what you need before you do! Our experience comes from investing countless hours learning and perfecting our craft. Our experience doesn’t mean that those services are cheaper.
Everybody in the business knows that time equals money, so why anyone would expect a creative to bill any differently than any other professional business leaves us scratching our heads.
If you’re new to hiring a creative for your project then here are some tips to consider before you offend the developer on the other end:
- Be clear on your project’s deliverable requirements and deadline from the start
- Ask for a statement of work that details the project
- Ask the hourly shop rate before you start
- Be honest about what you can afford to pay
- Ask how many people will be involved in your project and how their time is accounted for
- Ask if communication is included in your rate/project
- Ask if there’s anything you can do to lower the cost of your project
We offer value-based pricing for many of our online products and services. Packages make our world go round when it comes to content creation for blogs and social media. It also makes it very easy for our customers to digest what deliverables they can expect. However, when we get to other services like logo design, packaging, campaign ideas, and custom programming these are often grey areas that can only be explained with a range.
Nobody wants to be nickel and dimed to death. However, some clients create this scenario unbeknownst to themselves. Here are a few reasons that projects can go off the rails when it comes to billing overages:
- Poor communication
- Not understanding your own project needs
- Overcomplicating a simple process
- Too many cooks in the kitchen
Whatever your past experience with local marketing companies has been – we can change your opinion. Working with a professional should feel different. You should feel as though you are in good, capable hands. Knowing that you’re working with a competent team who can solve your biggest digital marketing questions is a good feeling and we encourage you to trust in your creative community in 2022.
