timeforcake creative media, inc.

pricing

Pricing

Though we do occasionally provide fixed project quotes (for example: when a project's scope and deliverables are clearly defined), we normally either provide cost estimates or charge hourly for our time.

Here are some common pricing questions and answers that should help make things clear.


What is your hourly rate?

This is competitive data that we do not provide to the general public. If you are interested in learning our exact rates and have never worked with us before, please contact us. If you are a timeforcake client, you may see a complete list of our current rates within our Client Section. (Don't have a password? Email us and we'll send one your way ASAP.)

Do you charge for an initial consultation?

Nope. We offer an initial free 30-minute phone consultation to anyone considering working with us. This consultation can include answers to problems you're having, solutions that may not include timeforcake services, etc. You have complete access to our expertise and recommendations for 30 minutes, free of charge. After 30 minutes we begin billing for our time.

What exactly do you charge for?

When not working on a fixed-quote project, we bill for our time. This means that the following tasks are billed work:

  • Website coding and updates (15 minutes minimum)
  • Communications including phone calls and emails (ones that take more than 5 - 10 minutes)
  • Meetings and consultations
  • Provision of files, artwork, etc. to other contacts upon your request (this takes time!)
  • Research (stock photography, competitor websites, etc.)

We do not bill for initial consultations.

So, do you charge for any work or meetings before a contract is signed?

We provide a free 1/2 hour consultation to potential clients, a free proposal, and then free follow-up emails/phone calls to tweak project parameters into an acceptable contract. Outside of this work we bill hourly for our time. This means that things such as strategy meetings, scheduled appointments with your copywriter, and website reviews with your board of directors, are all billed.

When our time or consulting is requested in the absence of a signed contract or initial payment, we bill hourly for our work. Website meetings and consultations provide clients with value and require our time, which is what we bill for, and we (unfortunately!) we have a limited number of hours to work with each day.

In order to provide our existing clients with the absolute best service and finished products possible, we aren't able to devote large chunks of time to potential clients who've not signed contracts and who aren't willing to pay hourly for our time and expertise.

Do you accept credit cards?

At this point in time we do not accept credit cards.

Do you offer payment plans?

Absolutely. We're flexible and are always willing to develop a payment agreement that works well for our individual clients and their particular needs.

I need something done ASAP. Can you do rush work? What are your charges for rush work?

We're here to help you, so we'll absolutely take your rush projects and get them done before that tight deadline. As we'll need to put other scheduled client work aside to ensure your work is done on time, rush rates will apply.

  • Required next-day turnaround (due by 5pm next business day) is billed at our hourly rate + 65%.
  • Required weekend work (in on Friday, due on Monday) is billed at our hourly rate + 75%.
  • Required same-day turnaround (due before 9am the following business day or earlier) work is billed at our hourly rate + 80%.

All clients may review our exact rush rates on the pricing page within the Client Section.

Do you charge for proposals?

Actually, unlike many companies, we do not charge for most proposals--even though it does take time, research, and thought to present an organized project proposal to you.

May I please have a fixed price quote for my project?

If your project's scope, functionality, turnaround time, and content are all set in stone and updates/changes are unlikely, then yes, we'd be happy to provide you with a fixed price quote. The majority of website projects, however, do not fall within these parameters.

Are you the cheapest web/graphic design company around?

We are not.
But we are the best.

You can always find someone cheaper -- no matter who you work with (unless they're working for free, of course!).

We firmly believe that you get what you pay for, and our prices fairly represent our expertise, experience, creativity, quality, and abilities.

How can I keep my costs down when working with timeforcake?

There are several things you can do to keep your costs down while working with us:

  • Plan ahead. Submitting projects to us with a reasonable turnaround requirement eliminates the possibility of incurring rush charges.
  • Communicate regularly. Answer our questions and respond to our emails--we need you!
  • Organize! For instance, let's say you have 50 photos to be placed throughout your website. Please label and organize them for us--if you don't, you're simply paying us to sit down and try to guess and make sense of the content you've provided. We'll likely have to spend time contacting you and double-checking our work as we don't know your content/photos/employees/products as well as you do.
  • Put thought into your update requests. Changing the color of that square on your website from blue to purple is no big deal--but changing it from blue to purple, then to orange (because your spouse likes orange), then to green because one of your employees thought it might work, then to black then to red polka dots then back to black and then once again to purple--well, that will definitely cost a bit more.
  • Proofread your text.
  • Try not to go "meeting crazy." Though we feel that meetings are an important component of most projects, having meetings for the sake of having meetings can be costly as we do charge for this time.

How much do timeforcake websites cost?

Typical small websites tend to start around $2,000 and move up from there. Similarly, Search Engine work usually begins around $2,000 and moves up from there. Yet in the end, just as there's not set answer for "How much does a car cost?", there's really no set answer to "How much does a website cost?".

The final cost of your website is determined by the following variables:

  • Our prices
  • The materials and services you'll require (Hosting? Fonts? Stock photos?)
  • The number of changes and reversals you request during the process -- as well as when these changes are requested. (For example, changing the look and feel of your site's design after we've completed your coding costs more money than if you had asked us to change the look and feel during the initial design stage/before we began coding.)
  • The amount of interactivity within your site (online forms, blogs, forums, etc.)
  • How many initial designs/look-and-feel concepts would you like to see?
  • The quality of the images and photography you provide (do we need to spend hours Photoshopping the photos?)
  • The size of your website
  • Animations or Flash within the site
  • Is rush turnaround required?