When you come across a patio with crisp tablecloths on picnic tables, wildflowers in chipped Royal Doulton tumblers, and steaming lobster served on cafeteria trays—what do you do when they offer you a seat?
You check the menu of course. Not just to see what they have, but to get a feel for what they charge.
People want to know, ballpark, what kind of pricing to expect before making any kind of commitment. That’s natural. Even if you’re not ordering right now. You’re just seeing if it’s in your budget for later. And getting a sense of league you’re (Batting? Swimming?) in.
It drives me nuts when people won’t give me a straight answer about their pricing. Sadly, you see this a lot in the creative realm. Can you imagine calling a plumber and saying, I need my sink fixed, what’s your hourly rate? And he pauses and says, “How much you got?”
I understand that complicated projects require complicated quotes, but a ballpark “here’s roughly what you’re in for” is all most people want when they’re kicking tires. That’s why we have the rate card.
I know I leave a lot of money on the table with this rate card. I don’t care. I make up for it with less time dancing and more time actually doing my job—at a rate that works for both of us off the bat—no negotiations required. That’s what happens when you have a client that knows good value and an agency that knows its worth.
There’s only one way to land on those numbers and that’s by constantly working for the numbers you set.
Will other agencies copy these prices? Again, I don’t really care. And I’m looking right at you, (redacted). You don’t work like me. You have a different product. Different overhead and expenses. I provide a different service that you do. So don’t steal my pricing. Make your own.
My rates are low beside the big tower juggernauts. Probably a third, I’m guessing, because my overhead’s low.
So that’s where the real value is.
Our studio rates and hourly billing seem dear by freelance designer standards. Because we are not just one designer, we’re a synchronized and organized team that can handle everything from the design, to the execution, to the strategy and media buy. We’re a one-stop-shop comprising a regular crew that’s worked together and worked out our flow for over a decade now. That cohesion is The Studio in the studio rates we have. You’re paying to keep the ball moving by career creatives, not dropped mid-way by a realtor moonlighting as a producer.
If you have $1000 to spend, we might seem expensive. If you have $10k, we are affordable but only for the below-the-line items.
We can take you from an idea to everything you need to be a company for less than $15k.
$25k and we are talking high-end branding.
If you have $50k we can do a truly next level B2B campaign.
For $100k we can blanket a region.
$300k: Blanket with broadcast.
$500k: Can’t miss, province-wide for a season.
So take a look at the rate card, let me know what you think, and if you want to really drill down on the numbers, we have the Bento Box for that. Just give us a shout.
