|
|
|
|
Testimonials
"TimeFox has helped us improve client relationships, increase revenues and cash-flow, and improve the accuracy of our estimating process. And we're all more productive — what's not to love?"
Sean Bickerton
Kulture Shock Media
|
|
|
|
"Please let everyone at your company know that access to your newsletter made a big difference because I see it as a way to connect with my industry and how others are managing their workforce. I also greatly appreciate your kindness."
Julie Hussey
Civic Communications
|
|
|
|
"We love TimeFox more and more every day."
Jarrett Crawford
Red Frog
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FunctionFox is committed to helping small creative companies improve their business. TimeFox, our simple time and project tracking system, helps small advertising, design, marketing, and public relations firms manage their business and do more with their valuable time.
|
|
|
|
|
Feature Article: Rethinking Hourly Rates for Creative Service Firms
FunctionFox News: FunctionFox CEO to host Webinar with HOW Magazine
Creative Resources
Contact FunctionFox
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Rethinking Hourly Rates for Creative Service Firms
by David C. Baker
There's a lot of confusion in the marketplace about hourly rates, and the bad practices in the past don't deserve emulation now. Let's think a little more clearly about the function of hourly rates at your firm.
|
Hourly Rate: From Financial Tool to Positioning Tool
If you want to make money, charge for at least 60% of all the time at your firm (composed of individuals who will bill more or less than that average for the group). Your utilization rate is far more integral to making money than the hourly rate you use to charge clients. Let me state it this way – Your utilization rate is a financial tool; your hourly rate is a positioning tool.
Utilization x Positioning = Wealth. At one point or another, nearly every firm has fallen into the trap of thinking they should fix their lack of wealth by raising their rate. You might very well need to raise your rate, but that's only because you aren't positioned properly. If you aren't making enough money, you need to charge for more of your time. (By the way, the national average is a woeful 42%.) If you aren't positioned highly enough, you need a higher hourly rate—whether or not the client knows what that rate is—because that will result in higher project costs.
So the high school of making money is to fix your utilization problem. Once you've fixed that and the group as a whole is billing for 60% of the available time (with individuals billing 0-85% of their time, based on the role they play), you go to the college of pricing and maintain that utilization at a higher hourly rate. Finally, you go to the third step, graduate school, and start selling your services in packages for a flat fee, which results in much more money per hour than your hourly rate would ever yield. But you cannot go to graduate school without first finishing college. Fix your utilization first or the
talk about "value billing" is hollow. Which leads to a discussion of why billing for time and materials is a midway stop between losing lots of money...
more
This article has been provided by ReCourses. For more information, please visit their web site at
http://www.recourses.com
|
|
|
|
|
FunctionFox CEO to host Webinar with HOW Magazine
5 Strategies to Recession-Proof Your Design Firm NOW!!
Presented By Mary-Lynn Bellamy-Willms, CEO of FunctionFox Systems and Suburbia Advertising
Thursday March 26, 2009
4 PM Eastern | 1PM Pacific
 |
|
When times are tough, you need to put your energy into doing the right things to ensure your business stays healthy and you stay successful for the long term. There are 5 key strategies that will put you in the driver's seat in bad times—and good.
Join Mary-Lynn Bellamy-Willms, CEO of Suburbia Advertising and FunctionFox Systems. Mary-Lynn has worked with thousands of design firms and has seen the most successful firms employ these key tactics.
Get more details >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
In-House Design In Practice
Whether you are an in-house graphic designer or another member of your project's creative team, this inspiring yet practical book offers effective ways to tackle day-to-day challenges and practice new techniques for staying current on emerging trends in the design community. Contains information relevant for every type of company and organization. Very helpful for marketing, human resource, and public relations professionals who may not have advanced design qualifications but who are involved in the design projects they present to new, existing, and future clients.
Get more details >>
|
|
 |
|
Caffeine for the Creative Mind, 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain
Packed Full of 15-Minute Creativity Sparking Exercises
For any designer or creative type who wants to quickly limber up their imagination, this book helps you get into the creative zone, where your best work originates. Packed with 15-minute simple, conceptual exercises, this guide will have you reaching for markers, pencils, digital cameras, and more, to develop a productive creative mindset.
Get more details >>
|
|
 |
|
The Design Essentials Index
Combining three invaluable, practical design books for idea-hungry designers, the Design Essentials Index offers solutions for everything from design basics, to new systems for combining colors, to an in depth examination of creative, practical applications of type. This uniquely designed boxed set includes Jim Krause's best-selling guides: Design Basics Index, Type Idea Index and Color Index 2 giving you a wealth of practical design info at your fingertips.
Get more details >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
For a TimeFox Demo, go to:
www.functionfox.com/demo
To arrange a guided tour of TimeFox, please send your request to:
info@functionfox.com
To order a TimeFox subscription, go to:
www.functionfox.com/purchase
If you would like your company to be featured in a TimeFox
newsletter, on our website or in our promotional package,
please send your request to:
info@functionfox.com
You can opt out of the About Time Newsletter at:
www.functionfox.com/newsletter/no_thanks.asp
|
|
|
|
|
