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Testimonials
"Your product and service drives my loyalty as much as anything I have owned, bought or used."
Steve Hershberger
Comblu Indiana
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"By the way I LOVE TimeFox and don't know how I would run my business without it. That is the truth. I guess I need to get busy and talk about how automation tools like TimeFox have given me the ability to create velocity and grow to a multimillion dollar business in the last few years."
Mark Deo
SBANetwork.org
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"It's a great product backed by good people :)"
Denton Pendergast
Rocket Science
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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.
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Feature Article: Estimating Pitfalls
FunctionFox Webinar Series: Advice to Young Creative Professionals
TimeFox Tip: TimeFox Widget
Advertising and Design News
Contact FunctionFox
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Estimating Pitfalls
By Creative Business
Pricing and estimating are inextricably linked. All the benefits of valuing your firm's activities properly will be lost if the process of estimating the effort involved in individual projects is incorrect. Listed below are the ten mistakes that both new freelances and experienced shop principals most commonly make.
Pitfall #1: Too much guessing. How deep is the ocean?... how blue is the sky?... how long is forever? These questions are as difficult to answer as the one often asked by clients: how much will my (brochure/annual report/ad/Web site) cost? In all cases, the answer is the same: it all depends. Specifically, it depends on the problems or opportunities to be addressed, the timing for doing so, the medium to be used and its specifications, and the client's desires, taste, style, sophistication, and budget. Without knowing all this, in detail, it is impossible to produce a valid estimate. Although this may seem elementary, preparing estimates on insufficient information remains the biggest single project pricing problem.
Pitfall #2: Fear of making some assumptions. Because most clients are not communications professionals, they often don't know or can't articulate what they need. They look to us for help in defining it. When you sense this is the case, it may be wise to prepare something they can react to, either positively or negatively. First, get a feeling for their budget. ("Is the $0,000 to $0,000 range I indicated what you anticipated?") Then, spend a few (no more) hours coming up with three hypothetical approaches to the problem as best you understand it. Ideally, an economical (good), moderate (better), and quality (best) solution. Find previously-produced examples of each type of approach, or do some very rough sketches so the client can visualize what you have in mind. Prepare a single-page "ballpark" estimate for each example. Then explain the positioning/cost/quality trade offs of each approach. Note that this should probably not include preparing concepts (new ideas). This crosses the line into spec work, which is considerably more risky.
Pitfall #3: Confusing quotes and estimates. A quote is a fixed price based on fixed conditions; an estimate is an approximate price, based on flexible conditions. This is not legal hair-splitting. Clients asking for a quote may be expecting just that—a price that's locked-in up front. There are certain situations where providing quotes may be appropriate, such as routine and highly-predictable assignments. But by and large, the strong likelihood of changes occurring between cost estimating and final delivery makes it better not to provide them. Quotes should be limited in most cases to individuals who are gamblers willing to take the risk of winning big, or losing big. Moreover, unless you are actually providing a "quote," avoid using the word. Most clients will be satisfied with an estimate (the right word to use) presented either as a proposal or letter of agreement, especially if they're assured that the price will not change unless they are notified first that job conditions have changed.
Pitfall #4: Not segmenting the tasks. The bigger a project, the harder it is to estimate—unless you think of it as several interconnected tasks. Even with small projects, the
more...
This article has been provided by Creative Business, and is excerpted from the publication "Pricing and Billing Standards For Single & Multi-Person Creative Service Firms." The entire 12-page booklet can be downloaded from
http://www.creativebusiness.com/books.lasso
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Advice to Young Creative Professionals
Presented By David C. Baker, ReCourses
Thursday July 16, 2009
2 PM Eastern | 11AM Pacific (what time is that in my time zone?)
Who should attend: Creative professionals looking to grow their careers within an agency or organization.
July 2009
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Try the TimeFox Timesheet Widget for OS X
Our Mac timesheet widget has been out for just over 8 months now, and TimeFox users are loving it! In fact, the 700+ or so people that have downloaded and used the TimeFox timesheet widget have now entered almost 30,000 timesheet entries!
Here's what Ronnie at One World Design had to say about the TimeFox widget...
"I just downloaded the new TimeFox widget for OS X and wanted to let you guys know that it's AWESOME! Another great time saving device to enhance the already spectacular time saving/tracking solution that you offer."
The TimeFox timesheet widget makes it easy for TimeFox users to log time right from their Mac OS X dashboard, manage timers, or even login to the rest of TimeFox in one click.
Creatives love it because it's easy to use and easy to access, and managers love it because it keeps helps keep everyone's time up to date throughout the day.
If you work on Mac OS X 10.5 or higher give the timesheet widget a try by downloading the TimeFox timesheet widget
here.
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The HOW Design Conference
June 25th – June 27th
The HOW Design Conference, the creativity, business, and technology conference for graphic designers, is only days away: June 24 through 27 in Austin, Texas. There's still time to register, and we've even arranged a special discount for you: you can save $50 off your single full-Conference registration. Just enter coupon code FXH9 when you register online at HOWconference.com to apply your discount.
If you can't make it for the whole Conference, single day and individual session options are also available.
Austin's thriving artistic community make it a natural destination for the HOW Design Conference. With sessions on overcoming creative roadblocks, group brainstorming, living a creatively curious life and "craftivism," the HOW Conference offers multiple opportunities for exploring and expanding creativity.
In fact, the program is packed with more than 60 sessions on everything designers need to recharge and refresh – creativity boosters, software instruction, expert business advice, tips for thriving in any economy and more.
But time's running out—register today at
HOWconference.com.
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For a TimeFox Demo, go to:
www.functionfox.com/demo
To arrange a guided tour of TimeFox, please send your request to:
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please send your request to:
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