July 5th, 2010
Congratulations to the winners of our iPod Draw.
Five names were drawn from a hat from the list of members that assessed their agency rates against our Free Rates Assessment tool earlier this year.
By filling in our online survey each company received a free personalised report showing them whether their individual rates were above, within or below this years industry averages.
This survey is part of a research report produced and updated each year by Tick Boxer. You can also purchase this years Agency Rates Report 2010 without completing the survey.
The five lucky iPod nano’s winners are;
John Sharp – The White Room
Peter Joy – JAM
Chris McInnes – Fuse Digital
Sarah Addison – ZOO
Neil Gibson – CVW Creative
Please note that all information pertaining to rates that you may upload to Tick Boxer remain confidential and are only used for the purpose of research and recalculating new industry averages each year. Tick Boxer is an independent and impartial company and has no ties with any creative agency. You can rest assured that your rates will not be passed on or shared with your competitors. Our business is all about serving the industry as a whole!
Photo: kindly borrowed from SkitterzPRO on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/photoshopmagic/3119874338/)
Posted in Competition Winners | No Comments »
July 5th, 2010
What Agency Charges are on the rise and which ones are suffering?
It seems that every few years the advertising and design industry goes through a change in charging methodologies. One minute, clients except PDF fees. The next day there is a complaint about finicky charges.
So what are the current trends in 2010?
According to our 2010 Rates Report, below are some charges that seem to be winning and a few that are starting to fade. Any charge code containing the word “strategy” is on the uptake. Clients expect ideas and strategic thought in your work and so they should. Our value in the industry is linked to our strategy whether it is a creative idea or execution. Therefore Strategy Planner, Digital Strategist and Creative Strategy work well. Digital is also a buzz word. As this channel floods our market, clients are expecting these charges to appear in most of our work. We already mentioned Digital Strategist – but Digital Producer, Digital Designer and Technical Direction are high on the list. What is technical direction you may ask? When you have a complicated website or digital project, there needs to be a strong technical lead that ensures the elements are tied into together logically, to specification and branding. This can be a jigsaw puzzle and takes a high level of skill which, in most cases, demands a higher hourly rate. We cannot forget the role of Social Media strategy either which, to be honest, has no set hourly rate just yet. How do you measure the value of social media tactics such as positive branding on twitter?
What are the charge codes that are diminishing or holding less value?
Colour lasers have been disappearing slowly as the industry has become more digital. They started to decline in $ value and now are often included under disbursements. Other studio based charges such as ISDN or Digital transfers have been diminishing as we now have easy ways to transmit and upload high resolution files. Quickcut would also be a great example of a charge that has been lowered over the last few years. Where previously you may charge up to $380 for a large format colour ad, the industry is much more regulated and differences between colour and mono are becoming less important.
In summary we can conclude that very execution based fees relating to old media are starting to drop off whilst any new media charges or strategic fees are winning. Do you have a strategy in place for your business to ensure your revenue streams are protected? For more information on creative rates and trends, check out our 2010 Rates Report.
Photo: kindly borrowed from Mr Beaver on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_beaver/2203475023/)
Tags: Charges, Disbursements, Estimating, Profitability
Posted in Charge Out Rates, Estimating tips, Rates Assessment, Uncategorized | No Comments »
July 5th, 2010
don't forget the managing director - boss
Do you charge out the Managing Directors time properly?
If you have less than 20 people in your creative business, it is likely that the MD role is hands on with some client jobs – if not all jobs. Most small businesses fall into the trap of not billing enough or ANY time for the MD. This role is often the most valuable.
Set yourself a clear target. Just billing an MD for 1 hour per day (5 hours per week) over the course of one year (48 weeks) @ $250 per hour = $60,000 in additional revenue. Not sure how to charge this? Download our estimating templates at $75 each to help your business achieve an additional 60k per annum.
Photo: kindly borrowed from Tambako on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/494118044/)
Tags: Estimating, Profitability
Posted in Estimating tips | No Comments »
July 5th, 2010
Many agencies and design businesses fail to capture all of their charges on a client quote. We compiled a report showing where the main revenue weaknesses (or missed charges) are in a typical Creative business and generated an e-book with solutions and tips to help you estimate better.
Get your FREE COPY of the Agency Estimating Tips eBook here.
Photo: kindly borrowed from Berrie Pelser on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/berartvd/4708340623/)
Tags: Charges, Estimating, Profitability
Posted in Charge Models, Charge Out Rates, Estimating tips, Uncategorized | No Comments »
April 14th, 2010
Welcome to Tick Boxer, the agency tool box for operational tips, handy templates and interactive tools to help you better manage your creative business.
Download FREE documents
This month we are giving away a number of tools for FREE for you to try out.
Download some pre-written forms and check lists to help you better manage your client and typical jobs;
Download a full job description to help you find the perfect front office person;
Download some pre-drafted billing and expense tracking templates;
Take a FREE Rates Assessment?
Are you charging your clients enough? Find out how your business compares to the rest of the industry with our FREE Agency Rates Assessment.
Grab your rate card, log in to our members area and fill in our Agency Rates Assessment and we will tell you whether your charge out fees are above, within or most importantly below the industry average. Don’t miss an opportunity to find out whether you can increase your rates!
Just sign up as a site member (for free) and then log in to start the FREE Agency Rates Assessment. We’ll also throw in some Free Credit for any future purchases!
Posted in Current Promotions! | No Comments »