Question 1

How do you price projects?

Accepted Answer

There are three ways that we price our work.

The first is a flat hourly fee, usually for ongoing services like editing text or video. Most of our ongoing clients use this model and we have gotten exceptionally accurate in estimating how many hours a typical project may take.

For writing tasks, particularly blog posts and other thought leadership articles, we have a per-word charge that includes the orientation discussion, moderate research, writing, and revisions. This all-inclusive pricing model makes it very easy to predict the cost based on your word account requirements.   Obviously, this works for the usual case where the client provides basic information and guidelines, as well as perhaps links to relevant competitor material, etc. If extensive research is needed, pricing may be modestly affected.

Finally, we can definitely offer you a closed per-project fee, but this is only possible when both the input and output are exceptionally clear and well-defined; we need to see the raw material that we have to work with, and need to agree on a specific final result. If work progresses much more quickly than predicted, we are always delighted to trim down the price accordingly. In the event that the scope expands (and this is often a natural development as we explore the project and create initial drafts that open up new possibilities), it may impact  pricing - and we will discuss this situation when it arises so that we have a mutually agreed-upon re-assessment.

Question 2

Do you manage social media or ad campaigns?

Accepted Answer

No. We are content creators and both write and design content in a dozen different ways. We are happy to create the content you need for blog posts, Facebook and LinkedIn, and even display advertising. But advertising management is a different business and we prefer to stick to our primary expertise.

The same applies to SEO. We write all of our content with search engine optimization in mind, but we cannot pretend to be industry-leading experts; this takes full-time attention to the always-changing world of Google algorithms. We invite you to supply us with keywords to embed in the content we write, and we are always conscious of including other related terms as well.

Question 3

What's your approach to extra costs and limits on revisions for writing, designing, and video?

Accepted Answer

Colleagues tell us we're nuts: We have a policy of not restricting revisions (few writers or video producers do that... it often chips way deeply at profit margins).

Why? Because we believe you need to be 100% happy with the result. If you've "used up" your two revision rounds and need to decide whether to spend a bit more to get that perfect polish, you might always have that sense of annoyance that it's not really what you wanted. We only ask that you respect our "generosity" and keep the revision rounds realistic. The best way is to include any stakeholder in the process along the way, so someone doesn't show up at the end and reverse hours of work.

This policy does have limits: In the event that the initial instructions, goals, scripts have been agreed to, go-aheads are given at various milestones, and work goes ahead based on these, then yes - we do need to charge for that extra re-work because the fundamental requirements you supplied have changed. In short, we're really good at helping you shape the project plan, and then we follow it. If we go way off course, what's our bad. But if those marching orders change along the way, we can't carry that cost.

Question 4

RapidFire can handle both editorial and design. What if I have my own designer and/or Style Guide?

Accepted Answer

We can happily hand off the written material to a designer and work with them to review the material as it's created (you'd be amazed at how many textual problems slip in during the design phase). We can also take your visual style guide and use it to produce your material.

And while we are not technically a corporate branding company, we can definitely create an elegant branding style (fonts, colors, icons, photos – we find that most companies ignore three-quarters of the standard, rubber-stamped instructions they pay branding companies to include in those guides anyway)  to integrate into your collateral.

Question 5

Do you film live, on location?

Accepted Answer

We do not employ full-time videographers, but we have a list of talented individuals who we call in for live video projects. Once they hand over the filmed material, we take it from there. For a very basic video recording scenario, we are happy to come in with a tripod, microphone, and high-quality iPhone which, believe it or not, can give you the results between 80 and 90% of the quality of a larger camera, assuming lighting is sufficient. The difference, obviously, is that this approach costs a lot less than bringing in a videographer and also orients us to the material. We are also available to be there during filming to serve as directors, to help make sure that the raw material matches the vision for what will be edited into the end product.

Question 6

I've noticed that a lot of your videos use the same voiceover. Why is that?

Accepted Answer

We recognized many years ago that especially for companies in the early stages, the very act of writing a video script and seeing it come to life introduces new realizations and many last-minute changes. We record the voiceovers in-house so that we have the flexibility to make those tweaks up until the last minute without having to charge you extra or delay the process.

When we do use outside talent (female voices, other accents or languages, etc.), it simply means that these changes have a cost and time delay connected to them. Also, we happen to like this tone and find that it is extremely effective: warm and conversational, as if it is a chat with a friend, rather than listening to an announcer or a lecturer.

Question 7

I've never created a video - I have a lot more questions about the steps, options, and processes!

Accepted Answer

Creating a short Explainer video that encapsulates your entire story is a delicate, complex, and exciting process. Download our FAQ about the process we have developed to create your video for you.

Frequently asked questions