FAQ
How much will my project cost? (And when will I see a price?)
Do you hold any rights to my project?
What’s the timeline of my project?
What is website optimization? Why should I buy it?
What web hosting services do you offer?
How much should a company my size be spending on advertising?
Where should I spend my ad budget? What should I advertise?
When you do my marketing plan, what kinds of media can you buy for me?
How much will my project cost? (And when will I see a price?)
At GCI we don’t bill by the hour, we bill by the project. Following a meeting where we will discuss your project, we will offer you a no-obligation estimate based on 30-plus years of experience in our industry. (Our estimates itemize the services and costs to create your project.) Upon your acceptance and deposit* if required, work begins.
*For first-time clients, we may require a deposit with budget approval that equals one-third of the estimated budget. On completion of the project, we will invoice you, Net 30, for the balance owed. We accept cash, checks, Visa and MasterCard for payment.
Each of our projects is custom and the scope depends on your needs. However, based on years of experience we can tell you starting ranges for these common projects:
Logo: $1,000
Corporate ID Package w/ Logo: $1,600 (Will increase based on complexity and will have additional cost of printing later)
Brochure: $2,300 (Will increase based on complexity and will have additional cost of printing later)
Website: $2,500 (Will increase based on page-count and complexity)
Web Hosting: One Year for $275 (does not change without extreme usage i.e. heavier e-commerce etc)
Marketing Plan: $1,800 (Will increase based on the size of your company and the amount of reach and media buying that will need to be planned)
TV: $3,100 (Will increase with the amount of footage required to create various commercials)
Video: $7,500 (Will increase with the amount of footage required to meet goals, potentially hiring models and paying for facilities and props)
Do you hold any rights to my project?
Other than politely requesting the right to show off the work we do for you in our portfolio, we retain no rights to completed materials once you have paid in full. With the positive exposure you get from anyone viewing our portfolio it is a win-win for everyone.
What’s the timeline of my project?
Each project is custom-fit for your budget, wants and needs: knowing those things will help determine your timeline. No matter what, remember we’re batting for the same team and if you need some coaching along the way, we’re always glad to step up to the plate. The most important thing is that you don’t hold back, tell us the timing you have in mind. Then it’s as simple as… follow through. Do that and we’re guaranteed to hit this one out of the park!
Looking for a play-by-play?*
Step 1: Contact us. Set up a meeting and be prepared!
Step 2: Meet with us. We’ll have a conversation about exactly what you’re looking for and then give you an idea of the timeline.
Step 3: Development and Proofing. We will be working on your job and sending you proofs of the project. It is crucial that you provide consistent and timely feedback throughout this process. In return we will meet the promised dates and times.
Step 4: Approval. Changes done, Hooray! Now your job needs to be printed and delivered. Or the media buy you have approved needs to start running. So…
Step 5: Completion. This is when you see the fruition of all our hard work and are free to brag to your friends (or competitors) about how slick your business looks on that billboard or the TV commercial that is airing.
*This is an outline of workflow only. Please see payment questions for those aspects of the timeline
What is website optimization? Why should I buy it?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) improves your site’s content in a variety of ways so that it will be more likely to appear in high-ranking positions when relevant searches are performed (on sites like Google and Yahoo). We make sure that your copy is written effectively on the surface, and under the skin we code the site with meta tags so that everything the search engines will be looking for is found there. Then we build relevant links to your site from other locations that address the same keywords. This is a detailed process and it is crucial to getting the best value out of a site if you want it to reach beyond your existing customer base.
In other words, you can have an amazing site, but if you don’t optimize it then you might as well be the prettiest girl at school sitting at home on Friday nights because no one knows where your locker is to ask you out. (That can’t be good for your “site-esteem”!)
What web hosting services do you offer?
All websites are collections of files that are stored on a server (a powerful computer with a super-fast connection) that Internet browsers can find. By hosting your site with GCI’s server you and our team work in harmony to keep your site fresh and engaging. We are able to manage all of your site information and updates with ease. Or if you prefer we can be a low maintenance server and simply hold your files for you, it is all about your needs.
Become the master of your domain with our wide variety of hosting solutions:
- Control Panel Utility
- Web Stats
- Unlimited E-mail
- Blogs
- Addon / Parked Domains and Sub Domains
- FTP Accounts
- My SQL Databases phpMyAdmin
- PHP 4 & 5
- Frontpage Extensions
- Streaming Video
- Shopping Carts
- Custom 404 pages
- CMS Site Modules
- Much More
How much should a company my size be spending on advertising?
Marketing is an investment (for future gain). That’s why advertising should never be thought of as an expense in the context of today’s dollars (money comes back in increased sales.) Most companies spend between 4 and 10 percent of their annual revenue on advertising. Even when times are slow or cash flow seems low it is important to invest in your future market share.
Example: It’s the 1940s and the world is caught in the throes of WWII. The ingredients used to make quality gum are not available. Wrigley's Gum refuses to make their trademark products with sub-standard flavorings. Yet they continue advertising even with no gum to sell. Magazine ads show photos of an empty Spearmint Gum wrapper, with the message, "Remember This Wrapper." Within two years of the end of the war, Spearmint Gum sales exceed pre-war levels. Chew on that!
Where should I spend my ad budget? What should I advertise?
GCI will help you determine the best approach for marketing your products or services. The most effective way to do this is to develop a marketing plan. When you choose this route GCI will do an analysis, which gives us the platform to build up the right marketing strategy for your specified timeline (i.e. 1 year) and ad budget. We do everything with your input; after all, no one knows your business the way that you do. And paired with our expertise we’ll dazzle the world with marketing magic! (We’ll be the Teller to your Penn.)
When you do my marketing plan, what kinds of media can you buy for me?
We can buy pretty much anything, except love. But let’s face it, that’s not media anyway.
Here are some of the things we buy:
• TV (network/cable/local…)
• News Media (print/web ads and we can help you get articles written)
• Kiosks
• Billboards
• Transit (bus/train/ferry/etc)
• Tradeshow
• Radio
• More (we could probably tattoo someone for you or get large format graphics on floors somewhere if you are ready to think outside the box, media buys will depend on how creative your project and budget “want” to be.)