I LOVE WHAT I’VE SEEN AND HEARD ON YOUR WEBSITE AND I AM READY TO CONTRACT SOUND MARKETING DESIGNS! WHAT IS THE PROCESS?
We are excited to begin working with you too! Here is a step by step guide through our process of completing your project.
1 - Initiate a project by returning to the web page of the service you are most interested in and complete the inquiry form for that service.
2 - One of our team members will reach out to you and set up a free phone consultation to get more information about your project.
3 - After we have consulted with you and you are ready to proceed, we will confirm pricing and/or provide you with an invoice, plus we will confirm an estimated time frame for completion.
4 - When you are ready to proceed, we will direct you to complete our Pre-Service Questionnaire, which includes reviewing samples in our Music Library and supplying us with any applicable materials prior to any work commencing.
5 - Our team will confirm the information on your questionnaire, then require your non-refundable deposit to commence work.
6 - If we need to schedule an interview in order to develop a script for your audio or video project, this will be scheduled and conducted shortly after receiving your deposit.
7 - The Sound Marketing Designs team will go to work on your project and will provide continual communication and seek your feedback and approvals for samples of work until you are satisfied and provide final approval. You will be directed to a private area of our website to preview samples of the work being completed for you. We will not email you any files until you have provided final approval and final payment.
8 - Upon your final approval, you will pay the balance of your invoice. Upon receipt of your final payment, Sound Marketing Designs will release the audio or video files to you via email.
HOW MUCH IS YOUR TYPICAL DEPOSIT?
A deposit is required before any work begins. Sound Marketing Designs
typically requests a 50% deposit on almost all our projects. We have
only one exception; a full deposit (paid in full) is required for
projects who’s invoices are $300 or less.
IS MY DEPOSIT REFUNDABLE?
No. Any deposits made to Sound Marketing Designs to initiate a project are not refundable.
WHY ARE DEPOSITS NOT REFUNDABLE?
Sound Marketing Designs does not return deposits because at the point
that a project is requested to be halted by a client, we have already
put in a number of man (and woman) hours on your project. Since it take
us time to provide your service, we think it is only fair that we
retain the deposit as compensation for time already spent - which we can
not get back.
CAN YOU PROVIDE A FREE SAMPLE OF MY VIDEO OR JINGLE PRIOR TO ME PAYING FOR THE SERVICE?
No, Sound Marketing Designs does not provide free client samples. For client work to begin, a deposit is required. If you are simply looking for an idea of how your project may sound or look, please refer to the examples of work we’ve provided other clients which are posted throughout our website.
HOW DO I KNOW I’M GOING TO LIKE THE MUSIC OR VIDEO OR WEBSITE THAT YOU PRODUCE FOR ME?
We admit it; producing creative work is subjective and our style may not be for everyone. Which is why we provide examples of our previous work throughout our site to see if you are attracted to our tastes. If you are and you decide to contract us for a project, Sound Marketing Designs has an extensive questionnaire that you will complete that will probe your preferences. Plus, we will send you to our music library for a deeper listen to the musical styles we produce to tell us what you like the best prior to us receiving your deposit or starting any work. If you are still all in at that point, pay your deposit and we go to work for you. Sound Marketing Design’s policy is to keep working until you are 100% satisfied with the work we produce for you. That means as many different versions that we have to create until you are totally cheesing from ear to ear is as many as we will produce till it’s just right for you! (Please note: additional fees may apply if you exceed the amount of free edits available to you in your service package.)
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR MY JINGLE(S), THEME SONG(S), COMMERCIAL(S) OR VIDEO(S) TO BE PRODUCED?
Many projects are typically completed within 15 - 21 days, from the time we have received all information necessary to begin the project along with your deposit, to final approval. After consulting with you on your project, Sound Marketing Designs will provide an estimated date for completion along with your invoice. Some factors that may influence the length of time include how long it will take for the client to provide feed-back and approvals or the amount of changes being requested.
DO YOU GUARANTEE A COMPLETION DATE FOR MY PROJECT?
No. Sound Marketing Designs does not guarantee a date for completion. At time of your project’s initiation, you will be given an estimate of when it may be completed. We often complete our projects earlier than estimated, if not exactly on time. Since there are many factors that can influence the actual completion date, we do not make any guarantees.
DO YOU EVER COMPLETE PROJECTS IN LESS THAN 15 DAYS?
Yes. Some projects may intrinsically take less time to complete. You will be given a more accurate estimated time frame for completion once have learned more about your project during your free consultation. If you need a project completed in a time frame shorter than estimated, we do offer rush service at an additional fee.
DO YOU GUARANTEE A COMPLETION DATE ON YOUR RUSH SERVICE?
Kinda-sorta. The official answer is that we don’t guarantee completion dates. But we offer two levels of rush service in ranges. Our 5-7 day rush fee for most projects is $749 - in addition to your regular invoice amount - and our 2-4 day rush fee is $1,499. The rush fee is due in full along with your deposit. You must work with us to provide us with whatever information we need from you promptly. The Sound Marketing Designs team will move heaven and earth (and by that we mean everything that is currently on our team schedule) to complete the project for you in the time frame you paid for. If we are unable to honor the rush delivery deadline due to any failures on our end, we will refund you 50% of the rush fee and still work to provide you with your final product ASAP. Long story short, our 50% refund is our “guarantee” policy for our rush service.
WHY DOESN’T SOUND MARKETING DESIGNS OFFER A 100% REFUND OF THE RUSH FEE IF YOU DON’T MAKE THE DEADLINE?
Similar to the reason why we don’t refund deposits; we have already put the time and resources into rushing your project. We do think that it is fair that we should provide at least a 50% refund to you if we fail to deliver in the rushed time frame that you paid for if it is a failure on our ennd. But (if you will allow us to be a little transparent,) we are not just lining our pockets with your rush fee...it goes into helping our in-house staff clear their calendar by outsourcing other current projects. It would be a little challenging for us to try and get those resources back if we don’t live up to our commitment to you. So needless to say, to date, we’ve never needed to refund a rush fee!
DO YOU CHARGE BASED ON THE LENGTH OF THE JINGLE, THEME SONG OR VIDEOS YOU CREATE OR HOW LONG IT TAKES TO FINISH A WEBSITE?
No. Sound Marketing Designs does not set pricing based on the length of time needed for a music file or video. We charge a flat rate for all of our services. If you need a particular time adhered to (i.e 30 or 60 seconds), we can do that for you. With many services, multiple edits/versions are already built into our pricing package.
DO YOU CHARGE AN HOURLY RATE?
All of our regular services are priced at a fixed rate. We utilize flat
fees and pack our prices with so much value because it makes it easier
for you to remain within your budget. We don’t appreciate being
"nickeled and dimmed" so we don’t do it to our customers. On the rare
occasion that we do need to charge hourly, say for additional edits, our
hourly rate is $60/hour. These exceptions are clearly noted in our
service pricing. Prior to any additional work commencing at our hourly
rate, you will be notified and must approve these additional charges.
You will never be surprised about pricing.
ON YOUR PRICING PAGE, IT SAYS “PRICING IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.” WILL PRICES EVER CHANGE IN THE MIDDLE OF MY PROJECT?
We publish pricing on our website as a courtesy but we reserve the right to change our pricing at any time and without public notice for any reason (don’t be scared; sometimes, we make price reductions which is good for you!). If you contract Sound Marketing Designs for a project, pricing will be discussed during your consultation and may be adjusted from what appears on our website according to your needs. Sound Marketing Designs will provide you with a quoted price for your specific project via invoice. We guarantee to hold that quoted price for 30 days. If you opt to not initiate your project with a deposit until after those 30 days, you may or may not be re-quoted. Once you have initiated your project with your deposit, the price of your project will not change - unless you request additional work, in which case, you will be aware of and will approve any additional charges, plus you will be given an updated invoice. You will never be surprised about pricing. Should we make changes to our pricing structure in the process of completing your project, whether up or down, you will only be expected to pay what is stated on your most current invoice. If you chose to initiate a new and separate project after our prices have revised, you will go through a separate quoting process for this new project based on our updated pricing and based on your needs.
I’VE SEEN JINGLES AND MUSIC PRODUCTION ON THE WEB FOR $1,000 AND UP. WHY ARE YOU LESS? AM I GETTING GOOD QUALITY?
Sound Marketing Design’s ideal clients are small and mid-sized business owners plus the web designers, marketing firms and PR professionals who service them . We design our packages to be affordable for these clients. We keep our costs low by utilizing our own studio equipment and in-house production team. Feel free to judge the quality of our work by viewing samples on our site. Our jingles and commercials have aired in New York City, Atlanta and mid-western radio markets and some clients have even used the video slideshows that we produced for their websites to advertise on local cable.
MOST VIDEO COMPANIES WHO PRODUCE VIDEO FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES START THEIR PRICING AROUND $1,000 AND GO WAY UP FROM THERE. WHY ARE YOUR PRICES FOR VIDEOS LOWER?
Sound Marketing Designs creates “Video Slideshows.” We do not actually go on location and shoot video footage. Instead, we work with still images (that you provide or royalty free stock images), graphics and motion/animation, plus add in our original music and a voice over track to create the final product that is akin to a very souped-up PowerPoint® (but we don’t actually use PowerPoint®). Since our production costs are low and it does not require expensive equipment or a camera crew, we pass that savings on to you. This service is intended as an affordable way for small business owners to utilize video on their websites or in an online video campaign, so long as their usage does not require that a particular location, model or critical company executive be filmed.
CAN I CANCEL A PROJECT ONCE I’VE PAID A DEPOSIT AND WORK HAS STARTED?
You are free to cancel a project once we have begun for any reason. We will be sad to see this happen because we pride ourselves on working hard to ensure that you are 100% satisfied with us at every point in the process of creating your audio, video or website. But we understand if you wish to part ways. But please note that your deposit is non-refundable.
WILL YOU EMAIL ME FILES SO THAT I CAN PREVIEW AND APPROVE THE WORK YOU ARE DOING FOR ME?
No. We do not email any files until final payment has been made and we are sending you the final files. For the purposes of previewing and making comments, Sound Marketing Designs will place your samples on a secure part of our website for you and/or your client to review there.
I AM/REPRESENT A WEB DESIGNER, AN AD AGENCY, A VIDEO FIRM, AN EVENT PLANNING OR MARKETING FIRM AND I WANT TO CONTRACT SOUND MARKETING DESIGNS TO COMPLETE A PROJECT FOR ONE OF MY CLIENTS. WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS?
The process is the same. You may opt to have your client work with us directly and pay us directly or you may decide that your company will be our direct client and you will be responsible for making payments and providing all approvals.
IS THERE ROOM IN SOUND MARKETING DESIGNS’ PRICING TO ALLOW FOR A COMMISSION OR SPLIT WITH MY COMPANY IF WE ARE USING YOU AS A SUBCONTRACTOR?
No. We know that Sound Marketing Designs pricing is among the most affordable without sacrificing quality for what we do. There is room, however, if you need to add on an additional 10% - 30% mark up as your commission for your administrative time and services and the resulting price to your client will still be considered reasonable.
WILL SOUND MARKETING DESIGNS TRY TO GO AROUND ME AND GAIN DIRECT ACCESS TO MY CLIENT TO OFFER THEM LOWER PRICES FOR WORKING DIRECT?
ABSOLUTELY NOT! We pride ourselves on working with integrity. Sound Marketing Designs will make no attempts to contact your client directly for any reason unless you prefer us deal directly with your client. In which case, you will be responsible for making our initial connection. But we are happy to work only with you as our customer and you can relay messages back to your client. It is to our advantage to maintain a great working relationship with you and not play games because we want you to use us as your preferred audio (and affordable video) provider again and again.
BECAUSE I PAID FOR THE MUSIC OR VIDEO, DO I OWN THE COPYRIGHT? IS THIS A WORK FOR HIRE?
No. Sound Marketing Designs does not produce works for hire. We produce original content and maintain the copyrights to all of our work for our clients. Instead, you will receive a license from Sound Marketing Designs to use the work we create for you in your marketing and promotional efforts in it’s whole and original form as released to you/your company by Sound Marketing Designs for as long as you like. You do not have to pay us any additional fees or renewals for the license at any time. If we created an original jingle or theme song for you, we will never reuse that music for any other client projects. If you opt to select a track from our music library to save on costs, you understand that some of our other clients may have also selected that music for their work.
You are free to use what we create for you as long or as short as you wish and we will never come back to haunt you or expect you to pay us anything if your jingle or commercial becomes super famous (we do ask that you let people know that we created it for you though!). If you would like changes made to what we have created for you, we are happy to do so for you (additional service fees at our hourly rate will apply). If you wish to go in a completely different direction, you can contract us to create a new project for you or you are welcomed to hire another creative firm to create new audio and video collateral for you. However, they are not free to create derivative works based on what we created for you without our/the copyright holder’s written permission.
WHAT CONSTITUTES A MAJOR EDIT/CHANGE OR REVISION (or better stated, WHEN DOES THE HOURLY RATE KICK IN)?
Our policy at Sound Marketing Designs is to continue working until you are 100% satisfied with the creative work we produce on your behalf. We make every effort to ascertain your preferred style at the beginning of our process and we typically provide multiple selections or versions to choose from (in projects that require original music to be produced). Since this is a collaborative effort, we know that we will present ideas which you may want to see changed. If the changes maintains the integrity of the music or video, but we are only tweaking minor issues such as changing an image or two or rearranging a few words, this is included in your pricing. A major change, edit or revision would be if we needed to make changes that drastically deviate from the last provided samples or needing to start from scratch and create a new video or song, not based on any of the initial options we provided you with. Depending on the service you selected, we include up to 3 major edits as part of your all inclusive pricing. We will let you know as we go along if you are running out of free edits. If you are very particular and we need to make more edits than your package allows, you will be billed at our hourly rate of $60/hr with a minimum of 3 hours being billed. We pride ourselves on getting it right early on in the process...as such, we’ve rarely had to bill anyone this fee.
I LEARNED ABOUT SOUND MARKETING DESIGNS THROUGH A BARTER/EXCHANGE ORGANIZATION THAT YOU ARE ASSOCIATED WITH. I WANT TO PAY FOR SOUND MARKETING DESIGNS’ SERVICES USING MY TRADE DOLLARS. WHAT IS THE PROCESS FOR ME/MY COMPANY?
Our processes and procedures are the same. When it comes time to make payment, you can do so through the barter organization. Work will begin when we receive your deposit amount credited in our trade account. We will release final files when we receive your balance amount credited in our trade account.
WHAT JOBS ARE AVAILABLE AT SOUND MARKETING DESIGNS?
Sorry, but Sound Marketing Designs currently does not have any openings.
I AM A VOICE-OVER PROFESSIONAL, A SINGER OR MUSICIAN. DO YOU HAVE ANY OPENINGS?
Sorry, but Sound Marketing Designs is not looking for outside contractors at this time.