Every Proposal is Unique

When we have enough to go on, we develop a proposal, workplan and budget designed to fit your budget and needs, with options you can take on or postpone.  This document includes an articulation of goals, strategies, and technologies, and a work plan that states what we propose to provide by when, and how much it should cost.

Why We Charge for Proposals

Proposals come in all flavors. Some firms use boilerplates with a few bits of customer customization added. If you find a web design firm that provide proposals for free, you should be able to pick out how much boilerplate you're getting.

We do not create boilerplate websites.

Each Game Face Web Design proposal is a draft plan of what needs to be done and how for the specific needs of each client.  Our proposals not only indicate, but also contain, the real value of our firms' experience, expertise and creative direction.

We require payment in advance for this work, based on the time required. We believe that the complimentary consult that begins each relationship  should build enough trust to make the potential value of a paid proposal clear to our clients.

We understand that not every prospective client is comfortable with this policy. However, we are not staffed to service everyone who comes through our door, and must ourselves be selective. A prospect unwilling to pay for a proposal is unlikely to be willing to pay for full value received during the job.

Also, a cost-driven (rather than value-driven) customer could take a stack of free proposals to a low-priced outsourcer.  This is not part of our business model, nor of the other firms we know in the area.

Work Plan

The work plan part of the proposal starts with structured notes about what we've learned about your needs and opportunities, followed by a detailed, non-boilerplate plan of action.  It will include:

Your Site Map: What core pages your new or redesigned site will need, and any special applications --- e.g., a shopping cart, a calendar, a newsletter, a blog --- that will create additional content as the site gets used.

Hosting. Hosting refers to the storage, connectivity, and other services necessary to keep a website online. We offer managed hosting to our clients, which includes the installation and management of dynamic applications such as Drupal, e-commerce and custom databases. Because we do our own hosting, we can develop sites more quickly and with better quality assurance. We charge $15/month for hosting.

Content and Services. Your workplan will articulate what we propose to provide  (e.g. graphic design, copywriting, coding, and testing), and what content you will provide (e.g., your logo, promotional literature, review team) and chart out who is to do what, and by when. We indicate whether you prefer to use one of our Tech Scouts or someone of your own choosing as a technical liaison, and we describe the scope of this person's responsibility. We define the proposed means (meetings, e-mail and other online tools), and projected frequency of communication we expect will lead to a site we are all proud of.

SEO. We strongly urge all of our clients to take advantage of our Spot-On SEO Service. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is key to moving ahead (far, far ahead) of your competition's websites in Google and other search engines. You can contract with us to do SEO for you at any point... But starting out with a Search Engine Optimization plan saves you time and money in the long run --- it allows us to tweak, not  re-write and re-code. It also puts you ahead that much faster.

After the proposal (notes and work plan ) is drafted, we e-mail it to you for review and clarification, followed by an in-person presentation and discussion of the draft.  Via e-mail or in a second meeting, the proposal may be further amended --- if, say, you did not want everything in the estimate, we discuss what needs to be left out and then modify the proposal. Once all parties agree, the proposal is signed as the contract.

How does a Game Face establish a contractual agreement?

1. Contracts. We offer two contracting options:

Fixed bids: "not-to-exceed" bids for a 50% down-payment and 50% upon satisfactory work completion. Fixed bids are an option when the bulk of the work will be done by Game Face (that is, when we can proceed on schedule without waiting on work from other entities) and the deadline is firm.

Actual project costs can vary by as much as 20%, and we factor that in to fixed bids. If you make additional requests during the process (or require more meeting times than we have estimated), we will notify you of the additional cost and seek authorization before continuing.

We can only offer fixed bids when we have control of the deadline. Should a client's delay (say, in providing content) hold up a project by more than one month, we will request transition to a retainer system.

Retainers: Rather than a 50% down, 50% on completion arrangement, clients can provide incremental payments in advance of work, by set increments (say, weekly) or by phase (a graphic design may include a flat rate, review meetings and project management.)  Retainers are preferred when content development or other elements of production put the completion date beyond our control. For retainers, we do not commit to a fixed bid, and use our estimate and work plan as a rough guideline.

2. Starting Work. Work begins with receipt of (1) signed contract (the proposal), a hosting agreement,  and a first payment --- down-payment or retainer. Once a project is contracted, we hold firm to schedules and deliverables.

During the design process, we keep our clients in mind, and come up with creative ideas on their behalf. We limit the number of clients we take on, so that each receives the full benefit of our creative energies.

Get started on your web Game Face today!