Streetlamp Creative's Pricing, Process, & Products
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
What exactly does Streetlamp Creative do? How much do you charge? What’s your niche? When we meet new people, these are typically the first questions we hear, often in rapid succession. While we’re always ready to give our elevator pitch on a moment’s notice, the reality is that these questions are nuanced. In this post, you’ll find more details on these questions. We hope you’ll enjoy learning more about our services, our pricing, and what it’s like to work with us!
our work
Our overarching goal is to help clients tell their unique stories through thoughtful marketing strategy and cohesive, polished communication materials. This goal, and our dedication to top-notch work, never change – but the way that we explain “what we do” can shift, depending on the work at hand. For instance, this might sound like:
- “We specialize in content creation.”
- “We’re a marketing and communications agency.”
- “Graphic design and copywriting.”
- “Stuff like websites, social media, brochures.”
- “We’re creative consultants.”
- “Nonprofit fundraising materials and campaign support”
OUR TEAM
As for our individual roles: I (Emma) am a graphic designer experienced in the creative design aspect of marketing, and Heather is a writer with a background in nonprofit leadership and fundraising. That said, we’re more than “just” a design and writing service. We’re also project managers, planners, web designers, creative brainstormers, branding experts, and so much more.
As Millennials, we have been fortunate enough to learn the ins and outs of social media marketing firsthand as “early adopters” as well as intentionally through training and experience. We’ve taught ourselves over the years to build streamlined, functional websites. During the course of our work, we’ve learned how to communicate with, coach, and train everyone from entry-level employees to c-suite executives on a variety of modern marketing techniques.
Through these experiences and countless others, we’ve learned how to craft our messaging for different, unique audiences – and now, we work with everyone from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies.
While we’re always learning, we also believe in knowing when we don’t know enough to tackle a project ourselves. If a project calls for it, we outsource specific tasks to specialists to get detailed technical guidance from someone who knows a specific field inside and out. Helping our clients and peers succeed and getting the chance to collaborate is one of the most rewarding parts of our job.
OUR PERSPECTIVE
We see the bigger picture.
At the end of the day, we are two very intuitive, curious entrepreneurs with a knack for marketing and a genuine interest in our clients. We are always eager to learn more, we ask a lot of questions, and we’re always taking notes. (No, seriously, a.l.w.a.y.s. taking notes).
It is very apt to compare us to Hermione Granger (especially if you’ve ever seen either of us with our curly hair when it’s humid out). We’re both enamored with human relationships and the “whys” behind the choices people make.
As borderline perfectionists, it’s not easy to admit we’re not actually perfect and we don’t have all the answers – but it’s a safe bet that we will find them!
Our Process
While our process can shift depending on each client’s needs, here’s what it generally looks like:
- Connect with Streetlamp Creative to share about your marketing needs
- Once we confirm the work required falls within our services, we’ll find a time to connect. During that time, we welcome your challenges, your goals, your wild ideas – all of it! We’ll usually have some questions for you that will inform the creation of your proposal.
- Internally, we’ll discuss a path forward. Our team will explore what we can do to alleviate your key pain points and how we can best fulfill your needs.
- Then, you’ll receive a proposal and contract to review and ask questions, if needed. While we’re equipped to do most client work in-house, sometimes there are tasks we outsource because in specific instances, there are more specialized people for those roles, and we have existing relationships with them. We find that our clients love having just one point of contact (that’s us!) to fill a variety of needs and specialized tasks.
- We discuss the proposal and contract with you, make necessary revisions, sign the document, and get to work!
Throughout this process, we always aim to be punctual, empathetic, and open-minded. Our team always puts our genuine best effort into our work. We value our time and our clients’ time, we encourage a respectful environment with healthy boundaries, and we delight in helping clients create positive change in the world.
We hold brainstorming sessions with our clients, and we try to learn as much as possible about their passions and their goals. We often ask questions that push the boundaries. We guide them on strategy, direction, and goals. We create top-notch materials for them. We want to get our clients out of their comfort zones to evaluate what’s really missing in their marketing efforts, and illuminate the best path forward.
We get to the bottom of what’s working, what’s a waste of time and money, who are you trying to talk to, and WHY?
This is where the process really begins. Who is your audience, and how can we help you engage with them? What is your company’s unique story or offering, and how can we best showcase it to your target market? What does that sound like, what does it look like, how does it read, how is it spoken?
This looks like everything from how you post on social media, to the colors and fonts on your website. It can look like a printed handout or a thoughtfully-chosen swag giveaway. It might include organizing an internal training session for your team. It could be a one-time brainstorming session, or it might mean a long-term relationship with monthly services. No two projects or clients are the same, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
If the technology era has taught us anything, it’s that our work – and the work of our clients – is ever-evolving.
If you come to us with a simple, straightforward need (i.e. you “just” want a basic website, you need a flyer to hand out at an event, or you could use some help with your e-newsletter), we’re absolutely there for you! But, don’t be surprised if, along the way, we start asking you why you want this deliverable, what you’re hoping to accomplish, and where you want your business to be a year (or three, or five) from now.
Our Pricing
How much do you charge for X? What are your rates? Can I see a pricing sheet?
Since no two projects have ever been the same, nor do we think they should ever be the same, pricing is a tricky question to answer on the fly. That’s why we create a customized proposal and contract for each and every client. We want folks to be completely comfortable knowing exactly what deliverables they’ll receive, how much the work will cost, and when payment will be due. We encourage clients to ask questions and to share their budget restrictions or concerns so that we can find creative ways to work within them, if needed.
We certainly can (and do!) provide ranges for what we’ve charged in the past for similar work. We can also toss out an hourly rate (which can vary depending on the complexity and volume of work). Our goal is always to price our projects fairly by benchmarking ourselves against peers in the industry and accurately estimating the time and energy required of each project.
At the end of the day, our product, our process, and our pricing are all crafted with the goal of serving our clients with integrity, honesty, efficiency, hard work, and a little bit of fun.
Let’s be honest. We have a lot of fun.
More than anything, we want to see our clients succeed and thrive, because that’s what fulfills us as creative consultants and business owners.