In what areas of work do you specialize?
We serve clients from small businesses to large corporations. A great deal of our work is in the health care, technology and environmental industries. PRO iNK has plenty of experience in helping start-up and young companies develop marketing strategies to meet business objectives.
Have you won awards for your work?
Several years ago, we made the decision to forgo award competitions and use the money and time we were spending on award entries to do pro bono work in our community.
Before that decision, Pro iNK was recognized with awards from
- American Advertising Association
- Florida Magazine Association
- Florida Public Relations Association
- Florida Hospital Association
- American Hospital Society’s Public Relations and Marketing Association
- Health Care Marketing Report
- International Association of Business Communicators
- College Sports Information Directors Association, and
- American Public Power Association.
What is PRO iNK known for?
We’re probably best remembered for our humorous holiday cards, our dogs at the office and our parties! Oh, yeah — the cool marketing, public relations and graphic design work we do, too!
How does PRO iNK compute the cost of a project?
Like most professionals, we bill hourly, based on our best estimate of what a project will involve. We’ll discuss your project and give you a detailed cost estimate of our fees and printing, photography, media or other vendor costs, which include our fee to oversee and supervise vendors in completing your project.
What are your payment terms?
Payment of a 50% deposit of our fees will authorize us to begin work on the project. After the project is completed, a final invoice will be prepared, with final payment due in 30 days. If a project takes several months to complete, the final 50% may be broken into two payments: one at half completion and the remaining 1/4 when the project is completed.
How do you bill for vendor services and what if I want to use my own printer or other vendor?
Buying creative services is a lot like building a house. You wouldn’t want your architect to design the house, turn over the plans to you and never show up on the site or communicate with the builder or the sub-contractors. Likewise, we feel strongly that it is our responsibility to see your job through to final delivery. In order for us to stand behind our work — and we do — we must use vendors who meet our rigorous standards. These vendors are our working partners and we know they will deliver the quality of work we demand — and often in impossible timeframes. We add a mark-up to all vendor prices to cover our bidding and specifying of the project and supervision of vendor services.
What does your vendor supervision include?
Supervision includes attending all press runs — sometimes in the middle of the night — and reviewing the complete series of proofs. We take full responsibility for your project and hold the vendor to our quality standards, price quote and delivery schedule.
What if I want to pay the vendor directly?
One of the reasons we prefer to pay vendors for you is it gives us more negotiating power with them. We all respond to the person writing our checks and our vendors are no different.
What if the project changes?
Changes to projects are more common than not. Because we know you want your project handled in a business-like fashion, we will notify you immediately should we see that a project has gone beyond the scope of its original description. We’ll then put the project on hold, pending your approval of a revised cost estimate.
What if I’m on a tight budget?
It happens to all of us. That’s why building long-lasting relationships is so important. If we have been working with you for years, we don’t have a steep learning curve on a new project. We already know a great deal about your organization, have a firm understanding of your market and have logos, photos and other supporting materials on file. Our experience in the business allows us to suggest and create projects that will meet your needs and your budget. But please let us know if your budget (or timeframe) is particularly tight. We won’t waste your time or ours estimating a four-color project if you have a two-color budget or a two-day turnaround.
What if I don’t like what you create for me?
The systems we have in place help insure that this doesn’t happen. Before we begin to work on a project, we have lengthy discussions with you and your management team to identify objectives, review past projects and discuss your likes and dislikes. In addition, you will generally see more than one concept so you have an opportunity to give us feedback and direction. All projects progress in stages, so you will have the opportunity to review and give us feedback at every step.
What’s a client’s responsibility in the creative process?
We encourage you to be a part of the creative team. If you like, we’ll include you in our initial brainstorming session. We want you to provide information, respond to ideas, react to concepts and give us specific and honest feedback. Because good creative is usually different and unexpected, it is important to allow time to be as open as possible to new ideas and approaches. Another important client responsibility is to “sign off” on the final proof. This gives your OK that copy is correct and all has been carefully proofed by everyone in your organization who needs to review the project.
Do you guarantee your services?
You bet we do. If you ever are dissatisfied with a final product, let us know within five days of receipt of the project and we will refund your creative fees in full.
Who owns artwork or designs you create for me?
Contrary to what most agencies and printers will tell you, we believe once you have paid for the project, you own it. We will archive your project for at least three years. During that time, you may wish to reuse your artwork for reprints, revised editions or simply to pull scans from original files. There may be a fee for the time it takes to locate and retrieve archived files. Should you need files prepared for uses other than the original project, there will be time involved for us to prepare the files appropriately. Photographers, stock photo agencies and models vary in their ownership policies. We suggest you allow us to negotiate those rights on your behalf.
What do you look for in a client relationship?
Most of our clients are like family to us. We understand that your boss makes demands of you, things change and deadlines loom. Don’t be concerned about that because that’s part of everyday business for us. What makes us happiest is to do a fantastic job on a project and have our client say “thanks, our bottom line has increased significantly.” And yes, we post those thank you notes and share your emails with the PRO iNK team.
Does PRO iNK handle radio and television creative, placement and production?
Sure do. We partner with some of the most talented radio and television producers, videographers and creatives in the Southeast. When a client needs broadcast assistance, we select the best team for the project and coordinate all aspects of concept development, creative, production and post-production. We also handle all media buying, negotiation and placement.
How do you handle public opinion research projects?
We are fortunate to partner with some of the best research professionals in the nation. Whether you need telephone or online interviews, mail surveys, community leader interviews or focus groups, we can assist you with your marketing and communications needs objectively and economically. Our founder, Terry Van Nortwick, is a trained focus group facilitator and interviewer.
